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Mothers in urban Japan are at high risk for postpartum depression. Previous research indicates that parents who understand their baby's behavior may have lower risks for postpartum depression. HUG Your Baby helps parents understand their baby's behavior.The purpose of this longitudinal study was to determine whether mothers receiving prenatal HUG Your Baby teaching would have better outcomes than a control group with respect to postpartum depression and related factors.Pregnant women, after thirty weeks' gestation, were recruited to either the intervention or the control group. The intervention group received HUG Your Baby education, which teaches how to recognize and respond to a baby's behavior. The control group received a leaflet and regular, prenatal treatment. Participants completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Karitane Parenting Confidence Scale, and three other scales at one and three months, postpartum. Questions about knowledge of baby's behavior was administered prenatally, and at one and three months, postpartum.Data derived from 221 mothers (Control 100, Intervention 121) were included in the analysis. Researchers found significant differences regarding postpartum depression at one and three months and parenting confidence at one month. Scores were favorable for the intervention group.The HUG Your Baby program has a positive impact on preventing postpartum depression and increasing parenting confidence. It warrants wider implementation and evaluation in prenatal programs.

This study investigated the relationship between built environments and the onset of frailty after 3 years.This was a longitudinal study using prospective cohort data from the 2013 Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study on 38,829 older adults nested in 562 comunnities who were not frail. The dependent variable, frailty, was assessed using the Kihon checklist. The explanatory variables were eight items for the built environment at the individual and community levels. To consider each level of built environment simultaneously, multilevel Poisson regression analysis was used to calculate risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals.After 3 years of follow-up, the onset of frailty was 2740 (7.1%) in 2016. At the individual level, there was an increased risk of developing frailty in negative built environments, such as locations with graffiti or garbage (incidence rate ratio (IRR), 1.15; confidence interval (CI), 1.05-1.25). Positive built environments, such as areas with access to parks and sidewalks (IRR, 0.78; CI, 0.70-0.88), lowered the risk of developing frailty. At the community level, the risk of developing frailty was lower only in areas with locations difficult for walking (hills or steps) (IRR, 0.97; CI, 0.94-0.99).At the individual level, frailty onset was associated with all built environments. However, irrespective of their answers, there was a lower risk of developing frailty among older adults living in areas where walking was difficult. It would be desirable to verify whether the risk of developing frailty can be reduced by changing the built environment.

Elder abuse is a public health issue that is thought to have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic due to lockdowns and behavioral restrictions. This study examines the association between elder abuse and refrainment from daily activities during the pandemic.We used data from a self-administered mail survey conducted by the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) from November 2020 to February 2021 in 11 municipalities. Our participants included 18,263 older adults (age ≥65 years) who were independent in their daily lives. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between elder abuse and refrainment from 10 daily activities, and the total number of refrained behaviors.Experiences of abuse were reported by 288 participants (1.6%). The risk of elder abuse was 1.37 times (95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.81) higher among those who refrained from shopping for food and daily necessities and 1.60 times (1.20-2.13) higher among those who refrained from interaction with neighbors, than those who did not. Also, a dose-response relationship was observed where the risk of abuse increased with the number of restrictions.The risk of elder abuse increased as the number of refrained behaviors increased which suggests that refrainment from multiple behaviors may significantly increase the risk of elder abuse, compared with refrainment from a single behavior. To avoid increasing the risk of abuse in likely future pandemics, it is necessary to maintain social connections without face-to-face contact, or with adequate infection control measures.

This study investigates the contextual association between types of community-level social participation and functional disability.We used 6-year prospective cohort data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study 2010-2016, a nationwide survey of 35,519 functionally independent older adults (mean age: 73.30 ± 5.91 years, 49.6% females). The incidence of functional disability was obtained from municipal long-term care insurance databases. Social participation was assessed at individual and community levels and was categorized as: volunteer, sports, hobby and neighborhood groups, and senior citizen clubs. We calculated the 95% confidence interval (CI) and the hazard ratio (HR) by applying a three-level multilevel survival analysis.During the 6-year observation period, the onset of functional disability occurred among 3473 adults. A higher prevalence of sports (HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.80 to 0.96) and hobby group participation (HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.87 to 0.96) showed significant contextual relationships with functional disability after adjusting for potential confounders. Among females, community-level neighborhood group participation significantly lowered the incidence of functional disability (HR 0.87, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.998).We found a beneficial effect of a contextual relationship between community-level sports and hobby group participation and functional disability among older adults. Moreover, females benefited a lot from community-level social participation. We propose that promoting sports and hobby groups in a community may help to prevent functional disability among older adults.

Background: To examine the causal effect of physical activity on the risk of dementia, we conducted competing-risks survival analysis using the instrumental variable (IV) method. Residency in a snowy area was treated as an IV for frequency of physical activity. We obtained prospective cohort data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES). Methods: The baseline study was conducted in 23 municipalities in Japan from October to December 2013. Participants included 97,821 individuals aged 65 or older who completed the JAGES and were physically and cognitively independent at baseline. The incidence of dementia was ascertained by linking to registries of public long-term care insurance through 2016. During the mean follow-up of 3·2 years, we ascertained the incidence of dementia in 4,633 cases (4·7%). Findings: Through IV estimation, we found protective effects of physical activity at various levels of intensity on the risk of dementia: vigorous intensity (sub-distribution hazard ratio 0·62, 95% confidence interval 0·49 to 0·78), moderate intensity (0·69, 0·60 to 0·79), and light intensity (0·56, 0·47 to 0·68). Interpretations: Physical activity should be recommended for older adults to reduce the risk of dementia. Funding Statement: This study used data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES), which was supported by JSPS(Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) KAKENHI Grant Number (JP15H01972), Health Labour Sciences Research Grant (H28-Choju-Ippan-002), Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) (JP17dk0110017, JP18dk0110027, JP18ls0110002, JP18le0110009), the Research Funding for Longevity Sciences from National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology (29-42). Declaration of Interests: The authors state there are no conflicts of interest to declare. Ethics Approval Statement: This study was reviewed and approved by ethics committees at the University of Tokyo, Nihon Fukushi University, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, and Chiba University.

Rationale Few studies have examined whether changes in participation in civic associations can mitigate depressive symptoms among older disaster survivors. Objectives We examined prospectively the association between changes in participation in civic associations and changes in depressive symptoms among older survivors of the 2011 Great Eastern Japan Earthquake. Methods We analyzed questionnaire-based survey data on pre- and post-disaster participation in civic associations and depressive symptoms compiled for 3567 respondents aged 65 years and above. Changes in these symptoms were assessed using a 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) as a continuous variable for 2010 and 2013. We investigated four types of civic associations: sports, hobby, voluntary groups, and senior citizens’ clubs. Changes in participation were calculated by subtracting the participation frequency measured in 2010 from that measured in 2013. Applying 95% confidence intervals, we used linear regression models with imputation to estimate the age- and sex-adjusted and multivariate-adjusted standardized coefficients. Results The survivors' GDS scores increased by 0.13 points on average between the pre-disaster and post-disaster periods. Average changes in the participation frequencies of respondents in each group were respectively +0.36 days/year, −5.63 days/year, +0.51 days/year, and −1.45 days/year. Increased frequencies of participation in the sports and hobby groups were inversely associated with changes in GDS scores (B = −0.003, Cohen's f2 = 0.10, P = 0.01 and B = −0.002, Cohen's f2 = 0.08, P = 0.04, respectively). The associations did not differ depending on the experience of housing damage caused by the disaster. In addition, we did not observe a significant association between changes in participation frequencies for voluntary groups or senior citizens' clubs and changes in GDS scores after multivariable adjustment. Conclusions Depressive symptoms of older adults post-disaster may be mitigated through increased frequency of participation in sports and hobby groups; yet, civic participation did not mitigate the adverse impact of disaster experiences on mental health.

Objective To compare the change in the prevalence of social isolation from 2010 to 2016 between older populations in Japan, the most aging and socially isolated country, and England, a country known for advanced social isolation measures. Methods Surveys from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) and the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA) included 70,751 and 4134 participants, respectively, aged 65 years or older in 2010 and 94,228 and 4295 participants in 2016. We assessed the social isolation of respondents on a scale from 0 to 5 points based on lack of social interactions with a spouse or partner, children, relatives, or friends and nonparticipation in any organization. Results Results of two-way analysis of variance confirmed significant interactions (nation × period) in men and women aged 65–74 years and women aged 75 years or older. In JAGES, all had higher scores in 2016 compared to 2010 (1.64–1.76, 1.28–1.36, and 1.55–1.60 points, respectively). Furthermore, the proportions of those with lack of interaction with relatives increased (52.7%–58.9%, 31.5%–41.1%, and 25.2%39.2%, respectively). In ELSA, women aged 75 years or older demonstrated a significantly lower mean score in 2016 than in 2010 (1.40 vs. 1.21). No significant changes were observed in other groups. Conclusion Social isolation among older adults is more severe in Japan than in England. The difference has widened, especially for women and younger older adults. This is attributed to the weakening relationships with relatives in Japan.

Highlights • Low childhood socioeconomic position was linked to lower sports participation in Japanese older adults. • This association was attenuated by education. • Education had a stronger association than adult socioeconomic position. • Reducing child poverty and enriching education may increase sports group participation., Sports group participation may have greater effects on health outcomes than exercising alone. Unhealthy lifestyles were reported to be specifically associated with lower socioeconomic positions (SEPs), and child poverty and the bipolarization of sports participation are currently major policy concerns in children. However, it remains unclear whether childhood SEP has any long-latency effect on sports group participation among older Japanese. Data were obtained from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study 2010 project, which used self-report questionnaires to survey individuals aged ≥65 years without disability from 27 municipalities (n = 23,320). According to their answers, respondents were assigned to one of three SEP groups: high, middle, or low. Poisson regression with robust variance and multiple imputations was used to examine the association between childhood SEP and sports group participation. After adjusting for health-related factors, low childhood SEP was negatively associated with sports group participation in men (prevalence ratio [PR] = 0.82, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.74–0.91) and women (PR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.80–0.97). The PR was greatly attenuated after adjusting for educational attainment in both men (PR = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.83–1.02) and women (PR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.89–1.08), and the significant association disappeared. Low childhood SEP is thus associated with lower sports group participation among older Japanese, though this may be attenuated by education. These findings suggest that it may be necessary to consider childhood SEP and the importance of education to increase sports group participation at an older age.

Objective The purpose of this study was to cross-sectionally examine associations between frequencies of bicycle and motor vehicle travel, physical and mental statuses and social networks. Methods This study was conducted from 2009 to 2012 with 629 community-dwelling older adults (73.3±5.2 years old, female 53.7%) in Kasama City, Rural Japan. Travel status, physical activity scale for the elderly, Lubben social network scale and geriatric depression scale were collected via a self-administrated questionnaire. We also calculated a standardized physical function score through physical performance tests. Results After adjusting for age, gender, education, living arrangement, body mass index and clinical history, we found a positive association between frequency of bicycle and motor vehicle travel and physical activity, social networks and mental status (Trend P P P Conclusion Extending the travel area through use of transportation modes might provide health benefits. Assessing transportation mode usage could improve screening and assistance strategies for people who are physically or mentally frail or lonely.

Objective We investigated associations of walking and other leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) with environmental characteristics and transportation modes in older Japanese adults. Methods This cross-sectional study in 2010–2011 used data from 421 community-dwelling older adults aged 65–85 years living in Kasama City, rural Japan. We used the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly to assess walking and other LTPAs, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Environment Module for neighborhood environments. Results After adjusting for confounders, we found that good traffic safety and aesthetics were positively associated with high levels of walking (ORs = 1.64–2.12); whereas, good access to public transportation was negatively associated with walking (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.42–0.98). Good access to recreational facilities, presence of sidewalks, absence of hills, seeing people exercise, and aesthetically pleasing surroundings were positively associated with high levels of LTPA except walking (ORs = 1.61–2.13). Individuals who rode bicycles more than once per week were more likely to engage in a LTPA except walking (1–3 days: OR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.03–2.87; ≥ 4 days: OR = 2.90, 95% CI = 1.71–4.93). Conclusion This study adds information on correlates of physical activity among older Japanese adults; the positive association between LTPA except walking and the frequency of bicycle travel is an especially new and intriguing finding.

Electroluminescence (EL) and photoluminescence (PL) have been studied on multi-layer organic light-emitting diode (OLED) devices based on phosphorescent platinum octaethyl porphine (PtOEP) molecule. A multi-layer OLED (called Pt5) which has 100% PtOEP without doping in host as the emitting layer is investigated and compared its EL and PL characteristics with those of the other OLEDs (Pt2 and Pt3) with emitting layer of PtOEP doped in 4,4′-N,N′-dicarbazole-biphenyl (CBP) host material. It is observed that Pt5 shows a lower EL efficiency than Pt2 and Pt3. Three broad EL bands are observed at 500, 527 and 570 nm in the multi-layer device in addition to red sharp EL band due to PtOEP in Pt5, while only the red PtOEP EL is observed in Pt2 and Pt3. The 500, 527 and 570 nm EL peaks arise from absorption of the broad 525 nm Alq3 emission band by PtOEP layer. The emission from the Alq3 electron-transport layer is caused by the carrier leakage from the hole-blocking BAlq layer. The intensity of red EL due to PtOEP is much weaker in Pt5 than in Pt2. Taking into account the result of PL, it is suggested that highly efficient energy transfer from CBP host to PtOEP guest occurs in Pt2 and Pt3, giving rise to higher PtOEP luminance, while concentration quenching occurs in PtOEP layer in Pt5.

Electroluminescence (EL) and transient EL response have been studied on organic light-emitting diode (OLED) devices based on phosphorescent PtOEP molecule. As the emitting layer, we used layer of PtOEP doped in CBP host material and layer formed by 100%PtOEP (without doping in host). Three EL bands are observed at 500, 527 and 570 nm in the latter device besides red EL due to PtOEP. The 500 and 527 nm ELs are attributed to emission from hole- and electron-transport layers, respectively, while the 570 nm EL to emission from exciplex formed at the interface between the hole-blocking layer and emitting layer. Weak emission from the thermally populated triplet state is observed in single layer OLED device with 100%PtOEP layer and multi-layer device with PtOEP doped in host. Double exponential decay is observed in the electrophoresecence in the 100%PtOEP layer device, while a single exponential decay is observed in the device with PtOEP doped in host.

Multilayer organic light-emitting devices (OLED) with phosphorescent guest emitter, tris(2-phenylpyridine) iridium doped in a host 4,4′- N , N ′-dicarbazol-biphenyl layer, were prepared. We optimized the cell structure paying special attention to the multiple reflection at the multilayers’ interfaces and succeeded in improving the luminance efficiency. Our method consists of adjusting optical distances between emission sites and dominant reflective surfaces, organic/cathode and ITO/glass interfaces. The device with the 8.7 wt.% guest emitter exhibited external quantum efficiency and power luminous efficiency of 14.9% and 43.4 lm/W, respectively at the luminance of 100 cd/m 2 driven at the voltage of 4.2 V. In addition, we investigated the emission site in the electrophosphorescent cells and recalculated the external quantum efficiency by the actual emission pattern.