2021 Volume 41 Pages 373-381
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate an intervention program designed to prevent the worsening of depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Response (PTSR) among nurses who were victims of the Kumamoto Earthquake themselves and provided care to others.
Method: This study carried out a quasi-experiment among two groups: an intervention group (n = 230) who participated in a preventive intervention program for depression and PTSR, and a control group (n = 270) to whom questionnaires were administered. The preventive intervention program comprised a two-hour psychoeducation session on self-care and a three-hour dynamic group psychotherapy session intended to promote self-care, totaling five hours. Evaluation was conducted before and after the intervention, one month later, three months later, and six months later. The evaluation indicators were depression scores, PTSD positive rates, DCTR (Dynamic Change for Trauma Response), and SF-8 (Health-related Quality of Life).
Results: One year and seven months after the Kumamoto Earthquake, depression scores and PTSD positive rates were high in the intervention group. However, after the intervention program, improvement was observed in the depression scores, PTSD positive rates and DCTR scores.
Discussion: The implementation of the preventive intervention program, depression levels and the PTSD positive rates also decreased. However, depression was still persistent, suggesting that the intervention group was leading a life under stress after the earthquake.
Conclusion: Preventive intervention program brings change PTSD positive rate and DCTR, even if it had passed one year and seven months after disaster.
