• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.331-341
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• 2022

This systematic review evaluates current evidence regarding the feasibility of using needleless jet injection instead of a conventional local anesthetic needle. EBSCO, ProQuest, PubMed, and Scopus databases were used to identify relevant literature published in English from 2005 to 2020. Ten studies were selected. Five of them were randomized clinical trials, 3 case-control studies, and 2 equivalence trials. Using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program checklist, 6 studies scored between 67% and 100%, and 4 studies scored between 34% and 66%. According to Jadad's scale, 2 studies were considered strong, and 8 studies were considered moderate in quality. The results of the 10 studies showed differences in patient preference for needleless jet injection. Needleless injection technique has been found to be particularly useful in uncooperative patients with anxiety and needle phobia. Needleless jet injection is not technique sensitive. However, with needleless jet anesthesia, most treatments require additional anesthesia. Conventional needle anesthesia is less costly, has a longer duration of action, and has better pain control during dental extraction. Needleless jet anesthesia has been shown to be moderately accepted by patients with a fear of needles, has a faster onset of action, and is an efficient alternative to conventional infiltration anesthesia technique.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.102-130
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• 2022

Objectives: The persistence and unpredictability of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and new measures to prevent direct medical intervention (e.g., social distancing and quarantine) have induced various psychological symptoms and disorders that require self-treatment approaches and integrative treatment interventions. To address these issues, the Korean Medicine Mental Health (KMMH) center developed a field manual by reviewing previous literature and preexisting manuals. Methods: The working group of the KMMH center conducted a keyword search in PubMed in June 2021 using "COVID-19" and "SARS-CoV-2". Review articles were examined using the following filters: "review," "systematic review," and "meta-analysis." We conducted a narrative review of the retrieved articles and extracted content relevant to previous manuals. We then created a treatment algorithm and recommendations by referring to the results of the review. Results: During the initial assessment, subjective symptom severity was measured using a numerical rating scale, and patients were classified as low- or moderate-high risk. Moderate-high-risk patients should be classified as having either a psychiatric emergency or significant psychiatric condition. The developed manual presents appropriate psychological support for each group based on the following dominant symptoms: tension, anxiety-dominant, anger-dominant, depression-dominant, and somatization. Conclusions: We identified the characteristics of mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic and developed a clinical mental health support manual in the field of Korean medicine. When symptoms meet the diagnostic criteria for a mental disorder, doctors of Korean medicine can treat the patients according to the manual for the corresponding disorder.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.353-361
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• 2023

Background: Noise has been linked to an increased risk of various health issues, including stress, anxiety, insomnia, and cardiovascular disorders. However, research on the relationship between residential traffic noise and mental health in South Korea is limited. Objectives: This study aims to examine the correlation between regional traffic noise levels and mental health using an ecological study design. Methods: In this ecological study, all data were collected from the Korean Statistical Information Service. Traffic noise data in residential areas and the prevalence of mental health indices in 44 cities with noise monitoring stations were obtained. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to assess the relationship between regional traffic noise levels and mental health indices. Results: Daytime traffic noise levels were found to have a positive correlation with stress perception (r=0.428, p=0.004) and showed a borderline positive correlation with depressive symptom prevalence (r=0.273, p=0.073). In cities with airports, significant correlations was observed between 24-hour average noise levels and depressive symptoms (r=0.604, p=0.010), whereas this relationship was not observed in cities without airports (r=0.048, p=0.813). Multiple regression analysis, which adjusted for factors such as age, gender ratio, smoking, obesity, unemployment, urban size, and the presence of an airport, confirmed the relationship between 24-hour average noise levels and stress perception (beta=0.287, p=0.024). Conclusions: This study identified correlations between regional traffic noise levels and depressive symptoms or stress perception in adults, with a more pronounced effect in areas with airports. These findings suggest a potential impact of residential traffic noise on mental health, highlighting the importance of preventive measures like noise management in urban planning to promote mental well-being.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.31-33
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• 2024

Purpose: Music therapy helps alleviate anxiety, depression, and pain for cancer patients, contributing to stress relief. With such advantages, music therapy is applied across a broad spectrum of treatment areas, including mental disorders, developmental disabilities, and conditions affecting the elderly. It has been shown to enhance the quality of life for terminally ill cancer patients. Recent research has revealed its positive effects in boosting immune function and resilience. In light of these findings, the author conducted a study to investigate patient satisfaction with music listening. Materials and Methods: First, a survey was conducted with 30 individuals to inquire about the perceived necessity of listening to music in a waiting area. Next, participants were asked whether listening to music could contribute to psychological stability. Finally, preferences for music genres and satisfaction with music listening were assessed with a sample of 20 individuals. Results: In terms of the perceived necessity of listening to music in the waiting area, 28 out of 30 individuals, or 93%, expressed agreement. Regarding the belief that music listening could contribute to psychological stability, 28 out of 30 individuals, or 93%, believed that it would indeed help with stability. When it comes to preferred music genres, 4 individuals (13%) favored classical music, 2 individuals (6%) preferred traditional Korean music, 2 individuals (6%) enjoyed trot music, and 20 individuals (66%) had no specific genre preference. As for music listening satisfaction, 17 out of 20 individuals, or 85%, reported being satisfied. Conclusion: When patients visit the hospital, stress can increase due to concerns about their medical conditions. To address this, providing a variety of music genres at the hospital has been effective in reducing patient stress and promoting psychological stability.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.11
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• pp.1467-1474
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• 2023

Due to the continuous increase in patients with androgenetic alopecia (AGA) and psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety, the demand for hair loss treatment and effective hair growth materials has increased. Terminalia bellirica (Gaertn.) Roxb. (TBE) reportedly exerts anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, and antidiabetic effects, among others, but its effects on testosterone (TS)-inhibited hair growth remains unclear. In this study, we evaluated the effects of TBE on TS-induced hair growth regression in human follicle dermal papilla cells (HFDPCs) and C57BL/6 mice. Oral administration of TBE increased TS-induced hair growth retardation. Interestingly, effects were greater when compared with finasteride, a commercial hair loss treatment product. Histological analyses revealed that oral TBE administration increased hair follicles in the dorsal skin of C57BL/6 mice. Additionally, western blotting and immunofluorescence showed that oral TBE administration recovered the TS-induced inhibition of cyclin D1, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and Ki67 expression in vivo. Using in vitro proliferation assays, TBE promoted HFDPC growth, which was suppressed by TS treatment. Thus, TBE may be a promising nutraceutical for hair health as it promoted hair growth in AGA-like in vitro and in vivo models.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.194-201
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• 2024

Background: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease associated with systemic inflammation and increased prevalence of various comorbid conditions. This study investigates the prevalence of non-respiratory comorbidities among adult asthma patients in South Korea, aiming to elucidate potential correlations and impacts of asthma on overall health, thereby affecting patients' quality of life and healthcare systems. Methods: This retrospective cohort study utilized the National Health Insurance Service data (HIRA-NPS-2020) and included adults diagnosed with asthma. Non-respiratory diseases were identified using the Korean Standard Disease Classification (KCD-8) codes, with exclusions applied for other respiratory conditions. The prevalence of comorbidities was analyzed and compared between asthma and non-asthma patients, adjusting for confounders such as age, gender, and insurance status through inverse probability treatment weighting (IPTW). Results: The analysis revealed that asthma patients exhibit significantly higher rates of cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders, gastrointestinal conditions, and mental health issues compared to the control group. Notably, conditions such as heart failure, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and anxiety were more prevalent, with odds ratios (OR) ranging from 1.18 to 3.90. These results demonstrate a substantial burden of comorbidities associated with asthma, indicating a broad impact on health beyond the respiratory system. Conclusion: The findings highlight the systemic nature of asthma and the interconnectedness of inflammatory processes across different organ systems. This comprehensive analysis confirms previous research linking asthma with an increased risk of various non-respiratory diseases, providing insights into the multifaceted impact of asthma on patient health.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.537-545
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• 2024

This study was analyzed by comparing it with paid-employed to understand the mental health level of self-employed people during the COVID-19 pandemic. The subjects of this study were 6,736 self-employed and 15,196 paid-employed using the 6th data of the Korean Working Conditions Survey(2020-2021). As a result of the study, self-employed people are more anxiety(F=-2.81, p=0.001) than paid-employed. Sleep disorders (F=-18.05, p=2.035), and depression levels(F=19.80, p=1.176) were all high, and the positive perception of subjective health(F=29.70, p=1.020) was also lower than that of paid-employed. Therefore, it is suggested that long-term and practical government policy and social security systems are needed for groups particularly disadvantaged by COVID-19.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.67-75
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• 2002

Objectives：This study was conducted to investigate the degree of psychopathologies of the family members of children with chronic convulsive disorder and evaluate the structures and dynamics of those families. Methods：The participant patients and family members were recruited from the population attending the outpatient clinic of department of pediatric neurology in Seoul National University Hospital in Korea. All the patients had idiopathic chronic convulsive disorder. Any patient with mental retardation, pervasive developmental disorder and gross brain pathology was excluded. As controls, normal students were chosen and their sex, age, achievement, socioeconomic status were matched to patients. The author interviewed the children and their family members twice and obtained informations about patient-parent relationship, patient-sibling relationship and others. For in-depth evaluation, we used family environment scales(FES), symptom Checklist-90-revised(SCL-90-R), self administered dependency questionnaire for mother(SADQ). Results：After interviewing with the parents of epileptic children, overprotection of parents, hostile feeling of siblings toward index children were higher than controls. The parental conflict was also more expressed than control families. According to results from FES, the scores of the subscales of expression, achievement-orientation, intelligence-orientation and active recreation were significantly lower than control group. The epileptic children showed higher dependency to parents especially in affection, communication and traveling areas of SADQ than control group. Maternal psychopathologies evaluated by SCL-90-R were much higher than the mothers of controls. According to T scores of SCL-90-R, about 40% of mothers with epileptic children had the risk of clinically significant depressive or anxiety disorders. Conclusion：These results suggested that the family members of epileptic children had more relationship problems and psychopathologies than control group and some mothers might have clinically significant depressive or anxiety disorders. so, effective psychiatric family interventions are needed for resolution of conflict and psychopathologies of family members.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.196-204
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• 2003

Objectives: It is known that sedative hypnotics would make cross tolerance with alcohol and deteriorate quality of sleep in alcoholics. Light therapy is effective non-pharmacological intervention for sleep disturbance in circadian phase disorders, jet-lag, shift-work and age-related sleep disorders. Authors would investigate the effects of morning light therapy on sleep of patients with alcohol dependence during recovery state without withdrawal symptoms. Methods: 13 patients with alcohol dependence who have not any alcohol withdrawal symptom were recruited. Light therapy during 1 hour in the morning had been administered by 2500 Lux light box through serial 3 days. Sleep state of subjects were assessed by sleep log and the subjective satisfaction at sleep was by 100 mm visual analogue scale. Sleepiness, depressive mood, anxiety were evaluated by 100mm visual analogue scale at 8 AM, 2 PM and 8 PM. For assessment of performance ability that would be associated with sleepiness and vigilance, trail making test A, B and digit symbol substitution test were performed by two times on base line and 4th day. Univariate repeated-measures ANOVAs were performed for each measures except performance tests which were analysed by paired t-test. Results: Sleep latency and sleep efficiency were significantly improved with light therapy and satisfaction at sleep was. There was no significant difference in sleepiness at 2 PM with light therapy but sleepiness at 8 AM significantly decreased and at 8 PM increased. The time to complete Trail making test and digit symbol substitution test were significantly shortened at 4th day compared with baseline. Fatigue at 8 AM were not significantly changed with light therapy but at 2 PM and 8 PM significantly decreased. Depressive mood and anxiety were not significantly changed with light therapy. Conclusion: Although this study had some limitations, it showed that light therapy would be effective modality on sleep disturbance of patients with alcohol dependence who have recovered from alcohol withdrawal symptoms. It is proposed that short term light therapy could be used clinically for alcoholics with insomnia. In the future, long term controlled studies using more objective tools for sleep are required to further investigate the effect of light therapy in alcoholics.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.25-34
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• 2019

Objectives : This study aimed to compare the psychosocial characteristics among patients with functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID), adults with functional gastrointestinal symptoms, and normal control group and investigate factors related to quality of life (QoL) of FGID patients. Methods : 65 patients diagnosed with FGID were selected. 79 adults were selected as normal control group based on the Rome III diagnostic criteria, and 88 adults who showed functional gastrointestinal symptoms were selected as "FGID positive group". Demographic factors were investigated. Psychosocial factors were evaluated using the Korean-Beck Depression Inventory-II, Korean-Beck Anxiety Inventory, Korean-Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Multi-dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and WHO Quality of Life Assessment Instrument Brief Form. A one-way ANOVA was used to compare differences among groups. Pearson correlation test was used to analyze correlations between QoL and psychosocial factors in patients with FGID. Results : There were group differences in the education level. Depression (F=29.012, p<0.001), anxiety (F=27.954, p<0.001) and Childhood trauma (F=7.748, p<0.001) were significantly higher in FGID patient group than in both FGID-positive and normal control group. Social support (F=5,123, p<0.001), Resilience (F=9.623, p<0.001) and QoL (F=35.991, p<0.001) were significantly lower in the FGID patient group than in others. QoL of FGID patients showed a positive correlation with resilience (r=0.475, p<0.01), and showed a negative correlation with depression (r=-0.641, p<0.01), anxiety (r=-0.641, p<0.01), and childhood trauma (r=-0.278, p<0.05). Conclusions : FGID patients have distinctive psychosocial factors compared to the both FGID-positive and normal control group. Therefore, the active interventions for psychosocial factors are required in the treatment of patients with FGID.