Tohoku University Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization has revealed that depressive symptoms, even in 2014, three years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, still continue to be higher in coastal areas than in inland areas of Miyagi Prefecture affected by the earthquake and consequent tsunami. About a quarter of residents on the Pacific coast of Miyagi Prefecture still suffer from depression, a slightly higher rate compared with those living in inland areas. These results are a third round of announcements of findings from a study from the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Community-Based Cohort Study by Tohoku University Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization (ToMMo)

In the current analyses, we found the following major results.
(I) Similarly to the previous report, the participants living in the Pacific coast had higher risks of mental health problems such as depression. However, the differences in risks between the coastal and inland areas have been slightly decreased.
(II) Influence of the earthquake disaster was closely related to withdrawal of hypertension treatment among the subjects living in coastal areas.
(III) We found associations of disaster-caused changes in life environment and/or psychological problems with initiation of sleep medication.

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Reference information

- First round of announcement of findings of the study: February 27, 2014
The first round of aggregate findings from the community resident cohort study in the first year-27% of study participants showed depressive tendencies, 5% showed signs of PTSD- [Press Release]

- Second round of announcement of findings of the study: September 1, 2015
Psychological Consequences Remain Profound Among Coastal Communities Devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake [Press Release]