Determinants of intention to leave among non-medical employees after a nuclear disaster: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: To conduct a survey among non-medical employees working at the time of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident, in order to determine the factors associated with their intentions to leave their jobs during the nuclear disaster. PARTICIPANTS: We asked 287 employees (166 men and 121 women) in the study. METHODS: We asked about their intentions to leave their jobs after the nuclear disaster. We also asked about relevant factors, including the participants’ demographic factors, living situations and working environments. RESULTS: We found that in employees younger than 40 (OR=4.73, 95% CI 1.74 to 12.85, p=0.002), being married (OR=3.18, 95% CI 1.03 to 9.79, p=0.044), measurements of the ambient dose rates in their homes after the accident (OR=5.32, 95% CI 1.65 to 17.14, p=0.005), anxiety about their relationships with their colleagues after the accident (OR=3.91, 95% CI 1.51 to 10.16, p=0.005) and the influence of radiation on the workplace (OR=0.33, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.80, p=0.014) were independently associated with the non-medical employees’ intentions to leave their jobs after the nuclear disaster. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest the need for continuous risk communication regarding such factors and the provision of information about the health effects of radiation exposure to non-medical employees after nuclear disasters.