Impact of the Kahramanmaraş Earthquake on the Profiles of Patients Admitted to the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic: A University Hospital Experience from the Earthquake Epicenter.

BACKGROUND

This study aims to investigate the effect of the Kahramanmaraş earthquake on admissions to the child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinic admissions in a university hospital in the epicenter of the earthquake in Turkey and the relationship between psychiatric diagnoses and earthquake-related symptoms.

METHOD: The data set includes children and adolescents aged 0 to 18 who were admitted to the child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinic within one month before one year of the earthquake (February 6 to March 5, 2022; Before Earthquake (BE)), the first month after the earthquake (February 6 to March 5, 2023; After Earthquake 1 (AE1)), and one month after one of the earthquake (February 6 to March 5, 2024; After Earthquake 2 (AE2)). The sociodemographic characteristics, the psychiatric diagnoses, and the relationship of the diagnoses to the earthquake of the child and adolescent were recorded and analyzed from the file.

RESULTS

The data demonstrate a statistically significant increase over time in the proportion of children and adolescents with at least one psychiatric diagnosis, from 349 (87.5%) in BE to 48 (92.3%) in AE1 and 489 (93.6%) in AE2 (p = 0.026). The proportion of children and adolescents with two or more psychiatric diagnoses also increased significantly, from 116 (29.1%) in BE to 208 (40.5%) in AE2 (p < 0.001). In AE2, the prevalence of trauma- and stressor-related disorders (p < 0.001), anxiety disorders (p < 0.001), sleep-wake disorders (p < 0.001), and dissociative disorders (p = 0.009) significantly increased compared to BE. Furthermore, a comprehensive analysis revealed statistically significant associations between earthquake-related symptoms and specific disorders, including trauma- and stressor-related disorders, anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, sleep-wake disorders, dissociative disorders, and feeding and eating disorders (all p < 0.05). Notably, earthquake-related diagnoses were more prevalent among females (78, 61.4%) compared to males (49, 38.6%), a statistically significant difference (p = 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study provide significant insights into the psychological consequences of earthquakes on children and adolescents, revealing both immediate and long-term changes in psychiatric presentations. It is crucial to recognize that, in the aftermath of an earthquake, the relationship may persist beyond the trauma- and stressor-related disorders, thereby extending to encompass other psychiatric presentations.