Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Iwate Prefectural Central Hospital, Morioka, Japan.
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
BMJ Open. 2019 Mar 7;9(3):e026354. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026354.
After the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) of 2011, many survivors have been forced to live in prefabricated temporary housing, which is uncomfortable and insufficiently durable for permanent living. Public reconstruction housing has been built to improve their living conditions; however, those moving have to rebuild personal relationships and adapt to a new environment. This study examined whether survivors moving to public reconstruction housing became more socially isolated than those remaining in prefabricated temporary housing.
DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Self-report questionnaire data collected in 2015 (4 years after the GEJE) were used as the baseline for follow-up surveys in 2016 and 2017, as many survivors moved from prefabricated temporary housing to public reconstruction housing from 2015. We analysed longitudinal data from 393 survivors, distinguishing those who moved to public reconstruction housing during the 5th year after the disaster from those who remained in prefabricated temporary housing. Participants were assessed using the Lubben Social Network Scale-6 (LSNS-6) in all three surveys, with social isolation defined by a score of <12/30. To reduce the effect of selection bias, propensity score analysis was performed (178 of 393 participants were retained). We used a generalised estimated equation to evaluate the association between moving from prefabricated temporary housing to public reconstruction housing and changes in social isolation over 2 years.
LSNS-6 scores of the reconstruction housing group were worse than those of the prefabricated housing group between 4 and 6 years after the GEJE (P=0.006). Over the same period, social isolation worsened in the reconstruction housing group but improved in the prefabricated housing group (P=0.002).
Social isolation should be monitored while supporting survivors who moved to public reconstruction housing, and further longitudinal research is needed to clarify the risk of social isolation.
2011 年东日本大地震后，许多幸存者被迫居住在预制临时住房中，这种住房不舒适，也不适合长期居住。为改善他们的生活条件而建造了公共重建住房；然而，那些搬入的人不得不重建人际关系并适应新的环境。本研究旨在探讨搬到公共重建住房的幸存者是否比留在预制临时住房中的幸存者更加孤立。
设计、地点和参与者：2015 年（地震发生后 4 年）收集的自我报告问卷调查数据被用作 2016 年和 2017 年随访调查的基线，因为许多幸存者在 2015 年从预制临时住房搬到公共重建住房。我们分析了 393 名幸存者的纵向数据，将在灾难发生后的第 5 年搬到公共重建住房的幸存者与留在预制临时住房的幸存者区分开来。在所有三次调查中，参与者都使用 Lubben 社会网络量表-6（LSNS-6）进行评估，社会隔离的定义为<12/30。为了减少选择偏差的影响，进行了倾向评分分析（393 名参与者中有 178 名保留）。我们使用广义估计方程评估了从预制临时住房搬到公共重建住房与 2 年内社会隔离变化之间的关系。
在东日本大地震后 4 至 6 年，重建住房组的 LSNS-6 评分比预制住房组差（P=0.006）。在同一时期，重建住房组的社会隔离状况恶化，而预制住房组则有所改善（P=0.002）。
在支持搬到公共重建住房的幸存者时，应监测社会隔离情况，需要进一步的纵向研究来阐明社会隔离的风险。
