To investigate the reliability and validity of 4 selected scales from the Japanese version of the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ. Karasek, 1985)-decision latitude, psychological demand, supervisor support, and coworker support-a survey was conducted on a total of 626 employees of telephone and electric companies in Japan. The survey questionnaire was composed of 22 items. Data from 472 male and 108 female respondents were analyzed. Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the four JCQ scales ranged from .61 to .89 for men and from .65 to .87 for women. Scree plots based on factor analyses of scale items indicated that one major factor explained 30% to 75% of each scale variance in men and women. Factor structures of the 22 items for men and women were consistent with those theoretically expected Distributions of the decision latitude scores among occupations for men and women were similar to those in the U.S. national samples; the scores significantly and positively correlated with occupational class. It is suggested that the JCQ scales are reliable and valid instruments for assessing job stressors in a Japanese working population.

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Muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) was measured directly along with blood pressure at rest in 69 healthy women (20–79 yr old) and 76 age-matched healthy men (16–80 yr old). All were nonobese and normotensive. In the women and men the MSNA was positively correlated with age (women: y = 0.788 x − 5.418, r = 0.846, P < 0.0001; men: y = 0.452 x + 12.565, r = 0.751, P < 0.0001). The regression intercept of y was significantly lower ( P < 0.0001) in the women than in the men, and the regression slope was significantly steeper ( P < 0.0001) in the women. The MSNA was lower in women than in men among those <30 ( P = 0.0012), 30–39 ( P = 0.0126), and 40–49 yr old ( P = 0.0462) but was similar in women and men among those 50–59 ( P = 0.1911, NS) and ≥60 yr old ( P = 0.1739, NS). The results suggest that MSNA increases with age in women and men and that the activity is markedly lower in young women than in men but is markedly accelerated with age.

BackgroundChronic pain is recognized as a public health problem that affects the general population physically, psychologically, and socially. However, there is little knowledge about the associated factors of chronic pain, such as the influence of weather, family structure, daily exercise, and work status.ObjectivesThis survey had three aims: 1) to estimate the prevalence of chronic pain in Japan, 2) to analyze these associated factors, and 3) to evaluate the social burden due to chronic pain.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional postal survey in a sample of 6000 adults aged ≥20 years. The response rate was 43.8%.ResultsThe mean age of the respondents was 57.7 years (range 20–99 years); 39.3% met the criteria for chronic pain (lasting ≥3 months). Approximately a quarter of the respondents reported that their chronic pain was adversely influenced by bad weather and also oncoming bad weather. Risk factors for chronic pain, as determined by a logistic regression model, included being an older female, being unemployed, living alone, and no daily exercise. Individuals with chronic pain showed significantly lower quality of life and significantly higher psychological distress scores than those without chronic pain. The mean annual duration of absence from work of working-age respondents was 9.6 days (range 1–365 days).ConclusionsOur findings revealed that high prevalence and severity of chronic pain, associated factors, and significant impact on quality of life in the adult Japanese population. A detailed understanding of factors associated with chronic pain is essential for establishing a management strategy for primary care.

A cross-sectional study on 6,676 workers consisting of 4,243 males and 2,433 females aged 20-58 yr in a metal product factory was conducted to elucidate the relationship between work characteristics, e.g. job demand/control/support, sedentary job, overtime work and shift work, and waist to hip ratio (WHR) as well as body mass index (BMI) taking alcohol consumption, smoking, exercise and other psychosocial factors such as education and marital status into account. By a stepwise multiple regression analysis, BMI was associated with shift work, marital status and sedentary job for males, and with exercise but inversely associated with education for females. WHR was also associated with shift work, alcohol consumption, marital status and sedentary job but inversely associated with exercise for males, and with sedentary job, marital status and education but inversely associated with smoking for females. These results suggest that work characteristics such as sedentary job and shift work should also be considered when trying to prevent increases in BMI and WHR.