Influence of subjective economic hardship on new onset of neck pain (so-called: katakori) in the chronic phase of the Great East Japan Earthquake: A prospective cohort study

Background

Studies have suggested that musculoskeletal symptoms increase after natural disasters. The Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) and accompanying tsunami placed a huge financial burden on the local population. This study determined whether subjective economic hardship influenced the new onset of neck pain (katakori) in the chronic phase after the GEJE.

Methods

This study used longitudinal data from 1359 adults who had responded to the self-report questionnaire at 2 and 3 years after the GEJE. New-onset neck pain was defined as neck pain absent at 2 years and present at 3 years. Subjective economic hardship at 2 years after the GEJE was categorized into 4 groups: “normal,” “a little bit hard,” “hard,” and “very hard.” Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) in order to examine the association between subjective economic hardship and new-onset neck pain.

Results

Among the participants, 12.9% (n = 175) reported new-onset neck pain. A significantly higher rate of new-onset neck pain was observed in participants who considered their subjective economic hardship to be “hard” (OR = 2.10, 95% CI = 1.34–3.30) or “very hard” (OR = 3.26, 95% CI = 1.83–5.46; p for trend <0.001) compared with those who considered their hardship to be “normal.”

Conclusions

Subjective economic hardship was significantly associated with new-onset neck pain in the chronic phase of the GEJE. (228/300).