Does Laughter Predict Onset of Functional Disability and Mortality Among Older Japanese Adults? The JAGES Prospective Cohort Study
Background: While laughter is broadly recognized as a good medicine, a potential preventive effect of laughter on disability and death is still being debated. Accordingly, we investigated the association between the frequency of laughter and onset of functional disability and all-cause mortality amo...
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Japan Epidemiological Association
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doaj-ac26da0340204c94afa33eafe567e7002021-05-07T05:40:30ZengJapan Epidemiological AssociationJournal of Epidemiology0917-50401349-90922021-05-0131530130710.2188/jea.JE20200051Does Laughter Predict Onset of Functional Disability and Mortality Among Older Japanese Adults? The JAGES Prospective Cohort StudyYudai Tamada0Kenji Takeuchi1Chikae Yamaguchi2Masashige Saito3Tetsuya Ohira4Kokoro Shirai5Katsunori Kondo6Department of Preventive Medicine, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Aichi, JapanDepartment of Preventive Medicine, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Aichi, JapanDepartment of Community Health Nursing, Nagoya City University School of Nursing, Aichi, JapanDepartment of Social Welfare, Nihon Fukushi University, Aichi, JapanDepartment of Epidemiology, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, JapanDepartment of Social Medicine, Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, JapanDepartment of Social Preventive Medical Sciences, Center for Preventive Medical Sciences, Chiba University, Chiba, JapanBackground: While laughter is broadly recognized as a good medicine, a potential preventive effect of laughter on disability and death is still being debated. Accordingly, we investigated the association between the frequency of laughter and onset of functional disability and all-cause mortality among the older adults in Japan. Methods: The data for a 3-year follow-up cohort including 14,233 individuals (50.3% men) aged ≥65 years who could independently perform the activities of daily living and participated in the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study were analyzed. The participants were classified into four categories according to their frequency of laughter (almost every day, 1–5 days/week, 1–3 days/month, and never or almost never). We estimated the risks of functional disability and all-cause mortality in each category using a Cox proportional hazards model. Results: During follow-up, 605 (4.3%) individuals developed functional disability, identified by new certification for the requirement of Long-Term Care Insurance, and 659 (4.6%) deaths were noted. After adjusting for the potential confounders, the multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio of functional disability increased with a decrease in the frequency of laughter (P for trend = 0.04). The risk of functional disability was 1.42 times higher for individuals who laughed never or almost never than for those who laughed almost every day. No such association was observed with the risk of all-cause mortality (P for trend = 0.39). Conclusions: Low frequency of laughter is associated with increased risks of functional disability. Laughter may be an early predictor of functional disability later on in life.https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jea/31/5/31_JE20200051/_pdflaughterlong-term caredeathcohort studyjapan |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Yudai Tamada Kenji Takeuchi Chikae Yamaguchi Masashige Saito Tetsuya Ohira Kokoro Shirai Katsunori Kondo |
spellingShingle |
Yudai Tamada Kenji Takeuchi Chikae Yamaguchi Masashige Saito Tetsuya Ohira Kokoro Shirai Katsunori Kondo Does Laughter Predict Onset of Functional Disability and Mortality Among Older Japanese Adults? The JAGES Prospective Cohort Study Journal of Epidemiology laughter long-term care death cohort study japan |
author_facet |
Yudai Tamada Kenji Takeuchi Chikae Yamaguchi Masashige Saito Tetsuya Ohira Kokoro Shirai Katsunori Kondo |
author_sort |
Yudai Tamada |
title |
Does Laughter Predict Onset of Functional Disability and Mortality Among Older Japanese Adults? The JAGES Prospective Cohort Study |
title_short |
Does Laughter Predict Onset of Functional Disability and Mortality Among Older Japanese Adults? The JAGES Prospective Cohort Study |
title_full |
Does Laughter Predict Onset of Functional Disability and Mortality Among Older Japanese Adults? The JAGES Prospective Cohort Study |
title_fullStr |
Does Laughter Predict Onset of Functional Disability and Mortality Among Older Japanese Adults? The JAGES Prospective Cohort Study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Does Laughter Predict Onset of Functional Disability and Mortality Among Older Japanese Adults? The JAGES Prospective Cohort Study |
title_sort |
does laughter predict onset of functional disability and mortality among older japanese adults? the jages prospective cohort study |
publisher |
Japan Epidemiological Association |
series |
Journal of Epidemiology |
issn |
0917-5040 1349-9092 |
publishDate |
2021-05-01 |
description |
Background: While laughter is broadly recognized as a good medicine, a potential preventive effect of laughter on disability and death is still being debated. Accordingly, we investigated the association between the frequency of laughter and onset of functional disability and all-cause mortality among the older adults in Japan. Methods:
The data for a 3-year follow-up cohort including 14,233 individuals (50.3% men) aged ≥65 years who could independently perform the activities of daily living and participated in the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study were analyzed. The participants were classified into four categories according to their frequency of laughter (almost every day, 1–5 days/week, 1–3 days/month, and never or almost never). We estimated the risks of functional disability and all-cause mortality in each category using a Cox proportional hazards model. Results: During follow-up, 605 (4.3%) individuals developed functional disability, identified by new certification for the requirement of Long-Term Care Insurance, and 659
(4.6%) deaths were noted. After adjusting for the potential confounders, the multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio of functional disability increased
with a decrease in the frequency of laughter (P for trend = 0.04). The risk of functional disability was 1.42 times higher for individuals who laughed never or almost never than for those who laughed almost every day.
No such association was observed with the risk of all-cause mortality (P for trend = 0.39). Conclusions: Low frequency of laughter is associated
with increased risks of functional disability. Laughter may be an early predictor of functional disability later on in life. |
topic |
laughter long-term care death cohort study japan |
url |
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jea/31/5/31_JE20200051/_pdf |
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