Objectives　As an indicator of subjective wellbeing, feelings of happiness assessed based on simple items have not been fully elucidated in terms of its relation to survival during old age. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the predictive validity of feelings of happiness assessed using a 4-item measure is high as an indicator of assessing survival three years later, using a variety of factors as adjustment variables among independent, elderly individuals living in a farm village in Okinawa, wherein a spirit of mutual help is prevalent among the residents.

Methods　From a longitudinal study conducted in 2012, a total of 1,471 respondents (638 men, 833 women), excluding participants who needed long-term care and non-respondents of their feelings of happiness, completed a detailed questionnaire. A 4-item measure of feelings of happiness and other indicators of subjective wellbeing, including a 5-item measure of cooked food consumption, were considered as ordinal scales. From the results of the principal component (PC) analysis, we named the first PC “diet variety,” of which cooked food was less consumed. The Cox proportional hazard model was used for 734 subjects’ data, excluding missing values, to examine comprehensive associations among feelings of happiness, survival times, and health indicators in a multivariate model that adjusted for age, sex, and body mass index, among others. A correlation analysis between survival after three years was performed to select indicators used simultaneously in the analysis. Kaplan-Meier analysis was also conducted to examine the cumulative survival rate over three years.

Results　A total of 1,387 participants (94.3%) survived during the three-year follow-up. The survival rate was significantly higher in those who indicated “very happy” items (95.9%) than in those who indicated “unhappy” items (86.4%). Meanwhile, the mortality rate was significantly higher in those who indicated “unhappy” items (13.6%) than in those who indicated “very happy” items (4.1%). Within the multivariate model, the hazard ratio (HR) for mortality three years later was significantly reduced in those with feelings of happiness (HR=0.56, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.32-0.99), in those who did not experiences falls and fractures (HR=0.26, 95% CI:0.11-0.62), and in those who were non-smokers (HR=0.44, 95% CI:0.25-0.77). The cumulative survival rate in those who experienced good feelings of happiness was significantly higher than in the others.

Conclusion　The predictive validity of feelings of happiness assessed by a 4-item measure might be high as an indicator to assess survival three years later among independent, elderly individuals living in a farm village in Okinawa.

Objective　Hokkaido is a geographically vast area comprising a variety of natural environments and major industries. Therefore, we presume that there are large differences in lifestyles and lifestyle-related disease mortality in community people based on region. The aim of this study was to investigate the regional differences in mortality and food and nutrient intake, and their associations among secondary healthcare service areas in Hokkaido.

Methods　This study's design was ecological. We collected mortality data using public health statistics from the year 2005 to 2009 of the Hokkaido prefecture. We calculated the average of the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) over those five years. Data on food and nutrient intake were obtained from the Hokkaido Health and Nutrition Survey in 2006 conducted in the Hokkaido prefecture. The association between mortality and nutritional status was examined using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient.

Results　The mortality rates were higher in the southern and eastern areas of Hokkaido and in the lower internal area in the northern area of Hokkaido and the Tokachi area. There were regional differences of 400-500 kcal of energy, 20-30 g of protein, 4-5 g of salt, 60 g of green and yellow vegetables, and 100 g of other vegetables among 21 secondary healthcare service areas in Hokkaido.

　In women alone, we observed a positive association between cancer mortality and fat intake from dairy products. By contrast, we observed an inverse, significant association between cancer mortality and rice intake, and cardiovascular mortality and soybean and soybean product intake, only in women.

Conclusion　We present regional differences in mortality and food and nutrient intake among secondary healthcare areas in Hokkaido. We also reveal a significant association between mortality and food and nutrient intake only in women. Further research is needed to examine whether socioeconomic, environmental, or other lifestyle factors are associated with regional health gaps.

Objectives　This study examines the dissemination of Honnintsuchiseido (a system of providing notifications to citizens that a municipality issued a copy of resident record to a third party) in Japan and its effect on the use of copies of resident record for academic research.

Methods　In February and March 2015, a telephone survey was conducted in 1,741 municipalities (including special wards) in Japan. The survey examined the implementation of Honnintsuchiseido and standards for issuing copies of resident record for academic research in the municipalities. Further, we analyzed the implementation of Honnintsuchiseido and the results of requests for issuing copies of resident record for the Biobank Japan (BBJ) project.

Results　The results found that 28.9% of the municipalities had already introduced Honnintsuchiseido. Approximately 85% of the municipalities responded that their each official judged the issuance of copies of resident record for academic research based on a handbook of paperwork for the Basic Resident Registration. Further, approximately 14% responded that they had common definite standards in their officials for judging the issuance of copies of resident record for academic research. One of the main reasons for the refusal to issue copies of resident record in the BBJ project was that the consent form of the project did not specify the use of the resident record. In addition, some municipalities refused because the standards for judgments were revised with the implementation of Honnintsuchiseido. However, there was no significant association between the introduction of Honnintsuchiseido and the refusal to issue copies of resident record for the BBJ project.

Conclusions　Some municipalities refused to issue copies of resident record because the standards were revised with the implementation of Honnintsuchiseido. Further, many municipalities did not have any common specific criteria for judging the issuance of copies of resident record for academic purposes. Therefore, specific standards should be formulated to clarify the type of research having public interest, which will support the judgment of municipalities regarding the issuance of copies of resident record for academic research.

Objectives　Factors promoting or inhibiting the willingness to continue working as district welfare commissioners who support community welfare were investigated.

Methods　Questionnaires were sent by mail to all district welfare commissioners who had served 2-3 terms in all the wards and cities of Tokyo (N=1,936). The response rate in the survey was 69.5% (N=1,346).

Results　Results of structural equation modeling showed the following: (1) Positive feelings such as those resulting from psychosocial rewards for their activities were strongly related to the willingness to continue working as district welfare commissioners, as compared to negative feelings such as role strain. (2) Role ambiguity was related more to the decline in the willingness to continue working, as compared to role overload and role conflict. (3) Support from formal and professional organizations had indirect effects on the willingness to continue working, which was mediated by increase in psychosocial rewards and decrease in role ambiguity.

Conclusion　The results suggest the importance of management that decreases role ambiguity and increases psychosocial gains, including the sense of worth, as well as emotional, instrumental, and informational support from public and professional organizations. These were important factors for continuing volunteer activities for community residents.