Division of Environmental Medicine and Population Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
Faculty of Global Nursing, Otemae University, Osaka, Japan.
PLoS One. 2022 Aug 1;17(8):e0272285. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272285. eCollection 2022.
The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake (within Fukushima, Iwate, and Miyagi prefectures) was a complex disaster; it caused a tsunami and the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, resulting in radiation exposure. This study investigated the earthquake's effects on the migration patterns of pregnant women and their concerns regarding radiation exposure. We also considered the following large-scale earthquakes without radiation exposure: Great Hanshin-Awaji (Hyogo prefecture), Niigata-Chuetsu, and Kumamoto. Pregnant women were categorized as outflow and inflow pregnant women. Data on the annual number of births three years before and after the earthquake were used as a denominator to calculate the outflow and inflow rates per 100 births. The odds ratios of annual outflow and inflow rates after the earthquake, using three years before the earthquake as the baseline, were calculated. The odds-ratio for outflow significantly increased for Hyogo, Fukushima, Miyagi, and Kumamoto prefectures after the earthquake, particularly for Fukushima, showing a significant increase until three years post the Great East Japan Earthquake (disaster year: odds-ratio: 2.66 [95% confidence interval: 2.44-2.90], 1 year post: 1.37 [1.23-1.52], 2 years post: 1.13 [1.00-1.26], 3 years post: 1.18 [1.05-1.31]), while the remaining three prefectures reported limited increases post one year. The inflow decreased after the earthquake, particularly in Fukushima, showing a significant decrease until 2 years post the Great East Japan Earthquake (disaster year: 0.58 [0.53-0.63], 1 year post: 0.76 [0.71-0.82], 2 years post: 0.83 [0.77-0.89]). Thus, pregnant women's migration patterns changed after large-scale earthquakes, suggesting radiation exposure concerns possibly have a significant effects. These results suggested that plans for receiving assistance and support that considers the peculiarities of disaster related damage and pregnant women's migration patterns are needed in both the affected and non-affected areas.
2011 年东日本大地震（福岛、岩手和宫城县内）是一场复杂的灾害；它引发了海啸和福岛第一核电站事故，导致辐射暴露。本研究调查了地震对孕妇迁移模式的影响及其对辐射暴露的担忧。我们还考虑了以下没有辐射暴露的大规模地震：阪神-淡路（兵库县）、新潟中越和熊本。孕妇分为流出和流入孕妇。使用地震前三年每年的出生人数作为分母，计算每 100 例出生的流出和流入率。使用地震前三年作为基线，计算地震后每年流出和流入率的比值比。地震后，兵库、福岛、宫城和熊本等县的流出比值比显著增加，尤其是福岛县，直到东日本大地震后三年（灾害年：比值比：2.66 [95%置信区间：2.44-2.90]，1 年后：1.37 [1.23-1.52]，2 年后：1.13 [1.00-1.26]，3 年后：1.18 [1.05-1.31]），而其余三个县报告的增加有限。地震后流入减少，尤其是福岛县，直到东日本大地震后两年（灾害年：0.58 [0.53-0.63]，1 年后：0.76 [0.71-0.82]，2 年后：0.83 [0.77-0.89]）。因此，大地震后孕妇的迁移模式发生了变化，表明辐射暴露的担忧可能产生了重大影响。这些结果表明，在受灾地区和非受灾地区都需要制定考虑与灾害相关损害和孕妇迁移模式特点的援助和支持计划。
