2017 Volume 20 Issue 3 Pages 16-25
Purpose: To shed light on health care support by clarifying the trends of research activities of prior researches regarding health issues of Fukushima residents after the Earthquake.
Method: 28 researches regarding health issues of Fukushima Prefecture residents published between April 2011 and March 2015 were extracted from the web version of “Igaku Chuo Zasshi” （Japan’s largest medical literature database）, used as subjects of this study and analyzed. Survey subjects were categorized into “expectant/nursing mothers”, “infants and their parents/guardians”, “children/students”, “adults”, and “elderly”, and findings on health issues were summarized by “physical health issues”, “mental health issues”, and “social health issues”.
Result: Mental health issues such as depression caused by their daily lives in evacuation and social health issues such as isolation were some of the health problems found with Fukushima Prefecture residents. Occurrence of mental disorders caused by anxieties regarding radiation related health problems was seen with the residents.
Discussion: Evacuees were showing various mental health issues caused by changes in living environments and interpersonal relationships. It is important to provide support system in line with the conditions of each region. There is a possibility that some residents continue to have concerns about internal exposure to radiation in the future and continued disclosure of easy to understand evidence-based information on the influence of radiation on health and related issues is important. Furthermore, it is of crucial importance that local authorities make preparations for natural disasters and nucler emergencies going forward.
