Preferences Offset Stressors in Determining Survivability

: Pure stress-based models of health predict that accumulated stresses promote illnesses that result in lower life expectancies. However, in mixed subjective preference models, effects of stress, seen as negative preference, can potentially be offset by achievement of positive personal preferences. According to mixed preference models, preventive medicine strategies for promoting health can operate either by alleviating stress or by enhancing subjective preferences. Over many decades we developed a theory and practice of rational, psychoacoustically-driven architectural acoustic design of concert halls. 1-3 The theory incorporates both negative acoustic annoyance attributes (stressors, negative preferences) and positive ones. Using self-assessment surveys of 30 dialysis patients in Kobe, Japan, we used the methodology to assess the effects of subjective preferences on delaying onset of dialysis treatment (dialysis onset age, DOA). Hayashi's multivariate regression method (I) for nonparametric data 5,8 was used to estimate effects of reported factors. Of these, six factors proved predictive of DOA (p-values): better or worse interpersonal relations (0.003), decades of full-time work (0.050), alcohol consumption (0.031) according to individual preference, present noisy home environment (0.090), other pollution (0.060), smoking (0.115). Other factors were either weakly-or un-correlated: hospitalizations, house moves, past hypertension, proteinuria, sex, pet ownership, presence of bad odors, past noise pollution. Preventative measures that enhance subjective preferences may thus delay the need for dialysis.

expectancies.However, in mixed subjective preference models, effects of stress, seen as negative preference, can potentially be offset by achievement of positive personal preferences.According to mixed preference models, preventive medicine strategies for promoting health can operate either by alleviating stress or by enhancing subjective preferences.2][3] The theory incorporates both negative acoustic annoyance attributes (stressors, negative preferences) and positive ones.Using self-assessment surveys of 30 dialysis patients in Kobe, Japan, we used the methodology to assess the effects of subjective preferences on delaying onset of dialysis treatment (dialysis onset age, DOA).Hayashi's multivariate regression method (I) for nonparametric data 5,8 was used to estimate effects of reported factors.Of these, six factors proved predictive of DOA (p-values): better or worse interpersonal relations (0.003), decades of full-time work (0.050), alcohol consumption (0.031) according to individual preference, present noisy home environment (0.090), other pollution (0.060), smoking (0.115).Other factors were either weakly-or un-correlated: hospitalizations, house moves, past hypertension, proteinuria, sex, pet ownership, presence of bad odors, past noise pollution.Preventative measures that enhance subjective preferences may thus delay the need for dialysis.

MAIN
Since the early 1950's, stress has been recognized as an important contributing factor in illness and morbidity. 4The stresses of modern life include ill human relations, financial pressures, hyper-competitiveness in business, noise and environmental pollution, and most lately, the coronavirus pandemic.Regretfully stress too often drains away pleasure derived from the process of living.
Today it is well appreciated that a variety of stressors set into motion defense reactions mediated through the immune, hormonal,  Stress has conventionally been conceptualized in terms of a set of negative factors that decrease health and longevity (Figure 1).In pure stress models individuals have certain limited survival propensities that are decreased by negative stress factors.
Mixed subjective preference models combine both negative stress-increasing factors and positive, stress reducing ones.
We have encountered both negative and positive effects of sounds in our studies of environmental and architectural acoustics,.The negative effects constitute acoustic annoyance, whereas the positive effects involve the realization of subjective preferences.Annoyance creates stress by obstructing preferred psychological states, whereas optimization of sound preferences facilitates their attainment, thereby potentially offsetting the effects of negative stress factors.
2][3] In this psychoacoustically-and acoustically-driven adaptive design process there are both positive acoustic preference factors that we seek to maximize and negative acoustic preference factors that are best minimized.Can such a multifactor theory of preferences be used As we ourselves have been undergoing dialysis treatment for more than a decade now, we decided to apply the methods of the theory of psychological preferences to the prediction of when patients need to go on dialysisthe dialysis introduction age (DIA).We surveyed 30 dialysis patients at a hospital in Kobe, Japan to collect data on 16 response dimensions.For this analysis, we used the general method of Hayashi 8 for transforming the nonparametric survey responses and constructing a regression model from the survey response data (Methods).The results are shown in Figure 2. The eight factors in the table produced a moderately high coefficient of determination (R 2 ) of 0.59.These factors were 1) human relations (troublesome or not); 2) decades of hard work; 3) consumption of alcoholic beverages according to individual preference; 4) high levels of noise in one's current home; 5) air pollution; 6) smoking; 7) number of hospitalizations; 8) number of house moves.Other factors such as sex, pets, bad odors, and levels of noise in past domiciles were not predictive.It is remarkable that individual clinical histories of past high blood pressure and proteinuria were unexpectedly insignificant.
to predict indices related to state of health?

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Factors that proved strongly-and weakly-predictive of dialysis onset age (DIA).Results of each category of eight predictive factors in estimation of DIA.Higher, positive scores produce higher estimates of DIA, i.e., later age of dialysis onset.Symbols [**] and [*] indicate significance levels 0.01 and 0.05, respectively.