This study calculated risk scores associated with cerebral stroke onset by adding the scores of individual risk factors (sex, age, BMI, history of smoking, and presence or absence of diabetes and hypertension) in individuals who underwent medical check-up of the brain at a community medical support hospital, in order to obtain the supporting data for the promotion of primary preventive behaviors in individuals who underwent this specific medical check-up. Subjects were 1,426 individuals aged 40-60 years, comprising 798 men (56.0%) and 628 women (44.0%), who underwent medical check-up of the brain at the a community medical support hospital in southern Akita Prefecture between April 1, 2009 and August 30, 2013. Risk scores were not significantly different between men and women but were significantly higher in women with unruptured cerebral aneurysm than in women without (29.0±8.3 vs 22.00±8.9, p<0.001). Furthermore, scores of individual risk factors (age, BMI, history of smoking, diabetes, and blood pressure) were higher in individuals with unruptured aneurysm irrespective of sex (p<0.001). The findings of this study provide useful information demonstrating that obtaining risk scores in individuals who underwent medical check-up of the brain leads to better understanding of their lifestyle, the proportion of smokers, and the presence or absence of diabetes, obesity, and hypertension, all of which serve as a solid base in giving health instruction on the primary behaviors that prevent cerebral stroke.

　　In this study, to determine the future direction of nursing, we studied the effect of living with a sibling with a brain disorder using two internet search engines: The Japan Medical Abstracts Society website and the National Institute of Informatics site CiNii. A literature search was conducted by setting the publication time as the period between 1983 and 2015, using “brain disorder”, “nursing”, “siblings” and other terms as keywords. Analysis of 26 articles extracted in our literature search revealed that many of the studies were conducted in the fields of sociology and education and were about stress in the primary caregiver or family members of individuals with a brain disorder. On the other hand, studies focusing on the care of individuals with a brain disorder were about self-care, accidental falls, difficulties and negative feelings felt by nurses who supported individuals with a brain disorder, and caregiver satisfaction or burden scales of family members or the primary caregiver. However, none of the studies investigated siblings of individuals with a brain disorder, who live and age together and whose responsibility is different from that of parents or children, thus requiring different informational and emotional support. Taking into account the special features of individuals with a brain disorder and findings in other academic areas, we believe it is important to establish a system to support the siblings of individuals with a brain disorder, in addition to the direct family members and primary caregivers.

As social conditions change, public health nurses with extensive practical skills should ideally be trained to meet social needs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate educational methods for public health nursing at Nursing School A from student self-evaluations using the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's “Practical Competencies for Public Health Nurses and Achievement Level at Graduation” (hereinafter, “Practical Competencies assessment”) as well as other measures selected by the researchers. Students completed a questionnaire comprising 71 questions from the Practical Competencies and 3 questions on their' aspirations as a public health nurse before and after a public health nursing practicum course, and the results were compared. After the course, students were also asked to answer 8 questions related to group topic reports that were selected independently by researchers. The purpose of the study was explained to the participants in writing and their consent to participate was obtained. Responses were obtained from 53 students who selected the public health nursing track at Nursing School A (response rate and valid response rate both 100.0%). Achievement of competencies according to the Practical Competencies assessment did not differ significantly after the course, and the competency that was achieved by less than 70% of students was “III. Health crisis management”. Going forward, it will be necessary to examine curriculum and teaching methods used at the school to further enrich public health nursing education. The results also showed that students' aspirations as public health nurses after their practicum were to develop a nursing perspective and techniques unique to public health nursing and to expand the career options for public health nurses in the future, rather than simply to obtain the professional qualification. The results also suggested that preparing group topic reports greatly influences students by promoting group dynamics between students and proactive engagement with faculty and leadership.