Tomoko Takamiya

Tokyo Medical University | TMU · Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health

Objectives: Changing the mode of commuting from nonactive by car or motorcycle to active by walking, cycling, or public transport is expected to benefit health. However, the proportion of nonactive commuters who can change their commute mode to active forms remains unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the proportions of nonactive commute...

The 7C of the vaccination readiness scale provides a score to evaluate the willingness and readiness to get vaccinated (vaccination readiness). This cross-sectional study clarifies the cutoff vaccination readiness score to determine whether an individual is willing to be vaccinated. We conducted an online survey of 774 participants. The vaccination...

PurposeVisual impairment is a possible cause of physical frailty. Reduced physical activity (PA) may be involved in the pathway from visual impairment to physical frailty, although the association between vision and objectively measured PA among older adults remains unclear. This study examined the sex-specific association of subjective vision with...

Objectives To understand the recent prevalence and time trends of Helicobacter pylori infection rates in the Japanese population. Design Repeated cross-sectional study. Participants A total of 22 120 workers (age: 35–65 years) from one Japanese company, who underwent serum H. pylori antibody tests in a health check-up between 2008 and 2018. Meas...

To reduce vaccine hesitancy, it is important to identify factors that can intervene at the individual or community level. Social capital is a possible factor because it is associated with various vaccine hesitancy, such as for measles and influenza. However, limited studies have explored the association between social capital and vaccination for CO...

Objectives Contact tracing for COVID-19 relies heavily on the cooperation of individuals with authorities to provide information of contact persons. However, few studies have clarified willingness to cooperate and motivation to provide information for contact tracing. This study sought to describe willingness to cooperate and motivation to report c...

Introduction: Primary aldosteronism (PA) is a common disease. Especially in unilateral PA (UPA), the risk of cardiovascular disease is high and proper localization is important. Adrenal vein sampling (AVS) is commonly used to localize PA, but its availability is limited. Therefore, it is important to predict the unilateral or bilateral PA and to c...

Background This longitudinal study aimed to investigate how psychological distress levels changed from early to middle phases of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic depending on the living arrangements of individuals.Method An internet-based, longitudinal survey of 2,400 Japanese people was conducted every 5-6 weeks between February 2020 and Ja...

Vaccine hesitancy regarding the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine is widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many recent studies have reported that the confidence of the vaccination and perceived risk were associated with vaccination intent, yet few studies have focused on other psychological factors. This study aimed to clarify the tren...

Objectives Objectively measured sedentary behavior (SB) on weekdays and weekends has been mainly assessed in white-collar workers, while data in blue-collar workers are sparse. Therefore, this study presented the difference in accelerometer-measured SB levels between weekdays and weekends, stratified by white- and blue-collar occupations. Methods...

Objectives We aimed to identify the concerns, current implementation status and correct usage, and factors inhibiting implementation and correct use of a COVID-19 contact tracing application among the ordinary citizens in Japan. Study design This was a cross-sectional study based on an internet survey completed by 2,013 participants who were selec...

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between social participation (type/pattern) and mortality according to company size of the longest-held job among older men in Japan who have worked in the company. Methods: Longitudinal data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study were used in this study. Functionally...

Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) has a tremendous influence in general public's behaviors; however, changes in the status of regularly scheduled outpatient visits in Japan during COVID‐19 pandemic are still unknown. Methods This cross‐sectional study was conducted in May 2020. Participants were recruited by an Internet‐based surv...

Background: The hippocampus is a brain structure important for memory and cognitive function. Physical activity may help prevent hippocampal atrophy. However, few studies have measured sedentary behavior (SB) and intensity-specific physical activity using an accelerometer. This study aimed to examine the cross-sectional associations of objectively-...

Objectives To compare physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) levels during work time between those who work from home (WFH) and at workplaces (no WFH), and by WFH subgroups. Methods This cross‐sectional internet‐based survey included 1239 workers (mean age [standard deviation], 44.7 [13.7] years; 59.2% men) living in the Tokyo Metropol...

Vaccination could be a key protective measure against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and it is important to understand the acceptability of the COVID-19 vaccine among the general public. However, there is no study on the acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine in Japan. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesi...

We aimed to clarify the status of hand hygiene practices among ordinary citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, in conjunction with the total frequency of daily hand hygiene as an indicator of education and evaluation. This cross-sectional study was based on an Internet survey completed by 2,149 participants (age range: 20–79 years, 51.0% m...

Background: Self-isolation is an important personal protective measure in inhibiting the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as people carry out economic and social activities amid its spread. Yet few studies have clarified the actual implementation status of self-isolation during an outbreak. This study aimed to reveal the actual...

Background As people age, they spend more time in and around their domestic environments, within which opportunities for health-enhancing physical activity (PA) may be limited. We examined the associations of frequency of excursions from home with accelerometer-determined PA and the total and prolonged sedentary behavior (SB, sitting for ≥30 minute...

Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of face masks by healthy individuals for prevention has been attracting public attention. However, efficacy depends on proper usage. We set out to determine the prevalence of wearing masks to prevent COVID-19 and compliance with appropriate measures for the correct use of face masks among the ge...

Objectives To clarify changes in the implementation of personal protective measures among ordinary Japanese citizens from the early phase of the COVID-19 outbreak to the community transmission phase. Methods This longitudinal, internet-based survey included 2,141 people (50.8% men; 20-79 years). The baseline and follow-up surveys were conducted fr...

Objectives To clarify the implementation status of personal protective measures by the ordinary citizens in Japan during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Methods This was the cross-sectional study using an internet-based survey. A total of 2,400 people (50% male: 20-79 years) were selected between February 25 and 27, 2020, from re...

Objectives: Very few longitudinal studies have investigated the question of whether differences in company size may give rise to health inequalities. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between company size of the longest-held job and mortality in older Japanese adults. Methods: This study used longitudinal data from the Japan...

Objectives Studies have shown that organisational injustice (OIJ) is associated with mental disorders. However, there is little research regarding details on OIJ exposure. We examined the effect of OIJ on serious psychological distress (SPD) by considering the exposure frequency, the exposure duration and the OIJ-free period after the disappearance...

Background Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a global health problem. Physical activity (PA) is a known modifiable risk factor for MetS and individual MetS components. However, the role of PA could differ between sub-populations due to differences in the variability of PA and other MetS risk factors. To examine these differences, multi-country studies w...

Objective: We developed the Work-related Physical Activity Questionnaire (WPAQ) to measure occupational physical activity, including sedentary behavior and sedentary breaks (interruptions of prolonged sedentary behavior), during work. This study aimed to examine the WPAQ's reliability and criterion validity using an accelerometer. Methods: To ex...

Objective: We developed the Work-related Physical Activity Questionnaire (WPAQ) to measure occupational physical activity, including sedentary behavior, and sedentary breaks (interrupting of prolonged sedentary behavior), during work. This study aimed to examine the WPAQ’s reliability and criterion validity using an accelerometer. Methods: To exami...

Trends in exercise prevalence among Japanese adults by sex with age-adjustment were investigated using raw data from the National Health and Nutrition Surveys Japan (NHNS-J) performed between 1995 and 2016. The subjects comprised 143,066 men and women aged 20 years or more who responded to questions concerning exercise habits in the NHNS-J. Exercis...

We aimed to clarify the patterns of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in the Japanese adult population, and the proportion of people meeting the recommendations of the Physical Activity Guidelines (PAG) for Americans, second edition (2nd PAG; ≥150 min/week of total MVPA including bouts of any length) and those meeting the previously rec...

Purpose: We tried to clarify the trends in step-determined physical activity (PA) among Japanese adults from 1995 to 2016. Methods: Raw data from the National Health and Nutrition Surveys Japan (NHNS-J) performed between 1995 and 2016 were used, in compliance with the Statistics Act of Japan. NHNS-J was conducted annually by the Japanese governm...

Aim Most physical activity (PA) guidelines for health promotion recommend moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) lasting at least 10 minutes (long-bout MVPA). However, recent studies have shown the beneficial effects of short-bout MVPA (intermittent and lasting <10 minutes). Therefore, we aimed to clarify the detailed patterns of MVPA of community dwelling...

Background: Physical activity among children and adolescents (collectively, youth) is important to ensure adult health. Population density is a factor that affects physical activity via various environmental factors. However, the relationship between population density and physical activity among youth is not fully understood, especially in extrem...

Few have clarified what exercise frequencies and patterns (e.g. alone or with others) are effective for preventing depression in older adults. We examined the relationship between total frequency and/or pattern of exercise and the risk of depression after two years in older Japanese adults. We used a sub-sample of the Japan Gerontological Evaluatio...

Background An increasing number of studies have demonstrated that light-intensity physical activity (LPA) confers health benefits after adjustment for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize existing epidemiological evidence on associations of objectively measured LPA with health outcome...

Car use has been identified as sedentary behavior, although it may enhance mobility, particularly in the older population. This cross-sectional study aimed to compare the time spent in objectively determined sedentary behavior (SB) and physical activity (PA) between older drivers and non-drivers. Four hundred and fifty Japanese older adults (74.3 ±...

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine associations of types of social participation and objectively assessed sedentary behavior (SB) and physical activity (PA) patterns in community-dwelling older adults. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015. The study sample was 1,314 Japanese older adults who were originally random...

The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between social participation and physical frailty among older Japanese adults based on data obtained from a National Health and Nutrition Survey Japan. The study participants comprised 2,323 older adults aged 65 years or older covered by the National Health and Nutrition Survey Japan carried out...

Background: Men are generally believed to be more physically active than women when evaluated using current physical activity (PA) guidelines, which count only moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in bouts lasting at least 10 minutes. However, it remains unclear men are truly more physically active provided that all-intensity PA are evalua...

Cycling is an easy way for older adults to be physically active and remain healthy. This descriptive epidemiological study investigated the role of sociodemographic, biological, behavioral, and psychological correlates associated with cycling among community-dwelling older adults in Japan. This cross-sectional study, conducted in 2010, included 1,9...

Introduction The most effective type of social participation against psychological distress in older adults is not well documented. The aim of this study was to examine whether different types of social participation are associated with changes in psychological distress level in older men and women in Japan. Methods Two thousand seven hundred comm...

Impacts of covariates on psychological distress in older adults by living arrangement. (DOCX)

Impacts of covariates on psychological distress in older adults by age group. (DOCX)

Aim: Social participation provides health benefits for older adults. However, there is the need to identify whether higher social participation is associated with older adults being more physically active and less sedentary (sitting time). We examined the associations of social participation with physical activity, and sedentary time, in a populat...

Purpose: Insomnia is one of the most common health problems and causes a large social burden. Psychosocial work-related factors are reported to be associated with both insomnia onset and insomnia persistence. However, the association between organizational justice (OJ) and insomnia remains unclear. The objective of this study was to examine the ef...

Although exercising with others may have extra health benefits compared to exercising alone, few studies have examined the differences. We sought to examine whether the association of regular exercise to subjective health status differs according to whether people exercise alone and/or with others, adjusting for frequency of exercise. The study was...

Objective There is little evidence showing that inhabitants of urban areas engage in more physical activity than do rural ones, although accumulating evidence concerning the best neighborhood environments conducive to physical activity supports the idea. This study sought to fill the research gap by examining the association between city scale and...

Physical activity may be carried out alone or in a group. No comprehensive studies have been conducted on the associations between group exercise and health outcomes, the mechanisms underlying the associations with health outcomes, and determinants of participation in group exercise. The aim of this article is to review the associations and mechani...

The purpose of this study was to determine the association between the presence of occupational health nurses and health promotion activities, relative to the number of employees, and the health promotion policies of the companies. We investigated 3,266 companies with at least 50 employees listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Questionnaires were sen...

The purpose of this cross-sectional study is to investigate the difference in physical activity among elderly living in different areas in Japan (“Bunkyo Ward in Tokyo” (Bunkyo) and “Fuchu City in Tokyo” (Fuchu) as urban areas, and “Oyama Town in Shizuoka” (Oyama) as a non-urban area). Participants were 1859 community-dwelling residents aged 65-74...

Objectives: Organizational justice (OJ) is an important psychosocial factor and it consists of several components. Previous studies have shown that low perceived OJ is associated with various health problems. However, the relationships between each justice component and health outcomes have not been fully examined. The purpose of this study was to...

Examining the sociodemographic determinants of psychological distress is important in identifying specific subgroups in need of further intervention. However, there are few studies focusing on older populations and on the role of gender or location of residence. To try to clarify characteristics of a population at high risk for mental illness, we e...

Past studies have shown that living alone is detrimental to older adults' mental health. However, there has been little focus on how older adults' psychological distress differed by more detailed living arrangement, as well as by gender. The present study investigates various living arrangements in association with psychological distress among olde...

Objectives: Improvement of psychosocial work environment has proved to be valuable for workers' mental health. However, limited evidence is available for the effectiveness of participatory interventions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect on mental health among nurses of a participatory intervention to improve the psychosocial...

Background: We recently reported that Japanese had higher liver fat at a lower level of BMI compared with non-Hispanic whites (NHW). Objective: We hypothesize that ethnic difference in fat storage capacity contributes to this ethnic difference in liver fat. Design: To examine this, we assessed liver fat among 244 Japanese-American aged 40-49,...

Physical exercise has been shown to increase adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus and to enhance synaptic plasticity. It has been demonstrated that these neuroprotective effects can be observed following aerobic exercise. However, it remains unknown whether plasticity molecules, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and cyclic AMP respo...

International Journal of Obesity is a monthly, multi-disciplinary forum for papers describing basic, clinical and applied studies in biochemistry, genetics and nutrition, together with molecular, metabolic, psychological and epidemiological aspects of obesity and related disorders

Previous studies showed associations of sedentary behavior with cardiovascular risks, independent of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. However, few studies have focused on Japanese workers. This study examined the joint association of television viewing time (TV) and walking time (WT) with overweight/obesity among Japanese municipal office wo...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between physical fitness and coronary risk factor profiles in Japanese women. The subjects were 1,483 women (ages 30 to 69) who participated in a practical health promotion program. After medical examination, physical fitness was evaluated by conducting a symptom limited maximal exercise...

Background: The prevalence of coronary artery calcification (CAC) in Japanese men is lower than in white and Japanese-American men. It is unclear if aortic calcification (AC) strongly linked to smoking is also lower in Japanese men who have many times higher smoking prevalence compared to US men. Methods: We conducted a population-based study of...

Previous studies have shown associations of sedentary behavior with cardiovascular risk, independent of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). However, few studies have focused on older adults. This study examined the joint associations of television (TV) viewing time and MVPA with overweight/obesity among Japanese older adults. A populatio...

Recent research has revealed the importance of neighborhood environment as a determinant of physical activity. However, evidence among elderly adults is limited. This study examined the association between perceived neighborhood environment and walking for specific purposes among Japanese elderly adults. This population-based, cross-sectional study...

Epidemiological studies suggested that n-6 fatty acids, especially linoleic acid (LA), have beneficial effects on CHD, whereas some in vitro studies have suggested that n-6 fatty acids, specifically arachidonic acid (AA), may have harmful effects. We examined the association of serum n-6 fatty acids with plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). A...

Although previous studies have reported physical activity and its sociodemographic determinants using self-report measures, there have been few studies using pedometers. To ascertain pedometer-determined physical activity and its sociodemographic determinants among community residents living in four Japanese cities. A cross-sectional mail survey wa...

Differences in the characteristics of respondents and nonrespondents to a survey can be a cause of selection bias. The aim of this study was to determine the sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics of respondents to a field-based accelerometry survey. A cross-sectional mail survey was sent to 4000 adults (50% male; age 20 to 69 years) who we...