The psychological impact of a dual-disaster caused by earthquakes and radioactive contamination in Ichinoseki after the Great East Japan Earthquake

Niitsu, Tomihisa; Takaoka, Kota; Uemura, Saho; Kono, A; Saito, Akihiko; Kawakami, Norito; Nakazato, Michiko; Shimizu, Eiji

doi:10.1186/1756-0500-7-307

Cited by 32 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…For other demographic factors, Educational attainment, History of mental illness and area (Registered address on March 11, 2011) were significantly associated with psychological distress in our results. Higher education levels decreased the risk of psychological distress, which is consistent with previous studies on disasters [ 24 ] [ 25 ]. In accordance with several studies on changes in mental status among psychiatric patients following the nuclear accident [ 10 , 11 ] [ 26 ], having mental illness was highest risks in our all survey items.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Severe Psychological Distress of Evacuees in Evacuation Zone Caused by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident: The Fukushima Health Management Survey

Kunii¹,

Suzuki²,

Shiga³

et al. 2016

PLoS ONE

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BackgroundFollowing the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has continued to affect the mental health status of residents in the evacuation zone. To examine the mental health status of evacuee after the nuclear accident, we conducted the Mental Health and Lifestyle Survey as part of the ongoing Fukushima Health Management Survey.MethodsWe measured mental health status using the Kessler 6-item psychological distress scale (K6) in a total of 73,569 (response rate: 40.7%) evacuees aged 15 and over who lived in the evacuation zone in Fukushima Prefecture. We then dichotomized responders using a 12/13 cutoff on the K6, and compared the proportion of K6 scores ≥13 and ≤12 in each risk factor including demographic information, socioeconomic variables, and disaster-related variables. We also performed bivariate analyses between mental health status and possible risk factors using the chi-square test. Furthermore, we performed multivariate regression analysis using modified Poisson regression models.ResultsThe median K6 score was 5 (interquartile range: 1–10). The number of psychological distress was 8,717 (14.6%). We found that significant differences in the prevalence of psychological distress by almost all survey items, including disaster-related risk factors, most of which were also associated with increased Prevalence ratios (PRs). Additionally, we found that psychological distress in each evacuation zone was significantly positively associated with the radiation levels in their environment (r = 0.768, p = 0.002).ConclusionThe earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear accident likely caused severe psychological distress among residents in the evacuation zone in Fukushima Prefecture. The close association between psychological distress and the radiation levels shows that the nuclear accident seriously influenced the mental health of the residents, which might be exacerbated by increased risk perception. To provide prompt and appropriate support, continued psychosocial intervention for evacuees is strongly recommended.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Severe Psychological Distress of Evacuees in Evacuation Zone Caused by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident: The Fukushima Health Management Survey

Kunii¹,

Suzuki²,

Shiga³

et al. 2016

PLoS ONE

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“…In the present study, the prevalence of sleep disturbance was 36.9% (829/2,249) at two years after the GEJE and 14.6% of survivors had new-onset sleep disturbance at three years after the GEJE. A higher rate of psychological distress and social isolation among the survivors was reported even in the chronic phase after the GEJE (Niitsu et al 2014;Sone et al 2016). Further, many survivors had to live in shelters or unfamiliar places because they lost their homes due to the tsunami after the earthquake or needed to flee to safe places (Hagiwara et al 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Higher Incidence of Sleep Disturbance among Survivors with Musculoskeletal Pain after the Great East Japan Earthquake: A Prospective Study

Yabe

Hagiwara

Sekiguchi

et al. 2018

Tohoku J. Exp. Med.

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Sleep disturbance is a common symptom after natural disasters. Although musculoskeletal pain also increases after natural disasters, its relation to sleep disturbance is not clear. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of musculoskeletal pain on new-onset sleep disturbance among survivors after the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE). A prospective cohort study was conducted with the survivors of the GEJE at two and three years after the earthquake. New-onset sleep disturbance was defined as sleep disturbance absent at two years and present at three years after the earthquake. The sites of musculoskeletal pain included low back, shoulder, knee, and hand or foot. The number of musculoskeletal pain sites at two years after the earthquake was divided into three categories (0, 1, and 2 or more). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) for new-onset sleep disturbance according to the number of musculoskeletal pain sites. A total of 1,102 survivors were included in this study and 14.6% of the participants reported new-onset sleep disturbance. Using "0" as a reference, the adjusted ORs (95% CI) for new-onset sleep disturbance were 2.43 (1.55-3.80) in "1" and 2.96 (1.88-4.64) in "2 or more", respectively (P for trends < 0.001). In conclusion, this is the first study showing higher incidence of sleep disturbance among survivors with musculoskeletal pain after the GEJE. Care for musculoskeletal pain is important to prevent sleep disturbance after natural disasters.

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“…People who had the following characteristics or status were likely to have psychological distress: female, lost their family members, experienced residential damage, had anxiety about radioactive contamination, had difficult economic status, and had weak social support. [90][91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113][117][118][119][120]122,[124][125][126][127][128][129][132][133][134][135][136][137][138][139][140]143,144,147,151,152,155 Psychological effects of the...…”

Section: Mental Health Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Noncommunicable Diseases After the Great East Japan Earthquake: Systematic Review, 2011–2016

Murakami

Sasaki

Pascapurnama

et al. 2017

Disaster med. public health prep.

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The psychological impact of a dual-disaster caused by earthquakes and radioactive contamination in Ichinoseki after the Great East Japan Earthquake

Cited by 32 publications

References 27 publications

Severe Psychological Distress of Evacuees in Evacuation Zone Caused by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident: The Fukushima Health Management Survey

Severe Psychological Distress of Evacuees in Evacuation Zone Caused by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident: The Fukushima Health Management Survey

Higher Incidence of Sleep Disturbance among Survivors with Musculoskeletal Pain after the Great East Japan Earthquake: A Prospective Study

Noncommunicable Diseases After the Great East Japan Earthquake: Systematic Review, 2011–2016

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