Identifying psychosocial health effects on local residents and affected people after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26293485
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Community health nursing
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Jimba Masamine 東京大学, 大学院医学系研究科(医学部), 教授 (70196674)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 木村 真三 獨協医科大学, 医学部, 准教授 (50321849)
• Research Collaborator: MIYAMOTO Yuki ; NAKANO Masahiro ; MIYAKE Shinji ; KOMASA Yukako ; KITAMURA Akiko ; TAKEUCHI Takaaki
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 原子力災害 / 放射線 / 健康 / 精神 / 被災者 / 質的調査

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The objective of this research project was to examine psychosocial of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident in March 2011 as well as its determinants. The study focused on the community residents' health concerns that result from potential exposure to radiation. In the first year, a qualiitative research was conducted, which was mainly targeted older adults who continued to evacuate from exclusion zones. Background information on daily lives of evacuees and residents were gathered and analyzed. The "PTSD due to radiation exposure" scale which had been developed in Ukraine after the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident, was utilized as a reference for the scale development for people living in Fukushima. Interviews to the residents in Ukraine who were affected by Chernobyl accident were conducted in 2016-2018.

Free Research Field

国際保健

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

避難指示が解除されても、放射線量に関しての不安を抱く人が少なからず存在していた。同時に、居住環境が以前と同様ではなく、インフラ不足、家族の離散、経済的不安といった課題に直面することの影響も考えられた。本研究により被災者・避難者の不安を具体的に把握し、得られたエビデンスは長期ケアにも用いることができる。また、原子力事故を含む同様の複合災害が発生した際にも、起こりうる心理社会的影響の予防に貢献できると考えられる。