Notes of problems in estimating mortality rate among atomic-bomb survivors, 3

Annual changes in death hazard were compared in the group in which persons entered the city after the A-bomb explosion and acquired a health handbook during the period 1968-1976 (the case group) and the group in which A-bomb survivors had already acquired it as of 1960 (the control group). Mortality was analyzed by malignant diseases, cardiovascular diseases, digestive system diseases, and respiratory system diseases. Death hazard from malignant tumors was markedly high 3 to 4 years after the acquisition of the health handbook, irrespective of sex, in the case group. For cardiovascular diseases, it was high up to 8 years after the acquisition in males of the case group; however, it tended to be slightly higher in women immediately after the acquisition, and thereafter, it was not different from that in the control group. For both digestive system diseases and respiratory system diseases, death hazard tended to be higher in the case group than the control group during 8 years after the acquisition. The fact that death hazard was higher in the case group than the control group several years after the acquisition means that the acquisition of health handbook may be triggered by worse health conditions in A-bomb survivors in the case group. (N.K.)