The impact of interpersonal reporting heterogeneity on cross-country differences in Healthy Life Years in Europe.

Background: The European Union has used Healthy Life Years (HLY) as an indicator to monitor the health of its aging populations. Scholarly and popular interest in HLY across countries has grown, particularly regarding the ranking of countries. It is important to note that HLY is based on self-assessments of activity limitations, raising the possibility that it might be influenced by differences in health reporting behaviours between populations, a phenomenon known as differential item functioning (DIF).

Changes in Health Expectancy for Older Adults in Japan: Results from Two Longitudinal Surveys.

Background: Although there is evidence of improvements in health expectancy among the Japanese population, existing estimates are based on the prevalence of morbidity taken from cross-sectional survey data.

Objectives: This study employed a multistate life table approach to compute incidence-based health expectancy measures, namely active and inactive life expectancy (LE), for two longitudinal survey cohorts from 1990 to 2009.

Methods: This study used data from two longitudinal surveys of older adults in Japan: the National Survey of the Japanese Elderly (1990-1999) and the Nihon University Japanese Longitudinal Study of Aging (1999-2009).

Trends in happy life expectancy in Russia, 1994-2015.

Although the physical health status of the Russian population has improved over time, limited attention has been paid to the role of subjective well-being (SWB), and even less is known about its relationship with objective health conditions. Using the concept of health expectancy, this study estimates the number of years expected to be satisfied with life (happy life expectancy [LE]) for Russian men and women aged 50 years and older between 1994 and 2015. Data on age-specific prevalence rates of life satisfaction were obtained from the Russian Longitudinal Study of Higher School of Economics (RLMS-HSE), and the life tables were from the Human Life Table Database.

Disasters and the Disablement Process framework: an analysis of the great east Japan earthquake and tsunami of 2011.

This study used the Disablement Process framework to examine how exposure to the great east Japan earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011 was related to elders' experiences of disability-that is, 'a gap between personal capability and environmental demand' (Verbrugge and Jette, 1994, p. 1). Data were derived from two waves (2009 and 2013) of the Nihon University Japanese Longitudinal Study of Aging, involving a representative sample of citizens aged 65 or more.

The Role of Underweight in Active Life Expectancy Among Older Adults in Japan.

Objectives: It is underweight, rather than overweight or obesity, that has been a pressing public health concern in Japan. This study examines the impact of being underweight on the health of older Japanese men and women, measured by active life expectancy at age 65. Following the Japanese government's guideline, underweight in this study is defined using the body mass index (BMI) value of 20.

Synthesis and evaluation of haloperidol ester prodrugs metabolically activated by human carboxylesterase.

Two types of haloperidol prodrugs in which a chemical modification was carried out on the hydroxyl group or carbonyl group were synthesized, and their metabolic activation abilities were evaluated in a human liver microsome (HLM) solution, a human small intestine microsome (HIM) solution and solutions of human recombinant carboxylesterases (hCESs). The metabolic activation rates of alcohol ester prodrugs in HLM solution were similar to those in hCES2 solution, and haloperidol pentanoate and haloperidol hexanoate showed high metabolic activation rates in the synthesized alcohol ester prodrugs. In addition, haloperidol acetate and haloperidol 2-methylbutanoate were hydrolyzed as slowly as haloperidol decanoate.

An analysis of factors related to disability-free life expectancy at 65 years of age across Japanese prefectures in 2010.

Compared to the large volume of research focused on mortality differentials within Japan, relatively little is known about regional variations in health expectancy, particularly among older people. This article has two interrelated objectives. The first objective is to estimate prefecture-specific disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) at 65 years of age in 2010.

Active social participation and mortality risk among older people in Japan: results from a nationally representative sample.

A large literature suggests that active social participation contributes to the well-being of older people. Japan provides a compelling context to test this hypothesis due to its rapidly growing elderly population and the phenomenal health of the population. Using the Nihon University Japanese Longitudinal Study of Aging, this study examines how social participation, measured by group membership, is related to the risk of overall mortality among Japanese elders aged 65 and older.

Gender gaps--Life expectancy and proportion of life in poor health.

Background: The literature suggests that women report worse health but live longer than men--a phenomenon known as the gender paradox in health and mortality. Although studies examining the paradox abound, relatively little is known about mechanisms underlying the gap.

Data And Methods: With data on healthy life expectancy from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010, this article analyses the relationship between length of life and health among men and women in 45 more-developed countries.

An analysis of the impact of cell phone use on depressive symptoms among Japanese elders.

Background: There has been increasing interest in the impact of information and communication technologies, such as the computer and Internet, on physical and mental health status, but relatively little is known about the health effects of using cell phones.

Objective: This study investigates how cell phone usage is associated with levels of depressive symptoms among Japanese men and women aged 65 years and older. We focus on social relationships, particularly intergenerational relationships between older parents and adult children, as a possible mediator in the association of cell phone use with late-life depressive symptoms.

Gender differences in alcohol choice among Russians: evidence from a quantitative study.

Aims: Qualitative studies find that men and women in Russia have different preferences for alcoholic beverages, but quantitative evidence for gender differences in beverage type choice remains scarce. The purpose of this article is to test numerically whether and to what extent men and women in Russia differ in terms of preferences for type of drink, such as vodka, wine and beer.

Methods: Results are based on multinomial logistic regression and ordinary least squares regression analyses of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey-Higher School of Economics 2008 data.