Department of Public Health, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Int J Environ Health Res. 2012;22(5):387-400. doi: 10.1080/09603123.2010.484860. Epub 2012 Jul 24.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of estimated historical methylmercury exposure on the functional health of residents living in the Shiranui Sea communities in Japan. Functional health was measured by self-reported activities of daily living (ADL). Study areas were categorized into high, medium and low methylmercury exposure areas according to their location or distance from the Shiranui Sea. We estimated the adjusted prevalence odds ratios of impaired ADL in relation to exposure using a logistic regression model. Compared with residents in the low-exposure area, residents in the high-exposure area were significantly associated with a higher prevalence odds ratio (OR) for impaired ADL after adjustment for confounding factors (adjusted ORs = 2.8, 95% CI: 1.3-6.2). These results showed strong dose-response relationships (p for trend = 0.0050). Our findings suggest that historical methylmercury exposure might cause functional impairment in later in life depending on the exposure level.
本研究旨在评估估算的历史甲基汞暴露对生活在日本汐留海社区的居民的功能性健康的影响。功能性健康通过自我报告的日常生活活动（ADL）来衡量。根据其地理位置或与汐留海的距离，将研究区域划分为高、中、低甲基汞暴露区。我们使用逻辑回归模型估计了与暴露相关的调整后 ADL 受损的患病率优势比。与低暴露区的居民相比，高暴露区的居民在调整了混杂因素后，ADL 受损的患病率优势比（OR）显著更高（调整后的 ORs=2.8，95%CI：1.3-6.2）。这些结果显示出强烈的剂量反应关系（趋势检验 p 值=0.0050）。我们的研究结果表明，根据暴露水平，历史甲基汞暴露可能导致生命后期的功能障碍。
