Population health and regional variations of disease burden in Japan, 1990-2015: a systematic subnational analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015.

BACKGROUND: Japan has entered the era of super-ageing and advanced health transition, which is increasingly putting pressure on the sustainability of its health system. The level and pace of this health transition might vary across regions within Japan and concern is growing about increasing regional variations in disease burden. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 (GBD 2015) provides a comprehensive, comparable framework. We used data from GBD 2015 with the aim to quantify the burden of disease and injuries, and to attribute risk factors in Japan at a subnational, prefecture-level. METHODS: We used data from GBD 2015 for 315 causes and 79 risk factors of death, disease, and injury incidence and prevalence to measure the burden of diseases and injuries in Japan and in the 47 Japanese prefectures from 1990 to 2015. We extracted data from GBD 2015 to assess mortality, causes of death, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), life expectancy, and healthy life expectancy (HALE) in Japan and its 47 prefectures. We split extracted data by prefecture and applied GBD methods to generate estimates of burden, and attributable burden due to known risk factors. We examined the prefecture-level relationships of common health system inputs (eg, health expenditure and workforces) to the GBD outputs in 2015 to address underlying determinants of regional health variations. FINDINGS: Life expectancy at birth in Japan increased by 4·2 years from 79·0 years (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 79·0 to 79·0) to 83·2 years (83·1 to 83·2) between 1990 and 2015. However, the gaps between prefectures with the lowest and highest life expectancies and HALE have widened, from 2·5 to 3·1 years and from 2·3 to 2·7 years, respectively, from 1990 to 2015. Although overall age-standardised death rates decreased by 29·0% (28·7 to 29·3) from 1990 to 2015, the rates of mortality decline in this period substantially varied across the prefectures, ranging from -32·4% (-34·8 to -30·0) to -22·0% (-20·4 to -20·1). During the same time period, the rate of age-standardised DALYs was reduced overall by 19·8% (17·9 to 22·0). The reduction in rates of age-standardised YLDs was very small by 3·5% (2·6 to 4·3). The pace of reduction in mortality and DALYs in many leading causes has largely levelled off since 2005. Known risk factors accounted for 34·5% (32·4 to 36·9) of DALYs; the two leading behavioural risk factors were unhealthy diets and tobacco smoking in 2015. The common health system inputs were not associated with age-standardised death and DALY rates in 2015. INTERPRETATION: Japan has been successful overall in reducing mortality and disability from most major diseases. However, progress has slowed down and health variations between prefectures is growing. In view of the limited association between the prefecture-level health system inputs and health outcomes, the potential sources of regional variations, including subnational health system performance, urgently need assessment. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Japan Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, AXA CR Fixed Income Fund and AXA Research Fund.

Financial burden for tuberculosis patients in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review.

In order to inform the development of appropriate strategies to improve financial risk protection, we conducted a systematic literature review of the financial burden of tuberculosis (TB) faced by patients and affected families. The mean total costs ranged from $55 to $8198, with an unweighted average of $847. On average, 20% (range 0-62%) of the total cost was due to direct medical costs, 20% (0-84%) to direct non-medical costs, and 60% (16-94%) to income loss. Half of the total cost was incurred before TB treatment. On average, the total cost was equivalent to 58% (range 5-306%) of reported annual individual and 39% (4-148%) of reported household income. Cost as percentage of income was particularly high among poor people and those with multidrug-resistant TB. Commonly reported coping mechanisms included taking a loan and selling household items. The total cost of TB for patients can be catastrophic. Income loss often constitutes the largest financial risk for patients. Apart from ensuring that healthcare services are fairly financed and delivered in a way that minimises direct and indirect costs, there is a need to ensure that TB patients and affected families receive appropriate income replacement and other social protection interventions.

Association of Physical Activity with Aortic Disease in Japanese Men and Women: The Japan Collaborative Cohort Study.

AIMS: Evidence of the effects of physical activity on mortality from aortic diseases, especially in Asian populations, remains limited. This study aimed to examine these effects using data from a large long-term cohort study of Japanese men and women. METHODS: Between 1988 and 1990, 32,083 men and 43,454 women in Japan, aged 40-79 years with no history of coronary heart disease, stroke, aortic diseases, or cancer, filled in questionnaires on time spent walking and participating in sports and were followed up until 2009. Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of aortic disease mortality and its types (aortic aneurysm and dissection) according to the time spent walking and participating in sports were calculated after adjusting for potential confounding factors using the Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 19.1 years, a total of 173 deaths from aortic disease (91 cases of aortic dissection and 82 of aortic aneurysm) were documented. Sports participation time was inversely associated with the risk of death from aortic aneurysm: the multivariable HRs (95% CIs) were 0.68 (0.40-1.16) for ＜1 h/week, 0.50 (0.19-1.35) for 3-4 h/week, and 0.31 (0.10-0.93) for ≥ 5 h/week (p for trend=0.23) compared with 1-2 h/week. The time spent walking was not associated with death from aortic aneurysm, dissection, and total aortic diseases. CONCLUSIONS: Greater time spent in sports participation was associated with a reduced risk of mortality from aortic aneurism in the Japanese population. Further studies are needed to investigate the relationship between physical activity and aortic dissection.