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IJERPH
Volume 17
Issue 11
10.3390/ijerph17113921
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Article

The Association between Utilization of Media Information and Current Health Anxiety Among the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster Evacuees

by
Masatsugu Orui
1,2,*,
Chihiro Nakayama
1,
Yujiro Kuroda
3,
Nobuaki Moriyama
1,
Hajime Iwasa
1,4,
Teruko Horiuchi
1,
Takeo Nakayama
5,
Minoru Sugita
6 and
Seiji Yasumura
1
1
Department of Public Health, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan
2
Sendai City Mental Health and Welfare Center, Sendai 980-0845, Japan
3
Center for Integrated Science and Humanities, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan
4
Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
5
Department of Health Informatics, School of Public Health, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
6
Toho University, Tokyo 143-8540, Japan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(11), 3921; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17113921
Received: 19 May 2020 / Revised: 28 May 2020 / Accepted: 29 May 2020 / Published: 1 June 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2nd Edition of Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management (Health-EDRM))
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Abstract

The 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima was not only a health disaster, but also an information disaster. Although media can promote health communication following disasters, studies have revealed associations between media information and negative psychological reactions. To clarify the relationship between media utilization and current health anxiety due to radiation exposure, a cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in Fukushima. We selected 2000 subjects from evacuation (i.e., 500) and non-evacuation (i.e., 1500) areas by two-stage stratified random sampling. As the independent variable, participants were asked about current health anxiety due to radiation exposure at the time of answering the questionnaire. For utilization of media about radiation exposure, local media, national media, Internet media, public broadcasts, and public relations information from local government were set as the dependent variables. Questionnaire data were analyzed by evacuation type (i.e., forced/voluntary). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, the use of public relations information was significantly associated with lower anxiety for the forced evacuees (odds ratio: 0.72; 95% confidence interval: 0.56–0.93). Our findings highlight the importance of public relations information from local government in terms of it being associated with lower current health anxiety, and this could potentially aid in preparing for future disasters. View Full-Text
Keywords: Fukushima nuclear accident; mass media; Internet; public health practice; community mental health services Fukushima nuclear accident; mass media; Internet; public health practice; community mental health services
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MDPI and ACS Style

Orui, M.; Nakayama, C.; Kuroda, Y.; Moriyama, N.; Iwasa, H.; Horiuchi, T.; Nakayama, T.; Sugita, M.; Yasumura, S. The Association between Utilization of Media Information and Current Health Anxiety Among the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster Evacuees. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 3921. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17113921

AMA Style

Orui M, Nakayama C, Kuroda Y, Moriyama N, Iwasa H, Horiuchi T, Nakayama T, Sugita M, Yasumura S. The Association between Utilization of Media Information and Current Health Anxiety Among the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster Evacuees. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17(11):3921. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17113921

Chicago/Turabian Style

Orui, Masatsugu, Chihiro Nakayama, Yujiro Kuroda, Nobuaki Moriyama, Hajime Iwasa, Teruko Horiuchi, Takeo Nakayama, Minoru Sugita, and Seiji Yasumura. 2020. "The Association between Utilization of Media Information and Current Health Anxiety Among the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster Evacuees" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 11: 3921. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17113921

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