Factors in Mental Health Problems among Japanese Dialysis Patients Living in Heavily Damaged Prefectures Two Years after the Great East Japan Earthquake

Abstract

This study examined the prevalence of mental health problems and related factors among dialysis patients living in prefectures that were heavily damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Research was conducted two years following the disaster, and data of 1500 residents of the prefectures were analyzed. This study examined disaster related stressors, gender, socioeconomic status, health problems prior the earthquake, and social support, all of which have been identified as aggravating/mitigating factors in previous research on disaster survivors. We also examined advanced awareness of emergency planning as a dialysis specific factor. Mental health problems after the disaster were categorized into three types: PTSD and depression comorbidity, PTSD only, and depression only. Results indicated that people with comorbidity, PTSD, and depression comprised 7.5%, 25.0%, and 2.9% of the sample, respectively. Not only disaster related stressors but also health problems prior to the disaster had an aggravating direct effect on comorbidity and PTSD. In addition, social support and advanced awareness of disaster planning had a mitigating effect on comorbidity. These results suggest that advanced awareness of disaster planning is a dialysis specific factor that could decrease the occurrence of comorbidity among dialysis patients following a disaster.