Journal of Epidemiology
Online ISSN : 1349-9092
Print ISSN : 0917-5040
ISSN-L : 0917-5040
18 巻, 6 号
選択された号の論文の8件中1~8を表示しています
Original Article
  • Koichi Miyaki, Yoshimitsu Takahashi, Yixuan Song, Ling Zhang, Masaaki ...
    2008 年 18 巻 6 号 p. 243-250
    発行日: 2008年
    公開日: 2008/12/17
    [早期公開] 公開日: 2008/12/09
    ジャーナル フリー
    Background: Rapid advances in genotyping technology have made it possible to easily utilize a large number of genetic markers. According to information theory, an increase in the number of markers provides more information; however, the clinical usefulness does not increase linearly. This study aimed to assess the effect of folic acid supplementation quantitatively in MTHFR haplotypes, and compare its prediction power with that of the C677T single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) alone.
    Methods: The study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, designed in accordance with the CONSORT statement. The participants were 202 healthy Japanese males who were administered either folic acid at 1 mg/day or a placebo postoperatively for 3 months. The primary endpoint was the total plasma homocysteine levels (tHcy). Stratified analysis by HapMap-based tag SNPs was performed.
    Results: Of 52 SNPs on the MTHFR gene, 4 SNP loci covering more than 80% of the information were selected, and the haplotypes were estimated. The haplotypes were classified into 3 groups (Hap0, Hap1, and Hap2), on the basis of the number of times the most frequent haplotype was present. The greatest decrease was observed in Hap2 (6.61 µmol/L), compared with the other haplotypes (Hap0, 2.67; Hap1, 2.60) (trend test, P < 0.01). The haplotype information obtained was not more informative than that obtained with grouping by a single SNP, C677T, which strongly influences enzyme activity.
    Conclusions: Grouping by the C677T SNP alone was almost as good a predictor of the homocysteine-lowering effects as was grouping by the 4 best SNPs. This shows that increasing the number of typed SNPs does not necessarily provide more information, at least for this gene. A more efficient, cost-informative method for analyzing genomic data is required.
  • Kota Katanoda, Tomomi Marugame, Kumiko Saika, Hiroshi Satoh, Kazuo Taj ...
    2008 年 18 巻 6 号 p. 251-264
    発行日: 2008年
    公開日: 2008/12/17
    [早期公開] 公開日: 2008/12/09
    ジャーナル フリー
    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.
  • Tomoko Inose, Takehito Takano, Quang Khac Luong Nguyen, Keiko Nakamura ...
    2008 年 18 巻 6 号 p. 265-272
    発行日: 2008年
    公開日: 2008/12/17
    [早期公開] 公開日: 2008/11/26
    ジャーナル フリー
    Background: With the rapid urbanization of Vietnam, living on boats has come to be associated with underprivileged socioeconomic status, and there are major concerns regarding the health of children living under such conditions. Bone development is a critical concern in children because the foundation for skeletal health is established early in life. We evaluated the bone properties of children living under underprivileged conditions on boats in Hue City, Vietnam, with respect to a number of household factors.
    Methods: One hundred and twenty children aged 7-11 years selected randomly from households living on boats in Hue were included in this study. Tibial and radial speed of sound (SOS) were measured by non-invasive quantitative ultrasonometry. Socioeconomic profiles, health promotion proficiency, and nutritional intake of households were assessed by structured interview. The bone properties of 60 children aged 7-11 living on land were also assessed as controls.
    Results: The Z-scores of tibial and radial SOS of boat children were -0.16 ± 0.89 and -0.24 ± 0.75 (mean ± SD), respectively. Tibial SOS exhibited a significant correlation with radial SOS (r = 0.39, P < 0.01). Among the household factors examined, the educational level of fathers (P < 0.05) and the health promotion proficiency (P < 0.05) of households exhibited positive associations with the tibial bone properties of the children. The tibial and radial SOS of boat children were lower than those of children living on land (P = 0.001 and P = 0.086, respectively).
    Conclusion: The results of the present study revealed the underdevelopment of bone properties in children living on houseboats, which was correlated with their living conditions.
  • Yosikazu Nakamura, Mayumi Yashiro, Ritei Uehara, Izumi Oki, Makoto Wat ...
    2008 年 18 巻 6 号 p. 273-279
    発行日: 2008年
    公開日: 2008/12/17
    [早期公開] 公開日: 2008/12/09
    ジャーナル フリー
    Background: Although the epidemiologic features of Kawasaki disease for Japan have been observed, recently, chronological and geographical observations of the number of patients and incidence rate of the disease have not been conducted using observation units smaller than the whole country.
    Methods: We used the recent 5 nationwide surveys (the 15th to 19th) of Kawasaki disease in Japan, which covered patients for 10 years, i.e., between 1997 and 2006. The monthly number of patients by prefecture was calculated, and the number was corrected by the response rate of the target institutes of the prefecture. Chronological changes in the number of patients were observed by district. Geographical changes in the incidence rates were observed bimonthly by prefecture for the recent 6 years, from 2001 through 2006.
    Results: On the whole, the monthly number of patients increased gradually. For each year, the number was the highest in January and the lowest in October; it was relatively high during summer as well. Some differences existed among the districts with regard to the monthly observations. Bimonthly observations of the incidence rate by prefecture revealed the differences in the characteristics of the epidemics in different geographic areas.
    Conclusion: The chronological and geographical changes in the occurrence of Kawasaki disease in Japan for the recent 10 years suggested the involvement of one or more infectious agents in the occurrence of the disease.
  • Sandra L. Reynolds, Aaron Hagedorn, Jihye Yeom, Yasuhiko Saito, Eise Y ...
    2008 年 18 巻 6 号 p. 280-290
    発行日: 2008年
    公開日: 2008/12/17
    [早期公開] 公開日: 2008/12/04
    ジャーナル フリー
    Background: Despite similar standards of living and health care systems for older persons, there are marked differences in the relative health of the elderly populations in the United States (US) and Japan. We explore the association of overweight and obesity with these health disparities.
    Methods: Data on older adults from the US National Health Interview Survey (1994) and the Longitudinal Study of Aging II (1994) were compared to similar data from the 1999-2001 Nihon University Japanese Longitudinal Study of Aging. Regression analyses for the 2 countries were conducted to examine the correlates of being overweight and obese, and the relationships of overweight and obesity with activities of daily living functioning, heart disease, arthritis, and diabetes.
    Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity is higher in the US than in Japan, as is the prevalence of heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and functioning problems. Education level and marital status are predictors of overweight for older Americans but not for older Japanese people. Health behaviors affect weight in all groups. The prevalence of functioning problems and disease are more likely to be associated with being overweight in US men and women than in Japanese women, and are not associated with being overweight in Japanese men.
    Conclusion: Despite similar standards of living and health care systems for older persons, the conditions associated with poor health differ in the US and Japan. Being overweight or obese appears to be related to more functioning problems and arthritis in the US than in Japan.
Short Communication
  • Akiko Tamakoshi, Takashi Kawamura, Kenji Wakai, Masahiko Ando
    2008 年 18 巻 6 号 p. 291-294
    発行日: 2008年
    公開日: 2008/12/17
    [早期公開] 公開日: 2008/11/26
    ジャーナル フリー
    Background: The association between the method of obtaining informed consent and the consent rate in a cohort study, as well as the differences between consenters and non-consenters with regard to blood-sample donation are unclear.
    Methods: We measured the consent rates among 64-year-old residents who underwent medical checkups in a city for a cohort study consisting of a questionnaire survey and blood-sample donation and determined the influence of different approaches to informed consent and the participants' characteristics on the consent rates.
    Results: Of 3,098 residents who underwent medical checkups over 10 years, 99.2% responded to the questionnaire survey, and 92.5% agreed to blood-sample donation. The consent rate for blood-sample donation after obtaining individual written informed consent was lower than that observed with the general-announcement approach. Differences in the consent rates for participation in the questionnaire study were, however, negligible. A higher percentage of men than women consented to donate blood samples. After adjustments for gender, it was observed that individuals with a history of hypertension and those without depression consented to blood-sample donation significantly more frequently.
    Conclusion: The consent rate for blood-sample donation to the study decreased when the opt-in approach with written consent was used. This decrease may introduce consent bias, and the method of obtaining informed consent should be revised.
Statistical Data
  • Yousef M Abdulrazzaq, Mohamed A Moussa, Nicolaas Nagelkerke
    2008 年 18 巻 6 号 p. 295-303
    発行日: 2008年
    公開日: 2008/12/17
    [早期公開] 公開日: 2008/12/09
    ジャーナル フリー
    Background: Information on the health and growth status of the population is essential for planning and administering health promotion programs.
    Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of the anthropometric measurements of United Arab Emirates (UAE) children aged 0-18 years, by a multistage stratified random sampling technique based on age and sex. Healthy, full-term children of UAE nationality who did not have any diseases that could affect their growth pattern were included in the study. Children were selected using multistage sampling, using sampling proportional to size methods in 9 geographical areas. Growth charts for various anthropometric measures were created using Cole's LMS statistical package. This package estimates age-specific percentiles with the use of smoothing splines after transformation to normality.
    Results: A total of 21,068 children (12,159 females) between the ages of 0 and 18 years were studied. In the present study, we included 8-15% of the population aged 0-18 years. The growth chart for 0-36 months is very similar to the NCHS growth reference chart in terms of both weight for age and length and height for age. The mean (+SD) length/height in children was 49.9 ± 3.2 cm at birth, 75.9 ± 5.7 cm at 12 months, 86.4 ± 4.5 cm at 24 months, 95.1 ± 5.9 cm at 36 months, and 111.1 ± 6.4 cm at 60 months. The height of UAE children in the first 3 years of life, especially at the ages of 2 and 3 years, mirrored those achieved by Brazilian children in the WHO study.
    Conclusion: The results of the present study are useful for growth assessment of UAE children.
Acknowledgment of Reviewers
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