Mental health conditions in Korean atomic bomb survivors: a survey in Seoul

概要

論文の詳細を見る
More than 60 years have elapsed since the atomic bombings to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and since all of the atomic bombsurvivors have become old, the importance of caring their mental health has become increasing in Japan. Although approximately70% of overseas atomic bomb are living in Korea, there have been quite few studies on their mental health. The objectivesof the present study were to elucidate whether the mental health conditions of atomic bomb survivor in Korea are similarto those in Japan. The subjects were 181 Korean atomic bomb survivors living in Korea (cases) and 209 outpatients of a hospitalin Seoul who were not exposed to atomic bombs (controls). Interviewers administered them at the hospital a questionnairewith Impact of Event Scale-Revised, General Health Questionnaire 12 (GHQ-12), Korean version of short form GeriatricDepression Scale and the K scale of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. Excluding subjects with incomplete responseswe analyzed 162 cases and 189 controls. The proportion of subjects with high score of GHQ-12 ( 4) was significantlyhigher in cases (78/162 or 48.1%) than in controls (42/189 or 22.2%) (p < 0.0001, Fisher's exact test). The present results,though preliminary, indicate that atomic bomb survivors in Korea have also mental health problems similar to those observedin Japanese atomic bomb survivors, indicating the necessity of a larger study.