Prevalence and risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder among survivors from a coal mining accident after 2 and 10 months

To investigate the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among survivors from a coal mining accident after 2 and 10 months and factors related to PTSD. To estimate the prevalence of PTSD, 104 miners were surveyed through the PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C). Forty survivors including 24 severe PTSD patients and 24 non-PTSD subjects were evaluated thoroughly. The current prevalence rate among survivors from the coal mining accident at 2 months was 50%. There were significant differences in PTSD symptoms, anxiety and depression, personality, and memory performance between the PTSD patients and non-PTSD controls. State anxiety, time to renew the work, depression, neuroticism, and the place they were staying, and length of service were predictors of PTSD. After 10 months of the accident, 30.6% survivors still met the criterion of PTSD. Compared with 2 months after the accident, PTSD symptoms, anxiety, and memory performance improved clearly, while the depressive symptoms had no significant dif