Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T11:39:24.386Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Associations Between Social Support and Subjective Symptoms in Disaster-Stricken Ishinomaki, Japan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2020

Akie Midorikawa-Inomata ,
Mariko Inoue ,
Aya Ishiguro ,
Shoko Matsumoto ,
Kazue Yamaoka  and
Eiji Yano
Akie Midorikawa-Inomata
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Public Health, Teikyo University, Tokyo, Japan Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Hospital Administration, Tokyo, Japan
Mariko Inoue*
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Public Health, Teikyo University, Tokyo, Japan
Aya Ishiguro
Affiliation:
Department of Hygiene and Public Health, School of Medicine, Teikyo University, Tokyo, Japan
Shoko Matsumoto
Affiliation:
AIDS Clinical Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
Kazue Yamaoka
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Public Health, Teikyo University, Tokyo, Japan
Eiji Yano
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Public Health, Teikyo University, Tokyo, Japan
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Mariko Inoue, Graduate School of Public Health, Teikyo University, Tokyo, Japan; (e-mail: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objectives:

Natural disasters affect long-term health by directly disrupting or destroying health-care systems and social support. We examined the associations between social support and subjective symptoms (SS) among disaster victims living in their homes approximately 1–2 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, which devastated the northeastern Japan seaboard and far inland, focusing on Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.

Methods:

The Health and Life Revival Council of Ishinomaki District conducted door-to-door household surveys between April 2012 and January 2013. Replies to 12 questions regarding social support, specifically emotional, informational, and instrumental, were investigated. SS prevalence was calculated as the proportion of those having any of 8 predetermined symptoms including back pain, neck stiffness, sleep difficulty, dizziness, heart palpitations, poor appetite, or stomachache. Logistic regression analysis by sex was used to obtain crude and adjusted odds ratios for the association between SS prevalence and forms of social support.

Results:

From 4023 households, self-reported data on 2593 individuals from 1709 households were obtained. SS prevalence was 29.1%. Adjusted logistic regression analysis revealed that instrumental support with others and emotional support with personal and others were specific associated with SS in men and women, respectively.

Conclusions:

Our findings suggest that providing social support depending on needs is potentially effective in preventing SS in disaster areas.

Keywords

disasterGreat East Japan Earthquake and Tsunamisocial supportsubjective symptoms
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , February 2021 , pp. 70 - 77
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Fiore, J, Coppel, DB, Becker, J, et al. Social support as a multifaceted concept: examination of important dimensions for adjustment. Am J Community Psychol. 1986;14(1):93-111.Google ScholarPubMed
Gottlieb, BH, Bergen, AE. Social support concepts and measures. J Psychosom Res. 2010;69(5):511-520.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Broadhead, WE, Kaplan, BH, James, SA, et al. The epidemiologic evidence for a relationship between social support and health. Am J Epidemiol. 1983;117(5):521-537.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaplan, BH, Cassel, JC, Gore, S. Social support and health. Med Care. 1977;15(5 Suppl):47-58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cobb, S. Presidential address-1976. Social support as a moderator of life stress. Psychosom Med. 1976;38(5):300-314.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spiegel, P, Sheik, M, Gotway-Crawford, C, et al. Health programmes and policies associated with decreased mortality in displaced people in postemergency phase camps: a retrospective study. Lancet. 2002;360(9349):1927-1934.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bland, SH, O’Leary, ES, Farinaro, E, et al. Long-term psychological effects of natural disasters. Psychosom Med. 1996;58(1):18-24.Google ScholarPubMed
Phifer, JF, Norris, FH. Psychological symptoms in older adults following natural disaster: nature, timing, duration, and course. J Gerontol. 1989;44(6):S207-S217.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kwon, YS, Maruyama, S, Morimoto, K. Life events and posttraumatic stress in Hanshin-Awaji earthquake victims. Environ Health Prev Med. 2001;6(2):97-103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Matsumoto, S, Yamaoka, K, Inoue, M, et al. Social ties may play a critical role in mitigating sleep difficulties in disaster-affected communities: a cross-sectional study in the Ishinomaki area, Japan. Sleep. 2014;37(1):137-145.Google ScholarPubMed
Koyama, S, Aida, J, Kawachi, I, et al. Social support improves mental health among the victims relocated to temporary housing following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. Tohoku J Exp Med. 2014;234(3):241-247.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ishigaki, A, Higashi, H, Sakamoto, T, et al. The Great East-Japan Earthquake and devastating tsunami: an update and lessons from the past Great Earthquakes in Japan since 1923. Tohoku J Exp Med. 2013;229(4):287-99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McMichael, AJ, Beaglehole, R. The changing global context of public health. Lancet. 2000;356(9228):495-499.Google ScholarPubMed
Aldrich, DP. Social, not physical, infrastructure: the critical role of civil society after the 1923 Tokyo earthquake. Disasters. 2012;36(3):398-419.Google Scholar
House, JS. Social isolation kills, but how and why? Psychosom Med. 2001;63(2):273-274.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eriksen, HR, Ihlebaek, C, Ursin, H. A scoring system for subjective health complaints (SHC). Scand J Public Health. 1999;27(1):63-72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inoue, M, Matsumoto, S, Yamaoka, K, et al. Risk of social isolation among Great East Japan Earthquake survivors living in tsunami-affected Ishinomaki, Japan. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2014;8(4):333-340.Google ScholarPubMed
Betancourt, TS, Khan, KT. The mental health of children affected by armed conflict: protective processes and pathways to resilience. Int Rev Psychiatry. 2008;20(3):317-328.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lowe, SR, Chan, CS, Rhodes, JE. Pre-hurricane perceived social support protects against psychological distress: a longitudinal analysis of low-income mothers. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2010;78(4):551-560.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Matsumoto, S, Yamaoka, K, Inoue, M, et al. Implications for social support on prolonged sleep difficulties among a disaster-affected population: second report from a cross-sectional survey in Ishinomaki, Japan. PLoS One. 2015;10(6):e0130615.Google ScholarPubMed
Norris, FH, Kaniasty, K. Received and perceived social support in times of stress: a test of the social support deterioration deterrence model. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1996;71(3):498-511.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lindstrom, M. Social capital, the miniaturisation of community and self-reported global and psychological health. Soc Sci Med. 2004;59(3):595-607.Google ScholarPubMed
Okamoto, K, Tanaka, Y. Gender differences in the relationship between social support and subjective health among elderly persons in Japan. Prev Med. 2004;38(3):318-322.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Norris, FH, Baker, CK, Murphy, AD, et al. Social support mobilization and deterioration after Mexico’s 1999 flood: effects of context, gender, and time. Am J Community Psychol. 2005;36(1-2):15-28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toni, C. Antonucci, HA. An examination of sex differences in social support among older men and women. Sex Roles. 1987;17(11):737-749.Google Scholar
Putnum, RD LR, Nanetti, RY. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 1993:163-85.Google Scholar
Shibahara, S. The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and devastating tsunami. Tohoku J Exp Med. 2011;223(4):305-307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coyle, CE, Dugan, E. Social isolation, loneliness and health among older adults. J Aging Health. 2012;24(8):1346-1363.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thormar, SB, Gersons, BP, Juen, B, et al. The impact of disaster work on community volunteers: the role of peri-traumatic distress, level of personal affectedness, sleep quality and resource loss, on post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and subjective health. J Anxiety Disord. 2014;28(8):971-977.Google ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Midorikawa-Inomata et al. supplementary material

Table S1

Download Midorikawa-Inomata et al. supplementary material(File)
File 52.2 KB