[Sleep quality and mental well-being of mothers caring for children with disabilities and requiring oxygen therapy and night care at home].

Objectives　This study aimed to 1) determine what kind of care for children with disabilities is related to the mothers' sleep and mental well-being and 2) objectively measure the sleep state of mothers responsible for children with disabilities.Methods　A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 180 mothers of children enrolled in the Special Needs Education School in prefecture A. Amongst these, nine who provided consent underwent objective sleep measurements using actigraphy. The questionnaire investigated the lifestyle and the type of care needed for children with disabilities and their influence on the mothers. Subjective sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) and mental well-being status (General Health Questionnaire) of the mothers were also evaluated. Logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the background factors affecting sleep quality and mental health.Results　Of the 180 participants, 84 (46.7%) provided valid responses. Fifty-two (64.2%) and 34 (42.0%) individuals subjectively reported poor sleep quality and poor mental well-being, respectively. Mothers having responsibilities of oxygen therapy and night care reported significantly poor sleep quality and mental well-being. Moreover, objective sleep measurements showed that the changes in the child's physical condition, such as ventilator management, epileptic seizures, and fever, resulted in prolonged waking times and affected the sleep efficiency of the mother.Conclusion　Responsibilities toward providing oxygen therapy and night care for their children with disabilities influenced the sleep quality and mental well-being of the mothers. Thus, it is important to provide support to mothers caring such disabled children.

Positive Deviance: Frequent Blood Pressure Monitoring Among Non-hypertensive Middle-aged Women in Rural Indonesia.

BACKGROUND: In Indonesia, as in many low and middle-income countries, hypertension is a significant health issue. Community health nurses need to identify those with early onset of hypertension by promoting frequent blood pressure (BP) checks, even among those with normal BP. Positive deviance approaches focus on identifying people who undertake uncommon preventive actions. Among middle-aged women in rural West Java, Indonesia, we aimed to identify covariates of the positive deviant practice of having one's BP checked at least once every three months even when having normal BP.  Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey recruiting participants at health centers. Our structured questionnaire measured socio-demographic characteristics, frequency of BP checks, BMI, beliefs and practices. We used binomial logistic regression to identify covariates. RESULTS: Among 520 participants, 265 had normal BP, and of those 156 had obtained frequent BP checks, making them positive deviants. For women with normal BP, significant covariates of obtaining frequent BP checks were: 1) having BMI ≥25.0 (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)  =2.57, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.39-4.78), 2) greater tendency to seek health information (AOR=1.13, 95% CI=1.03-1.24), 3) receiving less support from family members (AOR=0.87, 95% CI=0.77-0.97), and 4) receiving greater support from health volunteers (AOR=1.12, 95% CI=1.01-1.23). CONCLUSION: Positive deviants were more likely to be proactive because of the convergence of their own individual-level tendencies to learn about  their health, family-level conditions that allowed for greater autonomy, and community-level capacity of health volunteers to provide them with support. Community health nurses should focus simultaneously on activating individual-level, family-level, and community-level capacity to prevent hypertension.

Association between first airborne cedar pollen level peak and pollinosis symptom onset: a web-based survey.

Cedar pollinosis in Japan affects nearly 25 % of Japanese citizens. To develop a treatment for cedar pollinosis, it is necessary to understand the relationship between the time of its occurrence and the amount of airborne cedar pollen. In the spring of 2009, we conducted daily Internet-based epidemiologic surveys, which included 1453 individuals. We examined the relationship between initial date of onset of pollinosis symptoms and daily amount of airborne cedar pollen to which subjects were exposed. Approximately 35.2 % of the subjects experienced the onset of pollinosis during a one-week interval in which the middle day coincided with the peak pollen count. The odds ratio for this one-week time interval was 4.03 (95 % confidence interval: 3.34-4.86). The predicted date of the cedar pollen peak can be used to determine the appropriate date for initiation of self-medication with anti-allergy drugs and thus avoid development of sustained and severe pollinosis.

Prevalence of insomnia among residents of Tokyo and osaka after the great East Japan earthquake: a prospective study.

BACKGROUND: The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011. Tokyo and Osaka, which are located 375 km and 750 km, respectively, from the epicenter, experienced tremors of 5.0 lower and 3.0 seismic intensity on the Japan Meteorological Agency scale. The Great East Japan Earthquake was the fourth largest earthquake in the world and was accompanied by a radioactive leak at a nuclear power plant and a tsunami. In the aftermath of a disaster, some affected individuals presented to mental health facilities with acute stress disorder (ASD) and/or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, few studies have addressed mental stress problems other than ASD or PTSD among the general public immediately after a disaster. Further, the effects of such a disaster on residents living at considerable distances from the most severely affected area have not been examined. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to prospectively analyze the effect of a major earthquake on the prevalence of insomnia among residents of Tokyo and Osaka. METHODS: A prospective online questionnaire study was conducted in Tokyo and Osaka from January 20 to April 30, 2011. An Internet-based questionnaire, intended to be completed daily for a period of 101 days, was used to collect the data. All of the study participants lived in Tokyo or Osaka and were Consumers' Co-operative Union (CO-OP) members who used an Internet-based food-ordering system. The presence or absence of insomnia was determined before and after the earthquake. These data were compared after stratification for the region and participants' age. Multivariate analyses were conducted using logistic regression and a generalized estimating equation. This study was conducted with the assistance of the Japanese CO-OP. RESULTS: The prevalence of insomnia among adults and minors in Tokyo and adults in Osaka increased significantly after the earthquake. No such increase was observed among minors in Osaka. The overall adjusted odds ratios for the risk of insomnia post-earthquake versus pre-earthquake were 1.998 (95% CI 1.571-2.542) for Tokyo, 1.558 (95% CI 1.106-2.196) for Osaka, and 1.842 (95% CI,1.514-2.242) for both areas combined. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of insomnia increased even in regions that were at a considerable distance from the epicenter. Both adults and minors in Tokyo, where the seismic intensity was greater, experienced stress after the earthquake. In Osaka, where the earthquake impact was milder, disturbing video images may have exacerbated insomnia among adults.