Department of Health and Welfare Researchers Add New Data to Research in Dementia (Risk Factors of Long-Term Care Insurance Certification in Japan: A Scoping Review): Neurodegenerative Diseases and Conditions – Dementia

2022 MAR 10 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Hospital & Nursing Home Daily -- New research on dementia is the subject of a new report. According to news reporting from Iwate, Japan, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “This study aimed to review evidence on future long-term care associated with pre-existing factors among community-dwelling Japanese older adults. We systematically searched cohort and nested case-control studies published between 2000 and 2019 that assessed long-term care certification using the PubMed, CINAHL, and EMBASE databases.”

Funders for this research include Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Funder DOI: 10.13039/501100001691 Award: JP20K18858; JP21K10477 Takemi Program in International Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Award: N/A.

The news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Department of Health and Welfare: “The relationship between long-term care insurance information and risk factors was investigated. The protocol was registered with the Open Science Framework. We extracted 91 studies for synthesis, including 84 prospective cohort studies, 1 retrospective cohort study, and 6 nested case-control studies. Certification for long-term care was classified into two endpoints: onset of functional disability and dementia. There were 72 studies that used long-term care certification as a proxy for functional disability, and 22 used long-term care information to indicate the onset of dementia. Common risk factors related to functional disability were physical function, frailty, and oral condition. Motor function and nutritional status were common risk factors for dementia. We found consistent associations between premorbid risk factors and functional disability and dementia.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “The accumulation of evidence on the incidence of long-term care and associated factors can aid the development of preventive measures. Future studies should aim to integrate this evidence.”

For more information on this research see: Risk Factors of Long-Term Care Insurance Certification in Japan: A Scoping Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022,19(2162):2162. (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - http://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph). The publisher for International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is MDPI AG.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042162.

Our news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Shuko Takahashi, Department of Health and Welfare, Iwate Prefectural Government, Morioka 020-8570, Iwate, Japan. Additional authors for this research include Yuki Yonekura, Nobuyuki Takanashi, Kozo Tanno.

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