INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: We have assessed the ability to re-establish micturition in elderly patients with retention during the convalescence phase. This study investigated which method is the most useful for predicting the ability to re-establish micturition.
　MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included a total of 33 patients（12 men, 21 women, 68-89 years old with an average age of 80.2）showing acute urinary retention during the convalescence phase after an acute disease. For various reasons in individual cases, none of these patients was able to perform self-catheterization. Nursing staff performed intermittent catheterization and judged the volume of residual urine. Patients who could void urine with a residual urine volume of 50ml or less were defined as the“self-voiding group”. The remaining patients who could not void urine adequately were defined as the“retention group”. We evaluated Performance Status（P.S.）, Dementia Scale（D.S.）, Vitality Index（V.I.）, age, underlying disease, degree of brain atrophy and other factors.
　RESULTS: Twenty-four patients became“self voiding”, and nine cases remained in the“retention group”. Three indices of P.S., D.S. and V.I. showed strong correlations significant with voiding ability（p<0.05）. Every patient with a score of 6 points or more on V.I. was included in the self-voiding group. In contrast, every patient who scored 3 points or less on V.I. remained in the retention group.
　CONCLUSION: Using V.I., we can predict the ability to regain adequate micturition function.

　Several skin problems are considered as complications of obesity, but there have been few studies on their relationships. Furthermore, the effect of weight loss on skin conditions remains unclear. This study investigated the associations of skin problems and function with severity of obesity and degree of weight loss. A non-randomized crossover study was conducted for participants with a body mass index（BMI）≥25. Participants underwent a weight loss program for three months. Skin conditions including stratum corneum moisture, skin surface pH, transepidermal water loss, skin deformation（R0）and elasticity（R2）were evaluated at the abdomen, arm and thigh. Twenty-two participants underwent the first phase of the program, and 19 continued during the second phase. The prevalence of intertrig-like（p=0.020）and acanthosis nigricans-like skin conditions（p=0.018）were significantly higher among the participants with BMI>27.5 than among those with BMI<27.5. At the end of the program, BMI was positively associated with skin pH,（p=0.013 to p=0.044）and negatively with R0（p=0.001 to p=0.044）. In both groups, BMI was significantly decreased during the program（repeated ANOVA p<0.001）. The percentage of BMI reduction was associated with the percentage of R0 increase at midpoint（p=0.001 to p=0.008）, and skin pH decrease at the end of the program（p<0.001 to p=0.045）. The severity of obesity was related to specific skin problems and skin functional change, especially increased pH and decreased skin deformation. It is suggested that these skin functional changes can be reversed by weight reduction.