2022 Volume 34 Issue 1 Pages 67-75
Background: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis（RA）are highly affected by environmental factors. Thus, a natural disaster may affect RA activity and functional status. Future patient education could be improved by understanding the life activities and conditions of patients with RA affected by disasters or evacuated to shelters, future patient education could be improved. However, there have been limited reports concerning this issue. Herein we conducted a retrospective cohort study in the disaster area after the July 2018 heavy rain event in western Japan.
Objective: To clarify daily life activities and evacuation behavior of patients with RA affected by natural disasters.
Methods: We conducted a questionnaire survey. Patients with RA who were treated in the Red Cross Matsuyama Hospital living in the area affected by the heavy rain disaster were invited to participate. Self-administered questionnaires were sent by mail to participants in June 2020. Damage-related factors; changes in health, functional, and mental status; and evacuation behaviors were included. Clinical and laboratory data were collected from medical records.
Results: Sixty patients（average age, 67 years; females, 82%; average disease duration, 17 years）responded among 90 patients（response rate, 67%）. Among them, 29 patients were affected by the disaster, and 11 patients evacuated their homes. Functional status decrease, which occurred in 56% of patients, was associated with a higher pre-event modified Health Assessment Questionnaire score. Of the evacuees, 25% found the living environment of the evacuation shelter inconvenient, and 83% did not exercise.
Conclusion: Daily life activities of patients with RA could be affected by a natural disaster. Results from this study can provide information for future pre-event patient education.
