A longitudinal study of the occurrence and persistence of post‐traumatic health problems in disaster survivors

In order to explore the impact of catastrophic stress on health problems, the insurance records of workers ( N = 73) surviving an oil rig disaster were studied longitudinally. The figures were compared with a group ( N = 89) of offshore oil workers not exposed to disaster and matched for an age and sex. The observation period lasted from the disaster in 1980 through the first six months of 1988. Baseline data from the two years prior to the disaster showed no significant differences between the populations. However, among the survivors a significant increase in general morbidity appeared during the aftermath of the disaster with regard to both occurrence and persistence. When diagnoses were divided into ‘psychiatric’ and ‘non‐psychiatric’ the most striking changes were found for the psychiatric diagnoses. More moderate, yet significant differences emerged for the non‐psychiatric diagnoses. Of these, the psychosomatic diagnoses tended to show significant differences while the group of general somatic diagnoses did not. Indications of an increased accident proneness in the survivors were also demonstrated. Occurrence rates and the level of persistence remained fairly stable throughout the observation period; no obvious decline over the years was found. The findings emphasize the need for appropriate help programme for the victims of catastrophic stress aiming at the reduction of the occurrence and persistence of psychiatric and non‐psychiatric health problems.