Migration and mental health: Japanese Brazilians in Japan and in Brazil

OBJECTIVE: Brazil is the country with the largest community of Japanese descendants in the world, from a migration movement that started in 1908. However, more recently (1988), a movement in the opposite direction began. Many of these descendants went to Japan for work purposes and suffered mental distress. Some of them sought treatment in Japan, while others returned to Brazil to seek treatment. The aim of the present study was to compare the sociodemographic profile and diagnoses of Japanese Brazilian psychiatric outpatients in Japan (remaining group) and in Brazil (returning group). METHOD: All consecutive Japanese Brazilian outpatients who received care from the psychiatric units in Japan and Brazil from April 1997 to April 2000 were compared. The diagnoses were based on ICD-10 and were made by psychiatrists. Sociodemographic data and diagnoses in Brazil and Japan were compared by means of the Chi-Squared Test. RESULTS: The individuals who returned to Brazil were mostly male and unmarried, had lived alone in Japan, had stayed there for short periods and were classified in the schizophrenia group. The individuals who remained in Japan were mostly female and married, were living with family or friends, had stayed there for long periods and were classified in the anxiety group. Logistic regression showed that the most significant factors associated with the returning group were that they had lived alone and stayed for short periods (OR = 0.93 and 40.21, respectively). CONCLUSION: We conclude that living with a family and having a network of friends is very important for mental health in the context evaluated.

Coronary heart disease clinical manifestation and risk factors in Japanese immigrants and their descendents in the city of São Paulo

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether a difference exists in coronary heart disease clinical manifestations and the prevalence of risk factors between Japanese immigrants and their descendents in the city of São Paulo. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of coronary artery disease clinical manifestations and the prevalence of risk factors, comparing 128 Japanese immigrants (Japanese group) with 304 Japanese descendents (Nisei group). RESULTS: The initial manifestation of the disease was earlier in the Nisei group (mean = 53 years), a difference of 12 years when compared with that in the Japanese group (mean = 65 years) (P<0.001). Myocardial infarction was the first manifestation in both groups (P = 0.83). The following parameters were independently associated with early coronary events: smoking (OR = 2.25; 95% CI = 1.35-3.77; P<0.002); Nisei group (OR = 10.22; 95% CI = 5.64-18.5; P<0.001); and female sex (OR = 5.04; 95% CI = 2.66-9.52; P<0.001). CONCLUSION: The clinical presentation of coronary heart disease in the Japanese and their descendents in the city of São Paulo was similar, but coronary heart disease onset occurred approximately 12 years earlier in the Nisei group than in the Japanese group.

Icones of Japanese algae.

v.4 (1916-1923)

Icones of Japanese algae.

v.2 (1912)

Icones of Japanese algae.

v.3 (1913)

Japan, as represented in Field Museum of Natural History / by Helen C. Gunsaulus, Assistant Curator of Japanese Ethnology.

Fieldiana, Popular Series, Anthropology, no. 3, 11

Japanese collections : Frank W. Gunsaulus Hall / by Helen C. Gunsaulus, Assistant Curator of Japanese Ethnology

no.3(1922)

The Japanese sword and its decoration / by Helen C. Gunsaulus, Assistant Curator of Japanese Ethnology.

no.20(1924)

Japanese temples and houses / by Helen C. Gunsaulus, Assistant Curator of Japanese Ethnology.

no.14(1924)

Japanese costume / by Helen C. Gunsaulus, Assistant Curator of Japanese Ethnology.

no.12(1923)

Japanese sword-mounts in the collections of Field Museum / by Helen C. Gunsaulus, assistant curator of Japanese ethnology, 61 plates. Berthold Laufer, Curator of Anthropology.

v.16(1923)

Systematic review of Japanese macaques, Macaca fuscata (Gray, 1870) / Jack Fooden, Mitsuru Aimi.

n.s. no.104(2005)

The Japanese New Year's festival, games and pastimes / by Helen C. Gunsaulus, Assistant Curator of Japanes Ethnology.

no.11(1923)

Gods and heroes of Japan / by Helen C. Gunsaulus, Assistant Curator of Japanese Ethnology.

no.13(1924)

New Japanese fungi. Notes and translations.

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