Japanese Journal of Hygiene最新文献

Objectives: The aim of this study was to clarify the current status of stockpiling of oral care hygiene materials in case of a disaster and to determine methods to support stockpiling during disaster preparation.

Methods: We conducted an Internet questionnaire survey on stockpiling and disaster prevention measures among 300 adults. For statistical analysis, the χ² test, Mann-Whitney U-test and Spearman rank test were employed. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to review factors related to stockpiling.

Results: Among the questions on stockpiling and disaster prevention (14 of 15 items), seven items on disaster prevention measures and two on disaster prevention experiences significantly differed. Analysis of disaster prevention knowledge revealed that disaster prevention measures and disaster experiences significantly differed in terms of the presence or absence of stockpiling, albeit a positive correlation was noted with stockpiling. Logistic regression analysis was conducted with stockpiling as a dependent variable. As a result, the items 'I am aware about the hazard map of the residential area', 'I am aware about the type of oral care hygiene materials prepared for emergency' and 'Devising the living environment such that large furnitures and cupboards do not collapse during disasters' were effective.

Conclusions: Stockpiling at home is considered necessary for self-sufficiency during a disaster on the basis of the experiences in disaster management, disaster prevention knowledge and disaster prevention measures. Hence, stockpiling is a strong measure against disaster prevention along with provision of appropriate knowledge about the necessity of oral care in daily life. Disaster prevention education that empowers a population to prepare itself by implementing disaster prevention measures, such as improving the home environment, is considered effective. In addition, considering that relying on stockpiling at an individual level is ineffective, it is necessary to create mechanisms and systems that jointly manage disaster situations according to local circumstances.

The term behavioral science was coined in 1946 by a research group at the University of Chicago led by Miller. It is defined as "science that systematically reveals the rules of human behavior". To elucidate human behavior, they proposed combining biological science and social science. In Japan, achievements in behavioral science research have accumulated and have been applied in health education and health policy. In this paper, we describe the current status and future approaches in social medicine through an overview of behavioral science research in Japan with regard to the following five points: 1) representative theories and techniques in health behavior, 2) differences in health awareness, 3) a new approach of behavioral science based on the dual process theory, behavioral economics, and zero-order prevention, 4) diversity in behavioral changes and 5) experimental research in behavioral science.

Asian dust is a phenomenon involving the long-range transport of atmospheric pollutants originating from the desert areas of China and Mongolia. In recent years, the health effects of Asian dust have raised public concerns. Numerous studies on the health effects of Asian dust have been published since the last review in 2010. Thus, a literature review was conducted to shed light on the latest epidemiologic findings. PubMed and Science Direct databases were used for the review of epidemiologic studies published between June 2009 and April 2018. We identified 53 epidemiologic studies. Mortality, ambulance transportation, hospitalization/medical examination, changes in symptomatic, functional, and examination findings, as well as birth outcomes have been reported as outcomes. When the outcomes were categorized by disease, the effects of Asian dust on respiratory, cardiovascular, and allergic diseases raised concerns. The common evidences of causation between Asian dust and these diseases were the consistency of findings and temporal sequence of association. As results of research on dose-response relationships have become available, and the possibility that the health effects of Asian dust may vary depending on its chemical composition has been pointed out, further research using the exposure level indicators of Asian dust or its chemical composition should be conducted. Furthermore, with focus on the crucial issue of reducing exposure, research related to prevention and raising awareness should be further promoted.

Objectives: In this multicity study, we aimed to elucidate the city-specific factors affecting the association of high ambient temperature with ambulance dispatches due to acute illnesses.

Methods: We used the data of ambulance dispatches in 27 cities in Japan with more than 500,000 population excluding Tokyo, from May to September from 2012 to 2015. We included patients 20 years and older (≥20 years) and stratified them into three age groups (20-59, 60-79, and ≥80 years). We explored the city-specific pattern of the daily relative temperature (in temperature percentiles) and the risk of ambulance dispatches for each age group using a distributed lag nonlinear model and estimated the city-specific relative risks of ambulance dispatches at the 95/99 percentile temperature compared with the 77.6 percentile temperature defined as the reference temperature (T_ref). Then, the estimates were combined by performing meta-analyses for each age group. We also applied meta-regression models to explore whether the city-specific characteristics modified the association of temperature with ambulance dispatches.

Results: The relative risks of the 95th percentile with respect to T_ref were 1.14 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.12, 1.16), 1.16 (95% CI: 1.13, 1.20), 1.13 (95% CI: 1.10, 1.16), and 1.13 (95% CI: 1.00, 1.16), for all-age (≥20) and age-stratified groups (20-59, 60-79, and ≥80 years), respectively. We observed a higher relative risk for the ≥20 years age group in the cities with higher proportions of single-elderly, single-mother, and single-father households. We also found that the relative risk for the 20-59 years age group was higher in the cities with a higher proportion of blue-collar workers.

Conclusions: The present study provides insights into city-specific characteristics modifying heat-related health effects.

Objectives: In academia, harassment may often occur and remain unrevealed in Japan, which discourages young researchers from pursuing their career. It is necessary to estimate and improve the perception of "academic harassment" among university faculties. Therefore, in this study, we aim to develop a scale of perception of academic harassment.

Methods: Prior to a quantitative survey, a task team consisting of medical doctors, researchers, nurses, hospital workers, and managers in general affairs division identified 36 items related to academic harassment. In February 2016, we sent a self-administered questionnaire to 1,126 academic faculty members who worked in a medical university located in Tokyo, Japan. We instructed them to score the extent to which they consider each item as related to academic harassment based on a Likert scale. We carried out maximum likelihood factor analyses with promax rotation and computed Cronbach's alpha to develop a scale and investigate the reliability of the scale.

Results: In total, 377 returned the questionnaires (response rate, 33.5%; male, 73.8%). In factor analyses, we removed 17 items owing to low factor loadings, and four factors were eventually extracted. The first factor was termed "Harassment in organization (7 items)" because it included conditions of forcing a particular person to work on chores or lectures for students that may prevent one's academic research outputs. The second factor was termed "Violence and denying personal character (4 items)". The third factor was termed "Research misconduct (5 items)" including conditions of excluding a particular person from the coauthor list of research outputs or pressuring a person to fabricate, falsify, or plagiarize research outputs. The fourth factor was termed "Research interference (3 items)" including a condition of interference with conference attendance. Cronbach's alpha values of these four factors ranged from 0.83 to 0.91, suggesting that the scale had high reliability. The means of these factors did not differ according to gender but were higher in participants aged 50 or older than in younger participants.

Conclusions: The results suggest that the scale of perception on academic harassment consisting of four factors with 19 items is valid and reliable to some extent.

Objectives: To clarify the performance of health systems (performance), the state of prefectures was investigated.

Methods: Using the method developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, we conducted the study using 27 indicators. To evaluate the performance, we examined the signal-to-noise ratio of transcription (η) by integrating indicators using the Mahalanobis-Taguchi method. The η was separated by a median. The ratio of prefectures in East or West Japan and the presence or absence of ordinance-designated cities were studied using the chi-square test. Furthermore, the correlation among the total component η (T-η), each component η, and expenditures, and the correlation between T-η and life expectancy, were studied.

Results: The T-η positively correlated with the risk factors (RF)-η and the resources (R)-η, and negatively correlated with the health status (HS)-η. The number pf prefectures without ordinance-designated cities where the T-η and RF-η exceeded the median was large. The number of prefectures with ordinance-designated cities where the HS-η exceeded the median was also large. In addition, there were many prefectures where the T-η was in the top 25% in West Japan. There were positive correlations between the total expenditures and the T-η, the expenditures and the RF-η, and the expenditures and the R-η. There was a negative correlation between the expenditures and the HS-η, and the T-η and the life expectancy.

Conclusions: For life expectancy, prefectures with too good performance were recognized. In these prefectures, correction of resources is necessary.

In this study, we examined the changes in the demographic characteristics of foreign residents in Japan (FRJ) and the current status of FRJ from a global health perspective. We also considered child maltreatment that occurred in FRJ families and language problems in child welfare. Japan's official statistics in the end of 2017 indicated that there were more than 2.56 million FRJ from over 190 countries. This population was diverse with heterogeneous characteristics, such as age structure, dwelling place, marital status, and childbirth. At the end of 2017, there were 219,982 FRJ children aged 0-14 of various nationalities, including Chinese, Brazilian, South Korean, North Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, Peruvian, Nepalese, and Indian. In 2010, we conducted our first survey of child maltreatment in FRJ families, targeting 219 child protection centers across Japan. Between April 2007 and August 2010, 1,639 child maltreatment cases were reported from 56% of these centers. Details of 1,111 cases were collected and descriptive analyses were conducted. The male-to-female ratio was 0.88 and the median age was 8 years: however, the age distribution showed that females were significantly older than males (P < 0.01). The proportions of physical abuse, child neglect, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse were 38%, 33%, 21%, and 7%, respectively. Native language problems created numerous challenges and required a large amount of effort from child welfare practitioners. However, most solutions to identified problems were still at the beginning stage and some were found to be ineffective. More interdisciplinary and integrated researches are needed targeting child welfare of FRJ. An ethical framework for good counseling practices should be developed.