We examined patients admitted to our hospital for HF during a three-week period between March 11 and March 31, 2011 (Disaster group) and compared them to patients during the corresponding period of 2010 (Non-Disaster group).
The number of patients was larger in the Disaster group (n = 30, 18 men, 12 women; mean age 77.3 ¡À 9.8 years) than in the Non-Disaster group (n = 16, 8 men, 8 women; mean age 77.3 ¡À 11.6 years). A total of 14 of 30 patients (46.7 % ) in the Disaster group did not have past history of admission for HF, compared to 2 patients (12.5 % ) in the Non-Disaster group (p = 0.02). The number of patients with hypertension was larger in the Disaster group than in the Non-Disaster group (53.3 % vs. 37.5 % , p = 0.04). The number of patients with atrial fibrillation was also larger in the Disaster group than in the Non-Disaster group (56.7 % vs. 25.0 % , p = 0.03). Left ventricular systolic ejection fraction (EF) did not differ between the Disaster and Non-Disaster groups (45.2 ¡À 17.8 % vs. 45.6 ¡À 14.0 % , p = 0.46), however, the proportion of patients whose EF was more than 45 % were significantly higher in the Disaster group more than in the Non-Disaster group (56.7 % vs. 43.8 % , p = 0.04). The in-hospital mortality rate for patients in the Disaster group was higher than in the Non-Disaster group (20.0 % vs. 6.3 % , p = 0.04).
The incidence and in-hospital mortality rate of HF increased after the Great East Japan Earthquake, suggesting that psychosocial stress brought on by such a disaster could lead to the development of HF with preserved EF more than that with reduced EF.