Tsutsumi Masae

Dementia, a leading cause of death, often initiates with spatial cognitive impairment. Assisting spatial cognition may not only address challenges faced by individuals with spatial cognitive impairment but also facilitate the prevention of dementia. While previous studies have explored voice navigation for the visually impaired, its utility for those without visual impairment remains unexamined. To provide insights for spatial navigation in the elderly, in the present study, we evaluated the usefulness of voice navigation in healthy university students. In a randomized controlled trial, forty students were assigned to either a paper map only group or a paper map and Google Maps voice navigation group and instructed to navigate a predetermined 800-meter route in a park. The effectiveness of voice navigation was evaluated through various means, including time taken to reach the destination, accuracy of the route followed, and participantsʼ experience. The results show that the two groups did not differ in terms of goal completion and time consumed. Nor did they differ in feelings of drowsiness, instability, uneasiness, pleasure, and relaxation. However, participants in the paper map only group demonstrated a decrease in local pain and eyestrains together with improved feelings of vigor at the goal compared to the start, which was absent in participants using both paper map and voice navigation. Although the effectiveness of the voice navigation was not confirmed, our study did provide important insights regarding in what ways voice navigation can be improved. Moreover, we were able to observe mood improvements in participants with a paper map only, which may indicate the effect of physical activity and exposure to the natural environment.

Abstract Background: Recently, the importance of nutritional management in pressure ulcer control has been pointed out. In this study, we analyzed the relationship between nutritional indicators and the presence or absence of pressure ulcers in order to reveal the importance of nutritional management in pressure ulcer control. Method: We investigated 407 inpatients for blood tests, height, weight, BMI, the Ohura-Hotta (OH) scale, nutrition method, living independence, and the presence or absence of pressure ulcers. Results: In the comparison of patients with and without pressure ulcer, significant differences were found in gender, nutrition method, serum total protein, serum albumin, hemoglobin concentration, and the OH scales. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that gender, intravenous nutrition, serum albumin levels, and the OH scale were associated with the presence or absence of pressure ulcers. The results suggest that not only the OH scale, but the nutritional support was also important in the prediction of the pressure ulcer. It was suggested that shifting from intravenous feeding to tube feeding or oral feeding is important. Conclusion: we found that pressure ulcer was related to gender, intravenous nutrition, serum albumin level and the OH scale. The importance of nutritional management for pressure ulcer prevention was confirmed.