What matters most: an investigation of predictors of perceived stress among young mothers in Khayelitsha.

Our purpose in the present study was to examine how two different sets of stressors, one representing the physical environment and the other representing the social environment, related to perceived stress among new mothers served by a health clinic in Khayelitsha, South Africa. We found that among the chronic urban poverty-environmental stressors related to water, housing, transportation, toileting, and lack of food, that lack of drinkable water in the home had the strongest correlation with perceived stress. In terms of social stressors we found that 60% of new mothers had no partner, and 43% of those with a partner reported that they currently were not coresiding.

Attitudes towards end-of-life care in a geriatric hospital in Japan.

Nursing and medical staff attitudes toward end-of-life care at a private, not-for-profit geriatric hospital in Japan were measured as part of a larger intervention study to develop a palliative care programme. The intervention consisted of focus groups, education with pre- and post-testing, and attitude/belief surveys. All the medical staff (n = 8) and 99% (n = 97) of the nursing staff participated.

The relationship between mastery and depression among Japanese family caregivers.

The present study examined the relationship between caregiver mastery and depressive symptoms among family stroke caregivers in western Japan (N = 100). Family caregivers were identified from a sample of rehabilitation hospitals; participation rate was 100 percent for all eligible caregivers. Caregivers with high mastery were found to have significantly fewer depressive symptoms than low mastery caregivers and were significantly more likely to use a respite caregiver.

Screening for late life depression: cut-off scores for the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia among Japanese subjects.

Background: Proper screening of depression among older adults depends on accurate cut-off scores. Recent articles have recommended the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD) for this screening. However, there has been no investigation of the sensitivity and specificity of either scale using Japanese subjects.

Caregiver burden and health-related quality of life among Japanese stroke caregivers.

Objective: the present study had two main purposes: 1. To examine the relationship between caregiver burden and health-related quality of life in family caregivers of older stroke patients in Japan; and 2. To examine which characteristics of the caregiving situation significantly relate to increased burden.

Factor structure of the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia among Japanese poststroke patients.

Background: the present study reports on the first translation and use of the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD) (Alexopoulos, Abrams, Young, & Shamoian, 1988) among poststroke patients (n = 101) in Japan.

Objectives: the study had three main purposes: 1. To examine the factor structure of the CSDD among Japanese poststroke patients; 2.