Back to Search
Start Over
Psychological distress 35 years after the Chornobyl accident in the Lithuanian clean-up workers.
- Source :
- Global Health Action; 2023, Vol. 16 Issue 1, p1-5, 5p
- Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- The adverse effects on the health of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant accident clean-up workers have been reported previously. However, there is a lack of studies on the mental health of Chornobyl clean-up workers. The current study explored psychological distress in a sample of Lithuanian clean-up workers 35 years after the accident. In total, 107 Lithuanian Chornobyl clean-up workers (M<subscript>age</subscript> = 62.5) and 107 controls were included in the study. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) was used for the assessment of anxiety and depression. The depression symptoms were significantly higher in the clean-up workers compared to the control group. The prevalence of severe depression symptoms was 23.4% and 4.7% in the Chornobyl clean-up workers and control groups, respectively. The risk for severe depression was associated with Chornobyl clean-up work (adjusted OR = 5.9). No differences in the anxiety symptoms were found between clean-up workers and controls. The study revealed the deteriorated mental health of the Lithuanian Chornobyl clean-up workers 35 years after the disaster – in particular, high levels of depression. Psychosocial support programmes for clean-up workers should be provided to mitigate the adverse effects of the disaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- ACCIDENTS
NUCLEAR power plants
SOCIAL support
EVALUATION of human services programs
TIME
HAZARDOUS substances
BLUE collar workers
OCCUPATIONAL exposure
DISASTERS
COMPARATIVE studies
PSYCHOSOCIAL factors
MENTAL depression
DESCRIPTIVE statistics
RESEARCH funding
ANXIETY
PSYCHOLOGICAL distress
LITHUANIANS
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 16549716
- Volume :
- 16
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Global Health Action
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 174837958
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2023.2233843