This paper covers our recent work regarding family caregiver burden for elderly. The topics are as follows: cross-sectional studies on caregiver burden; changes in caregiver burden; appropriateness of the Long-Term Care insurance assessment scheme; attitude towards caregiving among caregivers; and the development of the short version of the Japanese version of the Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview.

BACKGROUND This population-based retrospective cohort study aimed to clarify the impact of home and community-based services on the hospitalisation and institutionalisation of individuals certified as eligible for long-term care insurance (LTCI) benefits. METHODS Health insurance data and LTCI data were combined into a database of 1,020 individuals in two farming communities in Hokkaido who w...

This article argues for a fresh look at how we provide long-term care (LTC) for older persons. Essentially, LTC offers a compensatory service that responds to frailty. Policy debate around LTC centers on costs, but we are paying for something we really don't want. Building societal enthusiasm (or even support) for LTC will require re-inventing and re-branding. LTC has three basic components: pe...

A long-term care hospital (LTCH) is a specialized facility for patients with serious health problems who require continuous and intensive care but not comprehensive diagnostic methods. LTCHs provide prolonged complex care and wound care in the period following the acute stage of disease. When intensive care unit (ICU) stay is prolonged in the United States of America, the patients may be transf...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Few studies have assessed the overall importance of genetic factors on stroke risk, and the results have been contradictory. We used a large, population-based twin register and nationwide registries of death and hospitalization with long-term follow-up to estimate the effect of genetic factors on the risk of stroke. METHODS Through the population-based Danish Twin Regis...

BACKGROUND Hypertension affects one billion people globally and is one of the leading risk factors for cardiovascular and renal diseases. However, hypertension management remains poor, especially in rural China. METHODS A clustered randomized controlled trial was conducted in six towns in China's Qianjiang county between 7/2012 and 6/2014, including 5462 hypertension patients above 35 years o...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the prevalence and transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) nasal colonization, as well as risk factors associated with MRSA carriage, among residents of a long-term care facility (LTCF). DESIGN Prospective, longitudinal cohort study. SETTING A 100-bed Veterans Administration LTCF. PARTICIPANTS All current and newly admitted residents of the...