Background: Every spring, windblown dust storms damage human health and cause many domestic animal deaths in Mongolia. In particular, mass livestock death results in severe, direct economic loss to inhabitants. However, there is little empirical evidence to demonstrate the long-term effects of dust storm, especially in terms of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) secondary to livestock loss. We evaluated the long-term effects of livestock loss on Mongolian inhabitants.
Methods: We performed a cross-sectional survey of HRQoL using 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36, an index of the health condition) 1 year after a dust storm. The study subjects were 64 inhabitants of stricken areas of Mongolia. The data collection method was a face-to-face interview with a questionnaire.
Results: A total of 64 subjects were interviewed, 81% in the victims group and 19% in the non-victims group. The mean number of livestock victims was 83.3, s = 128.3. The SF-36 subscale scores were lower among people who lost livestock than among those who did not. Multiple regression analysis displayed a significant association between livestock loss and HRQoL (general health: = -0.476, P = 0.021; vitality: = -0.359, P = 0.013).
Conclusion: Our results provide preliminary evidence that livestock loss has long-term effects on HRQoL. Thus, it is necessary to conduct epidemiologic surveys on disorders associated with dust storms and devise countermeasures for the future.
Keywords: dust storm; livestock loss; long-term effect.