In Japan problems of the pediatric emergency-care system have recently increased the needs of consultation to deal with the growing anxiety of parents about how to raise their children and have decreased the number of pediatricians. We believe that one solution is to make pediatric primary care a required part of postgraduate clinical training and thereby increase the ability of nonpediatricians to provide pediatric primary care and to support the care of children. We hope that postgraduate clinical training programs will be reformed so that physicians of all departments can contribute to improving pediatric primary care.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to elucidate the characteristics of adverse events in pregnant women, the offending drugs, and patient backgrounds from reports of adverse events.  We performed a case series study.
Methods: We used CARPIS, a database of adverse events and toxication reported in Japan spanning from 1987 to 2014 and created by the Drug Information Center, Meijo University.  We extracted cases of adverse events in pregnant women, their fetuses, and newborns and investigated the age, primary disease, and history of allergies of the women and the intended use of/offending drugs, therapeutic category, and names for adverse events.
Result: We collected 434 cases of adverse events in pregnant women, and 251 pediatric cases with adverse events.  The most frequent offending drug in both groups was ritodrine hydrochloride.  The most frequent adverse event in pregnant women was pulmonary oedema due to the administration of ritodrine hydrochloride.  The most frequently reported adverse events in pediatric cases were transient hypothyroidism and withdrawal symptoms in newborns and birth abnormalities in fetuses and newborns, all of which were caused by drugs given for the underlying diseases of their mothers.
Discussion: We elucidated serious adverse events in pregnant women caused by the administration of ritodrine hydrochloride.  Frequent factors for adverse events were the onset of physiological factors in pregnant women and complicated factors of the mechanism of action of ritodrine hydrochloride.  We need to monitor both mothers and fetuses during the drug administration.  It is suggested that adverse events in pediatric cases are associated with drugs given for underlying diseases in mothers.  Thus, it is necessary to give appropriate information and communicate the risks of taking these drugs before pregnancy.  We believe the results could be helpful in the early detection of adverse events in the future.

This study was conducted to shed light on the actual conditions of home care and quality-of-life factors related to the burdens on families. For this purpose, a survey was carried out on main caretakers in the families who were using our home care support service. Fundamental information about the main caretakers and those who need care were garnered. In addition, WHO/QOL-26 and burdens for main caretakers were checked up on.The survey found that those who have looked after the sick or invalid for less than six months and those over five years keenly felt that they were shouldering a heavy burden. With the progression of dementia, the caretakers increasingly felt the burden getting heavier. Physical factors in QOL were linked to the burden which caretakers feel has to be borne, but psychological and social factors were not. This finding might have been ascribed to the fact that the persons surveyed were residents of the provincial city, part of which is rural. They were mostly old women and must have gained the support of their relatives. It is easy to assume that their role perception and sense of responsibility together with regional characteristics were reflected in psychological and social QOL factors.
Home care aspects ; SOCIAL ; Related ; Home care of patient ; Family Members