Citation

Nicole W. Environ. Health Perspect. 2022; 130(8): e84002.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences)

DOI

10.1289/EHP11792

PMID

35960037

Abstract

From hurricanes to earthquakes, natural disasters affect survivors in innumerable ways, including adverse effects on mental1 and physical2 health. Only a few studies have been able to assess a consistent set of health indicators both before and after a disaster due to the unpredictability of such events. However, in a study recently published in Environmental Health Perspectives,3 a team of researchers was able to use preexisting data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study to assess a wide array of health and well-being outcomes before and up to 9 years after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

The authors used data from a cohort of older individuals who came from the city of Iwanuma. The tsunami that followed the earthquake killed more than 180 people in Iwanuma, inundated nearly half the city, and destroyed 5,542 houses. Most of the 2,167 individuals in the current study sustained some degree of damage to their homes during the 2011 disaster; 4% suffered a complete home loss...

Language: en