Medicina de Emergência: Acesso Aberto
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Tsunami Damage Associated with a Decline in Respiratory Function among Victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake in Iwate Prefecture: The RIAS Study

Kojiro Shiga, Kozo Tanno, Yuki Yonekura, Diana Lu, Kyle Miyazaki BS, Haruki Shimoda, Ryohei Sasaki, Megumi Tsubota-Utsugi, Yuji Fujii, Kiyomi Sakata, Seiichiro Kobayashi and Akira Ogawa

A few studies have investigated the long-term impact of tsunami damage on victims’ respiratory function. This study aimed to analyze the association between the extent of tsunami damage and the respiratory function of victims 2 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in tsunami-stricken areas of Iwate Prefecture. Data on 6,608 victims who underwent health checkups in the coastal regions of Iwate Prefecture in 2011 and 2013 were utilized. The association between respiratory function (percentage vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in one second, and forced expiratory volume percentage in one second) in 2013 and tsunami damage was then determined by analysis of covariance, adjusting for age, sex, medical history (hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and respiratory disease), smoking status (never smoked, former smoker, or current smoker), physical activity level, obesity, and respiratory function at the time of the 2011 survey. Furthermore, multiple linear regression analysis was performed with changes in percentage vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in one second, percentage of the predicted forced expiratory volume in one second, and forced expiratory volume percentage in one second from 2011 to 2013 as dependent variables, and the extent of tsunami damage, sex, age, past medical history, smoking status, physical activity levels, and obesity as independent variables. Two years after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, the percentage of the predicted forced expiratory volume in one second in tsunami victims significantly decreased compared with that of non-tsunami victims. Moreover, in tsunami victims, the percentage vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in one second, and the predicted forced expiratory volume in one second inversely correlated with the extent of tsunami damage. In conclusion, two years after the GEJET, tsunami victims showed declines in forced expiratory volume in one second, and the predicted forced expiratory volume in one second compared with non-tsunami victims. Also, tsunami could not be denied as the factor which obstructed impairment of percentage vital capacity.