Symposium on disaster-related deaths after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident

Abstract

Disaster deaths can be classified into direct and indirect deaths. Direct deaths are those caused by the direct physical effects of disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and radiation exposure. Indirect deaths are those caused by secondary health effects such as emergency evacuation, relocation, evacuation environment, disruption of health care delivery services, and psychosocial effects. In addition, in Japan, the term disaster-related deaths refers to indirect deaths in accordance with the disaster condolence payments system, which provides relief for bereaved families. On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) exposed several issues related to disaster-related deaths in Japan. Therefore, on February 1, 2022, a symposium on disaster-related deaths hosted by this study was held on the website. The symposium discussed the issues and challenges associated with disaster-related deaths for future disaster preparedness. The authors introduced the concept of "shaking" at the symposium by defining "shaking" as "the repeated changes in the social and living environment that worsen health conditions, regardless of the disaster." It was also pointed out that vulnerable populations are more likely to experience more pronounced health effects. This generalized concept of "shaking" associated with disaster-related deaths suggests that it is important to anticipate disasters before they occur to take specific preventive measures, targeted at vulnerable populations. This study found that disaster-related deaths in Japan create several problems in terms of future radiation disaster preparedness and medical countermeasures. In the future, there will be a need to examine the relevance of the issues of disaster-related deaths identified as a result of this symposium for future radiation disaster preparedness.

Categorization of disaster-related deaths in Minamisoma city after the Fukushima nuclear disaster using clustering analysis

“…In this study, the average age of those identified as disaster-related deaths was 82.7 ± 11.9 years, which is consistent with previous reports that these deaths tend to occur in people in their 70 s and 80 s, with no significant sex bias 7 , 10 , 40 . Among people who were at home at the time of the disaster, only three of the seven groups received nursing care, whereas among those in a hospital or facility, only one of the five groups did not receive nursing care.…”

“…Disaster-related deaths are among the most important issues in disaster medicine and can be caused by secondary health effects of a disaster, such as emergency evacuation, relocation, shelter environment, disruption of healthcare delivery services, and psychosocial effects 7 . The environment of a disaster-stricken area during and after a disaster differs from that of normal times in several ways, and thus interventions for the resulting problems require a different approach 8 .…”

Comparative evaluation of the sleep quality metrics between a cardboard bed and a camp cot: a randomized controlled crossover study

“…Musculoskeletal pain, such as back pain, is known to disrupt sleep, but we speculate that the strain on the musculoskeletal system was not significant enough to impact sleep in this young, healthy cohort. Lower back pain has been reported as the most prevalent health issue among evacuees ( Ichiseki, 2013 ; Tsuboi et al, 2022 ). Furthermore, research has shown that individuals with lower back pain experience a decrease in sleep quality when sleeping on an extra firm mattress ( Radwan et al, 2015 ; Caggiari et al, 2021 ; Jacobson et al, 2010 ).…”

Disaster-related deaths with alcohol-related diseases after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident: case series

“…Some areas of Minamisoma were set as evacuation zones, forcing residents to relocate. In addition to direct deaths from the earthquake and tsunami, disaster-related deaths associated with evacuation following the FDNPP accident constitute a major issue ( 7 ). As of March 31, 2022, a total of 520 people were certified as having indirectly died due to the disasters (in this paper, the term “disaster-related deaths” refers to deaths that are indirectly caused by a disaster) in Minamisoma City; this is the highest number among the municipalities in the six Tohoku prefectures, accounting for approximately 22.2% of the total number of disaster-related deaths in the Fukushima Prefecture ( 8 , 9 ).…”