Development of chronic kidney disease influenced by serum urate and body mass index based on young-to-middle-aged Japanese men: a propensity score-matched cohort study.

Objective: To investigate the association between serum uric acid (SUA) level and body mass index (BMI) on the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in working men aged 20-60 years.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Data from employees' annual health check-ups were collected from two companies in 2009 and 2014.

Alteration of normal level of serum urate may contribute to decrease in estimated glomerular filtration rate decline in healthy Japanese men.

Introduction: Serum uric acid (SUA) levels have a linear relationship with the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). It is unclear whether further changes, subsequent to normal level of SUA can attenuate eGFR decline in a healthy population, so we aimed to determine the normal level of SUA that can contribute to preventing kidney dysfunction.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study from Japan, annual health checkup data from 2009 to 2014 was collected.

Work Environment-related Stress Factors are Correlated with Diabetes Development in Workers with Impaired Glucose Tolerance: A 5-year Follow-up Study Using the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ).

Several previous studies have investigated the effects of occupational stress on the onset of diabetes mellitus (DM), but there are few studies of occupational stress and DM using the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ), a standard stress check method in Japan. This study aimed to determine the relationship between occupational stress factors and the onset of DM using the BJSQ. We examined 6,620 male company workers aged 40 years and above in 2013, using the BJSQ.

Workplace social capital and refraining from seeking medical care in Japanese employees: a 1-year prospective cohort study.

Objectives: We examined the association of workplace social capital (WSC), including structural and cognitive dimensions, with refraining from seeking medical care (RSMC) among Japanese employees.

Design: One-year prospective cohort study.

Setting And Participants: We surveyed 8770 employees (6881 men and 1889 women) aged 18-70 years from 12 firms in Japan using a self-administered questionnaire comprising the WSC scale and the items on potential confounders (ie, age, educational attainment and equivalent annual household income) at baseline (from April 2011 to March 2013).

Relationship between abdominal adiposity and incident chronic kidney disease in young- to middle-aged working men: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Obesity is a risk factor for the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, it remains to be fully examined whether fatness is more useful in predicting incident CKD. We aimed this study to determine the association of body fat, body mass index and waist circumference (WC) with subsequent changes in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and incident CKD in young- to middle-aged working men.

Association of job demands with work engagement of Japanese employees: comparison of challenges with hindrances (J-HOPE).

Objectives: Recent epidemiological research in Europe has reported that two groups of job demands, i.e., challenges and hindrances, are differently associated with work engagement.

[Approach to easing occupational stress for high-stress workers: applying the brief job stress questionnaire to workplace mental health promotion].

We investigated job stress among 442 employees from 19 divisions in a Japanese company using the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire. Job stress of the employees was estimated by the score for total health risk. Among the 19 divisions, two divisions showed over 120 points of mean total health risk score.

Predisposing factors of sleep-disordered breathing in Japanese male workers.

The aim of this study was to elucidate the usable predisposing factors of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in the workplace. A total of 353 male workers who complained of SDB related symptoms such as witnessed snoring, recurrent awakening from sleep, urination during the night, morning headache, and excessive daytime sleepiness were included in the analysis. We examined hyoid-mental distance (HMD), modified Mallampati score (MMS), and the narrowness of the pharynx with tonsillar hypertrophy as the predisposing physical findings of SDB.

The usefulness of sleep apnea syndrome screening using a portable pulse oximeter in the workplace.

Sleep Apnea Syndrome (SAS) is a condition characterized by sleep-disordered breathing resulting in health impairment and sleep problems. From the viewpoints of the prevention of health impairment, accidents at work and traffic accidents, active implementation of screening for SAS in workplaces is necessary. Using a portable pulse oximeter, we conducted SAS screening for workers, who applied for the screening or who were instructed to participate by occupational physicians based on their symptoms at the time of medical check-up, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of a portable pulse oximeter as a screening device in the workplace.

[A report on the inspection of the Shinkansen Multiple Inspection Train].

The multiple inspection train nicknamed "Doctor Yellow" is capable of taking necessary measurements of the track and electrical facilities, and maintains the safety and reliability of the Tokaido Shinkansen corridor. We performed a workplace inspection to examine environmental conditions in this train. The workers were engaged in VDT (visual display terminal) work including the inspection task.