@article{ref1,
title="Mental health effects in primary care patients 18 months after a major wildfire in Fort McMurray:  risk increased by social demographic issues, clinical antecedents, and degree of fire exposure",
journal="Frontiers in psychiatry",
year="2019",
author="Moosavi, Shahram and Nwaka, Bernard and Akinjise, Idowu and Corbett, Sandra E. and Chue, Pierre and Greenshaw, Andrew J. and Silverstone, Peter H. and Li, Xin-Min and Agyapong, Vincent I. O.",
volume="10",
number="",
pages="e683-e683",
abstract="<b>Objectives:</b> To assess prevalence of <i>likely</i> posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in patients attending the only out-of-hours primary care clinic in Fort McMurray some 18 months following a major fire. <b>Methods:</b> A quantitative cross-sectional survey was used to collect data through self-administered paper-based questionnaires to determine <i>likely</i> PTSD, MDD, and GAD using the PTSD Checklists for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) 5, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) 9, and GAD-7, respectively, from residents of Fort McMurray who were impacted by the wildfires. This was carried out eighteen (18) months after a major wildfire, which required the rapid evacuation of the entire city population (approximately 90,000 individuals). <b>Results:</b> We achieved a response rate of 48% and results from the 290 respondents showed the 1 month prevalence rate for likely PTSD was 13.6%, likely MDD was 24.8%, and likely GAD was 18.0%. Compared to self-reported prevalence rates before the wildfire (0%, 15.2%, and 14.5% respectively), these were increased for all diagnoses. After controlling for other factors in a logistic regression model, there were statistically significant associations between individuals who had likely PTSD, MDD, and GAD diagnoses and multiple socio-demographic, clinical, and exposure-related variables as follows: PTSD: History of anxiety disorder and received counselling had odds ratios (ORs) of 5.80 and 7.14, respectively. MDD: Age, witnessed the burning of homes, history of depressive disorder, and receiving low level support from friends and family had ORs of 2.08, 2.29, 4.63, and 2.5, respectively. GAD: Fearful for their lives or the lives of friends/family, history of depressive disorder, and history of anxiety disorder had ORs of 3.52, 3.04, and 2.68, respectively. There were also associations between individuals with a likely psychiatric diagnosis and those who also had likely alcohol or drug abuse/dependence. <b>Conclusion:</b> Our study suggests there are high prevalence rates for mental health and addiction conditions in patients attending the out-of-hours clinic 18 months after the wildfires, with significant associations between multiple variables and likely PTSD, MDD, and GAD. Further studies are needed to explore the impact of population-based mental health interventions on the long-term mental health effects of the wildfires.<br><br>Copyright © 2019 Moosavi, Nwaka, Akinjise, Corbett, Chue, Greenshaw, Silverstone, Li and Agyapong.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1664-0640",
doi="10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00683",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00683"
}