Long-Term Trajectories of Cognitive Disability Among Older Adults Following a Major Disaster.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Older adults are at high risk for cognitive impairments following natural disasters, but the persistence of such effects is not well understood.

Objective

To track older adults' postdisaster cognitive disability trajectories over a decade and examine associations of cognitive disability with disaster damage exposure.

Design, setting, and participants

This prospective cohort study used predisaster baseline surveys conducted in August 2010 and 4 follow-ups approximately every 3 years until November 10, 2022. Invitations were mailed at baseline to all citizens 65 years or older in Iwanuma City, Japan, a coastal municipality significantly impacted by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. A total of 1988 respondents who were cognitively independent (

SUBMITTER: Hu H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11612899 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature