As 2013 drew to a close, Premier Healthcare Alliance predicted that participation in accountable care organizations (ACOs) would double in 2014 as a result of more providers developing core ACO capabilities.1 Premier’s forecast was made on the basis of its survey of 115 senior executives that revealed a growing trend in high-risk population management, coupled with reductions in cost and increa...

BACKGROUND/AIMS A close relationship has been established between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and an elevated risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), but little is known about the association between alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD) and CHD risk. The aim of this study was to determine whether AFLD is associated with elevated CHD risk. METHODS We retrospectively enrolled 10,710 ...

Although the barriers to couples' help seeking can be daunting, to date there is only a small body of literature addressing the factors that motivate couples to seek help. This study examined the association between attitudes towards relationship help seeking and relationship help seeking behaviors, as well as the association between marital quality and help seeking. This study was completed in...

BACKGROUND Genotype announcement may be one of the effective methods to induce smoking cessation, but the studies are limited throughout the world. METHODS Subjects were smokers who attended a health checkup examination provided by a local government in Hokkaido, Japan, 2003. Those who agreed to know their genotypes were informed of the genotypes of glutathione S-transferease (GST) M1 present...

Purpose Because data as a basis for the determination of proper age and modality for screening of colorectal neoplasms is lacking, we evaluated detection rates and anatomical distribution of colorectal neoplasms according to age in healthy individuals who underwent total colonoscopy for health checkup. Methods A total of 16,100 cases that had received the colonoscopic examination from January...

I Individuals face a self-control problem when the attainment of their overriding long-term interests comes at the expense of short-term but influential outcomes. For example, the boredom that is often associated with studying long hours is a price students have to pay in order to attain academic success, and the discomfort that is often associated with diering or undergoing a medical checkup i...

Osteoporotic vertebral fractures are uncommon in young adults and usually indicate an underlying disease. Systemic mastocytosis is a myeloproliferative neoplasm, which can be associated with osteoporosis. A previously healthy 30-year-old man presented with an L4 burst fracture after lifting a heavy object. He was operated with laminectomy and posterior lumbar instrumentation. During surgery, ab...

Child health checkups are an important public service to support children's development; however, many children do not attend all the child health checkups that are required by maternal and child health law (i.e., at 1 month, 4 months, 1 and a half years, and 3 years of age). This study aimed to identify social and household factors influencing child health checkup attendance. We used data from...

An annual self-assessment sets the board's educational agenda.