The purpose of this study was to investigate a relationship between metabolic syndrome and lifestyle for primary prevention of arteriosclerotic diseases. The subjects were 1,153 participants (431 men and 722 women) in an annual mass health screening examination in 2002 performed in the S town, Aichi Prefecture. As the arteriosclerotic risk factors the standards of the metabolic syndrome were adopted, among which BMI was substituted for the waist circumference. The number of the arteriosclerotic risks were counted in each subject, and a relationship was investigated between persons with three or more risk factors and an amount of weight gain from 20 years old and the lifestyle. Persons who had greater weight gain from 20 years old were more likely to have three or more risk factors. Even in non-obese subjects with BMI < 25.0 kg/m², persons having three or more risk factors tended to be prevalent with increasing weight gain from 20 years old. Greater weight gain from 20 years old was also associated with "daily inactivities", "eating fast", and "eating heartily" in lifestyle. The present study suggested that much weight gain from the youth as well as overweight should be avoided to prevent metabolic syndrome.

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In order to understand the current status and recognition of HIV/AIDS nursing in Japan, we performed questionnaire in October 2001, enrolling 1804 nurses, who were involved in HIV/AIDS care in 202 hospitals (55.3% of total hospital with HIV/AIDS care facilities).
The assigned and concurrent nurses of HIV/AIDS: i.e. nurses who were in charge of HIV/AIDS care, were allocated to 55.0% of hospitals with HIV/AIDS care facilities. There was no experience of HIV/AIDS care in 33.6 % of general nurses, and 34.1 % of nurses that were in charge of HIV/AIDS care, respectively. The nurses, who take charge of patients with HIV/AIDS, more frequently experienced the specific cares for HIV/AIDS nursing, and recognized more important role of them than general nurses. More than half of nurses, who had the nursing experience to patients with HIV/AIDS, felt concern about HIV/AIDS nursing.
These findings indicated that it is necessary to educate nurses who have ability to coordinate between patients with HIV/ AIDS and health care/welfare system. It was also important to establish the system that can provide nursing specialists, who can care patients with HIV/AIDS throughout bedside and outpatient clinic.

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The purpose of this study was to analyze the process of transition from hospital to home care for terminal cancer patients and their caregivers, and to consider all related factors. The study was conducted through unstructured interviews with the principal caregivers and data from each interview was subjected to content analysis.
Fifteen caregivers were included in the study. Terminal care situations were divided according to whether the caregiver wished to care for the patient at home and then where the patient died. Three groups were thereby formed: patients who died in hospital due to lack of preparation on the part of caregivers; patients who died in hospital against the wishes of the caregivers; and patients who died at home. The study also revealed that patients and caregivers are three main stages: a preparation period for terminal care; preparation for home care; and preparation by the caregiver. Finally, suggestions are made with regard to factors, such as symptom control and palliative care, related to the transition process to make improvements in facilities and medical services and to support the caregiver either by basic training or with a second caregiver.

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The purpose of this survey is to identify and analyze the factors related to positive appraisal on the part of the family caregivers engaged in in-home medical care by examining their characteristics. The survey has been conducted by interviewing 190 primary caregivers (117 of them are giving in-home medical care, "medical group", and 73 are not, "non-medical group") by the use of questionnaires.
The survey shows that the "medical group" has the characteristics of long care-giving hours and strong in-home care motives. Compared to the "non-medical group", the "medical group" is shown to give higher responses, as positive appraisal, to "self-developing feeling through care-giving" and "willing acceptance of caregiver's role". As for the factors related to the positive appraisal, the "medical group" is shown to have strong motives for in-home care and "emotional approach style" as the coping process.
The above results suggest that it is essential for the caregivers to recognize care-giving practices as their own roles and that the good relationships between caregivers and care-receivers are fundamentally important. Nurses need to be involved so as to help caregivers develop the role recognition and to assist in forming better relationships between givers and receivers.

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The purpose of this study was to develop a nurse's view of life-and-death scale and to analyze the influencing factors. From sixty hospitals having the palliative care ward, 631 nursing staff were surveyed using a self-reporting questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that the scale had the following six factors: "Death education", "Anxiety on death", "Death of body and mind", "Thoughts about the remains", "End of life", "Supernatural belief". The result of stepwise exploratory factor analysis found out that the scale had 25 best fit items. In addition, based on ANOVA (analysis of variance) and multiple comparison, we found that age, nurse's experience, palliative care experience, death experience and frequency of talking about death were the factors that influenced the nurse's view of life-and-death. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed.

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The purposes of this study were to determine what care activities for dying elderly family members, as well as to analyze the factors affecting end-of-life care activities. The subjects were 405 senior citizen's college students. The method was the questionnaires which included 29 questions concerning end-of-life care, and respondents were asked to rate individual questions on a scale of one to four.
The results are as follows: 222 (65.7%) had experiences of providing end-of-life care for their family members: parents (55.3%), spouses (12.4%), children (0.3%) and others (12.4%). As a result of factor analysis, end-of-life care activities classified 3 factors: direct care activities (α=0.856), support to help patients come to terms with their own death (α=0.786), activities to provide emotional support for patients (α= 0.807). This study shows that these activities occurred significantly more often caregivers were female, especially where the last therapeutic measures were to relieve pain, and in cases caregivers consider that they were able to give adequate end-of-life care.

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