Socioeconomic status and health in the Japanese population.

There is growing interest in the influence of socioeconomic status (SES) on health. Individual SES has been shown to be closely related to mortality, morbidity, health-related behavior and access to health care services in Western countries. Whether the same set of social determinants accounts for higher rates of mortality or morbidity in Japan is questionable, because over the past decade the magnitude of the social stratification within the society has increased due to economic and social circumstances.

Association of smoking behavior and socio-demographic factors, work, lifestyle and mental health of Japanese civil servants.

Few studies have examined the individual and social impact of smoking behavior in the Japanese population. The purpose of this study was to clarify the association between smoking behavior and socio-demographic factors, lifestyle, mental health and work characteristics of Japanese civil servants. A self-administered questionnaire survey of 1,439 employees (821 men and 618 women) aged 20-64 yr was conducted in a local government department in 2001.

Nested case-control study on associations between lung function, smoking and mortality in Japanese population.

Objectives: Only a few long-term follow-up studies with a focus on the association between lung function and mortality in the Japanese population have been undertaken. In this study, we examined the associations of lung function, smoking and the results of allergy skin tests with mortality in a longitudinal study of the Japanese population.

Methods: Baseline measurements were performed on residents of Fukui, Japan in 1972, and a follow-up survey was conducted in 2002.

Daytime sleepiness and associated factors in Japanese school children.

Objective: To examine daytime sleepiness and sleepiness interrelationship with sleep-wake patterns, eating habits, physical activity, and TV/video game time.

Study Design: A cross-sectional survey with 9,261 school children (mean age of 12.8 years) from 93 junior high schools in Toyama prefecture, Japan.

Epidemiological aspects of self-reported sleep onset latency in Japanese junior high school children.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between sleep onset latency (SOL) and other sleep-wake patterns and media use habits in Japanese schoolchildren. A total of 9,718 junior high school children responded (12.8 years) and 9199 questionnaires were used in the present analyses.

Morning-evening preference: sleep pattern spectrum and lifestyle habits among Japanese junior high school pupils.

We surveyed the sleep-wake patterns and lifestyle habits in a sample of Japanese first to third year junior high school children (n=638, age 12 to 15 yrs), of whom 29.3% were evening type, 64.1% intermediate type, and 6.

Gender and temporal differences in sleep-wake patterns in Japanese schoolchildren.

Study Objective: To determine gender and weekly differences in sleep patterns in Japanese children in junior high school.

Design: A school-based study.

Setting: N/A.

Lifestyles and health-related quality of life in Japanese school children: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Lifestyles are associated with physical and mental health status, as well as health-related quality of life (QOL) in adults. There is little information about relation between lifestyles and QOL in children. This study aims to examine the correlation among Japanese children.

Validity of child sleep diary questionnaire among junior high school children.

Background: The validity of sleep quality and quantity indices as reported by schoolchildren has not been established. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between subjective sleep habits estimation and objective measurement data in schoolchildren.

Methods: The study consisted of 42 healthy junior high school children aged 13-14.

Validation of a self-reported physical activity questionnaire for schoolchildren.

Background: There is little information about validation of young children's self-reported physical activity. This study assessed the validity of a self-reported questionnaire designed to measure children's physical activity.

Methods: Subjects were 34 boys from 4th to 6th grade of a public elementary school.