@article{ref1,
title="Three-year trend survey of psychological distress, posttraumatic stress, and problem drinking among residents in the evacuation zone after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident [The Fukushima Health Management Survey]",
journal="Psychiatry and the Clinical Neurosciences",
year="2016",
author="Oe, Misari and Fujii, Satoshi and Maeda, Masaharu and Nagai, Masato and Harigane, Mayumi and Miura, Itaru and Yabe, Hirooki and Ohira, Tetsuya and Takahashi, Hideto and Suzuki, Yuriko and Yasumura, Seiji and Abe, Masafumi",
volume="70",
number="6",
pages="245-252",
abstract="AIM: Prolonged periods of instability in terms of living environment can lead to a serious increase in mental health issues among the disaster-affected individuals. The aim of this study was to assess long-term trends on mental health among adult residents in the nuclear disaster-affected area. <br><br>METHODS: Mail-based, self-administered questionnaire surveys were conducted three times (T1-T3), targeting all residents registered with the municipalities in the evacuation zone in Fukushima prefecture at the time of the disaster. Age-adjusted prevalences of the following were analyzed by gender: risk of psychological distress by the Kessler 6-item Scale (K6), posttraumatic stress by the PTSD Checklist (PCL), and problem drinking by CAGE. <br><br>RESULTS: The numbers of respondents and response rates were: 73,568, 40.7% (T1); 55,076, 29.9% (T2); and 46,386, 25.0% (T3). Compared with normal Japanese levels in non-disaster settings (4.7%), the prevalence of general psychological distress by K6 ≥13 was still high 3 years after the event in both males (11.4%) and females (15.8%). Although the age-adjusted prevalence of psychological distress and posttraumatic stress (PCL ≥ 44) had decreased over time (from 19.0% (T1) to 17.8% (T3) for males, 25.3% to 23.3% for females), the age-adjusted prevalence of problem drinking (CAGE ≥ 2) remained steady in both males (20.7% (T2) and 20.4% (T3); P = 0.18) and females (10.5% (T2) and 10.5% (T3); P = 0.91). <br><br>CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that long-term interventions focused on posttraumatic stress as well as other mental health problems are strongly needed for the disaster-affected individuals.<br><br>This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1323-1316",
doi="10.1111/pcn.12387",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/pcn.12387"
}