Introduction: This study aimed to develop and validate a diet consultation tool that assesses the perceived benefits and barriers of vegetable consumption attached to the stage of change in Japanese adults. Methods: A web-based survey was conducted among university and vocational school students, medical staffs, and local residents in the Aichi, Osaka, and Kyoto prefectures of Japan between September 2017 and January 2018. Participants comprised of 379 adults aged 20–70 years (mean age: 30.5±12.6 years; men: 21.4%). The scale for decisional balance of vegetable consumption contained 15 benefit items and 15 barrier items. The internal consistency of the scale was examined using Cronbach’s alpha and construct validity was examined using an exploratory factor analysis with Promax rotation. Results: The developed questionnaire had 12 items across two domains for benefits and 12 items across three domains for barriers that were structured with high internal consistencies (Cronbach’s alpha: 0.82, 0.79, 0.82, 0.76 and 0.76, respectively). The intraclass correlation coefficient in the test-retest reliability study was substantial (0.77). We found a very clear association between decreasing barrier score with increasing vegetable consumption and progress in the stage of change. The decisional balance score (benefits score minus barriers score) was positively correlated with the number of vegetable servings as an external parameter (Spearman’s correlation: 0.461; p<0.001). Conclusion: The developed questionnaire was a valid, reliable, and useful tool for diet consultants to assess the perceived benefits and barriers of vegetable consumption in Japanese adults.

This study was undertaken to elucidate the usefulness and problems of autologous blooddonation for the patients with low-lying placenta. Seventy-eight women with low-lying placentawho gave birth in our institution were retrospectively analyzed. Autologous blood donation wasperformed in 58 patients (74%). The median volume of donated blood was 300 mL. Patients withor without autologous blood donation showed no significant difference in the distance betweenthe edge of the placenta and the internal os of the uterus. Median blood loss due to intrapartumhemorrhage was 1183 mL. All 7 patients with blood loss of more than 2000 mL had donatedautologous blood. The donated blood was transfused in 9 of the 58 patients (16%) who underwentautologous blood donation. No patients underwent allogenic blood transfusion. Althoughautologous blood donation was expected to be useful for avoiding allogenic blood transfusion inthese patients with low-lying placenta, the high discard rate suggests the need for a strategy toselect those patients at high risk for blood loss requiring transfusion.