@article{ref1,
title="Lessons from the 2004 Asian tsunami: nature, prevalence and determinants of prolonged grief disorder among tsunami survivors in South Indian coastal villages",
journal="International journal of social psychiatry",
year="2015",
author="Rajkumar, Anto P. and Mohan, Titus Sp and Tharyan, Prathap",
volume="61",
number="7",
pages="645-652",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Prolonged grief disorder (PGD), previously called complicated grief, is associated with significant distress and long-term disability, and it may complicate assessments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after traumatic events. <br><br>METHODS: In order to distinguish PGD from PTSD, we conducted a cross-sectional survey among tsunami survivors in five tsunami-affected coastal villages in India, 9 months after the Asian tsunami. <br><br>RESULTS: Prevalence of PGD among 643 tsunami survivors was 14.2% (95% confidence interval (CI): 11.5%-16.9%) and among the 351 bereaved survivors was 25.9% (95% CI: 21.3%-30.5%). Spousal bereavement, extensive damage to homes, fewer years of education, and absence of tsunami-related physical injury differentiated those with PGD, after adjusting for potential confounders (p < .05). These factors were distinct from the factors associated with post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among these survivors. Scores on the avoidance, hyper-arousal and intrusion subscales of the Impact of Events Scale-Revised were significantly lower in those with PGD alone than in those with PTSS or with both disorders. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Our findings support the validity of PGD in a non-Western post-disaster community and its distinctness from PTSD. They have important public health implications in planning responses to natural disasters and for future revisions of diagnostic classifications.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0020-7640",
doi="10.1177/0020764015570713",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0020764015570713"
}