[Determinant factors encouraging work motivation: a study of care staff working in health services facilities for elderly people].

PURPOSE: Work motivation among care workers influences the quality of care for facility residents. The purpose of this study was to identify related factors in care staff. METHOD: Sixty hundred and seven care staff working at 25 health services facilities for elderly people participated in this study. We applied a theoretically derived model of specific relationships among work motivation, jobsatisfaction, profession identity, job competence, interprofessional working and profession image. These factor relationships were then tested using a structural equation modeling technique. RESULTS: Profession identity, job competence and the profession image of caring were shown to have direct influences on work motivation. In addition, job satisfaction, inter professional working, profession images of nursing and rehabilitation responsibilities were shown to have indirect influences. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that improving profession identity, job competence and the profession image of caring are important to enhance work motivation of care staff.

Effects of hormone replacement therapy and hepatic lipase polymorphism on serum lipid profiles in postmenopausal Japanese women.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationships among hepatic lipase (HL) polymorphism, serum lipids, lipoproteins, and remnant-like particle cholesterol (RLP-C) and to determine the effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). We assessed the HL polymorphism in 209 postmenopausal Japanese women. Levels of serum total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, apolipoprotein (Apo) AI, Apo B, Apo E, Apo CII, Apo CIII, and RLP-C were measured before and after 3 months of HRT. The frequency of each genotype was 32% for -514 C/C, 41% for C/T, and 27% for T/T. Subjects with the C/T and T/T genotypes had higher levels of HDL cholesterol and Apo AI than those with the C/C genotype. Those with the T/T genotype had higher levels of RLP-C than those with the C/C or C/T genotype. Serum total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, Apo B, Apo E, and Apo CII were decreased, and HDL cholesterol and Apo AI were increased significantly in all genotypes after 3 months of HRT. There were no differences in these changes with genotype. The HL polymorphism was associated with higher levels of HDL cholesterol, Apo AI, and RLP-C, and the HL gene variation may contribute to HL activity and affect serum lipoprotein metabolism. Effects of HRT on serum lipids, lipoproteins, and remnant lipoprotein metabolism were unaffected by the HL polymorphism.