Department of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, Graduate School of Nursing, Mukogawa Women's University, 6-46 Ikebiraki-cho, Nishinomiya-city, 663-8558, Hyogo, Japan.
Department of Health Promotion and Human Behavior, School of Public Health, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto-city, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Jun 26;24(1):1703. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-19197-z.
Gambling is a popular leisure activity in many countries, often expected to boost regional economies. Nevertheless, its negative impacts remain a significant concern. Gambling disorder is recognized as the most severe consequence; however, even non- or low-risk gamblers may also face negative impacts. This study aimed to estimate the number of Japanese gamblers experiencing gambling-related harm (GRH) and its distribution across six life domains, financial, relational, emotional, health, social and other aspects, based on the severity of their problem gambling risk.
This cross-sectional study relied on an online survey conducted between August 5 and 11, 2020. Participants aged 20 years and above, who engaged in gambling during 2019 were recruited via a market research company. The survey assessed the prevalence of GRH 72 items among four gambler risk groups (non-problem, low-, moderate-, and high-risk), as categorized by the Problem Gambling Severity Index. The data was adjusted for population weighting using representative national survey data: the 2017 Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions and the 2017 Epidemiological Survey on Gambling Addictions.
Out of the 28,016 individuals invited to the survey, 6,124 participated in the screening, 3,113 in the main survey, and 3,063 provided valid responses. After adjusting the survey data, it was estimated that 39.0 million (30.8%) of Japan's 126.8 million citizens gambled in 2019. Among them, 4.44 million (11.4%) experienced financial harm, 2.70 million (6.9%) health harm, 2.54 million (6.5%) emotional harm, 1.31 million (3.4%) work/study harm, 1.28 million (3.3%) relationship harm, and 0.46 million (1.2%) other harm. Although high-risk gamblers experienced severe harm at the individual level, over 60% of gamblers who experienced GRHs were non- and low-risk gamblers, with the exception of other harm, at the population level.
The study highlighted the prevention paradox of gambling in Japan. While national gambling policies primarily focus on the prevention and intervention for high-risk gamblers, a more effective approach would involve minimizing GRH across the entire population.
赌博是许多国家流行的休闲活动，通常被认为能促进地区经济发展。然而，其负面影响仍然是一个重大问题。赌博障碍被认为是最严重的后果；然而，即使是非或低风险的赌徒也可能面临负面影响。本研究旨在根据问题赌博风险的严重程度，估计日本有多少赌徒经历与赌博相关的伤害（GRH），以及其在六个生活领域（财务、人际关系、情感、健康、社交和其他方面）的分布情况。
这是一项横断面研究，基于 2020 年 8 月 5 日至 11 日进行的在线调查。通过一家市场研究公司招募 20 岁及以上、2019 年参与赌博的参与者。该调查使用赌博问题严重程度指数（PGSI）对四个赌徒风险组（非问题、低风险、中风险和高风险）的 72 项 GRH 进行了评估。使用具有代表性的全国调查数据（2017 年综合生活条件调查和 2017 年赌博成瘾流行病学调查）对数据进行人口加权调整。
在邀请参加调查的 28016 人中，有 6124 人参加了筛选，3113 人参加了主要调查，3063 人提供了有效答复。调整调查数据后，估计 2019 年日本 1.268 亿人口中有 3900 万人（30.8%）参与了赌博。其中，444 万人（11.4%）经历了财务伤害，270 万人（6.9%）经历了健康伤害，254 万人（6.5%）经历了情感伤害，131 万人（3.4%）经历了工作/学习伤害，128 万人（3.3%）经历了人际关系伤害，46 万人（1.2%）经历了其他伤害。虽然高风险赌徒在个人层面经历了严重的伤害，但在人口层面，超过 60%经历 GRH 的赌徒是非低风险赌徒，除了其他伤害。
该研究突出了日本赌博的预防悖论。尽管国家赌博政策主要侧重于高风险赌徒的预防和干预，但更有效的方法是将整个人群的 GRH 降到最低。
