Background: Use of novel tobacco products, such as heated tobacco products, has recently increased as a result of being promoted less harmful alternatives to cigarettes. The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on tobacco use may differ depending on the type of tobacco.

Methods: We longitudinally investigated changes in tobacco use over a 1-year period using internet-based and self-reported questionnaires among Japanese aged 15 to 79 years. The study was conducted from 2019 to 2021, with participants before the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020 as the pre-pandemic group and participants after that as the pandemic group. Accounting for population bias, we used sampling probability weighting referring to the nationwide data. The association between cessation and the COVID-19 pandemic was evaluated separately for each type of tobacco using logistic regression analysis.

Results: After conducting sampling probability weighting, 1,920 were in the pre-pandemic group and 2,681 were in the pandemic group. More participants in the pandemic group than in the pre-pandemic group achieved cessation after 1 year (13.8% vs 10.2%, P < 0.001). Dual users were more likely to quit during the pandemic than pre-pandemic (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.56, P < 0.001), whereas exclusive novel tobacco users were less likely to quit during the pandemic (aOR 0.66, P = 0.041). Tobacco cessation was more frequently achieved among those who had intended to quit at baseline survey among conventional tobacco users (aOR 1.77, P < 0.001) and dual users (aOR 2.52, P < 0.001); however, this trend was not observed among novel tobacco users (aOR 1.49, P = 0.090).

Conclusion: Conventional and novel tobacco use patterns varied in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Few have examined the condition of subjective daytime sleepiness in workers and its relation to their work productivity. This study aimed to clarify the association between the presence of subjective daytime sleepiness and work productivity measures, including presenteeism and absenteeism, as well as factors related to the presence of the symptom in daytime workers.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 17,963 daytime workers who attended the annual medical check-up. They were categorized into four groups; the daytime sleepiness group was defined as having only subjective daytime sleepiness, the insomnia group as having only insomnia symptoms, the combination group as having both subjective daytime sleepiness and insomnia symptoms, and the healthy group as having no sleep complaints. This study used demographics, health status, workplace, work productivity, and sleep items included in the self-reported medical check-up questionnaire.

Results: The combination group had significantly worse presenteeism than other groups. The daytime sleepiness and insomnia groups had significantly worse presenteeism than the healthy group. The results of absenteeism were the same as presenteeism. Factors related to the positivity for subjective daytime sleepiness were presence of psychiatric disease, the positivity for habitual snoring and/or witnessed apnea, shorter sleep duration on workdays, long working hours, female sex, living alone, the amount of social jetlag, and younger age.

Conclusion: Subjective daytime sleepiness, not just insomnia symptoms, has a significant negative impact on work productivity, and both workplace and individual approaches should not be ignored for addressing subjective daytime sleepiness among daytime workers.

Background: Community social capital is associated with various health outcomes; however, its impact on mortality is not fully understood, particularly in non-Western settings. This study examined the association between community-level social capital and all-cause mortality among community-dwelling older Japanese adults.

Methods: The baseline data were obtained from a 2015 questionnaire survey for all 132,005 residents aged ≥65 years without long-term care insurance certification in Adachi Ward (consisting of 262 small districts) of the Tokyo metropolitan area. We measured two aspects of social capital: neighborhood cohesion as cognitive social capital and neighborhood network as structural social capital. For district-level social capital, we aggregated the individual responses of neighborhood cohesion and neighborhood network in each district.

Results: A total of 75,338 were analyzed. A multilevel survival analysis with an average follow-up of 1,656 days showed that higher district-level neighborhood cohesion was associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality in men (hazard ratio 0.92; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.84–0.99 for the highest quintile and 0.91; 95% CI, 0.82–0.99 for the second, compared to the lowest), but not in women. This association was more pronounced in men aged 65–74 years.

Conclusion: This study provides valuable insights from the Asian population. Men, who typically have fewer social networks and support systems than women, could receive more benefits from residing in a cohesive community, which may contribute to their longevity. These findings support public health strategies that bolster community social capital as a means of archiving longevity among older men, underscoring the importance of social integration in aging societies.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in children is often asymptomatic, posing challenges in detecting infections. Additionally, factors contributing to infection remain poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate trends in anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleocapsid antibody seroprevalence, the relationship between seroprevalence and parental perception of child infection, and factors related to COVID-19 in children.

Methods: In December 2020, 355 children aged 6–12 years in one elementary school were enrolled in the study. The anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid antibody seroprevalence was assessed, and questionnaires were administered annually for 3 years. Parents’ perceptions of infection and factors contributing to infection were examined.

Results: The seroprevalence was 0.6%, 2.2%, and 60.9% in the first, second, and third years, respectively. The third-year seroprevalence among children reported as ‘infected,’ ‘not tested but had symptoms,’ and ‘not infected’ by parents was 97.3%, 83.3%, and 35.7%, respectively. Increased odds of seropositivity at the third-year measurement were observed in lower grades (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.79 compared with higher grades) and in children more likely to play with others (aOR 3.97 for ‘somewhat’ and aOR 2.84 for ‘often,’ compared with ‘rarely’). No significant associations with seropositivity were found for sex, siblings, body mass index, serum 25-OH vitamin D₃ concentration, or sleep duration.

Conclusion: The Omicron variant outbreak from the end of 2021 led to a sharp increase in seroprevalence among children, with many unaware of their infection. Frequent play with others may facilitate transmission in children. These data provide useful information for developing countermeasures against COVID-19 and other future pandemics.

Background: There is still uncertainty regarding the association between maternal serum levels of retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) and pregnancy outcomes. This study aimed to determine the association between RBP4 levels and incidence of small/large for gestational age (SGA/LGA) infants among the Chinese population.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of 11,854 pregnant women who delivered at Changzhou Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital between 2016 and 2017 and whose serum RBP4 levels were measured at the time of admission. The incidence of SGA/LGA deliveries was retrieved from the medical records of the participants.

Results: Maternal RBP4 levels in the second, third, and fourth quartiles (28.8–34.0, 34.1–40.0, and >40.0 mg/L, respectively) were associated with lower birthweights relative to those in the first quartile (<28.8 mg/L), with estimated average decreases of 51.30 g (95% confidence interval [CI], −70.51 to −32.10), 86.86 g (95% CI, −106.50 to −67.22) and 124.08 g (95% CI, −144.51 to −103.64), respectively (P for trend <0.01). Pregnant women in the fourth quartile for RBP4 levels had a greater SGA risk (odds ratio [OR] 2.14; 95% CI, 1.72–2.65) and lower LGA risk (OR 0.53; 95% CI, 0.45–0.63) than those in the first quartile after controlling for demographic variables, gestational age, pregnancy complications, and other laboratory results. The sensitivity analysis indicated the consistency of these findings.

Conclusion: High RBP4 levels in late pregnancy are associated with an increased SGA risk and decreased LGA risk, indicating that serum RBP4 levels at the time of admission for delivery could be a promising predictor of SGA/LGA delivery.

Background: The fecal immunochemical test (FIT) has been widely used in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, yet the practical performance of FIT combined with questionnaire-based risk assessment (QRA) remains undetermined. Moreover, risk factors for distinct CRC precursors identified in screening have been rarely compared.

Methods: This study was based on a population-based CRC screening in China, with 2,120,340 participants completing both FIT and QRA. Those with positive FIT or high QRA scores were recommended for colonoscopy. We reported the compliance, detection rate, and colonoscopy workload according to FIT and QRA results. We also explored risk factors for conventional adenomas and serrated polyps.

Results: The compliance rate of colonoscopy in the subgroup of FIT (+) and QRA (+) was 41.4%, higher than the rates in FIT (+) and QRA (−), as well as FIT (−) and QRA (+), which were 38.7% (P < 0.001) and 16.4% (P < 0.001), respectively. The corresponding detection rates of advanced neoplasia were 18.2%, 13.2%, and 9.3% (all P < 0.001), respectively. Moreover, the required numbers of colonoscopies to detect one advanced neoplasia in the three subgroups were 5.5, 7.6, and 10.8, respectively. Increased body mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption, red meat intake, and type 2 diabetes were associated with higher risk of advanced adenomas and advanced serrated polyps, whereas vegetable intake was inversely associated with advanced adenomas.

Conclusion: FIT and QRA can synergistically identify individuals at high risk of colorectal advanced neoplasia, with those testing positive for both deserving immediate attention. Modifiable factors were identified to complement screening for preventing CRC precursors.