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M. Suresh Kumar, MD, DPM, MPH, Manoj V. Murhekar, MD, Yvan Hutin, MD, PhD, Thilakavathi Subramanian, PhD, Vidya Ramachandran, MSc, MPH, PhD and Mohan D. Gupte, MD, DPH

The authors are with the National Institute of Epidemiology, Indian Council of Medical Research, Chennai, India.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Mohan D. Gupte, MD, DPH, National Institute of Epidemiology, Indian Council of Medical Research, Mayor V. Ramanathan Road, Chetput, Chennai, Tamilnadu 600 031, India (e-mail: nieicmr{at}vsnl.com).

Two months after the December 2004 tsunami in Tamil Nadu, India, we surveyed adults aged 18 years or older in a severely affected coastal village using structured interviews and the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. The prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder was 12.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]=9.4%, 17.1%), and odds of posttraumatic stress disorder were higher among individuals with no household incomes, women, and those injured during the tsunami.

In addition to promoting feelings of safety, interventions aimed toward populations affected by the December 2004 tsunami need to focus on income-generating activities. Also, there is a need to target initiatives toward women and those individuals injured during the tsunami, given that these groups are more likely to experience posttraumatic stress disorder.

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