title: Concern over radiation exposure and psychological distress among rescue workers following the Great East Japan Earthquake.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami that followed caused severe damage along Japans northeastern coastline and to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. To date, there are few reports specifically examining psychological distress in rescue workers in Japan. Moreover, it is unclear to what extent concern over radiation exposure has caused psychological distress to such workers deployed in the disaster area.
  
  
  METHODS
  One month after the disaster, 424 of 1816 (24%) disaster medical assistance team workers deployed to the disaster area were assessed. Concern over radiation exposure was evaluated by a single self-reported question. General psychological distress was assessed with the Kessler 6 scale (K6), depressive symptoms with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), fear and sense of helplessness with the Peritraumatic Distress Inventory (PDI), and posttraumatic stress symptoms with the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Radiation exposure was a concern for 39 (9.2%) respondents. Concern over radiation exposure was significantly associated with higher scores on the K6, CES-D, PDI, and IES-R. After controlling for age, occupation, disaster operation experience, duration of time spent watching earthquake news, and past history of psychiatric illness, these associations remained significant in men, but did not remain significant in women for the CES-D and PDI scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that concern over radiation exposure was strongly associated with psychological distress. Reliable, accurate information on radiation exposure might reduce deployment-related distress in disaster rescue workers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, National Disaster Medical Center, 3256 Midoricho, Tachikawa 190-0014, Japan. yutaka@ncnp.go.jp
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuoka
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nishi
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakaya
authors.forename: Toshimasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sone
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Noguchi
authors.forename: Kei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hamazaki
authors.forename: Tomohito
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hamazaki
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Koido
mesh_terms: D055866:Earthquakes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D018635:Rescue Work; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000209:etiology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D000078329:Workforce