{"title":"[Questionnaire survey of municipalities on policies to promote physical activity among residents: An examination by administrative sector and population size].","authors":"Yukio Oida, Noriko Takeda, Shigeru Inoue, Motohiko Miyachi","doi":"10.11236/jph.23-040","DOIUrl":"10.11236/jph.23-040","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Objectives National policies to promote physical activity and exercise have been formulated by several ministries and agencies in Japan. This study aimed to examine the formulation and implementation of such policies in municipalities by administrative sector and population size.Methods After stratifying all municipalities in Japan at the population level, we randomly selected 272 municipalities. We collected 1,632 cases in six sectors (health, sports, education, urban planning, transportation, and environment) within these municipalities. A questionnaire survey on the status of policy formulation, implementation, and coordination among departments was conducted as a cross-sectional study. Differences between groups of municipalities were statistically analyzed using Fisher's exact test. The survey period was from September 2018 to March 2019.Results A total of 616 responses were collected (response rate 37.7%). The response rates for health and education were lower than those for the other sectors. The rate of policy formulation to promote physical activity was extremely high in the health and sports sectors, and there was slight variation by population size. In contrast, formulation rates were generally low in the urban planning, transportation, and environment sectors, especially in smaller municipalities. In the sectors mentioned above, physical activity promotion projects mainly involved the development of exercise and sports infrastructures. Health, sports, and education were the primary sectors that used those environments. Regarding interdepartmental coordination in policy implementation, a cooperative relationship existed among the health, sports, and education sectors and between the urban planning and transportation sectors. However, smaller municipalities were found to have fewer opportunities for such collaboration and tended to implement policies independently.Conclusion This study clarifies the policy formulation and implementation for promoting physical activity in municipalities at the national level in Japan. In addition, their characteristics were identified based on different administrative sectors and population size. These results are expected to be used in future local government policies.</p>","PeriodicalId":72032,"journal":{"name":"[Nihon koshu eisei zasshi] Japanese journal of public health","volume":" ","pages":"153-166"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138833257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"[Relationship between the number of public health nurses and the total number of people receiving home-visit nursing services for mental health/intractable diseases, and those numbers' regional differences].","authors":"Yuri Akamatsu, Toshiyuki Ojima, Ichiro Fukunaga, Goro Ohsaka, Keigo Saeki, Michiko Shimamura, Chika Shirai, Hitomi Nagai, Masaya Miyazono, Katsuhiko Uchida","doi":"10.11236/jph.23-064","DOIUrl":"10.11236/jph.23-064","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Objectives The primary aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between the number of public health nurses (PHNs) and the total number of people who received home-visit nursing services for mental health or intractable diseases. The secondary aim was to clarify the extent of regional differences in the number of PNHs and mental health or intractable diseases.Methods This study used the total number of people who received home-visit nursing services for mental health or intractable diseases in 2019 from the Portal Site of Official Statistics of Japan (e-Stat) and population and area data in January 2020. Single and multiple regression analyses (covariates: population and area) were performed on the relationship between the number of PHNs per 100,000 population (abbreviated as \"ratios of PHNs\") and the total number of people who received home-visit nursing services for mental health or intractable diseases per 100,000 population (abbreviated as \"mental health/intractable disease achievements\"). Regional differences in ratios of PHNs and mental health/intractable disease achievement were examined using mean, standard deviation, maximum/minimum values, and Gini coefficients. Analyses were performed for each of the five units: the prefectures as a whole, prefectural public health centers, municipalities within the jurisdiction of prefectural public health centers, and cities in which public health centers are established (including or not including special wards).Results Regression analyses indicated a positive relationship between the ratios of PHNs and mental health/intractable disease achievements. Multiple regression analysis indicated that both achievements were positively associated with population size and negatively associated with area size. The largest regression coefficients between the ratios of PHNs and achievements were 34.07 and 5.48 regarding mental health achievements and intractable disease achievements, respectively. For regional differences, the smallest Gini coefficient was the ratios of PHNs, and the largest was intractable disease achievements. The smallest and largest coefficient of the prefectures as a whole was 0.15 and 0.34, respectively. The maximum/minimum values of the prefectures as a whole also indicated that the smallest was 3.8 in the ratio of PHNs and the largest was 30.0 in intractable disease achievement.Conclusions Increasing number of PHNs is needed to provide more home-visit nursing services for mental health and intractable diseases. It is particularly important to fill up the larger number of PHNs in smaller populations or larger area prefectures. Due to regional differences in the home-visit nursing service, it is important to promote the increase in the level of these activities.</p>","PeriodicalId":72032,"journal":{"name":"[Nihon koshu eisei zasshi] Japanese journal of public health","volume":" ","pages":"167-176"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138833258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"[Characteristics and courses of COVID-19 in patients from the first through fifth waves of the disease: Focused on a single public health center in Tokyo, Japan].","authors":"Nana Hijikata, Kuniko Murakami, Shoji Uehara, Katsuhiko Shibuya, Yoshiharu Fukuda","doi":"10.11236/jph.23-077","DOIUrl":"10.11236/jph.23-077","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Objective Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) became a global public health threat, and local public health centers in Japan implemented an infectious disease response to support patients. The response was subsequently modified to meet the needs for each of the five waves of infection. The study aim was to analyze the characteristics and courses of the disease in patients with COVID-19 at a single public health center. The study period included the first through fifth waves of the disease.Methods We utilized a descriptive epidemiological design in this study and data of patients with COVID-19 from one administrative district in Tokyo, Japan. We analyzed age, gender, nationality, symptoms at diagnosis, the route of infection, the recovery environment, and associated morbidity intervals, including case fatality rate, days from symptom onset to diagnosis, days from diagnosis to hospitalization, and recovery time for each of the first through fifth waves.Results From February 2020 to November 2021, 11,252 patients were diagnosed with COVID-19. Specifically, in the first wave, 151 patients were diagnosed, followed by 803 in the second wave, 2,406 in the third wave, 1,480 in the fourth wave, and 6,412 in the fifth wave. Hospitalization was the primary recovery environment during the first wave, while home recovery became the primary approach from the third wave onward. The case fatality rate was highest during the first wave, likely because of limited testing and treatment options for severe cases. The median time from onset to diagnosis was seven days in the first wave, significantly longer than for the other waves. The median time from diagnosis to hospitalization was one day in the first through fourth waves but three days in the fifth wave. The extension of this interval suggests that hospitalization was delayed in this wave as the number of severe patients increased rapidly, likely because of the novel COVID-19 variant.Conclusion This study of patients testing positive for COVID-19 provides valuable insights into the characteristics and courses of the pandemic within this district. These findings can inform regarding the development of effective strategies to manage the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and other future emerging infectious diseases.</p>","PeriodicalId":72032,"journal":{"name":"[Nihon koshu eisei zasshi] Japanese journal of public health","volume":" ","pages":"117-123"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138441737","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Midori Matsushima, Aya Takagi, Naoki Kondo, Takahiro Tabuchi
{"title":"[Communication between pregnant women and maternal and child health professionals and trust in professionals and awareness of source of help in the postpartum period: Evaluation using JACSIS Pregnant-Postpartum Women's Data 2020-2021].","authors":"Midori Matsushima, Aya Takagi, Naoki Kondo, Takahiro Tabuchi","doi":"10.11236/jph.23-015","DOIUrl":"10.11236/jph.23-015","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Objective This study aims to estimate the impact of maternal and child health professional consultation and development of support plans during pregnancy on trust in community health professionals (trust) and awareness of sources of public/private institutional support (awareness) in the postpartum period.Methods A web-based panel survey was conducted in July-August 2021 and January-February 2022, targeting women who were pregnant during the 2021 survey and 0-5 months postpartum in 2022. We collected information about consultation opportunities and development of a support plan during pregnancy, trust and recognition, demographic characteristics, employment status, and pregnancy- and childbirth-related variables. First, logistic regression analysis was conducted by setting trust and recognition during postpartum as outcomes. Exposure variables were the consultation opportunities and development of a support plan during the pregnancy period. Second, we added the presence of a comprehensive support center for raising children, the financial index of the municipality of residence, the per capita child welfare expenditure, and the number of nurses at the comprehensive support center for maternal and child health to the analytical model as overall level of municipal support in order to check the robustness of our results.Results Responses were obtained from pregnant women across Japan. Of the 616 respondents included in the analysis, 74.0% had opportunities for consultation, 23.7% made support plans, 69.8% trusted local maternal and child health professionals, and 63.6% recognized public/private institutional support as places for help-seeking. Logistic regression analysis showed that trust and recognition were higher among those who had opportunities to consult and had created a support plan compared to those who did not. With regard to trust, for those who had opportunities to consult, the odds ratio (OR) was 2.05 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.37-3.07), and for those who developed a support plan, the OR was 2.25 (95% CI 1.41-3.60). As for recognition, the OR was 1.46 (95% CI 0.98-2.16) if given the opportunity for consultation. For development of a support plan, the OR was 3.05 (95% CI 1.94-4.80). These results did not change even after adjusting for municipal finances and the level of support for pregnant women in general.Conclusions Consultation opportunities and developing support plans during pregnancy increased trust and recognition in the postpartum period while municipal finances or overall support for child rearing were not associated with these outcomes, thus suggesting the importance of engagement with professionals during pregnancy.</p>","PeriodicalId":72032,"journal":{"name":"[Nihon koshu eisei zasshi] Japanese journal of public health","volume":" ","pages":"93-102"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138441738","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"[Association among obesity, lifestyle, and home/neighborhood environment among preschool children in Hokkaido].","authors":"Ayaka Takahashi","doi":"10.11236/jph.22-119","DOIUrl":"10.11236/jph.22-119","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":72032,"journal":{"name":"[Nihon koshu eisei zasshi] Japanese journal of public health","volume":" ","pages":"108-116"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41221516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Development of a partnership between academia, community, and government in response to the 2022 mpox outbreak in Japan.","authors":"Mio Kato, Fumi Yoshimatsu, Tomonori Yamamoto, Nozomi Kobayashi, Tadashi Kikuchi, Saori Matsuoka, Tetsuro Matano, Kota Iwahashi, Yuzuru Ikushima, Satoshi Shiono, Masahiro Ishikane, Shinichiro Morioka, Takato Nakamoto, Itsuro Yoshimi, Tomoya Saito","doi":"10.11236/jph.23-028","DOIUrl":"10.11236/jph.23-028","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Objectives In response to the steady rise in the number of cases of mpox in nonendemic countries, starting with an outbreak in the United Kingdom in May 2022, the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern on July 23, 2022. As of November 13, 2022, seven cases of mpox have been reported in Japan.Methods A community engagement approach was applied to prevent the spread of mpox in Japan.Results A tripartite partnership between academia, community, and government (ACG) was established to promote multisectoral communication between vulnerable communities, medical personnel involved in diagnosis and treatment, public health specialists at public health centers, epidemiologists at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), and government and public administration. Through information sharing, this ACG partnership can translate accurate information into effective infection control measures.Conclusion By developing and maintaining the ACG partnership, an environment will be created that allows an immediate response to future public health crises affecting vulnerable communities. This Practice Report describes the process of establishing an ACG partnership.</p>","PeriodicalId":72032,"journal":{"name":"[Nihon koshu eisei zasshi] Japanese journal of public health","volume":" ","pages":"103-107"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41221518","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"[A survey on the utilization of internet services to collect job information among medical students and initiation of video public relations activities for the recruitment of public health physicians based on the survey results].","authors":"Katsunori Yokoyama, Keiko Hiramoto, Ai Fujikawa, Hiroyuki Takechi, Toshihide Iwase, Honami Yoshida, Toshiyuki Ojima, Hideya Ueda, Kana Kodama, Tsukasa Muramatsu, Masaya Miyazono, Rie Fujita, Chika Shirai, Katsuhiko Uchida","doi":"10.11236/jph.23-046","DOIUrl":"10.11236/jph.23-046","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Objectives It is difficult for medical students to obtain information about public health physicians because there are very few public health physicians near them. To improve this situation, we surveyed the utilization of internet services to collect job information among medical students and produced six videos and conducted public relations activities for the recruitment of public health physicians based on the survey results.Methods The subjects of the survey were medical students in their third year or above from 18 universities. Public health teachers in these 18 universities sent their students anonymous self-administered questionnaires created with Google Forms mainly by e-mail. The questionnaires included the following items \"internet services used to collect job information,\" \"desired length of each video for knowing job information,\" and \"information you want to know about your future work.\" The responses were reflected in the length and the content of the videos and the settings for their distribution.Results Responses were obtained from a total of 491 medical students, including 14 third-year students, 177 fifth-year students, and 300 sixth-year students. Homepages were the most frequently used online source for collecting job information (94.7%), followed by blogs (42.0%), Twitter (32.6%), and YouTube (18.9%). Medical students are less likely to use social networking services for collecting job information compared with non-medical job-hunting students. Regarding the length of the videos, 55.8% of the respondents preferred the length of one video to be less than 5 minutes, and 95.1% preferred it to be less than 10 minutes. Almost all of the respondents (93.1%) wanted to know the atmosphere of young public health physicians, and 74.1% also wanted to know the atmosphere of veteran physicians. Based on these results, we selected six public health physicians including young and veteran physicians and produced interview videos that conveyed the atmosphere of each doctor within 5 minutes per person. We refurbished the banner on the top page of the Japanese Association of Public Health Center Directors so that the videos uploaded to YouTube could be watched.Conclusion We clarified the current situation of the utilization of internet services for job-hunting activities among medical students and were able to initiate video public relations activities for the recruitment of public health physicians in accordance with the needs. It is necessary to increase awareness of the video platform among medical students and clinicians by deepening cooperation with local governments, universities, and medical institutions and expanding the human network both online and in person.</p>","PeriodicalId":72032,"journal":{"name":"[Nihon koshu eisei zasshi] Japanese journal of public health","volume":" ","pages":"24-32"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41173767","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rina Miyawaki, Mio Kato, Yoko Kawamura, Hirono Ishikawa, Koichiro Oka
{"title":"[Developing a Japanese version of the Digital Health Literacy Instrument].","authors":"Rina Miyawaki, Mio Kato, Yoko Kawamura, Hirono Ishikawa, Koichiro Oka","doi":"10.11236/jph.23-021","DOIUrl":"10.11236/jph.23-021","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Objectives The Internet has made it possible to search for, obtain, transmit, and share information. Accordingly, the ability to use health information and skills related to interactivity taken from the Internet have become important in the medical and health fields. However, there is no scale to evaluate these abilities. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the validity and reliability of the Digital Health Literacy Instrument (DHLI) and examine the association of digital health literacy (DHL) with the characteristics of the study participants.Methods The Japanese version of the DHLI was developed using the basic guidelines for scale translation. The participants included 2,000 Japanese adults (men: 50.0%, mean age: 40.7±12.0 years) who responded to an Internet-based cross-sectional survey. The Japanese version of the DHLI, attributes, sources of health information, contents of health information taken from the Internet, and eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) scores were obtained using a questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis and correlation with eHEALS scores were used to assess construct and criterion validities. Cronbach's alpha and correlation coefficients were computed for internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Differences in DHLI scores for each attribute and variables related to health information were examined using the analysis of variance and t-test.Results Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a goodness-of-fit index of .946, a comparative fit index of .969, and a root mean square error of approximation of .054, confirming that the Japanese version has the same seven-factor structure as the original version does. A significant positive correlation was found between DHLI and eHEALS scores (r=.40, P<.001). Cronbach's alpha was .92, and test-retest reliability was r=.88 (P<.001). DHLI scores were mainly associated with household income, health status, frequency of information searches on the Internet, and devices used. The subscale scores found difficulties in evaluating reliability, determining relevance, and adding self-generated content. Differences in DHL were observed among some sources and contents of health information on the Internet.Conclusion The Japanese version of the DHLI was a sufficiently reliable and valid instrument for assessing DHL among Japanese adults. Our results suggest that low DHL may lead to health information disparities. Therefore, it is necessary to consider support strategies for individuals who need to improve their DHL and for skills that need to be strengthened.</p>","PeriodicalId":72032,"journal":{"name":"[Nihon koshu eisei zasshi] Japanese journal of public health","volume":" ","pages":"3-14"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10170768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"[Associations between mothers' economic insecurity and mood and thoughts on life with children at infants' 3-month check-ups: A cross-sectional study using data from infant health check-ups].","authors":"Yasue Ogata, Ritei Uehara, Yoshie Yokoyama","doi":"10.11236/jph.23-027","DOIUrl":"10.11236/jph.23-027","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Objectives We aimed to clarify the relationship between economic insecurity and the psychological profiles of mothers raising infants by analyzing data from three-month health check-ups in relation to the birth population in order to generate basic data that can be used to consider support for families facing economic insecurity.Methods The study area was a neighborhood in a major Japanese city. The survey focused on 1013 mothers who had received health check-ups for children aged 18 months between November 2017 and October 2019. The data included in the analysis were data from the children's three-month health check-ups and survey data from 908 mothers who responded to the questionnaire and consented to the use of their health check-up data. After excluding data from potential participants who were not mothers or had multiple births, data from 847 participants were analyzed (valid response rate: 93.3%). The objective variables were mothers' mood and thoughts about life with their children at the time of the three-month check-up as the mothers' psychological profiles. The explanatory variable was the presence or absence of maternal economic insecurity, and logistic regression analysis was conducted, adjusted for the children's sex and birth order, presence or absence of maternal counselors, and the mothers' educational attainment.Results A total of 60 (7.1%) mothers were economically insecure. Of the mothers' moods, 122 (14.4%) reported feeling anxious, followed by 36 (4.3%) who reported feeling lonely. Of their thoughts on life with their children, 776 (91.6%) mothers reported that they enjoyed it, and 567 (66.9%) reported that they were happy to be parents. On the other hand, 157 (18.5%) reported feeling frustrated, and 75 (8.9%) reported that the lack of time for themselves was painful. Economically insecure mothers had an odds ratio of 5.59 (95% confidence interval, 2.49-12.55) for feeling lonely, 4.77 (2.67-8.54) for feeling anxious, and 2.70 (1.50-4.86) for feeling frustrated, all significantly higher than in mothers not facing economic insecurity.Conclusion Economic insecurity among mothers at the time of the three-month check-up was associated with the psychological states of loneliness, anxiety, and frustration about living with their children. It was suggested that to solve economically insecure mothers' problems, they need support, including connecting them with social welfare services, so that they will be able to raise their children in a more stable environment.</p>","PeriodicalId":72032,"journal":{"name":"[Nihon koshu eisei zasshi] Japanese journal of public health","volume":" ","pages":"33-40"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41153741","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yoji Kameo, Motoki Sudo, Yukari Yamashiro, Takeshi Miyamura, Hunkyung Kim
{"title":"[Effects of non-face-to-face gait and muscle strength training for urinary incontinence in community-dwelling middle-aged and older women: A randomized controlled trial].","authors":"Yoji Kameo, Motoki Sudo, Yukari Yamashiro, Takeshi Miyamura, Hunkyung Kim","doi":"10.11236/jph.23-030","DOIUrl":"10.11236/jph.23-030","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Objectives Although the effectiveness of status-to-interview-guided exercise therapy to improve urinary incontinence has been reported, reports on non-face-to-face guided exercise therapy are lacking. This study aimed to analyze the effect of using non-face-to-face training guidance for walking and strength training on the frequency and degree of urinary incontinence and improvement in the urinary incontinence-induced decline in the quality of life (QoL) of community-dwelling middle-aged and older women.Methods This study included 68 women, aged 46-64 years, having self-evaluated stress urinary incontinence. The participants in the intervention group watched a video that guided them on how to walk effectively and gradually increase their number of steps. Additionally, a non-face-to-face lecture was conducted on the comprehensive training content, including muscle strengthening exercises necessary for walking at home, as muscle weakness is one of the causes of urinary incontinence. The control group was instructed to continue living as usual without any interventions. The intervention period was 12 weeks. The primary endpoints included the urinary leakage frequency score, urinary leakage volume score, and degree of decline in the QoL, and these were compared before and after the intervention using the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF). To elucidate the effect of the increase in the step count on the primary outcome, we calculated the rate of increase in the step count before and after the intervention in the intervention group. Moreover, a sub-analysis was performed for the high-step count (n=16) and low step-count (n=16) groups before and after the intervention.Results Significant differences were observed in the urinary leakage frequency, urinary leakage volume, and ICIQ-SF scores at 12 weeks post-intervention between the groups (P<0.05). In the high-step count group, both the urinary leakage frequency and ICIQ-SF scores showed a significant tendency to improve from 8 weeks compared to the pre-intervention scores.Conclusion Since this study was conducted as an open-label trial, the possibility of an inherent bias in subjective outcome assessment should be considered during interpretation of the results. Our findings indicate that walking and muscle strength training, even with non-face-to-face guidance, for middle-aged and older community-dwelling women with urinary incontinence can effectively improve the urinary leakage symptoms and degree of decline in the QoL. Furthermore, greater effects could be expected by encouraging an increase in the number of daily steps with the intervention.</p>","PeriodicalId":72032,"journal":{"name":"[Nihon koshu eisei zasshi] Japanese journal of public health","volume":" ","pages":"15-23"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41221517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}