Journal of epidemiology
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Journal of epidemiology · Jan 2014
Characteristics of sudden unexpected cancer deaths investigated by medical examiners in Tokyo, Japan (2009).
Annually, about 400 cases of sudden unexpected death are attributed to cancer in Tokyo, Japan. These individuals may have been undiagnosed, or their medical conditions may not have been carefully evaluated before death. We examined medical consultations, cancer diagnoses, and economic status of all cancer deaths investigated by medical examiners in 2009. ⋯ The quality of medical services for cancer patients could be improved by educating general practitioners about terminal care, expanding efforts to monitor and diagnose cancer, especially among indigent patients, and increasing participation rates for colorectal cancer screening.
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Journal of epidemiology · Jan 2014
Is a cutoff of 10% appropriate for the change-in-estimate criterion of confounder identification?
When using the change-in-estimate criterion, a cutoff of 10% is commonly used to identify confounders. However, the appropriateness of this cutoff has never been evaluated. This study investigated cutoffs required under different conditions. ⋯ Cutoff points for the change-in-estimate criterion varied according to the effect size of the exposure-outcome relationship, sample size, standard deviation of the regression error, and exposure-confounder correlation.
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Journal of epidemiology · Jan 2013
Factors related to tooth loss among community-dwelling middle-aged and elderly Japanese men.
Using data from a large-scale community-based Japanese population, we attempted to identify factors associated with tooth loss in middle-aged and elderly men. ⋯ Smoking, low education level, and poor nutritional status were associated with tooth loss among middle-aged and elderly Japanese men.
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The accidents that occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant after the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011 have resulted in long-term, ongoing anxiety among the residents of Fukushima, Japan. Soon after the disaster, Fukushima Prefecture launched the Fukushima Health Management Survey to investigate long-term low-dose radiation exposure caused by the accident. Fukushima Medical University took the lead in planning and implementing this survey. The primary purposes of this survey are to monitor the long-term health of residents, promote their future well-being, and confirm whether long-term low-dose radiation exposure has health effects. This report describes the rationale and implementation of the Fukushima Health Management Survey. ⋯ The low response rate (<30%) to the basic survey complicates the estimation of health effects. There have been no cases of malignancy to date among 38 114 children who received thyroid ultrasound examinations. The importance of mental health care was revealed by the mental health and lifestyle survey and the pregnancy and birth survey. This long-term large-scale epidemiologic study is expected to provide valuable data in the investigation of the health effects of low-dose radiation and disaster-related stress.