TY - JOUR
T1 - Social capital and cognitive decline in the aftermath of a natural disaster
T2 - a natural experiment from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami
AU - Hikichi, Hiroyuki
AU - Tsuboya, Toru
AU - Aida, Jun
AU - Matsuyama, Yusuke
AU - Kondo, Katsunori
AU - Subramanian, S. V.
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 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 and H24-Choju-Wakate-009); 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).
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 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 and H24-Choju-Wakate-009); 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).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license
PY - 2017/6
Y1 - 2017/6
N2 - Background No previous studies have examined that social capital mitigates impacts of natural disaster experiences on cognitive function. We aimed to examine prospectively whether social capital mitigates the adverse effects of natural disaster on cognitive decline. Methods In this natural experiment, the baseline for our study was established 7 months before the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in a survey of older community-dwelling adults who lived 80 km west of the epicentre (59·0% response rate). About 2 and a half years after the disaster, which occurred on March 11, 2011, the follow-up survey collected information about personal experiences of disaster as well as incidence of cognitive disability. Our primary outcome was cognitive disability (measured on an 8-level scale) assessed by in-home assessment. Findings We obtained 5058 respondents at the baseline survey (59·0% response rate) and re-contacted 3594 survivors in the follow-up survey (82·1% follow-up rate). The experience of housing damage was associated with risk of cognitive impairment (coefficient 0·05 [95% CI 0·03 to 0·07]). Factor analysis of our analytical sample (n=3566) established two subscales of social capital: a cognitive dimension (perceptions of community social cohesion) and a structural dimension (informal socialising and social participation). Fixed effects regression indicated that improved informal socialising and social participation mitigated the risk of cognitive decline due to housing damage (coefficient −0·10 [95% CI −0·14 to −0·05]) and deteriorating informal socialising and social participation aggravated the effect of housing damage on cognitive decline (coefficient 0·04 [0·01 to 0·07]). Interpretation Improved informal socialising and social participation reduces the risk of cognitive decline due to housing damage in the aftermath of natural disasters. Interventions to promote civic participation should be tried to promote cognitive resilience of older survivors. Funding National Institutes of Health, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
AB - Background No previous studies have examined that social capital mitigates impacts of natural disaster experiences on cognitive function. We aimed to examine prospectively whether social capital mitigates the adverse effects of natural disaster on cognitive decline. Methods In this natural experiment, the baseline for our study was established 7 months before the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in a survey of older community-dwelling adults who lived 80 km west of the epicentre (59·0% response rate). About 2 and a half years after the disaster, which occurred on March 11, 2011, the follow-up survey collected information about personal experiences of disaster as well as incidence of cognitive disability. Our primary outcome was cognitive disability (measured on an 8-level scale) assessed by in-home assessment. Findings We obtained 5058 respondents at the baseline survey (59·0% response rate) and re-contacted 3594 survivors in the follow-up survey (82·1% follow-up rate). The experience of housing damage was associated with risk of cognitive impairment (coefficient 0·05 [95% CI 0·03 to 0·07]). Factor analysis of our analytical sample (n=3566) established two subscales of social capital: a cognitive dimension (perceptions of community social cohesion) and a structural dimension (informal socialising and social participation). Fixed effects regression indicated that improved informal socialising and social participation mitigated the risk of cognitive decline due to housing damage (coefficient −0·10 [95% CI −0·14 to −0·05]) and deteriorating informal socialising and social participation aggravated the effect of housing damage on cognitive decline (coefficient 0·04 [0·01 to 0·07]). Interpretation Improved informal socialising and social participation reduces the risk of cognitive decline due to housing damage in the aftermath of natural disasters. Interventions to promote civic participation should be tried to promote cognitive resilience of older survivors. Funding National Institutes of Health, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
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U2 - 10.1016/S2542-5196(17)30041-4
DO - 10.1016/S2542-5196(17)30041-4
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85042649717
VL - 1
SP - e105-e113
JO - The Lancet Planetary Health
JF - The Lancet Planetary Health
SN - 2542-5196
IS - 3
ER -
