Identifying Clusters of Health Behaviors in a Japanese Working Population at Risk for Non-Communicable Diseases: A Latent Class Analysis of 12,168 Individuals.

Introduction: Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) have become a significant global problem. Health behaviors are associated with NCDs, and characterizing populations using a public health approach can help provide specific interventions according to their characteristics. This study aims to examine the formation of clusters of health behavior combinations in the Japanese working population at risk of NCDs, taking into account the influences of age and gender, using latent class analysis. Methods: Participants were individuals at risk for NCDs but had not previously been diagnosed with any. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to study clustering based on basic characteristics and health behaviors. All statistical analyses were conducted using R (Version 4.0.4) and the "poLCA" package (Version 1.6.0). Results: This study included 12,168 participants. LCA compared models with one to six latent classes. The five-class model was determined to be the most appropriate based on Bayesian Information Criterion, Akaike Information Criterion, and G^2 values, as well as distinguishable cluster characteristics. Cluster 1: "having healthy lifestyles but disliking hospitals"; Cluster 2: "women with healthy lifestyle behaviors"; Cluster 3: "general population"; Cluster 4: "middle-aged group in need of lifestyle improvement"; Cluster 5: "a group receiving treatment for lifestyle-related diseases." Conclusions: This study reveals discernible health behavior patterns in a sample of the Japanese population using large real-world data, suggesting the effectiveness of distinct approaches when considering a population approach to public health.

Protocol and Rationale for the Russian-Japanese "Tackle Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome Outcome by Diet, Activities and Checking Body Weight Intervention" (RJ-TOMODACHI) Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: The prevalence of obesity in Russia has increased sharply since the mid-1990s. Interestingly, the prevalence of obesity in Japan is lower than in many Western countries. Japan has implemented different types of weight control programs using a smart device to monitor patients remotely. New health promotion methods from Japan are now being used in Russia. The Russian-Japanese "Tackle Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome Outcome by Diet, Activities and Checking Body Weight Intervention" (RJ-TOMODACHI) study aims to evaluate a preventive intervention using Japanese health monitoring technology in reducing excess body weight, compared with standard care, in Russia. Methods and Results: The trial is a single-center, 3-armed, parallel group randomized controlled trial conducted among overweight/obese adults. It has been designed to compare the effectiveness of 2 newly developed interventions against standard care for 6 months. Participants in the low- and high-intensity intervention groups will have 3 and 6 consultations over the study period, respectively. In all, 260 adults were screened at baseline; 65 did not participate in the trial for various reasons. The remaining 195 people were randomized into 3 groups (high-intensity intervention, n=73, low-intensity, n=73; standard care group, n=49). Conclusions: The trial protocol has been designed so that the methodology can be adapted for use in Russia.