Environmental Health Perspectives 105, Supplement 6, December 1997

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Health Effects of the Chernobyl Disaster: Illness or Illness Behavior? A Comparative General Health Survey in Two Former Soviet Regions

Johan Havenaar,1 Galina Rumyantzeva,2 Anatoli Kasyanenko,3 Karin Kaasjager,4 Anneke Westermann,4 Wim van den Brink,5 Jan van den Bout,6 and Jean Savelkoul4

1Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Utrecht, The Netherlands
2The Serbski Institute for Social and Forensic Psychiatry, Moscow, The Russian Federation; 3Centre for Sociological Studies `Oracul', Gomel, Belarus; 4Department of Intensive Care and Toxicology, University Hospital, Utrecht, The Netherlands
5The Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
6Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Abstract
Results are described of a general health survey (n=3044) that was conducted 6.5 years after the Chernobyl accident in 1986 in a seriously contaminated region in Belarus and a socioeconomically comparable, but unaffected, region in the Russian Federation. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether there are differences in the general health status of the inhabitants of the two regions that may be attributed to the Chernobyl disaster. A broad-based population sample from each of these regions was studied using a variety of self-report questionnaires. A subsample (n=449) was further examined with a standardized physical and psychiatric examination. The results show significantly higher scores on the self-report questionnaires and higher medical service utilization in the exposed region. No significant differences were observed in global clinical indices of health. Although there were trends for some disorders to be more prevalent in the exposed region, none of these could be directly attributed to exposure to ionizing radiation. The results of this study suggest that the Chernobyl disaster had a significant long-term impact on psychological well-being, health-related quality of life, and illness behavior in the exposed population. -- Environ Health Perspect 105(Suppl 6):1533-1537 (1997)

Key words: Chernobyl disaster, health survey, subjective health, illness behavior

This paper is based on a presentation at the International Conference on Radiation and Health held 3-7 November 1996 in Beer Sheva, Israel. Abstracts of these papers were previously published in Public Health Reviews 24(3-4):205-431 (1996). Manuscript received at EHP 7 April 1997; accepted 30 June 1997.

This study was conducted in the framework of a Byelorussian-Dutch humanitarian aid project to alleviate the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. The project was sponsored by the Government of The Netherlands and executed by the National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection in cooperation with the University Hospital, Utrecht, The Netherlands. The authors thank T. Wohlfarth and M.W.J. Koeter for their valuable support in the analysis of our data.

Address correspondence to Dr. J.M. Havenaar, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Telephone: 31-30-2507109. Fax: 31-30-2505443. E-mail: J-Havenaar@psych.azu.nl

Abbreviations used: AOR, adjusted odds ratio (adjusted for sex, age, marital state, and education); CI, confidence interval; DSM-III-R, Diagnostic Statistical Manual, third edition revised; GHQ-12, General Health Questionnaire, 12-item version; ICD-9-CM, International Classification of Diseases, 9th edition, Clinical Manual; MDCL, Munich Diagnostic Checklist for DSM-III-R; MOS-SF, Medical Outcome Study, short form; OR, odds ratio.

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