Pandemic lessons: Insights into how mobility restrictions affect healthcare costs
Understanding how a restriction on walking, driving or using public transport impacts the medical costs of lifestyle-related diseases
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AN INCREASE IN WALKING AND PUBLIC TRANSIT USE WERE ASSOCIATED WITH OVERALL REDUCED MEDICAL COSTS
view moreCREDIT: CREDIT: HARUKA KATO, OSAKA METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY
Osaka, Japan - As the world grappled with lockdowns and restrictions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University conducted an extensive study to elucidate the link between changes in human mobility and the impact on medical costs associated with lifestyle-related diseases.
Dr. Haruka Kato and Professor Atsushi Takizawa of the Graduate School of Human Life and Ecology at Osaka Metropolitan University were concerned by the negative health effects resulting from the restriction of human mobility and approached the issue from a population health perspective. Using boosted tree analysis, the researchers analyzed the nonlinear relationship between human mobility types and the economic impact on lifestyle-related diseases in Japan.
The results indicated that medical costs were differently affected by walking, driving, and public transit, depending on the prefecture types. An increase in walking by over 70% reduced medical costs for lifestyle-related diseases, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. In metropolitan prefectures, the total effect on medical costs was higher for walking and public transit. In addition, medical costs decreased by increasing public transit use by over 110%. In non-metropolitan prefectures, the total effect of public transit was lower than driving, and medical costs increased from 80% to 160%. These results are significant because they indicate the standard value for each type of human mobility in metropolitan areas and non-metropolitan prefectures, offering insights and guidance for preparing for a future pandemic.
“Based on the standard values, our findings provide valuable insights for governments and policymakers. They suggest the necessity of other measures beyond restricting walking and public transit during a pandemic,” said Dr. Kato. “We also point to the need for more walkable cities and sustainable urban planning where people can live without cars and opt for public transit, especially in metropolises.”
Their findings were published in Journal of Transport & Health.
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About OMU
Osaka Metropolitan University is the third largest public university in Japan, formed by a merger between Osaka City University and Osaka Prefecture University in 2022. OMU upholds "Convergence of Knowledge" through 11 undergraduate schools, a college, and 15 graduate schools. For more research news, visit https://www.omu.ac.jp/en/ or follow us on Twitter: @OsakaMetUniv_en, or Facebook.
JOURNAL
Journal of Transport & Health
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Data/statistical analysis
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
Not applicable
ARTICLE TITLE
Human mobility and medical costs of lifestyle-related diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study in Japan
Major breakthrough in hypertension diagnosis could save Government billions
HMRI and University of Newcastle researcher, Professor Murray Cairns, along with his Precision Medicine team have discovered a way of predicting who will respond to blood pressure treatments to lower sodium in the body.
HMRI and University of Newcastle researcher, Professor Murray Cairns, along with his Precision Medicine team have discovered a way of predicting who will respond to blood pressure treatments to lower sodium in the body. Their findings were published this week in Circulation, a prestigious international cardiology journal.
Professor Cairns says, “High blood pressure – or hypertension related disease – kills up to 20 per cent of people. At least 30 per cent of the adult population has it – that’s one in three Australian adults – and only 30 per cent of those people get it under control.
“A 25% reduction in the prevalence of hypertension could save the Australian Government $34 billion per year,” says Professor Cairns.
Professor Cairns and his team have figured out how to use each person’s individual genetics to inform treatment.
“The way people respond to drugs is different. We can measure an individual’s genetic risk of developing high blood pressure with respect to the physiological systems responsible – including kidneys, heart or smooth muscle - and then target medications accurately,” says Professor Cairns.
Some hypertension medications work to lower sodium – and subsequently blood volume – in the body. Professor Cairns says that while many people have a genetic predisposition to high blood pressure that is triggered or exacerbated by a high salt modern diet, they will respond well to treatment that reduces sodium. He also says that for some people, salt is not a significant factor in their hypertension so they may benefit more from treatments that target other biological aspects of their genetic risk.
With 80 per cent of people ending up with some form of chronic disease, and 20 per cent with two or more, genetic insights driving precision medicine could have a massive impact on global health.
The team used real world data from the UK biobank in order to measure the interaction between sodium-associated genetic scores, sodium levels and blood pressure.
To download a headshot of Professor Murray Cairns, click here.
HMRI is a partnership between the University of Newcastle, Hunter New England Health and the community.
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JOURNAL
Circulation
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Data/statistical analysis
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
Human tissue samples
ARTICLE TITLE
Utilising genetics to inform interventions related to sodium and potassium in hypertension
COI STATEMENT
Drs Reay and Cairns have filed a patent related to the use of the pharmagenic enrichment score framework in complex disorders (WIPO patent application WO/2020/237314), an approach used in a section of this study. Dr Cairns is director of a company that aims to commercialize the pharmagenic enrichment score platform (PolygenRx Pty Ltd), in which Dr Reay holds equity. The remaining authors declare no competing financial interests.
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