title: Disturbed social recognition and impaired risk judgement in older residents with mild cognitive impairment after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011: the Tome Project.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  After the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, we investigated the safety of residents in the affected communities. Most of the people requiring help were elderly and had previously been assessed as Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) 0.5 (i.e. as having mild cognitive impairment (MCI)). We examined how well they understood the television news and whether they could make appropriate decisions.
  
  
  METHODS
  This community-based study of dementia and difficulties following a disaster started in Tome, northern Japan. The subjects were 188 randomly selected older residents who underwent CDR, blood tests, magnetic resonance imaging, and cognitive tests, including an original visual risk cognition task. They were shown NHK news broadcasts from the day of the earthquake to determine whether they could understand the content.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Neither the CDR 0 (healthy) nor the CDR 0.5 (MCI) subjects fully understood the television news. Some subjects did not recognize the danger of aftershocks and engaged in risky behaviour. CDR 0.5 subjects who exhibited such behaviour scored lower on the visual risk cognition task.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is noteworthy that television news is difficult to understand, even for healthy older adults. We found that MCI subjects had particular difficulties due to the disaster and suggest that risk cognition could be evaluated using visually presented materials.
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Behavioral Neurology, Tohoku University CYRIC, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Kyoko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Akanuma
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Behavioral Neurology, Tohoku University CYRIC, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Kei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Behavioral Neurology, Tohoku University CYRIC, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Meguro
authors.affiliation: Tome Citizen's Hospital, Tome, Japan.
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chiba
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Behavioral Neurology, Tohoku University CYRIC, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Sergio Ramón
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez Ubeda
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Behavioral Neurology, Tohoku University CYRIC, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kumai
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Behavioral Neurology, Tohoku University CYRIC, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Behavioral Neurology, Tohoku University CYRIC, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Jiro
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oonuma
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Behavioral Neurology, Tohoku University CYRIC, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kasai
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Behavioral Neurology, Tohoku University CYRIC, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakatsuka
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Behavioral Neurology, Tohoku University CYRIC, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Seki
authors.affiliation: International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tomita
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D055866:Earthquakes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D007600:Judgment; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012308:Risk Management; D013690:Television
keywords: Great East Japan Earthquake 2011; MCI; earthquake; risk management; social judgement