Longitudinal Trends in Blood Pressure Associated with The Changes in Living Environment Caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake: The Fukushima Health Management Survey

Satomi Ikeda, Ai Ikeda (), Tetsuya Ohira, Akira Sakai, Michio Shimabukuro, Masaharu Maeda, Hirooki Yabe, Masanori Nagao, Seiji Yasumura, Hitoshi Ohto, Kenji Kamiya and Takeshi Tanigawa
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Satomi Ikeda: Department of Public Health, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan
Ai Ikeda: Department of Public Health, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan
Tetsuya Ohira: Radiation Medical Science Center for the Fukushima Health Management Survey, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan
Akira Sakai: Radiation Medical Science Center for the Fukushima Health Management Survey, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan
Michio Shimabukuro: Radiation Medical Science Center for the Fukushima Health Management Survey, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan
Masaharu Maeda: Radiation Medical Science Center for the Fukushima Health Management Survey, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan
Hirooki Yabe: Radiation Medical Science Center for the Fukushima Health Management Survey, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan
Masanori Nagao: Radiation Medical Science Center for the Fukushima Health Management Survey, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan
Seiji Yasumura: Radiation Medical Science Center for the Fukushima Health Management Survey, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan
Hitoshi Ohto: Radiation Medical Science Center for the Fukushima Health Management Survey, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan
Kenji Kamiya: Radiation Medical Science Center for the Fukushima Health Management Survey, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan
Takeshi Tanigawa: Department of Public Health, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on 11 March 2011, forcing Fukushima Prefecture residents to change their living environment. Such sudden changes possibly have long-term effects on cardiovascular-related diseases. We therefore sought to identify temporal relationships between living environment changes and blood pressure levels over three years following the earthquake. Participants included 14,941 men and 21,533 women aged 16 years or older who answered self-administered questionnaires, including questions on living environment changes at baseline (2012). Blood pressure levels were measured each year from 2012 to 2015. Linear mixed-effects models were used to analyze associations between living environment changes and blood pressure levels. Men with changes in living environment (i.e., those living in shelters or in temporary housing, rental apartments, relatives’ houses, or others) showed significantly higher diastolic blood pressure levels than those who lived in their home at baseline (77.3 mmHg vs. 77.8 mmHg; p < 0.001). The time-dependent effect of diastolic blood pressure levels associated with living environment was not statistically significant, indicating a sustained difference in diastolic blood pressure associated with living environment changes at baseline after three years. The effect of living environment changes on diastolic blood pressure increment was also evident in men without antihypertensive medication use during the study period and in men who were current drinkers at baseline. There were no associations between living environment changes and diastolic blood pressure levels among women. Sudden changes in living environment due to the disaster had an impact on the long-term effects of higher diastolic blood pressure among middle-aged men.

Keywords: changes in the living environment; stress; cardiovascular-related biomarker; blood pressure; longitudinal study; the Great East Japan Earthquake (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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