Published papers

Purpose: In 2021, we introduced a new simulation-based learning program focusing on a roleplay conference before patient discharge. This study aimed to evaluate the program’s effectiveness and highlight the significance of cross-training in interprofessional education (IPE). Methods: In September 2023, the program included 346 students (98 medical, 110 nursing, and 138 pharmacy students). The students’ reflective writing was analyzed using inductive content analysis to describe their learning and perspectives. The original items, subcategories, and main categories were extracted. The simulation involved the students role-playing various healthcare professionals during a discharge-planning conference for a stroke patient. This allowed them to experience the challenges and dynamics of interprofessional collaboration. Results: Student feedback emphasized the importance of understanding what constitutes a good healthcare team. A total of 203 items were grouped into eight main categories and 17 subcategories, including patient-centered care (related to the importance of patient- centered care, supporting patient decision-making, communicating with patients during conferences, and facilitating decision-making processes), contrasts in patient and interprofessional communication, conference communication (challenge of building consensus, the way to proceed conferences, importance of conference preparation, and process of information aggregation and realization of outcomes), mutual recognition and role contribution, building relationships (importance of daily interprofessional communication), understanding one’s profession (reflection on one’s own profession, understanding the roles of different professions, and communica tion within one’s own professional context), recursion into learning (motivation for continuous learning and improvement), and understanding other professions (understanding the role and perspectives of other professions and recognizing professional differ ences). Specific feedback highlighted improved empathy and communication skills. Students recognized the value of each profession’s contribution to patient care. Moreover, students reported a deeper appreciation of patient-centered approaches and the complexities of coordinating care across different healthcare roles. Conclusion: Simulated interprofessional team conferences using cross-training effectively taught junior students to understand the essence of a good healthcare team and the importance of a patient-centered approach. Cross-training significantly enhanced students’ interprofessional competencies, communication skills, and empathy toward other professions. This case underscores the necessity of incorporating cross-training into IPE to prepare healthcare professionals for collaborative practice and improve patient outcomes. Future research should consider expanding the scope to include more diverse scenarios and longitudinal assessments to measure long- term impacts on professional practice.

Purpose Loneliness is related to menstrual disorders and medication use. Loneliness and pain are related and may be associated with analgesic use. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of concomitant analgesic use and overuse, and to clarify factors associated with loneliness and analgesic overuse among women who are low dose estrogen-progestin (LEP) users. Methods Women in their 20s and 30s were randomly selected from a research company’s web panel (Macromill, Inc.) and LEP users were screened. The survey included analgesic concomitant use days per month and the Three Item Loneliness Scale (TIL). Logistic regression analysis was performed with high TIL score (≥ 6) and analgesic use ≥ 10 days per month as the objective variables. Results A total of 516 valid responses from LEP users were analyzed. Among them, 64.1% reported concomitant analgesic use on ≥ 1 day per month, 11.2% on ≥ 10 days per month, and 45.7% had high TIL score. High TIL score was significantly associated with concomitant analgesic use on ≥ 1 day per month (odds ratio [OR] 1.76, 95% confidence interval [95%CI] 1.18–2.63, p = 0.006). Concomitant analgesic use on ≥ 10 days per month was significantly associated with endometriosis (OR 5.25, 95%CI 2.15–12.81, p < 0.001) and concomitant analgesic use for low back pain (OR 4.67, 95%CI 1.65–13.18, p = 0.04). Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first detailed study to investigate concomitant analgesic use and overuse among LEP users. Loneliness was found to be prevalent in this population and was associated with concomitant analgesic use, potentially reflecting underlying patterns of frequent or habitual analgesic intake. Furthermore, concomitant analgesic overuse was linked to conditions such as endometriosis and low back pain, underscoring the importance of medication monitoring that takes into account both loneliness and the self-recording of menstrual symptoms. Greater attention by healthcare professionals to the psychosocial context of concomitant analgesic overuse and loneliness may facilitate more meaningful patient dialogue and contribute to improved quality of life.

Background and Objectives: Oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD), a dysfunction in swallowing food or drink, can result from various diseases and adverse drug reactions. OD is a risk factor for aspiration pneumonia (AP). However, the specific drugs causing OD and their incidence rates are not fully understood. This study aimed to identify drugs associated with OD, their incidence rates, and AP risk factors in patients taking these drugs on the basis of the information provided in package inserts. Methods: This study identified candidate dysphagia-inducing drugs (CDIDs) from Japanese package inserts that listed OD as an adverse reaction. The age, sex, medications, and comorbidities of patients taking CDIDs were analyzed using the JammNet insurance database, purchased from JammNet Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan). Results: Overall, 54 ingredients were identified as CDIDs. Out of 24,276 patients taking CDIDs, 146 (0.6%) were diagnosed with OD and 76 (0.3%) with AP. Among those with AP, 23 patients (30%) also had OD. OD or AP occurred in patients taking 28 (52%) of the 54 target ingredients. In addition, 13 ingredients had an adverse reaction incidence of 1% or greater for either condition. The top five CDIDs with the highest incidence rates for each diagnosis were clobazam, baclofen, zonisamide, tiapride hydrochloride, and topiramate. Incidence rates of OD and AP were significantly higher with multiple CDIDs than with a single drug (p < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that AP occurrence was significantly associated with males, late-stage elderly individuals, a diagnosis of OD, and constipation. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that careful attention should be given to the risk of AP when prescribing CDIDs, particularly for elderly male patients.

Introduction: Diuretics are widely used in Japan for the treatment of hypertension and heart failure. Electrolyte disturbance is a common adverse reaction to diuretics and may be life-threatening. Previous studies have shown that diuretic-induced electrolyte disturbance is more common in women. Electrolyte balance is regulated by the kidneys, and renal function tends to decline with advancing age. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify patients at high risk of adverse reactions to diuretics, considering the effects of sex, renal function, and age on susceptibility to diuretic-induced electrolyte disturbance. Methods: Claims data for 67,135 patients on diuretics in Japan were sourced from DeSC Healthcare, Inc. The data covered the period from April 2020 to March 2021. Results: Analysis of patient numbers using the chi-squared test showed that hyperkalemia was more common in men than in women (326 vs. 271; p = 0.003) and that hypokalemia was more common in women than in men (413 vs. 285; p < 0.001). Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for women considering age and renal function (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR]). In elderly patients aged ≥ 75 years, the odds of developing hypokalemia in women compared to men were 1.47 (95% CI 1.13–1.91) for eGFR 60–30 mL/min/1.73 m2 and 2.05 (95% CI 1.08–4.10) for eGFR < 30 mL/min/1.73 m2. Conclusion: Among women aged ≥ 75 years, those in lower eGFR groups (60–30 and < 30) had higher odds of hypokalemia compared to men. These data highlight the importance of monitoring for adverse reactions to diuretics, particularly hypokalemia, in elderly women with low eGFR.

Undernutrition is a common risk after surgery or during periods when oral dietary intake is challeng-ing. Enteral nutrients, frequently utilized in nutritional management, are drugs associated with multi-ple contraindications involving pathology and allergy, and they require careful attention in dispensing. However, the occurrence of nutrition-related incidents in community pharmacies remains unknown. This study aimed to identify issues regarding the safety of pharmacotherapy in patients requiring enteral nutrition using the database of Project to Collect and Analyze Pharmaceutical Near-Miss Event Information. We highlighted the critical information that pharmacists should focus on to prevent acci-dents and elucidated the details and prescription drugs of cases that matched the search for “Nutrition (all included)” in Japanese. There were 475 cases reported between January 2009 and September 2023. Of these, 347 cases (73%) were classified as “inquiry about prescription and provision of information to prescribing physician” (Category II) and 115 cases (24%) were classified as “drug dispensing” (Cat-egory I). In both cases, the top five drugs were enteral nutrients. Among the life-threatening Category II cases, 9 cases were for pathological contraindications including severe liver or renal dysfunction, 6 cases were for adverse reactions including diarrhea, and 5 cases were for allergies or patient constitutions. Notably, the incidence of adverse reactions was higher than in data for the latest annual reports. Therefore, pharmacists should be mindful while dealing with prescriptions involving possible contrain-dications in patients requiring enteral nutrition. Pharmacists should contribute to the provision of safe pharmacotherapy by remaining vigilant against dispensing errors.

It is desirable for community pharmacists to be involved in promoting and maintaining the oral health of local residents. In this study, we conducted a questionnaire survey of Japanese community pharmacists to understand the actual conditions and the attitudes of these pharmacists regarding oral healthcare advice. A web-based anonymous self-administered questionnaire survey was completed by community pharmacists from March 26 to 29, 2021. We received responses from 324 pharmacists. A majority of respondents (66.0%) regarded dealing with “daily oral health issues and oral care” as a role of community pharmacists. Respondents also reported being consulted by patients or customers about mouth ulcers (70.1%) and xerostomia (54.6%). However, the frequency of consumer inquiries about these oral conditions was less than once per week. Just over half of the respondents (52.2%) said they were confident about dealing with mouth ulcers, whereas less than 40% were confident about handling other oral problems. The most common anxiety was a “lack of knowledge about appropriate responses to oral symptoms” (60.2%). The respondents desired education and training (75.6%) to better promote oral health-related activities. Japanese community pharmacists believe that they have a role to play in oral health issues and oral care, but their level of confidence in their ability to respond to oral health issues is low. Pharmacists are concerned about their lack of knowledge about oral healthcare and they desire more opportunities for education and training so that they can perform pharmacy-based maintenance and promotion of oral healthcare for local residents.

Purpose: The prevalence of migraine headache is higher in women. Low barometric pressure is a factor in headache triggering, but sex-related differences have not been identified. The purpose of this study was to examine sex-related differences in headache triggered by low barometric pressure. Methods: Study subjects aged 20–49 years were randomly selected from a research company’s (Macromill, Inc.) web panel. Those with chronic migraine or tension-type headache invited to complete a web-based self-administered questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was performed with the objective variable as the Headache Impact Test-6 (HIT-6) high scores (56 or more) or headache triggered by low barometric pressure. Results: Participants were 332 women and 337 men in the headache population. HIT-6 high scores were associated with age at headache occurrence 20 years or younger (OR: odds ratio 1.85, 95% CI: confidence interval 1.15–2.99, p = 0.012) and headache triggered by low barometric pressure (OR 2.11, 95%CI 1.51–2.94, p < 0.001). Headache triggered by low barometric pressure was significantly associated with women (OR 2.92, 95%CI 2.12–4.02, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Headache triggered by low barometric pressure were related to sex-related differences. It was suggested that a sex-specific treatment approach for headache triggering is needed.