Objective: This study aimed to evaluate posttraumatic stress symptoms among healthcare workers in the third year following the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes and to examine the relationships of these symptoms with perceived social support, personality traits, anxiety, and depression levels. Method: A total of 174 healthcare workers who were employed at the same hospital during the February 6, 2023 earthquakes were included in the study.
Participants were evaluated using the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), the Revised Abbreviated Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQR-A), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).
Results: The mean age of the participants was 35.94±9.40 years, and 65.5% were female. Posttraumatic stress symptom severity was positively correlated with depressive, and anxiety symptoms, and neuroticism, and negatively correlated with perceived social support. PCL-5 scores were significantly higher among participants who worked in the disaster area during the first month after the earthquakes, experienced housing damage, were displaced from their homes for at least one week, relocated their residence, experienced housing problems, or had a physically injured relative.
In the multiple linear regression analysis, anxiety symptoms and perceived social support were independently associated with posttraumatic stress symptom severity (R²=0.496). Conclusion: Approximately three years after the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes, posttraumatic stress symptoms among healthcare workers were associated with anxiety levels, perceived social support, and secondary stressors arising in the aftermath of the disaster.