Objectives: This study surveyed Japanese anesthesiologists’ knowledge of the cost of medicine and their attitudes toward cost containment to determine how these factors may affect their choice of medication and provide insight into reducing healthcare expenditures.Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, Japanese anesthesiologists’ knowledge of medicine prices and their attitudes toward cost containment were surveyed to identify barriers in lowering the cost of anesthesia. The proportion of participants who correctly guessed the cost of the five most frequently used types of drugs within 25% of the actual price was determined, and their attitudes regarding drug prices and barriers to achieving cost containment were analyzed.Results: In total, responses to 60 questionnaires were analyzed. The proportion of participants correctly guessing the price within 25% of the actual price for each of the five drug categories, including neuromuscular blocking agents, inhaled anesthetics, intravenous anesthetics, opioids, and neuromuscular blockade reversal agents, was 30% (n=18), 18.3% (n=11), 6.67% (n=4), 30.0% (n=18), and 63.3% (n=38), respectively. Participants believed they had adequate access to information on prices, that the cost of a product influenced their decisions regarding product use, and that more information about cost might change their use of the drugs but did not believe that they had adequate knowledge about product prices.Conclusion: The proportion of participants with acceptable price estimates is small. Educating anesthesiologists about the cost of anesthetic agents may be required to encourage cost-containing behaviors. This study is the first survey to assess Japanese anesthologists’ knowledge of the cost of medicines.

BACKGROUND: There is little data on the association between the lower nutrition represented by serum albumin levels and related factors in a general population. The present study aimed to determine whether the albumin level positioned as some kind of biomarker with frailty measures, trace elements, and an inflammation marker. METHODS: In 2018, we performed an epidemiological survey in 1368 subjects who resided in Tanushimaru, Japan, in which we examined the blood chemistry including albumin, trace elements, hormone levels, and carotid ultrasonography. Albumin levels were categorized into 4 groups (G1 [3.2-3.9 mg/dL], G2 [4.0-4.3 mg/dL], G3 [4.4-4.6 mg/dL], and G4 [4.7-5.3 mg/dL]). The participants underwent measurements of handgrip strength and were tested by asking to walk 5 m. Their cognitive functions were evaluated by the mini-mental state examination (MMSE). RESULTS: Multiple stepwise regression analysis demonstrated that albumin levels were significantly and independently associated with age (inversely), systolic blood pressures, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), MMSE score, frailty measures (handgrip strength), an inflammation marker (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein), hormones (growth hormone (inversely) and insulin-like growth factor-1), and trace elements (calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc), with a linear trend. CONCLUSIONS Lower albumin levels, even in the normal range, were found to be related factors of frailty measures, trace elements, and an inflammation marker in a general population.
Aged ; Albumins/metabolism* ; Biomarkers/blood* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Frailty/physiopathology* ; Hand Strength/physiology* ; Humans ; Inflammation/blood* ; Japan ; Male ; Trace Elements/blood*

BACKGROUND: A variety of dietary supplements are commercially available. However, the efficacy and safety of dietary supplement use in children are not well established. Understanding dietary supplement use is important for developing public health policy regarding dietary supplements. This study aimed to investigate the types of dietary supplements used and characteristics of dietary supplement users among Japanese elementary school children. METHOD: We conducted a cross-sectional web-based questionnaire study. Dietary supplement use, socio-demographics, and health-related behaviors were assessed through mother-reported questionnaire. Types of dietary supplements were identified based on ingredient using product barcodes and brand names. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate the socio-demographics and health-related behaviors associated with supplement use. RESULTS: Among 4933 children, 333 (6.8%) were identified as dietary supplement users. The most common supplement was amino acids or protein (1.4%), followed by n-3 fatty acids or fish oil (1.0%), probiotics (1.0%), multivitamins (0.9%), multivitamin-minerals (0.8%), and botanicals (0.8%). Overall, any dietary supplement use was significantly associated with the highest frequency of sports participation (odds ratio [OR], 2.58; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.65-4.02), highest household income (OR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.13-3.10), highest maternal educational level (OR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.31-2.52), and male sex (OR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.09-1.75). The highest frequency of sports participation was significantly associated with higher odds of use of amino acids or protein (OR, 6.06; 95% CI, 1.78-20.6) and multivitamins (OR, 3.56; 95% CI, 1.11-11.5), compared to the lowest frequency of sports participation. CONCLUSION This study showed that Japanese children primarily use non-vitamin, non-mineral supplements. Non-vitamin, non-mineral supplements should thus be included in future studies aimed at monitoring dietary supplement use. We also found that dietary supplement use in children was associated with sports participation. Guidelines for dietary supplement use for children, in particular sport participants, are needed.

BACKGROUND: Remnant-like particle cholesterol (RLP-C) is highly atherogenic, which is associated with atherosclerosis. However, RLP-C has not been routinely measured in the clinical practice. We estimated RLP-C levels using conventional lipid profiles and examined the association between estimated RLP-C and related factors including nutrient intake. METHODS: This study was performed in Uku town, Nagasaki prefecture, Japan in 2019. A total of 225 subjects were enrolled and directly measured RLP-C levels. Estimated RLP-C levels were defined as the following formula [total cholesterol - (LDL-cholesterol) - (HDL-cholesterol)]. Multivariate analyses were used to assess the relationship between estimated RLP-C and atherogenic factors. We calculated cut-off values on dichotomized RLP-C (< 7.5 mg/dL vs. ≥ 7.5 mg/dL) by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS: The mean values of directly measured RLP-C levels and estimated RLP-C were 4.0 mg/dL and 16.4 mg/dL, respectively. In the multiple stepwise linear regression analysis, directly measured and estimated RLP-C levels were independently and commonly associated with apolipoprotein E, triglycerides, and vegetable fat intake (inversely). Using ROC curves, we found the cut-off value of estimated RLP-C was 22.0 mg/dL. CONCLUSION We demonstrated that the estimated RLP-C levels using conventional lipid profiles may substitute for directly measured RLP-C and these levels were independently and inversely associated with vegetable fat intake in the community-dwelling Japanese population.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cholesterol/blood* ; Dietary Fats/blood* ; Female ; Humans ; Japan ; Lipids/blood* ; Lipoproteins/blood* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Triglycerides/blood* ; Vegetables

Objective: In order to ensure the safety of nursing home residents, it is very important to implement appropriate assistance to ensure compliance with necessary medication. The purpose of this study is to identify issues and to plan solutions for medication assistance.Design: We conducted a workshop involving care workers (CWs), nurses and pharmacists together.Methods: Using the KJ method, participants extracted problems related to medication assistance and planned solutions in a mixed group of CWs, nurses and pharmacists. Questionnaire surveys were conducted for the participants before, immediately after, and 3 months after the workshop.Results: A number of important and urgent issues related to medication assistance were identified. There were differences in the recognition patterns of the importance and urgency of the issues among the three categories of participants. In addition, many possible solutions were proposed. Among these solutions, 25% had been implemented by at least two participants. More than 75 % of participants felt that their awareness of the value of cooperation in medication assistance had been improved by participating in the workshop.Conclusion: These results suggest that a workshop with a group of CWs, nurses and pharmacists in one place is a useful approach for extracting problems and planning effective solutions related to cooperation in medication assistance.

Objective: To identify the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of pernicious anemia (PA) in patients treated at Miyagami hospital on Tokunoshima Island.

Methods: We evaluated 14 patients with PA who were enrolled and treated from March 2009 to May 2014.

Results: The majority of patients were older than 50 years of age and primarily consisted of elderly women. Routine medical examinations revealed macrocytic anemia in 6 of the 14 patients (43%), although they were clinically asymptomatic and subsequently diagnosed with PA. The average number of patients per year was reported to be 3 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.25-3.42).

Conclusions: The annual incidence of PA per 100,000 individuals on Tokunoshima Island is possibly much higher than that previously reported in Japan. An increase in the elderly population, a negligence of the disease, and an ethnic and regional diversity may explain this discrepancy. As the annual incidence of PA may be higher than that previously reported, anemia must be carefully evaluated in the differential diagnosis of PA.

Purpose：We evaluated that the current state from which a palliative care unit receives emergency admission of cancer patients at home. Methods：We retrospectively investigated the medical records of 393 cancer patients who hospitalized in our unit between January 2013 and December 2014. The patients were shared with a group of two, schedule admission (schedule group) and emergency admission (emergency group), and it was compared with a result on discharge and with a hospitalization period. We investigated admission process, the date and time of admission, and reason for admission in emergency group. Results：The number of patients was 224 of schedule group and 169 of emergency group. The mortality rates were 81% in schedule group and 78% in emergency group (not significant). An emergency group for an average of 24.3 days was shorter for 9 days than schedule groups in a hospitalization period of dead leaving patients (p<0.05). In emergency group, admission process included 128 completed-interviews with the hospitalization, 11 incompleted-interviews before admission and 30 first visits, and 129 patients (76％) admitted within the weekday daytime. Many patients had a complaint of severe pain, appetite loss and oral absorption difficulty, and so much. Conclusions：An emergency group admitted the various processes and the much symptom. There were a lot of cases of early hospital death, but also admitted return at home, and our unit played the role of emergency admission.

Objective: To develop and confirm the validity of a Biological Prognostic Score using only blood test results for prediction of prognosis in patients with advanced cancer. Methods: We conducted parametric survival time analysis using blood test results, age, sex, and primary diagnosis as independent variables, and event of death as a dependent variable, among patients in a palliative care unit (a development cohort). We then developed the Biological Prognostic Score (BPS). Thereafter, we confirmed the accuracy of the BPS and the Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI) prospectively among patients, who withdrew or withheld further curative or life-prolonging therapies, in other facilities (a validation cohort). Results: We developed the BPS, which consists of cholinesterase, blood urea nitrogen, and total iron-binding capacity, from 122 patients in a development cohort. We then examined 195 patients in a validation cohort and found that the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for 1-9 week survival prediction was BPS=0.76-0.86 and PPI=0.69-0.73. Discussion: Our results suggest that the BPS was valid. It will be necessary to perform further examinations in multiple facilities and to explore more generalized parameters that could replace total iron-binding capacity in our BPS.

Purpose: We evaluated the significance of support for leaving the palliative care unit temporarily in end-stage terminally ill cancer patients. Methods: We retrospectively investigated the medical records of 27 terminally ill cancer patients who died within 15 days after leaving our palliative care unit temporarily, between January 2011 and December 2012, and distributed a questionnaire to their bereaved family. Results: The age of the patients ranged from 29 to 91 years. Ten patients left the unit without stay and 17 left overnight. The destination of 24 patients was their home, while three had other destinations. For 11 patients, the main purpose of leaving the unit was to finish business, and for 9, was to see their houses once again. After returning to the hospital, the comments of 15 patients were affirmative, and those of 6 were negative. Questionnaire responses were obtained from 18 persons. Families reported anxiety regarding and difficulty with adaptation to the sudden change when the patients left the unit, apparatus support, patient transfer, and patient care. Conclusions: It was useful for the terminally ill cancer patients and their families to receive support when leaving the palliative care unit temporarily. Strategies to cope with the sudden change at the time of leaving the unit could help families feel reassured and secure.

Purpose: To investigate the indications for use of the Japanese version of the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP), we evaluated the conditions of patients using and those not using the LCP. Methods: We retrospectively investigated the medical records of 71 LCP patients and 60 non－LCP patients who died in our palliative care unit between March and December 2013. Results: There was no significant difference in patients’ background between the LCP and non－LCP groups. For patients in the non－LCP group, sudden changes in condition were significantly more frequent and deep continuous sedation was used significantly less than in the LCP group. In the LCP group, the average duration on the LCP was 4.0 days, and the beginning criterion was met by three－point or more of all the patients. The initial assessment was achieved except for one case. In the non－LCP group, reasons for not using the LCP were a sudden change in condition (35 patients), a rapid change in medical condition (14), and a risk of falling (4). Conclusions: The LCP met the beginning criterion and was started at suitable time in the LCP group. The LCP is not useful for all patients; it cannot be used for a patient with sudden or rapid changes in condition, or at a risk of falling.