Fukushima Mothers’ Concerns and Associated Factors After the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Disaster

Abstract

This study aimed to clarify the frequency of and temporal changes in the content of mothers' free written opinions obtained in the Fukushima Health Management Survey Pregnancy and Birth Survey from 2011 to 2013. A self-administered questionnaire was mailed to women who delivered babies in Fukushima Prefecture. The questionnaire asked about maternal and child health. Expression of mothers' concerns about radiation decreased over time. Common to the top 5 codes across the 3 years were "radiation effect on fetus and infant" and "information provision including survey results." Participants who wrote free opinions were significantly more likely to be aged ≥30 years and to have depressive symptoms. Our descriptive analysis of the qualitative data showed a clear shift in mothers' concerns from radiation-related issues to their own physical and mental health. Mothers who expressed concerns were more likely to report negative physical and mental health.

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

“…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.…”

“…Although no surveys or studies statistically tested changes in risk perception or anxiety over time, two articles reported descriptive data. Ito et al [ 28 ] reported the frequency of and changes over time in the content of mothers’ opinions obtained in the FHMS Pregnancy and Birth Survey from 2011 to 2013. Mothers’ concerns about radiation decreased over time (rate of opinion about radiation effect on fetus: 29.8% in 2011, 26.8% in 2012, 17.4% in 2013).…”

“…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.…”

Usefulness of the whole-body counter for infants and small children (BABYSCAN) as a risk communication tool after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant incident

“…17) In particular, after the incident, parental requests for internal contamination examinations of their children and parental anxiety concerning their children's health were high. 18) There was an increase in internal contamination examinations of children in addition to high levels of Fukushima food evasion by the parents/guardians of children. 19) The concern for radiation exposure was manifested in a desire for regular assessment of internal contamination levels among the parents/ guardians of children.…”

Difficulties of fathers whose families evacuated voluntarily after the Fukushima nuclear disaster

“…In addition, mothers felt anxious about the effects of radiation on their children's health and their future (Ito et al, ; Yoshii et al, ). The Fukushima health management survey demonstrated that women were more concerned about immediate and delayed health effects than men (Suzuki et al, ).…”