Masaki Bando, Nobuyuki Miyatake, Hiroaki Kataoka, Hiroshi Kinoshita, Naoko Tanaka, Hiromi Suzuki and Akihiko Katayama : Changes and Variations in Death Due to Senility in Japan., Healthcare, 8, 4, 2020.
(Summary)
The proportion of elderly individuals (65 years old) in Japan has markedly increased. However, the definition of senility in Japan is controversial. The aim of the present study was to investigate changes and variations in the number of deaths due to senility in Japan.Information on the number of deaths due to senility between 1995 and 2018 as well as other major causes of death was obtained from the Statistics Bureau of Japan official website. Changes and variations in the number of deaths due to senility were compared with other major causes of death in Japan. The relationships between the number of deaths due to senility and socioeconomic factors were also examined in an ecological study.The number of deaths due to senility was 35.7 ± 23.2/one hundred thousand people/year during the observation period and has continued to increase. A change point was identified in 2004 by a Jointpoint regression analysis. Variations in the number of deaths due to senility, which were evaluated by a coefficient of variation, were significantly greater than those due to other major causes of death, i.e., malignant neoplasm, heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, and pneumonia. The number of elderly individuals (65 years old) (%) and medical bills per elderly subject (75 years old) correlated with the number of deaths due to senility.The number of deaths due to senility has been increasing, particularly since 2004. However, variations in the number of deaths due to senility were observed among all prefectures in Japan.
Masaki Bando, Nobuyuki Miyatake, Hiroaki Kataoka, Hiroshi Kinoshita, Naoko Tanaka, Hiromi Suzuki and Akihiko Katayama : Relationship between Air Temperature Parameters and the Number of Deaths Stratified by Cause in Gifu Prefecture, Japan., Healthcare, 8, 1, 2020.
(Summary)
It is well known that air temperature is closely related to health outcomes. We investigated the relationship between air temperature parameters and the number of deaths stratified by cause in Gifu prefecture, Japan.The number of deaths stratified by cause in Gifu prefecture Japan between January 2007 and December 2016 was obtained from the official homepage of Gifu prefecture, Japan. Air temperature parameters (), i.e., the mean air temperature, mean of the highest air temperature, mean of the lowest air temperature, the highest air temperature, and the lowest air temperature during the same period in Gifu city were also obtained from the Japan Meteorological Agency official home page. The relationship between air temperature parameters and the number of deaths was evaluated in an ecological study.The number of deaths due to heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, pneumonia, accidents, or renal failure in January (coldest winter season in Japan) was the highest among the months. Simple correlation analysis also demonstrated a significant and negative relationship between air temperature parameters and the number of deaths due to heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, senility, pneumonia, accidents, and renal failure.Lower air temperature may be associated with a higher number of deaths due to diseases in Gifu prefecture, Japan.