The realization of positive life influences resulting from the experience of chronic illness has been conceptualized as "benefit-finding". This study of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis in Japan aimed to describe the nature of benefit finding; examine its predictive social factors and evaluate its impact on mental health. A web-based questionnaire was conducted, with valid responses obtained from 364 persons aged 20-59 years. The results indicated that a majority of the participants reported engaging in some type of benefit-finding. "Developing compassion towards others" and "an appreciation of things not previously important" were the most commonly reported. The patients reporting larger emotional support networks and those performing more self-care activities reported achieving higher levels of benefit-finding. Of all the factors examined, benefit-finding was the most significant predictor of mental health. These results expand the base of knowledge regarding living with rheumatoid arthritis and offer practical suggestions for the promotion of well-being.

In this study we sought to demonstrate the reliability and validity of the Japanese Herth Hope Index (HHI) 12, a psychometric instrument for measuring hope, in a general urban population, and to investigate factors correlated with the HHI score. Anonymous written surveys were collected from 255 male and female residents living in Tokyo "N" ward and Saitama "T" township aged 20-69. The Cronbach a coefficient was 0.89, and confirmatory factor analysis showed three-dimensionality. We also observed hope to strongly correlate with having reasons for living and benefit-finding, confirming the reliability and validity of the Japanese HHI scale. Mean HHI score was 35.5. Stratified multi ple linear regression analysis on factors which correlated with the HHI score showed HHI scores to correlate positive with age, the presence of a spouse, and sufficient psychosocial support. We also found that younger subjects receiving sufficient social support enjoyed HHI scores equivalent to older subjects, while women's higher HHI scores appeared attributable to extensive social support networks. No correlation was observed with adverse experiences or history of illness. This study shows that HHI scores in the general urban population are not unexpectedly high compared with pre viously studied subjects with serious disease, that advanced age correlates with higher HHI scores, and that receipt of social support may mediate positive influences on the HHI score.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the protective effect of seasonal influenza vaccination on the development of influenza-like illness (ILI), as well as to investigate factors related to the development of ILI among patients in a Japanese dialysis facility. One hundred eighty-three hemodialysis (HD) patients were followed up from November 2008 to March 2009. During the follow-up period, 17 patients developed ILI. We compared the characteristics of these 17 patients to patients without ILI. Compared to the non-ILI group (N = 166), the ILI group (N = 17) showed a non-significantly lower rate of influenza vaccination (70.6% vs. 86.7%, P = 0.07), while any other factor did not differ between the two groups. Influenza vaccination tended to reduce the risk of ILI (Odds ratio = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.12 to 1.14, P = 0.07). The findings of the present study suggested that the influenza vaccine was 60% effective to prevent ILI among HD patients, although the effectiveness was not statistically significant.

Aims Workplace safety climate has garnered attention as a factor encouraging organizational error management. We aimed to devise an instrument to measure this climate and examine the instrument s reliability and validity for hospital nurses. We also examined the association between this instrument and work environment, behavior, mental health, and nurses attributes.Methods The participants were hospital nurses in a public hospital in Japan. We conducted a sur vey involving a self administered questionnaire. The sur vey items were about the workplace safety climate and various other parameters of the work environment, behavior, and mental health.Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed for instrument validation internal consistency and item total I T correlation analyses were also performed. The factors relating to the workplace safety climate were examined by Spearman s rank correlation coefficients, one way ANOVA, and t test.Results The workplace safety climate scale was supported by a five factor structure. Confirmatory factor analysis of a partially revised model resulted in a 0.917 CFI and a 0.067 RMSEA, indicating a good fit. The workplace safety climate scale was negatively correlated with experiences of incidents not being reported and mental health. ConclusionThe workplace safety climate scale was shown to be a valid and reliable instrument.This study suggested that a healthy workplace safety climate may reduce deleterious behaviors and help improve mental health.

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