title: Partners' Ongoing Treatment for Chronic Disease and the Risk of Psychological Distress after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
abstract: Several studies have reported that not only patients with chronic diseases but also their partners are likely to face major psychosocial problems. This study examined the association between a partner's ongoing treatment for chronic disease and the risk of psychological distress after the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE). In 2012, a questionnaire was distributed as part of a cross-sectional study of participants aged 20 years or older living in a municipality that had been severely inundated by the tsunami following the GEJE. We identified couples using the household numbers of the municipality and collected self-reported information on ongoing chronic disease treatment for stroke, cancer, myocardial infarction, and angina. Psychological distress was evaluated using the Kessler 6 scale (K6) and was defined as a score ≥ 5/24 points. Among 1,246 couples (2,492 participants) thus identified, 2,369 completed the K6. The number of participants whose partners were under treatment for chronic diseases was 209 (9%). Overall, participants with partners who were receiving treatment for chronic diseases (odds ratio [OR] = 1.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.95-1.8, P = 0.09) did not show a significantly higher risk of psychological distress using logistic regression analysis. Women, but not men, whose partners were receiving treatment for chronic diseases, had a higher risk of psychological distress (women: OR = 1.6, P = 0.02; men: OR = 1.0, P = 0.92). After the GEJE, only in women the presence of partners under treatment for chronic diseases appears to be a risk factor for psychological distress.
authors: Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University.
authors: Naoki
authors: N
authors: Nakaya
authors: Akira
authors: A
authors: Narita
authors: Naho
authors: N
authors: Tsuchiya
authors: Tomohiro
authors: T
authors: Nakamura
authors: Ichiro
authors: I
authors: Tsuji
authors: Atsushi
authors: A
authors: Hozawa
authors: Hiroaki
authors: H
authors: Tomita
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003710:Demography; D055866:Earthquakes; D005260:Female; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D018454:Spouses; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*