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Impacts of educational level and employment status on mortality for Japanese women and men: the Jichi Medical School cohort study

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine educational levels and employment status as independent determinants of overall and cause-specific mortality in a Japanese population. Participants were 4,301 men and 6,780 women in a multi-center community-based prospective study, and data of the baseline survey was collected between 1992 and 1995. The participants were followed up until December 31, 2002 (the average follow-up period was 9.17 years). Early termination of education was associated with an increased risk of mortality from all causes for both men and women. This tendency was more prominent in women aged 59 and younger (hazard ratio (HR) = 3.82, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.18–12.34), after adjusting for confounding factors using the Cox proportional hazard models. Similar trends were shown for men; specifically, cardiovascular disease mortality for all men was increased by early termination of education (HR = 2.97, 95% CI: 1.17–7.52) compared to later termination. For employment status, unemployed men showed increased mortality from all causes compared to white-collar workers (HR = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.00–2.28). Female farmers and forestry workers showed reduced mortality from all causes compared to white-collar workers (HR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.33–0.93). Male farmers and forestry workers also showed reduced mortality from cardiovascular diseases compared to white-collar workers (HR = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.14–0.82). Educational level and employment status may affect mortality for Japanese women and men.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan

    Kumi Hirokawa

  2. Occupational Health Training Center, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyusyu, Fukuoka, Japan

    Akizumi Tsutusmi

  3. Epidemiology and Public Health, School of Health and Social Services, Saitama Prefectural University, Koshigaya, Saitama, Japan

    Kazunori Kayaba

Authors
  1. Kumi Hirokawa
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  2. Akizumi Tsutusmi
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  3. Kazunori Kayaba
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kumi Hirokawa.

Additional information

Funding: The Foundation for the Development of the Community, Tochigi, Japan.

Appendix

Appendix

The Jichi Medical School Cohort Study Group: Hidetaka Akiyoshi (Department of Pediatrics, Fukuoka University School of Medicine), Yoko Amagai (Department of Community and Family Medicine, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi), Tomohiro Deguchi (Akaike Town Hospital, Fukuoka), Yuriko Doi (Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Public Health, Saitama), Yasuyuki Fujita (Department of Public Health, Shimane University), Makoto Furuse (Department of Radiology, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi), Tadao Gotoh (Wara National Health Insurance Hospital, Gifu), Atsushi Hashimoto (Aichi Prefectural Aichi Hospital, Aichi), Shinya Hayasaka, (Department of Community and Family Medicine, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi), Noriko Hayashida, Jun Hiraoka (Tako Central Hospital, Chiba), Masahiko Hosoe (Gero Hot-Spring Hospital, Gifu), Masahiro Igarashi (Igarashi Child Clinic), Shizukiyo Ishikawa (Department of Community and Family Medicine, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi), Yoshihisa Ito (Department of Laboratory Medicine, Asahikawa Medical College, Hokkaido), Eiji Kajii (Department of Community and Family Medicine, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi), Kazuomi Kario (Department of Cardiology, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi), Kazunori Kayaba (Epidemiology and Public Health, School of Health and Social Services, Saitama Prefectural University, Saitama), Nobuya Kodama (Sakugi Clinic, Hiroshima), Hitoshi Matsuo (Gifu Prefectural Gifu Hospital, Gifu), Hideki Miyamoto (former Department of Community and Family Medicine, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi), Takeshi Miyamoto (former Okawa Komatsu National Health Insurance Clinic, Kochi), Masafumi Mizooka (Kamagari National Health Insurance Clinic, Hiroshima), Shinichi Muramatsu (Department Neurology, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi), Naoki Nago (Tsukude Health Insurance Clinic, Aichi), Yosikazu Nakamura (Department of Public Health, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi), Takafumi Natsume (Oyama Municipal Hospital, Tochigi), Atsuko Sadakane (Akaike Town Hospital, Fukuoka), Tomohiro Saegusa (Sakuma National Health Insurance Hospital, Shizuoka), Kenichiro Sakai (Akaike Town Hospital, Fukuoka), Machi Sawada (Agawa Osaki National Health Insurance Clinic, Kochi), Kazuyuki Shimada (Department of Cardiology, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi), Yoshihiro Shibano (Saiseikai Iwaizumi Hospital, Iwate), Masayuki Shimizu (Iizuna Public Hospital, Nagano), Shuzo Takuma (Akaike Town Hospital, Fukuoka), Junji Tsumoto (Department of Community and Family Medicine, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi), Akizumi Tsutsumi (Okayama University School of Medicine and Dentistry, Okayama), Kaname Tsutsumi (Kyushu International University, Fukuoka), Kishio Turuda (Takasu National Health Insurance Clinic, Gifu), Fumihiro Uno (Tako Central Hospital, Chiba), Seishi Yamada (Wara National Health Insurance Hospital, Gifu), Takashi Yamada (Kuze Clinic, Gifu), Rika Yamaoka (Awaji-Hokudan Public Clinic, Hyogo), Hiroshi Yanagawa (Saitama Prefectural University, Saitama), and Manabu Yoshimura (Kuze Clinic, Gifu).

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Hirokawa, K., Tsutusmi, A. & Kayaba, K. Impacts of educational level and employment status on mortality for Japanese women and men: the Jichi Medical School cohort study. Eur J Epidemiol 21, 641–651 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-006-9049-2

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