Presentation (CTI)

OBJECTIVES: Fukushima experienced an unprecedented "triple disaster" (earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident) in 2011. A distinct feature was forced displacement due to radiation, even from physically intact areas. While community-level research has documented a persistent rise in lifestyle-related diseases, clinical data from advanced medical settings a decade later remain scarce. As the prefecture’s only Advanced Treatment Hospital, Fukushima Medical University Hospital manages patients including those uniquely affected by the long-term health impacts of the disaster. This data profile presents real-world inpatient data ten years after the disaster providing a unique resource for understanding its long-term health impacts.
METHODS: Clinical data were automatically extracted from institutional electronic health records using predefined criteria. The structured dataset integrated patient demographics, clinical summaries (diagnoses, comorbidities, and outcomes), medication records, and laboratory/microbiology results. This anonymized three-year dataset (2022-2024) was analyzed within a secure cloud platform to characterize inpatient profiles.
RESULTS: From 2022 to 2024, 29,945 patients were hospitalized, including 14,418 (48.1%) aged ≥65 years. The median age was 63 years, 49.2% were female, and the median Katz Index and NEWS were 6 and 1.0, respectively. The leading admitting departments were Ophthalmology (11.3%), Gastroenterology (8.8%), and Cardiology (8.8%). The leading admission diagnoses were neoplasms (28.4%), cardiovascular diseases (12.8%), and eye disorders (10.9%). The most common comorbidities were diabetes mellitus (14.7%), congestive heart failure (9.4%), and chronic pulmonary disease (3.2%). DNAR orders were issued in 2.2% and polypharmacy was observed in 26.4%. Home discharge, post-acute care transfer, and in-hospital death occurred in 89.6%, 7.6%, and 2.8% of patients, respectively. Among those aged ≥65 years, the corresponding rates were 68.5%, 24.0%, and 7.5%.
CONCLUSIONS: This real-world database provides a valuable resource for future research on patient characteristics, healthcare utilization, and long-term outcomes in a tertiary care setting affected by complex disasters.