Abstract

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the fre-quency of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Bam school children and its relationship to demographic characteristics and other factors related to the earthquake, after students’ migration to Kerman for living and education, four months after the earthquake.

Method: Yule PTSD Questionnaire for Parents was completed at home by the parents of 243 students under 15 (175 males, 68 females). Watson PTSD Questionnaire was completed at school by 160 high school students over 15 (56 males, 104 females). Questionnaires re-lated to demographic factors, physical injuries, home destruction, and relative loss was also completed by both groups.

Results: Among students younger than 15, 90.8% had one first degree relative loss due to the earthquake, 81% reported complete home dest- ruction, and 89.4% had suffered from physical injury. Among students older than 15, 94.4% had one first degree relative loss due to the earth- quake, 89.4% reported home destruction, and 80.6% had suffered from physical injury. The prevalence of PTSD in students younger than 15, was 52.2% and 59% in boys and girls respectively, which showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.01). The prevalence of PTSD among students older than 15 was 37.5% and 33.5% in boys and girls respectively, but the difference was not statistically signi-ficant.

Conclusion: The prevalence of PTSD among children and adole-scents subsequent to an earthquake is significant, and programming for diagnosis and medical intervention is probably necessary.