Somatic symptoms, psychological distress and trauma after disasters: lessons from the 2014 Hazelwood mine fire and 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires

Bushfires cause significant physical and mental ill-health. How physical and mental symptoms following bushfire interact is largely unknown, particularly in the context of repeated exposures.Objective and Design: Understand how posttraumatic stress and general psychological distress were associated with somatic symptoms in a community exposed to multiple smoke events using a longitudinal research design. Setting and Participants: A random weighted sample of 709 adults exposed to smoke during the 2014 Hazelwood coal mine in south-eastern Australia completed a survey in 2020. The survey coincided with the Black Summer bushfires that caused a similar period of smoke haze in the region.Measures: Participants self-reported somatic symptoms (PHQ-15), mine fire-related posttraumatic stress (IES-R), general psychological distress (K10), health diagnoses and demographic information. Associations between posttraumatic stress, general psychological distress, and each PHQ-15 somatic symptom were analysed using ordinal logistic regression models. Results: Overall, 36.2% of participants reported moderate- or high-level somatic symptomology. The most frequent somatic symptoms were fatigue, limb pain, trouble sleeping, back pain, headaches, and shortness of breath. After controlling for confounding factors, general psychological distress and posttraumatic stress were independently associated with all somatic symptoms (except menstrual problems in females for posttraumatic stress). Conclusion: Results highlight the high prevalence of somatic symptoms and their association with general psychological distress and posttraumatic stress within a community in the midst of a second large-scale smoke event. It is essential that healthcare providers and public health authorities consider the interconnections of these conditions when supporting communities affected by climate-related disasters.