Posttraumatic stress symptoms in people exposed to the 2017 earthquakes in Mexico

Abstract

This is the first study to produce a reliable valid measure of the symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) in Mexico, which has a high incidence of disasters, and has not had a measurement of PTSD frequency in the population. The objective was to analyze the prevalence of PTSD symptoms in persons who experienced the 2017 earthquakes in Mexico. A probabilistic sample of 1539 participants from Mexico City, the State of Mexico, Chiapas, Puebla, Morelos and Oaxaca during November and December of 2017 was screened using the Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS) for symptoms of post-traumatic stress. The prevalence of PTSD symptoms was 34.6%, with greater effects on the inhabitants of Oaxaca, Morelos and Puebla, women, indigenous people and people who experienced damage to their homes (p = 0.001). The DTS had a moderate negative correlation with the RS-14 and a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.957. The confirmatory factor analysis generated four factors that explain 50% of the variance, compatible with a Dysphoria model. We can conclude that one in three people exposed to earthquakes had symptoms of post-traumatic stress.