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Cognitive examination in older adults living in temporary apartments after the Great East Japan Earthquake

Northeast Japan experienced an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 in 2011, followed by enormous tsunamis. This seism destroyed coastal cities and killed nearly 20 000 people. After the disaster, many people who lost their houses were forced to live in temporary apartments with an area of just 5 m per family. Our group recently recruited 686 older adults who lived in the temporary apartments in Kesennuma, Japan, and examined their cognitive functions using touch-panel computers from February to May 2013. The participants were aged ≥66 years (male/female 235/451, mean age 76.4 ± 6.0 years). The program of using a touch-panel computer consisted of 15 questions that evaluate memory, orientation and pattern recognition. The full (best) score is 15, and scores of ≤12 are considered to be indicative of cognitive impairment according to Urakami et al. The study was approved by the Tohoku University ethical committee. Figure 1 shows the score distribution, showing that 36.0% of older adults in this group scored ≤12. This result suggests that a significantly high percentage of older adults who live in the temporary apartments could be cognitively impaired, because 36.0% is much higher than the data in the previous reports using the same device in another area. In addition, this 36% is also much higher than the prevalence of dementia reported in Japan, which is 14.1%. Our group previously reported exacerbation of symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease after the earthquake, and the present study is the first to epidemiologically investigate the prevalence of dementia in older adults living in temporary residences. There are several reasons expected for the possibility of the high prevalence of dementia, which are as follows: (i) changes in living circumstances; (ii) loss of families, relatives and friends; (iii) loss of their daily activities, such as farming and fishing; and (iv) isolation from families and neighbors. Although it is not easy to resolve the problem, we are now planning some antidementia programs including exercise, diet, and management for lifestyle-related disorders to prevent development and progression of dementia.