Long working hours and skipping breakfast concomitant with late evening meals are associated with suboptimal glycemic control among young male Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes.

Aims/introduction: To assess the associations of working conditions, eating habits and glycemic control among young Japanese workers with type 2 diabetes.

Materials And Methods: This hospital- and clinic-based prospective study included 352 male and 126 female working patients with diabetes aged 20-40 years. Data were obtained from June to July 2012 and June to July 2013.

Potential asbestos exposure among patients with primary lung cancer in Japan.

Objective: To investigate the extent of asbestos exposure among patients with primary lung cancer in Japan.

Methods: A retrospective estimation of potential asbestos-exposed individuals, as determined by the presence of pleural plaques identified on chest computed tomography (CT), was conducted on 885 pathologically confirmed primary lung cancer patients (mean age 71.3 years, 641 males).

Socioeconomic status and type 2 diabetes complications among young adult patients in Japan.

Objective: To assess the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and complications of type 2 diabetes among young adults in Japan.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Setting: Outpatient wards of 96 member hospitals and clinics of the Japan Federation of Democratic Medical Institutions.

[Work-relatedness of asthma among outpatients].

The American Thoracic Society (ATS) issued a statement in 2002 that approximately 15% of adult asthma was likely to be work related and emphasized the importance of prevention for occupational asthma. However, the occupational contribution of the burden of asthma has been not understood, because there are very few epidemiological studies in the general population in Japan that examined the population attributable risk (PAR) of asthma due to occupational exposures. Assessing this component of the burden of asthma can better inform preventive strategies.

Measurement of whole-body vibration in taxi drivers.

In a previous epidemiological study we reported that the prevalence (45.8%) of low-back pain (LBP) and the two-year incidence (25.9%) of LBP in 284 male taxi drivers in Japan was comparable with rates reported for other occupational drivers in which LBP frequently occurs.

[Risk factors for low back pain among taxi drivers in Japan].

We conducted a questionnaire study on low back pain (LBP) and working conditions among male taxi drivers employed in the company in Fukuoka city in order to investigate the occurrence of LBP and occupational factors related to LBP among taxi drivers. The study was undertaken through two questionnaires, the first conducted in 1999 (n = 280, first cross-sectional study), the second conducted in 2001 (n = 284, second cross-sectional study). The questionnaire results were used to conduct two analyses: 1) the one-year prevalence of LBP and the relationship between LBP and occupational factors in the second cross-sectional study, and 2) the incidence of LBP and the relationship between LBP and occupational factors from the first to the second cross-sectional study in the longitudinal study.