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National Exam for Certified Care Workers 介護福祉士 sample exam questions – 10 questions with answers

介護福祉士国家試験（筆記）

10 sample questions in the real exam format, with furigana, English translation, answers and explanations. Tap "Show answer" under each question. For the full question bank and realistic mock exams, open the free app.

Question 1

Which of the following statements regarding human dignity, fundamental human rights, and Quality of Life (QOL) is most appropriate?

  1. A.
    Quality of Life (QOL) encompasses not only physical health status but also the individual's subjective sense of satisfaction and purpose in life.
  2. B.
    The right to pursue happiness under Article 13 of the Constitution of Japan is never restricted even when it conflicts with the public welfare.
  3. C.
    The right to life under Article 25 of the Constitution of Japan establishes a citizen's legal duty to maintain a minimum standard of living through self-reliance.
  4. D.
    In daily life support for older adults requiring care, the degree of medical functional recovery serves as a higher evaluation criterion than the person's subjective satisfaction.
  5. E.
    Evaluation of Quality of Life (QOL) excludes the person's subjective feelings and is determined by objective functional assessment scales administered by professionals.
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Correct answer: A

Quality of Life (QOL) includes both physical/functional well-being and the person's subjective satisfaction, values, and sense of meaning in life. Article 13 guarantees the right to pursue happiness to the extent that it does not interfere with the public welfare; Article 25 guarantees the right to maintain minimum standards of wholesome and cultured living and the state's duty to promote social welfare; and QOL centers on the individual's own subjective evaluation rather than purely objective medical recovery metrics.

WordMeaning
human dignity
Quality of Life (QOL)
right to life / right to wholesome living

Question 2

Which of the following statements regarding Japanese family law and recent trends in household structure is correct?

  1. A.
    Under the Civil Code, the scope of relatives is defined as blood relatives within the 4th degree, spouses, and relatives by affinity within the 2nd degree.
  2. B.
    Relatives under the Civil Code are defined as blood relatives within the 6th degree, spouses, and relatives by affinity within the 3rd degree.
  3. C.
    According to the Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions, three-generation households account for the majority of households with members aged 65 or older.
  4. D.
    A household composed of a married couple and their unmarried children is classified as an extended family household in national census categories.
  5. E.
    The proportion of single-person households among older adult households has continued on a downward trend over the past 20 years.
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Correct answer: B

Under Article 725 of the Civil Code of Japan, relatives (shinzoku) are defined as blood relatives within 6 degrees, spouses, and relatives by marriage (affinity) within 3 degrees. Three-generation households have declined sharply, a couple with unmarried children is a nuclear family (kakukazoku), and single-person elderly households have been increasing.

WordMeaning
scope of relatives
blood relatives and relatives by affinity
single-person household

Question 3

Which of the following statements regarding Maslow's (Maslow, A.) hierarchy of needs is correct?

  1. A.
    The most basic need at the lowest level of the hierarchy is the safety need to protect oneself from physical and psychological danger.
  2. B.
    Safety needs and belongingness and love needs are classified as growth needs that intensify even after being satisfied.
  3. C.
    The four levels from physiological needs up to esteem needs are classified as deficiency needs aimed at fulfilling a lack.
  4. D.
    The need for self-actualization is independent of the other four levels and emerges first even when physiological needs are unmet.
  5. E.
    The need for belongingness and love—to connect with others and belong to a group—is positioned higher than esteem needs.
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Correct answer: C

Maslow's hierarchy of needs progresses from (1) physiological needs, (2) safety needs, (3) belongingness and love needs, and (4) esteem needs—which together form the four deficiency needs (ketsubō yokkyū)—to (5) self-actualization needs, which is a growth need (seichō yokkyū).

WordMeaning
hierarchy of needs theory
deficiency needs and growth needs
need for self-actualization

Question 4

Which of the following statements regarding antigravity muscles that maintain standing posture and disuse syndrome caused by prolonged bed rest is correct?

  1. A.
    Antigravity muscles are composed primarily of upper-limb flexor groups such as the biceps brachii and wrist flexors.
  2. B.
    When bed rest continues for a long period, muscles of the upper limbs atrophy markedly earlier than antigravity muscles of the lower limbs.
  3. C.
    In disuse syndrome, vasoconstrictor responses upon standing become hyperactive, resulting in orthostatic hypertension.
  4. D.
    The quadriceps femoris, gluteus maximus, triceps surae, and erector spinae are representative antigravity muscles that maintain standing posture.
  5. E.
    In disuse syndrome associated with prolonged bed rest, bone resorption is suppressed and bone mineral density gradually increases.
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Correct answer: D

Antigravity muscles (kōjūryokukin) work against gravity to maintain upright posture and include the erector spinae, gluteus maximus, quadriceps femoris, and triceps surae. Prolonged bed rest causes rapid atrophy of lower-limb and trunk antigravity muscles, orthostatic hypotension (not hypertension), and increased bone resorption leading to decreased bone density (osteoporosis).

WordMeaning
antigravity muscles
disuse syndrome
quadriceps femoris muscle

Question 5

Which of the following statements regarding physical growth and motor development in infancy and early childhood is correct?

  1. A.
    Infant motor development progresses from the distal fingers toward the center earlier than from the trunk toward the distal extremities.
  2. B.
    The standard milestone at which body weight reaches approximately double the birth weight is between 6 months and 1 year of age.
  3. C.
    The standard milestone at which body height reaches approximately double the birth length (about 100 cm) is around 1 year and 6 months of age.
  4. D.
    In Scammon's (Scammon, R.) growth curves, the organ system that grows most rapidly during infancy and early childhood is the lymphoid type.
  5. E.
    Body weight reaches approximately double the birth weight at around 3 months of age and triple the birth weight at around 1 year of age.
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Correct answer: E

An infant's weight doubles by around 3 months of age and triples by around 1 year of age, while height reaches 1.5 times birth length at 1 year and doubles (to ~100 cm) at around 4 years of age. Motor development proceeds cephalocaudally and proximodistally (from trunk to fingers), and in Scammon's curve the neural type grows most rapidly in infancy/early childhood while the lymphoid type peaks around age 12.

WordMeaning
milestones of physical growth
head control (keitei)
Scammon's growth curves

Question 6

Which of the following statements regarding community support systems for people with dementia and their families (Initial-Phase Intensive Support Team for Dementia, Team Orange, Dementia Care Path, etc.) is most appropriate?

  1. A.
    An Initial-Phase Intensive Support Team for Dementia consists of multiple professionals who visit homes upon family consultation and provide intensive early support for roughly up to 6 months.
  2. B.
    A Dementia Supporter is a certified professional who has completed specialized prefectural training and formulates long-term care insurance care plans.
  3. C.
    A Dementia Care Path is a medical referral letter prepared by a primary care physician to hand over medication history and imaging results to a specialized hospital.
  4. D.
    Team Orange is an administrative body composed of the three professions of a Community General Support Center that conducts primary determination for care-need certification.
  5. E.
    A 'Honnin Meeting' (Peers Meeting) is a service provider meeting led by family caregivers and health/welfare professionals to decide institutional placement for a person with dementia.
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Correct answer: A

The Initial-Phase Intensive Support Team for Dementia (ninchishō shoki shūchū shien team) is a multidisciplinary team that visits individuals with suspected or untreated dementia at home and provides intensive assessment and coordination for approximately 6 months until stable services are established. Dementia Supporters are community volunteers who attend an awareness session; a Dementia Care Path maps out local support services according to the stage of dementia; Team Orange links Dementia Supporters and people with dementia in the community; and a Honnin Meeting is led by people with dementia themselves.

WordMeaning
Initial-Phase Intensive Support Team for Dementia
Dementia Supporter and Team Orange
Dementia Care Path

Question 7

Which of the following statements regarding challenges in family caregiving and social backgrounds in contemporary Japan is most appropriate?

  1. A.
    The term 'young carer' refers to young welfare professionals working at child welfare facilities who specialize in daily life support for children with disabilities.
  2. B.
    The '8050 problem' refers to the issue where parents in their eighties financially and socially support their socially withdrawn children in their fifties in isolation.
  3. C.
    'Double care' refers to a household with two or more older adults requiring long-term care where a single caregiver cares for both of them.
  4. D.
    'Socialization of care' means abolishing family caregiving at home and unifying all support for older adults requiring care into public institutional admission.
  5. E.
    'Elder-to-elder caregiving' (rōrō kaigo) is an administrative statistical term used exclusively for households where both members are late-stage older adults aged 85 or older.
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Correct answer: B

The 8050 problem refers to households where aging parents in their 80s support adult children in their 50s experiencing social withdrawal (hikikomori) or unemployment, risking isolation and financial hardship. Young carers are children/youth bearing family care responsibilities, double care means simultaneously raising children and caring for aging parents, socialization of care means society as a whole sharing care responsibilities across home and facility settings, and elder-to-elder caregiving generally refers to caregivers and care recipients both aged 65 or older.

WordMeaning
8050 problem
young carer and double care
socialization of care

Question 8

In the full-body bed bath (zenshin seishiki) shown in the illustration, which of the following is most appropriate regarding the procedure for wiping around the eyes to prevent dacryocystitis and conjunctivitis, as well as the basic water temperature and wiping direction?

In the full-body bed bath (zenshin seishiki) shown in the illustration, which of the follo
  1. A.
    When wiping around the eyes, wipe in one direction from the outer corner toward the inner corner to prevent infection of the lacrimal sac.
  2. B.
    When wiping the left and right eyes, use the same surface of the towel to wipe both eyes in turn so that skin stimulation stays uniform.
  3. C.
    When wiping around the eyes, use a clean surface of the towel and wipe gently from the inner corner toward the outer corner.
  4. D.
    Prepare lukewarm water at around 35°C—lower than body temperature—in the basin for soaking the washcloth to prevent dry skin.
  5. E.
    When wiping the arms and legs, wipe firmly from the center of the body toward the extremities to promote arterial blood circulation.
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Correct answer: C

When wiping around the eyes during a bed bath, always wipe gently from the inner canthus (megashira) toward the outer canthus (mejiri), using a different clean section of the towel for each eye to prevent contamination of the lacrimal sac. Basin water should be prepared at about 50–55°C so the wrung towel stays warm (around 40°C), and limbs are wiped from distal extremities toward the body center to promote venous return to the heart.

WordMeaning
full-body bed bath (zenshin seishiki)
from inner corner to outer corner of the eye
from distal periphery to center

Question 9

Which of the following statements regarding support for group recreation in an elderly care facility and the purpose of ice breaking is most appropriate?

  1. A.
    Ice breaking is a technique conducted at the end of a program to review the activity and set goals for the next session.
  2. B.
    Users who hesitate to join recreation should be assigned the leader role from the very beginning to accelerate their adaptation to the group.
  3. C.
    Activity content prioritizes functional training above all else and is selected based on high exercise intensity rather than personal life history or hobbies.
  4. D.
    Ice breaking is conducted to ease initial tension at the start of a session and create an atmosphere conducive to interaction among participants.
  5. E.
    When a user with hemiplegia participates, tools and rules are kept unchanged in order to maintain identical conditions with other participants.
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Correct answer: D

Ice breaking is used at the beginning of group activities to relieve initial nervousness and foster a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere that encourages communication and participation. Hesitant users should be supported at their own pace, activities should reflect users' interests and life histories, and tools or rules should be flexibly adapted so users with hemiplegia can participate comfortably.

WordMeaning
ice breaking
recreation support
self-determination and social participation

Question 10

Ms. B (81 years old, female, Care Level 3) has left hemiplegia as a sequela of cerebral infarction and uses home-visit care (home help service). When raising the backrest of an electric care bed (Gatch bed) for Ms. B while she is lying supine and guiding her to a sitting position on the edge of the bed, which response by the care worker is most appropriate?

  1. A.
    When starting backrest elevation, raise the head section to 60 degrees first without raising the knee section, and then raise the knee section to prevent pelvic tilt.
  2. B.
    After raising the backrest, keep her body pressed against the mattress and omit back pressure relief so that her posture does not collapse.
  3. C.
    When sitting up from supine to the edge of the bed, have her prop herself up on her left elbow on the paralyzed side to train her remaining function.
  4. D.
    Immediately after she sits on the edge of the bed, transition her continuously into a standing position without a sitting rest period to prevent muscle weakness.
  5. E.
    Raise the knee section first before raising the backrest, and after raising the backrest, briefly lift her back off the mattress to relieve shear pressure.
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Correct answer: E

When raising the backrest of a Gatch bed, the knee section should be raised first (hiza-age) to prevent the pelvis from sliding down, followed by raising the backrest (se-age), and then briefly lifting the user's back away from the mattress (atsunuki) to release shear forces and clothing tension. Rising to sit on the edge of the bed utilizes the unaffected side (right elbow), and the caregiver must pause to check for orthostatic dizziness before standing.

WordMeaning
raising the backrest of a Gatch bed
back pressure/shear relief (atsunuki)
sitting on the edge of the bed (tanzai)
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Lessons: National Exam for Certified Care Workers 介護福祉士