title: The relationship between media consumption and health-related anxieties after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster caused a global panic by a release of harmful radionuclides. In a disaster setting, misusage of contemporary media sources available today can lead to disseminated incorrect information and panic. The study aims to build a scale which examines associations between media and individual anxieties, and to propose effective media usages for future disaster management.
  
  
  METHODS
  The University of Tokyo collaborated with the Fukushima local government to conduct a radiation-health-seminar for a total of 1560 residents, at 12 different locations in Fukushima. A 13 item questionnaire collected once before and after a radiation-seminar was used on factor analysis to develop sub-scales for multiple regression models, to determine relationships between the sub-scales and media type consumed. A paired t-test was used to examine any changes in sub-scale of pre- and post-seminar scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three sub-scales were revealed and were associated with different media types: was with rumors, while concern for the future was positively associated with regional-newspapers and negatively with national-newspapers. Anxiety about social-disruption was associated with radio. The seminar had a significant effect on anxiety reduction for all the three sub-scales.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Different media types were associated with various heightened concerns, and that a radiation seminar was helpful to reduce anxieties in the post-disaster setting. By tailoring post-disaster messages via specific media types, i.e., radio, it may be possible to effectively convey important information, as well as to calm fears about particular elements of post-disaster recovery and to combat rumors.
authors: Department of Global Health Policy, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan. amigon0918@m.u-tokyo.ac.jp
authors: Amina
authors: A
authors: Sugimoto
authors: Shuhei
authors: S
authors: Nomura
authors: Masaharu
authors: M
authors: Tsubokura
authors: Tomoko
authors: T
authors: Matsumura
authors: Kaori
authors: K
authors: Muto
authors: Mikiko
authors: M
authors: Sato
authors: Stuart
authors: S
authors: Gilmour
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis
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