This purpose of this study was to clarify the characteristics of gastrostomy patients receiving home-based care who resumed oral intake and factors related to level of intake. The subjects were 35 medical professionals at 29 home-visit nursing stations providing care to gastrostomy patients receiving home-based care. The method was a visit distribution / collection type questionnaire survey, supplemental data were collected in simple interviews of approximately 15 minutes. Data were obtained for 45 cases. The characteristics of cases where medical professionals worked to resume oral intake were:（ 1） a severe physical dysfunction but motivation for food and only mild cognitive impairment,（ 2） an association between level of intake and attributes such as eating posture and method, condition on awakening, and state of fever, and （3） attempts to resume oral intake after being prompted by the family or patient. The results of this study suggest that medical professionals try to resume oral intake in gastrostomy patients who possess certain factors related to level of intake.

View full abstract

Objective: The objective was to understand changes in research paradigms regarding women's health in Japan and to obtain insights for future study. Methods: The words “female,” “women,” and “mother” were used as keywords to search papers from 1980 through 2014 in the Japan Medical Abstracts Society database. Codes were developed to classify the results according to the words in the titles, and text mining was used to analyze the results. The codes were understood to represent paradigms for resolving women's health issues and were analyzed in 5-year increments. Results: In total, 29,082 papers were coded; 30.9％ of all papers were classified with the code “pregnant and nursing mothers.” Between 1990 and 1994, the ratio was 40.0％, and between 2005 and 2009, it was 24.2％. The most common field code was “perinatal.” Prior to 1994, the codes “infection,” “medication,” and “perinatal” were significantly more common, and, after 1995, “musculoskeletal” and “menstruation” were significantly more common. Since 2000, the codes “psychology,” “child-rearing,” “sleep,” and “fatigue” have continued to increase significantly（ P ＜ 0.05）. Discussion: Although the focus of research paradigms for women's health issues had been one of women as the child-bearing and child-rearing sex, this focus has declined. Between the 1990s and 2010s, the paradigm appears to have shifted towards a focus on the physical health and lifestyles of women with a broader variety of lifecycles, and, since 2010, it has shifted towards a focus on the difficulty of caregiving and child-rearing roles.

View full abstract

To promote measures against major earthquakes that may occur along the Nankai Trough in the future, we compared disaster preparedness for emergencies associated with earthquakes in the Nankai Trough, disaster-affected, and overall areas from the perspective of visiting nurses. In a questionnaire survey involving 203 visiting nurses, all 3 areas showed high rates of 〈establishing leadership and role allocation systems〉 and 〈determining methods to manage medical devices〉, and low rates of 〈developing measures to support victims in shelters〉 and 〈adopting evacuation support approaches〉. On the other hand, therates of 〈simulating support activities〉 and 〈storing food supplies for employees〉 were higher in the Nankai Trough compared with the 2 other areas. The results raise concerns over delays in planning evacuation support for people receiving home care. To promote such planning, visiting nurses should promote mutual aid through support for home care-receivers to regularly go out, while establishing collaborative relationships with residents and multiple professionals by actively participating in community-based integrated care activities and disaster preparedness drills.

View full abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate how the opposite shoulder girdle composed of clavicle and scapula, which occupational therapists considers to be focused on in clinical situations, moves in the forward reach movement in healthy adult males by the three-dimensional motion analysis, and to obtain basic data. Based on the result of the study, it is to examine differences in influence of trunk movement and differences between dominant handedness and non dominant hand in viewpoint of postural control. Methods: Subjects were right-handed healthy 6 males. Non-reach motion shoulder girdle elevationangle were measured by three-dimensional motion analysis system. Statistical analysis was carried out in a Friedman test in each combination （dominant hand/upper limb length, nondominant hand/upper limb length, dominant hand/upper limb length ＋ 20cm, non-dominant hand/upper limb length ＋ 20cm） Result: The non-reach motion shoulder girdle elevation angle at pointing was significantly greater in non-dominant hand/upper limb length ＋ 20cm than in others. The maximum angle was significantly greater in dominant hand/upper limb length ＋ 20cm than in others. Considerations: It is suggested that there is a possibility of posture assessment quantitatively using the non-motorized limb shoulder band, and that the level of reaching upper limb function differs depending on whether the injured side or motor paralyzed side is handedness or non dominant hand.

View full abstract

Kinesthetic illusion induced by visual stimulation （KiNvis） is used to induce an illusion by observing the first person’s perspective video. It is not clear which influence of KiNvis on motor imagery ability. The purpose of this study was to investigate effect of KiNvis on motor imagery in healthy subjects. Twenty healthy subjects were randomly distributed into 2 groups: KiNvis group, control group. KiNvis group was to observe the video and induced the KiNvis. The video of ankle dorsiflexion movement on the left side filmed in first person’s perspective was flipped horizontally and then shown on a computer screen. Control group was to observe the image of ankle. Outcome was mental rotation （MR） as motor imagery ability. As a result, MR was significantly improved KiNvis group compared with control group. In conclusion, these results suggest that KiNvis was changed motor imagery ability.

View full abstract