No abstract available.
Parturition* ; Vital Statistics*

Objective: We analyzed the number of deaths due to poisoning by pesticides over 38 years through vital statistics published annually by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of the Japanese government, from 1968 through 2005. Materials and Methods: Data not published as vital statistics were obtained from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Statistics and Information Department. The vital statistics provide the numbers of deaths with individual causes of death classified by sex and 5-year age group. We also calculated age-adjusted death rates by this classification, using a direct method based on the 1985 Japanese model population. Results: Deaths from pesticide poisoning increased rapidly beginning in 1982, reached a peak in 1986 (death rate per 100,000 population: 2.6 in males and 1.7 in females) and declined gradually thereafter. In the most recent several years, these figures have declined to levels previously unseen (death rate per 100,000 population: 0.4 in males and 0.3 in females). A difference in death rates between the sexes was observed at every age level, with death rates of males approximately 1.1-1.5-fold those of females. In the 1985-1987 data, these figures were highest in the three prefectures of northern Kanto (Tochigi, Gunma, and Ibaraki Prefectures; crude death rates per 100,000 population: 6.8, 6.8, 6.2, respectively), followed by that in Kagoshima Prefecture (5.0). In the 2003-2005 data, the figure was highest in southern Kyushu (Miyazaki Prefecture; crude death rate per 100,000 population: 1.9), followed by Tochigi (1.6), Ibaraki (1.4), and Kagoshima (1.4). Conclusions: Deaths from pesticide poisoning were extremely well correlated to the history of paraquat. Through the 1985 Advisory Resolution on Paraquat Regulations by the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine and other public health-oriented efforts, the concentration of highly fatal paraquat formulations was reduced, leading to discontinuation of its production, customer identification was strictly enforced when purchasing pesticides, and people's safety consciousness regarding pesticides improved. We regard and these developments as having had the greatest contribution to the reduction in deaths from pesticide poisoning.
Pesticides ; Death Rate ; seconds ; Vital Statistics ; Poisoning aspects

With the help of my colleagues, I have been conducting epidemiological studies on biliary tract cancer (BTC), including gallbladder cancer (GBC) and extrahepatic bile duct cancer (BDC), in Japan and Chile for about 19 years. Clustered areas with high mortality rates, especially for female GBC were found to correspond with places or prefectures in Japan that were famous for rice production. The roles of known risk factors, such as gallstones and cholecystitis, were examined, but no single factor was implicated in the high mortality rates for GBC in these areas. A working hypothesis, called the “rice production hypothesis” was formulated; this initial hypothesis was replaced by a new multifactorial causation hypothesis: GBC is more likely to occur in individuals with a genetic susceptibility and a past history of gallstones or cholecystitis who are exposed to geographically specific environmental factors, such as agricultural chemicals. On the basis of various analytical studies, it is concluded that a certain agricultural chemical was responsible for the occurrence of GBC. At the time of writing, no evidence has been obtained to disprove our hypothesis. We have also conducted international collaborative studies in Chile, which has the highest mortality rate for GBC in the world. Bile from Chileans was found to have a higher mutagenic activity than that from Japanese subjects; Chileans with a history of constipation or a habit of consuming red chilli pepper had a high risk of developing GBC, if they also had gallstone(s). The presence of a regional difference in p53 mutagenesis was also observed.
seconds ; Gallstones ; Mortality Vital Statistics ; Cancer of Biliary Tract ; Spatial Distribution

The aims of this study were to demonstrate the trend of overall mortality rate and premature mortality rate for select types of cancer in Japan and to assess the utility as a target indicator. The age-adjusted mortality rate for the total population (overall mortality rate) and that for persons under 65 years of age (under 65 mortality rate) for stomach cancer, liver cancer and lung cancer from 1950 to 1997 in Japan were calculated. Moreover, the turning point year of the mortality trend was estimated using a regression model of the rate of annual increase in each mortality rate. As the results show, a decline in the under 65 mortality rate preceding a decline in the overall mortality rate was observed in stomach cancer and male liver cancer. Also, the under 65 mortality rate due to lung cancer seemed to begin to decline in recent years for males, while the overall mortality rate has been increasing. This study suggests that the premature mortality rate is a more sensitive indicator of the effectiveness of cancer prevention. Hence, because of not only the larger burden of premature deaths but also the sensitivity, premature mortality is considered to be suitable as a target indicator for cancer prevention strategies.
Mortality Vital Statistics ; Malignant Neoplasms ; trends ; Japan ; Prevention

The purpose of this study was to clarify the survival rates and prognostic factors in elderly Japanese patients with hip fractures. This study investigated the outcome of 256 patients aged 60 years and older with surgically treated hip fractures. Information including age, gender, duration of hospitalization, place of residence before fracture and at discharge, and level of mobility before fracture and at discharge was obtained from patient records. The survival of the patients after discharge was determined by mail surveys supplemented with telephone inquiries.The observed survival rates were significantly lower than the expected survival rates (p<0.001, by Mantel Haenszel test). The short-term mortality rates were 6% for six months and 12.7% for one year, which were lower than previously reported rates in Western countries. Significantly higher hazard ratios (HR) for mortality adjusted for age and gender were observed in patients who had lived in places other than their own home before fracture (HR=2.67(1.63-4.3)), were discharged to places other than their own home (Nursing home HR=2.25 (1.24-4.1) or to a non-orthopedic unit (HR=5.95 (3.12-11.34)), those requiring full-time assistance for mobility at discharge (HR=5.71 (3.59-9.01)), and those who had stayed in a hospital for fewer than 40 days (HR=2.20 (1.38-3.51)). After adjusting for the effects of all the potential prognostic factors, discharge to places other than their own home and the lowest level of mobility at discharge remained significant factors causing adverse effects on survival.Therefore, to improve the prognosis, patients should be allowed to recover to a level at which they can ambulate with some assistance, enabling them return to their own homes.
survival aspects ; seconds ; Japanese language ; prognostic ; Mortality Vital Statistics

To demonstrate and assess the possibility of improving simultaneously vital statistics and family planning in urban and rural Korea, a action-cum-research project was conducted for a period of one year, from May 1966 to April 1967, over the area covering Kimchun city and a part of surrounding Kumnung Gun, Kyongsangpuk-do province, Korea. As the method of study, a sterilized simple delivery kit was distributed to the expectant mothers in the experimental areas, and its effects on the reporting of vital events such as births and deaths and the acceptance of family planning were compared with the same in the control areas without such an action program. A single delivery kit contained one vinyl sheet for covering and one for lying on, one cotton sheet, a pair of scissors, one foot of thread, two pieces of gauze, a piece of soap, a weight scale and one doubled envelope. From the study, the system of distributing simple hygiene delivery kits to all expectant mothers in an area is an effective method of obtaining accurate statistics of births. It is also effective in the reduction of infant mortality, which, in turn, promotes acceptance of family planning in rural Korea.
*Family Planning Services ; Female ; Human ; Korea ; Methods ; Pregnancy ; *Vital Statistics

China ; Health Status ; Humans ; Reproducibility of Results ; Vital Statistics

Perinatal period, which is a series of consecutive periods of pregnancy, delivery, birth and neonatal life, gives many important information about national public health statistics and data. It is fundamental and important in the epidemiological statistics to understand clearly the definitions of terminology in perinatal epidemiology, and to group diseases and its characteristics, prognosis and mortality according to the definitions. Therefore, the present review article should be helpful in understanding the terms of perinatal epidemiology based on the international criteria and also to understand the uniformity of the international criteria in the grouping the periods when making the statistic products. By reviewing and presenting the perinatalogic definitions based on criteria of 10th revision of International Statistical Classification of Disease (ICD) and Related Health Problems (WHO), National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) of Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Statistics Korea, and Statistics of Japan Ministry of Health Labour, and Welfare. And also by understanding the grouping in statistics, we intended to propose the uniformity of the statistics in the perinatal epidemiologic papers in Korea.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Japan ; Korea ; National Center for Health Statistics (U.S.) ; Parturition ; Perinatology ; Pregnancy ; Prognosis ; Public Health ; Vital Statistics

This is a first report on an interview study of fertility and attitude toward family planning among a systematic random sample of about 1,000 couples in Korean rural area. More specifically, the authors analyzed the replies to the five important questions in fertility control; (1) the level of fertility, (2) the ideal family size, (3) the family planning limitation factors, (4) the prevalence of conception control and (5) the attitude towards the use of contraceptives. It was found that the level of reproductive performance has remained high with the total fertility rate of 7 or more, while their ideal family size revealed at the interview was 3 to 5. Such an excess fertility has not been well controlled by delaying of the age of marriage and/or by spacing birth, but the most prominent factors in limiting the family size has been the high mortality of children especially in infancy. As the infant mortality rate is declining, the family limitation is now practiced by the increasing rate of induced abortion. The practice of modern contraceptive method was low in prevalence, and if they were in use a high proportion were known to have begun the practice only after having their desired number of children(3 to 5). Family planning information was widespread and general1y accepted by the informed population. Also the majority of the respondents desired to learn (60%) and to practice (55%) the family planning. However, they were unable to practice it mainly due to the lack of detailed knowledge and instructions. This points out the need for proper education for developing the active family planning program in Korean rural area.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; *Family Planning Services ; *Fertility ; Human ; Korea ; Middle Aged ; Vital Statistics

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the accuracy of the registered cause of death in a county and its related factors. METHODS: The data used in this study was based on 504 cases, in a county of Chonnam province, registered between January and December 1998. Study subjects consisted of 388 of the 504 cases, and their causes of death were established by an interview survey of the next of kin or neighbor and medical record surveys. We compared the registered cause of death with the confirmed cause of death, determined by surveys and medical records, and evaluated the factors associated with the accuracy of the registered cause of death. RESULTS: 62.6% of the deaths were concordant with 19 Chapters classification of cause of death. external causes of mortality, endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases, neoplasms and diseases of the circulatory system showed the good agreement between the registered cause of death and the confirmed cause of death. The factors relating to the accuracy of the registered cause of death were the doctors' diagnosis for the cause of death (adjusted Odds Ratio: 2.67, 95% Confidence Interval: 1.21-5.89) and the grade of the public officials in charge of the death registry (adjusted Odds Ratio: 0.30, 95% CI= 0.12-0.78). CONCLUSIONS: The accuracy of the registered cause of death was not high. It could be improved by using the doctors' diagnosis for death and improving the job specification for public officials who deal with death registration.
Cause of Death* ; Classification ; Diagnosis ; Jeollanam-do ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases ; Odds Ratio ; Vital Statistics