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The Clinical Utility of Makeshift Beds in Disaster Shelters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2013

Masayuki Nara ,
Shinsaku Ueda ,
Masashi Aoki ,
Tsutomu Tamada ,
Takuhiro Yamaguchi  and
Michio Hongo
Masayuki Nara*
Affiliation:
Department of Comprehensive Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan
Shinsaku Ueda
Affiliation:
Department of Thoracic Surgery, Japanese Red Cross Ishinomaki Hospital, Ishinomaki, Miyagi, Japan
Masashi Aoki
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan
Tsutomu Tamada
Affiliation:
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan
Takuhiro Yamaguchi
Affiliation:
Division of Biostatistics, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan
Michio Hongo
Affiliation:
Department of Comprehensive Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Masayuki Nara, MD, PhD, Department of Comprehensive Medicine, Tohoku University School of Medicine, 1-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8574, Japan (e-mail nara@hosp.tohoku.ac.jp).
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Abstract

Objective

Strong earthquakes have been reported to increase the incidence of diseases. One reason for these increases may be the stress from the poor living environment for evacuees in disaster shelters. To reduce stress, makeshift cardboard beds were introduced in shelters in the Ishinomaki region, one of the areas heavily damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake, 4 months after the earthquake. The study was performed to determine whether use of the beds offered a reduction in the disease burden.

Methods

Blood pressure and blood D-dimer values, often used as diagnostic tests for venous thrombosis, were checked. The timed Up & Go (TUG) test, which assesses functional mobility; a questionnaire survey about symptoms (cough, insomnia, and lumbago); and an SF-8 health survey, a health-related quality of life survey, were also administered before and 1 month after introducing the beds.

Results

Blood pressure measurements, TUG test results, and questionnaire survey scores improved significantly 1 month after the introduction of the beds. Also, evacuees with higher blood D-dimer values tended to show improvement, suggesting that the beds may have had a good effect on persons with underlying venous thrombotic disorders.

Conclusion

Makeshift beds of cardboard could be very useful in disaster shelters. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2013;7:573–577)

Keywords

cardboardSF-8the Great East Japan Earthquake
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 7 , Issue 6 , December 2013 , pp. 573 - 577
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2013 

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