Objective : To explore the prevailing conditions in the childcare environment and to clarify the factors influencing the stress of parenting for Chinese mothers living in Japan, and to discuss the childcare support desired by these mothers.
 Methods : One hundred thirty-two Chinese mothers with 0～6-year-old children living in the Kanto area with their spouses participated in a questionnaire survey aimed at the childcare environment and parenting stress in Japan.
 Results : ①The proportion of Chinese mothers in employment was low, but most of those in work had part-time jobs. ②Those who had lived in Japan for longer periods had two or more children, although many Chinese women had only one child, and the birth interval was 4.9 years. ③Many of these mothers wanted to entrust their children to a day nursery in Japan.
 Conclusion : Mothers raising their children in Japan require childcare support including prompt and effective harmonization with Japanese society, easy-to-use child care facilities and the chance to study Japanese or a well-baby clinic conducted in Chinese.

Introduction: Many details about adolescent women's lifestyles and masked obesity have not been clarified in prior research. Thus, we conducted an exploratory survey on the lifestyle and masked obesity in female college students.

Methods: From September to October in 2012, we investigated 85 female students aged 18-23 years in two colleges in the Kanto area and cross-sectionally investigated the differences in lifestyles between subjects with masked obesity [Body Mass Index (BMI) <25 kg/m² and Body Fat Percentage ≥30%] and those with standard proportions (18.5≤BMI<25 kg/m² and Body Fat Percentage=20-25%). Their body composition was measured using InBody430, and their lifestyles were investigated using a self-administered questionnaire.

Results: Of them, there were 6 subjects (7.1%) with standard proportions and 25 subjects (29.4%) with masked obesity; 44.6% of the 56 subjects with standard weights had masked obesity. Differences were observed in their food intake frequency; the subjects with masked obesity consumed a smaller daily intake of green and yellow vegetables (p<.001) and light-colored vegetables (p=.008), and more frequently consumed mayonnaise (p=.003) and fried foods (p=.018) than those with standard proportions.

Conclusion: Masked obesity may increase the probability of having unhealthy dietary habits. It may be necessary for females with standard weights to receive dietary advice, and to have their body fat percentage regularly measured.

Objective : The aims of this study were to evaluate the relationship between Nichijo-seikastu-kino-hyoka (NSKH) scores, factors that influenced these scores, and discharge destinations of the patients with motor system disorders who were treated at a Kaifukuki rehabilitation ward.
Methods : The NSKH scores of 184 patients with motor system disorders who were treated in a Kaifukuki rehabilitation ward were evaluated on admission and at the time of discharge.
Results : The subjects whose NSKH scores on admission were three or less were all discharged to their homes. The scores at discharge improved to 0 in more than 50% of the subjects, but the difference in their discharge destinations, depending on their score, was not clear. Multiple logistic regressions were performed to evaluate factors that influenced the scores when the discharge destination was not to their home, which revealed that the number of family members (OR=0.428, 95% CI 0.229-0.797), and NSKH scores at discharge (OR=1.340, 95% CI 1.046-1.716) were influencing factors.
Conclusion : The results of this study suggest that the subjects whose NSKH score on admission was three or less were more likely to be discharged to their homes thereby indicating that their discharge destinations were predictable. The factors influencing their discharge destinations were the NSKH scores at the time of discharge and the number of family members.

Purposes
The purposes of this study were to analyze the relationship between the discharge destinations of patients with cerebrovascular diseases (CVD) in our convalescent rehabilitation ward and their levels of activities of daily living (ADL), and also to consider the factors causing those patients difficulties upon discharge.
Methods
The subjects were 114 CVD patients in our Convalescent Rehabilitation Ward.
The investigation was conducted to examine their ADL score, both at hospitalization and at discharge, and to analyze the relationship between changes in their ADL scores and their discharge destinations.
Discussion
It was suggested that reduction of the ADL score from above 8 points at hospitalization, to less than 4 at discharge, contributed to improvement of the rate of discharge to the patients' own homes, and that four items in the ADL assessment scale, such as ‘transfer’, ‘ability to communicate’, ‘locomotion’ and ‘oral care’, had an effect on their discharge destinations.

BACKGROUND: Home-visit guidance has the advantage of assisting child-raising while respecting an individual's lifestyle; however, there are many people who refuse it at present due to individual and family privacy concerns. In addition, such medical services involve individual and financial constraints; thus, the beneficial effects of the service should be clearly presented.
METHODS: During postnatal weeks 16-20, questionnaires were sent by researchers to a group that received home-visit services during postnatal weeks 2-12 to investigate their levels of satisfaction with the services. A different questionnaire was sent to those that did not receive home visits to investigate the reasons for their rejection of the services.
RESULTS: Home-visit services were highly evaluated by those mothers who received them, especially for primiparas to reduce anxiety about and improve confidence in child-raising. Also, a significant difference was observed between the “home-visit” and the “no home-visit” groups when asked, “How much are you willing to pay for home-visit guidance?” Among the “no-home visit” group, mothers who stated less than 1,000 yen and “free of charge”(59.7%) accounted for 75.8% and among the home-visit group, mothers who stated less than 1,000 yen and “free of charge” (26.0%) accounted for 50.9%, and 35.5% of mothers stated from 1,000 to 3,000 yen.
CONCLUSIONS: The level of satisfaction of mothers who received home-visits and the reasons for not receiving visits were investigated. Two problems identified were that information about this program is not provided to all mothers and the timing of home-visits does not meet the needs of mothers.

Background: Female hormones may influence the oral environments of pregnant women. Appropriate oral care by pregnant women promotes oral health, contributing to caries prevention in children from the perspective of cariogenic bacteria transmission. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the oral environment of pregnant women and clarify factors associated with the presence of Streptococcus mutans.
Methods: A saliva test (volume, pH, Streptococcus mutans count, Lactobacillus count, and total oral Streptococcus count) and questionnaire survey regarding subject characteristics, oral symptoms, and oral health behavior were conducted with 264 pregnant women. We examined the association between the saliva volume/pH and caries-associated bacteria, and compared oral environments related to differences in the subject characteristics, oral symptoms, and oral health behavior. Binomial logistic regression analysis was also conducted to clarify factors associated with the presence of Streptococcus mutans.
Results: Oral cleanliness was maintained in the subjects who participated in this study. However, in 22.0% of these women, the Streptococcus mutans accounted for 1% or more of the total oral Streptococcus count. Eight items that reduced the proportion of Streptococcus mutans in the total Streptococcus count were confirmed and included the following: “tooth-brushing time of 5 minutes or more” ; “absence of tooth pain” ; “absence of stimulation related to sweets” ; “saliva pH of 6.8 or higher” ; “having a dental checkup for pregnant women” ; “consciously brushing teeth” ; “confidence in brushing” ; and, “employment (housework and full-time work) ”.
Conclusion: The results of this study contribute to health education during pregnancy, in which health behavior may change as childbirth approaches, and may be useful for guiding appropriate oral health behavior.

In 1996 we started an early exposure program of nursing and care for medical school freshmen at University of Tsukuba. The program consisted of out-of-hospital practice and in-hospital practice; 195 medical students completed the program in the 1999-2000 academic year. We analyzed students' questionnaires about satisfaction with the program after each practice and studied better settings for early exposure. Students were randomized to three out-ofhospital settings (nursing home, facilities for the elderly, and home-visit nursing) and also randomized the order of the practice (in-hospital or out-of-hospital first). The mean satisfaction score for setting was the highest for the home-visit nursing and lowest for nursing homes. The mean satisfaction score for order of practice was higher when in-hospital practice was done first.

The need for medical team care is increasing because of advances in medical care and changing national needs. For more than 20 years medical students at the University of Tsukuba have participated in medical team care practice before bedside learning during the third trimester of their 4th year. The objective of this practice is to understand patients from the nurses' point of view and to learn cooperation between doctors and co-medical staff. We analyzed students reports to study what they had learned. A total of 326 items in 11 categories were specified in the free-response part of the reports. The largest category was “nursing/nurses” and the second largest was “communication/human relations.” The results show that the students learned points other than the General Instruction Objectives and that the practice was extremely effective.

Although attempts to teach medical students about nursing have become more frequent, nurses who have lectured to medical students and have been involved in their practical training have rarely published studies evaluating their training methods and objectives. This study was performed to clarify the significance and problems of such teaching. Nurses now participate in the education and training of medical students in at least half of medical training hospitals and schools. They thought that this is a unique and beneficial educational opportunity and had high expectations. However, four main problems have been identified: the motivation and attitudes of medical students, the time and environment for training, the understanding of clinicians, and the problems of nurses, such as lack of educational experience.

Background: Socioeconomic status (SES) is correlated with morbidity and mortality rates, in addition to people of a lower social status. Many of such people have health-related problems and do not undergo a regular health checkup or consult a medical practitioner. We investigated whether a correlation exists between SES, psychological state and the number of weeks of gestation at the time of the first examination. We clarified the influence of SES on the subjects’ life events (e.g. pregnancy and childbirth), in order to understand appropriate support measures.
Methods: A total of 151 female study subjects were selected from among women hospitalized for postpartum care, who underwent prenatal checkups, and delivered their children in the study center. Questionnaire surveys, one of which involved an interview, were conducted in a cross-sectional manner for the subjects’ during their pregnancy and in the postpartum period.
Results: The results show that women who perceived financial constraints showed a significantly stronger tendency to develop depression. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that women whose partners had an educational background of junior high school level underwent their first gestational examination at week 12 or later of pregnancy (odds ratio of 10.99, P = 0.001; 95% confidence interval, 3.15–86.79).
Conclusion: The present study suggests the importance of observing the correlation between SES and health among pregnant women, such that strategic interventional services can be provided to such persons.