The prevalence of psychological distress during pregnancy in Miyagi Prefecture for 3 years after the Great Eas t Japan Earthquake

BACKGROUND@#To examine changes in psychological distress prevalence among pregnant women in Miyagi Prefecture, which was directly affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, and compare it with the other, less damaged areas of Japan.@*METHODS@#This study was conducted in conjunction with the Japan Environment and Children`s Study. We examined 76,152 pregnant women including 8270 in Miyagi Regional Center and 67,882 in 13 other regional centers from the all-birth fixed data of the Japan Environment and Children's Study. We then compared the prevalence and risk of distress in women in Miyagi Regional Center and women in the 13 regional centers for 3 years after the disaster.@*RESULTS@#Women in the Miyagi Regional Center suffered more psychological distress than those in the 13 regional centers: OR 1.38 (95% CI, 1.03-1.87) to 1.92 (95% CI, 1.42-2.60). Additionally, women in the inland area had a consistently higher prevalence of psychological distress compared to those from the 13 regional centers: OR 1.67 (95% CI, 1.18-2.38) to 2.19 (95% CI, 1.60-2.99).@*CONCLUSIONS@#The lack of pre-disaster data in the Japan Environment and Children's Study made it impossible to compare the incidence of psychological distress before and after the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. However, 3 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, the prevalence of pregnant women with psychological distress did not improve in Miyagi Regional Center. Further, the prevalence of mental illness in inland areas was consistently higher than that in the 13 regional centers after the disaster.

Awareness of Nursing Students about the Importance of Folic Acid Intake for the Prevention of Neural Tube Defects / 日本補完代替医療学会誌

Objective: Adequate periconceptional intake of folic acid decreases the risk of neural tube defects of infant. The present study aimed to investigate the awareness of nursing students about the importance of folic acid intake for the prevention of neural tube defects.Design: Questionnaire survey.Methods: A self-administered questionnaire regarding the importance of folic acid intake for the prevention of neural tube defects was distributed to 423 nursing students of Tohoku University and Tohoku Fukushi University.Results: Among the 408 respondents (response rate; 96.5%), 129 (31.6%) nursing students were aware that folic acid intake decreases the risk of neural tube defects. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, grade 3-4 (odds ratio = 11.779, 95% confident interval = 5.739-24.177) were associated with the awareness of the importance of folic acid intake among nursing students. Of 129 nursing students who recognized the importance of folic acid intake, 52 (40.3%) and 11 (8.5%) recognized that women should begin folic acid intake before conception and should take about 400μg of folic acid per day during pregnancy respectively.Conclusion: About 30% of nursing students recognized that folic acid intake decreases the risk of neural tube defects and many did not know the details of the effective intake for the prevention of neural tube defects. Therefore, more aggressive promotion of the awareness of the importance of folic acid intake among nursing students is warranted.

Awareness of Pharmacy Students regarding the Importance of Folic Acid Intake for the Prevention of Neural Tube Defects / 医薬品情報学

<b>Objective: </b>Adequate periconceptional folic acid intake decreases the risk of neural tube defects in infants.  The present study aimed to investigate the awareness of pharmacy students regarding the importance of folic acid intake for the prevention of neural tube defects.<br><b>Design: </b>Questionnaire survey.<br><b>Methods: </b>A self-administered questionnaire regarding the importance of folic acid intake for the prevention of neural tube defects was distributed to 750 pharmacy students at Tohoku and Ohu Universities.<br><b>Results: </b>Among the 685 respondents (response rate; 91.3%), 74 (10.8%) were aware that folic acid intake decreases the risk of neural tube defects.  In multivariate logistic regression analysis, awareness of the importance of folic acid intake was evident among 5th- and 6th-year pharmacy students (odds ratio=3.352, 95% confidence interval=1.797-6.253) and among those who used dietary supplements (2.275, 1.306-3.966).  Among the 74 pharmacy students who recognized the importance of folic acid intake, 17 (23.0%) and 3 (4.1%) were aware that women should begin taking a folic acid supplement before conception and should take about 400 μg per day during pregnancy, respectively.<br><b>Conclusion: </b>Only about 10% of the pharmacy students in this study recognized that folic acid intake decreases the risk of neural tube defects, and many were unaware of the recommended intake amount.  Therefore, awareness of the importance of folic acid intake must be more aggressively promoted among pharmacy students.