title: Determinants of the return to hometowns after the accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant: a case study for the village of Kawauchi.
abstract: The Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011 destroyed the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) and almost all residents in a 20 km radius from the plant eventually evacuated. FNPP reactors were stabilised in December 2011; some evacuees decided to return to their hometowns, and the other evacuees remained. Efforts were made to identify the determinants that affect the decision to return home in order to promote recovery of the surrounding area of FNPP. Seventy-one residents who had not returned to hometown and 56 residents who had returned were selected. Logistic regression analysis adjusted for confounding factors showed that being female [odds ratio (OR): 2.43, p = 0.03], living in areas with relatively higher ambient doses (OR: 3.60, p=0.01) and expressing anxiety over radiation exposure (OR: 8.91, p < 0.01) were independently associated with decisions not to return. Results of this study suggest the importance of active participation by scientists and local authorities in communicating the risk to the general population involved in returning home.
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health, Medical and Welfare, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-12-4 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8523, Japan.
authors.forename: Makiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Orita
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hayashida
authors.forename: Hideko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Urata
authors.forename: Tetsuko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shinkawa
authors.forename: Yuukou
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takamura
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001822:Body Burden; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011847:Radioactive Fallout / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D011847:Radioactive Fallout