Articles

Urinary N-terminal pro–B-type natriuretic peptide as a biomarker for cardiovascular events in a general Japanese population: the Hisayama Study

Epidemiological evidence has shown that serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) concentrations, a diagnostic biomarker for heart failure, are positively associated with cardiovascular risk. ...

Authors: Keisuke Yamasaki, Jun Hata, Tomomi Ide, Takuya Nagata, Satoko Sakata, Daigo Yoshida, Takanori Honda, Yoichiro Hirakawa, Toshiaki Nakano, Takanari Kitazono, Hiroyuki Tsutsui and Toshiharu Ninomiya

Association between the type of physical activity and metabolic syndrome in middle-aged and older adult residents of a semi-mountainous area in Japan

Physical activity is reported to prevent metabolic syndrome. However, it is unclear whether exercise or daily physical activity is more beneficial for residents of semi-mountainous areas. This study aimed to i...

Authors: Noriko Kudo, Ritsuko Nishide, Mayumi Mizutani, Shota Ogawa and Susumu Tanimura

Prediction of 11-year incidence of psychophysically dependent status or death among community-dwelling younger elderlies: from an age-specified community-based cohort study (the NISSIN project)

Predicting adverse health events and implementing preventative measures are a necessary challenge. It is important for healthcare planners and policymakers to allocate the limited resource to high-risk persons...

Authors: Satoe Okabayashi, Takashi Kawamura, Hisashi Noma, Kenji Wakai, Masahiko Ando, Kazuyo Tsushita, Hideki Ohira, Shigekazu Ukawa and Akiko Tamakoshi

The association between overweight and prevalence of food allergy in Japanese children: a cross-sectional study

Food allergy (FA) is a common disease in children, and its prevalence has increased in developed countries. The impact of overweight on children health also becomes an important social problem. However, the re...

Authors: Koichiro Hayashi, Hiromasa Tsujiguchi, Daisuke Hori, Yohei Yamada, Yukari Shimizu, Thao Thi Thu Nguyen, Yuri Hibino, Yasuhiro Kambayashi, Akinori Hara and Hiroyuki Nakamura

Epidemiology and risk factors of needlestick injuries among healthcare workers in Iran: a systematic reviews and meta-analysis

Occupational contact with blood and body fluids poses a significant risk to healthcare workers. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate the epidemiology and risk factors affecting needlestick injur...

Authors: Soheil Hassanipour, Mojtaba Sepandi, Reza Tavakkol, Mousa Jabbari, Hadiseh Rabiei, Mahdi Malakoutikhah, Mohammad Fathalipour and Gholamhossein Pourtaghi

Sex differences in the link between blood cobalt concentrations and insulin resistance in adults without diabetes

Little is known about the effects of environmental cobalt exposure on insulin resistance (IR) in the general adult population. We investigated the association between cobalt concentration and IR.

Authors: Yong Chen, Haobin Huang, Xiaowei He, Weiwei Duan and Xuming Mo

Development of a program to prevent sexual violence among teens in Japan: education using DVD video teaching materials and web-based learning

This study aimed to develop an education system using DVD video-based teaching materials or web-based learning to reduce sexual violence among teens in Japan.

Authors: Miyuki Nagamatsu, Narumi Ooshige, Nozomi Sonoda, Mika Niina and Ken-ichi Hara

Maternal metal concentration during gestation and pediatric morbidity in children: an exploratory analysis

The majority of studies linking exposure to metals with certain health outcomes focus on known toxic metals. Alternatively, this study assesses the extent to which exposure to a wider range of metals during ge...

Authors: Isabella Karakis, Daniella Landau, Roni Gat, Nofar Shemesh, Ofir Tirosh, Maayan Yitshak-Sade, Batia Sarov and Lena Novack

Establishment and associated factors of health records among young Chinese migrants

Most Chinese migrants have been faced with obstacles to getting access to local public health services. Young migrants among internal migrants make a major contribution to the economy. However, the establishme...

Authors: Hong Shi, Xiumin Zhang, Xiangrong Li, Zheng Ren, Hanfang Zhao, Minfu He, Xinwen Fan, Xia Guo, Shuang Zha, Shuyin Qiao, Yuyu Li, Yajiao Pu and Hongjian Liu

Phytochemicals of Periploca aphylla Dcne. ameliorated streptozotocin-induced diabetes in rat

Periploca aphylla is used by local population and indigenous medicine practitioners as stomachic, tonic, antitumor, antiulcer, and for treatment of inflammatory disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate an...

Authors: Umbreen Rashid and Muhammad Rashid Khan

Changes in health status, workload, and lifestyle after starting the COVID-19 pandemic: a web-based survey of Japanese men and women

This study aimed to examine the change in health status of the general public after starting the COVID-19 pandemic and its association with changes in workload and lifestyle.

Authors: Machi Suka, Takashi Yamauchi and Hiroyuki Yanagisawa

Engagement in different sport disciplines during university years and risk of locomotive syndrome in older age: J-Fit⁺ Study

Among former Olympic-level athletes, engagement in different sport disciplines has been associated with mortality risk in subsequent years. However, limited evidence is available on whether engagement in diffe...

Authors: Shaoshuai Shen, Koya Suzuki, Yoshimitsu Kohmura, Noriyuki Fuku, Yuki Someya and Hisashi Naito

Associations between trunk-to-peripheral fat ratio and cardiometabolic risk factors in elderly Japanese men: baseline data from the Fujiwara-kyo Osteoporosis Risk in Men (FORMEN) study

Body mass-independent parameters might be more appropriate for assessing cardiometabolic abnormalities than weight-dependent indices in Asians who have relatively high visceral adiposity but low body fat. Dual...

Authors: Katsuyasu Kouda, Yuki Fujita, Kumiko Ohara, Takahiro Tachiki, Junko Tamaki, Akiko Yura, Jong-Seong Moon, Etsuko Kajita, Kazuhiro Uenishi and Masayuki Iki

Effects of maternal exposure to arsenic on social behavior and related gene expression in F2 male mice

Arsenic is a developmental neurotoxicant. It means that its neurotoxic effect could occur in offspring by maternal arsenic exposure. Our previous study showed that developmental arsenic exposure impaired socia...

Authors: Soe-Minn Htway, Takehiro Suzuki, Sanda Kyaw, Keiko Nohara and Tin-Tin Win-Shwe

Students’ attitude and sleep pattern during school closure following COVID-19 pandemic quarantine: a web-based survey in south of Iran

School closure is one of the main policies of global health care strategies performed worldwide. Despite all benefits, there might be some threats for younger groups spending their time in quarantine. This stu...

Authors: Keivan Ranjbar, Hamidreza Hosseinpour, Reza Shahriarirad, Haleh Ghaem, Khoubyar Jafari, Tayebeh Rahimi, Alireza Mirahmadizadeh and Parisa Hosseinpour

COVID-19 pandemic-induced physical inactivity: the necessity of updating the Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018-2030

To prevent and reduce inactivity, the World Health Organization (WHO) designed a global plan called Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018–2030 (GAPPA) in 2017. In this plan and according to the state of...

Authors: H. Amini, S. Habibi, A. H. Islamoglu, E. Isanejad, C. Uz and H. Daniyari

Chronic exposure of bisphenol S (BPS) affect hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular activities in adult male rats: possible in estrogenic mode of action

The industrial revolution has resulted in increased synthesis and the introduction of a variety of compounds into the environment and their potentially hazardous effects have been observed in the biota. The pr...

Authors: Hizb Ullah, Faizan Ullah, Owais Rehman, Sarwat Jahan, Tayyaba Afsar, Dara Al-Disi, Ali Almajwal and Suhail Razak

Cross-sectional survey of depressive symptoms and suicide-related ideation at a Japanese national university during the COVID-19 stay-home order

We aimed to estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms as well as suicide-related ideation among Japanese university students during the stay-home order necessitated by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemi...

Authors: Kyoko Nomura, Sachiko Minamizono, Eri Maeda, Roseline Kim, Toyoto Iwata, Junko Hirayama, Kyoichi Ono, Masahito Fushimi, Takeshi Goto, Kazuo Mishima and Fumio Yamamoto

Public perceptions, individual characteristics, and preventive behaviors for COVID-19 in six countries: a cross-sectional study

Public perceptions and personal characteristics are heterogeneous between countries and subgroups, which may have different impacts on health-protective behaviors during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)...

Authors: Ryosuke Fujii, Kensuke Suzuki and Junichiro Niimi

Reproducibility and validity of food group intake in a short food frequency questionnaire for the middle-aged Japanese population

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility and validity of a short food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for food group intake in Japan, the reproducibility and partial validity of which were p...

Authors: Nahomi Imaeda, Chiho Goto, Tae Sasakabe, Haruo Mikami, Isao Oze, Akihiro Hosono, Mariko Naito, Naoko Miyagawa, Etsuko Ozaki, Hiroaki Ikezaki, Hinako Nanri, Noriko T. Nakahata, Sakurako K. Kamano, Kiyonori Kuriki, Yuri T. Yaguchi, Takamasa Kayama…

The prevalence of psychological distress during pregnancy in Miyagi Prefecture for 3 years after the Great Eas t Japan Earthquake

To examine changes in psychological distress prevalence among pregnant women in Miyagi Prefecture, which was directly affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, and compare it with the other, les...

Authors: Kaou Tanoue, Zen Watanabe, Hidekazu Nishigori, Noriyuki Iwama, Michihiro Satoh, Takahisa Murakami, Kousuke Tanaka, Satomi Sasaki, Kasumi Sakurai, Mami Ishikuro, Taku Obara, Masatoshi Saito, Junichi Sugawara, Nozomi Tatsuta, Shinichi Kuriyama, Takahiro Arima…

Effectiveness of community and school-based sanitation interventions in improving latrine coverage: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled interventions

Approximately 1000 children die each year due to preventable water and sanitation-related diarrheal diseases. Six in 10 people lacked access to safely managed sanitation facilities in 2015. Numerous community-...

Authors: Satoshi Igaki, Nguyen Tran Minh Duc, Nguyen Hai Nam, Tran Thi Tuyet Nga, Parshal Bhandari, Amr Elhamamsy, Caroline Ibrahim Lotify, Mostafa Elsayed Hewalla, Gehad Mohamed Tawfik, Peterson Gitonga Mathenge, Masahiro Hashizume and Nguyen Tien Huy

Lower albumin levels are associated with frailty measures, trace elements, and an inflammation marker in a cross-sectional study in Tanushimaru

There is little data on the association between the lower nutrition represented by serum albumin levels and related factors in a general population. The present study aimed to determine whether the albumin lev...

Authors: Maki Yamamoto, Hisashi Adachi, Mika Enomoto, Ako Fukami, Sachiko Nakamura, Yume Nohara, Akiko Sakaue, Nagisa Morikawa, Hitoshi Hamamura, Kenta Toyomasu and Yoshihiro Fukumoto

Time trends of socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent smoking in Okinawa, Japan, 2008–2016: a repeated cross-sectional study

Smoking among Japanese adolescents has decreased noticeably. However, little is known whether the decreasing trend in adolescent smoking can be seen across all socioeconomic status (SES) groups. This study aim...

Authors: Minoru Takakura, Masaya Miyagi and Akira Kyan

Correction to: Effects of short-term exposure to ambient airborne pollutants on COPD-related mortality among the elderly residents of Chengdu city in Southwest China

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors: Jianyu Chen, Chunli Shi, Yang Li, Hongzhen Ni, Jie Zeng, Rong Lu and Li Zhang

Rapid respiratory panel test for non-COVID-19 pathogen examinations among frontline medical personnel in Taiwan

Authors: Yu-Chih Chen, Huei-Wen Lai, I-Lun Hou, Pei-You Hsieh, Po-Yu Wang, Ting-Yuan Ni, Chu-Chung Chou and Yan-Ren Lin

Dental caries and associated factors in Ethiopia: systematic review and meta-analysis

Globally, dental caries may be a major public health issue which may be preventable. Many studies have been conducted on dental caries in Ethiopia which present inconsistent results.

Authors: Tesfu Zewdu, Duresa Abu, Mulatu Agajie and Tamiru Sahilu

Outdoor air pollution and diminished ovarian reserve among infertile Korean women

Mounting evidence implicates an association between ambient air pollution and impaired reproductive potential of human. Our study aimed to assess the association between air pollution and ovarian reserve in yo...

Authors: Hannah Kim, Seung-Ah Choe, Ok-Jin Kim, Sun-Young Kim, Seulgi Kim, Changmin Im, You Shin Kim and Tae Ki Yoon

Influence of height on endothelial maintenance activity: a narrative review

Recent studies have revealed an inverse association between height and cardiovascular disease. However, the background mechanism of this association has not yet been clarified. Height has also been reported to...

Authors: Yuji Shimizu and Takahiro Maeda

Increasing hepatitis virus screening uptake at worksites in Japan using nudge theory and full subsidies

Despite the importance of hepatitis screening for decreasing liver cancer mortality, screening rates remain low in Japan. Previous studies show that full subsidies increase screening uptake, but full subsidies...

Authors: Jun Fukuyoshi, Masaaki Korenaga, Yui Yoshii, Lek Hong, Soichiro Kashihara, Byron Sigel and Toru Takebayashi

Possible mechanisms underlying the association between human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) and hypertension in elderly Japanese population

Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) activates inflammatory cascades by activating the NF-κB pathway. The minor allele of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in breast cancer suppressor BRCA1-associated p...

Authors: Yuji Shimizu, Kazuhiko Arima, Yuko Noguchi, Shin-Ya Kawashiri, Hirotomo Yamanashi, Mami Tamai, Yasuhiro Nagata and Takahiro Maeda

Replacing school and out-of-school sedentary behaviors with physical activity and its associations with adiposity in children and adolescents: a compositional isotemporal substitution analysis

Little is known on how context-specific sedentary behaviors (SB) affect adiposity. This study aimed to investigate compositional associations between context-specific SB and adiposity and estimate the differen...

Authors: Aleš Gába, Jan Dygrýn, Nikola Štefelová, Lukáš Rubín, Karel Hron and Lukáš Jakubec

Association between exposure to ambient air pollution and hospital admission, incidence, and mortality of stroke: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of more than 23 million participants

Previous studies have suggested that exposure to air pollution may increase stroke risk, but the results remain inconsistent. Evidence of more recent studies is highly warranted, especially gas air pollutants.

Authors: Zhiping Niu, Feifei Liu, Hongmei Yu, Shaotang Wu and Hao Xiang

Effects of exposure to low-dose ionizing radiation on changing platelets: a prospective cohort study

Numerous studies have concentrated on high-dose radiation exposed accidentally or through therapy, and few involve low-dose occupational exposure, to investigate the correlation between low-dose ionizing radia...

Authors: Ning Liu, Yang Peng, Xinguang Zhong, Zheng Ma, Suiping He, Ying Li, Wencui Zhang, Zijun Gong and Zhenjiang Yao

Anemia as a risk factor for tuberculosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Tuberculosis is a major public health problem caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, occurring predominantly in population with low socioeconomic status. It is the second most common cause of death from infectious...

Authors: Yemataw Gelaw, Zegeye Getaneh and Mulugeta Melku

Determinants of alcohol consumption and marijuana use among young adults in the Republic of Palau

This study aimed to describe the status of alcohol consumption and drug use among young adults as well as their determinants.

Authors: Mizuki Sata, Renzhe Cui, Chifa Chiang, Singeru Travis Singeo Jr, Berry Moon Watson, Hiroshi Yatsuya, Kaori Honjo, Takashi Mita, Everlynn Joy Temengil, Sherilynn Madraisau, Kazumasa Yamagishi, Atsuko Aoyama and Hiroyasu Iso

Prevalence of an incompetent lip seal during growth periods throughout Japan: a large-scale, survey-based, cross-sectional study

Systemic and local factors may lead to disruption of craniofacial growth and development, causing an imbalance between the orofacial skeleton, muscle and soft tissue, dental occlusion, and the dental arch duri...

Authors: Yukiko Nogami, Issei Saitoh, Emi Inada, Daisuke Murakami, Yoko Iwase, Naoko Kubota, Yuki Nakamura, Masami Kimi, Haruaki Hayasaki, Youichi Yamasaki and Yasutaka Kaihara

Examining geographical disparities in the incubation period of the COVID-19 infected cases in Shenzhen and Hefei, China

Current studies on the COVID-19 depicted a general incubation period distribution and did not examine whether the incubation period distribution varies across patients living in different geographical location...

Authors: Zuopeng Xiao, Wenbo Guo, Zhiqiang Luo, Jianxiang Liao, Feiqiu Wen and Yaoyu Lin

Cross-sectional study of individual and environmental factors associated with life-space mobility among community-dwelling independent older people

Life-space mobility is reflected in comprehensive longevity and health outcomes and is also an important indicator for preventing mortality and decline in well-being among older people. However, a comprehensiv...

Authors: Tomoha Miyashita, Etsuko Tadaka and Azusa Arimoto

The mechanism of enriched environment repairing the learning and memory impairment in offspring of prenatal stress by regulating the expression of activity-regulated cytoskeletal-associated and insulin-like growth factor-2 in hippocampus

Prenatal stress can cause neurobiological and behavioral defects in offspring; environmental factors play a crucial role in regulating the development of brain and behavioral; this study was designed to test a...

Authors: Su-zhen Guan, You-juan Fu, Feng Zhao, Hong-ya Liu, Xiao-hui Chen, Fa-qiu Qi, Zhi-hong Liu and Tzi Bun Ng

Effects of short-term exposure to ambient airborne pollutants on COPD-related mortality among the elderly residents of Chengdu city in Southwest China

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has become a severe global burden in terms of both health and the economy. Few studies, however, have thoroughly assessed the influence of air pollution on COPD-rel...

Authors: Jianyu Chen, Chunli Shi, Yang Li, Hongzhen Ni, Jie Zeng, Rong Lu and Li Zhang

Effect of professional certification on employees’ return-to-work rate after occupational injuries in Korea: focusing on vulnerable groups

One effective way to improve return-to-work (RTW) performance may be to convince the employer that the worker has the necessary skills. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of having a profession...

Authors: Suk Won Bae

National, regional, and global prevalence of cigarette smoking among women/females in the general population: a systematic review and meta-analysis

This systematic and meta-analysis review aimed to provide an updated estimate of the prevalence of ever and current cigarette smoking in women, in geographic areas worldwide, and demonstrate a trend of the pre...

Authors: Alireza Jafari, Abdolhalim Rajabi, Mahdi Gholian-Aval, Nooshin Peyman, Mehrsadat Mahdizadeh and Hadi Tehrani

Regional-level risk factors for severe hand-foot-and-mouth disease: an ecological study from mainland China

Severe hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) is a life-threatening contagious disease among young children and infants. Although enterovirus A71 has been well acknowledged to be the dominant cause of severe HFMD,...

Authors: Qing Pan, Fengfeng Liu, Juying Zhang, Xing Zhao, Yifan Hu, Chaonan Fan, Fan Yang, Zhaorui Chang and Xiong Xiao

Early childhood screen time as a predictor of emotional and behavioral problems in children at 4 years: a birth cohort study in China

Previous studies have suggested that screen time (ST) has a negative effect on children’s emotional and behavioral health, but there are few longitudinal studies that have been conducted with infants and toddl...

Authors: Wenwen Liu, Xiaoyan Wu, Kun Huang, Shuangqin Yan, Liya Ma, Hui Cao, Hong Gan and Fangbiao Tao

The CEBPE rs2239633 genetic polymorphism on susceptibility to childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: an updated meta-analysis

We performed an updated meta-analysis to clarify the relationship between the CEBPE rs2239633 polymorphism and the childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (CALL) susceptibility.

Authors: Jin Liu, Gu Weiling, Li Xueqin, Xie Liang, Wang Linhong and Chen Zhongwen

Biomass-fuelled improved cookstove intervention to prevent household air pollution in Northwest Ethiopia: a cluster randomized controlled trial

Household air pollution from biomass fuels burning in traditional cookstoves currently appeared as one of the most serious threats to public health with a recent burden estimate of 2.6 million premature deaths...

Authors: Mesafint Molla Adane, Getu Degu Alene and Seid Tiku Mereta

Optimization and validation of a highly sensitive method for determining glyphosate in human urine by solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry: a methodological study

Glyphosate and its salt formulations are nonselective herbicides that have been extensively used worldwide, both for residential and agricultural purposes. The possible carcinogenicity and teratogenicity of gl...

Authors: Hiroshi Nomura, Risa Hamada, Isao Saito, Kunihiko Nakane, Ritsuko Sawa, Miwa Ukai, Eiji Shibata, Mitsuo Sato, Michihiro Kamijima and Jun Ueyama

Association between high psychological distress and poor oral health-related quality of life (OHQoL) in Japanese community-dwelling people: the Nagasaki Islands Study

We investigated the association between psychological distress and oral health status/oral health-related quality of life (OHQoL) in Japanese community-dwelling people.

Authors: Ai Sekiguchi, Shin-ya Kawashiri, Hideaki Hayashida, Yuki Nagaura, Kenichi Nobusue, Fumiaki Nonaka, Hirotomo Yamanashi, Masayasu Kitamura, Koji Kawasaki, Hideki Fukuda, Takahiro Iwasaki, Toshiyuki Saito and Takahiro Maeda

Households with unimproved water sources in Ethiopia: spatial variation and point-of-use treatment based on 2016 Demographic and Health Survey

Improved water sources are not equally available in all geographical regions. Populations dependent on unsafe water sources are recommended to treat their water at point-of-use using adequate methods to reduce...

Authors: Yohannes Tefera Damtew and Abraham Geremew