Global assessment of inequalities in cause-specific mortality based on the analysis of national data: implications for strategies to tackle health inequalities

• Project/Area Number: 26870383
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Hygiene and public health; Epidemiology and preventive medicine
• Research Institution: Okayama University
• Principal Investigator: SUZUKI Etsuji 岡山大学, 医歯薬学総合研究科, 助教 (10627764)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2016)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,030,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥930,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000)
• Keywords: 健康格差 / 社会疫学 / 環境疫学 / 自殺予防 / 因果推論 / 疫学理論 / マルチレベル分析 / ナショナルデータ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

I aimed to establish the methods for analysis and global assessment of health inequalities. I elucidated the nature of confounding bias that should be considered when assessing health inequalities, showing a typology of four notions of confounding. In addition, I provided a new organizational schema for errors that occur when assessing health inequalities. Furthermore, by focusing on social determinants of health (e.g., social capital) and their related environmental factors (e.g., desert dust), I revealed key features of health inequalities in Japan and examined the context of growing inequalities.

Research Products

• [Int'l Joint Research] ハーバード大学(米国)
• [Int'l Joint Research] テヘラン大学(イラン)
• [Journal Article] Social capital and suicidal ideation in community-dwelling older residents: a multilevel analysis of 10,094 subjects in Japan (2017)
  • Author(s): Noguchi M, Kobayashi T, Iwase T, Suzuki E, Kawachi I, Takao S
  • Journal Title: The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry Volume: 25 Issue: 1 Pages: 37-47
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.jagp.2016.10.014
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
• [Journal Article] Is there an obesity paradox in the Japanese elderly population? A community-based cohort study of 13,280 men and women (2017)
  • Author(s): Yamazaki K, Suzuki E, Yorifuji T, Tsuda T, Ohta T, Ishikawa-Takata K, Doi H
  • Journal Title: Geriatrics & Gerontology International Volume: 印刷中 Issue: 9 Pages: 1257-1264
  • DOI: 10.1111/ggi.12851
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Are people with a history of disease more susceptible to a short-term exposure to Asian dust? A case-crossover study among the elderly in Japan (2017)
  • Author(s): Kashima S, Yorifuji T, Suzuki E
  • Journal Title: Epidemiology Volume: 印刷中
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] Errors in causal inference: an organizational schema for systematic error and random error (2016)
  • Author(s): Suzuki E, Tsuda T, Mitsuhashi T, Mansournia MA, Yamamoto E
  • Journal Title: Annals of Epidemiology Volume: 26 Issue: 11 Pages: 788-793
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2016.09.008
  • NAID: 120007182084
  • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] 医学における因果律のより深い理解を目指して―「生存科学」への貢献 (2016)
  • Author(s): 鈴木越治
  • Journal Title: 生存科学 Volume: 27 Pages: 97-106
  • Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] A typology of four notions of confounding in epidemiology (2016)
  • Author(s): Suzuki E, Mitsuhashi T, Tsuda T, Yamamoto E
  • Journal Title: Journal of Epidemiology Volume: 印刷中
  • NAID: 130005398017
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] Thyroid cancer detection by ultrasound among residents ages 18 years and younger in Fukushima, Japan: 2011 to 2014 (2016)
  • Author(s): Tsuda T, Tokinobu A, Yamamoto E, Suzuki E
  • Journal Title: Epidemiology Volume: 27 Issue: 3 Pages: 316-322
  • DOI: 10.1097/ede.0000000000000385
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] The authors respond (2016)
  • Author(s): Tsuda T, Tokinobu A, Yamamoto E, Suzuki E
  • Journal Title: Epidemiology Volume: 27 Issue: 3 Pages: e21-e23
  • DOI: 10.1097/ede.0000000000000468
  • Open Access
• [Journal Article] Are family, neighbourhood and school social capital associated with higher self-rated health among Croatian high school students? A population-based study (2015)
  • Author(s): Novak D, Suzuki E, Kawachi I
  • Journal Title: BMJ Open Volume: 5 Issue: 6 Pages: e007184-e007184
  • DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-007184
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
• [Journal Article] Community-level social capital and psychological distress among the elderly in Japan: a population-based study (2015)
  • Author(s): Kobayashi T, Suzuki E, Noguchi M, Kawachi I, Takao S
  • Journal Title: PLoS One Volume: 10 Issue: 11 Pages: e0142629-e0142629
  • DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0142629
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
• [Journal Article] Generalized causal measure: the beauty lies in its generality (2015)
  • Author(s): Suzuki E
  • Journal Title: Epidemiology Volume: 26 Issue: 4 Pages: 490-495
  • DOI: 10.1097/ede.0000000000000304
• [Journal Article] Home visits by commissioned welfare volunteers and psychological distress: a population-based study of 11,312 community-dwelling older people in Japan (2015)
  • Author(s): Noguchi M, Iwase T, Suzuki E, Takao S
  • Journal Title: International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry Volume: 30 Issue: 12 Pages: 1156-1163
  • DOI: 10.1002/gps.4268
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Cardiovascular Emergency Hospital Visits and Hourly Changes in Air Pollution (2014)
  • Author(s): Yorifuji T, Etsuji Suzuki, Kashima S
  • Journal Title: Stroke Volume: 45 Issue: 5 Pages: 264-1268
  • DOI: 10.1161/strokeaha.114.005227
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Hourly differences in air pollution and risk of respiratory disease in the elderly: a time-stratified case-crossover study. (2014)
  • Author(s): Takashi Yorifuji, Etsuji Suzuki, Saori Kashima.
  • Journal Title: Environ Health Volume: 13(1) Issue: 1 Pages: 67-68
  • DOI: 10.1186/1476-069x-13-67
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] Outdoor Air Pollution and Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Okayama, Japan. (2014)
  • Author(s): Takashi Yorifuji, Etsuji Suzuki, Saori Kashima
  • Journal Title: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine Volume: 56(10) Issue: 10 Pages: 1019-1023
  • DOI: 10.1097/jom.0000000000000274
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] Asian dust and daily emergency ambulance calls among elderly people in Japan: an analysis of its double role as a direct cause and as an effect modifier (2014)
  • Author(s): Saori Kashima, Takashi Yorifuji, Etsuji Suzuki
  • Journal Title: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine Volume: 56(12) Issue: 12 Pages: 1277-1283
  • DOI: 10.1097/jom.0000000000000334
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] A simple example as a pedagogical device? (2014)
  • Author(s): Suzuki E, Mitsuhashi T, Tsuda T, Yamamoto E
  • Journal Title: Annals of Epidemiology Volume: 24 Issue: 7 Pages: 560-561
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2014.04.003
• [Presentation] A causal approach to the healthy worker effect (2017)
  • Author(s): Suzuki E, Tsuda T, Yamamoto E
  • Organizer: 50th Annual Meeting of the Society for Epidemiologic Research
  • Place of Presentation: シアトル（アメリカ合衆国）
  • Year and Date: 2017-06-20
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] How could the sufficient-cause model deepen our understanding of causality? (2017)
  • Author(s): Suzuki E
  • Organizer: 因果推論の基礎
  • Place of Presentation: 統計数理研究所（東京都・立川市）
  • Year and Date: 2017-02-16
  • Invited
• [Presentation] Ambient temperature and daily emergency ambulance calls in Japanese elderly: a time-series analysis (2016)
  • Author(s): Suzuki E, Yorifuji T, Kashima S, Yamamoto E, Tsuda T
  • Organizer: 9th European Public Health Conference
  • Place of Presentation: ウィーン（オーストリア）
  • Year and Date: 2016-11-09
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] How to translate prevalence to incidence in the setting of screening: an application of steady-state dynamic population model (2016)
  • Author(s): Suzuki E, Tsuda T, Yamamoto E
  • Organizer: 2016 Conference of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology
  • Place of Presentation: ローマ（イタリア）
  • Year and Date: 2016-09-01
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Thyroid cancer under 19 in Fukushima: The fourth report from the second round screening (2016)
  • Author(s): Tsuda T, Suzuki E, Tokinobu A, Yamamoto E
  • Organizer: 2016 Conference of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology
  • Place of Presentation: ローマ（イタリア）
  • Year and Date: 2016-09-01
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Short-term effects of Asian dust in patients with a history of disease: a case-crossover study among the elderly men and women in Japan (2016)
  • Author(s): Kashima S, Yorifuji T, Suzuki E, Tsuchihashi Y, Eboshida A
  • Organizer: 2016 Conference of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology
  • Place of Presentation: ローマ（イタリア）
  • Year and Date: 2016-09-01
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] 大学生が夏期海外留学時に経験する症状とその関連要因の検討 (2016)
  • Author(s): 山川路代，鈴木越治，小野真由美，佐才めぐみ，津田敏秀
  • Organizer: 第20回日本渡航医学会
  • Place of Presentation: 倉敷市芸文館（岡山県・倉敷市）
  • Year and Date: 2016-07-23
• [Presentation] Thyroid cancer among 18 years old or younger after the 2011 nuclear accident in Fukushima (2016)
  • Author(s): Tsuda T, Tokinobu A, Suzuki E, Yamamoto E
  • Organizer: Conference of International Society for Environmental Epidemiology and International Society of Exposure Science - Asia Chapter 2016
  • Place of Presentation: 北海道大学（北海道・札幌市）
  • Year and Date: 2016-06-26
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Clarifying the concept of covariate balance using the sufficient-cause model (2016)
  • Author(s): Suzuki E, Tsuda T, Yamamoto E
  • Organizer: 4th Epidemiology Congress of the Americas
  • Place of Presentation: マイアミ（アメリカ）
  • Year and Date: 2016-06-21
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Errors in causal inference (2016)
  • Author(s): Suzuki E, Tsuda T, Mitsuhashi, T, Yamamoto E
  • Organizer: 4th Epidemiology Congress of the Americas
  • Place of Presentation: マイアミ（アメリカ）
  • Year and Date: 2016-06-21
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Age, period, and cohort effects on international travel rates among Japanese men and women: a descriptive analysis from 1985 to 2013 (2016)
  • Author(s): Yamakawa M, Suzuki E, Tsuda T
  • Organizer: 11th Asia Pacific Travel Health Conference
  • Place of Presentation: カトマンズ（ネパール）
  • Year and Date: 2016-03-02
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Sufficient-cause model and potential-outcome model (2016)
  • Author(s): Suzuki E
  • Organizer: International Workshop on Causal Inference
  • Place of Presentation: 統計数理研究所（東京都立川市）
  • Year and Date: 2016-01-06
  • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
• [Presentation] 職場におけるソーシャル・キャピタルと過体重との関連について (2015)
  • Author(s): 小林朋子，鈴木越治，高尾総司，磯博康
  • Organizer: 第74回日本公衆衛生学会総会
  • Place of Presentation: 長崎ブリックホール（長崎県長崎市）
  • Year and Date: 2015-11-04
• [Presentation] 黄砂と救急搬送の関連：直接的影響と効果修飾の評価 (2015)
  • Author(s): 鹿嶋小緒里，頼藤貴志，鈴木越治，烏帽子田彰
  • Organizer: 第74回日本公衆衛生学会総会
  • Place of Presentation: 長崎ブリックホール（長崎県長崎市）
  • Year and Date: 2015-11-04
• [Presentation] How can we define “proportion eliminated” to make it a policy-relevant measure of direct effects? (2015)
  • Author(s): Suzuki E, Mitsuhashi T, Tsuda T, Yamamoto E
  • Organizer: 8th European Public Health Conference
  • Place of Presentation: ミラノ（イタリア）
  • Year and Date: 2015-10-14
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] The significance of generalized causal measures in public health (2015)
  • Author(s): Suzuki E
  • Organizer: 8th European Public Health Conference
  • Place of Presentation: ミラノ（イタリア）
  • Year and Date: 2015-10-14
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Thyroid cancer under 19 in Fukushima: The third report (2015)
  • Author(s): Tsuda T, Tokinobu A, Suzuki E, Yamamoto E
  • Organizer: 27th Annual Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology
  • Place of Presentation: サンパウロ（ブラジル）
  • Year and Date: 2015-08-30
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Identifying the two axes of confounding (2015)
  • Author(s): Suzuki E, Mitsuhashi T, Tsuda T, Yamamoto E
  • Organizer: 48th Annual Meeting of the Society for Epidemiologic Research
  • Place of Presentation: デンバー（アメリカ）
  • Year and Date: 2015-06-16 – 2015-06-19
• [Presentation] A graphical illustration of the principal stratification approach: an application of extended directed acyclic graphs (2015)
  • Author(s): Suzuki E, Mitsuhashi T, Tsuda T, Yamamoto E
  • Organizer: 48th Annual Meeting of the Society for Epidemiologic Research
  • Place of Presentation: デンバー（アメリカ）
  • Year and Date: 2015-06-16 – 2015-06-19
• [Presentation] A unifying approach to the concepts of confounding and confounders (2015)
  • Author(s): Suzuki E, Tsuda T, Mitsuhashi T, Yamamoto E
  • Organizer: 48th Annual Meeting of the Society for Epidemiologic Research
  • Place of Presentation: デンバー（アメリカ）
  • Year and Date: 2015-06-16 – 2015-06-19
• [Presentation] Is there an obesity paradox in the Japanese elderly? A community-based cohort study of 13,280 men and women (2015)
  • Author(s): Yamazaki K, Suzuki E, Yorifuji T, Tsuda T, Doi H
  • Organizer: 48th Annual Meeting of the Society for Epidemiologic Research
  • Place of Presentation: デンバー（アメリカ）
  • Year and Date: 2015-06-16 – 2015-06-19
• [Presentation] 記述統計の結果を報告する際の検定の扱いについて―CONSORT 2010声明とSTROBE声明を踏まえて (2015)
  • Author(s): 鈴木越治，三橋利晴，高尾総司，津田敏秀
  • Organizer: 第88回日本産業衛生学会
  • Place of Presentation: グランフロント大阪（大阪府・大阪市）
  • Year and Date: 2015-05-13 – 2015-05-16
• [Presentation] 住民組織の声かけと心理的苦悩の関連について：岡山県における高齢者こころの健康 (2015)
  • Author(s): 野口正行，岩瀬敏秀，鈴木越治，高尾総司
  • Organizer: 第34回日本社会精神医学会
  • Place of Presentation: 富山国際会議場（富山県・富山市）
  • Year and Date: 2015-03-05 – 2015-03-06
• [Presentation] Asian dust and daily emergency hospital visits among elderly people in Japan (2014)
  • Author(s): Kashima S, Yorifuji T, Suzuki E
  • Organizer: 4th Regional Conference of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology Asia Chapter
  • Place of Presentation: 上海（中国）
  • Year and Date: 2014-11-29 – 2014-12-02
• [Presentation] Sufficient-cause model and potential-outcome model (2014)
  • Author(s): Suzuki E, Tsuda T, Yamamoto E
  • Organizer: Kyoto International Conference on Modern Statistics in the 21st Century
  • Place of Presentation: 国立京都国際会館（京都府・京都市）
  • Year and Date: 2014-11-17 – 2014-11-18
  • Invited
• [Presentation] Asian dust and risk of emergency transport among elderly people in Japan: a case-crossover study (2014)
  • Author(s): Kashima S, Yorifuji T, Suzuki E, Eboshida A
  • Organizer: 26th Annual Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology
  • Place of Presentation: シアトル（アメリカ）
  • Year and Date: 2014-08-24 – 2014-08-26
• [Presentation] Thyroid cancer under 19 in Fukushima: The second report (2014)
  • Author(s): Tsuda T, Tokinobu A, Suzuki E, Yamamoto E
  • Organizer: 26th Annual Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology
  • Place of Presentation: シアトル（アメリカ）
  • Year and Date: 2014-08-24 – 2014-08-26
• [Remarks] 岡山大学大学院医歯薬学総合研究科疫学・衛生学分野ホームページ
  • URL: http://www.unit-gp.jp/eisei/wp/