The exposure classification of the Ghislenghien disaster victims is related to the individual’s proximity to the disaster. The hypothesis was made that health problems of the defined groups would initially depend on the extent to which Enzalutamide chemical structure they witnessed or suffered personal injury, secondly on the degree of geographical distance to the explosion, and thirdly on the type of involvement Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries through family or close connections. Disaster victims often have been classified by the extent to which they suffered personal injury, bereavement or property loss [18]. Others differentiated groups according to the type of involvement, their function, their capability, their self-control and certain extraneous factors [19].

The classification made in our study lies Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries closely to the classification used in the Volendam fire disaster, in the Netherlands, where the different groups depended on the degree and type of losses experienced [8]. Limitations of the study in summary The sudden aspect of this technological disaster has put time pressure on the development Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries of the study protocol as we dealt with complicated socio-political and legal issues. Next, we faced a number of methodological problems, this include the definition of the entire potentially ‘affected’ population. In addition to the direct victims being on the site of the disaster, a rather large group of residents were included into the study population in order not to miss any potentially affected victim. It was further difficult to contact and motivate the most affected victims (wounded and hospitalized participants, family members of deceased persons).

None of the family members of deceased persons answered the questionnaire. Strengths of the study The first strength of the study is that we have included several sets of validated and widely used questions on mental, physical Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries and social health which also have been used by the Belgian health interview survey [7] as a reference population. Secondly, our target group composed of all potential victims including family and children. This added value, given that traumatic experiences and stressful life events frequently involve the entire support system of the victim [8]. Finally, people may answer in a different way in the aftermath of a disaster due to the social impact on the public as a whole inducing observation bias (attention given to the affected population, media).

But, in order to avoid observation bias during the second phase, the 2nd questionnaire was sent 14 months instead of 12 months Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries after the disaster when a lot of attention was given in the media due to the one-year memorial of the disaster. The significance of the Dacomitinib study for the management of large scale emergencies in Belgium This research provides knowledge about the long-term health consequences of technological disasters. Recommendations presented to the authorities stress the need to take care of and to follow up the victims.