Introduction: We started the gender-specific clinic for women to provide sufficient treatment for female patients. The purpose of this study was to clarify the characteristics of patients using the gender-specific clinic for women, and to assess the association among depression, physical and mental subjective symptoms.Methods: This observational study included female patients aged 16-84 years who visited our clinic between June 2012 and December 2015 (N=97). In addition to general attributes, we collected data on physical and mental symptoms, and depression status using the Cornell Medical Index (CMI) and Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), respectively, at the first visit. We conducted analyses to assess patient characteristics and the association between subjective symptoms and depression, and between physical and mental symptoms by estimating odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).Results: The average age of subjects was 50.4 years. The average CMI score was 42.7 points and 55.9% of the subjects were suggested to be neurotic. The average SDS score was 45.0 points and 64.0% of them were suggested to be depressed. The association with depression by SDS was observed in subjective symptoms of CMI such as fatigue (OR [95%CI]: 7.66 [2.26-25.99], p-value: 0.001) and anxiety (OR [95%CI]: 11.73 [1.80-∞], p-value: 0.006). Physical symptoms in the cardiovascular system were positively association with some mental symptoms such as tension.Conclusion: As female patients often have mental symptoms, it is essential for doctors engaging in gender-specific medicine for women to approach patients while considering psychological and mental aspects.

No abstract available.
Granuloma* ; Platelet-Rich Plasma*

Background: Blood culture is an essential examination for diagnosis of causative microorganisms and determination of optimal antimicrobials in serious cases of infectious diseases. We examined temporal trends in the number and multiplicities of blood culture submission, two pre-analytic parameters indicating quality of the examination, in the Minami Ibaraki Area.
Methods: We reviewed all computerized and available paper-based laboratory records of microbiological examination in five hospitals in the area between 2002 and 2011.
Results: Blood culture submissions, estimated to be 2.4–7.3 (median: 5.1) sets per hospital bed, 8.6–23 (17) per 1,000 inpatient-days, and 0.13–0.41 (0.25) per newly admission in 2011, almost constantly increased during the study period in all hospitals. Proportions of blood specimens to all materials for microbiological cultures also increased up to 15–30% (20%) in 2011. In contrast, it was not until the latter half of the study period that solitary submission, accounting for 26–56% (35%) in 2011, decreased. Positive blood cultures were between 11 and 28% through the study period. Coagulase-negative staphylococci accounted for approximately one fourth of recovered organisms in 2006 and 2011.
Conclusion: Frequency and multiplicity of blood culture submission markedly increased in hospitals in the Minami-Ibaraki Area of Japan.