Development of a data platform for monitoring personal health records in Japan: The Sustaining Health by Integrating Next-generation Ecosystems (SHINE) Study

Background The Sustaining Health by Integrating Next-generation Ecosystems (SHINE) Study was developed as a data platform that incorporates personal health records (PHRs) into health-related data at the municipal level in Japan. This platform allows analyses of the associations between PHRs and future health statuses, and supports the production of evidence for developing preventive care interventions. Herein, we introduce the SHINE Study’s profile and describe its use in preliminary analyses. Methods The SHINE Study involves the collection of participants’ health measurements and their addition to various health-related data from the Longevity Improvement & Fair Evidence (LIFE) Study. With cooperation from municipal governments, measurements can be acquired from persons enrolled in government-led long-term care prevention classes and health checkups who consent to participate in the SHINE Study. For preliminary analyses, we collected salivary test measurements, lifelog measurements, and gait measurements; these were linked with the LIFE Study’s database. We analyzed the correlations between these measurements and the previous year’s health care expenditures. Results We successfully linked PHR data of 33 participants for salivary test measurements, 44 participants for lifelog measurements, and 32 participants for gait measurements. Only mean torso speed in the gait measurements was significantly correlated with health care expenditures (r = -0.387, P = 0.029). Conclusion The SHINE Study was developed as a data platform to collect and link PHRs with the LIFE Study’s database. The analyses undertaken with this platform are expected to contribute to the development of preventive care tools and promote health in Japan.