1.Falls in a Nursing Healthcare Facility-special reference to the changes after the enforcement the start of nursing care insurance law
Keiichi SUDA ; Namiko KOJIMA ; Yasunori HASHIMOTO
Journal of the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine 2006;55(4):388-392
In April 2000, the nursing care insurance law was enforced in Japan. From April 1999 to March 2005, 162 residents including those receiving short-stay services in the Kamitsuga geriatic health services facility visited the hospital because of injuries resulting from falls. Thirty-one cases were diagnosed as fractures of femur, 13 as fractures of spine, 10 as fractures of upper extremities, 10 as fractures of rib and 3 as subdural hematomas. Fracture accounted for 48% of all cases, and femur accounted for 40% of all fracture cases. Annual hospital visits and hospitalization frequencies kept increasing up to 2001, then turned flat after 2002, and decreased in 2004. After 2002 we took the following measures, (1) individualized care, (2) small group care and (3) analysis of the behavior of inmates with an action chart for the first seven days. These measures resulted in the decrease of falls. After 2002 injuries to lower extremities decreased, but injuries to trunk increased. Generally Fractures of lower extremities prevails in the elderly of high-ADL (activity of daily life), and fractures of trunk prevails in the elderly of low-ADL. The above-mentioned three measures were effective for those of high-ADL, but ineffective for those of low-ADL. Other measures for those of low-ADL are necessary in the future.
Activities of Daily Living
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Fall, NOS
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Legal system
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Care given by nurses
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Insurance
2.Clinical significance of C-reactive protein in patients with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome
Youichi YANAGAWA ; Chihiro MAEKAWA ; Noriko TANAKA ; Namiko SUDA ; Kenji KAWAI ; Michika HAMADA ; Soichiro OTA
Journal of Rural Medicine 2025;20(2):66-70
Objective: To examine the clinical significance of elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in cases of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), with a particular focus on their role in predicting outcomes beyond that of previous reports.Patients and Methods: CRP values and SFTS case data retrieved from a PubMed search were extracted for analysis. For comparison, the subjects were divided into two groups based on their CRP levels: normal (CRP ≤0.3 mg/mL) and elevated (CRP >0.3 mg/dL).Results: Forty-four cases were identified: 25 with normal CRP levels and 19 with elevated CRP levels. In an univariate analysis, no significant differences were observed between the two groups with respect to age, sex, date of blood examination, white blood cell count, outcome, or lactate dehydrogenase, alanine transaminase, creatine, or ferritin levels. However, the normal group contained a higher proportion of women, and the incidence of other infectious diseases was relatively low.Conclusion: In cases of SFTS, a CRP level >0.3 mg/dL in the first collection indicates the potential for a mixed infection other than an SFTS-associated infection and male prevalence. Further prospective studies are necessary to confirm whether the findings of the present study are generalizable among patients with SFTS.