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Birth Outcomes after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster: A Long-Term Retrospective Study

Changes in population birth outcomes, including increases in low birthweight or preterm births, have been documented after natural and manmade disasters. However, information is limited following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster. In this study, we assessed whether there were l...

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Autores principales: Leppold, Claire, Nomura, Shuhei, Sawano, Toyoaki, Ozaki, Akihiko, Tsubokura, Masaharu, Hill, Sarah, Kanazawa, Yukio, Anbe, Hiroshi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5451992/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28534840
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14050542
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author Leppold, Claire
Nomura, Shuhei
Sawano, Toyoaki
Ozaki, Akihiko
Tsubokura, Masaharu
Hill, Sarah
Kanazawa, Yukio
Anbe, Hiroshi
author_facet Leppold, Claire
Nomura, Shuhei
Sawano, Toyoaki
Ozaki, Akihiko
Tsubokura, Masaharu
Hill, Sarah
Kanazawa, Yukio
Anbe, Hiroshi
author_sort Leppold, Claire
collection PubMed
description Changes in population birth outcomes, including increases in low birthweight or preterm births, have been documented after natural and manmade disasters. However, information is limited following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster. In this study, we assessed whether there were long-term changes in birth outcomes post-disaster, compared to pre-disaster data, and whether residential area and food purchasing patterns, as proxy measurements of evacuation and radiation-related anxiety, were associated with post-disaster birth outcomes. Maternal and perinatal data were retrospectively collected for all live singleton births at a public hospital, located 23 km from the power plant, from 2008 to 2015. Proportions of low birthweight (<2500 g at birth) and preterm births (<37 weeks gestation at birth) were compared pre- and post-disaster, and regression models were conducted to assess for associations between these outcomes and evacuation and food avoidance. A total of 1101 live singleton births were included. There were no increased proportions of low birthweight or preterm births in any year after the disaster (merged post-disaster risk ratio of low birthweight birth: 0.98, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.64–1.51; and preterm birth: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.38–1.21). No significant associations between birth outcomes and residential area or food purchasing patterns were identified, after adjustment for covariates. In conclusion, no changes in birth outcomes were found in this institution-based investigation after the Fukushima disaster. Further research is needed on the pathways that may exacerbate or reduce disaster effects on maternal and perinatal health.
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spelling pubmed-54519922017-06-05 Birth Outcomes after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster: A Long-Term Retrospective Study Leppold, Claire Nomura, Shuhei Sawano, Toyoaki Ozaki, Akihiko Tsubokura, Masaharu Hill, Sarah Kanazawa, Yukio Anbe, Hiroshi Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Changes in population birth outcomes, including increases in low birthweight or preterm births, have been documented after natural and manmade disasters. However, information is limited following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster. In this study, we assessed whether there were long-term changes in birth outcomes post-disaster, compared to pre-disaster data, and whether residential area and food purchasing patterns, as proxy measurements of evacuation and radiation-related anxiety, were associated with post-disaster birth outcomes. Maternal and perinatal data were retrospectively collected for all live singleton births at a public hospital, located 23 km from the power plant, from 2008 to 2015. Proportions of low birthweight (<2500 g at birth) and preterm births (<37 weeks gestation at birth) were compared pre- and post-disaster, and regression models were conducted to assess for associations between these outcomes and evacuation and food avoidance. A total of 1101 live singleton births were included. There were no increased proportions of low birthweight or preterm births in any year after the disaster (merged post-disaster risk ratio of low birthweight birth: 0.98, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.64–1.51; and preterm birth: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.38–1.21). No significant associations between birth outcomes and residential area or food purchasing patterns were identified, after adjustment for covariates. In conclusion, no changes in birth outcomes were found in this institution-based investigation after the Fukushima disaster. Further research is needed on the pathways that may exacerbate or reduce disaster effects on maternal and perinatal health. MDPI 2017-05-19 2017-05 /pmc/articles/PMC5451992/ /pubmed/28534840 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14050542 Text en © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Leppold, Claire
Nomura, Shuhei
Sawano, Toyoaki
Ozaki, Akihiko
Tsubokura, Masaharu
Hill, Sarah
Kanazawa, Yukio
Anbe, Hiroshi
Birth Outcomes after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster: A Long-Term Retrospective Study
title Birth Outcomes after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster: A Long-Term Retrospective Study
title_full Birth Outcomes after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster: A Long-Term Retrospective Study
title_fullStr Birth Outcomes after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster: A Long-Term Retrospective Study
title_full_unstemmed Birth Outcomes after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster: A Long-Term Retrospective Study
title_short Birth Outcomes after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster: A Long-Term Retrospective Study
title_sort birth outcomes after the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant disaster: a long-term retrospective study
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5451992/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28534840
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14050542
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