The objective of this study is to clarify the prevalence of and risk factors for low back pain (LBP) in schools for physically and mentally handicapped children. This study design is a cross-sectional study. The subjects included were 1,869 staff members from 19 prefectural schools for children in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, which included schools for the blind, deaf-mutes, physically handicapped, and mentally retarded children. A total of 975 subjects completed two postal questionnaires which included morbidity, demographic factors, nursing activity, and psychosocial factors. The answer rate was 52%. The one-month prevalence of LBP was 45%. According to the classification of nursing activity, assistance in movement 1.67 (95% CI 1.27-2.14), excretory function 1.45 (1.11-1.88), and feeding 1.44 (1.10-1.90) showed significant increases in the odds ratio. The adjusted odds ratio significantly increased by 2.35 (1.78-3.11) in the group with depression symptoms as well as in the group with job stressors such as quantitative, qualitative, and physical work loads, job control, utilization of technique, interpersonal conflicts, and degree of satisfaction with their work/home life.

Background and Aim: Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy is generally accepted as the gold standard for the clinical evaluation of gastric cancer (GC). However, the efficacy of endoscopic screening for asymptomatic GC remains controversial. The present study is designed to clarify the efficacy of endoscopic screening for the detection of early GC by investigating the clinicopathological features. Methods: A total of 17 522 patients who had underwent endoscopic screening as a part of their annual health checkup at the Seirei Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine between April 2002 and March 2006 were enrolled in this study. We investigated the clinicopathological findings of GC detected by endoscopy. Furthermore, in accordance with the screening interval at our center, patients with GC were categorized into two groups: group A, patients with repeated endoscopic screening within the last 2 years, and group B, patients without endoscopic screening within the last 2 years. Results: Thirty-nine GC (mean age of patients: 62.2 Ϯ 8.0 years, 36 males and three females) were detected in total (0.22%). The proportion of early GC was 87.2%. Notable differences between groups A and B were not found in the rate of early GC (P = 0.6342). However, eight of 27 cases (29.6%) in group A were treated by endoscopic resection, but none in group B (P = 0.0344). In six of 26 cases (23.1%) in group A, the recorded images from the previous endoscopic examination indicated some macroscopic abnormalities at the same location, suggesting GC or premalignant lesions. Conclusion: Endoscopic screening is useful for detecting GC at the early stages, and repeated examinations at short-time intervals contribute to the detection of resectable lesions by endoscopy. Further studies are needed to decrease the false negative rate of endoscopic screening.

We developed 7-year risk scores for incident AF using usually available clinical factors including ECGs in primary care. These risk scores could identify individuals with high risk of incident AF at health check-up and outpatient clinics.

These results suggest that H. pylori seropositivity is a potential risk factor for increased baPWV levels, and that H. pylori infection accelerates the effect of IG on an increase of baPWV, especially in younger subjects. Thus, the possible interaction between H. pylori infection and IG may contribute to the early development of atherosclerosis.