• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.131-142
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• 2005

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to survey the knowledge and needs of hospice for inpatients' family. Methods: This study was carried out with 277 inpatients' families at J General Hospital located in J city, Korea during the period from March to May, 2004. The data were collected through a self-reporting questionnaire constructed by the authors. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and $x^2-test$ with SPSSWIN 10.0. Results: 83.8% of the respondents heard about hospice mostly through mass communication. 76.9% of the respondents recognized hospice to be helpful and to provide comfort during the remainder of life and to confront the moment of death. Most of the respondents responded positively to the necessity of hospice service, and would receive hospice if necessary. 76.5% of them would consider arranging preparation for death if he/she were to be diagnosed with a terminal illness. 63.9% of the respondents wanted only to be with their family members, 31.4% wanted both the family and hospice members at the moment of death. They named the best helper among the hospice members to be the nurse. 81.6% of the respondents wanted a hospice institution to be established, 23.8% of them report that the most adequate hospice management institution would be the hospice ward in hospital. Conclusion: Consequently, most respondents wanted hospice services. So Korean society is in need of developing adequate teaching and care programs for hospice according to local needs.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.119-126
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• 2016

Purpose: This study analyzed the difference in survival time of patients with delirium according to sedative medication. Methods: From January 2012 through December 2013, a retrospective cohort study was performed using the electronic medical records (EMR) of Pusan National University Hospital. Among 900 patients who died from cancer, we selected 240 who suffered delirium based on the EMR. The Nu-DESC delirium screening test was used to diagnose delirium. Results: The median length of delirium period was five days. Delirium characteristics were dominated by inappropriate behaviors (35.0%). Sedatives were administered in 72.1% of the cases. The most frequently used sedative was haloperidol which was used in 59.6% of cases. The delirium period significantly differed by patients' age (F=3.96, P=0.021), cancer type (F=3.31, P=0.010), chemotherapy (t=-3.44 P=0.001). The average survival time was 16.85 days for the sedative medication group and 9.37 days for the non-medication group, which, however, was not significant (t=1.766, P=0.079). Conclusion: In this study, the use of sedatives did not affect patients' survival time. Thus, appropriate sedative medication can be positively recommended to comfort terminal cancer patients and their families.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.152-162
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• 2011

Purpose: This study was conducted to analyze a trend in studies of hospice care in Korea and to suggest future research directions. Methods: This study analyzed a total of 183 studies related to hospice care which were found at http://www.riss.kr. Results: Of the 183 studies, 62 (33.9%) were for thesis studies for a degree, 121 (66.1%) for academic journals. There were 159 (87.8%) quantitative studies, 18 (8.9%) qualitative studies, and 6 (3.3%) Q-Method studies. The most frequently used study design was a descriptive study. The majority of study participants were terminal cancer patients, patients' family members and health care personnel. The thesis articles were searched by using key words as follows: health, nursing, environment, children's hospice, and others. Conclusion: The number of studies of hospice care has increased, and research key words varied. Furthermore, more experimental research is needed on nursing intervention such as pain relief, alternative therapies and hospice care for children.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.549-554
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• 2011

FK506 is a widespread immunosuppressive drug after liver transplantion in patients with advanced-stage hepatocellular carcinoma. Dexamethasone is frequently used as co-treatment in cytotoxic cancer therapy, e.g. to prevent nausea, to protect normal tissue or for other reasons. Our aim was to investigate antitumor effects of FK506 in Hep3B cells, one of differentiated human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines and inhibitory effects of dexamethsone on FK506- induced antitumor effects. Cell injury was evaluated by biochemical assays as cell viability, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in Hep3B cells. Intracellular calcium concentration ([$Ca^{2+}$]i) and the level of activation of the c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK) and the Bax protein in cultured Hep3B cells was measured. Exposure of 0.1 ${\mu}M$ FK506 to Hep3B cells led to cell death accompanied by a decrease in cell viability and an increase in LDH, ROS and [$Ca^{2+}$]i. FK506 induced an increase in activity of Bax and JNK protein but inhibited the activity of Bcl-2 protein. Treatment of dexamethsone, per se, had no effects on cell viability, LDH and ROS. However, co-treatment of FK506 and dexamethasone diminished the FK506-induced LDH release, ROS generation and JNK activation. These results demonstrate that FK506 has antitumor effect in Hep3B cells but the combination of FK506 and dexamethasone antagonizes the FK506-induced antitumor effects.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.238-242
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• 2014

Here we described 2 cancer patients treated by acupuncture for abdominal pain as a complication of bowel obstruction. The patient 1, 43-year-old man was treated with surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy for rectal cancer. Two years after surgery, he complained of acute abdominal pain due to small bowel adhesion band. Bowel obstruction and symptoms were not improved by conservative therapy like as fasting, keeping Levin tube, and fluid therapy. 4 months later, he could eat a little rice water, but ileus and abdominal pain persisted despite of applying opiod drug and patch. Got started on acupuncture, electroacupuncture(ST-36) and moxa treatment, pain was relived gradually. He could stop opioids 1 month later and ileus was improved after acupuncture therapy for 2 months. The patient 2, 65-year-old woman got hepatectomy, cholecystectomy, and chemotherapy with cholangiocarcinoma. 6 months after surgery, she got laparotomy again for biopsy of new mass around ascending colon. She started eating after gas passing, but felt abdominal distension. Diffuse paralytic ileus was diagnosed by abdominal X-ray, and she got started conservative therapy. During ST-36 electroacupuncture therapy, symptoms like abdominal pain and distension were improved and could stop opiod patch. But eating aggravated ileus again and clinical finding of mechanical bowel obstruction was appeared. Based on these cases, acupuncture and moxa therapy could be helpful for improving abdominal pain and ileus, but possibility of malignant bowel obstruction should be considered especially in cancer patients.

• Korean Journal of Hospice Care
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.31-41
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• 2003

Background: The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of family support on the quality of life in patients admitted to the hospice facility at Saemmul Hospice. Method: The subjects of this study were 152 terminal cancer patients that were admitted to the hospice facility at Saemmul hospice between January 2002 and February 2003. Their each quality of life were assessed at admission, one, three, five and seven weeks at Saemmul Hospice using a questionnaire prepared by the Saemmul hospice and were anlalyzed by means of T-test. Result: There was no difference in the quality of life score between patients with family support and patients without family support in terms of physical, psychosocial, and spiritual aspects in the admission. There was no difference in the quality of life score between the patients with frequent family member's visit(>=8) and less frequent family visit(<=7), and between the patients whose family members stayed at the facility for 24hrs and the patients without staying family members. There was no difference in the quality of life score between the patients in low-middle and low-high class among 9 classes of familial economic status(high-high, high-middle, high-low, middle-high, middle-middle, middle-low, low-high, low-middle, low-low). There was no difference in the quality of life score between the patients whose familial religion were Christianity and the patients with other religions. After 1, 3, 5, 7 weeks assessment, the scores in the physical, psychosocial, spiritual aspect of quality of life were increased. Conclusion: The results suggest that family support is important to improve the quality of life in hospice patients and hospice care team is needed to replace 24 hours of family care. There is a urgent need of trained hospice care teams, so training programs for physicians, nurses, clergies, social workers, and volunteers are necessary.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.206-220
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of depression, discomfort, spirituality, physical care, and opioid use on pain with terminally ill cancer patients residing in hospice units. The convenient sample of this study consisted of 41 terminally ill cancer patients at three hospice units in university affiliated hospitals. Patients were interviewed with structured questionnaires three times at predetermined intervals: admission to the hospice unit (Time 1), one week later (Time 2), and two weeks later (Time 3). The data was collected from January 1998 to January 1999 and was analyzed using ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multivariate multiple regression. 1. The mean age of the participants was approximately 55 years old. In terms of diagnosis, lung cancer showed the highest frequency (19.5%), followed by stomach cancer and rectal cancer (17.1%). The motive of seeking hospice unit admission was control (72. 2%), followed by spiritual care (50%), and symptom relief (38.9%). 2. Regarding the type of pain felt, the highest pain frequency the participants experienced was deep pain (55%), followed by multiple pain (25%), intestinal pain (10%), then superficial (5%) and neurogenic pain (5%). For the level of pain measured by VAS, there was no significant difference among the three time points; Time 1 (5.04$\pm$2.21), Time 2 (4.82$\pm$2.58) and Time 3(4.73$\pm$2.51). 3. There was significant change seen in spirituality and physical care in each time interval. Namely, the longer the length of admission at the hospice unit, the higher the importance of spirituality (p=0.0001) and the more the physical care the participants received (p=0.01). The opioid use at the three time points showed the following frequencies : Time 1 (75.6%), Time 2 (85.4%) and Time 3 (75.6%). 4. Regarding factors influencing pain, the pain level was significantly affected by the depression level (p〈0.01) and the opioid use (p〈0.1). These results were the most significant at the two time points (Time 1 and Time 2). At Time 3 (two weeks later), the pain level was significantly affected by the depression level (p〈0.05) and the amount of physical care the participants received (p〈0.1). In conclusion, the terminally ill cancer patients had moderate pain, were generally depressed, and were treated with opioid analgesics. As approaching death, the patients received more physical care due to increased physical symptoms experienced and they had a higher perception of the importance of spirituality. Thus, health care professionals need to provide continuous care for each of them to die comfortably physically, psycho- logically, and spiritually.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.75-82
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• 1996

Background: Nerve blocks, including epidural analgesia, can be risky for terminal cancer pain patients in generally poor conditions. We performed this study to evaluate the efficacy of intravenous patient-controlled analgesia(PCA) to treat severe pain of terminally ill cancer patients during the last days of life. Methods: We explained the patient's poor general condition to relatives and received a written consent to administer PCA. The starting dose of opioid for PCA in cancer pain management was based on previous 24-hour dose. Previous 24-hour opioid dose was converted to intramuscular morphine equivalent. The concentration of opioid mixed into Basal Bolus $Infusor^{(R)}$ was controlled to allow for one half of the previous 24-hour equianalgesic dose to infuse continuously. Patients controlled their pain by pushing the PCA module themselves. Patients were observed by pain service team. Some discharged patients were treated at home until death. Results: Forty eight patients received PCA for last two years. The most common reason receiving a PCA was the patient's poor general condition(52.0%). The mean starting dose of PCA was $20.6{\pm}16.2$ mg of morphine. Over eighty percents of the patients were in good or tolerable state of analgesia. Half of the patients expired within one week. The mean duration of PCA was $8.7{\pm}7.0$ days. The problems during PCA were: difficulty in maintaining intravenous routes, early loss of mentality after starting PCA, hypotension and nausea. Conclusion: We concluded that PCA, if correctly, is an effective, relatively safe and readily controllable method of pain management in terminally ill cancer patients during the last days of life. For future considerations, terminal patients may expire at the comfort of their own homes after the resolution of legal problems regarding using opioid in home care.

• Korean Journal of Hospice Care
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.49-57
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• 2002

Background: The purpose of this study is to find out to how much influence religion had on the quality of life in patients admitted to the hospice facility at Saemmul's House. Terminal cancer patients were assessed one to two weeks after admittance to Saemmul's House. Metohd: The subjects of this study were numbered at 75 patients and were admitted to the hospice facility at Sammul's house between January 2002 and July 2002. The data regarding quality of life was collected using a questionnaire prepared by the sammul Hospice and were analyzed by means of ANOVA and T-test. Result: As a result of this study, there was no noticeable difference in quality of physical, psychosocial life between the patients with conviction of salvation and the other patients. However, it shows that the former enjoyed a higher spiritual quality of life than the latter. In case of baptized patients and unbaptized patients, there were no differences in terms of physical and psychosocial quality of life, but the baptized patients demonstrated a higher spiritual quality of life. After admittance, patients were grouped by duration of conviction of salvation I.e., those that believed more than 5 years and those that believed less than 5 years. In terms of physical, psychosocial quality of life, there was little difference between the two groups. However, those who believed more than 5 years demonstrated a higher spiritual quality of life. However, there was no difference in quality of life among patients, regardless of their belief in God, after receiving spiritual care at the hospice. Conclusion: We got a few conclusions in accordance with result gained by this study. First, spiritual support is very important to improving quality of patients' lives in hospices. Second, hospice programs are needed keenly and spiritual support for patients from trained experts is needed 24 hours a day. Third, because trained experts(ministry) are urgently needed to lend spiritual support, hospice courses must be taught at all colleges of theology. Fourth, a hospice program must provide a proper atmosphere that can give spiritual support and therefore all hospices must build such as environment. Fifth, a tool for spiritual support of hospice must be developed.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.418-435
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• 1991

The purposes of this study were to find out the effects of hospice care for the quality of life of the terminally - ill patients and to analyze the relationship between the effect of hospice care and the general characteristics of subjects. The subjects of the study were 32 terminally - ill patients hospitalized in the two general hospitals in Seoul, which have the hospice care unit. The data were collected using the questionnaire with interviews. They were done from Sept.28, 1989 to March 20, 1991. The tools used for the research were 17-item questionnaire regarding general characteristics, 42-item questionnaire about the quality of life (11- item for physical, 16 for psychosocial, and 15 for spiritual). The questionnaires were to measure the duality of life by means of the measure instruments of Betty R. Farewell(1989), Stein Kaasa(1988), Palm Pamela(1987), and Hwa-sook Choi(1987). 42 items were used after pre-test. In accordance with each purpose in this study, frequency and percentage were used on the general characteristics of subjects. ANOVA, t-test, and Pearson correlation were employed to evaluate the general characteristics of subjects and different level of quality of life before-and-after hospice care. The results of the study may be summarized as follws : 1. The effects of hospice care. Main Hypothesis : “The quality of life of the terminally - ill patients will be different from before-and-after hospice care” was supported(t＝6.82, df＝31, p＝ .000). Sub Hypothesis 1 : “The quality of life of the terminally - ill patients in the physical aspects will be different from before - and -after hospice care” was not supported(t＝0.07, df＝31, p＝ .946). Sub Hypothesis 2 : “The quality of life of the terminally - ill patients in the psychosocial aspects will be different from before-and-after hospice care” was supported (t＝4.69, df＝31, p＝ .000). Sub Hypothesis 3 : “The quality of life of the terminally - ill patients in the spiritual aspects will be different from before-and-after hospice care” was supported(t＝6.64, df＝31, p＝ .000). 2. Relationship between the general characteristics of subjects and the effects of hospice care. (1) The more the number of family, the higher the quality of life in the psychosocial aspects. (2) The higher the age of the patient, the lower the quality of life in the psychosocial aspects. (3) The high educational level of patients enjoy the high quality of life in general. (4) The high religious level of petients enjoy the higy Quality of life in the spiritual aspects. As a results of analysis above : 1. The most effective aspects of the hospice care to the terminally- ill patients was spiritual aspects. The next effective aspects was psychosocial area. 2. The least effective aspcets of the hospice care to the terminally- ill patients was physical aspects. Further study is needed to improve the quality of life in the physical aspects.