TY - JOUR
T1 - Community-level social capital and cognitive decline after a natural disaster
T2 - A natural experiment from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami
AU - Hikichi, Hiroyuki
AU - Aida, Jun
AU - Matsuyama, Yusuke
AU - Tsuboya, Toru
AU - Kondo, Katsunori
AU - Kawachi, Ichiro
N1 - Funding Information:
We appreciate the support and cooperation of the Iwanuma Mayor's office, and the staff of the Department of Health and Welfare of Iwanuma city government. This work was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health ( R01 AG042463 ); Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science ( KAKENHI 15H01972 , KAKENHI 23243070 , KAKENHI 22390400 , KAKENHI 22592327 and KAKENHI 24390469 ); a Health Labour Sciences Research Grant from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare ( H22-Choju-Shitei-008 , H24-Choju-Wakate-009 and H28-Chouju-Ippan-002 ); and a grant from the Strategic Research Foundation Grant-Aided Project for Private Universities from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology ( S0991035 ). The funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; and preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Funding Information:
We appreciate the support and cooperation of the Iwanuma Mayor's office, and the staff of the Department of Health and Welfare of Iwanuma city government. This work was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (R01 AG042463); Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (KAKENHI 15H01972, KAKENHI 23243070, KAKENHI 22390400, KAKENHI 22592327 and KAKENHI 24390469); a Health Labour Sciences Research Grant from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (H22-Choju-Shitei-008, H24-Choju-Wakate-009 and H28-Chouju-Ippan-002); and a grant from the Strategic Research Foundation Grant-Aided Project for Private Universities from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (S0991035). The funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; and preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2020/7
Y1 - 2020/7
N2 - We examined prospectively whether community-level social capital can mitigate the adverse effects of natural disaster on cognitive decline in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. The baseline for our natural experimental study was established seven months before the disaster in a survey of older community-dwelling adults who lived in Iwanuma City, Japan, located 80 km west of the epicenter. Two and a half years after the disaster, we conducted a follow-up survey of survivors to gather information about their personal experiences during the disaster (n = 3560; 82.1% follow-up rate). Our primary outcome was the level of cognitive disability (measured on an 8-level scale) assessed within people's homes. Factor analysis established two subscales of community social capital: a cognitive dimension (perceptions of community social cohesion) and a structural dimension (informal socializing and social participation). The prevalence of cognitive decline at follow-up (11.5%) was three times higher than at baseline (4.2%). Our multiple membership multilevel model indicated that pre-versus post-disaster increases in community-level informal socializing and social participation were associated with lower risk of cognitive decline (coefficient = −0.12, 95% confidence interval: −0.20 to −0.04). In addition, social capital mitigated the risk of cognitive decline due to housing damage (interaction effect coefficient = −0.07, 95% confidence interval: −0.14 to −0.01). Community-level informal socializing and social participation buffers the impact of housing damage on cognitive decline in the aftermath of natural disaster. Relocating residents together with other community members may help to preserve community social capital and improve the cognitive resilience of older survivors.
AB - We examined prospectively whether community-level social capital can mitigate the adverse effects of natural disaster on cognitive decline in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. The baseline for our natural experimental study was established seven months before the disaster in a survey of older community-dwelling adults who lived in Iwanuma City, Japan, located 80 km west of the epicenter. Two and a half years after the disaster, we conducted a follow-up survey of survivors to gather information about their personal experiences during the disaster (n = 3560; 82.1% follow-up rate). Our primary outcome was the level of cognitive disability (measured on an 8-level scale) assessed within people's homes. Factor analysis established two subscales of community social capital: a cognitive dimension (perceptions of community social cohesion) and a structural dimension (informal socializing and social participation). The prevalence of cognitive decline at follow-up (11.5%) was three times higher than at baseline (4.2%). Our multiple membership multilevel model indicated that pre-versus post-disaster increases in community-level informal socializing and social participation were associated with lower risk of cognitive decline (coefficient = −0.12, 95% confidence interval: −0.20 to −0.04). In addition, social capital mitigated the risk of cognitive decline due to housing damage (interaction effect coefficient = −0.07, 95% confidence interval: −0.14 to −0.01). Community-level informal socializing and social participation buffers the impact of housing damage on cognitive decline in the aftermath of natural disaster. Relocating residents together with other community members may help to preserve community social capital and improve the cognitive resilience of older survivors.
KW - Cognitive decline
KW - Community-level social capital
KW - Japan
KW - Multiple membership model
KW - Natural disaster
KW - Natural experiment
KW - Older individuals
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85054189827&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.09.057
DO - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.09.057
M3 - Article
C2 - 30293854
AN - SCOPUS:85054189827
VL - 257
JO - Ethics in Science and Medicine
JF - Ethics in Science and Medicine
SN - 0277-9536
M1 - 111981
ER -
