The purpose of the present study was to translate and modify the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre (OSTRC) overuse injury questionnaire into Japanese and validate it among Japanese athletes through a longitudinal survey. A modified back-translation method was used to translate the questionnaire from English to Japanese. The longitudinal survey was performed in 29 female college swimmers who were followed up for more than 24 consecutive weeks. The response rate to the 24 weekly questionnaires was 88.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 85.2–92.3). Internal consistency was measured by using Cronbach’s alpha (0.73 (0.69–0.77)). The anatomical areas most frequently affected by overuse injuries were the lower back (average weekly prevalence: 27.6%, 95% CI: 25.1–30.1), shoulder (16.0%, 95% CI: 13.7–18.2), knee (9.9%, 95% CI: 7.7–12.0), and ankle (9.0%, 7.6–10.5). The severity score showed that knee (22.5, range: 6–65), ankle (21.5, range: 6–67), and lower back (20.7, range: 6–80) injuries had the greatest impact. The Japanese version of the modified OSTRC overuse injury questionnaire demonstrated reliability and validity based on the results of internal consistency and trend of injury of the swimmers. The participants in the present study did not have substantial injuries or time-loss injuries and continued practicing and competing, despite these minor injuries. Although knee and ankle injuries do not occur as often as lower back and shoulder injuries, these injuries often had a greater impact on swimmers when they did occur.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the presence of visiting lecturer-guided class on children's knowledge of cancer prevention and perceptions of cancer patients, conducting surveys before and after the cancer education classes at local elementary schools that are pioneering cancer education. We implemented self-administered questionnaire surveys with 571 sixth-grade children at nine elementary schools receiving cancer education in the Tokyo metropolitan area from September 2013 to February 2014. The surveys were conducted twice in each classroom: 1 week before the cancer education class and 1 week after. The questionnaire items included participants' gender, cancer prevention information, and perceptions of cancer patients with the following description: "looks pitiful," "always depressed," "bedridden and hospitalized," "excessive smoking and drinking," "looks thin and pale," "no visible change despite cancer," and "always bright and cheerful." Children who had not attended the cancer education day, or had not completed both the pre- and post-test, were excluded from the analysis. Regardless of whether there visiting lecturer-guided class was provided, the possibility of improving children's knowledge of cancer prevention was demonstrated. On the other hand, in the post-class surveys, compared to the group with visiting lecturer-guided class, the group without it had a significantly lower percentage of persons selecting "Looks pitiful" (76.2%/63.5%, p = 0.002) and significantly higher percentages for "Too much smoking and drinking," and "Looks thin and pale" (50.2%/63.5%, p = 0.002; 18.8%/31.1%, p = 0.001). Therefore, study is needed into cancer education coordinated with relevant institutions in order to more effectively utilize visiting lecturers and the like.

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Abstract Background The stigma associated with cancer has negative impacts on cancer patients as well as the general public, who have a potential risk of cancer. To the best of our knowledge, a validated measure to assess cancer stigma among the general Japanese population does not exist. Method We translated the Cancer Stigma Scale (CASS) — a 25-item self-administered scale to evaluate stigma related to cancer — into Japanese and examined its psychometric properties. The Japanese version of CASS (J-CASS) was validated among a sample of the general Japanese population through an online survey to validate its test–retest reliability, internal consistency, and concurrent validity. Results A total of 319 responses were included in the analysis. An exploratory factor analysis eliminated two original items but showed a six-factor model (Awkwardness, Severity, Avoidance, Policy Opposition, Personal Responsibility, and Financial Discrimination), which was similar to the original scale. Cronbach's alpha for each factor was satisfactory, ranging from 0.81 to 0.91. The internal correlation coefficients were above 0.70, except for Policy Opposition. The total and subtotal scores of each factor of the J-CASS were significantly associated with respondents’ age, gender, familiarity with cancer patients, and social desirability, demonstrating the scales’ good concurrent validity. A substantial proportion of the participants selected “unsure” for some items of the scale, suggesting a further need for refining the scale. Significance of results This study demonstrated that J-CASS is a reliable and valid measure for evaluating misconceptions and stigma toward cancer in the general Japanese population.

Objective The objective of this study was to determine cancer understanding among Japanese primary and secondary school students. Methods The study design was a cross-sectional nationwide survey using a self-administered questionnaire. The prefecture with the lowest student population was set to 1, and that with the highest student population was set to 18 for elementary schools and 19 for junior high and high schools based on the ratio of the student population. In this way, 213 elementary schools, 222 junior high schools, and 208 high schools were selected from all 47 prefectures in Japan, and questionnaires were sent to each school. The questionnaire listed the names of 15 cancers and asked respondents to choose one answer from three: ''Never heard of,'' ''Heard of/ Don't understand,'' or ''Heard of/Understand.'' Results Response rates for schools were 44.1 % (n = 94) for elementary schools, 46.4 % (n = 103) for junior high schools, and 55.8 % (n = 116) for high schools. A total of 8,876 questionnaires were used for the analysis. Our survey suggests that the most commonly understood types of cancer differed by grade, with lung cancer the most commonly understood in elementary school, leukemia in junior high schools, and breast cancer in high schools. Girls tended to demonstrate greater cancer understanding than boys, with particularly large differences by gender in rates of understanding of breast and uterine cancer at each assessed grade level. Conclusions Here, we examined Japanese primary and secondary school students. Marked differences in cancer recognition by grade and gender suggest that educational efforts are needed at various grade levels and gender-specific cancer education. Further, more than 50 % of students at any school level were not familiar with most cancers. It suggests that cancer education is deficient.