Worsening Health Status among Evacuees: Analysis of Medical Expenditures after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster in Fukushima.

Worsening Health Status among Evacuees: Analysis of Medical Expenditures after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster in Fukushima. Tohoku J Exp Med. 2019;248(2):115-123 Authors: Hasegawa M, Murakami M, Nomura S, Takebayashi Y, Tsubokura M Abstract After Fukushima disaster in 2011, the health status of the region's residents deteriorated. We analyzed the health status, care needs, and access to health services among evacuees and non-evacuees using healthcare expenditure (for self-employed and unemployed individuals aged < 75 years) and long-term care expenditure (mainly for individuals aged ≥ 65 years). Fukushima Prefecture was divided into four areas according to their evacuation status: non-EOAs (municipalities that did not include evacuation order areas (EOAs)); EOAs/non-EOAs (municipalities that included both EOAs and non-EOAs); short-term EOAs (municipalities where the EOA designation was lifted in most areas by fiscal year (FY) 2011); and long-term EOAs (municipalities where most EOA designations remained in place until the end of FY 2015). Increases in expenditure on healthcare and long-term care per capita in short-term and long-term EOAs were greater in FY 2015 than the average values in FYs 2008-2010. The increases in expenditure were higher in short-term and long-term EOAs than those in non-EOAs and EOAs/non-EOAs. The increases in dental health expenditure were attributed to enhanced accessibility t...
Source: The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Tohoku J Exp Med Source Type: research