Health Indicators

A health indicator is health-related evidence or data used to analyze and then address the health issue (Skolnik, 2021). It is important to utilize health indicators because the data provided by research enables officials to understand what specific health condition is affecting the people and the magnitude of the situation (Skolnik, 2021). A data surveillance system can then be implemented to determine the location of affected people, who – specifically – is suffering, and finally cultivate ideas for solving the health issue and then address it (Skolnik, 2021).

Life Expectancy

Life Expectancy is "the average number of additional years a newborn baby can be expected to live if current mortality trends were to continue" (Skolnik, 2021, p. 24).

(Statistics Bureau, 2020).

The country of Japan has one of the world’s highest life expectancy rates with the average life expectancy in 2019 for women is approximately 87.5 years and for men 81.4 years with a total combined average of 84.36 years (Statistics Bureau, 2020; Data from World Bank, n.d.-a).

Japan's life expectancy is projected to steadily increase and by 2100, the female population is expected to live an average of 89.9 years while the male population averages 84.8 years (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 2020).
While Japan's life expectancy rate is one of the highest, the country is currently facing an overall decline in population because of the low birth rate (Statistics Bureau, 2020). Japan's population is expected to decline to approximately 59.7 million by the year 2100 (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 2020)

(Statistics Bureau, 2020).

Mortality

Mortality is synonymous with death. The death rate is usually described as a number of deaths per 1,000 people (Skolnik, 2021).

Maternal mortality ratio measures the "risk of death that is associated with childbirth" and is measured by "the number of women who die as a result of pregnancy and childbirth complications" (Skolnik, 2021, p. 25).

the number of women who die per 100,000 live births

In Japan, the maternal mortality ratio is 5 deaths to 100,000 live births (Data from World Bank, n.d.-b)

The maternal mortality ratio in the United States is almost quadruple the ratio of Japan at 19 deaths per 100,000 live births (Data from World Bank, n.d.-b).

Data from World Bank, n.d.-a).

(Statistics Bureau, 2020).

Infant mortality rate is "the number of deaths of infants under age 1" (Skolnik, 2021, p. 26).

the number of death per 1,000 live births

In Japan, the infant mortality rate is 1.8 deaths to every 1,000 live births (Data from World Bank, n.d.-c).

In comparison, the United States of America's infant mortality rate is 6 deaths to every 1,000 live births (Data from World Bank, n.d.-c).

UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation. (n.d.)

Child mortality rate (or under-5 mortality) is "the probability that a newborn will die before reaching the age of five" (Skolnik, 2021, p. 27)

number per 1,000 live births

The under-5 (child) mortality rate in Japan is 2.5 per 1,000 live births (Data from World Bank, n.d.-d).

In the United States, the under-5 mortality rate is 7 per 1,000 live birth and continues to decline (Data from World Bank, n.d.-d).

UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation. (n.d.)

The main contributing factors to Japan's low mortality rate can be linking to the medical and technological advancements along with the use of the Bushi Kenko Techo, also known as the maternal-child health handbook, as a standard of practice (Tashiro, Yoshida & Okamoto, 2019).

Health Services

Doctor & Nurse Ratio

The number of health care personnel has steadily increased in Japan over the last few years and there are approximately 256.8 physicians for every 100,000 people and 1,204.6 nurses and aids for every 100,000 people (Statistics Bureau, 2020). The problem Japan is now facing is that there is an "uneven distribution" of providers located within the major cities that specialize in a specific field of medicine (Statistics Bureau, 2020). This rising problem leaves Japan's rural regions in dire straits that result in limited or lack of adequate health care.

(Statistics Bureau, 2020).

In comparison, the United States the ratio of healthcare professionals to every 100,000 people is approximately 261.2 physicians per 100,000 people and 145.5 nurses and midwives per 100,000 people (Data from World Bank, n.d.-f; Data from World Bank, n.d.-e)

Major Causes of Death

The leading cause of death in Japan is malignant neoplasm - known as tumors - at a rate of 304.2 per 100,00 people and accounted for approximately 27.3% of deaths in 2019 (Statistics Bureau, 2020). Following malignant neoplasm, heart disease is the next leading cause of death affecting 167.8 out of 100,000 people (Statistics Bureau, 2020).

(Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 2020)

(Statistics Bureau, 2020).

Risk Factors Affecting Health:

Diabetes - high fasting glucose plasma
Hypertension - high sodium intake
Body mass index (BMI)
Tobacco consumption - leading cause of premature deaths
Household income
Educational attainment
Industrial structures
Unemployment rate

(Sakamoto, Rahman, Nomura, Okamoto, Koike, Yasunaga, Kawakami, Hashimoto, Kondo, Abe, Palmer, & Ghaznavi, 2018)

References

Data from World Bank. (n.d.-a). Life expectancy at birth, total (years) - Japan. Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?contextual=default&end=2019&locations=JP&start=1960&view=chart.

Data from World Bank. (n.d.-b). Mortality rate, under-5 (per 1,000 live births) - Japan. Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT?end=2019&locations=JP&start=2000

Data From World Bank. (n.d.-c). Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births) - Japan. Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN?locations=JP

Data from World Bank. (n.d.-d). Mortality rate, under-5 (per 1,000 live births) - Japan. Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT?end=2019&locations=JP&start=2000

Data from World Bank. (n.d.-e). Nurses and midwives (per 1,000 people) - United States. Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.MED.NUMW.P3?end=2017&locations=US&start=2000&view=chart

Data from World Bank. (n.d.-f) Physicians (per 1,000 people) - United States. Retrieved from https://dataworldbank.org/indicator/SH.MED.PHYS.ZS?end=2017&locations=US&start=2000&view=chart

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations. (2020). Japan. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations. Retrieved from http://www.healthdata.org/japan.

Sakamoto, H., Rahman, M., Nomura, S., Okamoto, E., Koike, S., Yasunaga, H., Kawakami, N., Hashimoto, H., Kondo, N., Abe, S. K., Palmer, M., Ghaznavi, C. (2018). Japan Health System Review (Vol. 8). New Delhi, India: WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia. Retrieved from https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/259941/9789290226260-eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Skolnik, R. (2021). Global Health 101 (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Statistics Bureau. (2020). Statistical Handbook of Japan 2020. Ministry of Internal Affairs. Retrieved from https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/handbook/c0117.html.

Tashiro, A., Yoshida, H., & Okamoto, E. (2019). Infant, neonatal, and postneonatal mortality trends in a disaster region and in Japan, 2002–2012: A multi-attribute compositional study. Retrieved from https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-019-7443-4

UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation. (n.d.). [Digital image]. Retrieved from https://childmortality.org/data

Health Indicators

Life Expectancy is "the average number of additional years a newborn baby can be expected to live if current mortality trends were to continue" (Skolnik, 2021, p. 24).

The country of Japan has one of the world’s highest life expectancy rates with the average life expectancy in 2019 for women is approximately 87.5 years and for men 81.4 years with a total combined average of 84.36 years (Statistics Bureau, 2020; Data from World Bank, n.d.-a).

Mortality is synonymous with death. The death rate is usually described as a number of deaths per 1,000 people (Skolnik, 2021).

Maternal mortality ratio measures the "risk of death that is associated with childbirth" and is measured by "the number of women who die as a result of pregnancy and childbirth complications" (Skolnik, 2021, p. 25).

the number of women who die per 100,000 live births

In Japan, the maternal mortality ratio is 5 deaths to 100,000 live births (Data from World Bank, n.d.-b)

​

The maternal mortality ratio in the United States is almost quadruple the ratio of Japan at 19 deaths per 100,000 live births (Data from World Bank, n.d.-b).

Infant mortality rate is "the number of deaths of infants under age 1" (Skolnik, 2021, p. 26).

the number of death per 1,000 live births

In Japan, the infant mortality rate is 1.8 deaths to every 1,000 live births (Data from World Bank, n.d.-c).

​

​In comparison, the United States of America's infant mortality rate is 6 deaths to every 1,000 live births (Data from World Bank, n.d.-c).

Child mortality rate (or under-5 mortality) is "the probability that a newborn will die before reaching the age of five" (Skolnik, 2021, p. 27)

number per 1,000 live births

​

The under-5 (child) mortality rate in Japan is 2.5 per 1,000 live births (Data from World Bank, n.d.-d).

​

In the United States, the under-5 mortality rate is 7 per 1,000 live birth and continues to decline (Data from World Bank, n.d.-d).

The main contributing factors to Japan's low mortality rate can be linking to the medical and technological advancements along with the use of the Bushi Kenko Techo, also known as the maternal-child health handbook, as a standard of practice (Tashiro, Yoshida & Okamoto, 2019).

Doctor & Nurse Ratio

In comparison, the United States the ratio of healthcare professionals to every 100,000 people is approximately 261.2 physicians per 100,000 people and​ 145.5 nurses and midwives per 100,000 people (Data from World Bank, n.d.-f; Data from World Bank, n.d.-e)

Risk Factors Affecting Health:

Diabetes - high fasting glucose plasma

Hypertension - high sodium intake

Body mass index (BMI)

Tobacco consumption - leading cause of premature deaths

Household income

Educational attainment

Industrial structures

Unemployment rate

(Sakamoto, Rahman, Nomura, Okamoto, Koike, Yasunaga, Kawakami, Hashimoto, Kondo, Abe, Palmer, & Ghaznavi, 2018)

References

In comparison, the United States of America's infant mortality rate is 6 deaths to every 1,000 live births (Data from World Bank, n.d.-c).

In comparison, the United States the ratio of healthcare professionals to every 100,000 people is approximately 261.2 physicians per 100,000 people and 145.5 nurses and midwives per 100,000 people (Data from World Bank, n.d.-f; Data from World Bank, n.d.-e)