Kazuyuki Niki

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Some terminal cancer patients wish to "go to a memorable place" or "return home." However, owing to various symptom burdens and physical dysfunction, these wishes are difficult for them to realize. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> The aim of the study is to verify whether simulated travel using virtual reality (VR travel) is efficacious in improving symptoms in terminal cancer patients. <b><i>Design:</i></b> This is a prospective, multicenter, single-arm study. <b><i>Setting/Su

<b>Background:</b> Dementia is one the major problems of aging societies, and, novel and effective non-drug therapies are required as interventions in the oldest-old to prevent cognitive decline. <b>Objective:</b> This study aims to examine the efficacy and safety of reminiscence using immersive virtual reality (iVR reminiscence) focusing on anxiety that often appears with cognitive decline. The secondary objective is to reveal the preference for VR image types for reminiscence: live-action (LA)

This is the first study that suggests that the objective prognostic predictive methods, through detecting the change point of laboratory test values, are useful for predicting short-term prognosis. The WPCBAL score and WPBAL score could objectively predict the remaining lifetime within two weeks of mortality.

<b><i>Background:</i></b> There is no established method to objectively predict short-term prognosis. Recently, we proposed objective, short-term, prognostic predictive methods that are combinations of laboratory test items: WPCBAL score, derived from six values (white blood cell, platelet, C-reactive protein, blood urea nitrogen, aspartate aminotransferase, and lactate dehydrogenase). However, that study was conducted in an acute-phase hospital to identify the test items useful for prognostic p

Taking bitter-tasting drugs can be stressful for children who have underdeveloped swallowing skills and do not understand the meaning of medication. Furthermore, the senses of vision and smell are known to majorly influence taste. This pilot study was aimed at determining the effect of visual stimulation by immersive virtual reality (iVR) on taste and the safety of this approach for developing a new method to assist children with taking medication. Ten subjects participated in this study, and th

The WPCBAL score's accuracy in predicting a 2- or 3-week prognosis was comparable to that of commonly used prognostic methods, thus suggesting its usefulness as a short-term prognostic method.

Objective: Even if hospitalized terminal cancer patients wish to go out, it is sometimes difficult for them to realize this because of various symptoms. We have been providing a virtual outing experience using virtual reality (VR) for terminal cancer patients who have difficulty going out, and have often received requests to “talk with people in the virtual outing,” but there is a problem that a large time lag occurs in conversation in a VR space under the general Internet environment. However,

UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN000041067; https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/icdr/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000046892).

While the community-based integrated care systems are in the process of being structured currently, more and more community pharmacists want to learn physical assessment skills. However, no large-scale survey focusing on present implementation status and problems of physical assessment by community pharmacists has been conducted yet. Osaka has the 2nd highest number of community pharmacies in Japan now, and the population aged ≥65 years will be expected to become the 3rd highest in 2025. Thus, O

There have been no investigations examining the analgesic effect of rescue administration of intravenous acetaminophen (IV APAP) for pain in cancer patients. Fifty cancer patients who received IV APAP for pain at Ashiya Municipal Hospital (Hyogo, Japan) between January 2014 and July 2016 were retrospectively evaluated. The degree of pain was evaluated using a 4-point verbal rating scale. Pain intensity differences ≥ 1 defined the IV APAP effective group, and the patient' characteristics were com

<sec> <title>BACKGROUND</title> Symptomatic drug treatment is generally used to treat various side effects associated with paclitaxel/carboplatin (TC) or TC plus bevacizumab (TC+Bev). However, this can lead to increased adverse effects from additional drugs. Immersive virtual reality (iVR) reduces pain and anxiety. </sec> <sec> <title>OBJECTIVE</title> This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of iVR in managing side effects associated with TC or TC+Bev therapy. </sec> <sec> <title>METHODS</t

The third vaccination for coronavirus disease 2019 is recommended; however, the vaccination rate is not increasing. This is due to a lack of information on the effectiveness of the booster vaccination and the fact that some people assume that they have acquired sufficient immunity after the second vaccination. Therefore, this study examined whether a system could be established in which a community pharmacy could act as a starting point to conduct antibody tests. The study was conducted between