TY - JOUR PY - 2009// TI - Health impact of disaster-related stress on pregnant women living in the affected area of the Noto Peninsula earthquake in Japan JO - Psychiatry and the Clinical Neurosciences A1 - Hibino, Yuri A1 - Takaki, Jiro A1 - Kambayashi, Yasuhiro A1 - Hitomi, Yoshiaki A1 - Sakai, Akio A1 - Sekizuka, Naomi A1 - Ogino, Keiki A1 - Nakamura, Hideki SP - 107 EP - 115 VL - 63 IS - 1 N2 - Aims: The present study assessed the health impact of stress on women who were pregnant during, or immediately after, a major earthquake and were living in the disaster area. Inherent resistance against the stress induced by the earthquake was also assessed. Methods: The panel study consisted of 99 women who provided responses before and after delivery (response rate, 77.9%). Psychological impact was assessed on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and stress resistance was assessed on the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC). Results: In adjusted multivariate models, the significant earthquake factor that predicted postnatal depression (EPDS) was 'existing anxiety about an earthquake' (beta = 0.27, P = 0.01) and 'parity' (beta = -0.26, P = 0.02). The SOC during pregnancy significantly moderated between 'existing anxiety about an earthquake' and 'EPDS' (beta = -0.21, P = 0.02). During pregnancy the EDPS was a significant predictor of a physical abnormality during pregnancy or childbirth (odds ratio, 1.21; 95% confidence interval: 1.04-1.41). The SOC during pregnancy did not moderate between a physical abnormality and earthquake-related stress. Conclusions: Provision of an adequate support system and improvement of the SOC of young women affected by a disaster may be two ways of reducing the deleterious effects of disaster-related stress on maternal well-being.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 1323-1316 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1819.2008.01911.x ID - ref1 ER -