Yoshihisa Fujino

University of Occupational and Environmental Health Japan · Department of Environmental Epidemiology

The rapid aging of the population has led to an increase in the number of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) cases among the older population. However, the characteristics of these cases remain unclear. In this study, we aimed to identify the problem by analyzing the clinical characteristics of patients with cSCC aged 90 years and over. In th...

Background Previous studies have reported the impact of a diagnosed disease or self-perceived poor overall health on job loss. However, evidence is lacking on which self-reported symptoms or activity limitations are related to job loss, especially during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Aims We investigated whether self-reported s...

Objective This study investigated the association between leave use and improvement of work functioning impairment affecting presenteeism. Methods A prospective, observational study was conducted among 5,752 employees in a single corporate group in Japan to analyze the number of days of leave taken over a one-year period and changes in work functi...

The study aimed to assess the relationship between andropause, or male menopause, and work functioning in aging Japanese male workers. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 561 male employees from two Japanese companies. We measured andropause symptoms using the Aging Male’s Symptoms (AMS) scale, and work functioning impairment using the Work Fu...

Objective This study explored the association between symptoms of male menopause and presenteeism among middle-aged men in Japan. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 3,795 men aged 40 to 59 years who were in current employment in Japan. Male menopause symptoms were assessed using the Aging Male Symptoms (AMS) scale. Presenteeism wa...

Women’s health issues, including menstruation, childbirth, and menopause, significantly impact work performance and career progression, and pose physical and mental burdens on women. Despite their importance, research on how these events and conditions affect women’s quality of life and health in the workplace is limited. This study explores the re...

Objective: Long COVID is a global health concern. While various risk factors are known, the link between workplace factors and Long COVID is underexplored. We conducted a cohort study to examine the impact of pre-infection workplace stressors on Long COVID among Japanese workers, with the aim of improving understanding of its disease process and in...

Objective This cross-sectional study examined the impact of family cohabitation status and work-from-home (WFH) on sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods An online survey of 27,036 Japanese workers assessed WFH frequency, family cohabitation, and trouble sleeping to estimate odds ratios (OR) for sleep problems from December 22 to 26, 2020. R...

Objectives To clarify the association between telework with family members at home and work functioning impairment. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 27,036 participants. Having children or cohabitants in need of care at home during telework was considered an exposure factor. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was used to calc...

Objective: Workers were subject to both presenteeism and workplace mistreatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to examine their association during the pandemic in Japan. Methods: An internet-based, one-year prospective cohort study was conducted from 2020 to 2021. The Work Functioning Impairment Scale (WFun) as an indicator of presenteeism...

Objectives: This study aimed to elucidate which bio-naïve patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are suitable for treatment with CTLA4-Ig. Methods: This study enrolled 953 patients with RA who were administered their first biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (CTLA4-Ig, n = 328; tumour necrosis factor inhibitor [TNFi], n = 625) from...

Background: Occupational fall injuries have recently increased markedly in Japan, together with an increase in later-middle-aged females in the labor market. However, the association between anemia, which is prevalent among Japanese females, and falls is unclear. Here, we investigated the association between anemia and occupational fall injuries. M...

Objective: Occupational falls are a significant concern among older workers. Although recent cross-sectional studies have indicated a potential association between frailty and occupational falls among older workers, the causal relationship remains unclear. This longitudinal study aimed to investigate whether frailty is a risk factor for occupationa...

This study aimed to clarify the relationship between presenteeism and the level of satisfaction with the work environment in the anime industry. Data from the Animation Producers Survey 2023 were analyzed. A total of 366 laborers were included in this study. Presenteeism was assessed using the Work Functioning Impairment Scale (WFun). The satisfact...

Introduction Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are more prevalent in colder homes, partly due to cold-induced high blood pressure (BP). While thermal insulation and heating are rational strategies to mitigate cold exposure, the high initial and running costs pose significant barriers. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of li...

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic forced people to change their lifestyles. We examined dietary differences by job type and industry among workers during the pandemic. This cross-sectional study was conducted using data an internet survey. Job type and industry were classified into 3 and 22 groups, respectively. Dietary behaviors wer...

This study evaluated trends in the implementation of workplace measures against COVID-19 by Japanese companies. We conducted a prospective cohort study, using data from December 2020 and December 2021, with 13,419 respondents participating in the follow-up survey. We evaluated nine workplace measures against COVID-19 (e.g., encouraging mask-wearing...

Objective: The work environment during work from home (WFH) may have a negative impact on workers' health. We investigated the effects of the physical work environment during WFH on sleep. Methods: We conducted a one-year cohort study of 2,099 Japanese WFH workers. We used eight questions about the physical work environment during WFH as indepen...

Objective The incidence of work-related falls on the same level is increasing, particularly among middle-aged and older female workers. Vision is an important risk factor of falls. We investigated whether objectively measured visual acuity was associated with the incidence of falls. Methods This cohort study included 7,317 female employees aged 20...

Introduction Various individual and contextual factors influence vaccination coverage. We investigated the relationship between company size and coverage of COVID-19 vaccination in Japan where workplace vaccination programs were implemented mainly at large companies. Methods We conducted an internet-based prospective cohort study from December 202...

Objective: We hypothesized that telecommuting's impact on sleep varied based on preference-frequency mismatch. Here, we evaluated this relationship in a large cohort of Japanese workers. Methods: We collected data from 33,302 Japanese workers through an online survey, and analyzed participant preferences and frequency of telecommuting in 9,425 i...

Objective Although menopausal symptoms are an important issue for female workers, their association with work-related factors is not well studied. Here, we explored the association between work-related factors and menopausal symptoms in Japan. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2023 among all 1465 female employees of a large Japanese...

Aim: Some studies have reported a higher incidence of falls during winter with similar proportions of indoor and outdoor falls. We investigated the relationship between indoor temperature during winter and falls at home in the past year among community-dwelling older adults. Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 964 individuals of ≥65 years...

This study aimed to develop low-cost models using machine learning approaches predicting the achievement of Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) remission 6 months after initiation of tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) as primary biologic/targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs) for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Dat...

Coronary heart disease (CHD) risk is influenced by socioeconomic status-related parameters, particularly occupation. We investigated occupational gaps in CHD risk and how the introduction of remote work moderated the observed occupational differences in CHD risk during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in Japan. Data from a web-based, nationwid...

Background Traffic accidents involving professional drivers have serious societal repercussions. Unique occupational stressors and health risks exacerbate the likelihood of traffic accidents among professional drivers. This study explores the association between presenteeism—impaired work performance due to working while unwell—and traffic accident...

Objective Discriminatory treatment against those with emerging infection is a long-standing problem. The present study investigates whether workers infected or in close contact with COVID-19 were susceptible to workplace mistreatment during the pandemic in Japan. Methods This internet-based cross-sectional study analyzed a total of 18,170 workers...

Purpose This study examines workplace support and resilience's influence on psychological distress in Japanese employees. Method A 1-year prospective online cohort study was conducted. Logistic regression analyzed prevalence odds ratios (PORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for psychological distress. Participants were grouped based on their s...

Objectives: Presenteeism adversely affects workers' quality of life, leading to further deterioration of their health and affecting their ability to continue working. Unemployment is one of the most serious consequences for workers experiencing presenteeism. A worker's ability to work depends on the degree of mismatch between the health status, and...

Objective Vaccine hesitancy is a major issue for acquiring herd immunity. However, some individuals may go unvaccinated owing to inhibitory factors other than vaccine hesitancy. If there is even a small number of such people, support is needed for equitable vaccine distribution and acquiring herd immunity. We investigated sociodemographic factors t...

Few studies have examined the effect of immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) on the overall progression of breast cancer therapy. This study examins the effect of IBR on the breast cancer therapy. 142 patients underwent mastectomy in our department (With IBR group, n = 17; Without IBR group, n = 125). We examined the number of days from diagnosis...

Background We aimed to evaluate the short‐term outcomes of pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) in older individuals. Methods Data from the Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination database on 62 275 patients who underwent PD from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2020 were analyzed. Patients were divided into five age groups: <70, 70–74, 75–79, 80–84, and ≥85 years...

Objective: The current study aimed to identify workplace stress and how stress factors differed in employees of a multinational company's subsidiaries in Japan and Vietnam. Methods: For the study, a total of 340 Japanese and 379 Vietnamese workers were included from their corresponding subsidiaries of a multinational company headquartered in Japan....

To develop a method to measure the macular pigment optical density (MPOD) using scanning laser ophthalmoscopic images in young adults and children. Cross-sectional study. Blue light reflectance fundus images of 32 healthy subjects were used. A profile of the linear reflectance changes across the center of the fovea on a grayscale fundus image was g...

Objective To elucidate the differential effects of biological/target synthesized DMARDs (b/tsDMARDs) on bone metabolism in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a real-world cohort. Methods This was a multicentre prospective observational study of RA patients enrolled at the time of first b/tsDMARDs administration. Bone mineral density (BMD)...

Objective: Psychological distress is commonly reported sequela in COVID-19-infected people. We investigated the association between experiencing COVID-19 infection and psychological distress in Japan. Method: 14,901 persons who participated in a follow-up survey in December 2022-were included in the analysis. Odds ratios (ORs) and regression coe...

Background The impact of COVID-19 infection on workers' work function persists even after the acute phase of the infection. We studied this phenomenon in Japanese workers. Methods We conducted a one-year prospective cohort study online, starting with a baseline survey in December 2020. We tracked workers without baseline work functioning impairmen...

Background Smoking cessation is the most important intervention in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, and asthma-COPD overlap (ACO); however, high rates of current cigarette smoking are observed in adults with these respiratory diseases. Meanwhile, rapidly increasing use of heated tobacco products (HTPs) is observed in Japan; how...

Introduction Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common debilitating psychiatric condition and a major cause of productivity loss in workers. Using intermittent, subjective indicators, previous studies have shown that physical activity can predict lower levels of depressive symptoms. However, there is an unmet need for continuous and objective mea...

Objectives Occupational falls are a major problem for older workers, especially those in the tertiary industry. Recently, it has been suggested that frailty is associated with occupational falls, but it is unclear whether this holds true for older workers in the tertiary industry. This study examined the relationship between frailty and occupationa...

Objective This study aimed to evaluate the timing of elective cesarean sections at 37 to 41 weeks from a tertiary hospital in Japan. The primary outcome was the rate of adverse neonatal outcomes, especially focusing on neonates delivered at 38 weeks of gestation. Study Design The study population was drawn from singleton pregnancies delivered follo...

Objective: This study investigated whether workers who practiced unhealthy lifestyles but worked under organizations with insufficient control against COVID-19 would pose a synergistic risk for poor self-rated health (SRH). Methods: A total of 22,637 workers (men, 48.5%) were extracted from an online survey during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan...

Studies indicated potential harm from empirical broad-spectrum therapy. A recent study of hospitalizations for community-acquired pneumonia suggested that empirical anti-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) therapy was associated with an increased risk of death and other complications. However, limited evidence supports empirical anti...

Background: Menopausal symptoms are common among middle-aged women. Working women with severe menopausal symptoms are more likely to experience presenteeism-a condition where employees continue to work despite feeling unwell. However, it remains unclear as to which specific symptoms women experience during the menopausal transition and postmenopau...

Objectives The purpose of this study was to identify the COVID-19 infection prevention measures that are at risk of being perceived by employees as mistreatment in the workplace. Methods This study included full-time workers who enrolled as subjects in a nationwide prospective cohort study. Baseline surveys performed during the pandemic were used...

Objective: This study was identified seeking treatment on hypertension and diabetes among male shift workers. Method: This retrospective cohort study included nine large companies in Japan. Data were collected from health checkup, health insurance records, self-administered questionnaires in 2017 and 2020. Data were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier c...

Objective: A substantial number of workers' experience mistreatment in the workplace, impacting workers' health and companies' functioning. Vulnerability of those with lower income has been reported, yet little is known about mistreatment during COVID-19. This study aims to examine whether workers in financial distress are particularly prone to mi...

The potential antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effectiveness of azithromycin against severe influenza is yet unclear. We retrospectively investigated the effect of intravenous azithromycin administration within 7 days of hospitalization in patients with influenza virus pneumonia and respiratory failure. Using Japan's national administrative data...

Background: Encouraging the implementation of infection prevention and control (IPC) measures has been necessary to prevent workplace infections caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the effectiveness of these measures in reducing infections has not been thoroughly evaluated. We evaluated employees' COVID-19 infection rates i...

The COVID-19 pandemic infected many people worldwide with SARS-CoV2. Psychological distress is one of the sequelae reported to occur in many of those infected (Choutka et al., 2022). We investigated the association between personal experience of COVID-19 infection and psychological distress in Japan. A total of 18,560 persons participated in the or...

Objective To clarify the relationship between the number of deliveries and maternal outcomes in Japan, considering the declining birth rate and the evidence that hospitals with few deliveries have medical safety issues. Methods Hospitalizations for deliveries were analyzed using the Diagnosis Procedure Combination database from April 2014 to March...

Objectives The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly impacted working life quality. This study investigated whether changes in work/sleep patterns due to the pandemic are related to poor psychological status among Japanese workers during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (December 2020). We hypothesized that workers w...

Objective: This study aimed to determine whether telecommuting's impact on psychological distress differed depending on the status of workers' cohabiting family members during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We collected data from 33 302 workers in Japan through an Internet survey, and included 27 036 valid responses in the analysis. The survey...

Objective Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, non-married people are at high risk of loneliness. With social interactions restricted, it is important for non-married people to acquire a new romantic partner for their mental health and quality of life. We hypothesized that infection control efforts in the workplace influence people's social interactions,...

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the association between the type of chronic disease and receiving workplace accommodations. Methods: This online cross-sectional study analyzed a self-reported questionnaire administered in Japan. A total of 6775 full-time workers who reported needing work accommodations were included. Results: Workplace...

The working-age population is at the epicenter of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections. Therefore, it is important to increase the acceptance of digital contact tracing apps in this population. Contact-Confirming Application (COCOA) is the only digital contact tracing app in Japan. This study aimed to determine factors associated with acc...

Purpose: We applied a novel measure of average lifespan shortened (ALSS) to examine changes in lifespan among patients who died of cancer over a 10-year period from 2006 to 2016 in 20 selected high-income countries from North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. Methods: We retrieved cancer deaths in each country from the World Health Organizatio...

Objectives The work style reforms and the coronavirus disease pandemic in Japan have prompted efforts toward teleworking, mainly work from home (WFH). This study aimed to prospectively evaluate the impact of WFH on job stress among Japanese workers. Methods This online survey-based prospective cohort study was conducted from December 2020 (baselin...

Background Restricting the movement of the public to gathering places and limiting close physical contact are effective measures against COVID-19 infection. In Japan, states of emergency have been declared in specific prefectures to reduce public movement and control COVID-19 transmission. We investigated how COVID-19 infection related experiences...

Objectives: The physical work environment while working from home (WFH) is a key component of WFH which, if inadequate, can impair workers' health and work functioning. We investigated environmental factors in WFH and worsening of work functioning. Methods: A one-year prospective cohort study was conducted involving 2,530 Japanese workers who wo...

Telemedicine has significant potential for helping workers access medical treatment. To improve workers’ access to telemedicine, it is important to analyze current utilization rates and influencing factors. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the associations between occupational factors and telemedicine use. A 1-year follow-up stud...

Objective: To investigate the association between telecommuting environments and shoulder pain in Japanese telecommuters. Methods: We conducted an Internet-monitored, cross-sectional study and analyzed 2,537 participants who mainly telecommuted at least four days per week. We assessed the presence of shoulder pain using a numerical rating scale,...

Although the correlation between perceived organizational support (POS) and work engagement has been investigated in several studies, the relationship between health-focused POS and work engagement has not been clarified. We prospectively evaluated the influence of workers’ POS for infection prevention (POS-IP) on employees’ work engagement. This p...

Background There are increasing concerns that prevention measures against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) such as social distancing and telework are leading to loneliness and poor lifestyle habits like increased alcohol consumption. The purpose of this study was to assess whether loneliness reported among workers during the COVID-19 pandemic is...

Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationship between psychological distress and poverty among Japanese workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: An internet based prospective cohort study was conducted. A total of 11,081 individuals who were not experiencing poverty at baseline in December 2020 were included. The exposure variable...

Objective: During the COVID-19 pandemic, teleworking became the new workplace norm, creating a new challenge for workplace communication. This study investigated the association between source-specific workplace social support and psychological distress among Japanese teleworkers and non-teleworkers. Methods: A total of 15,045 workers were extra...

Introduction: According to the 2017 data, occupational accidents are more common in social welfare facilities compared with other industries; in particular, the number of occupational accidents resulting in four or more days of absence from work due to low back pain (LBP) or falls has increased and is considered problematic. Although physical ther...

Objective Over the course of their lives, people spend most of their time in the home environment. The Community-based Integrated Care System 2018 by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Japan declared the importance of "housing" and "living arrangements" as essential elements to enable older adults to live independently and to protect the...

Aim: We aimed to evaluate the operative trends and compare the short-term outcomes between open and laparoscopic surgery for congenital biliary dilatation (CBD) in adults using real-world data from Japan. Methods: Data from the Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination database on 941 patients undergoing surgery for CBD at 357 hospitals from Apri...

Current countermeasures for preventing hypertension emphasize only improvements to lifestyle. Recently, improving life environment has attracted attention, in parallel with publication of the WHO Housing and health guidelines. We quantitatively evaluated the relationship between housing thermal environment and blood pressure (BP) in a real-world se...

Objectives: Perceived organizational support is a broad perception by employees about the extent to which their employer values their contributions and cares about their well-being. We examined the relationship between workplace vaccination opportunities for COVID-19 provided by companies and increases and decreases in perceived organizational sup...