Articles

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

An age-period-cohort analysis of mortality rates for stomach, colorectal, liver, and lung cancer among prefectures in Japan, 1999–2018

Although change in the birth cohort effect on cancer mortality rates is known to be highly associated with the decreasing rates of age-standardized cancer mortality rates in Japan, the differences in the trend...

Authors: Tasuku Okui

Lack of association between multiple polymorphisms in aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) gene and cancer susceptibility

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is commonly known as an environmental sensor. Polymorphisms in AhR gene have been implicated in susceptibility to cancer. However, the results were controversial. This study wa...

Authors: He Li, Li Luo, Dan Wang, Jun Duan and Rui Zhang

Association between self-reported snoring and hypertension among Chinese Han population aged 30–79 in Chongqing, China

We aim to explore the association between self-reported snoring and hypertension among adults aged 30–79 in Chongqing, China.

Authors: Meng Xiao, Xiaojun Tang, Fan Zhang, Li Zhou, Xiaoqing Bu, Xiang Liu, Xianbin Ding, Zhuozhi Shen, Liling Chen, Yunyun Wu, Wenge Tang and Jingfu Qiu

Acute effect of ambient fine particulate matter on heart rate variability: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of panel studies

Decreased heart rate variability (HRV) is a predictor of autonomic system dysfunction, and is considered as a potential mechanism of increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) induced by exposure to partic...

Authors: Zhiping Niu, Feifei Liu, Baojing Li, Na Li, Hongmei Yu, Yongbo Wang, Hong Tang, Xiaolu Chen, Yuanan Lu, Zilu Cheng, Suyang Liu, Gongbo Chen, Yuxiao Zhang and Hao Xiang

The use of geographical analysis in assessing the impact of patients’ home addresses on their participation in outpatient cardiac rehabilitation: a prospective cohort study

Geographical analysis is becoming a powerful tool for evaluating the quality of medical services and acquiring fundamental data for medical decision-making. Using geographical analysis, we evaluated the impact...

Authors: Atsuko Nakayama, Masatoshi Nagayama, Hiroyuki Morita, Takuya Kawahara, Issei Komuro and Mitsuaki Isobe

Effects of the built environment on physical activity: a systematic review of longitudinal studies taking sex/gender into account

Individual health behavior is related to environmental and social structures. To promote physical activity (PA) effectively, it is necessary to consider structural influences. Previous research has shown the r...

Authors: Antonina Tcymbal, Yolanda Demetriou, Anne Kelso, Laura Wolbring, Kathrin Wunsch, Hagen Wäsche, Alexander Woll and Anne K. Reimers

Estimation of daily sodium and potassium excretion from overnight urine of Japanese children and adolescents

Estimates of daily sodium (Na) and potassium (K) excretion were explicitly biased when using equations for adults. We aimed to develop equations to estimate them using overnight urine from Japanese children an...

Authors: Masayuki Okuda, Keiko Asakura and Satoshi Sasaki

Associations of socioeconomic status and lifestyle factors with dental neglect of elementary school children: the MEXT Super Shokuiku School Project

Despite the fact that there are parents who do not take children with untreated dental caries to a dental clinic, few studies have been conducted to identify the responsible underlying social and family factor...

Authors: Yukiko Asaka, Michikazu Sekine, Masaaki Yamada and Takashi Tatsuse

Spectator medicine at an international mega sports event: Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan

The Rugby World Cup (RWC) is one of the biggest international mega sports events in the world. This study was conducted to identify and evaluate the volume, nature, and severity of spectator medical care in th...

Authors: Takuya Tajima, Yuji Takazawa, Mutsuo Yamada, Takuro Moriya, Haruhiko Sato, Junichiro Higashihara, Yukimasa Toyama, Etsuo Chosa, Akihiko Nakamura and Ichiro Kono

Analysis of multidimensional factors in attempts to quit using tobacco by Korean adolescents

This study aims to understand the extent of adolescents’ attempts to quit using tobacco and the factors influencing such attempts in Korea, using a descriptive, cross-sectional design and secondary data analys...

Authors: Mi-Jung Kang, Hyunjin Lee and Mirae Jo

Resveratrol inhibits Ca²⁺ signals and aggregation of platelets

Resveratrol has been shown to inhibit platelet aggregation. However, the mechanism for this action of resveratrol remains to be clarified. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the Ca²⁺-related mechanism for...

Authors: Mikio Marumo, Kazumi Ekawa and Ichiro Wakabayashi

Associations between thyroid-stimulating hormone and hypertension according to thyroid cyst status in the general population: a cross-sectional study

The absence of thyroid cysts may indicate latent thyroid damage, as demonstrated in our previous study. However, the association between the absence of thyroid cysts and latent functional damage of the thyroid...

Authors: Yuji Shimizu, Yuko Nabeshima-Kimura, Shin-Ya Kawashiri, Yuko Noguchi, Yasuhiro Nagata, Takahiro Maeda and Naomi Hayashida

PM_2.5 exposure and DLEC1 promoter methylation in Taiwan Biobank participants

Particulate matter (PM) < 2.5 μm (PM_2.5) or fine PM is a serious public health concern. It affects DNA methylation and heightens carcinogenesis. Deleted in lung and esophageal cancer 1 (DLEC1) is a tumor suppress...

Authors: Ying-Hsiang Chou, Disline Manli Tantoh, Ming-Chi Wu, Yeu-Sheng Tyan, Pei-Hsin Chen, Oswald Ndi Nfor, Shu-Yi Hsu, Chao-Yu Shen, Chien-Ning Huang and Yung-Po Liaw

Household air pollution and under-five mortality in sub-Saharan Africa: an analysis of 14 demographic and health surveys

Globally, over four million deaths are attributed to exposure to household air pollution (HAP) annually. Evidence of the association between exposure to HAP and under-five mortality in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)...

Authors: Fanuel Meckson Bickton, Latif Ndeketa, Grace Thandekire Sibande, Juvenal Nkeramahame, Chipiliro Payesa and Edith B. Milanzi

Environmental factors involved in SARS-CoV-2 transmission: effect and role of indoor environmental quality in the strategy for COVID-19 infection control

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a new zoonotic agent that emerged in December 2019, causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This infection can be spread by asymptomatic, p...

Authors: Kenichi Azuma, U Yanagi, Naoki Kagi, Hoon Kim, Masayuki Ogata and Motoya Hayashi

An overview of occupational noise-induced hearing loss among workers: epidemiology, pathogenesis, and preventive measures

Occupational noise-induced hearing loss (ONIHL) is the most prevalent occupational disease in the world. The goal of this study was to review the epidemiology, pathogenesis, and preventive measures of ONIHL am...

Authors: Kou-Huang Chen, Shih-Bin Su and Kow-Tong Chen

Study design and baseline characteristics of a population-based prospective cohort study of dementia in Japan: the Japan Prospective Studies Collaboration for Aging and Dementia (JPSC-AD)

The burden of dementia is growing rapidly and has become a medical and social problem in Japan. Prospective cohort studies have been considered an effective methodology to clarify the risk factors and the etio...

Authors: Toshiharu Ninomiya, Shigeyuki Nakaji, Tetsuya Maeda, Masahito Yamada, Masaru Mimura, Kenji Nakashima, Takaaki Mori, Minoru Takebayashi, Tomoyuki Ohara, Jun Hata, Yoshihiro Kokubo, Kazuhiro Uchida, Yasuyuki Taki, Shuzo Kumagai, Koji Yonemoto, Hisako Yoshida…

Development and validation of an environmental heat strain risk assessment (EHSRA) index using structural equation modeling based on empirical relations

Need to a simple, available, accurate, comprehensive, and valid indicator is felt to assess thermal effects. Therefore, the present study was aimed to develop and validate the environmental heat strain risk as...

Authors: Saeid Yazdanirad, Farideh Golbabaei, Abbas Rahimi Foroushani, Mohammad Reza Monazzam and Habibollah Dehghan