Investigation on psychological status of rescue troops one month after Wenchuan Earthquake / 第二军医大学学报

ABSTRACT

Objective: To understand the psychological status of the rescue troops one month after rescue action for the devastating earthquake and to explore the effect of some important events on the psychological status of soldiers. Methods: The subjects were randomly selected from the 3 major rescue forces, a Cannon troop from PLA Chengdu Military Area Command, a Cannon troop from PLA Jinan Military Area Command and Armed Police Forces of Sichuan Province, 32-42 days after the disaster rescue. A total of 170 subjects were tested with Symptom Checklist-90(SCL-90), and the results were compared with the norms of normal Chinese and Chinese serviceman. Student's t test was used to determine the significance of the differences. Results: A total of 78 valid questionnaires were analyzed. The total score of SCL-90 was 130. 25 ± 33. 07 for the rescuers, the positive items was 27.59 ± 15.75, and the mean factorial score was 1.28-1.64. The somatization score was higher (P<0.05) and the interpersonal sensitivity score was lower (P<0.01) than the norms of the Chinese. The factorial scores of obsession, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, paranoid and psychotic were lower than the norm of Chinese servicemen (all P< 0.01). Soldiers with experience of searching dead bodies had lower scores in sleep and food consumption, and higher score of positive items (all P<0.01 for each) compared those without the related experience. Conclusion: The psychological status of the earthquake-rescuers is basically normal 32-42 days after the earthquake. Some positive items are associated with the experience such as body treatments. Surveillance of psychological disorders in these troops is helpful for the early diagnosis and intervention of psychological problems.