| Title |
Psychological distress 35 years after the Chornobyl accident in the Lithuanian clean-up workers / |
| Authors |
Kazlauskas, Evaldas ; Smailytė, Giedrė ; Domarkienė, Ingrida ; Kučinskas, Vaidutis ; Matulevičienė, Aušra ; Elklit, Ask ; Žukauskaitė, Gabrielė ; Ambrozaitytė, Laima |
| DOI |
10.1080/16549716.2023.2233843 |
| Full Text |
|
| Is Part of |
Global health action.. Taylor and Francis Ltd.. 2023, vol. 16, iss. 1, art. no. 2233843, p. [1-5].. ISSN 1654-9716. eISSN 1654-9880 |
| Keywords [eng] |
Chornobyl ; disaster ; clean-up workers ; psychological distress ; depression ; anxiety ; Lithuanian population |
| Abstract [eng] |
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 (Mage = 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. |
| Published |
Taylor and Francis Ltd |
| Type |
Journal article |
| Language |
English |
| Publication date |
2023 |
| CC license |
|
