title: General workers living with younger children in Fukushima performed more preventive behavior against radiation during and after the nuclear disaster.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  During and after the Fukushima nuclear disaster (FND), many parents were concerned about the effects of radiation on the health of their children.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To clarify the factors that influenced general workers living with children and the effect of child age groups in implementing preventive behaviorsagainst radiation following the FND.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive study of preventive behaviors among general workers was carried out 3-5 months after the nuclear disaster. The subjects were 1,394 regular workers, who took part in radiation seminars run by the Fukushima Occupational Health Promotion Center between July and September, 2011. In total, 1,217 responses were submitted, of which 1,110 were eligible for the present study. This anonymous questionnaire survey inquired about the presence and age of children in the household and about radiation preventive behavior implemented after the FND. The contribution of each variable was assessed by logistic regression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  General workers in Fukushima who lived with younger children performed more preventive behavior against radiation during and after the FND. In particular, both location-related and daily routines were practiced significantly more frequently (p<0.01) by workers living with a child in the age ranges of 0-6 (8 of 10 items) and 7-12 (5 of 10 items).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study to assess the positive association between living with children by age group and increased preventive behavior against radiation implemented by general workers after the FND.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yokohama City University, Yokohama, Japan E-mail : hkanda@yokohama-cu.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hideyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kanda
authors.forename: Nagisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sugaya
authors.forename: Kenzo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Shunsaku
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mizushima
authors.forename: Kikuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koyama
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011379:Prognosis; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult