Physical Symptoms and Coping Strategies With Earthquake Stress Among Adults Living in Tent Cities: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Ayşegül Akca, Tuğba Bilgehan, Perver Karşıgil and 2 others
PMID 39425688WHAT IT FOUND
Displaced adults in tent cities reported increases in insomnia, frequent waking, difficulty falling asleep, fatigue and appetite loss soon after earthquakes.
They mainly used religious coping, with less social support seeking.
Key findings
01The largest symptom increases after the earthquake were insomnia from 10.62% to 68.13%, frequent waking from 9.49% to 66.01%, and difficulty falling asleep from 8.36% to 58.07%.
02Mean coping subscale scores were 3.66 for religious coping, 3.50 for positive reappraisal and 2.95 for seeking social support.
03Religious coping was more common among married people, those with primary school education or lower, those with chronic illness, those without previous earthquake experience and those whose homes were undamaged.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The analysis included 706 of the 820 invited adults, so it may not represent those who declined or were excluded. The study measured people living in tent cities in three provinces at one early time point, so it may not apply to other disaster settings or later periods. Physical symptoms and coping were self-reported, and the coping scale measured perceived coping rather than actual coping skills. The design was correlational, so it cannot show that earthquake stress caused the symptoms or that any characteristic caused a coping style. The regression models explained only a small share of the differences in coping strategies.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. Funding came from the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Türkiye (TUBITAK).
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that nurses' home visits, health checks or coping education reduced these symptoms. The study only measured adults in tent cities at one time and did not test any intervention, so it describes what survivors reported, not what care caused.