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All-Cause Mortality After the Great East Japan Earthquake in Fukushima Prefecture: Trends From 2009 to 2016 and Variation by Displacement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2020

Satoshi Tsuboi ,
Tomosa Mine ,
Satoshi Kanke  and
Tetsuya Ohira
Satoshi Tsuboi*
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Fukushima, Japan
Tomosa Mine
Affiliation:
Department of the Scientific Study of Children, Shokei Gakuin University, Natori, Miyagi, Japan
Satoshi Kanke
Affiliation:
Department of Community and Family Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Fukushima, Japan
Tetsuya Ohira
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Fukushima, Japan
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Satoshi Tsuboi, Department of Epidemiology, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Fukushima, Japan (e-mail: tsuboi@fmu.ac.jp).
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Abstract

Objectives:

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9 earthquake (the Great East Japan Earthquake) occurred off the east coast of Japan. After the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accidents, as of 2016, people were not allowed to live in the 6 districts (Tomioka, Okuma, Futaba, Namie, Katsurao, Iidate) in Fukushima Prefecture. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the long-term effects of displacement on all-cause mortality in Fukushima Prefecture.

Methods:

Data regarding population and deaths from 2009 to 2016 in Fukushima Prefecture were obtained from the governmental statistics. The age-adjusted all-cause mortality were compared among the 4 areas in Fukushima Prefecture; the Eastern, Middle, Western, and Displacement areas.

Results:

The age-adjusted all-cause mortality rates in the Eastern and Displacement areas were higher than in the other 2 areas from 2009 to 2011. During the period from 2012 to 2016, all-cause mortality in the Displacement area decreased to the lowest, while the morality in the Eastern area remained the highest.

Conclusions:

Against all expectations, after the earthquake, all-cause mortality in the Displacement area was continuously lower than in the rest of the Fukushima Prefecture. Following disasters, long-term monitoring should be organized to meet local health-care needs.

Keywords

all-cause mortalitydisasterdisplacementevacuationGreat East Japan Earthquake
Type
Brief Report
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 15 , Issue 6 , December 2021 , pp. 703 - 706
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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References

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