The impact of overseas assignments on metabolic factors: Panasonic cohort study 23

This study aimed to assess the effects of overseas assignments on the metabolic factors associated with lifestyle disease including body mass index, blood pressure, plasma glucose, lipid profiles, liver enzyme, and uric acid in Japanese individuals.

A retrospective cohort study was conducted using annual health examination data from employees of the Panasonic Corporation in Japan. We evaluated the differences in the changes in metabolic factors associated with lifestyle disease during the observation periods between the overseas and non-overseas assignment groups. Propensity score matching was performed to match the characteristics of the two groups. In subgroup analysis, the impact of family accompaniment and the destination on metabolic factors associated with lifestyle disease were also evaluated.

The median ages of the overseas (n = 899) and non-overseas assignment groups (n = 899) were 46 (41-50) and 46 (41-50) years. The average overseas assignment duration was 4.1 ± 1.7 years. Overall, 65.4% of individuals were assigned overseas alone in the overseas assignment group. No significant differences were observed in the changes in metabolic factors associated with lifestyle disease between the overseas and non-overseas assignment groups. In subgroup analyses, the family accompaniment and the destination did not affect changes in any of metabolic factors associated with lifestyle disease during the overseas assignment.

In conclusion, no significant difference was observed in metabolic factors associated with lifestyle disease between the overseas and non-overseas assignment groups in Japanese employees.