Open AccessThe Tokyo subway sarin attack has long-term effects on survivors: A 10-year study started 5 years after the terrorist incident
Author(s) -
Aya Sugiyama,
Takaaki Matsuoka,
Kazuaki Sakamune,
Tomoyuki Akita,
Ryosuke Makita,
Shinsuke Kimura,
Yukio Kuroiwa,
Masataka Nagao,
Junko Tanaka
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0234967
Subject(s) - poisson regression , medicine , poison control , injury prevention , demography , sarin , suicide prevention , multivariate analysis , human factors and ergonomics , occupational safety and health , psychiatry , psychology , environmental health , population , biology , pathology , sociology , acetylcholinesterase , enzyme , biochemistry
Objectives The Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995 was an unprecedented act of terrorism that killed 13 people and sickened more than 6,000. The long-term somatic and psychological effects on its victims remain unknown. Methods We conducted analyses on the self-rating questionnaire collected annually by the Recovery Support Center (RSC) during the period from 2000 to 2009. The RSC is the only organization that has large-scale follow-up data about sarin attack victims. The prevalence of self-reported symptoms was calculated over 10 years. We also evaluated the prevalence of posttraumatic stress response (PTSR), defined as a score ≥ 25 on the Japanese-language version of the Impact of Event Scale–Revised. The multivariate Poisson regression model was applied to estimate the risk ratios of age, gender, and year factor on the prevalence of PTSR. Results Subjects were 747 survivors (12% of the total) who responded to the annual questionnaire once or more during the study period. The prevalence of somatic symptoms, especially eye symptoms, was 60–80% and has not decreased. PTSR prevalence was 35.1%, and again there was no change with time. The multivariate Poisson regression model results revealed “old age” and “female” as independent risk factors, but the passage of time did not decrease the risk of PTSR. Conclusions Although symptoms in most victims of the Tokyo subway sarin were transient, this large-scale follow-up data analysis revealed that survivors have been suffering from somatic and psychological long-term effects.