A Study of Health Levels in the Districts Divided by the Economic Zones (Provided by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry)

Abstract

Analysis was made of differences in health levels (using crude mortality rate, infant mortality rate and birth rate) among the districts divided by the economic zones which had been provided by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The results may be summarized as follows: 1. It was revealed that health levels in the districts by the economic zone were lower in the decreasing sequence of the suburban district, the plain farming villages, the farming mountain villages and the mountain villages. In other words, the crude mortality rate and the infant mortality rate were commonly lowest in the suburban district, and higher in the increasing sequence of the plain farming villages, the farming mountain villages and the mountain villages. The birth rate was lower in the same but decreasing sequence. 2. When health levels in 36 districts made up by combining the agricultural zone with the economic zone were analyzed, health level was commonly low in the Hokuriku, the Shikoku and the Kyushu district. It was highest in the Tokai, the Kanto and the Tosan district, and it was relatively high in the Hokkaido district, too. When correlations between the mortality rate and the infant mortality rate in these 36 districts were analyzed, the 36 districts were divided by health level into three groups. 3. Health level by the regional type was highest in the industrial district, and low in the remote district. Especially there was a distinet difference in the infant mortality rate between the two districts. The morality rates and the infant mortality rates in the farming mountain villages and mountain villages in the industrial district were higher than those in the suburban district. Correlations between crude mortality rates and infant mortality rates in the 31 districts, excluding the districts where health level was extremely low, were analyzed: a correlation coefficient of r= +0.842, and a regression line of y=0. 347x + 1.102were obtained. This regression line implies the theoretical statuses of health level by the regional type and the economic zone. 4. The differences in health level among the districts by the economic zone were more distinct than those by the urban and rural district. Especially the evaluation of the level by the economic zone was suitable for the mountain villages included in the rural district. In other words, the evaluation of health levels in the districts by the economic zone suggests a new direction of health service in farming villages. 5. It was disclosed that the infant mortality rate would be superior to the crude mortality rate as an index to health level. 6. Health level was commonly lower in many islands than that in farming mountain villages.