TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - 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]
JO  - Psychiatry and the Clinical Neurosciences
A1  - Oe, Misari
A1  - Fujii, Satoshi
A1  - Maeda, Masaharu
A1  - Nagai, Masato
A1  - Harigane, Mayumi
A1  - Miura, Itaru
A1  - Yabe, Hirooki
A1  - Ohira, Tetsuya
A1  - Takahashi, Hideto
A1  - Suzuki, Yuriko
A1  - Yasumura, Seiji
A1  - Abe, Masafumi
SP  - 245
EP  - 252
VL  - 70
IS  - 6
N2  - 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>
LA  - en
SN  - 1323-1316
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/pcn.12387
ID  - ref1
ER  -