著者
Seiji Yasumura Tetsuya Ohira Tetsuo Ishikawa Hiroki Shimura Akira Sakai Masaharu Maeda Itaru Miura Keiya Fujimori Hitoshi Ohto Kenji Kamiya
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.32, no.Supplement_XII, pp.S3-S10, 2022-12-05 (Released:2022-12-05)
参考文献数
46
被引用文献数
11 21

The Fukushima Health Management Survey (FHMS) was established in response to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident on March 11, 2011. The primary objectives of the study are to monitor residents’ long-term health and promote their future well-being, and to determine the health effects of long-term low-dose radiation exposure. This special issue summarizes the results and current status of the FHMS and discusses the challenges and future directions of the FHMS. The FHMS, a cohort study of all people who were residents in Fukushima Prefecture at the time of the accident, consists of a Basic Survey, Thyroid Ultrasound Examination, Comprehensive Health Check, Mental Health and Lifestyle Survey, and Pregnancy and Birth Survey. The radiation exposure was estimated based on the behavioral records examined using the Basic Survey. Although the response rate was low in the Basic Survey, the representativeness of the radiation exposure data was confirmed using additional surveys. There appears to be no relationship between the radiation exposure and risk of thyroid cancer, although more thyroid cancer cases were detected than initially expected. The ongoing Comprehensive Health Check and Mental Health and Lifestyle Survey have provided evidence of worsening physical and mental health status. The Pregnancy and Birth Survey showed rates of preterm delivery, low birth weight, and congenital abnormalities similar to the national average. Considering the above evidence, the Fukushima Prefectural Government decided to end the Pregnancy and Birth Survey at the end of March 2021, as recommended by the Prefectural Oversight Committee. The framework of the FHMS has not changed, but the FHMS needs to adapt according to the survey results and the changing needs of the eligible residents and municipalities.
著者
Masaharu Maeda Mayumi Harigane Naoko Horikoshi Yui Takebayashi Hideki Sato Atsushi Takahashi Maho Momoi Saori Goto Yuichi Oikawa Rie Mizuki Itaru Miura Shuntaro Itagaki Hirooki Yabe Tetsuya Ohira Seiji Yasumura Hitoshi Ohto Kenji Kamiya
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.32, no.Supplement_XII, pp.S47-S56, 2022-12-05 (Released:2022-12-05)
参考文献数
50
被引用文献数
9

A Mental Health and Lifestyle Survey (MHLS) has been conducted yearly as part of the Fukushima Health Management Survey since 2012, in order to monitor different health issues related to long-term evacuation of affected people after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. This survey is a mail-based one of nearly 210,000 affected people living in the evacuation zone at the time of the disaster. Another purpose of the MHLS is to provide efficient interventions by telephone based on the results of the survey. Significant findings contributing to understanding of non-radiological health effects caused by long-term evacuation were obtained from the MHLS, directly connecting to telephone-based interventions for over 3,000 respondents per year. In this article, the mental health outcomes of the MHLS, including depressive symptoms and posttraumatic responses, are reviewed, and the usefulness of telephone-based interventions is discussed. The evidence showed that, despite improvement of core mental health outcomes, the prevalence of respondents at high risk of some psychiatric problems remained high compared to that among the general population in Japan. In particular, several mental health consequences of respondents staying outside of Fukushima Prefecture were higher than those staying inside Fukushima. Along with further efforts to increase the response rate, we need to continue and modify the MHLS to meet the requirements of the affected people and communities.
著者
Itaru Miura Masanori Nagao Hironori Nakano Kanako Okazaki Fumikazu Hayashi Mayumi Harigane Shuntaro Itagaki Hirooki Yabe Masaharu Maeda Tetsuya Ohira Tetsuo Ishikawa Seiji Yasumura Kenji Kamiya
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.32, no.Supplement_XII, pp.S95-S103, 2022-12-05 (Released:2022-12-05)
参考文献数
34
被引用文献数
3

Background: The relationship between radiation levels and mental health status after a nuclear disaster is unknown. We examined the association between individual external radiation doses and psychological distress or post-traumatic stress after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in March 2011 in Japan.Methods: The Mental Health and Lifestyle Survey was conducted from January 2012. Based on the estimated external radiation doses for the first 4 months, a total of 64,184 subjects were classified into <1 mSv, 1 to <2 mSv, and ≥2 mSv groups. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of psychological distress and post-traumatic stress, with the <1 mSv group as the reference, were calculated using logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, sex, evacuation, perception of radiation risk, and subjective health status.Results: The prevalence of psychological distress/post-traumatic stress in the <1 mSv, 1 to <2 mSv, and ≥2 mSv groups was 15.1%/22.1%, 14.0%/20.1%, and 15.0%/21.7%, respectively. In women, although the ≥2 mSv group tended to have a higher risk of psychological distress with the age-adjusted OR of 1.13 (95% CI, 0.99–1.30), the adjusted OR decreased to 1.00 (95% CI, 0.86–1.16) after controlling for all variables. On the other hand, there were no dose-dependent associations between radiation dose and post-traumatic stress.Conclusion: Although external radiation doses were not associated with psychological distress, evacuation and perception of radiation risk may increase the risk of psychological distress in women in the higher dose group.