Search

Meta-analyses have concluded that positive emotions do not reduce appetitive risk behaviors (risky behaviors that fulfill appetitive or craving states, such as smoking and excessive alcohol use). We propose that this conclusion is premature. Drawing on the Appraisal Tendency Framework and related theories of emotion and decision-making, we hypothesized that gratitude (a positive emotion) can decrease cigarette smoking, a leading cause of premature death globally. A series of multimethod studies provided evidence supporting our hypothesis (collective N = 34,222). Using nationally representative US samples and an international sample drawn from 87 countries, Studies 1 and 2 revealed that gratitude was inversely associated with likelihood of smoking, even after accounting for numerous covariates. Other positive emotions (e.g., compassion) lacked such consistent associations, as expected. Study 3, and its replication, provided further support for emotion specificity: Experimental induction of gratitude, unlike compassion or sadness, reduced cigarette craving compared to a neutral state. Study 4, and its replication, showed that inducing gratitude causally increased smoking cessation behavior, as evidenced by enrollment in a web-based cessation intervention. Self-reported gratitude mediated the effects in both experimental studies. Finally, Study 5 found that current antismoking messaging campaigns by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention primarily evoked sadness and compassion, but seldom gratitude. Together, our studies advance understanding of positive emotion effects on appetitive risk behaviors; they also offer practical implications for the design of public health campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: While adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been shown to be associated with adulthood obesity, less is known about their association with underweight. We examined the associations between parental absence (i.e., a major component of ACEs) and both underweight and excess weight among middle-aged rural community dwellers in Vietnam, where experiences of parental absence was not uncommon during and after the Vietnam War (1955–1975). Methods: Data came from 3000 middle-aged adults who participated in the baseline survey of Khánh Hòa Cardiovascular Study. Parental absence was defined as parental absence due to death, divorce, or out-migration. Using information on the timing of such events, we categorized participants into those who experienced parental absence before the age of 3, between the ages of 3 and 15, and those without such experiences. BMI was calculated based on measured height and weight (kg/m²) and categorized into three groups: underweight <18.5; normal 18.5–24.9; excess weight ≥ 25. Multinomial logistic regression was then used to investigate the association between parental absence and adult weight status. Results: Parental absence that occurred before the age of 3 was marginally significantly associated with underweight (relative risk ratio [RRR] = 1.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.95, 2.20) but not with overweight/obesity. Parental divorce was associated with overweight/obesity (RRR = 2.48, 95% CI 1.28, 4.81), but not parental absence due to migratory work. Conclusions: While previous studies in Western settings focused almost exclusively on the risk of obesity in relation to exposure to ACEs, our findings point to the potential importance of considering the risk of underweight in low- and middle-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Little research has examined associations between disaster-related home loss and multiple domains of health and well-being, with extended long-term follow-up and comprehensive adjustment for pre-disaster characteristics of survivors. OBJECTIVES: We examined the longitudinal associations between disaster-induced home loss and 34 indicators of health and well-being, assessed ~9 y post-disaster. METHODS: We used data from a preexisting cohort study of Japanese older adults in an area directly impacted by the 2011 Japan Earthquake (푛 = 3,350 and 푛 = 2,028, depending on the outcomes). The study was initiated in 2010, and disaster-related home loss status was measured in 2013 retrospectively. The 34 outcomes were assessed in 2020 and covered dimensions of physical health, mental health, health behaviors/sleep, social well-being, cognitive social capital, subjective well-being, and prosocial/altruistic behaviors. We estimated the associations between disaster-related home loss and the outcomes, using targeted maximum likelihood estimation and SuperLearner. We adjusted for pre-disaster characteristics from the wave conducted 7 months before the disaster (i.e., 2010), including prior outcome values that were available. RESULTS: After Bonferroni correction for multiple testing, we found that home loss (vs. no home loss) was associated with increased posttraumatic stress symptoms (standardized difference = 0.50; 95% CI: 0.35, 0.65), increased daily sleepiness (0.38; 95% CI: 0.21, 0.54), lower trust in the community (-0.36; 95% CI: -0.53, -0.18), lower community attachment (-0.60; 95% CI: -0.75, -0.45), and lower prosociality (-0.39; 95% CI: -0.55, -0.24). We found modest evidence for the associations with increased depressive symptoms, increased hopelessness, more chronic conditions, higher 7body mass index, lower perceived mutual help in the community, and decreased happiness. There was little evidence for associations with the remaining 23 outcomes. DISCUSSION: Home loss due to a disaster may have long-lasting adverse impacts on the cognitive social capital, mental health, and prosociality of older adult survivors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Working hour regulation in Korea is being revised to allow increasing variability in number of working hours. We sought to investigate the association between variability in the number of daily or weekly working hours with or without long working hours (> 52 h/w) and mental health among South Korean workers.Methods: We used data from 28,345 full-time, non-shift employed workers working more than 30 h per week participating in the Korean Working Condition Survey in 2017. We defined six groups according to variability in daily or weekly working hours (same number vs different number) and weekly working hours (31-40, 41-52, > 52 h per week). Odds ratios (ORs) and confidence intervals (CIs) for self-reported depressive symptoms and anxiety were calculated using workers with same number of working hours/31-40 h per week as the reference.Results: Variability in number of work hours every day or week combined with > 52 working hours per week showed the highest risk of depressive symptoms (OR = 5.13, 95% CI 3.25-8.11) and anxiety (OR = 3.75, 95% CI 2.39-5.88) compared to the reference group, controlling for age, sex, education, occupation, industry, salary, workers' choice of working hours and overtime payment. Workers working ≤52 h/w were adversely impacted by variable working hours as well.Conclusions: Variable daily or weekly working hours were associated with poorer self-reported depressive and anxiety symptoms in Korea, among full-time and non-shift workers. Reform of the Korean Labor Standards Act warrants consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strength of social connections in the community (“social capital”) is hypothesized to be a crucial ingredient in disaster resilience. We examined whether community-level social capital is correlated with the ability to maintain functional capacity among older residents who experienced the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. The baseline of our cohort (mean age, 74 years) was established in 2010, 7 months before the disaster in Iwanuma, a Japanese city located 80 km from the epicenter. Disaster-related personal experiences (e.g., housing damage or relocation) were assessed through a follow-up survey (n = 3,594; follow-up rate, 82.1%) conducted in 2013, 2.5 years after the earthquake. Multiple membership multilevel models were used to evaluate the associations between functional capacity, measured by the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living scale, and 3 subscales of community-level social capital: social cohesion, social participation, and reciprocity. Community-level social participation was associated with a lower risk of functional decline after disaster exposure. The average level of social participation in the community also mitigated the adverse impact of housing damage on functional status, suggesting a buffering mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives The deleterious health effects of long working hours have been previously investigated, but there is a dearth of studies on mortality resulting from accidents or suicide. This prospective study aims to examine the association between working hours and external-cause mortality (accidents and suicide) in Korea, a country with some of the longest working hours in the world. Methods Employed workers (N=14 484) participating in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) were matched with the Korea National Statistical Office's death registry from 2007-2016 (person-years = 81 927.5 years, mean weighted follow-up duration = 5.7 years). Hazard ratios (HR) for accident (N=25) and suicide (N=27) mortality were estimated according to weekly working hours, with 35-44 hours per week as the reference. Results Individuals working 45-52 hours per week had higher risk of total external cause mortality compared to those working 35-44 hours per week [HR 2.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.22-6.40], adjusting for sex, age, household income, education, occupation, and depressive symptoms. Among the external causes of death, suicide risk was higher (HR 3.89, 95% CI 1.06-14.29) for working 45-52 hours per week compared to working 35-44 hours per week. Working >52 hours per week also showed increased risk for suicide (HR 3.74, 95% CI 1.03-13.64). No statistically significant associations were found for accident mortality. Conclusions Long working hours are associated with higher suicide mortality rates in Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do negative feelings in general trigger addictive behavior, or do specific emotions play a stronger role? Testing these alternative accounts of emotion and decision making, we drew on the Appraisal Tendency Framework to predict that sadness, specifically, rather than negative mood, generally, would 1) increase craving, impatience, and actual addictive substance use and 2) do so through mechanisms selectively heightened by sadness. Using a nationally representative, longitudinal survey, study 1 (n = 10,685) revealed that sadness, but not other negative emotions (i.e., fear, anger, shame), reliably predicted current smoking as well as relapsing 20 years later. Study 2 (n = 425) used an experimental design, and found further support for emotion specificity: Sadness, but not disgust, increased self-reported craving relative to a neutral state. Studies 3 and 4 (n = 918) introduced choice behavior as outcome variables, revealing that sadness causally increased impatience for cigarette puffs. Moreover, study 4 revealed that the effect of sadness on impatience was more fully explained by concomitant appraisals of self-focus, which are specific to sadness, than by concomitant appraisals of negative valence, which are general to all negative emotions. Importantly, study 4 also examined the topography of actual smoking behavior, finding that experimentally induced sadness (as compared to neutral emotion) causally increased the volume and duration of cigarette puffs inhaled. Together, the present studies provide support for a more nuanced model regarding the effects of emotion on tobacco use, in particular, as well as on addictive behavior, in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Culture-based gender norms regarding who performs daily activities can bias the assessment of instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). This study evaluated item-response biases in the activities of daily living (ADL) and IADL among community-living Korean older adults. Methods: The subjects included older Korean participants of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing baseline survey (n=4,164). We performed differential item functioning (DIF) analysis of these data using the Mantel-Haenszel method. Results: We observed different reported levels of disability for eight IADL items among gender, age, and educational level subgroups. After matching for overall functional disability, men were more likely to report limitations in performing various household activities, compared to cognitive activities in women. Conclusions: Cross-national comparisons of ADL and IADL disabilities need to consider item response bias stemming from culture-based gender norms regarding who performs different household activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives The interaction between positive and negative social support as well as each domain of social support and income on depressive symptom has not been much explored. We aimed to examine the associations of positive and negative social support with the risk of depressive symptoms among urban-dwelling adults in Korea, focusing on those interaction effects. Design We used the first wave of a large-scale cohort study called The Health Examinees-Gem Study. Positive and negative support scores ranged between 0 and 6; the variables were then categorised into low, medium, and high groups. A two-level random intercept linear regression model was used, where the first level is individual and the second is the community. We further tested for interactions between each domain of social supports and household income. Setting A survey conducted at 38 health examination centres and training hospitals in major Korean cities and metropolitan areas during 2009-2010. Participants 21 208 adult men and women aged between 40 and 69 in Korea (mean age: 52.6, SD: 8.0). Outcome measures Depressive symptoms score measured by Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, with scores ranging from 0 to 60. Results Level of positive and negative social support showed a negative and positive association with depressive symptom score with statistical significance at p<0.05, respectively. When the interaction terms among household income and social supports were examined, a negative association between level of positive social support and depressive symptom score was more pronounced as income was lower and level of negative social support was higher. Similarly, positive association between level of negative social support and depressive symptom score was more pronounced as income was lower and level of positive social support was lower. Conclusions Our findings suggest that strategies for encouraging positive social support and discouraging negative social support for disadvantaged individuals might be effective in reducing depression in Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We examined exposure to different types of organisational changes at work as risk factors for subsequent prescription for psychotropic medication among employees.Methods: The study population included 15 038 public healthcare employees nested within 1284 work units in the Capital Region of Denmark. Multilevel mixed-effects parametric survival models were developed to examine time to prescription for psychotropic medications (anxiolytics/hypnotics/sedatives/antidepressants) during the 12-month interval following exposure to organisational changes relative to no change from January to December 2013. Data on work-unit level organisational changes (including mergers, split-ups, relocation, change in management, employee lay-offs and budget cuts) were collected from work-unit managers (59% response).Results: Any organisational change versus no change was associated with a higher risk of psychotropic prescription (HR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.02 to 1.26), especially change in management (HR: 1.23, 95% CI: 1.07 to 1.41). Splitting the 12-month follow-up period into two halves yielded particularly high rates of psychotropic prescription in the latter half of the follow-up, for example, any change (HR: 1.25, 95% CI: 1.11 to 1.41), change in management (HR: 1.42, 95% CI: 1.22 to 1.65), mergers (HR: 1.26, 95% CI: 1.06 to 1.50), employee lay-off (HR: 1.23, 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.46) and budget cuts (HR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.00 to 1.41). The associations did not vary by sex.Conclusions: Organisational changes in the workplace, especially change in management, may be associated with increased risk of psychotropic prescription among employees regardless of sex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Earthquakes are a distressing natural phenomenon that can disrupt normal health-related behaviours. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in alcohol consumption behaviours in the immediate aftermath of mild to moderate earthquakes. Setting This retrospective cohort study was conducted at a large academic hospital in Tokyo, Japan from April 2004 to March 2017. Participants We included all adult patients presenting with acute alcohol intoxication in the emergency room. Primary and secondary outcome measures Our outcome was the number of such patients per 24 hours period comparing days with and without earthquake activity. We mainly focused on mild to moderate earthquakes (Shindo scale of less than 3). We conducted a simple generalised autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) analysis, followed by a multivariate GARCH, including year-fixed effects and secular changes in alcohol taxation. Subanalyses were conducted by gender and age group. Results During the study period, 706 earthquakes were observed with a median Shindo scale of 2 (IQR: 1). During this period, 6395 patients were admitted with acute ethanol intoxication; the mean age was 42.6 (SD: 16.9) years and 4592 (71.8%) patients were male. In univariate analyses, the occurrence of daytime earthquakes was marginally inversely related to the number of acutely intoxicated patients (β coefficient: -0.19, 95% CI -0.40 to 0.01). This finding remained similar in multivariate analyses after adjustment for covariates. In analyses stratified by gender, the inverse association between daytime earthquakes and alcohol intoxication was only observed among men (p<0.03 for males and p=0.99 for females). In subanalyses by age, older people were less likely to be admitted to the hospital due to acute alcohol intoxication on days with daytime earthquakes (p=0.11), but this was not the case for younger people (p=0.36). Conclusion On days when a mild to moderate daytime earthquake occurred, the number of patients with acute alcohol intoxication was lower compared with days without earthquakes. Even milder forms of potentially catastrophic events appear to influence social behaviour; mild to moderate earthquake activity is associated with the avoidance of excessive alcohol consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study sought to investigate the association between occupational injury and subsequent risk of suicide in Korea.Methods: We linked compensation data for 775 537 workers injured at work during 2003-2014 with National Death Registry through 2015. Suicide among injured workers was compared with the economically active population in Korea separately for men and women by calculating SMRs, with 95% CIs.Results: Injured workers showed higher mortality from suicide for both men (SMR=2.22, 95% CI 2.14 to 2.31) and women (SMR=2.11, 95% CI 1.81 to 2.45) compared with the economically active population in Korea.Conclusions: Occupational injuries are associated with substantially elevated suicide risk in Korea. The results suggest the importance of social policies to protect and support injured workers as well as intensifying efforts to prevent workplace injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The size of a person's social network is linked to health and longevity, but it is unclear whether the number of strong social ties or the number of weak social ties is most influential for health.We examined social network characteristics as predictors of mortality in the Finnish Public Sector Study (n = 7,617) and the Health and Social Support Study (n = 20,816). Social network characteristics were surveyed at baseline in 1998. Information about mortality was obtained fromthe Finnish National Death Registry. During amean follow-up period of 16 years, participants with a small social network (≤10 members) weremore likely to die than thosewith a large social network (≥21 members) (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 1.23, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04, 1.46). Mortality risk was increased among participants with both a small number of strong ties (≤2 members) and a small number of weak ties (≤5 members) (HR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.26, 1.79) and among participants with both a large number of strong ties and a small number of weak ties (HR = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.08, 1.52), but not among those with a small number of strong ties and a large number of weak ties (HR = 1.04, 95% CI: 0.87, 1.25). These findings suggest that in terms of mortality risk, the number of weak ties may be an important component of social networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Within marital dyads, we focused on the so-called positive spillover effects of one spousal partner's educational attainment on the health of the other partner. This study examined the relationship between spousal educational attainment and depressive symptoms in Korean older adults. Methods: Data were obtained from a sample of marital dyads aged 45 or older (total 6,824 husbands and wives) from the baseline survey of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Depressive symptoms were measured by the 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (CES-D 10). A stepwise actor-partner interdependence model was used to examine the association between own and spousal educational attainment and depressive symptoms, conditioning for covariates. Results: Among men, we found that their wives' educational attainment did not influence their mental health, whereas, among women, their depressive symptoms were inversely related to their husbands' level of schooling. With regard to own education, more-educated men reported lower psychological distress, whereas, among women, there was no overall association. However, in a subset of Korean women with the highest level of household income, higher educational attainment was associated with more depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Our findings underscore the need to incorporate the cultural context in examining the spillover effects of education on health within marriage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami resulted in widespread property destruction and over 250,000 displaced residents. We sought to examine whether the type of housing arrangement available to the affected victims was associated with a differential incidence of depressive symptoms. In this prospective cohort study, which comprised participants aged ≥65 years from Iwanuma as a part of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, we had information about the residents' mental health both before the disaster in 2010 and 2.5 years afterward. The Geriatric Depression Scale was used. Type of accommodation after the disaster was divided into 5 categories: no move, prefabricated housing (temporary housing), existing private accommodations (temporary apartment), newly established housing, and other. Poisson regression analysis was adopted, with and without multiple imputation. Among the 2,242 participants, 16.2% reported depressive symptoms at follow-up. The adjusted rate ratio for depressive symptoms among persons moving into prefabricated housing, compared with those who did not, was 2.07 (95% confidence interval: 1.45, 2.94). Moving into existing private accommodations or other types of accommodations was not associated with depression. The relationship between living environment and long-term mental health should be considered for disaster recovery planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Importance: Higher purpose in life is hypothesized to reduce the likelihood of developing weak grip strength and slow walking speed because purpose has been linked with a range of positive health behaviors and biological processes that are potentially protective against declining physical function. However, the association between purpose in life and objective physical function has not been examined.Objective: To assess whether higher purpose in life among adequately functioning older adults is associated with lower risk of developing weak grip strength and slow walking speed over time.Design, Setting, and Participants: Data for a longitudinal cohort study were collected in 2006 and again in 2010 from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative study of US adults older than 50 years. Data analysis was conducted from November 23, 2016, to June 2, 2017.Main Outcomes and Measures: The risk of developing weak grip strength (assessed as a binary yes or no outcome) or slow walking speed (yes or no) during the 4-year follow-up period. Grip strength was assessed using Smedley spring-type hand dynamometers, and walking speed was assessed by asking respondents to walk 2.5 m at their normal walking pace.Results: In this study, 4486 adults had grip scores at baseline indicating adequate function (2665 women and 1821 men; mean [SD] age, 63.0 [8.2] years) and 1461 adults had walking scores at baseline indicating adequate function (801 women and 660 men; mean [SD] age, 70.8 [6.5] years). After controlling for sociodemographic factors, each 1-SD increase in purpose was associated with a 13% decreased risk (95% CI, 1%-23%) of developing weak grip strength and a 14% decreased risk (95% CI, 8%-20%) of developing slow walking speed. Associations with walking speed were maintained in all covariate models (fully adjusted model: risk ratio, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.83-0.95), but associations with grip strength did not reach conventional levels of statistical significance after additionally adjusting for relevant baseline health factors, depressive symptoms, and health behaviors (fully adjusted model: risk ratio, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.80-1.04).Conclusions and Relevance: Purpose in life was prospectively associated with a decreased risk of developing weak grip strength and slow walking speed, although the findings were more robust for walking speed than for grip strength. These findings suggest that a sense of purpose in life, a modifiable factor, may play an important role in maintaining physical function among older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both early life and adult socioeconomic status (SES) predict late-life level of memory; however, evidence is mixed on the relationship between SES and rate of memory decline. Further, the relative importance of different life-course periods for rate of late-life memory decline has not been evaluated. We examined associations between life-course SES and late-life memory function and decline. Health and Retirement Study participants (n = 10,781) were interviewed biennially from 1998-2012 (United States). SES measurements for childhood (composite score including parents' educational attainment), early adulthood (high-school or college completion), and older adulthood (income, mean age 66 years) were all dichotomized. Word-list memory was modeled via inverse-probability weighted longitudinal models accounting for differential attrition, survival, and time-varying confounding, with nonrespondents retained via proxy assessments. Compared to low SES at all 3 points (referent), stable, high SES predicted the best memory function and slowest decline. High-school completion had the largest estimated effect on memory (β = 0.19; 95% confidence interval: 0.15, 0.22), but high late-life income had the largest estimated benefit for slowing declines (for 10-year memory change, β = 0.35; 95% confidence interval: 0.24, 0.46). Both early and late-life interventions are potentially relevant for reducing dementia risk by improving memory function or slowing decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oral health status is correlated with socioeconomic status. However, the causal nature of the relationship is not established. Here we describe a natural experiment involving deteriorating socioeconomic circumstances following exposure to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. We investigated the relationship between subjective economic deterioration and housing damage due to the disaster and tooth loss in a cohort of community-dwelling residents (n = 3,039), from whom we obtained information about socioeconomic status and health status in 2010 (i.e., predating the disaster). A follow-up survey was performed in 2013 (postdisaster), and 82.1% of the 4,380 eligible survivors responded. We estimated the impact of subjective economic deterioration and housing damage due to the disaster on tooth loss by fitting an instrumental variable probit model. Subjective economic deterioration and housing damage due to the disaster were significantly associated with 8.1% and 1.7% increases in the probability of tooth loss (probit coefficients were 0.469 (95% confidence interval: 0.065,0.872) and 0.103 (95% confidence interval: 0.011, 0.196), respectively). In this natural experiment, we confirmed the causal relationship between deteriorating socioeconomic circumstances and tooth loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is some evidence of an association between loss of a sibling in adulthood and subsequent mortality, there have been no previous studies in which investigators have examined whether the death of a sibling in childhood is associated with adult mortality using total population data. Data on a national cohort born in Sweden in 1973-1982 (n = 717,723) were prospectively collected from the Cause of Death Register until 2013 (i.e., from the ages of 18 years to 31-40 years). Cox proportional hazards models were used to analyze the association between sibling loss during childhood and death in young adulthood. After adjustment for sociodemographic confounders and parental psychosocial covariates, the hazard ratio for all-cause mortality in bereaved siblings versus nonbereaved siblings was 1.39 (95% confidence interval: 1.14, 1.69). Risks were more pronounced for those who lost a noninfant sibling (i.e., >1 year of age) (hazard ratio = 1.53, 95% confidence interval: 1.18,1.95) and those who lost a sibling in adolescence (i.e., between the ages of 12 and 18 years) (hazard ratio = 1.71, 95% confidence interval: 1.24, 2.35). Excess mortality risk was found for concordant causes of death (i.e., siblings dying from the same causes) but not for discordant causes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To validate a paper-based visual acuity (PBVA) questionnaire. Methods: In 2015, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among 301 young and middle-aged, mostly male, Japanese subjects. The participants were asked to self-rate their visual acuity (VA) on a scale from 1 to 5. Self-ratings of VA were categorized into three groups: good (1 and 2), normal (3), and poor (4 and 5). For objective validation, we performed a functional VA (FVA) assessment in the same subjects. Results: A total of 301 subjects answered the PBVA and completed the FVA test including initial VA. We found out that the result of PBVA was significantly correlated with FVA test and initial VA (r=0.33, P<0.0001, r=0.273, P,0.0001). The trend test analysis between PBVA and FVA also showed statistically significant (P<0.0001). Conclusion: There was a significant statistical correlation between the PBVA and the FVA, as well as the initial VA. This short questionnaire on VA might be a sensitive tool that is easy to implement and utilized in large epidemiological and clinical researches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Empirical evidence investigating heterogeneous impact of retirement on mental health depending on social backgrounds is lacking, especially among older adults.Methods: We examined the impact of changes in working status on changes in mental health using Japanese community-dwelling adults aged ≥65 years participating in the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study between 2010 and 2013 (N = 62,438). Between-waves changes in working status ("Kept working", "Retired", "Started work", or "Continuously retired") were used to predict changes in depressive symptoms measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale. First-difference regression models were stratified by gender, controlling for changes in time-varying confounding actors including equivalised household income, marital status, instrumental activities of daily living, incidence of serious illnesses and family caregiving. We then examined the interactions between changes in working status and occupational class, changes in marital status, and post-retirement social participation.Results: Participants who transitioned to retirement reported significantly increased depressive symptoms (β = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.21-0.45 for men, and β = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.13-0.45 for women) compared to those who kept working. Men who were continuously retired reported increased depressive symptoms (β = 0.13, 95% CI: 0.05-0.20), whereas males who started work reported decreased depressive symptoms (β = -0.20, 95% CI: -0.38--0.02). Men from lower occupational class (compared to men from higher class) reported more increase in depressive symptoms when continuously retired (β = -0.16, 95% CI: -0.25--0.08). Those reporting recreational social participation after retirement appeared to be less influenced by transition to retirement.Conclusions: Retirement may increase depressive symptoms among Japanese older adults, particularly men from lower occupational class backgrounds. Encouraging recreational social participation may mitigate the adverse effects of retirement on mental health of Japanese older men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Japan, a dramatic rise in suicide rates was observed in the 1950s, especially among the younger population, and then the rate decreased rapidly again in the 1960s. The aim of this study was to assess secular trends in method-specific suicides by gender and age in Japan between 1950 and 1975. We paid special attention to suicides by poisoning (solid and liquid substances), and their contribution to dramatic swings in the overall suicide rate in Japan during the 1950s and 1960s. Methods: Mortality and population data were obtained from the Vital Statistics of Japan and Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in Japan, respectively. We calculated method-specific age-standardized suicide rates by gender and age group (15-29, 30-49, or 50+ years). Results: The change in the suicide rate during the research period was larger in males than females in all age groups, and was more marked among people aged 15-29 years compared to those aged 30-49 years and 50 years or over. Poisoning by solid and liquid substances overwhelmingly contributed to the dramatic change in the overall suicide rates in males and females aged 15-49 years in the 1950s and 1960s. For the peak years of the rise in poisoning suicides, bromide was the most frequently used substance. Conclusions: Our results for the 1950s and 1960s in Japan illustrated how assessing secular trends in method-specific suicides by gender and age could provide a deeper understanding of the dramatic swings in overall suicide rate. Although rapid increases or decreases in suicide rates have been also observed in some countries or regions recently, trends in method-specific suicides have not been analyzed because of a lack of data on method-specific suicide in many countries. Our study illustrates how the collection and analysis of method-specific data can contribute to an understanding of dramatic shifts in national suicide rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Survivors of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake have an increased risk of depressive symptoms. We sought to examine whether participation in group exercise and regular walking could mitigate the worsening of depressive symptoms among older survivors. Design: Prospective observational study. Setting: Our baseline survey was conducted in August 2010, ~7 months prior to the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, among people aged 65 or older residing in Iwanuma City, Japan, which suffered significant damage in the disaster. A 3-year follow-up survey was conducted in 2013. Participants: 3567 older survivors responded to the questionnaires predisaster and postdisaster. Primary outcome measures: Change in depressive symptoms was assessed using the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Results: From predisaster to postdisaster, the mean change in GDS score increased by 0.1 point (95% CI -0.003 to 0.207). During the same interval, the frequency of group exercise participation and daily walking time also increased by 1.9 days/year and 1.3 min/day, respectively. After adjusting for all covariates, including personal experiences of disaster, we found that increases in the frequency of group exercise participation (B=-0.139, β=-0.049, p=0.003) and daily walking time (B=-0.087, β=-0.034, p=0.054) were associated with lower GDS scores. Interactions between housing damage and changes in group exercise participation (B=0.103, β=0.034, p=0.063) and changes in walking habit (B=0.095, β=0.033, p=0.070) were marginally significant, meaning that the protective effects tended to be attenuated among survivors reporting more extensive housing damage. Conclusions: Participation in group exercises or regular walking may mitigate the worsening of depressive symptoms among older survivors who have experienced natural disaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Chronic stress from experiencing discrimination can lead to long-term changes in psychological and physiologic responses, including shorter leukocyte telomere length. We examined the association between leukocyte telomere length and variations in the association by race or type of discrimination. Methods: Our study consisted of 3868 US-born non-Hispanic black (hereinafter, black) and non-Hispanic white (hereinafter, white) adult participants from the 2008 Health and Retirement Study biomarker sample with complete sociodemographic and discrimination information. We examined major lifetime unfair treatment and everyday discrimination. Coarsened exact matching matched exposed and unexposed participants on several sociodemographic factors. Coarsened exact matching creates analytic weights for the matched data sets. We applied weighted linear regression to the matched data sets. We conducted 2 subanalyses in which we matched on potential mediators--physical activity, smoking status, and obesity--and examined if racism was associated with shorter telomere length compared with other attributes. All analyses were stratified by race. Results: We found no difference in telomere length for black and white participants reporting major lifetime unfair treatment (b = 0.09; 95% CI, -0.33 to 0.15) or everyday discrimination (b = 0.04; 95% CI, -0.12 to 0.40). Everyday discrimination was associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length among black people (b = -0.23; 95% CI, -0.44 to -0.01) but not among white people (b = 0.05; 95% CI, -0.01 to 0.10). Matching on potential mediators generally decreased the effect estimate among black people. Conclusions: Experiencing everyday discrimination was associated with shortened telomere length among older black adults. Further research is needed to understand the adverse physiologic effects of discrimination to create effective interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]