METHODS: First, 130 subjects were surveyed by self-entry questionnaire for statistical factors related to social demographics and sedentary behavior. These factors were age (years), gender (man/woman), body mass index (BMI, kg/m2), educational history (>13 years, %), employment (full-time or part-time, yes, %), alcohol intake (a certain amount, yes, %), smoking behavior (yes, %), and marital status (yes, %). BMI, as obtained from the participants' weight and height, was collected from the self-reported questionnaire and assessed. Sitting behavior time as an index of sedentary behavior on workdays, non-workdays, and total time was identified by questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the chi square-test and t-test, respectively. The criterion for a statistically significant difference was p < 0.05.
RESULTS: Finally, 107 subjects (68 men, 39 women) were analyzed. The ratios of social demographic factors of the men versus women group were age (58.5 ± 14.7 vs. 61.0 ± 12.1 years, p = 0.36), BMI (23.1 ± 2.6 vs. 21.8 ± 2.6 kg/m2, p = 0.01), educational history (86.7% vs. 56.4%, p < 0.001), employment (51.5% vs. 10.3%, p <0.001), alcohol intake (86.7% vs. 35.9%, p < 0.001), smoking behavior (30.9% vs. 10.3%, p = 0.01), and marital status (88.2% vs. 100%, p = 0.02). Sitting behavior time was 501.8 ± 254.6 vs. 346.0 ± 153.4 minutes (p < 0.001) on workdays, 415.1 ± 225.3 vs. 320.6 ± 178.7 minutes (p = 0.019) on non-workdays, and 458.5 ± 203.9 vs. 333.3 ± 132.1 minutes (p < 0.001) in total.
CONCLUSION: These findings indicated that social demographic factors and sitting behavior time differed by gender. However, there are some limitations. This was a cross-sectional study conducted in only one city with a small number of participants who completed a self-entry questionnaire. In conclusion, assessment of the differences in social demographic factors and postponement of sedentary behavior for both genders may reduce sitting behavior time in overseas Japanese residents and may help in developing public health strategies.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of differences in social demographic factors and domain-specific sedentary behaviour and health-related quality of life by age in Japanese living overseas.
METHODS: We surveyed 109 participants by self-entry questionnaire for social demographic factors and domain-specific sedentary behaviour by life scenario and by Short Form-36 (SF-36) for healthrelated quality of life. The subjects were divided into the ≥65 years group and <65 years group.
RESULTS: Significant differences were noted in age, employment, alcohol intake, and marital status between the groups, whereas none were noted for transportation, driving, television viewing, and smartphone/personal computer use. Work time and total sitting time of sedentary behaviour were higher, and leisure-time activity and SF-36 Mental Component Score for health-related quality of life were lower in the <65 years group.
CONCLUSION: By assessing differences in social demographic factors and discouraging sedentary behaviour, sitting time in overseas-dwelling Japanese residents may be reduced, and effective strategies to improve health-related quality of life can be developed to combat such behaviour.
METHODS: We conducted a two-stage time-stratified case-crossover study to examine the association between temperature and under-five mortality, spanning the period from 2014 to 2018 across all six regions in Malaysia. In the first stage, we estimated region-specific temperature-mortality associations using a conditional Poisson regression and distributed lag nonlinear models. We used a multivariate meta-regression model to pool the region-specific estimates and examine the potential role of local characteristics in the association, which includes geographical information, demographics, socioeconomic status, long-term temperature metrics, and healthcare access by region.
RESULTS: Temperature in Malaysia ranged from 22 °C to 31 °C, with a mean of 27.6 °C. No clear seasonality was observed in under-five mortality. We found no strong evidence of the association between temperature and under-five mortality, with an "M-" shaped exposure-response curve. The minimum mortality temperature (MMT) was identified at 27.1 °C. Among several local characteristics, only education level and hospital bed rates reduced the residual heterogeneity in the association. However, effect modification by these variables were not significant.
CONCLUSION: This study suggests a null association between temperature and under-five mortality in Malaysia, which has a tropical climate. The "M-" shaped pattern suggests that under-fives may be vulnerable to temperature changes, even with a small temperature change in reference to the MMT. However, the weak risks with a large uncertainty at extreme temperatures remained inconclusive. Potential roles of education level and hospital bed rate were statistically inconclusive.