Concern over radiation exposure and psychological distress among rescue workers following the Great East Japan Earthquake Concern over radiation exposure and distress

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Tomohito Hamazaki¹  Naoki Nakaya²  Kei Hamazaki³  Toshimasa Sone⁴  Yuichi Koido⁵  Hiroko Noguchi⁶  Daisuke Nishi⁷  Yutaka Matsuoka⁸ 

[1] CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 3256 Midoricho, 190-0014, Tachikawa, Japan;Department of Clinical Sciences, Institute of Natural Medicine, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, 930-0194, Toyama, Japan;CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 3256 Midoricho, 190-0014, Tachikawa, Japan;Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Family and Consumer Sciences, Kamakura Women’s University, 6-1-3 Ofuna, 247-8512, Kamakura, Japan;CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 3256 Midoricho, 190-0014, Tachikawa, Japan;Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, 930-0194, Toyama, Japan;CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 3256 Midoricho, 190-0014, Tachikawa, Japan;Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Science, Tohoku Fukushi University, 1-8-1 Kunimi, 981-8522, Sendai, Japan;Clinical Research Institute, National Disaster Medical Center, 3256 Midoricho, 190-0014, Tachikawa, Japan;Japan Disaster Medical Assistance Team, 3256 Midoricho, 190-0014, Tachikawa, Japan;Clinical Research Institute, National Disaster Medical Center, 3256 Midoricho, 190-0014, Tachikawa, Japan;National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawahigashi-cho, 187-8553, Kodaira, Japan;CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 3256 Midoricho, 190-0014, Tachikawa, Japan;Department of Psychiatry, National Disaster Medical Center, 3256 Midoricho, 190-0014, Tachikawa, Japan;Clinical Research Institute, National Disaster Medical Center, 3256 Midoricho, 190-0014, Tachikawa, Japan;CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 3256 Midoricho, 190-0014, Tachikawa, Japan;Department of Psychiatry, National Disaster Medical Center, 3256 Midoricho, 190-0014, Tachikawa, Japan;Clinical Research Institute, National Disaster Medical Center, 3256 Midoricho, 190-0014, Tachikawa, Japan;Translational Medical Center, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawahigashi-cho, 187-8551, Kodaira, Japan;National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawahigashi-cho, 187-8553, Kodaira, Japan;CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 3256 Midoricho, 190-0014, Tachikawa, Japan;

关键词: Psychological Distress;    Radiation Exposure;    Ptsd Symptom;    Severe Mental Illness;    Epidemiologic Study Depression Scale;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-12-249

 received in 2011-11-11, accepted in 2012-03-28,  发布年份 2012

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundOn March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami that followed caused severe damage along Japan’s northeastern coastline and to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. To date, there are few reports specifically examining psychological distress in rescue workers in Japan. Moreover, it is unclear to what extent concern over radiation exposure has caused psychological distress to such workers deployed in the disaster area.MethodsOne month after the disaster, 424 of 1816 (24%) disaster medical assistance team workers deployed to the disaster area were assessed. Concern over radiation exposure was evaluated by a single self-reported question. General psychological distress was assessed with the Kessler 6 scale (K6), depressive symptoms with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), fear and sense of helplessness with the Peritraumatic Distress Inventory (PDI), and posttraumatic stress symptoms with the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R).ResultsRadiation exposure was a concern for 39 (9.2%) respondents. Concern over radiation exposure was significantly associated with higher scores on the K6, CES-D, PDI, and IES-R. After controlling for age, occupation, disaster operation experience, duration of time spent watching earthquake news, and past history of psychiatric illness, these associations remained significant in men, but did not remain significant in women for the CES-D and PDI scores.ConclusionThe findings suggest that concern over radiation exposure was strongly associated with psychological distress. Reliable, accurate information on radiation exposure might reduce deployment-related distress in disaster rescue workers.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Matsuoka et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012