Background characteristics of basic health examination participants: the JPHC Study Baseline Survey

Although epidemiologic studies including the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study on Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease (JPHC study) have frequently used the basic health examination participants as study subjects, their background characteristics have rarely been investigated. The aim of this study is to clarify the background characteristics of participants and to discuss their impact on epidemiologic studies.

Subjects were 43,140 (Cohort I) and 34,892 (Cohort II) respondents aged 40-59 years who completed a self-administered questionnaire in 1990 or 1993-94 by the JPHC Study. Respondents whose data of the basic health examination were also available were defined as participants. We compared their sociodemographic factors, personal medical history, and lifestyle-related factors with those of non-participants.

Participants tended to be older and less educated. They were more likely to engage in agriculture, forestry and fisheries or to be self-employed persons, or homemakers. Male participants smoked less and were more likely to drink alcohol beverage moderately. Female participants smoked and drank less but tended to participate more in sports and physical exercise in their leisure time. Both male and female participants tended to eat fruits and green vegetables more often than non-participants. In short, participants had a different socioeconomic status from non-participants and a favorable lifestyle profile, especially among women. These findings were principally consistent between the two cohorts.

These differences between participants and non-participants in the basic health examination might cause a selection bias that limits the application of the results to only participants in the basic health examination.