Travma Sonrası Stres Bozukluğu ve Besin Tercihleri: Yüzyılın Deprem Felaketi

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that occurs after traumatic events such as earthquakes. Earthquakes significantly affect public health and eating habits. The aims are to identify the types of food available after the earthquake, the prevalence of PTSD, and the changes in food preferences among individuals with PTSD.This study is a cross-sectional online survey, conducted among 250 students who experienced twin earthquakes. Sociodemographic characteristics, changes in eating habits and food preferences after the earthquakes, and PTSD conditions were evaluated.The prevalence of PTSD was found to be 42%. Female gender, physical injury and loss of relatives due to the earthquake, sheltering somewhere other than home, history of a psychiatric illness treated before the earthquake and changes in food preferences were found to be higher in PTSD. Participants with PTSD have increased or decreased appetite. Consumption of packaged products, carbohydrate group foods, tea and coffee increased in those with PTSD; consumption of vegetables, meat and protein-enriched products has decreased. There was no change in those without PTSD after the earthquake.There are nutritional changes in those with PTSD after the earthquake and suggests that stress may affect eating habits and food preferences. It would be benefical to investigate in community-based longitudinal studies that adequate-balanced nutrition may have the potential to contribute to a better mood in earthquake survivors. Monitoring individuals with PTSD through teamwork including a psychiatrist and a dietitian can prevent possible problems in terms of public health.