Major Causes of Death among Older Adults after the Great East Japan Earthquake: A Retrospective Study

Takako Fujimaki (), Yuko Ohno, Anna Tsutsui, Yuta Inoue, Ling Zha, Makoto Fujii, Tetsuya Tajima, Satoshi Hattori and Tomotaka Sobue
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Takako Fujimaki: Division of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
Yuko Ohno: Division of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
Anna Tsutsui: Division of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
Yuta Inoue: Division of Environmental Medicine and Population Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
Ling Zha: Division of Environmental Medicine and Population Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
Makoto Fujii: Division of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
Tetsuya Tajima: Division of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
Satoshi Hattori: Department of Integrated Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
Tomotaka Sobue: Division of Environmental Medicine and Population Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 6, 1-12

Abstract: This retrospective study investigated the 3-year impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) of 2011 on deaths due to neoplasm, heart disease, stroke, pneumonia, and senility among older adults in the primarily affected prefectures compared with other prefectures, previous investigations having been more limited as regards mortality causes and geographic areas. Using death certificates issued between 2006 and 2015 ( n = 7,383,253), mortality rates (MRs) and risk ratios (RRs) were calculated using a linear mixed model with the log-transformed MR as the response variable. The model included interactions between the area category and each year of death from 2010 to 2013. The RRs in the interaction significantly increased to 1.13, 1.17, and 1.28 for deaths due to stroke, pneumonia, and senility, respectively, in Miyagi Prefecture in 2011, but did not significantly increase for any of the other areas affected by the GEJE. Moreover, increased RRs were not reported for any of the other years. The risk of death increased in 2011; however, this was only significant for single-year impact. In 2013, decreased RRs of pneumonia in the Miyagi and Iwate prefectures and of senility in Fukushima Prefecture were observed. Overall, we did not find evidence of strong associations between the GEJE and mortality.

Keywords: cause of death; death certificate; disaster; earthquake; older adults (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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