In this study, we investigated for a period of 8 years, 884 patients who underwent swallowing rehabilitation in our hospital, and evaluated the factors affecting resumption of oral intake of food. We found that the number of patients undergoing swallowing rehabilitation in our hospital increased over time. Of the included patients, 82.8% were ≥70 years of age and men were more frequent than women (p=0.004). At the end of the rehabilitation, 56.3% patients' main nutrition route was oral. Most (60.5%) patients required <30 days of rehabilitation. We evaluated correlation between the states of patients at starting point of swallowing rehabilitation and the result of the rehabilitation. The patients having a desire for eating were significantly more successful in regaining oral intake of food than those without the desire (p<0.001) and those with desire unknown (p<0.001). We classified the patients as per the Japan Coma Scale into four groups: alert, 1 digit, 2 digits, and 3 digits; the 3-digit group was significantly less successful in resumption of oral ingestion compared to all other groups (p<0.001). Based on the activities of daily living (ADL), we classified the patients into four groups: supine position, possible to semi-sitting group (get-up more than 30°), possible to sit-up group, and possible more than transferring by oneself group. It was proved that the supine position group was significantly less successful in regaining oral intake of food compared to all other groups (p<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that the strongest correlation for regaining oral ingestion was desire for eating (p<0.001), followed by ADL and level of consciousness. In conclusion, we found that the number of patients undertaking swallowing rehabilitation in our hospital is increasing, and that factors such as desire for eating, ADL, and level of consciousness significantly influence the resumption of oral intake of food.

　Bothersome symptoms of hay fever impair not only patients' quality of life but also their labor productivity and learning efficiency. Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) caused by hay fever is thought to be one of the reasons for these impairments. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the severity of springtime hay fever and EDS by using a questionnaire. The questionnaire included information about age, sex, height, weight, severity of hay fever, treatment for hay fever, smoking and alcohol consumption habit, history of drug use for sleeping, existence of snoring, and Japanese version of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. After excluding responses containing insufficient data, responses from 1,734 patients were considered as eligible. By performing logistic regression analysis, we analyzed the effect of the aforementioned parameters on the comorbidity of EDS and snoring. The odds ratio (OR) to comorbid EDS was significantly higher in the moderate and severe hay fever groups than in the asymptomatic hay fever group (moderate: OR=1.76, p=0.014, severe: OR=2.53, p<0.001). Also, OR to comorbid snoring was significantly higher in the severe hay fever group than in the asymptomatic hay fever group (severe: OR=1.90, p=0.001).

　Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) is thought to have enhanced efficacy in the second year of treatment. We studied treatment efficacy in both the first and the second years of treatment (2015 and 2016, respectively) in patients who began SLIT in 2014.
　Methods: We compared 132 patients who underwent SLIT (age, 41.8 ± 17.5 years; male-to-female ratio, 75: 57) and a control group of 56 patients who underwent primary pharmacotherapy (age, 44.9 ± 13.5 years; male-to-female ratio, 25: 31). The study was performed during the peak pollen seasons of 2015 and 2016. Pollen dispersal was similar in 2015 and 2016 (2,509 grains/cm² and 3,505 grains/cm², respectively). The clinical efficacy of SLIT was evaluated by assessing nasal and eye symptoms and total symptoms with symptom scores and combined symptom-medication scores, visual analog scale scores, and quality of life (QOL) scores according to the Japanese rhino-conjunctivitis QOL questionnaire (JRQLQ No. 1). QOL was also evaluated with JRQLQ No. 1. The first endpoint was enhanced efficacy of SLIT in the second year compared with that in the first year.
　Results: With respect to nasal and eye symptoms, the assessments in the primary pharmacotherapy group were unchanged in the second year; however, most of these assessments in the SLIT group demonstrated significantly enhanced efficacy of SLIT in the second year. In QOL of SLIT, only 2 of 17 showed significantly enhanced efficacy of SLIT in the second year.
　Conclusion: SLIT shows enhanced efficacy in the second year.