Decontamination Reduces Radiation Anxiety and Improves Subjective Well-Being after the Fukushima Accident

Abstract

Since the 2011 Fukushima accident, rebuilding society to protect against anxiety and improve feelings of well-being has grown in importance. A questionnaire was carried out among residents of Marumori Town, Igu County, Miyagi Prefecture, to evaluate the effects of radiation-related countermeasures implemented by the town to reduce residents' anxiety and improve their subjective well-being (response rate: 31%; valid responses: n = 174). Further, to propose effective countermeasures regarding town planning for the improvement in subjective well-being, we analyzed associations between residents' sense of attachment to the town and subjective well-being, and then identified primary factors behind their sense of attachment. Marumori Town, located about 50 km to the northwest of the Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, is a good site for evaluating the effects of countermeasures taken by the town itself to fight anxiety, because there have been limited surveys and professional medical support, and mitigation efforts were primarily initiated by the town. The results suggested that decontamination evaluations were associated with a reduction in anxiety after the accident, which contributed to an increase in residents' subjective well-being. On the other hand, the evaluation of items related to human interactions in the community and the natural environment was found as a primary factor of sense of attachment toward the town, which contributed to an increase of residents' subjective well-being. This is the first study to quantitatively measure the effects of radiationrelated countermeasures on reducing anxiety and to propose an effective policy approach for improving subjective well-being.Keywords: decontamination; Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident; happiness; radiation; subjective well-being Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2017 February, 241 (2), 103-116. © 2017 Tohoku University Medical Press IntroductionThe Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident (hereafter, the 2011 accident) following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake resulted in multiple risks. In addition to the risk of radiation exposure (United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation 2014), there was risk from the evacuation (Murakami et al. 2015b), physical risk of diabetes and higher body mass index (Tsubokura et al. 2013;Satoh et al. 2015), and mental health risks . High radiation anxiety was also observed in residents (Orita et al. 2013;Hino et al. 2016). The perception of high radiation risk is associated with mental stress , which, along with mood disorders, is a major risk factor for suicide and other causes of death (Pratt 2009;Mattisson et al. 2015). Further, multiple studies reported that after the 2011 accident, the subjective well-being of people living in the area around the Nuclear Power Station declined (Hommerich 2012;Rehdanz et al. 2015;Tiefenbach and Kohlbacher 2015). After the 2011 accident, the subjective well-being of people living in prefectures adjacent to Fukushima was reduced (Tiefenbach and Kohlbacher 2...

Risk Perception and Anxiety Regarding Radiation after the 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Accident: A Systematic Qualitative Review

“…Twenty-two articles and the two surveys assessed risk perception or anxiety regarding radiation. Seven articles (29%) examined governing factors and explained the variance of risk perception [ 7 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 32 ], 10 (42%) examined the effects of risk perception or anxiety [ 7 , 11 , 12 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 33 , 34 ], and five (21%) [ 18 , 20 , 29 , 30 , 31 ] reported modifiability due to interventions (three of which also explain variance of risk perception factors). Three articles and the two surveys (20%) assessed risk perception and anxiety only [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 35 , 36 ], and did not examine governing factors and effects.…”

“…One study assessed respondents’ anxiety about radiation exposure using a binary response option (having anxiety: yes or no). Murakami et al [ 22 ] asked about anxiety over radiation while also clarifying differences in anxiety over time (current radiation anxiety and change in radiation anxiety after the accident). In their study, current anxiety was assessed on a scale from 0 (very unworried) to 10 (very worried), while change in radiation anxiety after the accident was assessed on a scale with five choices (anxiety reduced compared to before, anxiety somewhat reduced compared to before, no change compared to before, anxiety somewhat increased compared to before, and anxiety increased compared to before).…”

“…Inter-rater consistency was acceptable (κ = 0.72, p < 0.001). Evaluation of the full text against the eligibility criteria left 19 articles [ 7 , 11 , 12 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ] in the final review. Another three articles [ 32 , 33 , 34 ] were found by hand-searching of the reference lists of the 19 articles.…”

Efficacy of group intervention involving physical activity on subjective well‐being of elderly returnees after evacuation following the Great East Japan Earthquake

“…Because of the risk of radiation exposure, the Japanese government restricted entry into populated areas that had become contaminated and forced the long‐term evacuation of citizens from their homes . In addition, anxiety about contamination was reported to have caused subjective well‐being (SWB) to decline among the residents of Marumori, a town in Miyagi Prefecture that is located 50 km to the northwest of the power plant …”

“…3 In addition, anxiety about contamination was reported to have caused subjective well-being (SWB) to decline among the residents of Marumori, a town in Miyagi Prefecture that is located 50 km to the northwest of the power plant. 4 Subjective well-being refers to one's thoughts and feelings about his or her own well-being based on the presence of positive emotions and moods (e.g. contentment, happiness), the absence of negative emotions (e.g.…”