Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in Japan: Results from the World Mental Health Japan Survey

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to report the prevalence of trauma exposure and PTSD, conditional risk of PTSD associated with each trauma exposure in the community population in Japan. An interview survey was conducted of a random sample of adult residents in 11 communities of Japan. Among 4134 respondents (response rate, 55%), data from those who completed the part 2 interview (n = 1682) were analyzed with a weight for this subsample. Lifetime experiences of 27 trauma events and PTSD were assessed using the WHO-Composite International Diagnostic Interview version 3.0. Sixty percent of the part 2 sample reported exposure to at least one lifetime traumatic event. Lifetime and 12-month PTSD prevalences were 1.3% and 0.7%, respectively. Percentage of all months lived with PTSD in the population was predominantly accounted for by physical/sexual assaults and having a child with serious illness, and unexpected death of loved one. Ten percent of respondents reported “private events”, for which respondents did not have to describe the content, which accounted for 19% of months with PTSD. The lower prevalence of PTSD in Japan seems attributable to lower conditional risks of PTSD following these events, as well as different distributions of the events. The greater impact of events that occurred to loved ones rather than to oneself and “private events” on PTSD in Japan warrants further research of cross-cultural assessment of trauma exposure and cultural heterogeneity in the trauma-PTSD relationship.

Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder after exposure to biological material

“…Some studies corroborate this information and highlight sex as a risk factor for the development of the disorder, therefore, presenting a higher prevalence in women. 5,8,11,16,17 Another finding was that women showed a tendency for increased negative affectivity, more intrusive thoughts, avoidance behaviors and greater vigilance, when compared to men, increasing the risk of developing PTSD. 16 However, in the present study, the sex variable was not crossed due to the fact that the number of participants did not allow more predictor variables and due to the characteristics of the profession, which, according to Pimenta et al 18 (2013) and Fiocruz and Cofen 19 (2015) is related to historical issues, with nursing being predominantly exercised by women (84.6%), which may represent a bias.…”

“…8 It may begin within the first six months after the event [although not necessarily, since the 10 Studies on PTSD have been carried out with war veterans, survivors of disasters and natural catastrophes, sexual abuse victims, among many other situations that present an imminent risk of death. 10,11 There are, however, few findings related the occurrence of this disorder in HCWs exposed to PCBM, 3,6 which motivated this investigation.…”

“…In a study carried out with individuals that reported at least one traumatic experience during life, younger people had a greater risk for the disorder (OR = 4.3). 11 However, another author suggested that individuals in the 30-40 years age bracket tend to present more PTSD symptomatology, especially intrusion, when compared to younger subjects. 16 Age did not present a statistically significant difference among the categories.…”

Concerns Over Divergent Approaches in the Diagnostics of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

“…[47][48][49] Furthermore, the ICD-11 12 committee has questioned the "high rates of these diagnoses in populations experiencing natural or man-made disasters," despite the fact that rates in many disasters remain relatively low. [50][51][52] Contrary to the viewpoint that PTSD is overdiagnosed, there is extensive evidence showing that the majority of people who are in need of treatment for debilitating symptoms do not receive the care they need. [53][54][55][56][57][58][59] Furthermore, there are a range of reports demonstrating that clinicians frequently do not fully document the patient's symptoms and that PTSD is frequently not considered in many clinical settings.…”

The Fukushima Daiichi Accident

“…These studies focused largely on pregnant women and mothers of infants, rescue and cleanup workers, and evacuees. Some psychological consequences have been detected in the affected population [234][235][236][237][238][239][240][241][242][243][244] 103 . According to these studies, communication and dissemination of accurate information to the public at an early stage and during the development of the accident contributed to the alleviation of undesired psychological reactions [150].…”