RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SYMPTOMS SUCH AS BALANCE DISORDER, FEELING OF SWINGING, VERTIGO IN STUDENTS EXPERIENCED IN AN EARTHQUAKE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA

This study aims to determine the relationship between the complaints of university students who experienced the February 6, 2023 earthquake in Kahramanmaraş and surrounding provinces, such as dizziness, loss of balance, a sense of shaking, perceiving the environment as unsafe, dangerous and disturbing, and the psychological trauma caused by the earthquake. 366 university students who survived the February 6, 2023 earthquake in Kahramanmaraş and surrounding provinces in Turkey participated in the study. In the first part of the survey, students were asked about dizziness that did not occur before the earthquake but occurred after the earthquake, a feeling of shaking for less than 1 minute, loss of balance, feeling dizziness and loss of balance together, perceiving the environment as unsafe, dangerous and disturbing, and whether this situation caused them distress. In the second part of the survey, a total of 41 questions were asked to the student in 6 sub-dimensions of the ‘Attitude Scale to Determine the Psychological Status of Individuals Exposed to an Earthquake’ (Detachment from Life, Social Health, Psychological Change, Trauma Anxiety, Maturation, Avoidance). The ‘’Standard Vector Machine’’ (VRM) was used for statistical studies in the study. Findings:In the study, the feeling of shaking was found to be 98% high in all 6 psychological factors (detachment from life, social health, psychological change, trauma anxiety, maturation, avoidance). Similarly, finding the environment unsafe-dangerous-disturbing (92%) and feeling distressed by this situation (85%) were also found to be equally high in these 6 psychological factors. However, balance disorder (73%), dizziness (77%), dizziness and balance disorder together (73%) were found to be more common in Trauma Anxiety. Conclusion: Trauma anxiety is closely related to the emergence of complaints that were not present before the earthquake but were felt after the earthquake (dizziness, loss of balance, feeling of shaking, the combination of dizziness and loss of balance, finding the environment unsafe-dangerous-disturbing and feeling distressed by this situation). Although 15 months have passed since the earthquake, the psychological trauma caused by the earthquake continues on the students. Health managers need to focus on this situation.