Receiving a positive cervical cancer screening result was associated with psychological distress. To alleviate this psychological impact, the current form of communicating the screening results should be reconsidered.

Background Since 2019, aiming to eliminate periodic rubella outbreaks, the Japanese government has provided a rubella immunization program targeting men born in fiscal years 1972 to 1978, who lacked the opportunity to be vaccinated against rubella in childhood. This study aimed to explore the factors associated with participation in the rubella vaccination program among the first-year target population in 2019. Methods A total of 11,754 adult men in Japan born in fiscal years 1972 to1978 living in seven rubella epidemic areas (Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama, Aichi, Osaka, and Fukuoka) were selected from a list of a survey agency and invited to complete an Internet questionnaire in March 2020. Recruitment ended when the participants reached 1680 individuals. Multivariable log binomial regression analyses were performed to explore the association between awareness of rubella prevention and rubella antibody testing in fiscal year 2019, adjusting for social characteristics. Results Of the 1680 men aged 41–47 years who completed the survey, approximately half (51.3%) said that they had received a voucher for the rubella antibody testing and vaccination program. One-quarter (25.9%) of the respondents had used the voucher for rubella antibody testing in 2019, and 6.0% had used the voucher for rubella vaccination in fiscal year 2019. Respondents who understood the government recommendation for rubella antibody testing and vaccination for men of their generation (odds ratio [OR]: 5.50; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.01–7.53), those with acquaintances who had undergone rubella testing (OR: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.22–1.59), and those who knew that about their lack of opportunity for rubella vaccination (OR: 1.33; 95% CI: 1.11–1.60) tended to undergo rubella antibody testing. Receiving the most recent seasonal influenza vaccination (OR: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.10–1.43) and being able to confirm a rubella vaccination history (OR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.13–1.46) were also associated with rubella antibody testing. Conclusions The ongoing Japanese test-and-vaccinate rubella program has yet to achieve its participation rate goal for 2019. Further dissemination of the government recommendation to the population is necessary, along with improvements in the accessibility of the rubella vaccination program.

Background The method of communicating a positive cancer screening result should seek to alleviate psychological distress associated with a positive result. We evaluated whether the provision of information through a leaflet would help reduce psychological distress in a randomized controlled trial. Methods The participants were women aged 20–69 years who were about to undergo cervical cancer screening at health centers. Before the screening, they received hypothetical screening results, with a leaflet (intervention group, n = 493) or without it (control group, n = 479), randomly. Their psychological distress and intention to undergo further examination were then compared between the intervention and control groups. Results After the intervention (providing a leaflet with hypothetical screening results), psychological distress appeared to be higher in the control group than in the intervention group among those who received a hypothetical positive screening result (odds ratio: 2.57, 95% confidence interval: 1.87–3.54), while 95% and 97% of those in the intervention and control groups, respectively, reported that they would undergo further examination. Conclusions Information provision might help reduce psychological distress but not hinder further examination among women who screen positive for cervical cancer. Trial registration: UMIN Clinical Trials Registry UMIN000029894. Date of Registration: November 2017.

BackgroundSince 2019, aiming to eliminate periodic rubella outbreaks, the Japanese government has provided a rubella immunization program targeting men born in fiscal years 1972 to 1978, who lacked the opportunity to be vaccinated against rubella in childhood. This study aimed to explore the factors associated with participation in the rubella vaccination program among the first-year target population in 2019.MethodsA total of 11,754 adult men in Japan born in fiscal years 1972 to1978 living in seven rubella epidemic areas (Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama, Aichi, Osaka, and Fukuoka) were selected from a list of a survey agency and invited to complete an Internet questionnaire in March 2020. Recruitment ended when the participants reached 1,680 individuals. Multivariable log binomial regression analyses were performed to explore the association between awareness of rubella prevention and rubella antibody testing in fiscal year 2019, adjusting for social characteristics.ResultsOf the 1,680 men aged 41–47 years who completed the survey, approximately half (51.3%) said that they had received a voucher for the rubella antibody testing and vaccination program. One-quarter (25.9%) of the respondents had used the voucher for rubella antibody testing in 2019, and 6.0% had used the voucher for rubella vaccination in fiscal year 2019. Respondents who understood the government recommendation for rubella antibody testing and vaccination for men of their generation (odds ratio [OR]: 5.50; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.01–7.53), those with acquaintances who had undergone rubella testing (OR: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.22–1.59), and those who knew that about their lack of opportunity for rubella vaccination (OR: 1.33; 95% CI: 1.11–1.60) tended to undergo rubella antibody testing. Receiving the most recent seasonal influenza vaccination (OR: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.10–1.43) and being able to confirm a rubella vaccination history (OR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.13–1.46) were also associated with rubella antibody testing.ConclusionsThe ongoing Japanese test-and-vaccinate rubella program has yet to achieve its participation rate goal for 2019. Further dissemination of the government recommendation to the population is necessary, along with improvements in the accessibility of the rubella vaccination program.

Home-visit services are provided to families with newborns as means of parenting support. These services potentially are playing major roles during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, where people have been socially isolated. However, the pandemic has deterred the use of this service to some extent. From the Japan "COVID-19 and Society" Internet Survey, we identified that 15% of the survey respondents who delivered between January 2020 and October 2020 refused home visit services. The proportion of the services used during the pandemic (85%) was lower than those used before the pandemic (95%). Home-visit services provide a unique opportunity for public health nurses to assess the risk of postpartum depression and child maltreatment in the family; thus, families with newborns should be instructed to receive home-visit services as well as child immunization and health checkups, despite the continuation of the pandemic.