Category: news

New book chapter : Disaster and Health What Makes a Country Resilient?

We published a book from  Oxford Scholarship Online.

Disaster and Health What Makes a Country Resilient?

Naoki Kondo, Jun Aida
DOI:10.1093/oso/9780198848134.003.0018

Resilience reflects the capability of communities and individuals to resist, cope with, and continue functioning during and after a disaster. Evidence from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami suggest that maintaining community social interactions is especially important to enhance community resilience. Economic crisis is another type of disaster that challenges population health, and may affect privileged social groups, e.g. corporate managers. In the aftermath of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, health risks for the children of impoverished households and single-parent households increased. Community preparedness and adequate social capital before disasters is important to build resilient communities. With routine monitoring of health conditions across subpopulations, we can identify groups in need of support and assess the effects of those actions. It is crucial that central government measures align with local actions to maximize support for communities affected by disaster.

Keywords:   resilience, community preparedness, natural disaster, economic crisis, social capital

New paper: Factors Associated With Discussions Regarding Place of Death Preferences Among Older Japanese: A JAGES Cross-Sectional Study.

We published a paper from American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

Moriki Y, Haseda M, Kondo N, Ojima T, Kondo K, Fukui S. Factors Associated With Discussions Regarding Place of Death Preferences Among Older Japanese: A JAGES Cross-Sectional Study. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2021 Jan;38(1):54-61. doi: 10.1177/1049909120954813. Epub 2020 Sep 14. PMID: 32924525.

Abstract

In Japan, many adults prefer to die at home; however, few have their preferences actually come true. While discussions regarding place of death preferences (DPDPs) are important for older adults, they are poorly documented. Therefore, we investigated the factors associated with older Japanese men and women having DPDPs. We used cross-sectional survey data collected for the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES). We applied multivariable logistic regression analysis to calculate the odds ratio (ORs) of having DPDPs separately between men (n = 2,770) and women (n = 3,038) aged ≥ 75 years. We considered 17 potential factors associated with having DPDPs, which were classified as either demographic, healthcare, family, or community factors. Among participants, 50.1% had DPDPs: 1,288 men (44.3%) and 1,619 women (55.7%). Older adults, DPDPs were associated with 5 additional factors; e.g. having a primary care physician (ORs = 1.47 [men] and 1.45 [women]), as were those who gave family and friends advice (ORs = 1.26 [men] and 1.62 [women]), and having people who listened to their concerns (ORs = 1.70 [men] and 1.81 [women]). Among men, DPDPs were associated with 3 additional factors; e.g. humorous conversations with their spouse (OR = 1.60). Among women, only one factor-reading newspapers (OR = 1.43) was associated with having DPDPs. Social networks with primary care physicians, family members, and friends may be important factors in promoting DPDPs. These gender-based differences in older adults relating to DPDPs should be considered when developing interventions to promote advance care planning that includes DPDPs.

Keywords: Japanese older adults; cross-sectional study; end-of-life care; end-of-life discussions; gender difference; preferences for place of death.

New papter: Parental working hours and children’s sedentary time: a cross-sectional analysis of the J-SHINE

We published a new paper from Journal of Epidemiology.

Hatakeyama N, Kamada M, Kondo N. Parental working hours and children’s sedentary time: a cross-sectional analysis of the J-SHINE. J Epidemiol. 2020 Oct 3. doi: 10.2188/jea.JE20200170. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33012775.

Abstract
Background: Sedentary behaviors are prevalent among children and can have a detrimental effect on their health. Little is known about the influence of parental time on children’s sedentary behavior. This study examined the association between parental working hours and children’s sedentary time.

Methods: Cross-sectional data were drawn from the Japanese Study on Stratification, Health, Income, and Neighborhood (J-SHINE) in 2010 and 2011. Participants were 886 children aged 7-18 years and their parents. The primary outcome was self-reported sedentary time after school that comprised screen time and non-screen time. The main explanatory variable was parental working hours. We used multiple regression analysis adjusting for sociodemographic factors.

Results: Children’s mean (SD) sedentary time was 222 (123) min/day; 144 (108) min/day screen time and 78 (65) min/day non-screen time. Children whose mothers worked ≥ 20 hours/week had 28 min/day (95% CI, 9 to 48) longer sedentary time than children of homemakers (240 min/day vs 214 min/day). The longer maternal working hours, the longer sedentary time (p for trend < 0.01). In contrast, children whose fathers worked ≥ 48 hours/week had 82 min/day (95% CI, -156 to -7) shorter sedentary time than children of non-working fathers (179 min/day vs 264 min/day). When limited to children whose fathers worked, there was no statistically significant association between children’s sedentary time and paternal working hours.

Conclusions: Children with mothers who work long hours or fathers not working tend to sit more. Supplementing the shortages in resources for childcare may be necessary among those families.

Keywords: adolescents; determinants; sitting time.

New paper: Non-financial social determinants of diabetes among public assistance recipients in Japan: a cohort study.

We published a new paper from Journal of Diabetes Investigation.

Nishioka, D., Saito, J., Ueno, K., & Kondo, N. (2020). Non-financial social determinants of diabetes among public assistance recipients in Japan: a cohort study. Journal of Diabetes Investigation.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jdi.13435

Abstract

Aims/Introduction

Poverty is an important social determinant of diabetes. Poverty is a multidimensional concept including non‐financial difficulties, such as social isolation and exclusion from communities. Many countries provide financial social assistance programs for those in need. This study aimed to explore non‐financial social determinants of diabetes among public assistance recipients in Japan, by using linkage data of two municipal public assistance databases and medical assistance claim data.

Materials and Methods

We carried out a retrospective cohort study. Public assistance is provided to households below the poverty line to ensure their income security. We extracted recipients’ sociodemographic factors of January 2016 (household number and employment status as non‐financial social determinants of diabetes) and identified the incidence of diabetes diagnosis until December 2016 as the outcome.

Results

We included the data of 2,698 younger individuals (aged <65 years) and 3,019 older individuals (aged >65 years). A multivariable Poisson regression, with a robust standard error estimator, showed that among 2,144 younger recipients at risk, unemployment and living alone were slightly associated with 1‐year cumulative incidence of diabetes diagnosis (adjusted incidence ratio 1.20, 95% confidence interval 0.93–1.54 and adjusted incidence ratio 1.15, 95% confidence interval 0.89–1.48, respectively). Among 2,181 older recipients at risk, there was no strong association between their sociodemographic factors and incidence of diabetes diagnosis.

Conclusions

Unemployment and living alone might be additional risk factors for diabetes among younger public assistance recipients. Multidimensional supports assuring financial and non‐financial securities are required to prevent diabetes among people living in poverty.

New paper: Primary care approach to frailty: Japan’s latest trial in responding to the emerging needs of an ageing population.

We published a new paper from Integrated Healthcare Journal.

Rosenberg, M., Kondo, K., Kondo, N., Shimada, H., & Arai, H. (2020). Primary care approach to frailty: Japan’s latest trial in responding to the emerging needs of an ageing population. Integrated Healthcare Journal, 2(1), e000049.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ihj-2020-000049

My presentation videos

Here is the list of the videos of the Webinars I attended on YouTube.

Older persons and COVID-19

Dr Naoki Kondo, Presentation: Importance of social connection for health and wellbeing of older people: lessons from Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study

Webinar by Help Age International and more. June 2020

Naoki Kondo. Achieving health equity via community organizing: two real-world intervention studies in Japan

ISBNPA Webinar SIG Socio-Economic Inequalities. March 2020

 

New paper: Post-disaster Changes in Social Capital and Mental Health: A Natural Experiment from the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake

We published a new paper from American journal of epidemiology.

Abstract
Levels of social capital can change after a natural disaster; thus far, no study has examined how changes in social capital affect the mental health of disaster victims. This study examined how pre-disaster social capital and its changes after a disaster were associated with the onset of mental disorders. In October 2013, we mailed a questionnaire to participants of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study living in Mifune town (Kumamoto, Japan) and measured pre-disaster social capital. In April 2016, the Kumamoto earthquake struck the region. Three years after the baseline survey, post-disaster social capital and symptoms of mental disorders were measured using the Screening Questionnaire for Disaster Mental Health (SQD) (n = 828). A multiple Poisson regression indicated that a standard deviation of 1 in pre-disaster social cohesion at community-level reduced the risk of depression (relative risk [RR] = 0.44); a decline in social capital after the disaster elevated the risk among women (RR = 2.44). In contrast to social cohesion, high levels of social participation at community-level were positively associated with the risk of depression among women. Policymakers should pay attention to gender differences and the types of social capital when leveraging social capital for recovery from disasters.

Keywords
depression, natural disaster, natural experiment, social capital, social cohesion, the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake

Koryu Sato,Airi Amemiya,Maho Haseda,Daisuke Takagi,Mariko Kanamori,
Katsunori Kondo,Naoki Kondo. Post-disaster Changes in Social Capital and Mental Health: A Natural Experiment from the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake.
American Journal of Epidemiology, kwaa041,  https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwaa041
Published: 30 March 2020

Selected for the top downloaded paper: Development of a risk assessment scale predicting incident functional disability among older people: Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study

My paper was selected for the top downloaded paper in the journal last year.

The lead author is Taishi Tsuji, an assistant professor at the University of Tsukuba.

Taishi Tsuji Katsunori Kondo Naoki Kondo Jun Aida Daisuke Takagi. Development of a risk assessment scale predicting incident functional disability among older people: Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study