Experience of a major disaster can potentially impact on tobacco consumption. Our objective was to explore the determinants of increasing tobacco consumption after the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE).

We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the Miyagi Prefectural Health Survey 2014: a total of 2632 people were randomly selected from residents aged ≥20 years in Miyagi, Japan. Of 2443 respondents (response rate = 92.8%), 551 current smokers (411 men) were included in the analysis. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for increasing tobacco consumption were calculated using multivariable logistic regression models including variables of age, sex, disaster-related job status change, education status, self-rated health, and age at smoking initiation.

After adjustments for all variables, significantly higher ORs for increasing tobacco consumption after the GEJE were observed in women (OR = 1.87; 95% CI = 1.10–3.15), 20–39 years old (OR = 5.18; 95% CI = 2.28–11.75), 40–59 years old (OR = 3.97; 95% CI = 1.76–8.94) and respondents who had lost their jobs (OR = 3.42; 95% CI = 1.06–11.05) than the counterpart categories.

This study found 3 determinants of increasing tobacco consumption after a major disaster: being a woman, being of working age, and experiencing disaster-related job loss.

A survey was conducted to describe the characteristics of patients treated for hypothermia after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Written questionnaires were distributed to 72 emergency medical hospitals in Miyagi Prefecture. Data were requested regarding inpatients with a temperature less than 36ºC admitted within 72 hours after the earthquake. The availability of functional heating systems and the time required to restore heating after the earthquake were also documented.

A total of 91 inpatients from 13 hospitals were identified. Tsunami victims comprised 73% of the patients with hypothermia. Within 24 hours of the earthquake, 66 patients were admitted. Most patients with a temperature of 32ºC or higher were treated with passive external rewarming with blankets. Discharge without sequelae was reported for 83.3% of patients admitted within 24 hours of the earthquake and 44.0% of those admitted from 24 to 72 hours after the earthquake. Heating systems were restored within 3 days of the earthquake at 43% of the hospitals.

Hypothermia in patients hospitalized within 72 hours of the earthquake was primarily due to cold-water exposure during the tsunami. Many patients were successfully treated in spite of the post-earthquake disruption of regional social infrastructure.(Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2014;0:1-11)

The incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) reportedly increases following a huge disaster. On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake hit a large area of eastern Japan. In Fukushima prefecture, many people suffered from the consequences of the earthquake, the subsequent tsunami, and especially the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. We assessed whether the incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) increased after the earthquake.

We enrolled AMI patients admitted to 36 hospitals in Fukushima prefecture between March 11, 2009, and March 10, 2013 (n = 3068). We compared the incidence of AMI after the earthquake for more than 3 months and 1 year with that in the control years.

The incidence of Fukushima's annual AMI patients (per 100 000 persons) in 2011 was similar to that of previous years (n = 38.9 [2011] vs 37.2 [2009] and 38.5 [2010], P = .581). However, a significantly higher incidence of AMI was found in the Iwaki district after the disaster that corresponded to the 1-year period of observation (n = 38.7 [2011] vs 27.3 [2009] and 32.8 [2010], P = .045).

The Great East Japan Earthquake affected the incidence of AMI only in limited areas of Fukushima prefecture. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2014;0:1–8)

Strong earthquakes have been reported to increase the incidence of diseases. One reason for these increases may be the stress from the poor living environment for evacuees in disaster shelters. To reduce stress, makeshift cardboard beds were introduced in shelters in the Ishinomaki region, one of the areas heavily damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake, 4 months after the earthquake. The study was performed to determine whether use of the beds offered a reduction in the disease burden.

Blood pressure and blood D-dimer values, often used as diagnostic tests for venous thrombosis, were checked. The timed Up & Go (TUG) test, which assesses functional mobility; a questionnaire survey about symptoms (cough, insomnia, and lumbago); and an SF-8 health survey, a health-related quality of life survey, were also administered before and 1 month after introducing the beds.

Blood pressure measurements, TUG test results, and questionnaire survey scores improved significantly 1 month after the introduction of the beds. Also, evacuees with higher blood D-dimer values tended to show improvement, suggesting that the beds may have had a good effect on persons with underlying venous thrombotic disorders.

Makeshift beds of cardboard could be very useful in disaster shelters. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2013;7:573–577)

To clarify advance measures for business continuity taken by disaster base hospitals involved in the Great East Japan Earthquake.

The predisaster situation regarding stockpiles was abstracted from a 2010 survey. Timing of electricity and water restoration and sufficiency of supplies to continue operations were investigated through materials from Miyagi Prefecture disaster medicine headquarters (prefectural medical headquarters) and disaster base hospitals (14 hospitals) in Miyagi Prefecture after the East Japan earthquake.

The number of hospitals with less than 1 day of stockpiles in reserve before the disaster was 7 (50%) for electricity supplies, 8 (57.1%) for water, 6 (42.9%) for medical goods, and 6 (42.9%) for food. After the disaster, restoration of electricity and water did not occur until the second day or later at 8 of 13 (61.5%) hospitals, respectively. By the fourth postdisaster day, 14 hospitals had requested supplies from the prefectural medical headquarters: 9 (64.3%) for electricity supplies, 2 (14.3%) for water trucks, 9 (64.3%) for medical goods, and 6 (42.9%) for food.

The lack of supplies needed to continue operations in disaster base hospitals following the disaster clearly indicated that current business continuity plans require revision. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2013;0:1-6)