2017 Mexican Post-Earthquake Survey

This study aimed to analyze the prevalence of PTSD symptoms and the psychometric properties of the Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS) in persons who experienced the 2017 earthquakes in Mexico. Methods: Study with a probabilistic sample of 1,539 participants from Mexico City, the State of Mexico, Chiapas, Puebla, Morelos and Oaxaca during November and December of 2017. The DTS was used to screen for symptoms of post-traumatic stress; its divergent validity, internal validity and factorial structure was analyzed with the Resilience Scale (RS-14). Results: The prevalence of PTSD symptoms was 34.6%, with greater effects on the inhabitants of Oaxaca, Morelos and Puebla, women, indigenous people and people who experienced damage to their homes (p = 0.001). The DTS had a moderate negative correlation with the RS-14 and a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.957. The confirmatory factor analysis generated four factors that explain 50% of the variance, compatible with a Dysphoria model. Conclusions: One in three people exposed to earthquakes had symptoms of post-traumatic stress. The application of the DTS on the Mexican population exposed to the 2017 earthquakes was reliable and the factorial structure showed four well-defined factors.