Asian Pacific Journal of Disease Management Vol. 7(2013) No. 3-4

In this study, we ascertained the situation regarding distorted perceptions of body shape, which are becoming apparent in young children, from questionnaire surveys targeting fifth and sixth graders in elementary school. We conducted research and an investigation in order to study the impact on their desire to be thin caused by perceptions of obesity and their own body shapes. Subsequently, obsessions with being thin were seen in not only girls but also boys. Yet, in the desired body shape category, a significantly large percentage of girls in the group over-evaluated. Consequently, recognition of their body shapes and a desire to be thin can be said to be related to girls in fifth and sixth grade. In this study, fifth and sixth graders' obsessions with being thin and aversion to being fat became partially clear. It is necessary to recognize their body shapes correctly so that children whose height and weight will increase as secondary sexual characteristics appear do not end up being on a wrong diet and do not become extremely obsessed with being thin. To this end, a correct understanding of their own growth and development plus positive recognition are considered to be important. Furthermore, it is necessary to increase awareness not only in children in puberty when they increase their self-consciousness but also in young children, and it is considered that this will lead to retention and improvement of children's mental and physical health in the future.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a rotating-shift schedule on nurses' vigilance by comparing vigilance before and after day-shift duties and night-shift duties. We conducted objective and subjective sleep and vigilance tests by means of actigraphy and the Psychomotor Vigilance Task, and we attempted to identify common factors in the sleep habits of participants with conspicuously low vigilance. A total of 13 rotating-shift female nurses, aged 25-62 years, participated in the one-week study. Means of reaction time (RT) were adjusted to 1/RT to account for the possibility of outliers. A significant decrease of vigilance was detected after night-shift duty (mean 1/RT of 0.0033 ± 0.0008 ms before duty vs. 0.0031 ± 0.0008 ms after duty, F [1,2] = 224.64, p < 0.01). A significant individual difference in vigilance was observed for day shifts (F [12,19] = 5.49, p < 0.01). We also found that a wider spread of day-by-day total sleep time (TST) was associated with a longer mean RT (r =0.64, p = 0.02), while no clear correlation between the mean TST and RT was found. Our findings suggest that rotating-shift work may have a negative impact on vigilance during night shifts, while an irregular duration of sleep during the week may reduce vigilance during day shifts. Our results further suggest that the negative effects of rotating shifts occur not only during night shifts but also during day shifts if sleep length varies day by day.

To investigate the incidence rate of the neighbors' claims about mentally ill persons, and to clarify the related factors of public health nurses’ support for the individual to go to the medical facility. In this cross-sectional survey, 1593 mental health consultation records were analyzed which filled in the form from April 1^st 2007 to the end of July 2012. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine associated factors. Of those 1593 records, there were 81 had information of the neighboring complaint about the behavior of the mentally ill persons. The incidence of the neighboring complaint consultation for one yr was 10.3 per 100,000 population. Forty two (51.9%) had ‘support group,’ and 39 (48.1%) was ‘no support group.’ Logistic regression analysis identified that ‘Having a serious influence on his/her life and body when the present condition was neglected’ was significantly related to public health nurses’ support for the mentally ill individuals to go to the hospital. To our knowledge, this is the first to systematically investigate the incidence rate of the neighbors' claims about mentally ill person. The results suggest that neighbors' complaints are useful for public health nurses to identify patients who need psychiatric interventions.

To clarify the characteristics of the mentally disabled persons who needed to be psychiatrically hospitalized in the wake of neighbors' complaints. We analyzed 1593 mental health consultation records at a community health center that were written from April 2007 to July 2012 in this cross-sectional survey. We performed a chi-squared automatic interaction detection technique (CHAID) to clarify the characteristics of the mentally disabled who are most likely to admit to the psychiatric facility. We found that 81 had information on neighbors’ claims about the behavior of mentally disabled, 26 were psychiatrically hospitalized. The CHAID showed that the mentally disabled persons who (1) had serious influences on his/her life and body when the present conditions were neglected or (2) were unable to sustain an independent life was admitted to the psychiatric facility. If the mentally disabled person met (1), 83.3% were admitted to the hospital. If the mentally disabled did not meet (1) but met (2), 60.0% were hospitalized. Among the neighbors' complaints, the persons who had a serious influence on his or her life and body when the present conditions were neglected or were unable to sustain an independent life had needs of psychiatric interventions. Our findings may help public health nurses effectively identify the mentally disabled persons who need urgently support to go to the hospital and psychiatric treatment by focusing on his/her life skill.