Abstract
Objectives: There is a possibility that the risk factors for the development of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) after a large-scale disaster vary depending on the shelter’s environment. This time we conducted DVT examinations of the victims of the Kumamoto earthquake which occurred on 16th April 2016, and compared the DVT detection rates between the groups of people in the general shelters and welfare-type shelters. This paper is to report our findings.
Method: We conducted DVT examinations at the shelters in Aso city and Minamiaso Village in Kumamoto prefecture. The number of subjects was 207 (48 males, 159 females with a mean of 68.1 ± 16.1 years old) who wanted medical examinations. In all cases, we conducted medical interviews, took blood pressure measurements and did lower limb venous ultrasound examinations, and we then compared the DVT detection rates by groups of people in different types of shelters.
Result: 8 out of 10 shelters were general shelters (156 people; 38 males, 118 females, with a mean of 65.2±16.4 years old), and 2 of them were the welfare-type shelters (51 people; 10 males, 41 females, with a mean of 77.0±11.2 years old). It was found that 11.1% (23 people) out of all the victims had developed DVT. As the DVT detection rate for the group of people in the general shelters was 10.3% (16 people), and that for the welfare-type shelters was 13.7% (7 people), there was no significant difference (p = 0.80). The detection rates were as high as 23.2%, which was about one in four people, for the group of people over 75 years old in the general shelters, and it was 16.6%, which was about one in six people, for the people over 75 years old in the welfare-type shelters.
Conclusion: The DVT detection rates were equivalent between the groups of people in the general shelters and welfare-type shelters. Regarding the DVT prevention measures at the general shelters, appropriate allocation of human resources and environmental improvements are important. Also, the DVT detection rate was high in the latter-stage elderly people who were over 75 years old even if they were in the welfare-type shelters which had a better environment, so special attention should be paid to this fact."
