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Mental Health and Related Factors after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

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  • Yukari Yokoyama
  • Kotaro Otsuka
  • Norito Kawakami
  • Seiichiro Kobayashi
  • Akira Ogawa
  • Kozo Tannno
  • Toshiyuki Onoda
  • Yumi Yaegashi
  • Kiyomi Sakata

Abstract

Mental health is one of the most important issues facing disaster survivors. The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence and correlates of mental health problems in survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami at 6–11 months after the disaster. The questionnaire and notification were sent to the survivors in three municipalities in the Tohoku area of the Northern part of Honshu, Japan’s largest island, between September 2011 and February 2012. Questionnaires were sent to 12,772, 11,411, and 18,648 residents in the Yamada, Otsuchi, and Rikuzentakata municipalities, respectively. Residents were asked to bring the completed questionnaires to their health check-ups. A total of 11,124 or (26.0%) of them underwent health check-ups, and 10,198 were enrolled. We excluded 179 for whom a K6 score was missing and two who were both 17 years of age, which left 10,025 study participants (3,934 male and 6,091 female, mean age 61.0 years). K6 was used to measure mental health problems. The respondents were classified into moderate (5–12 of K6) and serious mental health problems (13+). A total of 42.6% of the respondents had moderate or serious mental health problems. Multivariate analysis showed that women were significantly associated with mental health problems. Other variables associated with mental health problems were: younger male, health complaints, severe economic status, relocations, and lack of a social network. An interaction effect of sex and economic status on severe mental health problems was statistically significant. Our findings suggest that mental health problems were prevalent in survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. For men and women, health complaints, severe economic status, relocations, and lack of social network may be important risk factors of poor mental health. For men, interventions focusing on economic support may be particularly useful in reducing mental health problems after the disaster.

Suggested Citation

  • Yukari Yokoyama & Kotaro Otsuka & Norito Kawakami & Seiichiro Kobayashi & Akira Ogawa & Kozo Tannno & Toshiyuki Onoda & Yumi Yaegashi & Kiyomi Sakata, 2014. "Mental Health and Related Factors after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(7), pages 1-10, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0102497
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0102497
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    4. Sone, Toshimasa & Nakaya, Naoki & Sugawara, Yumi & Tomata, Yasutake & Watanabe, Takashi & Tsuji, Ichiro, 2016. "Longitudinal association between time-varying social isolation and psychological distress after the Great East Japan Earthquake," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 96-101.
    5. Masatsugu Orui, 2022. "Suicide and Suicide Prevention Activities Following the Great East Japan Earthquake 2011: A Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-19, September.
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    7. Ryoma Kayano & Mingming Lin & Yasuko Shinozaki & Shuhei Nomura & Yoshiharu Kim, 2022. "Long-Term Mental Health Support after Natural Hazard Events: A Report from an Online Survey among Experts in Japan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-10, March.
    8. Rui Zhang & Yunzhi Zhang & Zhe Dai, 2022. "Impact of Natural Disasters on Mental Health: A Cross-Sectional Study Based on the 2014 China Family Panel Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-17, February.
    9. Fumikazu Hayashi & Tetsuya Ohira & Shiho Sato & Hironori Nakano & Kanako Okazaki & Masanori Nagao & Michio Shimabukuro & Akira Sakai & Junichiro James Kazama & Mitsuaki Hosoya & Atsushi Takahashi & Ma, 2022. "Association between Dietary Diversity and Sociopsychological Factors and the Onset of Dyslipidemia after the Great East Japan Earthquake: Fukushima Health Management Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-20, November.
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