Highlights

Volume 34, Issue 1-4 (2024)

Issue 4 (April 2024)
Issue 3 (March 2024)
Issue 2 (February 2024)
Issue 1 (January 2024)

Volume 34, Issue 4 (April 2024)

• We evaluated the validity of algorithms for the identification of acute pulmonary embolism (PE) patients in Japanese diagnosis procedure combination (DPC) data referencing registry data.
• Diagnosis information in the discharge abstract data from the Japanese DPC database enabled us to detect more than 90% of acute PE inpatients.
• When restricted to symptomatic cases of PE, 94.6% of the patients were identified by the diagnosis-based algorithm.
• The diagnosis-based algorithm may be a relatively sensitive method for identifying acute PE patients in the Japanese DPC database.

• This study examined the associations between lifestyle factors and constipation among survivors in a 9-year follow-up study.
• Older age, poor mental health, and poor physical activity were significantly associated with constipation in men and women.
• A lower frequency of meals was significantly associated with women’s constipation.

• Our findings suggest the importance of supporting the survivors with constipation for medium- to long-term after the disaster.

• To the best of our knowledge, these are the first diabetes risk scores developed and validated using a nationwide population of Japan to predict the 5-year incidence of type 2 diabetes.
• In this prospective study, the diabetes risk scores used both non-invasive and invasive predictors to predict the 5-year incidence of type 2 diabetes.
• The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.643 for the non-invasive risk model, 0.786 for the invasive risk model with glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) but not fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and 0.845 for the invasive risk model with HbA1c and FPG in a development cohort. The discriminative ability of each model was confirmed using external validation datasets. The invasive risk model with only HbA1c was well-calibrated in the validation cohort.

• Second generation (2G) and personal handy-phone system were used in Japan mainly in the 1990's, where third generation (3G) was adopted in Korea in the mid-2000s. On average, output power from 2G phones was higher than from 3G phones.
• The international MOBI-Kids case-control study provided no evidence of a causal association between wireless phone use (and electromagnetic field exposure) and brain tumors in young people.
• The current study aimed to investigate specifically the possible risk of brain tumors due to mobile phone use in young people in Korea and Japan, taking into account the particular characteristics of mobile phone networks in these countries.
• This study provided no evidence for an increased risk of glioma or brain tumors relation to mobile phone use or radiofrequency exposure level in the Korean and Japanese population.

• Global travel patterns changed dramatically during the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and in Japan, the epidemiology of imported infectious diseases also changed.
• Notifications of imported infectious diseases decreased for all a priori selected 15 diseases.
• However, absolute and relative increases per arrivals were notable for several diseases, such as malaria.
• Consideration of both relative and absolute aspects is important when communicating.
• Physicians should remain vigilant for infectious diseases other than COVID-19.

• Number of gastroenteritis virus-positive samples according to National Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Disease data and status of gastroenteritis viruses detected in wastewater were evaluated.
• Gastroenteritis viruses were detected in wastewater even during periods when no gastroenteritis virus-positive samples were reported.
• The number of patients with infectious gastroenteritis per pediatric sentinel site was compared with gastroenteritis viruses detected in wastewater.
• Wastewater-based surveillance could complement sentinel surveillance.
• Wastewater-based surveillance can be a useful tool for the surveillance of infectious gastroenteritis.

Volume 34, Issue 3 (March 2024)

• We examined the association of diabetes and prediabetes with the risk of a composite outcome of long-term sickness absence (LTSA) and death due to physical disorders.
• Diabetes and prediabetes were both associated with an increased risk of the composite outcome of LTSA and death due to physical disorders.
• We observed the increased risk for severe outcomes (LTSA or death) due to cancers, cardiovascular diseases, diseases of the musculoskeletal system, and injuries/external causes in relation to either or both diabetes and prediabetes.

• This study aimed to investigate whether the Claims-based Frailty Index (CFI) could be implemented in the claims data of Japanese older adults to predict adverse outcomes.
• Claims data [National Health Insurance, Latter-stage Elderly Healthcare system, and Long-term care (LTC) insurance] from April 2014 to March 2019 were used in this study.
• The results showed that those with severe CFI had a high risk for LTC insurance certification and all-cause mortality.
• This study showed that the CFI can be implemented in the claims data of Japanese older adults to predict LTC insurance certification and all-cause mortality.and

• Higher fat mass index was associated with lower lung function in all fat-free mass index subgroups.
• Higher fat-free mass index was associated with higher lung function in all fat mass index subgroups.
• Reducing fat mass index and maintaining fat-free mass index might be important for respiratory health.

• We examined patient characteristics and public health office (PHO) factors related to the reporting delay in novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.
• We analyzed data from 12,399 COVID-19 patients diagnosed in one region in Japan, stratified as 7,814 linked cases and 4,585 unlinked cases.
• Reporting delay was associated mainly with the PHO factors (7-day daily average confirmed cases, onset day of the week) in linked cases.
• Reporting delay was associated mainly with the patient characteristics (older, without occupation, living alone) in unlinked cases.
• This finding suggested the necessity to promote educational activities and improve access to health care for people with less social connection.

• Glomerular hyperfiltration has been reported to be associated with cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality even in the general population.
• We prospectively examined whether alcohol consumption and drinking pattern related to glomerular hyperfiltration in healthy individuals.
• Higher average daily alcohol consumption was independently associated with the risk of glomerular hyperfiltration.
• For high drinking frequency per week, more alcohol intake per drinking day was associated with an increased risk of glomerular hyperfiltration.
• However, for low drinking frequency per week, only very high alcohol intake per drinking day was associated with it.

• We investigated the association of vitamin intake, including lycopene, α-carotene, β-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, with prostate cancer risk in the JPHC study.
• No associations with prostate cancer were observed for antioxidant vitamins, including α-carotene, β-carotene, vitamin C, and vitamin E.
• Although higher lycopene intake was associated with increased risks of prostate cancer, there was a null association of lycopene intake with risk of prostate cancer detected using subjective symptoms.
• Our study suggested no association between antioxidant vitamin intake and prostate cancer risk.

Volume 34, Issue 2 (February 2024)

• The causal relationships between body mass index (BMI) and cardiometabolic traits in Japanese were assessed using the Mendelian randomization (MR) approach in a sample of 14,083 Japanese.
• In individual-level MR analyses, predicted BMI was not significantly associated with any cardiovascular traits in the Japanese population.
• Sensitivity analyses based on two-sample MR analyses of 173,430 Japanese subjects showed that BMI is associated with a variety of cardiometabolic traits.
• Even among the Japanese, an East Asian population with low levels of obesity, higher BMI could be causally associated with a variety of cardiometabolic traits, in line with the results of European studies.
• The causality of these associations should be clarified in future studies with larger populations.

• We found inverse associations of the frequency of going outdoors with risk of composite poor oral health, tooth loss, chewing difficulty, and swallowing difficulty.
• The association between the frequency of going outdoors and the risk of poor oral health was mediated (2–13%) by modifiable risk factors.
• Frequency of going outdoors may be identified as a useful predictor of poor oral health among older adults.

• There have been few epidemiological reports on Japanese national rates of epilepsy.
• We aimed to reveal the burden of epilepsy among the population in Japan by a retrospective analysis of insurance claims data of 9,864,278 insured persons.
• The prevalence and incidence of epilepsy by age, sex and calendar year in Japan was shown.

• Based on the 2010, 2014, and 2018 National Health and Nutrition Surveys in Japan, we found that lower cereal intake in the middle and highest-income groups was stable over time.
• In 2018, the vegetable intake decreased among women in the middle- and highest-income groups, and the tendency of a higher vegetable intake in women with the highest income disappeared over time.
• Further studies using data over a longer period with a detailed questionnaire on income are needed to determine change of the relationship between income and food intake over time.

• Fine particulate matter (PM2.5)-bound Cu or Ba was positively associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
• In co-exposure models, the relationship between PM2.5 Cu and HCC was positive.
• The PM2.5 Cu-HCC association was robust among people without hepatitis infection.

• The evidence linking tall stature to colorectal cancer risk is scarce among Asians.
• We conducted a pooled analysis of 10 cohort studies among Japanese adults to examine the association between adult-attained height and risk of colorectal cancer and its subsites.
• Taller height was associated with an increased risk of cancer of the colorectum and its subsites in both sexes.
• This study adds evidence to support the use of adult-attained height to identify those at a higher risk of colorectal cancer among the Japanese.

Volume 34, Issue 1 (January 2024)

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