RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Postnuclear disaster evacuation and chronic health in adults in Fukushima, Japan: a long-term retrospective analysis
JF BMJ Open
JO BMJ Open
FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group
SP e010080
DO 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010080
VO 6
IS 2
A1 Shuhei Nomura
A1 Marta Blangiardo
A1 Masaharu Tsubokura
A1 Akihiko Ozaki
A1 Tomohiro Morita
A1 Susan Hodgson
YR 2016
UL http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/2/e010080.abstract
AB Objective Japan's 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant incident required the evacuation of over a million people, creating a large displaced population with potentially increased vulnerability in terms of chronic health conditions. We assessed the long-term impact of evacuation on diabetes, hyperlipidaemia and hypertension.Participants We considered participants in annual public health check-ups from 2008 to 2014, administrated by Minamisoma City and Soma City, located about 10–50 km from the Fukushima nuclear plant.Methods Disease risks, measured in terms of pre-incident and post-incident relative risks, were examined and compared between evacuees and non-evacuees/temporary-evacuees. We also constructed logistic regression models to assess the impact of evacuation on the disease risks adjusted for covariates.Results Data from a total of 6406 individuals aged 40–74 years who participated in the check-ups both at baseline (2008–2010) and in one or more post-incident years were analysed. Regardless of evacuation, significant post-incident increases in risk were observed for diabetes and hyperlipidaemia (relative risk: 1.27–1.60 and 1.12–1.30, respectively, depending on evacuation status and post-incident year). After adjustment for covariates, the increase in hyperlipidaemia was significantly greater among evacuees than among non-evacuees/temporary-evacuees (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.32, p<0.01).Conclusions The singularity of this study is that evacuation following the Fukushima disaster was found to be associated with a small increase in long-term hyperlipidaemia risk in adults. Our findings help identify discussion points on disaster planning, including preparedness, response and recovery measures, applicable to future disasters requiring mass evacuation.