The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami resulted in widespread property destruction and over 250,000 displaced residents. We sought to examine whether the type of housing arrangement available to the affected victims was associated with a differential incidence of depressive symptoms. In this prospective cohort study, which comprised participants aged ≥65 years from Iwanuma as a part of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, we had information about the residents’ mental health both before the disaster in 2010 and 2.5 years afterward. The Geriatric Depression Scale was used. Type of accommodation after the disaster was divided into 5 categories: no move, prefabricated housing (temporary housing), existing private accommodations (temporary apartment), newly established housing, and other. Poisson regression analysis was adopted, with and without multiple imputation. Among the 2,242 participants, 16.2% reported depressive symptoms at follow-up. The adjusted rate ratio for depressive symptoms among persons moving into prefabricated housing, compared with those who did not, was 2.07 (95% confidence interval: 1.45, 2.94). Moving into existing private accommodations or other types of accommodations was not associated with depression. The relationship between living environment and long-term mental health should be considered for disaster recovery planning.

BackgroundPrevious research has linked lower availability of food stores selling fruits and vegetables to unhealthy diet. However, the longitudinal association between the availability of healthy food stores and mortality is unknown. This study examined the association between neighborhood availability of food stores and mortality by driving status among older adults.MethodsThis study drew upon a three-year follow up of participants in the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, a population-based cohort study of Japanese adults aged 65 years or older. Mortality from 2010 to 2013 was analyzed for 49,511 respondents. Neighborhood availability of food stores was defined as the number of food stores selling fruits and vegetables within a 500-m or 1-km radius of a person’s residence. Both subjective (participant-reported) and objective (geographic information system-based) measurements were used to assess this variable. Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for mortality.ResultsA total of 2049 deaths occurred during the follow up. Lower subjective availability of food stores was significantly associated with increased mortality. Compared with participants reporting the highest availability, the age- and sex-adjusted HR for those reporting the lowest availability was 1.28 (95% CI: 1.04–1.58; p = 0.02). The association remained significant after adjustment for sociodemographic (education, income, cohabitation, marital status, and employment status) and environmental (driving status, use of public transportation, and study site) status (HR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.01–1.53, p = 0.04). This association was stronger among non-car users, among whom the HR for those reporting the lowest availability of food stores was 1.61 (95% CI: 1.08–2.41, p = 0.02). In contrast, no significant association was seen between objective availability and mortality.ConclusionsLower availability of healthy food stores measured subjectively, but not objectively, was associated with mortality, especially among non-car users. Considering the decline in mobility with age, living in a neighborhood with many options for procuring fruits and vegetables within walking distance may be important for healthy aging.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12966-018-0732-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The novel combined therapy of paclitaxel and carboplatin with HT and HBO may therefore be a feasible and promising modality for treating NSCLC with multiple pulmonary metastases, and the results justify further evaluation to clarify the benefits of this treatment regimen.

Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) represent the most relevant action capacity in older people with regard to independent living. Previous studies have reported that there are geographical disparities in IADL decline. This study examined the associations between each element of community-level social capital (SC) and IADL disability. This prospective cohort study conducted between 2010 and 2013 by the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) surveyed 30,587 people aged 65 years or older without long-term care requirements in 380 communities throughout Japan. Multilevel logistic-regression analyses were used to determine whether association exists between community-level SC (i.e., civic participation, social cohesion, and reciprocity) and IADL disability, with adjustment for individual-level SC and covariates such as demographic variables, socioeconomic status, health status, and behavior. At three-year follow-up, 2886 respondents (9.4%) had suffered IADL disability. Residents in a community with higher civic participation showed significantly lower IADL disability (odds ratio: 0.90 per 1 standard deviation increase in civic participation score, 95% confidence interval: 0.84–0.96) after adjustment for covariates. Two other community-level SC elements showed no significant associations with IADL disability. Our findings suggest that community-based interventions to promote community-level civic participation could help prevent or reduce IADL disability in older people.

ObjectivesEating by oneself may be a risk factor for poor nutritional and mental statuses among older adults. However, their longitudinal association with mortality in relation to coresidential status is unknown.MethodWe conducted a 3-year follow-up of participants in the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, a population-based cohort of 65 years or older Japanese adults. We analyzed mortality for 33,083 men and 38,698 women from 2010 to 2013 and used. Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for mortality.ResultsA total of 3,217 deaths occurred during the follow-up. Compared with men who ate and lived with others, the HRs after adjusting for age and health status were 1.48 (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.26–1.74) for men who ate alone yet lived with others and 1.19 (95% CI: 1.01–1.41) for men who ate and lived alone. Among women, the adjusted HR was 1.18 (95% CI: 0.97–1.43) for women who ate alone yet lived with others and 1.10 (95% CI: 0.93–1.29) for women who ate and lived alone.DiscussionA setting in which older adults eat together may be protective for them. Promotion of this intervention should focus on men who eat alone yet live with others.