The association between disaster exposure and media use on post-traumatic stress disorder following Typhoon Hato in Macao, China

Figures & data

Table 1. Participant characteristics and typhoon exposure.

	Total		No PTSD		PTSD
	N = 1876		N = 1780		N = 96
Variable	n	%	n	%	n	%	χ^2	p
Sociodemographic characteristics
Gender
Men	634	33.8	588	92.7	46	7.3	9.02	0.003
Women	1242	66.2	1192	96.0	50	4.0
Region
Macao	1239	66.0	1160	93.6	79	6.4	Fisher’s exact	0.005
Hong Kong	54	2.9	51	94.4	3	5.6
Mainland China	550	29.3	537	97.6	13	2.4
Taiwan	24	1.3	23	95.8	1	4.2
Others	9	0.5	9	100.0	0	0.0
Direct experience
Injured
No	1845	98.3	1755	95.1	90	4.9	13.16	< 0.001
Yes	31	1.7	25	80.7	6	19.3
Almost drowned in the flooding
No	1861	99.2	1771	95.2	90	4.8	37.89	< 0.001
Yes	15	0.8	9	60.0	6	40.0
Stranded during the storm
No	1252	66.7	1183	94.5	69	5.5	1.20	0.273
Yes	1398	33.3		95.7	27	4.3
Trapped during the storm
No	1398	74.5	1328	95.0	70	5.0	0.14	0.711
Yes	478	25.5		94.6	26	5.4
Someone close being injured
No	1791	95.5	1707	95.3	84	4.7	14.85	< 0.001
Yes	1622	4.5	73	85.9	12	14.1
Witnessed people injured
No	1622	86.5	1557	96.0	65	4.0	30.39	< 0.001
Yes	254	13.5	223	87.8	31	12.2
Saw someone almost drown
No	1824	97.2	1735	95.1	89	4.9	7.67	0.006
Yes	52	2.8		86.5	7	13.5
Saw someone drown
No	1860	99.1	1768	95.1	92	4.9	Fisher’s exact	0.007
Yes	16	0.9	12	75.0	4	25.0
Saw a dead body
No	1863	99.3	1770	95.0	93	5.0	Fisher’s exact	0.026
Yes	13	0.7	10	76.9	3	23.1
Home damaged
No	1489	79.4	1434	96.3	55	3.7	30.12	< 0.001
Yes	387	20.6	346	89.4	41	10.6
Home flooded
No	1625	86.6	1554	95.6	71	4.4	14.00	< 0.001
Yes	251	13.4	226	90.0	25	10.0
Home uninhabitable after the typhoon
No	1665	88.8	1590	95.5	75	4.5	11.45	0.001
Yes	211	11.2	190	90.1	21	9.9
Personal or family loss of property
No	1402	74.7	1338	95.4	64	4.6	3.49	0.062
Yes	474	25.3	442	93.2	32	6.8
Resource deprivation
No access to drinking water
No	689	36.4	657	96.2	26	3.8	3.80	0.051
Yes	1193	63.6	1123	94.1	70	5.9
No access to food
No	1249	66.6	1197	95.8	52	4.2	7.00	0.008
Yes	627	33.4	583	93.0	44	7.0
No access to running water from a tap
No	309	16.5	292	94.5	17	5.5	0.11	0.737
Yes	1507	83.5	1488	95.0	79	5.0
No access to electricity
No	96	5.1	86	89.6	10	10.4	5.85	0.016
Yes	1780	94.9	1694	95.2	86	4.8
No access to internet
No	201	10.7	184	91.5	17	8.5	5.17	0.023
Yes	1675	89.3	1596	95.3	79	4.7
No access to needed medication
No	1800	95.9	1720	95.6	80	4.4	41.43	< 0.001
Yes	76	4.1	60	79.0	16	21.0
No access to medical attention
No	1812	96.6	1728	95.4	84	4.6	25.36	< 0.001
Yes	64	3.4	52	81.3	12	18.7
Not able to communicate with loved ones
No	905	48.2	855	94.5	50	5.5	0.60	0.439
Yes	971	51.8	925	95.3	46	4.7

PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder.

Table 2. Average reported media use 1 week after Typhoon Hato.

Total	No PTSD		PTSD
N = 1876	N = 1780		N = 96
Variables	M	SD	M	SD	t-test	p
Types of media use
Watching TV about the storm	2.15	2.93	2.82	3.21	−2.19	0.029
Listening to radio programmes about the storm	1.07	2.25	2.24	2.81	−4.87	< 0.001
Reading newspaper about the storm	2.26	2.87	2.64	2.05	−1.24	0.216
Viewing online news about the storm	3.57	3.62	3.52	3.70	0.13	0.894
Watching videos about the storm	2.99	3.44	3.83	3.81	−2.34	0.019
Viewing news updates on social media about the storm	3.88	3.85	4.60	3.98	−1.79	0.074
Viewing videos on social media that were captured by people in the community about the storm	3.55	3.74	4.58	3.86	−2.63	0.009
Media content
The storm itself	2.86	1.15	2.07	1.25	6.47	< 0.001
The flooding	2.34	1.30	2.17	1.27	1.27	0.204
Drowning victims	1.83	1.26	2.13	1.30	−2.21	0.027
Residents’ emotional reactions	2.27	1.26	2.44	1.19	−1.25	0.212
Interviews with government officials	1.74	1.26	2.07	1.26	−2.47	0.013
Images of people being heroic	2.78	1.17	2.43	1.26	2.90	0.003
Images of people being safe	2.26	1.23	2.17	1.28	0.75	0.451

PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder.

Table 3. Multivariable logistic regression Models 1 and 2.

	Model 1			Model 2				Model 3
Variables	aOR	95% CI	p	aOR		95% CI	p	aOR	95% CI	p
Participant characteristics
Age	0.90	0.81–1.00	0.061	0.89	0.79–0.99		0.035	0.86	0.76–0.97	0.012
Gender
Women (ref. men)	0.56	0.37–.084	0.006	0.61	0.40–0.93		0.023	0.60	0.38–0.93	0.024
Region
Macao	1.00			1.00				1.00
Hong Kong	0.93	0.28–3.06	0.902	1.05	0.32–3.47		0.940	0.78	0.22–2.80	0.704
Mainland China	0.40	0.22–0.73	0.003	0.39	0.21–0.72		0.003	0.33	0.17–0.63	0.001
Taiwan	0.68	0.09–5.09	0.703	0.84	0.11–6.27		0.865	0.49	0.06–3.98	0.501
Direct exposure
Injured				1.23	0.34–4.39		0.754	0.40	0.10–1.63	0.200
Witnessed people injured				2.81	1.69–4.67		< 0.001	2.33	1.36–4.00	0.002
Someone close being injured				1.39	0.60–3.22		0.443	1.48	0.60–3.63	0.395
Almost drowned in the flooding				10.30	2.49–42.59		0.001	8.99	1.92–41.99	0.005
Saw someone almost drown				0.82	0.27–2.53		0.733	0.65	0.20–2.14	0.481
Saw someone drown				2.24	.38–13.15		0.371	1.68	0.30–9.39	0.554
Saw a dead body				0.44	0.05–4.33		0.485	0.89	0.11–7.07	0.913
Home damaged				3.14	1.90–5.21		< 0.001	2.86	1.71–4.78	< 0.001
Home flooded				1.40	0.79–2.46		0.247	1.27	0.70–2.27	0.431
Home uninhabitable after the typhoon				3.21	1.83–5.61		< 0.001	2.59	1.45–4.64	0.001
Personal or family loss of property				0.69	0.41–1.16		0.164	0.74	0.44–1.25	0.263
Resource deprivation
No access to drinking water								1.25	0.72–2.15	0.430
No access to food								1.48	0.90–2.44	0.121
No access to electricity								0.45	0.17–1.24	0.123
No access to internet								0.69	0.31–1.54	0.363
No access to needed medication								3.61	1.45–9.01	0.006
No access to medical attention								1.32	0.47–3.70	0.597

aOR, adjusted odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.

Table 4. Multivariable logistic regression Model 4.

	Model 4a			Model 4b
Variables	aOR	95% CI	p	aOR	95% CI	p
Participant characteristics
Age	0.84	0.75–0.96	0.007	0.87	0.77–1.00	0.05
Gender
Men	1.00			1.00
Women	0.56	0.35–0.90	0.017	0.76	0.49–1.30	0.367
Region
Macao	1.00			1.00
Hong Kong	0.91	0.24–3.39	0.887	0.90	0.22–3.53	0.859
Mainland China	0.33	0.17–0.64	0.001	0.40	0.21–0.84	0.014
Taiwan	0.43	0.05–3.57	0.433	0.56	0.07–4.97	0.639
Direct exposure experience
Injured	0.45	0.11–1.85	0.267	0.40	0.10–1.62	0.200
Witnessed people injured	2.12	1.21–3.70	0.008	2.32	1.36–4.00	0.002
Someone close being injured	1.55	0.63–3.82	0.342	1.48	0.60–3.63	0.395
Almost drowned in the flooding	8.24	1.82–37.34	0.006	8.99	1.92–41.99	0.005
Saw someone almost drown	0.61	0.19–1.92	0.399	0.65	0.20–2.14	0.481
Saw someone drown	1.45	0.27–7.65	0.661	1.68	0.30–9.39	0.554
Saw a dead body	0.99	0.14–7.15	0.990	0.89	0.11–7.07	0.913
Home damaged	3.04	1.79–5.17	< 0.001	2.86	1.71–4.78	< 0.001
Home flooded	1.18	0.65–2.13	0.592	1.27	0.70–2.27	0.431
Home uninhabitable after the typhoon	2.52	1.40–4.54	0.002	2.59	0.44–4.64	0.001
Personal or family loss of property	0.74	0.43–1.26	0.264	0.74	0.44–1.25	0.263
Resource deprivation
No access to drinking water	1.28	0.73–2.21	0.387	1.25	0.72–2.15	0.430
No access to food	1.43	0.86–2.36	0.166	1.48	0.90–2.44	0.121
No access to electricity	0.35	0.12–0.97	0.043	0.45	0.17–1.24	0.123
No access to internet	0.74	0.33–1.65	0.458	0.70	0.31–1.54	0.363
No access to needed medication	3.42	1.33–8.80	0.011	3.61	1.45–9.01	0.006
No access to medical attention	1.67	0.58–4.77	0.339	1.32	0.47–3.70	0.597
Types of media use
Watching TV	0.99	0.88–1.10	0.82
Listening to radio programmes	1.20	1.08–1.33	0.001
Reading newspaper	0.92	0.82–1.03	0.14
Watching videos	1.00	0.90–1.12	0.95
Viewing news updates on social media	0.93	0.82–1.05	0.25
Viewing videos on social media that were captured by people in the community	1.11	0.98–1.27	0.09
Sharing posts on social media	1.75	1.09–2.81	0.02
Media content
The storm itself				0.37	0.28–0.49	< 0.001
The flooding				1.00	0.74–1.33	0.98
Drowning victims				1.29	1.00–1.67	0.05
Residents’ emotional reaction				1.98	1.44–2.72	< 0.001
Interviews with government				1.21	0.97–1.54	0.09
Images of people being heroic				0.72	0.55–0.94	0.02

aOR, adjusted odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.