Association between earthquake experience and depression 37 years after the Tangshan earthquake: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between the Tangshan earthquake and depression after 37 years. DESIGN AND SETTING: A cross-sectional study conducted in Tangshan from 2013 to 2014. PARTICIPANTS: The sample included 5024 participants born before 28 July 1976 the date of the Tangshan earthquake, with available data on their earthquake experiences and depression 37 years post-earthquake. OUTCOMES AND VARIABLES: The outcome was depression measured using the Center for Epidemiological Study and Depression Scale. The independent variable was earthquake experience, which was classified into three groups: no earthquake experience, earthquake experience without bereavement and earthquake experience with bereavement. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between earthquake experience and depression after adjusting for gender, age at the time of the earthquake, smoking status, drinking status, education, income, residence in Tangshan 1 to 2 years post-earthquake, hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia. RESULTS: Of the 5024 participants, 641 experienced the Tangshan earthquake, and 98 experienced bereavement due to the earthquake. 37 years after the earthquake, survivors who had lost relatives during the earthquake were nearly three times (OR 2.82, 95% CI 1.24 to 6.39) as likely to have depression as those who had not experienced the earthquake, while those who had not lost relatives were 1.69 times as likely (OR 1.69, 95% CI 0.93 to 3.08). Stratified analyses showed that earthquake was significantly associated with depression in women with (OR 3.51, 95% CI 1.21 to 10.16) or without bereavement (OR 3.07, 95% CI 1.44 to 6.56) but not in men; this association was also significant in individuals over 18 years old at the time of the earthquake with (OR 13.16, 95% CI 3.08 to 56.3) or without bereavement (OR 3.39, 95% CI 1.31 to 8.87) but not in individuals less than 18 years old. CONCLUSIONS: 37 years after the Tangshan earthquake, earthquake experience was associated with depression among bereaved survivors, women and individuals over 18 years old at the time of the earthquake.