1Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan

2Department of Nephrology, Shin-Yurigaoka General Hospital, Kanagawa, Japan

3School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyushu University of Health and Welfare, Miyazaki, Japan

4Department of General Internal Medicine, Fukushima Medical University Hospital, Fukushima, Japan

5Tessyoukai Kameda Family Clinic Tateyama, Chiba, Japan

6Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Research Center for Medical Sciences, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

7Department of Nephrology, Kameda Medical Center, Chiba, Japan

8Chikuseikai Munakata Clinic, Tokyo, Japan

9Munakata Clinic, Chiba, Japan

10Department of Innovative Research and Education for Clinicians and Trainees (DiRECT), Fukushima Medical University Hospital, Fukushima, Japan

Correspondence: Prof. Noriaki Kurita, Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, 1 Hikarigaoka, Fukushima City, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan. Email: [email protected]