Health Services Research

Members

Theme Leader :
Takumi Hirata, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D.
Researcher :
Tomoko Wakui, Ph.D., Seigo Mitsutake, Ph.D., Yukie Masui, M.A., Ph.D.,Yuko Yoshida, Ph.D.
External Researcher :
Shohei Yano, Ph.D.

Keywords

Health care insurance system; Preventing the severity of disease; Health promotion; Polypharmacy; Health checkup for older adults; Medical care coordination; Hospital-acquired complications; Long-term care insurance system; Quality of care; Transitional care; Family caregiver

Major Research Titles

  1. Research on ideal medical and health systems for older adults using regional epidemiological surveys and public databases
  2. Evaluative research on integrated community care policy
  3. Ensuring coordination and continuity of medical and long-term care

Profile

1. Research on ideal medical and health systems for older adults using regional epidemiological surveys and public databases
We examine the ideal medical and health care for older people that contributes to extending healthy life expectancy from the perspective of preventing major lifestyle-related diseases and preventing frailty through analysis of regional epidemiological studies and public databases. Simultaneously, we aim to recommend sustainable health policies that enable older people to live healthy and independent lives.

2. Evaluative research on integrated community care policy
The research aims to identify administrative issues and challenges that a community may face when implementing a national policy called "Integrated Community Care Systems." The methods to be used for this research are interviewing older adults, family caregivers and professional who supports them to illuminate relations between care needs and resources available for local care provision.

3. Ensuring coordination and continuity of medical and long-term care
To improve quality of transitional care for older individuals, we explore a program that ensures coordination and continuity of medical and long-term care during transitions between hospitals, the patient's home, and long-term care facilities in Japan.

References

  1. Hirata T, Hirata A, Torii S, Takashima N, Kadota A, Choudhury SR, Okayama A, Miura K, Okamura T. Association between alcohol intake and death from cardiovascular diseases and its subtypes stratified by dyslipidemia in Japanese men: 20-years follow-up of NIPPON DATA90. Environ Health Prev Med 2024; 29: 61.
  2. Masui Y, Nakagawa T, Yasumoto S, Ogawa M, Ishioka Y, Kasuga A, Hori N, Inagaki H, Yoshida Y, Ito K, Takayama M, Arai Y, Ikebe K, Kamide K, Ishizaki T, Gondo Y. Development in gerotranscendence in community-dwelling older adults in Japan: a longitudinal study over a nine-year period. J Adult Dev 2024 (Published Online, doi: 10.1007/s10804-024-09488-5)
  3. Yoshida Y, Ishizaki T, Masui Y, Miura Y, Matsumoto K, Nakagawa T, Inagaki H, Ito K, Arai Y, Kabayama M, Kamide K, Rakugi H, Ikebe K, Gondo Y. Effects of multimorbidity and polypharmacy on physical function in community-dwelling older adults: a 3-year prospective cohort study from the SONIC. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 2024; 126: 105521.
  4. Mitsutake S, Ishizaki T, Yano S, Hirata T, Ito K, Furuta K, Shimazaki Y, Ito H, Mudge A, Toba K. Predictive validity of hospital-associated complications of older people identified using Diagnosis Procedure Combination data from an acute care hospital in Japan: observational study. JMIR Aging 2025; 8: e68267.
  5. Mitsutake S, Lystad RP, Long JC, Braithwaite J, Mitchell R. Impact of COVID-19 public health restrictions on fall-related hip fracture hospitalizations: an interrupted time series analysis. Bone 2024; 188: 117237.
  6. Mitsutake S, Lystad RP, Long JC, Braithwaite J, Ishizaki T, Close J, Mitchell R. Group-based trajectories of potentially preventable hospitalisations among older adults after a hip fracture. Osteoporos Int 2024; 35: 1849-1857.
  7. Wakui T, Fujihara S, Moriyama Y, Nakagawa T, Okubo S, Obuchi S, Awata S, Kai I. Participation factors in a self-quantification program for family caregivers of community-dwelling older adults with long-term care in Japan. BMC Res Notes 2024; 17: 388.
  8. Yoshida Y, Ishizaki T, Masui Y, Hori N, Inagaki H, Ito K, Ogawa M, Yasumoto S, Arai Y, Kamide K, Ikebe K, Gondo Y. Effect of number of medications on the risk of falls among community-dwelling older adults: a 3-year follow up study of the SONIC study. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2024; 24: 306-310.
  9. Mitsutake S, Sa Z, Long J, Braithwaite J, Levesque JF, Watson DE, Close J, Mitchell R. The role of frailty risk for fracture-related hospital readmission and mortality after a hip fracture. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 2024; 117: 105264.
  10. Mitsutake S, Ishizaki T, Yano S, Tsuchiya-Ito R, Uda K, Toba K, Ito H. All-cause readmission or potentially avoidable readmission: Which is more predictable using frailty, comorbidities and ADL?. Innov Aging 2023; 7: igad043.
  11. Mitsutake S, Yano S, Ishizaki T, Furuta K, Hatakeyama A, Sugiyama M, Awata S, Ito H, Toba K. Association of functional and cognitive impairment severity with discharge to long-term care facilities in older patients admitted to a general acute care hospital from home. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 2023; 115: 105111.
  12. Mitsutake S, Ishizaki T, Edahiro A, Kitamura A, Hirata T, Saito A. The effects of dental visits on the occurrence of acute hospitalization for systemic diseases among patients aged 75 years or older: A propensity score-matched study. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 2023; 107: 104876.
  13. Mitsutake S, Ishizaki T, Tsuchiya-Ito R, Uda K, Jinnouchi H, Ueshima H, Matsuda T, Yoshie S, Iijima K, Tamiya N. Effects of early postdischarge rehabilitation services on care-needs level deterioration in older adults with functional impairment: A propensity score-matched study. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2022; 103: 1715-1722.e1.
  14. Yoshida Y, Iwasa H, Kim H, Suzuki T. Association between neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and physical function in older adults: A community-based cross-sectional study in Japan. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022; 19: 8996.
  15. Yoshida Y, Ishizaki T, Masui Y, Arai Y, Inagaki H, Ogawa M, Yasumoto S, Iwasa H, Kamide K, Rakugi H, Ikebe K, Gondo Y. Association of personality traits with polypharmacy among community-dwelling older adults in Japan: a cross-sectional analysis of data from the SONIC study. BMC Geriatr 2022; 22: 372.
  16. Mitsutake S, Ishizaki T, Yano S, Tsuchiya-Ito R, Jin X, Watanabe T, Uda K, Livingstone I, Tamiya N. Characteristics associated with hospitalization within 30 days of geriatric intermediate care facility admission. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2021; 21: 1010-1017.
  17. Mitsutake S, Ishizaki T, Tsuchiya-Ito R, Furuta K, Hatakeyama A, Sugiyama M, Toba K, Ito H. Association of cognitive impairment severity with potentially avoidable readmissions: A retrospective cohort study of 8,897 older patients. Alzheimers Dement (Amst) 2021; 13: e12147.
  18. Yoshida Y, Iwasa H, Ishioka Y, Suzukamo Y. Leisure activity moderates the relationship between living alone and mental health among Japanese older adults. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2021; 21: 421-425.
  19. Mitsutake S, Ishizaki T, Tsuchiya-Ito R, Uda K, Teramoto C, Shimizu S, Ito H. Associations of hospital discharge services with potentially avoidable readmissions within 30 days among older adults after rehabilitation in acute care hospitals in Tokyo, Japan. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2020; 101: 832-840.