Decreased bone mineral density and osteoporotic fractures are associated with the development of echogenic plaques in the carotid arteries over a 10-year follow-up period: The Japanese Population-based Osteoporosis (JPOS) Cohort Study.

Objectives: To investigate whether low bone mineral density (BMD) and history of fracture at baseline are associated with the development of echogenic carotid plaques over a 10-year follow-up period.

Study Design: A prospective cohort study.

Main Outcome Measures: Development of echogenic plaques identified by ultrasonography of the carotid arteries.

[Validation of the Kihon Checklist for predicting the risk of 1-year incident long-term care insurance certification: the Ohsaki Cohort 2006 Study].

Objective: The "Kihon Checklist" (a frailty checklist), consisting of 25 items, is used for screening frail elderly, based on the Japanese long-term care insurance system. However, few reports have investigated predictive ability of incident long-term care insurance certification in the Kihon Checklist. The purpose of this study was to investigate inter-relationships and accuracy as a screening test of individual items and criteria in the Kihon Checklist for incident long-term care insurance certification.

Relationship between peripheral arterial disease and incident disability among elderly Japanese: the Tsurugaya project.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate whether peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is predictive of disability and whether the relationship between PAD and disability can be fully explained by baseline physical functions.

Methods: We followed for five years 783 Japanese aged 70 years or older without a disability at baseline in 2003. We defined participants certificed as requiring long-term care as having incident disability.

Participation in health check-ups and mortality using propensity score matched cohort analyses.

Objective: All Japanese aged ≥40 years are eligible for free annual health check-ups including blood pressure and cholesterol measurements. It is well known that health check-up screenees are more likely to have healthy lifestyles and better health conditions than non-screenees. Therefore, controlling these factors is required to investigate whether screenees have a lower mortality risk than non-screenees independent of their lifestyles or health conditions.

Green tea consumption is associated with lower psychological distress in a general population: the Ohsaki Cohort 2006 Study.

Background: Although green tea or its constituents might reduce psychological stress, the relation between green tea consumption and psychological distress has not been investigated in a large-scale study.

Objective: Our aim was to clarify whether green tea consumption is associated with lower psychological distress.

Design: We analyzed cross-sectional data for 42,093 Japanese individuals aged > or =40 y from the general population.