The effects of living environment on disaster workers: a one–year longitudinal study

BMC Psychiatry

Research Article

Makiko Yoshiga¹  Kosuke Dobashi²  Naoki Esaki³  Miyuki Tanaka⁴  Nahoko Harada⁵  Jun Shigemura⁶  Masaaki Tanichi⁶  Aihide Yoshino⁶  Kunio Shimizu⁷  Masanori Nagamine⁷ 

[1] Camp Beppu, Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, Oita, Japan;Camp Kokura, Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, Fukuoka, Japan;Camp Kurume, Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, Fukuoka, Japan;Camp Omura, Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, Nagasaki, Japan;Department of Nursing Science of Community Health Care System, Tohoku University School of Health Sciences, Miyagi, Japan;Department of Psychiatry, National Defense Medical College, Saitama, Japan;Division of Behavioral Science, National Defense Medical College Research Institute, Saitama, Japan;

关键词: Disaster workers;    Great East Japan Earthquake;    Post-traumatic stress response;    Psychological distress;    Risk factors;    Living environment;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12888-016-1058-4

 received in 2016-05-30, accepted in 2016-10-04,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundDefense Force workers engaged in disaster relief activities might suffer from strong psychological stress due to the tasks that they had been involved. We evaluated how living environments, work environments, and individual factors psychologically affect those who engaged in disaster relief activities.MethodData generated with 1506 personnel engaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake relief activity were analyzed. Those who scored ≥25 points on the Impact of Events Scale-Revised and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) were allocated into the high post-traumatic stress response (high-PTSR) group, and the high general psychological distress (high-GPD) group, respectively.ResultsThe multiple logistic regression analysis extracted living environment (camping within the shelter sites) as the significant risk factor for both high-PTSR (OR = 3.39, 95 % CI 2.04–5.64, p < 0.001) and high-GPD (OR = 3.35, 95 % CI 1.77–6.34, p < 0.001) groups.ConclusionIt is desirable for disaster workers to have a living environment in which they can keep an appropriate distance from the victims.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2016