Factors associated with "Ikigai" among members of a public temporary employment agency for seniors (Silver Human Resources Centre) in Japan; gender differences

BACKGROUND: "Ikigai" is culturally defined in the society of Japan as a comprehensive concept describing subjective well-being. It is considered to be related to life-satisfaction, self-esteem, morale, happiness as well as evaluation towards meaning of one's life. Although previous studies examined factors associated with Ikigai with smaller samples, consistent results have not been obtained, especially from the viewpoint of gender differences. Identification of gender-specific factors related with Ikigai among the elderly, may be of value to enhance subjective well-being. METHODS: Self-administered questionnaires were distributed among 4,737 randomly selected members of the Silver Human Resources Centre (SHRC), a public temporary employment agency for seniors, in Osaka, Japan. This represents about 10% of all registered members (n = 41,593) in the 38 SHRC centres in Osaka. A total of 4,376 subjects (male: 2,913; female: 1,463) provided a satisfactory response to the questionnaire (response rate: 92%). The status whether they have "Ikigai" or not was evaluated by self-anchoring scale ranging from 0 to 5 (0 = lowest rate and 5 = highest rate of having "Ikigai"). Also, self-rated life-change score through work (-3 to 3) was evaluated by three items, i.e.) changes in (1) the number of friends through work, (2) social interests and (3) the quantity of conversation with others (1 = increase, 0 = no change, and -1 = decrease). RESULTS: The factors associated with "Ikigai" for total subjects were the number of rooms in one's residence, annual income, healthy life style score (Breslow), the number of working days through SHRC, satisfaction with one's life history and life-change sore through work. The multivariable odds ratio (95%CI) of having "Ikigai" was 1.9 (1.1–3.3) for persons with no change in life thorough work compared with subjects with a score of ≦-1. Moreover, the multivariable odds ratios were 3.5 (1.9–6.6) for a life-change score = 1, 3.1 (1.7–5.7) for a score = 2 and 7.8 (4.0–15.2) for a score = 3 compared with persons with a score of ≦-1. For male subjects, other factors associated with having "Ikigai" were the number of rooms in their residence, annual income, the number of working days through SHRC, subjective assessment of health condition, and degree of satisfaction with their life history. For female, the corresponding factors were the presence of a spouse and degree of satisfaction with their life history. CONCLUSION: Scores for life-changes through work were associated with a higher prevalence of having "Ikigai" for both male and female. For male, "Ikigai" tended to be associated with physical condition and socioeconomic factors such as the size of their residence or annual income, while for female, family relations such as having spouse and psychological factors such as satisfaction with one's life history were significant factors. In spite of the design limitations of this study, it is possible to conclude that the recognition of life change through obtaining work may enhance "Ikigai" among people who wish to engage in productive activities in their later stages of life for both male and female. SHRC has a potential to provide resources for fulfilling one's "Ikigai" through supporting working opportunities to realize life changes for both elder male and female

The Incidence of Hyperuricemia and Correlated Factors in Middle-Aged Japanese Men

hyperuricemia-free (less than 7.5 mg/dl of SUA and no medication for hyperuricemia or hypertension) Japanese male office workers aged 30 to 53 yr were followed up for seven successive years with annual examinations, with an average period of observation of 6.4 yr with a standard deviation of 1.6 yr. Subjects who were found to have become hyperuricemic (SUA levels of 7.5 mg/dl or more) or who started medication for hyperuricemia during repeat survey were defined as incidence cases. An analysis by means of the Kaplan-Meier method showed that the incidence of hyperuricemia increased significantly with increases in the body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, triglyceride level, SUA level, total protein level, white blood cell level, and alcohol intake. From the age-adjusted analysis with the Cox proportional hazards model, the total cholesterol level and hemoglobin A 1c (HbA 1c ) level emerged as significant positive and negative factors for the incidence of hyperuricemia, respectively. Multivariate analysis, excluding the SUA level as a factor in the Cox proportional hazards model, indicated that the BMI, Log triglyceride level, white blood cell level, and alcohol intake were significantly positively associated with the incidence of hyperuricemia. On the other hand, age and the HbA 1c level were significantly inversely associated with the incidence of hyperuricemia. When the SUA level was included as a factor in the model, BMI and alcohol intake remained as independent Received Apr 26, 1999; Accepted Aug 2, 1999 Correspondence to: N. Nakanishi, Department of Social and Environmental Medicine, Course of Social Medicine, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine F2, 2-2 Yamada-oka, Suita-shi, Osaka 565-0871, Japan factors. Furthermore, the white blood cell level was identified as marginally significant for the incidence of hyperuricemia (p=0.064). In conclusion, obesity and alcohol intake were determined to be independent predictors for the development of hyperuricemia. In addition, the white blood cell level may be a contributory factor. (J Occup Health 2000; 42: 1-7

Effects of socioeconomic indicators on coronary risk factors, self-rated health and psychological well-being among urban Japanese civil servants

In Japan, the effects of socioeconomic indicators on coronary risk factors and subjective well-being in an urban population have not been compared. The subjects of this study were 1361 civil servants (968 men and 393 women, aged 35-64 years) working in an urban area of Japan. Screening examinations were conducted from April 1997 to March 1998, and a questionnaire survey was conducted in February 1998. The effects of two socioeconomic indicators, education level (junior high school, high school and university education) and employment grade (manual, low-level nonmanual and high-level nonmanual work), on behavioral and biological coronary risk factors, self-rated health and affect balance were investigated using multivariate logistic regression analyses. Smoking was found to be inversely associated with level of education; compared to university graduates, the odds ratios for subjects who had only graduated from high school and those for subjects who had only graduated from junior high school were 1.96 and 2.07 in men and 3.44 and 5.48 in women, respectively. As for alcohol drinking and physical inactivity, relationships were inconsistent in terms of direction by the two indicators. Among biological risk factors, diabetes was inversely associated with education level in men. Self-rated health, however, was inversely associated with employment grade both in men and women, and affect balance was inversely associated with employment grade in men. In summary, different effects of two socioeconomic indicators, education and employment grade, were seen in some coronary risk factors and subjective well-being in an urban Japanese population. Our findings should contribute to the elucidation of mechanisms of the socioeconomic gradients of risk factors and mortality from coronary heart disease in Japan.Socioeconomic status Education Employment grade Coronary risk factors Self-rated health Japan