Objective: To investigate the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among survivors from a coal mining accident after 2 and 10 months and factors related to PTSD.
Methods: To estimate the prevalence of PTSD, 104 miners were surveyed through the PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C). Forty survivors including 24 severe PTSD patients and 24 non-PTSD subjects were evaluated thoroughly.
Results: The current prevalence rate among survivors from the coal mining accident at 2 months was 50%. There were significant differences in PTSD symptoms, anxiety and depression, personality, and memory performance between the PTSD patients and non-PTSD controls. State anxiety, time to renew the work, depression, neuroticism, and the place they were staying, and length of service were predictors of PTSD. After 10 months of the accident, 30.6% survivors still met the criterion of PTSD. Compared with 2 months after the accident, PTSD symptoms, anxiety, and memory performance improved clearly, while the depressive symptoms had no significant difference. The state anxiety, time to renew the work, positive coping, emotional balance, and length of service were the factors of PTSD symptom healing.
Conclusion: The current prevalence of PTSD among survivors from coal mining accident is high. The mining accident has great influence on victims, and psychological or medication interventions are necessary. There are lots of risk factors for the prevalence of PTSD, such as state anxiety, depression, neuroticism, and shorter duration of service. Positive coping may be a beneficial factor for PTSD recovery.