The Japan Medical Abstracts Society (JAMAS) has been developing a Japanese Medical Thesaurus corresponding to the MeSH since 1983. Each MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) term is assigned according to the concepts of the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) and contains many links to other medical and healthcare terminologies. In other words, the JAMAS Japanese Medical Thesaurus (JJMT) has a valuable interoperability incorporated into its design. The present study validated the information contained in the JJMT and its interoperability. Medical terms used in medical practice and insurance systems in different countries and areas have been built upon and developed from unique backgrounds and histories. Though the UMLS consists of many terms assigned to “concepts” and linked to worldwide terminologies, the specific terminologies of each country are always the ones used in the medical and insurance systems of that country. This study investigated how the JJMT terms correspond to other terminologies. The results of this study investigating the interoperability of Japanese medical terms and Japanese medical literature will contribute to world medical research communities through the JJMT, MeSH, and UMLS. A medical term is a type of data. A medical term needs meaningful classification. If a medical term will be classified by meaningful distribution, the meaning of each data will become clear. The UMLS lists many medical terms and is systematized according to concepts. Each term lists a word type, synonyms, preferred use, language, and source. If there are different strings, they are divided according to concepts. In this manner, medical term will be accessible in not different countries and go through the world via UMLS.

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This study investigated the relationship between humor and quality of life (QOL) in the illness narratives (TOBYOKI) of cancer patients. The suffering inflicted by cancer may seriously affect patients’ view of life and its meaning. A number of studies have indicated that humor can mitigate suffering during such difficult times. Traditional studies in medicine have primarily concerned objective issues, such as techniques or case reports, and not paid enough attention to patients’ subjective views. However, recent studies are incorporating QOL measures based on patient reports with increasing frequency. In the present study, the authors focused on humor in illness narratives to understand patients’ subjective views of their life and illness. QOL was evaluated using the Japanese version of the SF-36v2. Instances of humor were identified and arranged using the M-GTA method. Three notable forms of humor were identified: Positive Humor, Self-Deprecating Humor, and Metaphorical Humor. The analysis clarified that patients with low QOL in their daily roles employ “Positive Humor” and “Self-Deprecating Humor” frequently, while patients with high QOL in the daily role used “Metaphorical Humor” most often. These results suggest that “Metaphorical Humor” may indicate high QOL in patients’ daily role.

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