Association of the Number of Teeth With Physical Function and Length of Hospital Stay After Hip Fracture Surgery: A Prospective Observational Study at a Tertiary Hospital in Japan.

OBJECTIVES: Although lower-extremity muscle strength is associated with physical function, there are challenges in assessing the muscle strength of patients after hip surgery due to pain or limited cognitive function. The number of teeth is a characteristic that can be easily examined. Although the relationship between the number of teeth and physical function has been reported in recent years, there are no reports examining the relationship with prognosis in patients with hip fractures. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between the number of teeth and physical function and length of hospital stay after hip fracture surgery and to evaluate the predictive efficacy of the number of teeth on postoperative prognosis. METHODS: This prospective cohort study was conducted in a tertiary clinical care facility. Patients aged ≥65 years who underwent hip surgery were included. A total of 101 patients (mean age: 85.1±8.0 years) were included. The factor analyzed was the number of teeth at admission. Patients were divided into two groups according to the number of teeth: those with ≥20 and those with ≤19 teeth. The outcomes were knee extension muscle strength-to-weight ratio at two weeks postoperatively and the length of hospital stay. A multiple regression analysis was performed to determine the association between the two groups. RESULTS: Of 101 patients, 79 (78.2%) had ≤19 teeth, whereas 22 (21.8%) had ≥20 teeth. The mean muscle strength-to-weight ratio and length of hospital stay were 0.26±0.11 kgf/kg and 57.5±31.4 days, respectively. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the number of teeth was significantly associated with the muscle strength-to-weight ratio (ß=-0.26, p=0.04) but not with the duration of hospitalization (ß=0.17, p=0.09). CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that assessment of the number of teeth at admission may be a useful predictor of patient physical function.

Relationship Between Use of Media and Radiation Anxiety Among the Residents of Fukushima 5.5 Years After the Nuclear Power Plant Accident.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the relationships between use of media to obtain information on radiation and radiation anxiety among community residents in Fukushima, 5.5 years after the nuclear power plant accident. METHODS: A questionnaire survey was administered between August and October 2016 to 2000 randomly sampled residents in Fukushima prefecture. Radiation anxiety toward health and regarding discrimination and prejudice were assessed with 4- and 3-item scales, respectively. Participants nominated their most-used media for acquiring information on radiation by choosing up to 3 sources from 12 information sources listed (eg, local newspaper, TV news, websites, social networking sites [SNS], local government newsletter, word of mouth). We investigated associations of most-used media types and radiation anxiety, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and anxiety regarding radiation's health effects immediately after the accident, using multivariate linear regression analyses. RESULTS: Valid responses were obtained from 790 (39.5%) residents. Acquiring information about radiation by word of mouth was related to higher radiation anxiety toward health. Regarding radiation anxiety concerning discrimination and prejudice, SNS use was related to higher anxiety, whereas acquiring information through Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) TV news was related to lower anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Interpersonal interactions rather than gaining information from media - characterized by unidirectional information exchange - may increase radiation anxiety.

Association between maternal feeling about pregnancy and child's lifestyle.

The number of children with undesirable lifestyles has recently increased. We tested the hypothesis that maternal feelings about pregnancy might be associated with their attitude towards promoting healthy lifestyles in their children. We used a city database collected from guardians of 204 randomly selected children aged 1 to 3 years in Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima. Maternal feeling about pregnancy was measured using a 10-point scale, and a child lifestyle score was calculated as the sum of desirable lifestyle habits (sleeping, eating, watching TV/videos, and tooth brushing). Associations between maternal feeling and her child's lifestyles were examined with multiple logistic regression analysis. For all lifestyle items, proportion of children with undesirable lifestyle habits was higher in the "unhappy group" (those who scored 1 to 9) than in the "happy group" (those who scored 10). In particular, a child's short sleeping hours (odds ratio [OR]=3.01) and lifestyle score of less than 3 ([OR] =3.60) were significantly associated with unhappy feelings. This was apparent among mothers aged 29 (median age) or younger. Our results indicate an association between a mother's unhappy feelings about pregnancy and her child's undesirable lifestyle, especially among relatively younger mothers. These findings provide public health implications important for early familial intervention to improve children's lifestyles.

[Association between homebound status and newly certified need of care among elderly in a rural community: the Iwate-Kenpoku cohort (Iwate-KENCO) study].

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between homebound status and newly certified need of care among elderly in a rural community and to clarify the characteristics of those in homebound status. METHODS: The Iwate-KENpoku COhort (Iwate-KENCO) study (26,469 participants) spanned the period from 2002 to 2004 and was conducted in northern Iwate Prefecture, Japan. In the present study, 12,056 elderly (men, 4,751; women, 7,305) participated after being screened for eligibility (> or =65 years of age; without certification for need of care; and without a history of stroke, cardiac heart failure, or ischemic heart disease). Being homebound was operationally defined as walking outdoors for less than 5 minutes per day. Cox's proportional hazard model was used to estimate the hazard risk (HR) for newly certified need of care and the 95% confidence interval (95% CI) after controlling for confounding factors by gender. RESULTS: After a mean follow-up period of 2.65 years, 200 men (4.2%) and 412 women (5.6%) obtained certification for need of care. Homebound status was significantly associated with newly certified need of care in women (HR=1.64, 95%CI=1.29-2.09), but not in men (HR=1.07, 95%CI=0.76-1.52). Homebound status among elderly women was associated with nutritional status, missing teeth, and irregular daily rhythms. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that being homebound is a risk factor for elderly women receiving certification for need of care.