Abstract
BackgroundThe Great East Japan Earthquake inflicted severe damage on the Pacific coastal areas of northeast Japan. Although possible health impacts on aged or handicapped populations have been highlighted, little is known about how the serious disaster affected preschool children’s health. We conducted a nationwide nursery school survey to investigate preschool children’s physical development and health status throughout the disaster.MethodsThe survey was conducted from September to December 2012. We mailed three kinds of questionnaires to nursery schools in all 47 prefectures in Japan. Questionnaire “A” addressed nursery school information, and questionnaires “B1” and “B2” addressed individuals’ data. Our targets were children who were born from April 2, 2004, to April 1, 2005 (those who did not experience the disaster during their preschool days) and children who were born from April 2, 2006, to April 1, 2007 (those who experienced the disaster during their preschool days). The questionnaire inquired about disaster experiences, anthropometric measurements, and presence of diseases.ResultsIn total, 3624 nursery schools from all 47 prefectures participated in the survey. We established two nationwide retrospective cohorts of preschool children; 53 747 children who were born from April 2, 2004, to April 1, 2005, and 69 004 children who were born from April 2, 2006, to April 1, 2007. Among the latter cohort, 1003 were reported to have specific personal experiences with the disaster.ConclusionsWith the large dataset, we expect to yield comprehensive study results about preschool children’s physical development and health status throughout the disaster.
Highlights
The Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred on March
The massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake was the largest quake ever recorded in Japan, and the following giant tsunami inflicted severe damage on the Pacific coastal areas
Of the nursery schools that agreed to participate in the survey, 3624 returned at least one of the three questionnaires
Summary
The Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred on March11, 2011, was beyond our experience in modern Japanese history. The Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred on March. The massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake was the largest quake ever recorded in Japan, and the following giant tsunami inflicted severe damage on the Pacific coastal areas. Shinichi Kuriyama, MD, PhD, Department of Disaster Public Health, International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS), Miyagi Fukushima Iwate. Magnitude of 9.0 on the moment magnitude scale Human damage* Dead Missing (Tokyo). The Great East Japan Earthquake inflicted severe damage on the Pacific coastal areas of northeast. Possible health impacts on aged or handicapped populations have been highlighted, little is known about how the serious disaster affected preschool children’s health. We conducted a nationwide nursery school survey to investigate preschool children’s physical development and health status throughout the disaster
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