Comparison of Proportional Mortality Between Korean Atomic Bomb Survivors and the General Population During 1992–2019

Journal of Korean Medical Science · 8 authors, 6 centres

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TL;DR

It found that survivors had a significantly higher proportion of deaths from respiratory and nervous system diseases.

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This retrospective cohort study analyzed proportional mortality among 2,176 Korean atomic bomb survivors who died between 1992 and 2019, comparing it to 6,377,781 deaths in the general population. The most common cause of death in survivors was diseases of the circulatory system (25.4%), followed by neoplasms (25.1%). Analysis by exposure distance showed that survivors exposed at a closer distance to the hypocenter had a younger age at death. The study is limited by missing data on exposure distance for 50.6% of survivors and the inability to control for sex, age at exposure, and other epidemiological risk factors. Despite these limitations, it provides the first evidence of long-term proportional mortality patterns in this specific survivor population.

STUDY TYPE

cohort

SPECIALTY

epidemiology

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ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10070051

Comparison of Proportional Mortality Between Korean Atomic Bomb Survivors and the General Population During 1992–2019

Journal of Korean Medical Science

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ABSTRACT

Background Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in August 1945 were estimated to have killed approximately 70,000 Koreans. In Japan, studies on the health status and mortality of atomic bomb survivors compared with the non-exposed population have been conducted. However, there have been no studies related to the mortality of Korean atomic bomb survivors. Therefore, we aimed to study the cause of death of atomic bomb survivors compared to that of the general population. Methods Of 2,299 atomic bomb survivors registered with the Korean Red Cross, 2,176 were included in the study. In the general population, the number of deaths by age group was calculated from 1992 to 2019, and 6,377,781 individuals were assessed. Causes of death were categorized according to the Korean Standard Classification of Diseases. To compare the proportional mortality between the two groups, the P value for the ratio test was confirmed, and the Cochran-Armitage trend test and χ 2 test were performed to determine the cause of death according to the distance from the hypocenter. Results Diseases of the circulatory system were the most common cause of death (25.4%), followed by neoplasms (25.1%) and diseases of the respiratory system (10.6%) in atomic bomb survivors who died between 1992 and 2019. The proportional mortality associated with respiratory diseases, nervous system diseases, and other diseases among atomic bomb survivors was higher than that of the general population. Of the dead people between 1992 and 2019, the age at death of survivors who were exposed at a close distance was younger than those who were exposed at a greater distance. Conclusion Overall, proportional mortality of respiratory diseases and nervous system diseases was high in atomic bomb survivors, compared with the general population. Further studies on the health status of Korean atomic bomb survivors are needed.

CITATION EXPORT

Ansun Jeong, Seong-geun Moon, Yunji Han et al.. Comparison of Proportional Mortality Between Korean Atomic Bomb Survivors and the General Population During 1992–2019. Journal of Korean Medical Science. (2023). https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e110

AUTHORS

8 · 6 CENTRES

Ansun Jeong, Seong-geun Moon, Yunji Han, Jin-Wu Nam, Mi Kyung Kim, Inah Kim, Yu-Mi Kim, Boyoung Park

1Department of Health Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.
2Department of Preventive Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
3Institute for Health and Society, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.
4Department of Life Science, Hanyang University College of Natural Sciences, Seoul, Korea.
5Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
6Hanyang Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.