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Impact of lifestyle and psychosocial factors on the onset of hypertension after the Great East Japan earthquake: a 7-year follow-up of the Fukushima Health Management Survey

Hypertension Research volume 45, pages 1609–1621 (2022)Cite this article

A Comment to this article was published on 05 August 2022

Abstract

Natural disasters force many evacuees to change several aspects of their lifestyles. This longitudinal study aimed to investigate whether factors such as living environment and lifestyle factors were related to new-onset hypertension in survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake over a long-term follow-up of up to 7 years after the earthquake. The present study examined data collected from 29,025 Japanese participants aged 39–89 years, sourced from general health checkups and the Fukushima Mental Health and Lifestyle Survey, which was conducted in 13 communities between 2011 and 2018. A total of 10,861 participants received follow-up examinations. During a median follow-up of 4.3 years, 3744 participants (1588 men, 41.4%; 2,156 women, 30.7%) had newly developed hypertension. Heavy drinking (adjusted hazard ratio 1.38, 95% confidence interval 1.21–1.57, p < 0.001) and obesity (adjusted hazard ratio 1.27, 95% confidence interval 1.19–1.37, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with new-onset hypertension after the disaster in multivariate-adjusted analysis. Furthermore, experiencing evacuation after the disaster was also significantly associated with the risk of new-onset hypertension in men (adjusted hazard ratio 1.14, 95% confidence interval 1.02–1.27, p = 0.016). The present study indicated that lifestyle factors, such as drinking and obesity, and evacuation experience in men had significant effects on the risk of new-onset hypertension in the long term after the earthquake.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the expert committee members, advisors, and staff of the Fukushima Health Management Survey Group for conducting the present survey and for their support.

Funding

This survey, as well as the design and conduct of the study, was supported by the National Health Fund for Children and Adults Affected by the Nuclear Incident.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan

    Eri Kobari, Kenichi Tanaka & Junichiro James Kazama

  2. Division of Advanced Community Based Care for Lifestyle Related Diseases, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan

    Kenichi Tanaka, Sakumi Kazama, Michio Shimabukuro & Junichiro James Kazama

  3. Radiation Medical Science Center for the Fukushima Health Management Survey, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan

    Masanori Nagao, Kanako Okazaki, Fumikazu Hayashi, Sakumi Kazama, Tetsuya Ohira, Michio Shimabukuro, Masaharu Maeda, Akira Sakai, Hirooki Yabe, Mitsuaki Hosoya, Atsushi Takahashi, Mayumi Harigane, Hitoshi Ohto, Kenji Kamiya & Junichiro James Kazama

  4. Department of Epidemiology, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan

    Masanori Nagao, Kanako Okazaki, Fumikazu Hayashi & Tetsuya Ohira

  5. Department of Public Health, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan

    Seiji Yasumura & Mayumi Harigane

  6. Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan

    Michio Shimabukuro

  7. Department of Disaster Psychiatry, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan

    Masaharu Maeda

  8. Department of Radiation Life Sciences, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan

    Akira Sakai

  9. Department of Neuropsychiatry, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan

    Hirooki Yabe

  10. Department of Pediatrics, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan

    Mitsuaki Hosoya

  11. Department of Gastroenterology, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan

    Atsushi Takahashi

  12. Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan

    Kenji Kamiya

Authors
  1. Eri Kobari
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  2. Kenichi Tanaka
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  3. Masanori Nagao
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  4. Kanako Okazaki
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  5. Fumikazu Hayashi
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  6. Sakumi Kazama
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  7. Tetsuya Ohira
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  8. Seiji Yasumura
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  9. Michio Shimabukuro
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  10. Masaharu Maeda
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  11. Akira Sakai
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  12. Hirooki Yabe
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  13. Mitsuaki Hosoya
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  14. Atsushi Takahashi
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  15. Mayumi Harigane
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  16. Hitoshi Ohto
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  17. Kenji Kamiya
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  18. Junichiro James Kazama
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Correspondence to Kenichi Tanaka.

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Kobari, E., Tanaka, K., Nagao, M. et al. Impact of lifestyle and psychosocial factors on the onset of hypertension after the Great East Japan earthquake: a 7-year follow-up of the Fukushima Health Management Survey. Hypertens Res 45, 1609–1621 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41440-022-00968-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41440-022-00968-3

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