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Exploring Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Hygiene Patterns in Adiyaman, Türkiye after the Türkiye and Syria Earthquake

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2025

Osman Küçükkelepçe Open the ORCID record for Osman Küçükkelepçe [Opens in a new window] ,
Fatma Sena Konyalıoğlu ,
Osman Kurt  and
Erdoğan Öz
Osman Küçükkelepçe*
Affiliation:
Public Health Department, https://ror.org/04asck240Adıyaman Provincial Health Directorate, Adıyaman, Turkey
Fatma Sena Konyalıoğlu
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Türkiye, Ankara, Türkiye
Osman Kurt
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, Inonu University, Malatya, Turkey
Erdoğan Öz
Affiliation:
Department of Family Medicine, Saglik Bilimleri University, İstanbul, Turkey
*
Corresponding author: Osman Küçükkelepçe; Email: osmankkelepce@hotmail.com
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Abstract

Objectives

On February 6, 2023, seismic activity struck Kahramanmaraş, with earthquakes of magnitudes 7.7 and 7.6. The study aimed to determine the effect of the presence of PTSD and its scores on hygiene behaviors.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted in Adıyaman, Türkiye, between September and October 2023. The study population comprised individuals aged 18 and above who had experienced the earthquake. The PTSD Checklist-Civilian (PCL-C) scale was used to evaluate PTSD, and the Hygiene Inventory was used to evaluate the participants’ hygiene behaviors.

Results

Females, those with lower levels of education, the unemployed, singles, those living in tents, individuals who lost a loved one in the earthquake, and those with PTSD had worse hygiene behaviors compared to other groups. In the multivariate model of linear regression analysis of hygiene total score, only the PTSD score retained its predictive significance for hygiene behavior. More than 50% of the participants had scores meeting PTSD. The total PTSD score and the prevalence of PTSD among women was notably greater.

Conclusions

Mental health plays a pivotal role in shaping individuals’ hygiene practices and behavior patterns post-disaster. Swift implementation of mental health interventions is crucial for the prevention of behavioral pathologies.

Keywords

mental healthdisastertraumaresilienceprevalence

Information

Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 19 , 2025 , e135
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc

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