• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.38-43
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• 2018

Objective: To survey knowledge about the factors that influence fertility in a reproductive-age population living in an urban area. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire-based survey among both males and females aged 18-45 years living in the Bangkok metropolitan area. Results: The mean age of the participants was $26.8{\pm}7.2years$ (male, 41.9%; female, 58.1%). Of the participants, 53.1% had an undergraduate degree and 57.1% were single. Only one-fifth of the participants correctly identified the age when fecundity declines in male and female, the definition of infertility, and the period during the menstrual cycle with the highest chance of pregnancy. Approximately three-fourths of the participants correctly identified that cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and sexually transmitted infections affect fertility. Conclusion: A considerable knowledge gap about the factors that influence fertility was identified in reproductive-age individuals in an urban area of Thailand. This issue should be urgently addressed by promoting fertility awareness through education, discussions about social perceptions regarding fertility, and reliable sources of knowledge.

• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.56-70
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• 2017

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify ICU nurses' knowledge of the five moments of hand hygiene and the ambiguity of these moments when demonstrating hand hygiene. Methods: The subjects were 200 intensive care unit nurses at a university hospital. Data was collected using self-report questionnaires, translated according to the instructions of training films developed by WHO, and analyzed using descriptive statistics and ranking tests. Results: The highest number of correct answers was regarding the moment before contact with a patient and the lowest was regarding the moment after contact with a patient. The rate of providing wrong answers regarding required moments of hand hygiene was high. Conclusion: The study identified ICU nurses' knowledge of specific moments of hand hygiene; they had difficulty differentiating between the moments that happened simultaneously, i.e. after touching a patient, and that patient's surroundings, and there was ambiguity concerning patient areas and medical treatment areas. It was concluded that it is necessary to educate nurses regarding both required and unrequired moments of hand hygiene and to ensure that they can distinguish between these moments.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.265-274
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• 2013

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors contributed to unplanned readmission to intensive care unit (ICU) and to investigate the prediction model of unplanned readmission. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical records which included the data of 3,903 patients who had discharged from ICUs in a university hospital in Seoul from January 2011 to April 2012. Results: The unplanned readmission rate was 4.8% (n=186). The nine variables were significantly different between the unplanned readmission and no readmission groups: age, clinical department, length of stay at 1st ICU, operation, use of ventilator during 24 hours a day, APACHE II score at ICU admission and discharge, direct nursing care hours and Glasgow coma scale total score at 1st ICU discharge. The clinical department, length of stay at 1st ICU, operation and APACHE II score at ICU admission were the significant predictors of unplanned ICU readmission. The predictive model's area under the curve was .802 (p<.001). Conclusion: We identified the risk factors and the prediction model associated with unplanned ICU readmission. Better patient assessment tools and knowledge about risk factors could contribute to reduce unplanned ICU readmission rate and mortality.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.259-265
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to investigate clinical nurses' knowledge and educational needs about dizziness. One of the most frequent complaints among adult persons visiting the hospital is experiencing dizziness. Clinical nurses in the hospital play a crucial role in managing such patients. Methods: Our paper is a cross-sectional survey using structured instruments to evaluate clinical nurses' knowledge and educational needs about dizziness. This study was conducted January through February 2018. Subjects were 246 clinical nurses in an outpatient, intensive care, internal medicine unit and emergency department at university hospital. Data were analyzed using SPSS statistics 21. Results: The average ofdizziness knowledge score was 57.66± 23.75 (range 0-100) and educational need was 3.55 ± .47(range 0-5). There were significant differences in dizziness knowledge according to age (p< .001), working unit (p< .001), career duration (p< .001), change experience of unit (p< .001), dizziness patient care experience and participation in dizziness education (p< .001). There was positive correlation between knowledge of dizziness and the need for dizziness education (r= .26 p< .001). Conclusion: Results of this paper indicate that a dizziness education program is urgently needed for clinical nurses. Such a program should be seriously considered based on our results.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Life Science Conference
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• 2002.03a
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• pp.98-98
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• 2002

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.3147-3153
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• 2016

Background: Many strategies are required for cervical cancer reduction e.g. provision of education cautious sexual behavior, HPV vaccination, and early detection of pre-invasive cervical lesions and invasive cancer. Basic health data for cervical cytology/ HPV DNA and associated factors are important to make an appropriate policy to fight against cervical cancer. Aims: To assess the prevalence of abnormal cervical cytology and/or HPV DNA and associated factors, including sexual behavior, among Bangkok Metropolitan women. Materials and Methods: Thai women, aged 25-to-65 years old, had lived in Bangkok for ${\geq}5$ years were invited into the study. Liquid-based cervical cytology and HPV DNA tests were performed. Personal data were collected. Main Outcomes Measures: Rates of abnormal cytology and/ or high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) and factors associated with abnormal test (s) were studied. Results: Abnormal cytology and positive HR-HPV were found in 6.3% (279/4442 women) and 6.7% (295/4428), respectively. The most common abnormal cytology was ASC-US (3.5%) while the most common HR-HPV genotype was HPV 16 (1.4%) followed by HPV 52 (1.0%), HPV 58 (0.9%), and HPV 18 and HPV 51 at equal frequency (0.7%). Both tests were abnormal in 1.6% (71/4428 women). Rates of HR-HPV detection were directly associated with severity of abnormal cytology: 5.4% among normal cytology and 13.0%, 30.8%, 40.0%, 39.5%, 56.3% and 100.0% among ASC-US, ASC-H, AGC-NOS, LSIL, HSIL, and SCC, respectively. Some 5% of women who had no HR-HPV had abnormal cytology, in which 0.3% had ${\geq}$ HSIL. Factors associated with abnormal cytology or HR-HPV were: age ${\leq}40$ years, education lower than (for cytology) or higher than bachelor for HR-HPV), history of sexual intercourse, and sexual partners ${\geq}2$. Conclusions: Rates for abnormal cytology and HR-HPV detection were 6.3% and 6.7% HR-HPV detection was directly associated with severity of abnormal cytology. Significant associated factors were age ${\leq}40$ years, lower education, history of sexual intercourse, and sexual partners ${\geq}2$.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.83 no.3
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• pp.242-247
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• 2020

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term survival rates of very elderly (age ≥80) critically ill patients admitted to a medical intensive care unit (MICU) at a regional tertiary-care hospital in Korea. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from patients who survived after discharged from the MICU of our hospital. Survival rates at 90 days, 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years were assessed between patients age ≥80 and those age <80. Survival status was evaluated using the National Health Insurance Service data. Results: A total of 468 patients were admitted, 286 (179 males, 97 females; mean age, 70.18±13.2) of whom survived and were discharged soon after their treatment. Among these patients, 69 (24.1%) were age ≥80 and 217 (75.9%) were age <80. The 90-day, 1-year, 2-year, and 3-year survival rates of patients age ≥80 were significantly lower than those in patients age <80 (50.7%, 31.9%, 15.9% and 14.5% vs. 68.3%, 54.4%, 45.6%, and 40.1%, respectively) (p<0.01). The Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed significantly lower survival rates in patients age ≥80 than in those age <80 (p=0.001). Conclusion: The poor rates of long-term survival in very elderly (age ≥80) and critically ill patients admitted to an ICU should be considered while managing and treating them.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 2023

A case of persistent Ralstonia mannitolilytica bacteremia in the neonatal intensive care unit prompted source investigation due to its rarity. After an extensive investigation, a contaminated ultrasonic nebulizer was identified as the source, and the infection was controlled by removing the source. This study emphasizes the importance of further investigations, even in single cases of rare pathogens.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.589-603
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• 1992

This study investigated a process to estimate the need for nursing staff on the basis of a patient elassification system and the required care needs and activities. The investigation was carried out in the following four steps. Step 1. Patients were classified according to the amount of nursing care need on each shift as class I (mildly ill), class II (mederately ill), class III (acutely ill), and class IV (critically ill). Step 2. Measurement of the direct nursing care hours needed for each patient class, and measurement of indirect nursing care hourse and personal time of the nursing staff. Step 3. Calculation of he total nursing workload in a nursing unit. Step 4. Estimation of the nursing staff needed. The investigation was carried out from July 17th to 30th, during 24hours every other day. The subjects were the patients and the nursing staff on two units of Seoul National University Hospital, Korea. Some of the results from the investigation are as follows : 1) Distribution of patient classification On the neuro surgical (N.S.), the distribution was class I, 22 patient, 3, class II, 27 patients, class III, 26 patients, and class IV, 25 patients, For the orthopedic surgical unit(0.5.), it was class I, 43 patients, class II, 43 patients, class III, patients, and class IV, 3 patients. 2) Direct nursing care hours per day On the N.S. unit, 3.2 hours of direct nursing care were needed for class I, 3.9 hours for class II, 5.1 hours of class III, and 6.2 hours for class IV patients, while 2.0 hours for class I, 2.5 hours for class II, 3.5 hours for class III, 5.0 hours class IV patients were needed on the 0.5. units. 3) Analysis of direct nursing care activities Activities were classified into assessment and observation(47%), medication(38.7%), communiontion(5.1%), exercise(2.4%), elimination and irrigation(1.3%), treatmemt(1.1%), hygiene(0.8%), nutrition(0.8%), and hot and cold compress(0.1%). 4) Average hours of indirect nursing care per day. On the N.S. unit 4.2 hours, and on the O.S. unit, 3.5 hours of RN indirect care was needed. 5) The average personal time used by the of nursing staff was 17 minutes for both RNs and nursing assistants in the N.S. unit, and 32 minutes for both RNs and nursing assistants in the O.S. unit. 6) Estimation of nursing staff needed on two specialized units of a university hospital For the N.S. nursing unit of 43 beds, 31 nursing staff would be indicated. For the 0.5. nursing unit of the same number of beds, 19 nursing staff would be indicated.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.241-243
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• 2015