Dataset Information

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

ABSTRACT:

Background

Following 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.

Methods

We 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.

Results

The 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).

Conclusion

The 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.

SUBMITTER: Kunii Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4938533 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

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

Kunii Yasuto Y Suzuki Yuriko Y Shiga Tetsuya T Yabe Hirooki H Yasumura Seiji S Maeda Masaharu M Niwa Shin-Ichi S Otsuru Akira A Mashiko Hirobumi H Abe Masafumi M

PloS one 20160708 7

<h4>Background</h4>Following 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.<h4>Methods</h4>We measured mental health status using the Kessler 6-item psycholog ...[more]

PMID: 27391446

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Project description:BackgroundTo shed light on the mental health of evacuees after the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS), we evaluate the results of the Fukushima Health Management Survey (FHMS) of the residents at Kawauchi village in Fukushima, which is located less than 30 km from the FDNPS.MethodsWe conducted the cross-sectional study within the framework of the FHMS. Exposure values were "anorexia," "subjective feelings about health," "feelings about sleep satisfaction," and "bereavement caused by the disaster," confounding variables were "age" and "sex," and outcome variables were "K6 points." We collected data from the FHMS, and employed the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) and the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Checklist Stressor-Specific Version (PCL-S) to carry out the research. A total of 13 or greater was the cut-off for identifying serious mental illness using the K6 scale. The study subjects included residents (n = 542) of over 30 years of age from Kawauchi village, and data were used from the period of January 1, 2012 to October 31, 2012.ResultsA total of 474 residents (87.5%) scored less than 13 points in the K6 and 68 (12.6%) scored 13 points or more. The proportion of elderly residents (over 65 years old) among people with K6 score above the cut-off was higher than that among people with K6 score below the cut-off (44.1 vs 31.0%, p < 0.05). In addition, the proportion of residents with anorexia and mental illness among people with K6 score above the cut-off was higher than among people with K6 score below the cut-off (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively). The amount of residents who scored 44 points or more in the PCL-S among people with K6 score above the cut-off was also considerably higher than among people with K6 score below the cut-off (79.4 vs 12.9%, p < 0.001). Interestingly, the proportion of residents who scored more than among people with K6 score above the cut-off and the among people with PCL-S score above the cut-off in Kawauchi was higher than in previous studies in other locations.ConclusionsThese results suggest that there are severe mental health problems, such as depression and PTSD, among adults as a consequence of the accident at the FDNPS. Our study showed that residents who lived in the evacuation zone before the disaster are at high risk psychological distress. To facilitate local residents' recovery from Fukushima, there is a need to continue providing them with physical and mental support, as well as communication regarding the health risks of radiation.

Project description:Background: As a result of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, many residents evacuated and were exposed to changes in their living environment and socioeconomic status, and to persistent stressors. Past studies have suggested the potential for these circumstances to contribute to long-term changes to population health.Objective: The objective of this study was to gain a better understanding of long-term health effects of evacuation, by evaluating the risk of non-communicable diseases among evacuees from Minamisoma City (one of the closest municipalities to the power plant) until 2017.Methods: The study evaluated data from annual health check-ups for residents aged 40-74 years covered by National Health Insurance (who are largely self-employed) from 2010 to 2017 administered by Minamisoma City. Diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension were defined from the results of blood sampling. Annual changes in age-adjusted prevalence were estimated by evacuation scenario. We also performed an inverse-probability weighting (IPW) analysis to adjust for baseline covariates in 2010 and estimated the differences in the risk of diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension by evacuation scenario as of the 2017 health check-up in reference to the no-evacuation group.Results: A total of 1,837 individuals were considered in this study. Regardless of evacuation scenario, there was statistical evidence suggesting an upward and a downward trend in diabetes and hypertension from 2010 to 2017, respectively, while hyperlipidemia showed no remarkable change. IPW analyses demonstrated that disease risks in 2017 did not differ significantly among people with different evacuation scenarios.Conclusions: Region-specific factors played an important role in the health effects of the evacuation. Our findings have important implications for the need of an assessment of the health effects of evacuations in more localized manner. Further research in this area will strengthen the communities' preparedness for future disasters that require mass evacuation.

Dataset Information

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

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

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

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