BackgroundThe purpose of this paper is to describe the features of the Interaction Rating Scale (IRS) as an evidence-based practical index of children’s social skills and parenting.MethodsThe participants in our study, which was conducted as part of a Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) project, were 370 dyads of children (aged 18, 30, and 42 month) and 81 dyads of 7-year-old children with their caregivers. The participants completed the five minute interaction session and were observed using the IRS.ResultsThe results indicated that the IRS can measure children’s social skill development and parenting with high validity. Along with the discriminate validity for pervasive development disorder (PDD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), abuse and maltreatment, a high correlation with the SDQ (Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire), and high reliability, the IRS is effective in describing features of social skill development.ConclusionsThe IRS provides further evidence of the fact that in order to study children’s social skill development, it is important to evaluate various features of the caregiver-child interaction as a predictor of social skills.

BackgroundUnderstanding patterns of health service utilization can improve health care and increase use of health services. We examined patterns of health service utilization among residents of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.MethodsA total of 500 adults were surveyed using paper-based questionnaires. The χ2 test and multiple logistic regression were used to identify associations between factors.Results44.1% of respondents had visited a physician during the previous 12 months. After controlling for determinants, the significant predictors of utilization of health service were attention to health examinations (OR = 3.6, CI: 1.93–6.76), being married (OR = 2.7, CI: 1.50–4.72), being satisfied with the overall cleanliness of the hospital (OR = 2.4, CI: 1.12–5.19), being a nonsmoker (OR = 2.2, CI: 1.21–3.98), having periodic physical examinations (OR = 2.2, CI: 1.25–3.71), not being a hospital patient during the previous 3 years (OR = 2.1, CI: 1.22–3.73), having proper documentation (OR = 1.9, CI: 1.10–3.43), having medical insurance (OR = 1.9, CI: 1.96–3.28), not wanting to receive information on food and nutrition (OR = 0.6, CI: 0.36–0.96), having more than 5 household members (OR = 0.5, CI: 0.50–0.85), low income (OR = 0.5, CI: 0.30–0.85), lack of concern for food and nutrition (OR = 0.5, CI: 0.28–0.84), self-medication during the past 12 months (OR = 0.4, CI: 0.24–0.69), and desire for treatment abroad (OR = 0.4, CI: 0.20–0.60).ConclusionsA number of health-related behaviors and sociodemographic factors were important predictors of health service utilization.

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