title: Psychological distress during pregnancy in Miyagi after the Great East Japan Earthquake: The Japan Environment and Children's Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine psychological distress among pregnant women in Miyagi prefecture which was directly affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami and compare other areas of Japan that were less damaged.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was conducted in conjunction with the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS). We examined 10,129 Japanese women using the primary fixed data of the JECS. The Kessler 6-item psychological distress scale (K6) was administered to 7473 eligible women including 998 in Miyagi unit center ('Miyagi UC') and 6475 in the other unit centers ('13UCs'). We compared the prevalence and the risk of distress (K6 ≥ 13) during pregnancy in 'Miyagi UC' and '13UCs'.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More women in 'Miyagi UC' (4.9%) suffered psychological distress, compared with '13UCs' (3.1%) (p<0.001). A significantly higher prevalence of women in 'Miyagi UC' (55.5%) had experienced negative life events, whereas '13UCs' showed 42.7% (p<0.0001). In multivariable logistic analyses adjusted for baseline characteristics, there was a significant regional difference of psychological distress (adjusted odds ratio; aOR in Miyagi UC=1.488; 95%CI, 1.059-2.090). After further adjusting for negative life events, the association was diminished (aOR=1.338; 95%CI, 0.949-1.884).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The JECS had no data before the earthquake and the extent of damage was not investigated. Possible regional representativeness is also a limitation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  After the Great East Japan Earthquake, the prevalence of pregnant women with psychological distress (K6 ≥ 13) were high in Miyagi prefecture. Especially in the coastal area directly affected by tsunami, it is high with or without negative life events experienced.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8574, Japan.
authors.forename: Zen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8574, Japan.
authors.forename: Noriyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Iwama
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8574, Japan; Environment and Genome Research Center, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidekazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishigori
authors.affiliation: Environment and Genome Research Center, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan; Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshie
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishigori
authors.affiliation: Environment and Genome Research Center, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mizuno
authors.affiliation: Environment and Genome Research Center, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Kasumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakurai
authors.affiliation: Environment and Genome Research Center, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan; Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Mami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ishikuro
authors.affiliation: Environment and Genome Research Center, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan; Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan; Department of Pharmacy, Tohoku University Hospital, 1-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8574, Japan.
authors.forename: Taku
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Obara
authors.affiliation: Environment and Genome Research Center, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Nozomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tatsuta
authors.affiliation: Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Ichiko
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nishijima
authors.affiliation: Environment and Genome Research Center, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Ikuma
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.affiliation: Environment and Genome Research Center, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Kunihiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakai
authors.affiliation: Environment and Genome Research Center, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Arima
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8574, Japan; Division of Women's Health, Research Institute of Traditional Asian Medicine, Kinki University School of Medicine, 377-2, Ohnohigashi, Osakasayama, Osaka 589-8511, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8574, Japan; Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Junichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sugawara
authors.affiliation: Environment and Genome Research Center, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan; Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan; Division of Disaster Public Health, International Research Institute for Disaster Science, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuriyama
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8574, Japan; Environment and Genome Research Center, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan; Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan. Electronic address: hmetoki@med.tohoku.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hirohito
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Metoki
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8574, Japan; Environment and Genome Research Center, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan; Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8573, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yaegashi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000453:epidemiology; D055866:Earthquakes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D037841:Pregnant People / Q000523:psychology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D057192:Tsunamis; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Earthquake; Negative life events; Psychological distress; Tsunami