Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41645143›Full record

ArticleBMC public health2026

Subjective reasoning for persistent worry about radiation seven years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster: a qualitative analysis.

Maiko Fukasawa, Maki Umeda Taniguchi, Tsuyoshi Akiyama, Naoko Horikoshi, Seiji Yasumura, Hirooki Yabe, Yuriko Suzuki, Evelyn J Bromet, Norito Kawakami

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In one paragraph

Article in BMC public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Maiko FukasawaHealth Promotion Center, Fukushima Medical University, 1 Hikariga-oka, Fukushima City, Fukushima, 960-1295, Japan. fukasawa@fmu.ac.jp.
Maki Umeda TaniguchiMental Health and Psychiatric Nursing, Institute of Science Tokyo, 1-5-45, Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8510, Japan.
Tsuyoshi AkiyamaRokubancho mental clinic, Japan Depression Center, the fourth floor of Waco-building, 2-6 Samon-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-0017, Japan.
Naoko HorikoshiRadiation Medical Science Center for the Fukushima Health Management Survey, Fukushima Medical University, 1 Hikariga-oka, Fukushima City, Fukushima, 960-1295, Japan.
Seiji YasumuraRadiation Medical Science Center for the Fukushima Health Management Survey, Fukushima Medical University, 1 Hikariga-oka, Fukushima City, Fukushima, 960-1295, Japan.
Hirooki YabeDepartment of Mind and Brain Medicine, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, 1 Hikariga-oka, Fukushima City, Fukushima, 960-1295, Japan.
Yuriko SuzukiDepartment of Public Mental Health Research, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa-Higashi, Kodaira, Tokyo, 187-8551, Japan.
Evelyn J BrometDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioural Health, Stony Brook University, 100 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA.
Norito KawakamiDepartment of Digital Mental Health, Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113 - 0033, Japan.

Funding

Fukushima Medical University KKI2024048, KY2025303JSPS KAKENHI 25K20604Ministry of the Environment, Japan Research on the Health Effects of Radiation
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWorry about radiation is a long-lasting concern among community residents after a nuclear power plant accident. We aimed to explore the reasons behind this persistent worry based on descriptions collected from the affected population.

methodsWe analyzed the descriptions provided in a questionnaire survey by those who worried about radiation even seven years after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant accident. We divided the 422 respondents into three groups according to their change in worry since the accident: those whose worry increased (N = 40), remained unchanged (N = 179), and decreased (N = 203). Among them, 35 (87.5%), 141 (78.8%), and 152 (74.9%) respondents described the reasons for their increased, unchanged, and decreased worry about radiation, respectively. Using content analysis, we categorized the descriptions within each group.

resultsA characteristic category in the increased worry group was “the increase in worry due to the increase in knowledge and information.” Some in this group referred to their “current health conditions” as well, which deteriorated after the accident. While many in the decreased worry group referred to the passage of time and the implemented countermeasures for radiation contamination, those in the unchanged worry group pointed to the “unchanged circumstances” after the accident.

conclusionsEven when countermeasures for radiation contamination had been implemented and information on radiation had been disseminated, those who did not recognize that these changes have been made since the disaster might keep their worry about radiation, and some might increase their worry by having new information or health problems that occurred after the accident.

Indexed as

AnxietyFukushima Nuclear AccidentRadiation ExposureAdultAgedFemaleHumansJapanMaleMiddle AgedQualitative ResearchSurveys and QuestionnairesFukushimaNuclear power plant accidentQualitative dataQuestionnaire surveyWorry about radiation

Identifiers

PMID41645143
PMCPMC12973622

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.