Family support is an important part of home care, and home-visit nursing provides family support even when family members are not available during nurses’ home visits. The present study aimed to explore the contents of support provided by home-visit nurses for family members of older individuals living alone at the end of life. We searched the databases of the online edition of Japana centra revuo medicina. The keywords used were “family support,” “end-of-life,” “living alone”, and “home-visit nursing”. We identified 8 articles. The nine categories of family support were extracted, including “Emotional support,” “Support for families to accept death at home,” “Advice on how the family can support the patient, taking the family’s circumstances into consideration,” “Assistance in mediating between family and physician,” “Assistance in representing the patient’s wishes and appreciation to the family,” “Assistance in communicating the patient’s situation to family members,” and “Support for strengthening family bonding.” The present findings suggest that home-visit nurses provide multifaceted support to family members who do not live with older individuals.

Introduction: Anaphylaxis is a life-threatening hypersensitivity reaction, with an elevated risk in perioperative settings due to the numerous drugs used. Diagnosing perioperative anaphylaxis is challenging as anesthetics can mask cutaneous symptoms, delaying its recognition. This study investigated the changes in causative drugs, patient characteristics, treatment, and diagnostic tests for perioperative anaphylaxis over time, in Japan, before the Japanese guidelines were established.

Methods: This review, registered in PROSPERO, adhered to PRISMA guidelines. Literature from Japanese (Ichushi) and international (PubMed) databases were reviewed, focusing on perioperative anaphylaxis cases in Japan from 1982 to 2016. Articles lacking detailed clinical data or involving past anaphylactic events without current symptoms were excluded.

Results: We analyzed 294 cases of perioperative anaphylaxis reported in Japan. Latex, biological products, and neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs) were the primary causative agents. Symptoms most commonly occurred under general anesthesia and included cardiovascular and skin reactions. Intradermal tests were used to identify causative agents, and although intradermal tests have a high positivity rate, their implementation rate showed a tendency to decrease. The percentage of cases in which adrenaline was administered increased, but remained at about 60% in the 2010s.

Conclusion: This study clarifies the changes in causes, diagnosis, and treatment of perioperative anaphylaxis, highlighting the variability in responses before guideline establishment. The findings might contribute to establishing optimal diagnostic and treatment methods.

Background & Aims: Coal mining is notoriously challenging and hazardous, often leading to detrimental impacts on workers’ mental health, including anxiety, stress, depression, and sleep disorders. This study evaluates the sleep quality of coal miners in Mongolia and identifies the factors influencing it.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 329 mine workers, including 200 shift workers (60.8%) and 129-day workers (39.2%), was conducted in October 2023. Participants’ stress levels and sleep quality were measured using the standardized Perceived Stress Scale and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, alongside anthropometric assessments.

Results: The results revealed that significant sleep disturbances affected 51.2% of day workers and 56.0% of shift workers. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that among shift workers, moderate-to-high stress levels (AOR＝2.672, 95% CI 1.268-5.628), being female (AOR＝7.377, 95% CI 2.178-24.980), and having 11 years of work experience (AOR＝2.257, 95% CI 1.164-4.377) were significantly associated with sleep disturbances. No significant factors were identified for day workers.

Conclusions: The study concludes that mitigating stress is crucial for improving the sleep quality of coal miners, particularly shift workers. Addressing these issues can enhance overall well-being and safety in the mining industry.

Introduction: This study aimed to identify the factors affecting self-care agency in patients with colorectal cancer receiving outpatient chemotherapy. Methods: The participants were patients with colorectal cancer receiving outpatient chemotherapy who participated in a web survey. The survey included: 1. self-care agency (Self-Care Agency Scale), and 2.1) general background; 2) physical factors; 3) mental health (WHO-5 Mental Health Status Table); 4) family relationships (Family Relationship Scale); and 5) spirituality (spirituality rating scale). Descriptive statistics were used as the analysis method, and the t/F test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were used to determine the influencing factors. This study was approved by the Ethics committee of the relevant facility (approval number 2,239). Results: The analysis included 277 participants, of whom 68.2% were male and 30.7% female. The mean±standard deviation for self-care agency scores was 46.7±12.39 points. Mental health, spirituality, type of employment and interaction with others with the same disease outside of the patient group were influential factors with an adjusted R-square(R²) value of 0.485. Conclusion: The results indicate that improving the self-care agency of patients with colorectal cancer receiving outpatient chemotherapy requires the development of a systematic nursing model to provide nursing practice that accounts for influencing factors.

Background & Aims: Although COVID-19 spread in non-Japanese communities in Japan, epidemic differences between those and Japanese communities are unclear. Factual epidemiological evaluation is needed to improve the existing infection control measures in the whole community.

Methods: This study, conducted among residents of Gunma Prefecture from open data of March 2020 to December 2021, compared COVID reproduction numbers and cumulative infection positive rates in 10 regions between Japanese and non-Japanese residents. Positive cases were also classified into three age groups (－19, 20-59, and 60＋years old), and their proportions among total cases were compared between two groups.

Results: Effective reproduction numbers in the total study population, non-Japanese, and Japanese were 1.26, 1.32, and 1.25, respectively, being slightly higher in non-Japanese. Cumulative positive rates in non-Japanese and Japanese were 6.14% and 0.69%. The positive rates in non-Japanese were significantly higher in all 10 regions. Positive rates were highest in age group 20-59 years old, comprising 80.4% and 62.5% of non-Japanese and Japanese infections, respectively.

Conclusions: Because many non-Japanese in Japan are workers, COVID-19 may more readily spread among them due to high activity. Infection control measures should be expanded among people of working age regardless of nationality.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the difficulties, their countermeasures, and challenges of conducting advance care planning (ACP) by visiting nurses working in remote areas.

Methods: Six visiting nurses working at a visiting nursing station located in a remote area of Prefecture A participated in semi-structured interviews. We used a qualitative inductive analysis.

Results: 13 categories of difficulties in implementing ACP were extracted, including [inadequate acceptance of medical conditions by patients and their families], [difficulty in finding time to talk to patients], [lack of understanding of home care by hospital doctors], and [lack of hospital and home care personnel and facilities]. 11 categories regarding countermeasures and challenges were extracted, including [explanations according to the level of understanding and preparation without forcing the process], [mutually complementary collaboration between supporters and care offices], [tactics for information sharing among multiple professions], and [awareness raising and staff education to promote ACP].

Conclusion: In remote areas, there are few opportunities to experience practical support, and there is a shortage of resources and manpower, so there is a need for educational opportunities for those involved to improve their ACP qualities and measures to strengthen cooperation among local stakeholders, such as mutually complementary collaboration.

Objective: The present study explored the support needed by young female cancer survivors (YFCSs) from peer supporters (PSs).

Methods: Data from semi-structured interviews with 12 survivors of gynecologic or breast cancer, aged 20-39 years at the time of diagnosis, were analyzed using an inductive approach for qualitative data. Consent was obtained from all participants.

Results: Data were analyzed to generate 79 codes, 14 subcategories, and 4 categories. YFCSs expressed their hope to (1) receive online support from PSs based on their real experiences, (2) reduce their anxiety by communicating with PSs, (3) communicate with PSs who have had the same experience, and (4) discuss subjects such as pregnancy, childcare, and employment challenges with PSs. Furthermore, even YFCSs who had never participated in existing patient-help groups needed support from PSs and had a strong desire to connect with them online. Additionally, YFCSs hoped to obtain support from PSs with common experiences.

Conclusion: Future studies should determine the challenges in supporting YFCSs to ensure safe online peer support, avoid causing cognitive overload due to excessive information from PSs, and promote peer support that is tailored to individual lifestyle concerns.

　　The purpose of this study is to clarify, via the use of goggles that simulate cataract-impaired vision, what color of text on medicine packaging, combined with what packaging background color is most easily recognized. For the test procedure, 41 nursing students wore goggles that simulated cataract-impaired vision and looked at eight (8) types of medicine packaging, then responded to four (4) questions. Scheffé’s ANOVA of paired comparisons was performed for the analysis. Results showed that for all questions, black characters on a white background was the easiest to recognize, followed by black characters on a yellow background, white characters on a black background, and white characters on a green background. These results suggest that special consideration is necessary regarding the specific combination of colors used for medicine packaging and their texts in medication management for elderly persons with cataracts.

Necrotizing fasciitis is a high-fatality infectious disease that can rapidly progress to severe conditions such as septic shock, disseminated intravascular coagulation, and multiple organ failure. This study reports two nonagenarian cases of necrotizing fasciitis resulting from dental infections. Both patients required immediate intensive care unit (ICU) admission following debridement and drainage performed in the operating room. Furthermore, both patients were in shock, necessitating noradrenaline administration for 2 and 3 days, respectively. The first case involved a 92-year-old male patient on maintenance dialysis, who presented with swelling in the right mandible. Computed tomography scan revealed necrotizing fasciitis secondary to mandibular osteomyelitis. He was extubated on postoperative day 4 and transferred to the ICU on postoperative day 9. The second case was a 93-year-old woman on home oxygen therapy, who presented with buccal swelling and pain. She underwent wound debridement under sedation and remained in postoperative care for 7 days. The patient was extubated on the day 8 and moved to the ICU on the day 10. These cases demonstrate that early debridement and intensive care management can effectively treat necrotizing fasciitis, even in nonagenarian patients.

　　Three cases of calculus-related pyelonephritis in the elderly were reported. In addition to the administration of antibiotics and fluid intake to promote diuresis, a citrate acid preparation was administered (conservative treatment). The first case had an episode of mild left pyelonephritis. Ten months later, left obstructive pyelonephritis recurred due to the descent of a kidney stone. After one week of conservative treatment, non-enhanced CT showed the stone collapsed and decreased in size. Four weeks later, stones were excreted completely. The second case developed obstructive pyelonephritis due to a right upper ureteral stone and infectious debris in the renal pelvis. After two weeks of conservative treatment, non-enhanced CT showed the return of the stone into the renal pelvis and disappearance of debris. Six months later, the stone was excreted spontaneously. The third case developed obstructive pyelonephritis due to a lower left ureter stone. Small stones were also detected in both kidneys. After one week of conservative treatment, non-enhanced CT revealed ureteral stones descended into the bladder. three months after, excretion of the left kidney stones and bladder stone were noted, whereas small right kidney stones remained.

　　Conservative treatment may be a suitable therapeutic approach for elderly patients for whom spontaneous stone excretion is expected.