2019 Volume 39 Pages 38-44
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of male workers whose wife and children voluntarily evacuated after the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster (implementation group).
Methods: The sample was 2,209 male workers working for 32 companies of the Fukushima Prefecture. We sent an anonymous self-administered questionnaire to them.
Results: Among the 352 men (response rate: 16.0%), 80 (22.7%) were in the implementation group. Among the implementation group, more than 80% were concerned about the effect of radiation on their children. Additionally, 61.3% of the implementation group evaluated the evacuation of the wife and child as “good”. On the contrary, the evaluation of it as “not good” was significantly associated with “I could not trust the information released about radiation”, “I had to do housework by myself”, and “I could talk to nobody that my wife and children evacuating voluntarily”.
Conclusion: The results suggested that the person with low evaluation of voluntarily evacuation of their wife and children would feel that there was a problem in risk communication during disasters, and might have experienced increased household burden and social isolation.
