Psychiatric Outpatients After the 3.11 Complex Disaster in Fukushima, Japan

Arinobu Hori; Hiroshi Hoshino; Itaru Miura; Masaki Hisamura; Akira Wada; Shuntaro Itagaki; Yasuto Kunii; Junya Matsumoto; Hirobumi Mashiko; Craig L. Katz; Hirooki Yabe; Shin-Ichi Niwa

doi:10.1016/j.aogh.2016.09.010

Annals of Global Health (Mar 2017)

Psychiatric Outpatients After the 3.11 Complex Disaster in Fukushima, Japan

Arinobu Hori,
Hiroshi Hoshino,
Itaru Miura,
Masaki Hisamura,
Akira Wada,
Shuntaro Itagaki,
Yasuto Kunii,
Junya Matsumoto,
Hirobumi Mashiko,
Craig L. Katz,
Hirooki Yabe,
Shin-Ichi Niwa

Affiliations

Arinobu Hori: Department of Disaster and Comprehensive Medicine, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
Hiroshi Hoshino: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
Itaru Miura: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
Masaki Hisamura: Department of Emergency Medicine Saitama Medical Center, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan
Akira Wada: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
Shuntaro Itagaki: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
Yasuto Kunii: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan; Department of Psychiatry, Aizu Medical Center, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
Junya Matsumoto: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
Hirobumi Mashiko: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
Craig L. Katz: Departments of Psychiatry and Medical Education, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
Hirooki Yabe: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
Shin-Ichi Niwa: Department of Psychiatry, Aizu Medical Center, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aogh.2016.09.010
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 82, no. 5
pp. 798 – 805

Abstract

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BackgroundAfter the 3.11 complex disaster, fear of radioactive contamination and forced evacuation influenced a number of residents to seek psychiatric care.ObjectivesThis study assessed the sequential changes in the number of new outpatients and patients with acute stress disorder (ASD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), adjustment disorder, and depression after the Fukushima disaster.MethodsWe distributed questionnaires to 77 psychiatric institutions to determine the number of new outpatients between March and June in 2010, 2011, and 2012.FindingsThere were 771, 1000, and 733 new patients in 2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively. We observed a statistically significant increase in new patients with ASD or PTSD and a significant decrease in patients with depression in 2011, which returned to predisaster levels in 2012.ConclusionsThere were time- and disease-dependent changes in the numbers of psychiatric care-seeking individuals after the 3.11 complex disaster in Fukushima.

Published in Annals of Global Health

ISSN: 2214-9996 (Online)
Publisher: Ubiquity Press
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Medicine: Internal medicine: Infectious and parasitic diseases; Medicine: Public aspects of medicine
Website: https://www.annalsofglobalhealth.org/

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