• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.165-173
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• 2016

Objectives : Since the awareness of autism spectrum disorders(ASD) is growing, as a result, it is increasing numbers of infants and toddlers being referred to specialized clinics for a differential diagnosis and the importance of early autism spectrum disorders detection is emphasized. This study is to know the difference between ASD and intellectual disability(ID) from comparison of the demographics, clinical characters and obstetric complications. Methods : The participants are 816 toddlers who visited the developmental delay clinic(DDC) in National Health Insurance Ilsan hospital. The number of toddlers diagnosed as ASD and ID was 324 and 492. 75 toddlers out of 114 who returned to DDC were diagnosed as ID at the first visit but 7 of them had changed diagnosis to ASD at the second visit. After compared ASD with ID from the first visit, we analyzed characters of toddlers who had the changed diagnosis to ASD at the second visit. Results : As a result, the comparison between ASD and ID at the first visit shows that the boys have higher ratio, lower obstetric complication and lower language assessment score in ASD. The toddlers who had the changed diagnosis at the second visit were all boys and they had more cases of family history of developmental delay and had lower score of receptive language developmental quotient. Conclusions : These findings suggest that sex, language characteristics and obstetric complication could be useful in the early detection of ASD.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.251-279
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• 2010

In 2009 the Ministry of Health and Society reported a new milestone in longevity among people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA): An individual was reported to be living and healthy after 24 years with HIV/AIDS. Today, PLWHA who receive treatment are more likely to die as a result of cancer or cardiovascular diseases than HIV/AIDS. However, in Korea the public association between HIV/AIDS and death remains strong and PLWHA live with the feeling of being discarded. While great advances have been made in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, understanding of life with HIV/AIDS is just beginning. This study describes the life experiences of PLWHA after being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Phenomenological methods were used to analyze the transcripts of semi-structured interviews with six PLWHA. Time is a constant factor in the life experiences of PLWHA. After being diagnosed, participants were shocked, feeling as though the world was caving in and they were living with a time bomb. Compulsory disclosure left PLWHA with a feeling of disconnection from the world. Participants were fired from their jobs, resulting in poverty, isolation and a sense that they were simply waiting to die. However, health professionals informed participants that HIV/AIDS is a manageable illness. With time, PLWHA came to understand HIV/AIDS differently. In accepting their HIV infection, PLWHA created a new sense of meaning in their lives. To be honest to their loved ones and true to their own identity, PLWHA worked to "come out." The experience of coming out helped them to accept themselves as they were and understand their own strength. The most important influence on their treatment, and living with HIV/AIDS generally, was obtaining correct information about HIV/AIDS from health professionals. After accepting that they were living with HIV/AIDS, participants were able to look beyond themselves to support those around them, including family members, friends, and others who encouraged them to recognize and feel confident in their own identity.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.62-66
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• 2013

Purpose: I-131 is a radioisotope widely used for thyroid gland treatments. The physical half life is 8.01 and characterized by emitting beta and gamma rays which is used in clinical practice for the purpose of acquiring treatment and images. In order to reduce the recurrence rate after surgery in high-risk thyroid cancer patients, the remaining thyroid tissue is either removed or the I-131 is used for treatment during relapse. In cases of using a high dosage of radioactive iodine requiring hospitalization, the patient is administered dosage in the hospital isolation ward over a certain period of time preventing I-131 exposure to others. By checking the radiation amount emitted from patients before discharge, the patients are discharged after checking whether they meet the legal standards (50 uSv/h). After patients are discharged from the hospital, the contamination level is checked in many parts of the ward before the next patients are hospitalized and when necessary, decontamination operations are performed. It is expected that there is exposure to radiation when measuring the ward contamination level and dose check emitted from patients at the time of discharge whereby the radiation exposure by health workers that come from the patients in this process is the main factor. This study analyzed the correlation between discharge dose of patients and ward contamination level through a variety of factors such as renal functions, gender, age, dosage, etc.). Materials and Method: The study was conducted on 151 patients who received high-dosage radioactive iodine treatment at Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital during the period between 8/1/2011~5/31/2012 (Male: Female: 31:120, $47.5{\pm}11.9$, average dosage of $138{\pm}22.4$ mCi). As various factors expected to influence the patient discharge dose & ward contamination such as the beds, floors, bathroom floors, and washbasins, the patient renal function (GFR), age, gender, dosage, and the correlation between the expected Tg & Tg-Tb expected to reflect the remaining tissue in patients were analyzed. Results: In terms of the discharge dose and GFR, a low correlation was shown in the patient discharge dose as the GFR was higher (p < 0.0001). When comparing the group with a dosage of over 150mCi and the group with a lower dosage, the lower dosage group showed a significantly lower discharge dose ($24{\pm}10.4uSv/h$ vs $28.7{\pm}11.8uSv/h$, p<0.05). Age, gender, Tg, Tg-Tb did not show a significant relationship with discharge dose (p> 0.05). The contamination level in each spot of the treatment ward showed no significant relationship with GFR, Tg, Tg-Tb, age, gender, and dosage (p>0.05 ). Conclusion: This study says that discharge of the dose in the patient's body is low in GFR higher and Dosage 150mCi under lower. There was no case of contamination of the treatment ward, depending on the dose and renal association. This suggests that patients' lifestyles or be affected by a variety of other factors.