著者
Yuta Taniguchi Masao Iwagami Nobuo Sakata Taeko Watanabe Kazuhiro Abe Nanako Tamiya
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.JE20200057, (Released:2020-06-13)
参考文献数
22
被引用文献数
9

Background: With increasing age globally, more people may become vulnerable to food choking. We investigated the nationwide epidemiology of food choking deaths in Japan.Methods: Using Japanese Vital Statistics death data between 2006 and 2016, we identified food choking deaths based on the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases code W79 (Inhalation and ingestion of food causing obstruction of respiratory tract) as a primary diagnosis. We assessed the demographics of people with food choking deaths; temporal trends of food choking deaths by the year (overall and by age group), the day of year; and prefecture variations.Results: Overall, 52,366 people experienced food choking deaths (median age, 82 years, 53% were male, and 57% occurred at home). The highest numbers occurred January 1–3, and were lowest in June. Despite a stable total number of cases at around 4,000 yearly, from 2006 to 2016 the incidence proportion declined from 16.2 to 12.1 per 100,000 population among people aged 75–84 years. Among people ≥85 years, the incidence proportion peaked at 53.5 in 2008 and decreased to 43.6 in 2016. The number of food choking deaths varied by prefecture.Conclusions: There are temporal and regional variations of food choking deaths in Japan, possibly due to the consumption of Japanese rice cake (mochi), particularly over the New Year’s holiday.
著者
Shohei Nagata Tomoki Nakaya Yu Adachi Toru Inamori Kazuto Nakamura Dai Arima Hiroshi Nishiura
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.JE20200625, (Released:2021-04-03)
参考文献数
14
被引用文献数
2 55

Background: As the COVID-19 pandemic spread, the Japanese government declared a state of emergency on April 7, 2020 for seven prefectures, and on April 16, 2020 for all prefectures. The Japanese Prime Minister and governors requested people to adopt self-restraint behaviors, including working from home and refraining from visiting nightlife spots. However, the effectiveness of the mobility change due to such requests in reducing the spread of COVID-19 has been little investigated. The present study examined the association of the mobility change in working, nightlife, and residential places and the COVID-19 outbreaks in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya metropolitan areas in Japan.Methods: First, we calculated the daily mobility change in working, nightlife, and residential places compared to the mobility before the outbreak using mobile device data. Second, we estimated the sensitivity of mobility changes to the reproduction number by generalized least squares.Results: Mobility change had already started in March, 2020. However, mobility reduction in nightlife places was particularly significant due to the state of emergency declaration. Although the mobility in each place type was associated with the COVID-19 outbreak, the mobility changes in nightlife places were more significantly associated with the outbreak than those in the other place types. There were regional differences in intensity of sensitivity among each metropolitan area.Conclusions: Our findings indicated the effectiveness of the mobility changes, particularly in nightlife places, in reducing the outbreak of COVID-19.
著者
Naoki Nago Shizukiyo Ishikawa Tadao Goto Kazunori Kayaba
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.1012070204-1012070204, (Released:2010-12-11)
参考文献数
17
被引用文献数
28 66

Background: We investigated the relationship between low cholesterol and mortality and examined whether that relationship differs with respect to cause of death.Methods: A community-based prospective cohort study was conducted in 12 rural areas in Japan. The study subjects were 12 334 healthy adults aged 40 to 69 years who underwent a mass screening examination. Serum total cholesterol was measured by an enzymatic method. The outcome was total mortality, by sex and cause of death. Information regarding cause of death was obtained from death certificates, and the average follow-up period was 11.9 years.Results: As compared with a moderate cholesterol level (4.14–5.17 mmol/L), the age-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of low cholesterol (<4.14 mmol/L) for mortality was 1.49 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.23–1.79) in men and 1.50 (1.10–2.04) in women. High cholesterol (≥6.21 mmol/L) was not a risk factor. This association was unchanged in analyses that excluded deaths due to liver disease, which yielded age-adjusted HRs of 1.38 (95% CI, 1.13–1.67) in men and 1.49 (1.09–2.04) in women. The multivariate-adjusted HRs and 95% CIs of the lowest cholesterol group for hemorrhagic stroke, heart failure (excluding myocardial infarction), and cancer mortality significantly higher than those of the moderate cholesterol group, for each cause of death.Conclusions: Low cholesterol was related to high mortality even after excluding deaths due to liver disease from the analysis. High cholesterol was not a risk factor for mortality.
著者
Kosuke Kiyohara Tomohiko Sakai Chika Nishiyama Tatsuya Nishiuchi Yasuyuki Hayashi Taku Iwami Tetsuhisa Kitamura
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.JE20160179, (Released:2017-10-28)
参考文献数
25
被引用文献数
21

Background: Japanese rice cake (“mochi”) is a major cause of food-choking accidents in Japan. However, the epidemiology of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) due to suffocation caused by rice cakes is poorly understood.Methods: OHCA data from 2005 to 2012 were obtained from the population-based OHCA registry in Osaka Prefecture. Patients aged ≥20 years who experienced OHCA caused by suffocation that occurred before the arrival of emergency-medical-service (EMS) personnel were included. Patient characteristics, prehospital interventions, and outcomes were compared based on the cause of suffocation (rice cake and non-rice-cake). The primary outcome was 1-month survival after OHCA.Results: In total, 46 911 adult OHCAs were observed during the study period. Of the OHCAs, 7.0% (3,294/46,911) were due to suffocation, with choking due to rice cake as the cause in 9.5% of cases (314/3,294), and of these, 24.5% (77/314) occurred during the first 3 days of the New Year. In crude analysis, 1-month survival was 17.2% (54/314) in those with suffocation caused by rice cake and 13.4% (400/2,980) in those with suffocation due to other causes. In the multivariable analysis for all-cause suffocation, younger age, arrest witnessed by bystanders, and earlier EMS response time were significantly related to better 1-month survival.Conclusion: Approximately 10% of OHCAs due to suffocation were caused by rice-cake choking, and 25% of these occurred during the first 3 days of the New Year. Further efforts for establishing preventive measures as well as improving the early recognition of choking and encouraging bystanders to call EMS sooner are needed.
著者
Takahiro Sanada Tomoko Honda Fumihiko Yasui Kenzaburo Yamaji Tsubasa Munakata Naoki Yamamoto Makoto Kurano Yusuke Matsumoto Risa Kohno Sakiko Toyama Yoshiro Kishi Takuro Horibe Yudai Kaneko Mayumi Kakegawa Kazushige Fukui Takeshi Kawamura Wang Daming Chungen Qian Fuzhen Xia Fan He Syudo Yamasaki Atsushi Nishida Takayuki Harada Masahiko Higa Yuko Tokunaga Asako Takagi Masanari Itokawa Tatsuhiko Kodama Michinori Kohara
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.JE20210324, (Released:2021-11-13)
参考文献数
26
被引用文献数
18

Background: Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is a densely populated city of >13 million people and thus at high risk of epidemic severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. A serologic survey of anti–SARS-CoV-2 IgG would provide valuable data for assessing the city’s SARS-CoV-2 infection status. This cross-sectional study therefore estimated the anti–SARS-CoV-2 IgG seroprevalence in Tokyo.Methods: Leftover serum of 23,234 hospital visitors was tested for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 using an iFlash 3000 chemiluminescence immunoassay analyzer (Shenzhen YHLO Biotech) with an iFlash–SARS-CoV-2 IgG kit (YHLO) and iFlash–SARS-CoV-2 IgG-S1 kit (YHLO). Serum samples with a positive result (≥10 AU/mL) in either of these assays were considered seropositive for anti–SARS-CoV-2 IgG. Participants were randomly selected from patients visiting 14 Tokyo hospitals between September 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021. No participants were diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and none exhibited COVID-19–related symptoms at the time of blood collection.Results: The overall anti–SARS-CoV-2 IgG seroprevalence among all participants was 1.83% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.66%-2.01%). The seroprevalence in March 2021, the most recent month of this study, was 2.70% (95% CI: 2.16%-3.34%). After adjusting for population age, sex, and region, the estimated seroprevalence in Tokyo was 3.40%, indicating that 470,778 individuals had a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection.Conclusions: The estimated number of individuals in Tokyo with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection was 3.9-fold higher than the number of confirmed cases. Our study enhances understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Tokyo.
著者
Koichiro Shiba Takuya Kawahara
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.31, no.8, pp.457-463, 2021-08-05 (Released:2021-08-05)
参考文献数
49
被引用文献数
1 42

Methods based on propensity score (PS) have become increasingly popular as a tool for causal inference. A better understanding of the relative advantages and disadvantages of the alternative analytic approaches can contribute to the optimal choice and use of a specific PS method over other methods. In this article, we provide an accessible overview of causal inference from observational data and two major PS-based methods (matching and inverse probability weighting), focusing on the underlying assumptions and decision-making processes. We then discuss common pitfalls and tips for applying the PS methods to empirical research and compare the conventional multivariable outcome regression and the two alternative PS-based methods (ie, matching and inverse probability weighting) and discuss their similarities and differences. Although we note subtle differences in causal identification assumptions, we highlight that the methods are distinct primarily in terms of the statistical modeling assumptions involved and the target population for which exposure effects are being estimated.
著者
Yasuyuki Okumura Nobuo Sakata Hisateru Tachimori Tadashi Takeshima
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.JE20180066, (Released:2018-09-22)
参考文献数
35
被引用文献数
7

Background: Understanding the area-specific resource use of inpatient psychiatric care is essential for the efficient use of the public assistance system. This study aimed to assess the geographical variation in psychiatric admissions and to identify the prefecture-level determinants of psychiatric admissions among recipients of public assistance in Japan.Methods: We identified all recipients of public assistance who were hospitalized in a psychiatric ward in May 2014, 2015, or 2016 using the Fact-finding Survey on Medical Assistance. The age- and sex-standardized number of psychiatric admissions was calculated for each of the 47 prefectures, using direct and indirect standardization methods.Results: A total of 46,559 psychiatric inpatients were identified in May 2016. The number of psychiatric admissions per 100,000 population was 36.6. We found a 7.1-fold difference between the prefectures with the highest (Nagasaki) and lowest (Nagano) numbers of admissions. The method of decomposing explained variance in the multiple regression model showed that the number of psychiatric beds per 100,000 population and the number of recipients of public assistance per 1,000 population were the most important determinants of the number of psychiatric admissions (R2 = 28% and R2 = 23%, respectively). The sensitivity analyses, using medical cost as the outcome and data from different survey years and subgroups, showed similar findings.Conclusions: We identified a large geographical variation in the number and total medical cost of psychiatric admissions among recipients of public assistance. Our findings should encourage policy makers to assess the rationale for this variation and consider strategies for reducing it.
著者
Koichiro Shiba Takuya Kawahara
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.JE20210145, (Released:2021-06-12)
参考文献数
49
被引用文献数
1 42

Methods based on propensity score (PS) have become increasingly popular as a tool for causal inference. A better understanding of the relative advantages and disadvantages of the alternative analytic approaches can contribute to the optimal choice and use of a specific PS method over other methods. In this article, we provide an accessible overview of causal inference from observational data and two major PS-based methods (matching and inverse probability weighting), focusing on the underlying assumptions and decision-making processes. We then discuss common pitfalls and tips for applying the PS methods to empirical research and compare the conventional multivariable outcome regression and the two alternative PS-based methods (i.e., matching and inverse probability weighting) and discuss their similarities and differences. Although we note subtle differences in causal identification assumptions, we highlight that the methods are distinct primarily in terms of the statistical modeling assumptions involved and the target population for which exposure effects are being estimated for.
著者
Akio Yagi Shinya Hayasaka Toshiyuki Ojima Yuri Sasaki Taishi Tsuji Yasuhiro Miyaguni Yuiko Nagamine Takao Namiki Katsunori Kondo
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.JE20180123, (Released:2018-10-27)
参考文献数
40
被引用文献数
8

Background: While bathing styles vary among countries, most Japanese people prefer tub bathing to showers and saunas. However, few studies have examined the relationship between tub bathing and health outcomes. Accordingly, in this prospective cohort study, we investigated the association between tub bathing frequency and the onset of functional disability among older people in Japan.Methods: We used data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES). The baseline survey was conducted from August 2010 to January 2012 and enrolled 13,786 community-dwelling older people (6,482 men and 7,304 women) independent in activities of daily living. During a 3-year observation period, the onset of functional disability, identified by new certification for need of Long-Term Care Insurance, was recorded. Tub bathing frequencies in summer and winter at baseline were divided into 3 groups: low frequency (0-2 times/week), moderate frequency (3-6 times/week), and high frequency (≥ 7 times/week). We estimated the risks of functional disability in each group using a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model.Results: Functional disability was observed in a total of 1,203 cases (8.7%). Compared with the low-frequency group and after adjustment for 14 potential confounders, the hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) of the moderate- and high-frequency groups were 0.91 (0.75-1.10) and 0.72 (0.60-0.85) for summer and 0.90 (0.76-1.07) and 0.71 (0.60-0.84) for winter.Conclusion: High tub bathing frequency is associated with lower onset of functional disability. Therefore, tub bathing might be beneficial for older people’s health.
著者
Yasuyuki Okumura Naoya Sugiyama Toshie Noda Hisateru Tachimori
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.JE20180096, (Released:2018-09-15)
参考文献数
27
被引用文献数
13

Background: A better understanding of resource use of new psychiatric admissions is important for healthcare providers and policymakers to improve psychiatric care. This study aims to describe the pattern of new psychiatric admissions and length of stay in Japan.Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using data from the National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups of Japan (NDB). All patients newly admitted to psychiatric wards from April 2014 through March 2016 were included and followed up until discharge to the community.Results: Our sample included 605,982 admissions from 1,621 hospitals over 2 years. The average monthly number of admissions was 25,024 in fiscal year 2014 and 25,475 in fiscal year 2015. There was a seasonal trend in the number of admissions, with a peak in summer (in July). The discharge rates within 90 days and 360 days were 64.1% and 85.7%, respectively, and varied by type of hospital fee and by hospital. For example, the range of hospital-level discharge rate within 90 days in psychiatric emergency units was 46.0–75.3% in the 1st (lowest) quintile, while it was 83.6–96.0% in the 5th (highest) quintile. The prefecture-level indicators in the NDB and the 630 survey had correlations of >0.70.Conclusions: Our study provides fundamental information on resource use of new psychiatric admissions in Japan. Although using the NDB has substantial benefits in monitoring resource use, the results should be interpreted with some caution owing to methodological issues inherent in the database.
著者
Etsuji Suzuki Tomohiro Shinozaki Eiji Yamamoto
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.JE20190192, (Released:2020-02-01)
参考文献数
70
被引用文献数
9 34

Graphical models are useful tools in causal inference, and causal directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) are used extensively to determine the variables for which it is sufficient to control for confounding to estimate causal effects. We discuss the following ten pitfalls and tips that are easily overlooked when using DAGs: 1) Each node on DAGs corresponds to a random variable and not its realized values; 2) The presence or absence of arrows in DAGs corresponds to the presence or absence of individual causal effect in the population; 3) “Non-manipulable” variables and their arrows should be drawn with care; 4) It is preferable to draw DAGs for the total population, rather than for the exposed or unexposed groups; 5) DAGs are primarily useful to examine the presence of confounding in distribution in the notion of confounding in expectation; 6) Although DAGs provide qualitative differences of causal structures, they cannot describe details of how to adjust for confounding; 7) DAGs can be used to illustrate the consequences of matching and the appropriate handling of matched variables in cohort and case-control studies; 8) When explicitly accounting for temporal order in DAGs, it is necessary to use separate nodes for each timing; 9) In certain cases, DAGs with signed edges can be used in drawing conclusions about the direction of bias; and 10) DAGs can be (and should be) used to describe not only confounding bias but also other forms of bias. We also discuss recent developments of graphical models and their future directions.
著者
Tatsuhiko Anzai Keisuke Fukui Tsubasa Ito Yuri Ito Kunihiko Takahashi
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.JE20200443, (Released:2020-12-12)
参考文献数
34
被引用文献数
2 22

Background: Suicide amidst the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is an important issue. In Japan, the number of suicides in April 2020 decreased by nearly 20% from that in 2019. To assess the impact of an infectious disease pandemic, excess mortality is often discussed. Our main purpose was evaluating excess mortality from suicide in Japan during the early pandemic period.Methods: We used data on suicides collected by the National Police Agency of Japan until June 2020. We estimated excess mortality during the early pandemic period (March–June 2020) using a time-series model of the number of suicides before the pandemic. A quasi-Poisson model was employed for the estimation. We evaluated excess mortalities by the categories of age and sex, and prefectures.Results: No significant excess mortality was observed throughout the early pandemic; instead, a downward trend in the number of suicides for both sexes was noted. For males, negative values of excess mortalities below the lower bound of the 95% prediction interval were observed in April and May. All numbers of females during the period were included in the interval, and the excess mortalities in June were positive and higher than those in April and May. In Tokyo, the number of suicides was below the lower bound throughout the period.Conclusion: Our results suggest that various changes such as communication, and social conditions amid the early COVID-19 pandemic induced a decrease in suicides in Japan. However, continuous monitoring is needed to evaluate the long-term effects of the pandemic on suicides.
著者
Makoto Takeyama Sen Yachi Yuji Nishimoto Ichizo Tsujino Junichi Nakamura Naoto Yamamoto Hiroko Nakata Satoshi Ikeda Michihisa Umetsu Shizu Aikawa Hiroya Hayashi Hirono Satokawa Yoshinori Okuno Eriko Iwata Yoshito Ogihara Nobutaka Ikeda Akane Kondo Takehisa Iwai Norikazu Yamada Tomohiro Ogawa Takao Kobayashi Makoto Mo Yugo Yamashita
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.JE20220201, (Released:2022-11-12)
参考文献数
53
被引用文献数
2 1

Background: Reports of mortality-associated risk factors in patients with the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are limited.Methods: We evaluated the clinical features that were associated with mortality among patients who died during hospitalization (n = 158) and those who were alive at discharge (n = 2,736) from the large-scale, multicenter, retrospective, observational cohort CLOT-COVID study, which enrolled consecutively hospitalized COVID-19 patients from 16 centers in Japan from April to September 2021. Data from 2,894 hospitalized COVID-19 participants of the CLOT-COVID study were analyzed in this study.Results: Patients who died were older (71.1 years vs 51.6 years, P < 0.001), had higher median D-dimer values on admission (1.7 µg/mL vs 0.8 µg/mL, P < 0.001), and had more comorbidities. On admission, the patients who died had more severe COVID-19 than did those who survived (mild: 16% vs 63%, moderate: 47% vs 31%, and severe: 37% vs 6.2%, P < 0.001). In patients who died, the incidence of thrombosis and major bleeding during hospitalization was significantly higher than that in those who survived (thrombosis: 8.2% vs 1.5%, P < 0.001; major bleeding: 12.7% vs 1.4%, P < 0.001). Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that age >70 years, high D-dimer values on admission, heart disease, active cancer, higher COVID-19 severity on admission, and development of major bleeding during hospitalization were independently associated with a higher mortality risk.Conclusion: This large-scale observational study in Japan identified several independent risk factors for mortality in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 that could facilitate appropriate risk stratification of patients with COVID-19.
著者
Daisuke Yoneoka Takayuki Kawashima Yuta Tanoue Shuhei Nomura Keisuke Ejima Shoi Shi Akifumi Eguchi Toshibumi Taniguchi Haruka Sakamoto Hiroyuki Kunishima Stuart Gilmour Hiroshi Nishiura Hiroaki Miyata
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.JE20200150, (Released:2020-05-30)
参考文献数
23
被引用文献数
32

BackgroundThe World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) to be a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Large-scale monitoring for capturing the current epidemiological situation of COVID-19 in Japan would improve preparation for and prevention of a massive outbreak.MethodsA chatbot-based healthcare system named COOPERA (COvid-19: Operation for Personalized Empowerment to Render smart prevention And care seeking) was developed using the LINE app to evaluate the current Japanese epidemiological situation. LINE users could participate in the system either though a QR code page in the prefecture’s website, or a banner at the top of the LINE app screen. COOPERA asked participants questions regarding personal information, preventive actions, and non-specific symptoms related to COVID-19 and their duration. We calculated daily cross correlation functions between the reported number of infected cases confirmed by PCR and the symptom-positive group captured by COOPERA.ResultsWe analyzed 206,218 participants from three prefectures reported between March 5 and 30, 2020. The mean (standard deviation) age of participants was 44.2 (13.2). No symptoms were reported by 96.93% of participants, but there was a significantly positive correlation between the reported number of COVID-19 cases and self-reported fevers, suggesting that massive monitoring of fever might help to estimate the scale of the COVID-19 epidemic in real time.ConclusionsCOOPERA is the first real-time system being used to monitor trends in COVID-19 in Japan, and provides useful insights to assist political decisions to tackle the epidemic.
著者
Kota Katanoda Tomomi Marugame Kumiko Saika Hiroshi Satoh Kazuo Tajima Takaichiro Suzuki Akiko Tamakoshi Shoichiro Tsugane Tomotaka Sobue
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.18, no.6, pp.251-264, 2008 (Released:2008-12-17)
参考文献数
40
被引用文献数
98 107

Background: Quantitative measures of the burden of tobacco smoking in Asian countries are limited. We estimated the population attributable fraction (PAF) of mortality associated with smoking in Japan, using pooled data from three large-scale cohort studies.Methods: In total, 296,836 participants (140,026 males and 156,810 females) aged 40-79 years underwent baseline surveys during the 1980s and early 1990s. The average follow-up period was 9.6 years. PAFs for all-cause mortality and individual tobacco-related diseases were estimated from smoking prevalence and relative risks.Results: The prevalence of current and former smokers was 54.4% and 25.1% for males, and 8.1% and 2.4% for females. The PAF of all-cause mortality was 27.8% [95% confidence interval (CI): 25.2-30.4] for males and 6.7% (95% CI: 5.9-7.5) for females. The PAF of all-cause mortality calculated by summing the disease-specific PAFs was 19.1% (95% CI: 16.0-22.2) for males and 3.6% (95% CI: 3.0-4.2) for females. The estimated number of deaths attributable to smoking in Japan in 2005 was 163,000 for males and 33,000 for females based on the former set of PAFs, and 112,000 for males and 19,000 for females based on the latter set. The leading causes of smoking-attributable deaths were cancer (61% for males and 31% for females), ischemic heart diseases and stroke (23% for males and 51% for females), and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and pneumonia (11% for males and 13% for females).Conclusion: The health burden due to smoking remains heavy among Japanese males. Considering the high prevalence of male current smokers and increasing prevalence of young female current smokers, effective tobacco controls and quantitative assessments of the health burden of smoking need to be continuously implemented in Japan.
著者
Ayaka Igarashi Jun Aida Toshimi Sairenchi Toru Tsuboya Kemmyo Sugiyama Shihoko Koyama Yusuke Matsuyama Yukihiro Sato Ken Osaka Hitoshi Ota
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.JE20170330, (Released:2018-05-31)
参考文献数
20
被引用文献数
5

Background: Annually, more than 1.2 million deaths due to road traffic accidents occur worldwide. Although previous studies have examined the association between cigarette smoking and injury death, the mortality outcome often included non-traffic accident-related deaths. This study aimed to examine the association between cigarette smoking and traffic accident death.Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study using data from the Ibaraki Prefectural Health Study conducted between 1993 and 2013. The cohort included 97,078 adults (33,138 men and 63,940 women) living in Ibaraki Prefecture, who were aged 40–79 years at an annual health checkup in 1993. We divided participants into four smoking status groups: non-smokers, ex-smokers and current smokers who smoked <20 and ≥20 cigarettes per day. Hazard ratios (HRs) of traffic accident death were calculated using a Cox proportional hazards model.Results: During 20 years of follow-up, average person-year of follow-up were 16.8 and 18.2 in men and women, respectively. Among men, after adjusting for age and alcohol intake, compared to non-smokers, HRs for traffic accident death among current smokers of <20 cigarettes/day and ≥20 cigarettes/day were 1.32 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.79–2.20) and 1.54 (95% CI, 0.99–2.39), respectively. In contrast, among women, we found no association between smoking status and traffic accident deaths.Conclusion: In this prospective cohort study, we found a positive association, though marginally significant, between smoking and traffic accident death among men in Japan. Among women, because smaller number of death among smokers, adequate estimation could not be obtained.
著者
Hiroshi Hirai Masao Ichikawa Naoki Kondo Katsunori Kondo
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.JE20180260, (Released:2019-06-22)
参考文献数
26
被引用文献数
17 18

Background: Population ageing and stringent licensing policies will increase the number of older drivers who stop driving. Adverse health outcomes owing to driving cessation and their prevention are emerging concerns. Therefore, we longitudinally examined the impact of driving cessation and alternative transportation use after cessation on the risk of functional limitations in a cohort of community-dwelling people (65 years and older) in Japan.Methods: Using cohort data of those who drove as of 2006/07, we compared the risk of functional limitations between 2,704 current drivers and 140 former drivers (who stopped driving by 2010). Of the former drivers, 77 did not use public transportation or bicycles after driving cessation (thus losing independent mobility). We calculated the hazard ratios (HRs) for the incidence of functional limitations with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) based on the Cox proportional hazards model with the covariates influencing the functional limitations.Results: From 2010 through 2016, 645 people had functional limitations, which included 38, 82, and 119 per 1,000 person-years among current drivers, former drivers who used public transportation or bicycles, and former drivers who were only driven by others, respectively (HR 1.69; 95% CI, 1.15–2.49 and HR 2.16; 95% CI, 1.51–3.10, relative to current drivers).Conclusion: Driving cessation is associated with an increased risk of functional limitations among older adults, but this risk might be alleviated if they are able to maintain independent mobility using public transportation or bicycles after driving cessation.
著者
Tomohiro Shinozaki Etsuji Suzuki
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.30, no.9, pp.377-389, 2020-09-05 (Released:2020-09-05)
参考文献数
84
被引用文献数
13 21

Epidemiologists are increasingly encountering complex longitudinal data, in which exposures and their confounders vary during follow-up. When a prior exposure affects the confounders of the subsequent exposures, estimating the effects of the time-varying exposures requires special statistical techniques, possibly with structural (ie, counterfactual) models for targeted effects, even if all confounders are accurately measured. Among the methods used to estimate such effects, which can be cast as a marginal structural model in a straightforward way, one popular approach is inverse probability weighting. Despite the seemingly intuitive theory and easy-to-implement software, misunderstandings (or “pitfalls”) remain. For example, one may mistakenly equate marginal structural models with inverse probability weighting, failing to distinguish a marginal structural model encoding the causal parameters of interest from a nuisance model for exposure probability, and thereby failing to separate the problems of variable selection and model specification for these distinct models. Assuming the causal parameters of interest are identified given the study design and measurements, we provide a step-by-step illustration of generalized computation of standardization (called the g-formula) and inverse probability weighting, as well as the specification of marginal structural models, particularly for time-varying exposures. We use a novel hypothetical example, which allows us access to typically hidden potential outcomes. This illustration provides steppingstones (or “tips”) to understand more concretely the estimation of the effects of complex time-varying exposures.