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Table 1 Population sampling methods and characteristics of each study

From: Perspectives acquired through long-term epidemiological studies on the Great East Japan Earthquake

 

Iwanuma Projecta [4, 5]

Health and Life Revival Council in Ishinomaki District (RCI) [13,17,, 14, 1618]

Tohoku Study of Child Development (TSCD) [2,20,21,22,, 1923]

Place of municipality

Iwanuma

Ishinomaki

Sendai and the Sanriku coastal areas of Miyagi Prefecture

Population of the municipality in Sep 2015

44,149

148,968

>1 million

Damage from GEJE and subsequent tsunamis on Mar 2011

187 died, 48% of the land was inundated.

3,055 died, 420 missing, 270 certified as disaster-related death.

On TSCD, 2 mothers and 3 children died, 10 families missing, the investigation was suspended for 5 months.

Sampling frame

8,576 residents ≥65 years

≈8,700 survivor families living only on the 2nd floor of their damaged houses

Neonates born at 36–42 weeks of gestation with a birth weight of ≥2400 g.

Recruitment period

Aug 2010

Oct 2011 to Mar 2012 as 1st-term survey

Jan 2001 to Sep 2005

Latest follow-up period

Oct 2013 to Jan 2014

Apr 2013 to Jan 2014 as 2nd-term survey

Mar 2013 as the 7-year-old survey

Number in each cohort database

4,380 survivors

4,176 households (1st-term); 4,023 (2nd-term)

1,348 mother-offspring pairs from 3 maternity hospitals

Follow-up rate

82.1%

n/a (2 surveys not yet fully linked)

70.7%

Outcome reported

PTSD symptomatology, mental health, physical function, social activies

Sleep problems, psychological distress, symptoms, access to health services

Home and conventional blood pressure, verbal, performance, and full-scale IQ, autonomic nervous indicators

  1. GEJE the Great East Japan Earthquake, PTSD posttraumatic stress disorder, IQ intelligence quotient
  2. aIwanuma Project is a part of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study