• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.201-211
• /
• 2000

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to determine the validity and reliablity of the Korean version of the Global Assessment of Recent Stress(GARS) Scale developed for assessing the severity of current perceived stressors, and then to use the scale in clinical practice. Methods : The questionnaire was completed by 215 healthy subjects. A comparison was made regarding the perception of stressors among 242 patients(71 with anxiety disorder, 73 with depressive disorder, 47 with somatoform disorder, and 51 with psychosomatic disorder) and 215 healthy subjects. Factor analysis was done using oblique rotation after maximum-likelihood factor analysis. Results : Factor analysis yielded 1 subscale. Reliability was computed by administering the GARS Scale to 69 healthy subjects during a 2-week interval. Test-retest reliability for 8 items and the total score was significantly high, ranging between 0.85-.95. Internal consistency was significant(Cronbach's a for 7 items : .86). Convergent validity was computed by correlating the 8 items and the total score with the total score of the stress response inventory(SRI), the perceived stress questionnaire(PSQ), and the somatization, anxiety, depression, hostility subscales and general indices of the symptom checklist-90-revised(SCL-90-R). The correlations were all at significant levels. Discriminant validity was computed by comparing the 8 item scores of the patient and control groups. Significant differences were found in area relevant to sickness or illness and the overill global area. The patients with anxiety disorder were significantly higher in area relevant to sickness or illness than the healthy group, whereas the patients with depressive disorder was significantly higher in the overall global score than healthy group. The depressive disorder group was the highest in overall global score of the GARS scale among 4 patient groups, and showed a significant higher scores in interpersonal relationship and overall global area than the psychosomatic disorder group. Conclusions : These results indicate that the Korean version of the GARS scale is highly reliable and valid, and that it can be utilized as an effective measure of perceived stressors for research in stress-related fields. It is suggested that depressive disorder patients are more likely to perceive recent stressors than psychosomatic disorder patients.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.110-119
• /
• 2002

Objectives : Numbers of patients who have chronic pain seem to be increasing in the psychiatric practice. Many investigators have used models of stress and coping to help explain the differences in adjustment found among persons who experience chronic pain. Coping strategies appear to be associated with adjustment in chronic pain patients. The objectives of this study were to develop a self-report questionnaire which is the most widely used measures of pain coping strategies, Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ) into Korean version and to study the different coping strategies with which chronic pain patients frequently use when their pain reaches a moderate or greater level of intensity. Methods : One hundred twenty-eight individuals with chronic pain conditions and two hundred fifty-two normal controls were administered the Korean version-Coping Strategies Questionnaire(KCSQ) to assess the frequency of use and perceived effectiveness of a variety of cognitive and behavioral pain coping strategies. We also obtained their clinical features in chronic pain patients. Reliability of the questionnaire were analyzed and evaluated differences of coping strategies between two groups. Results : Data analysis revealed that the questionnaire was internally reliable. Chronic pain patients reported frequent use of a variety of pain coping strategies, such as coping self-statements, praying and hoping, catastrophizing, and increase behavior scales which were higher compared to the normal controls. Conclusion: K-CSQ revealed to be a reliable self-report questionnaire which is useful for the assessment of coping strategies in clinical setting on chronic pain. And analysis of pain coping strategies may be helpful in understanding pain for chronic pain patients. The individual K-CSQ may have greater utility in terms of examining coping, appraisals, and pain adjustment. A consideration of pain coping strategies may allow one to design pain coping skills training interventions so as to fit the individual chronic pain patient. Further research is needed to determine whether cognitive-behavioral intervention designed to decrease maladaptive coping strategies can reduce pain and improve the physical and psycho-social functioning of chronic patients.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.67-74
• /
• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study to evaluate visual acuity and refractive state and measure and analyze the components of eye's optical system in children and teenagers. Methods: With subjects of 124 (230 eyes) children and teenagers who had no eye diseases, correlation between the correlation between refractive errors and component's of eye's optical system was investigated. The spherical equivalent power of cycloplegic clinical refraction or manifest clinical refraction(SE), corneal power(CP), corneal radius(CR), axial length(AL), anterior chamber depth(ACD) and axial length to corneal radius (AL/CR) ratio were measured and analysed. Results: the SE was negatively correlated with the AL(r = -0.80, p = 0.00), the ACD(r = -0.35, p = 0.00) and the CR(r = -0.11, p=0.00) and positively correlated with the CP(r = +0.11, p=0.00). The AL was positively correlated with the AL/CR ratio (r = +0.84, p = 0.00), the ACD(r = +0.47, p=0.00) and the CR(r = +0.38, p = 0.00) and negatively correlated with the CP(r = -0.38, p=0.00). The CR was negatively correlated with CP(r = -1.00, p = 0.00), the AL/CR ratio(r = -0.19, p = 0.00) and the ACD(r = -0.06, p = 0.39). The CP was positively correlated with the AL/CR ratio(r = +0.19, p = 0.00) and the ACD(r = +0.06, p = 0.39). The ACD was positively correlated with the AL/CR ratio(r = 0.53, p = 0.00). Conclusions: the highest change of refractive errors was shown that the AL/CR ratio was a very important indicator for diagnosing the refractive errors of the children and teenagers.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.11-21
• /
• 1977

Many in nursing look back on Nursing Research history and proudly point to the fact that emphasis in nursing research has changed from studying the nurse to studying nursing practice. In recent years, much emphasis has been placed on seeking a method of evaluating the quality of nursing care. In spite of these attempts, however, an instrument for evaluating the quality of nursing care that is actually applicable in the clinical area has not been found. The Purposes of this study are as follows: 1) To develop the instrument to be used in evaluating the quality of nursing care provided in the Neuro - Surgery Constant Care Unit of Severance Hospital 2) To evaluate the quality of nursing care in the clinical area. 3) To provide the necessary information for improvement of quality of nursing care. The instrument for evaluating the quality of nursing care, developed by the investigator, was composed of 7 nursing goals and divided into 65 standards of nursing performance. The 7 nursing goal are as follows : 1) Maintenance of airway 2) Maintenance of fluid at electrolyte balance 3) Maintenance of elimination 4) Personal hygiene 5) Optimum activity 6) Prevention of accidents 7) Emotional care The study population defined was composed of all the case (51) who were admitted in the Neuro- Surgery Constant Care Unit of Severance Hospital from May 7-13, 1976. The observation method was used and the data was subjected to the %, X²-test, T-test, F-test and Correlation. The results of tile study were as follows : 1. Levels of nursing performance regarding nursing goals. Seven different nursing care indices were constructed in terms of nursing goals. The index scores were grouped arbitrarily into ,j categories such as "excellent", "good", "moderate", "incomplete", and "poor"based upon the investigator′s personal judgement. a. The nursing index of maintaining airway showed that 78% of the patients fell within the "excellent" and 22% of the patients, fell within the "good" category. b. The nursing index of maintaining fluid & electrolyte balance showed that 95% of the patients fell within the "excellent" and 5 % of the patients fell within the "good" category. c. The nursing index of maintaining elimination showed that 100% of the patients fell within the "excellent" category. d. The nursing index of personal hygiene revealed that 49% of the patients fell within the "excellent" and 51% of the patients fell within the "good" category. e. The nursing index of optimum activity showed that 63% of the patients fell within the "excellent" and 32% of the patients fell within tile "good" and 5% of patients fell within the "moderate" category. f. The nursing index of prevention of accidents showed that 100% of the patients foil within the "excellent" category. g. The nursing index of emotional cart revealed that 27% of the patients fell within the "excellent", 24 % of the patients fell within tile "good", 29 % of the patients fell within the "incomplete" category. From these findings it is disclosed that the quality of nursing care provided in the Neuro- Surgery Constant Care Unit of Severance Hospital was excellent. h. There were statistically significant differences between the nursing index of physical care and emotional care. (t=8.73, D. F. =100. p<0.01) It is revealed that more physical care then emotional care was carried out by nurses. 2. Levels of nursing performance regarding general characteristics of the patients. No significant differences were observed statistically with the nursing indices of nursing goals according to the sex (t=0.084, D. F. =12, p>0.05). Age (F=0.1251, D. F. : 3.18. p 〉0.05), absence or presence of operating experiences (t=0.6032, D. F. =12, p〉0.05, levels of consciousness (F=0.31, D. F. :3. 18, p >0.05) 3. Relationship between the levels of consciousness and the nursing index of each nursing goal. There was negative correlation between the levels of consciousness and the nursing index of maintaining airway (r=-0. 5449, p<0.01) and personal hygiene (r= -0.4075, p<0.01) There was positive correlation between the levels of consciousness and the nursing index of optimum activity (r=0.3936, p <0.01) and emotional care (r=0.7819, p〈0.01). There was slight correlation between the levels of consciousness and the nursing index of maintaining fluid & electrolyte balance (r=-0.3418, 0.010.05) and preventing accidents (r=0.1441, p>0.05.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.55 no.2
• /
• pp.154-164
• /
• 2003

Background : Until the early 1990's in Korea, treatment outcomes of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in the private sector were reported to be inferior to those of the public health center under the National Tuberculosis Programme. The purpose of this study was to analyze the clinical characteristics and the treatment efficacy of the patients with pulmonary tuberculosis recently diagnosed at a private general hospital. Materials and Methods : The study included all pulmonary tuberculosis patients diagnosed at Samsung Medical Center and notified to the public health center from August 2000 to January 2001. Results : Of the 232 patients included in the study during a 6-month period, 188 were (81.0%) initial treatment cases and 44 (19.0%) were re-treatment cases. Eighty-three (35.8%) patients had smear-positive sputa, and 27 (11.6%) had smear-negative, culture-positive sputa. Initial sputum examinations were not performed in 47 (20.3%) patients. A six-month, short-course treatment using isoniazid, rifampin, ethambutol and pyrazinamide was prescribed for 31.4% of the patients under the initial treatment. The success rate (cured plus treatment completed) of the initial treatment for the smear-positive patients was 69.1%. Eleven (13.3%) of the 83 patients with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis discontinued their treatment without notice. Conclusions : To improve the treatment efficacy and decrease the default rates of the patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in the private sector, further efforts are required in line with the Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Treatment Guidelines and in the implementation of an appropriate model of public-private mix for tuberculosis control in Korea.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.130-136
• /
• 2005

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation among descriptions regarding one's stool, Bristol stool form scale and colon transit time (CTT) in children with gastrointestinal symptoms, along with the clinical significance of Bristol stool form scale. Methods: 489 patients treated in the pediatric department of Severance hospital with gastrointestinal symptoms between May 2002 to May 2004 were included. We analyzed their age, sex, verbal descriptions of stool, Bristol stool form types, and CTT measured by Metcalf's method. Results: 116 children were under 5 years of age, 202 children between 5.1~10, and 171 children 10 years of age or older. Their mean age was $8.2{\pm}3.9years$. Stools were described as loose in 65 children (13.3%), normal in 221 (45.2%), hard in 188 (38.4%), and mixed (loose+hard) in 15 (3.1%). According to Bristol stool form scale, 57 children(11.7%) were classified as type 1, 66 (13.5%) as type 2, 203 (41.5%) as type 3, 109 (22.3%) as type 4, 36 (7.4%) as type 5, 18 (3.7%) as type 6, and 1 (0.2%) as type 7. Their mean CTT was checked $35.9{\pm}19.5hours$. Though no significant relationship was observed between age and CTT (p=0.4), a significant relationship was noted among patient's stool description, Bristol stool form scale and CTT (p<0.001). However, concordance between stool description and Bristol stool form was relatively low in the loose stool group (29%) and normal stool group (37%) while high in the hard stool group (87%). Conclusion: Bristol stool form scale could be used in the estimation of CTT in clinical practice.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.48 no.12
• /
• pp.1324-1329
• /
• 2005

Purpose : The aim of this study was to evaluate recent improvements in the survival rate of extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants and to identify perinatal and management factors that are associated with improved survival. Methods : Two groups of ELBW infants who were admitted to our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) during two distinct eras : November 1994-December 1999 (Period 1 : n=100) and January 2000-April 2004 (Period 2 : n=166) were retrospectively reviewed. Results : Despite the younger gestational age and smaller birth weight of the ELBW infants in period 2, not only did their survival rate increased to 75 percent from 60 percent in period 1, but their incidence of morbidities such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia, confimed sepsis and intraventricular hemorrhage (${\geq}$Grade III) also declined. Factors significantly associated with improved survival included the use of antenatal steroids, a longer duration of nasal continuous positive airway pressure and the absence of intraventricular hemorrhage (${\geq}$Grade III). Conclusion : We believe that optimized clinical practice, that emphasized less invasive care, contributed to the recent improvements in the survival rate of ELBW infants.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.94-100
• /
• 2011

Purpose: Basal/Acetazolamide-challenged brain perfusion SPECT is very useful to assess cerebral perfusion and vascular reserve. However, as there is a trade off between sensitivity and spatial resolution in the selection of collimator, the selection of optimal collimator is crucial. In this study, we examined three collimators to select optimal one for 1-day brain perfusion SPECT. Materials and Methods: Three collimators, low energy high resolution-parallel beam (LEHR-par), ultra resolution-fan beam (LEUR-fan) and super fine-fan beam (LESFR-fan), were tested for 1-day imaging using Triad XLT 9 (TRIONIX). The SPECT images of Hoffman 3D brain phantom filled with 99mTc of 170 MBq and a normal volunteer were acquired with a protocol of 50 kcts/frame and detector rotation of 3 degree. Filterd backprojection (FBP) reconstruction with Butterworth filter (cut off frequencies, 0.3 to 0.5) was performed. The quantitative and qualitative assessments for three collimators were performed. Results: The blind tests showed that LESFR-fan provided the best image quality for Hoffman brain phantom and the volunteer. However, images for all the collimator were evaluated as 'acceptable'. On the other hand, in order to meet the equivalent signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), total acquisition time or radioactivity dose for LESFR-fan must have been increased up to almost twice of that for LEUR-fan and LEHR-par. The volunteer test indicated that total acquisition time could be reduced approximately by 10 to 14 min in clinical practice using LEUR-fan and LEHR-par without significant loss on image quality, in comparison with LESFR-fan. Conclusion: Although LESFR-fan provides the best image quality, it requires significantly more acquisition time than LEUR-fan and LEHR-par to provide reasonable SNR. Since there is no significant clinical difference between three collimators, LEUR-fan and LEHR-par can be recommended as optimal collimators for 1-day brain perfusion imaging with respect to image quality and SNR.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.22 no.8
• /
• pp.1057-1063
• /
• 2012

Epilepsy is the most prevalent chronic neurological disorder and can be controlled by antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in up to 70% of patients. We performed an association study between adverse drug reactions and the genetic polymorphisms of CYP2C9, CYP2C19, ABCB1, and SCN1A. The clinical data of 83 epilepsy patients who had received AEDs containing carbamazepine (CBZ) were collected. We extracted genomic DNA from peripheral blood and then genotyped CYP2C9 ($CYP2C9^*2$, $CYP2C9^*3$), CYP2C19 ($CYP2C9^*2$, $CYP2C9^*3$), ABCB1 (C3435T), and SCN1A (IVS5N+5 G>A) using direct sequencing. The allele frequencies of $CYP2C9^*3$, $CYP2C9^*2$, $CYP2C9^*3$, ABCB1 (3435C>T), and SCN1A (IVS5N+5 G>A) were 0.93, 0.72, 0.91, 0.61, and 0.55, respectively. Statistically significant differences were indicated from the data obtained. Patients with SCN1A genotype CC or CT were compared with patients with SCN1A genotype TT while using more than 500mg of carbamazepine. We have associated functional polymorphisms with the dose used in regular clinical practice for Korean epilepsy patients who had received antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) containing carbamazepine. For AEDs, we found that one of the SCN1A genotypes is associated with a 500 mg dose. There was no association found with CNS ADR caused by AEDs.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.203-209
• /
• 2010

Purpose : It has been a common medical practice to use prophylactic antibiotics to prevent recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI) in high risk situations such as urinary tract obstruction, vesicoureteral reflux, neurogenic bladder, or urinary stones. But sometimes, we meet difficult situation of breakthrough infections (BI) which might cause new or progressive renal scarring. The clinical characteristics of children contracting breakthrough UTI experienced in a single center were studied. Methods : The study was done retrospectively through medical records of 150 pediatric patients who had been cared in pediatric and urologic clinics of Pusan National University Hospital from Jan. 2001 till June 2006 and had prophylactic antibiotics to prevent recurrent UTI. Results : The starting age of prophylactic antibiotics of 150 patient was 1-76 months, and median age was 5 months. The BI developed 61 times in 43 patients (28.7%), 1.5 times per 100 patient-months. The BI occurred more frequently in patients with higher grade of VUR, and in the cases with abnormal DMSA scan. Co-trimoxazole was more effective than 2nd and 3rd generation cephalosporins to prevent UTI. The distribution of causative organisms was more diverse than usual UTI. The causative organisms were sensitive to the antibiotics used for prophylaxis in 29.5%, and resistant in 59.1%. After experience of BI, 40 percents of patients went to the surgical treatment including endoscopic injection of Deflux, 35% to new antibiotics for prophylaxis, 26% remain on the same antibiotics as the previous one. Conclusion : Based on our study results, preexisting renal scar might be one of the factors which should be considered in favor of early surgical interventions of VUR. Poor compliance and wrong selection of antibiotics such as cephalosporins are important underlying causes of breakthrough UTIs.