Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27267874›Full record

SynthesisBMC psychiatry2016

The incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder among survivors after earthquakes:a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Wenjie Dai, Long Chen, Zhiwei Lai, Yan Li, Jieru Wang, Aizhong Liu

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC psychiatry, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 105 papers, 16 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
105citing papers in PubMed, 16 pooled it
21.0field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

105 citing papers in PubMed, 16 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 252 citations in OpenAlex.

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  9. Prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms among people influenced by coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak: A meta-analysis.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2021
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45 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Wenjie DaiDepartment of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Xiangya Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, China.
Long ChenDepartment of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Xiangya Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, China.
Zhiwei LaiDepartment of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Xiangya Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, China.
Yan LiDepartment of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Xiangya Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, China.
Jieru WangDepartment of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Xiangya Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, China.
Aizhong LiuDepartment of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Xiangya Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, China. lazroy@live.cn.
Central South University · CNUniversity of Pittsburgh · USZhuhai People's Hospital · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common psychological disorder caused by unusual threats or catastrophic events. Little is known about the combined incidence of PTSD after earthquakes. This study aimed at evaluating the combined incidence of PTSD among survivors after earthquakes using systematic review and meta-analysis.

methodsThe electronic databases of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and PsycARTICLES were searched for relevant articles in this study. Loney criteria were used to assess the quality of eligible articles. The combined incidence of PTSD was estimated by using the Freeman-Tukey double arcsine transformation method. Subgroup analyses were conducted using the following variables: the time of PTSD assessment, gender, educational level, marital status, damage to one's house, bereavement, injury of body and witnessing death.

resultsForty-six eligible articles containing 76,101 earthquake survivors met the inclusion criteria, of which 17,706 were diagnosed as having PTSD. Using a random effects model, the combined incidence of PTSD after earthquakes was 23.66 %. Moreover, the combined incidence of PTSD among survivors who were diagnosed at not more than 9 months after earthquake was 28.76 %, while for survivors who were diagnosed at over nine months after earthquake the combined incidence was 19.48 %. A high degree of heterogeneity (I(2) = 99.5 %, p<0.001) was observed in the results, with incidence ranging from 1.20 to 82.64 %. The subgroup analyses showed that the incidence of PTSD after earthquake varied significantly across studies in relation to the time of PTSD assessment, gender, educational level, damage to one's house, bereavement, injury of body and witnessing death. However, stratified analyses could not entirely explain the heterogeneity in the results.

conclusionsGiven the high heterogeneity observed in this study, future studies should aim at exploring more possible risk factors for PTSD after earthquakes, especially genetic factors. In spite of that, the results of this study suggest that nearly 1 in 4 earthquake survivors are diagnosed as having PTSD. Therefore, the local government should plan effective psychological interventions for earthquake survivors.

Indexed as

EarthquakesBereavementDisastersFemaleGriefHumansIncidenceMaleRisk FactorsStress Disorders, Post-TraumaticSurvivorsEarthquakeIncidenceMeta-analysisPost-traumatic stress disorderSystematic review

Identifiers

PMID27267874
PMCPMC4895994
OpenAlexW2415716286

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.