lllness Perceptions of Breast Cancer in Japanese Middle-and Early Old-Aged Women: Psychometric Properties of the Brief lllness Perception Questionnaire for Use in Diagnosing Breast Cancer in Japan.

Objectives: The present study was aimed at constructing the Japanese version of the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire for breast cancer (Brief IPQ-JBC), for use with Japanese middle- and early old-aged women who had not previously undergone mammography. We also examined the psychometric properties of the translated instrument. Methods: Patients were 824 middle- and early old-aged women living in all parts of Japan, who completed surveys on the Internet in January 2014. Of these, 282 had not previously undergone mammography and were included in this study, completing the Internet survey again, six months later, in July 2014.The participants were evaluated on the basis of a battery of questionnaires comprising demographic details, the tentative version of the Brief IPQ-JBC, the Japanese version of the Illness Perception Questionnaire (J-IPQ), Self-Directedness subscale from the Japanese version of the Temperament and Character Inventory-125 items, perceived breast cancer risk, and anticipated worry about breast cancer. Results: The Brief IPQ-JBC was found to have good long-term test-retest reliability, as well as concurrent validity with the J-IPQ. The scale also showed good construct validity, based on the results of a path model using structural equation modeling, thus supporting the theoretical perspective of the common-sense model of self-regulation. Conclusion: We have validated the Brief-JBC in a sample of Japanese middle- and earlyold-aged women and believe our results will be useful for subsequent research.

The Relationship between Identity and Mental Health for Successful Aging in Old-Aged Women

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explain what the relationship is between identity and psychological well-being and how these are related to successful aging of old-aged women. METHODS: The subjects were thirty females above 60 years old in the first study where we interviewed each ten subjects for 2 hours in three groups. In the second study we surveyed 320 old-aged men and women by questionnaire for about 15 minutes. RESULTS: From focus-group interview we found the freedom from everything in life was perceived as an important change in old-aged women. But their identity was mainly derived from family relationship in aspects of economy and/or care of their grandson/-daughter. The results from analyses of questionnaire survey (n=320) were as follows ; first, women were more positive than men (female 63.1% versus male 56.5%) in the evaluation of their past life. Second, women were also more positive (female 23.7% versus male 15.2%) in the expectation for the future. Third, the successful aging had positive relationships with acceptance for aging, cohabitation with family members, income, female gender and age (65-69 years) ; and negative relationships with stress and loneliness/depression, but no relationships with decreased memory and poor sleep. CONCLUSION: We concluded that identity for the successful aging in old-aged women is mainly derived from family relationship.

Vitamin D status and its effect on bone mineral density of the middle and old aged women in the urban area of Guiyang / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

Objective To evaluate vitamin D status of the middle and old aged women in the urban area of Guiyang,and to explore the impact of vitamin D status on the bone mineral density.Methods A total of 511 healthy women,aged 40 to 79 years old,living in one of the urban communities in Guiyang,were selected by means of stratified cluster sampling.The levels of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25 (OH) D] and intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) were detected by radioimmunoassay.In addition,the bone mineral density (BMD) of hip,lumbar vertebrae 1-4 (L1-4),and neck of left femur were detected by Dual energy X ray absorptiometry.Results The average serum level of 25(OH)D in all subjects was (21.3 ± 7.9) ng/ml and that of iPFH was (29.3 ± 16.5) pg/ml.Severe deficiency [25 (OH) D＜ 10 ng/ml],deficiency [10 ≤ 25 (OH) D＜20 ng/ml],insufficiency [20 ≤ 25 (OH) D ≤ 30ng/ml],and sufficiency [25 (OH) D＞ 30 ng/ml] of vitamin D were ascertained in 5.3％,42.3％,37.9％,and 14.5％ of the total cases respectively.The morbidity of secondary hyperparathyroidism was 4.7％.The level of 25 (OH) D was positively correlated with the BMD of L1-4 and neck of left femur (both P＜0.01).The level of iPTH was negatively correlated with BMD of neck of left femur and L1-4 (both P＜0.05).Conclusion The majority of middle and old aged women in the urban area of Guiyang city were found to be of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency.Vitamin D status is positively correlated with BMD at lumbar spine and proximal femur.Serum 25 (OH) level below 20 ng/ml is associated with raised parathyroid hormone,which increases the risk of osteoporosis.

A Evaluation Study on Nutrient Intake Status and Diet Quality of Middle and Old Aged Vegetarian Women in Korea / 대한지역사회영양학회지

The purpose of this study was to evaluate on nutrient intake status and diet quality of middle and old aged vegetarian women in Korea. The research group was composed of vegetarian women (n = 91), all of them were Seven Day Adventists, who had been on vegetarian diets, over 20 yrs. Their anthropometric measurements, dietary intakes, and diet quality indices were compared to omnivores (n = 122). The average age of vegetarians and omnivores were 61.8 yrs and 60.3 yrs, respectively. The mean daily energy intakes of vegetarians and omnivores were 1428.8 kcal and 1424.5 kcal, respectively and there was no significant difference. The vegetarians consumed significantly lower intakes of protein (p<0.05), zinc (p<0.001) and vitamin B2 (p<0.05) compared to omnivores. In the diet quality, zinc and vitamin B2 nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR) of vegetarians were significantly lower than those of omnivores. Mean adequacy ratio (MAR) of vegetarians and omnivores were 0.80 and 0.77, respectively and there was no significant difference. The KDDS (Korean's Dietary Diversity Score) of vegetarians and omnivores were 3.7 and 4.0, respectively, and there was significant difference (p<0.01). The KDQI (Korean's Diet Quality Index) of vegetarians (1.5) was significantly lower than that (2.1) of omnivores (p<0.001). In conclusion, vegetarian women have low intake status of protein, zinc and vitamin B2, and partly low diet quality. Therefore it was needed that well planed diets to replace the nutrients supplied from excluded food groups in middle and old aged vegetarian women.