Impaired psychological recovery in the elderly after the Niigata-Chuetsu Earthquake in Japan:a population-based study

Table 1 Characteristics of the subjects (n = 2,083)

		N	%
Gender	Male	1,137	54.6
	Female	927	44.5
Age (years)	≤29	59	2.8
	30–39	184	8.8
	40–49	333	16.0
	50–64	802	38.5
	65–79	623	29.9
	≥80	66	3.2
Place of residence when the earthquake occurred
	Nagaoka City	727	34.9
	Ojiya City	442	21.2
	Mitsuke City	171	8.2
	Tohkamachi City	248	11.9
	Kawaguchi Town	146	7.0
	Koshiji Town	108	5.2
	Yamakoshi Village	216	10.4
Employment	Farmer	236	11.3
	Executive of business firm	128	6.1
	Office worker	461	22.1
	Government official	54	2.6
	Part-time worker	167	8.0
	Housewife	303	14.5
	Student	5	0.2
	None	201	9.6
	Pensioner	295	14.2
Location when the earthquake occurred
	At home	1,426	68.5
	At home of friends	30	1.4
	At office	132	6.3
	In Car	169	8.1
	In bus or train	8	0.4
	In public facilities	29	1.4
	In other buildings	71	3.4
	Outdoors	78	3.7
Person by their side when the earthquake occurred
	With someone	317	15.2
	Alone	1,766	84.8
Family members living together
	None	847	40.7
Income
	Lost income after earthquake	21	1.0
Severity of house damage	Completely destroyed	356	17.1
	Almost completely destroyed	292	14.0
	Severely damaged	621	29.8
	Slightly damaged	787	37.8
	None	14	0.7
Timing of contact with lifeguards after the earthquake
	≤1 hour	139	6.7
	1< ≤ 3 hours	263	12.6
	3< ≤ 6 hours	187	9.0
	6< ≤ 12 hours	204	9.8
	> 12 hours	998	47.9
	No contact	279	13.4
Injury caused by the earthquake	No injury	1,888	90.6
	Mild injury	191	9.2
	Injury requiring hospitalization	4	0.2
Sickness after the earthquake	No sickness	1,870	89.8
	Mild sickness	195	9.4
	Sickness requiring hospitalization	18	0.9

ISSN: 1471-2458