Association between types of social isolation and all-cause mortality among the survivors in the disaster-affected area of the great East Japan earthquake: The RIAS study.

Authors

Satoru Kanda, Eri Takusari, Haruki Shimoda, Kiyomi Sakata, Kozo Tanno, RIAS Study Group

Published in

Preventive medicine reports. Volume 71. Pages 103654. Epub Sep 30, 2026.

Abstract

We aimed to determine whether different types of social isolation after a disaster are associated with all-cause mortality, which currently remains unknown, using data from a prospective cohort study of survivors in an area affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
In total, 9311 participants (3600 men and 5711 women) were followed up from October 1, 2011, to the occurrence of censoring events: death, loss to follow-up, or the end of the follow-up period (December 31, 2017). Social isolation types were assessed using the Lubben Social Network Scale-6 (LSNS-6) Family Subscale and LSNS-6 Friend Subscale (using 5/6 as a cutoff point). Using Cox proportional hazards models, the hazard ratios of all-cause mortality according to the social isolation type (no isolation as the reference) were estimated.
Social isolation from friends, but not from family members, was significantly associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio, 1.28; 95% confidence interval, 1.10,1.63).
Social isolation from friends contributes to an increased risk of all-cause mortality. More focused preventive healthcare and medical support for premature death after a disaster and the preservation of social networks are required for disaster survivors who are socially isolated from friends.

PMID:
42871450
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 14 Oct 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.