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Effects of Disaster Damage and Working Conditions on Mental Health Among Public Servants 16 Months After the Great East Japan Earthquake

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2018

Maiko Fukasawa ,
Yuriko Suzuki ,
Akiko Obara  and
Yoshiharu Kim
Maiko Fukasawa*
Affiliation:
Department of Adult Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan
Yuriko Suzuki
Affiliation:
Department of Adult Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan
Akiko Obara
Affiliation:
Miyagi Mental Health and Welfare Center, Miyagi, Japan
Yoshiharu Kim
Affiliation:
Department of Adult Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan National Information Center of Disaster Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Maiko Fukasawa, Department of Adult Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa-Higashi, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8553, Japan (e-mail: s05fukasawa@ncnp.go.jp; fukasawamaiko@hotmail.com).
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Abstract

Objective

To explore whether stressors after a disaster have later effects on the mental health of public servants who engage in disaster response and to estimate the proportion of those experiencing persistent mental distress.

Methods

We analyzed the data of health surveys conducted in Miyagi Prefecture for all prefectural public servants at 2, 7, and 16 months after the Great East Japan Earthquake (n=3174). We investigated relationships between mental distress (defined as K6≥10) at 16 months after the earthquake and earthquake damage and working conditions at 2 months. We also calculated the proportion of participants who scored K6≥10 on all 3 surveys.

Results

The experience of living someplace other than one’s own home was significantly related with mental distress at 16 months after the earthquake. Few participants consistently scored K6≥10 throughout all 3 surveys.

Conclusions

The effects of stressors in the aftermath of a disaster could remain for a long time. Few public servants experienced persistent mental distress. Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:622–630

Keywords

disastermental healthpublic servantsworking conditions
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 12 , Issue 5 , October 2018 , pp. 622 - 630
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2018 

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