The purpose of this study was to investigate the factorial structure of life satisfaction in agricultural workers. One hundred and sixty−five (87 males and 78 females) agricultural workers mainly engaged in plastic greenhouse cultivation in southern Japan, ranging in age from 19 to 72 years (mean = 44.3 years), completed a questionnaire. Scores of life satisfaction showed a higher tendency in males than in females, and those in elders were higher than in younger people. Conversely, females showed higher stress scores than males, and younger people’s score were higher than the elders. Multiple regression analysis was performed to analyze the factorial structure of satisfaction. It is suggested that the level of life satisfaction is positively related to social support, and is negatively related to the impact of stressful life events, globally perceived stress and subjective symptoms of ill health. Stress levels depended on factors concerning the psychological demands of work, work posture, work hours and work environment. Different factorial structures were observed between female and male workers. Findings from this study suggest that a strong social support network may assist in enhancing life satisfaction. Furthermore, the ill health and stress experienced in agricultural work were associated with a reduced life satisfaction.
life satisfaction ; seconds ; Agricultural Workers ; Work ; Satisfaction

This study was conducted to determine whether the regional factors were related to the increase in the percentage of low birthweight(LBW: <2, 500g) infants in Kumamoto Pref., and to establish a tentative structure model for predicting low birthweight infants. Analyses for frequency of LBW infants between 1974 and 1997, and a multiple regression model and covariance structure model were conducted using data from the vital statistics between 1992 and 1997 and regional indicators concerned with LBW infants from official registered statistical data between 1992 and 1997. The 72 regional factors were clustered into four groups linked with agricultural areas such as Urban, Flat, Hilly and Mountainous areas. The recent increase in the incidence of LBW infants resulted from the increase in moderate−LBW(MLBW: 2, 000−2, 500g) infants of full term−LBW infants. There was a steady annual increase in the Urban agricultural area LBW infants since 1992. The two structure analyses revealed that the Urban area had a marked effect on the increase in LBW infants, whereas, farm villages in Hilly or Moutainous areas had less effect on the increase in LBW infants. These findings suggest that the regional factors relating to the mothers’ life−style or regional environments play a key role in the etiology and prevention of LBW, and will be a useful in the analyses using official registered material.
Birth Weight ; Urban brand of Al hydroxide/Mg hydroxide/simethicone ; structure ; Models ; Analysis

Introduction: We report a case of dyspnea in the patient with end-stage heart failure with renal insufficiency, which was refractory and was successfully controlled with intravenous fentanyl. Case: The patient was a 76-year-old man with dilated cardiomyopathy who repeatedly had been in and out of the hospital. He was admitted to the hospital because of heart failure exacerbation and treated with all available heart failure therapies, but his dyspnea was refractory. We implemented the team-based palliative care intervention and used intravenous fentanyl as a substitute for morphine due to renal insufficiency. His dyspnea was relieved in dose-dependent without heart failure recovery. Conclusion: In this case, we used intravenous fentanyl to relieve dyspnea in patients with end-stage heart failure. Under careful observation, fentanyl may be used as an alternative drug to relieve dyspnea in patients with end-stage heart failure.

OBJECTIVESTo analyze actual conditions of the quality of life (QOL) in junior high school students, we developed a questionnaire based on the PRECEDE-PROCEED model, and we conducted a survey by using this questionnaire.

METHODSWe conducted a workshop organized with 29 specialists on school health and community health to develop the questionnaire. The QOL outcome was assessed by the QOL Profile-Adolescent Version (QOLPAV). The subjects of the questionnaire surveys were 1600 general students in four junior high schools. To investigate a correlation between QOLPAV, behaviors and three enhancing factors, two different multiple regression models were constructed.

RESULTSThe question battery for QOLPAV was found to be a high value of Chronbach's α. Among present subjects, 16.5% were categorized as "problematic" or "very problematic" classified by QOLPAV scores. In the first multiple regression model, significantly high odds ratios were obtained between the QOLPAV and 4 questions for behaviors, such as "studying with high motivation" (OR 1.64), "getting along well with my friends" (2.72), "having things I am interested in" (1.70), and "making my own decisions" (1.80). In the second model, significantly high odds ratios were obtained commonly between the above 4 questions about behaviors and 2 questions on enabling factors, such as "easy to understand lessons" (1.32-1.71) and "speaking to friends easily" (1.30-3.22).

CONCLUSIONS1) We developed a questionnaire to analyze the actual condition of QOL in junior high school students with sufficient validity and availability. 2) Among the present subjects, 16.5% were found to be problematic QOLPAV, 3) Among the factors of behaviors, those representing positive willing and high coping ability with the elements of each school life contributed significantly to the QOLPAV. And among enhancing factors, "enabling factors" and "reinforcing factors" were stronger contributors to the behaviors strongly related to the QOLPAV than that of "predisposing factors".

The need for palliative care for heart failure patients has been attracting attention, but the system for providing such care is not yet fully established in Japan. Iizuka Hospital is a 1048-bed acute care hospital located in Fukuoka, Japan. The Heart Support Team (HST) was established to provide palliative care for heart failure at the hospital. After the HST was launched in May 2017, 168 referrals for palliative care intervention for heart failure patients by March 2022. Twenty-five (14.8%) met the intervention cases’ additional palliative care treatment criteria. The Integrated Palliative Outcome Scale was administered to 11 consecutive patients from April 1 to 30, 2021. In establishing and operating the HST, the challenge was recruiting, training, and creating a system to sustain the system. Creating the HST in collaboration with staff specializing in palliative care, psychiatric care, and cardiovascular specialists was the first step in establishing a method for palliative care to heart failure patients in an acute care hospital.