• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.383-389
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• 2005

Xerostomia is defined as a subjective complaint of dry mouth that may be perceived when there is insufficient mucosal wetting. However, the diagnosis and treatment of xerostomia is not that simple because of the fact that the subjective awareness of dry mouth is not always correlated with a diminution in the flow of saliva and there is always a difference between individuals in salivary flow rates needed for normal oral function. In the present study, the aim was to develop a questionnaire to evaluate the dry mouth symptoms and to analyze its reliability and usability as a diagnostic and analytic tool for xerostomia. The questionnaire which consists of 6 Visual Analogue Scale(VAS) type questions to evaluate the subjective oral dryness and 4 questions to evaluate behavior to avoid oral dryness was developed and administered twice with 1 week's interval to the healthy 88 young adults without dry mouth symptoms(44 males and 44 females; mean age was $25.6{\pm}3.1$ years in male and $24.3{\pm}2.1$ years in female). The results were as follows. 1 The intraclass correlation coefficients of 6 questions to evaluate the subjective oral dryness were as significantly high as 0.767 for the degree of oral dryness at other times of the day, 0.850 for the amount of saliva in the mouth, and 0.791 for the degree of effect on daily life due to oral dryness and as high as 0.563 for the degree of oral dryness at night or on awakening, 0.674 for the degree of oral dryness during eating, and 0.641 for the degree of difficulty in swallowing foods. 2. Cronbach's alpha value of 6 questions was 0.982. It can be concluded that the series of questions to evaluate the subjective oral dryness has high internal consistency. 3. Cohen's kappa values of 4 questions to evaluate behavior to relieve oral dryness were as significantly high as 0.850 for the frequency of keeping a glass of water at the bedside and as high as 0.506 the frequency of awakening during sleeping due to oral dryness, 0.419 for the frequency of sipping liquids to aid in eating dry foods, and 0.407 for the frequency of using a candy or chewing gum due to oral dryness. From the results, it can be concluded that the questionnaire consisting of 6 VAS type questions to evaluate the subjective oral dryness and 4 questions to evaluate behavior to relieve oral dryness has reliability of good to excellent level, and that the series of 6 VAS type questions has significantly high internal consistency to evaluate the subjective oral dryness.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.109-128
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• 2021

Objective : The purpose of this study was to develop a Korean version of the Activities of Daily Living (ADL)-focused Occupation-Based Neurobehavioral Evaluation (A-ONE) through cross-cultural adaptation and examine its validity and reliability. Methods : This study translated the A-ONE into Korean and performed cross-cultural adaptation for the Korean population. After the development of the Korean version of the A-ONE, cross-cultural and concurrent validities were analyzed. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and inter-rater reliability were also evaluated. Results : We adapted three items to the Korean culture. The Korean version of the A-ONE showed high cross-cultural validity with a content validity index (I-CVI) >0.9. It correlated with the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) (r=0.52-0.77, p<0.001), except for communication. Cronbach's α was 0.58-0.93 for the functional independence scale (FI) and 0.42-0.93 for the neurobehavioral specific impairment subscale (NBSIS). Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) indicated high test-retest and inter-rater reliability for FI (ICC=0.79-1.00 and 0.75-1.00, respectively) and NBSIS (ICC=0.74-1.00 and 0.72-1.00, respectively). Conclusion : The Korean version of the A-ONE is well adapted to the Korean culture and has good validity and reliability. It is recommended to evaluate ADL performance skills and neurobehavioral impairments simultaneously in Korea.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.377-393
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• 2001

In order to study the closure stage of cranial sutures and its correlations with age, the ectocranial closure stage of coronal suture, sagittal suture, and lambdoidal suture of 67 skulls was measured. Among the skulls kept at the department of anatomy, college of medicine, Yonsei University, the ones with ages identified were used for this study. These measurements of suture closure were conducted by 4 examiners independently. The sutures were further divided by Frederic's method into 16 suture parts. The closure stages were classified by five stages of Broca-Ribbe. The following results were obtained: 1. The inter-observer reliability among 4 examiners showed high intraclass correlation coefficient of over 0.75(mean : 0.856) in all suture parts. Therefore, the determination of closure stage wasn't influenced by the subjective view of each examiner. 2. In all suture parts, the closure stage increased proportionally with age.(p<0.01) In terms of each suture part, the S2 part of sagittal suture showed the highest correlation(68.1%) while the L1-R part of lambdoidal suture showed the lowest correlation(51.3%). In addition, in terms of suture types, the correlation with age decreased in the order of sagittal suture(60.0%), coronal suture(57.7%), and lambdoidal suture (55.7%). In general, the average value of suture closure stages had 57.8% correlation with age(p<0.01). 3. The most frequent suture closure stage according to age group was '0' for ages below 30, '0' and '1' for ages within the 30's, '1' and '2' for ages within the 40's, and '2' for ages within the 50's. With older age groups, the frequency of '3' and '4' increased, and the suture closure stage increased proportionally with age. 4. The mean age by closure stage of each suture were within the 40's for the closure stage of '1', within the 50's for the closure stage of '2', and from 50's through 60's for the closure stage of '3'. The standard deviation was over 10 for all closure stages. In addition, at the same suture closure stage, the mean age according to the coronal suture was higher than the ages according to the sagittal suture or lambdoidal suture. Especially, C1-R, C1-L, C2-R, and C2-L parts showed the highest age when at the same suture closure stage. 5. The values appropriate for age estimations using suture closure stages of 16 suture parts were calculated, and a calculator for age estimation ($R^2=0.6944$, p<0.01) by ectocranial suture closure stage for Koreans is presented. From the above results, the method of using the closure stage of sutures of the skull to estimate age can be useful in individual identification of forensic science. Further extensive and accurate research using larger samples would be worthy of study.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.67-75
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to assess the agreement of manual muscle testing (MMT) and test-retest reliability of a hand held dynamometer for the posterior gluteus medius muscle, with and without lumbar stabilization, using a pressure biofeedback unit for patients with low back pain. The pressure biofeedback unit was used to minimize the substitute motion of the lumbopelvic region during hip abduction in patients lying on their side. Fifteen patients with low back pain participated in this study. A tester determined the MMT grades of the posterior gluteus medius with and without the pressure biofeedback unit. Active hip abduction range of motion with an inclinometer and the strength of their posterior gluteus medius using a hand held dynamometer were measured with and without the pressure biofeedback unit in the MMT position. The agreement of the grade of muscle strength in the MMT, and intra-rater reliability of both the active hip abduction range of motion and the strength of posterior gluteus medius were analyzed using the weighted kappa and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), respectively. The agreement of MMT with the pressure biofeedback unit (weighted kappa=.92) was higher than the MMT (weighted kappa=.34)(p<.05). The inclinometer with pressure biofeedback unit measurement of the active hip abduction range of motion had an excellent intra-rater reliability (ICC=.90). Also, the hand held dynamometer with pressure biofeedback unit measure of strength of the posterior gluteus medius had a good intra-rater reliability (ICC=.85). Therefore, the test for muscle strength with pressure biofeedback unit will be a reliable method for the determination of the MMT grades or amount of posterior gluteus medius muscle strength and the measurement of the range of motion for hip abduction in patients with low back pain.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.31-39
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• 2012

The lower trapezius muscle is an important stabilizer and primary mover of the scapula. The potential use of ultrasound imaging to evaluate scapular muscle function warrants investigation. The purpose of this study is to use ultrasound imaging for determining the effectiveness of 4 different isometric exercises for maximally activating the lower trapezius muscles in healthy subjects. Twenty-eight (14 men and 14 women) volunteers were recruited for this study. Thickness measurements of the lower trapezius muscles were recorded during 4 exercises: latissimus pulldown (LP), prone V-raise (PV), prone row (PR), and modified prone cobra (MP). Lower trapezius muscle thickness was measured 3 times by 2 investigators at a point 3 cm lateral to the lateral edge of the T8 spinous process. The order of 4 exercise execution was randomized for each participant. To identify statistical significance, one-way ANOVA with repeated measures was used with the significance level of .05. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for intra-reliability was .86~.98 and inter-rater reliability .83~.96 for the lower trapezius, respectively (p<.01). Thickness changes in the lower trapezius muscles between the relaxed and contracted states in men were as follows: LP ($7.37{\pm}2.68mm$, 182%), MP ($4.69{\pm}1.74mm$, 167%), PV ($4.52{\pm}1.47mm$, 149%), and PR ($3.84{\pm}1.72mm$, 133%). In women the values were as follows: LP ($4.64{\pm}1.24mm$, 163%), MP ($2.79{\pm}.81mm$, 131%), PV ($2.78{\pm}.85mm$, 129%), and PR ($2.21{\pm}1.26$ mm, 100%). Thickness of the lower trapezius muscles significantly differed between exercises in both the gender (p<.01). The LP was the most effective exercise for increasing the activation of the lower trapezius muscle in both the gender. We recommend performing the LP exercise for strengthening the lower trapezius muscles.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.535-542
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• 2010

Objectives: Exposure assessment is a major challenge faced by studies that evaluate the association between pesticide exposure and adverse health outcomes. The objective of this study was to investigate the reliability of information that farmers self-report regarding their pesticide use. Methods: Twenty five items based upon existing questionnaires were designed to focus on pesticide exposure. In 2009, a selfadministrated survey was conducted on two occasions four weeks apart among 205 farmers residing in Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces. For a reliability measure, we calculated the percentage agreement, the kappa statistics and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between the two reports according to the characteristics of the subjects. Results: Agreement for ever-never use of any pesticide was 96.4% (kappa 0.61). For both 'years used' and 'age at the first use' of overall pesticides, high agreement was obtained (ICC: 0.88 and, 0.78, respectively), whereas those of 'days used' and 'hours used' were relatively low (ICC: 0.42 and, 0.66, respectively). The kappa value for the use of personal protective equipment ranged from 0.46 to 0.59, and hygiene activities came out at 0.19 to 0.37. The agreement for individual pesticide use ranged widely and there was relatively low agreement due to the low response rates. The reliability scores did not significantly vary according to gender, age, the education level, the types of crop or the years of farming. Conclusions: Our results support that carefully designed, self-reported information on ever-never pesticide use among farmers is reliable. However, the reliability of data on individual pesticide exposure may be unstable due to low response rates and needs to be refined.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.81-86
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• 2014

Objectives Total intracranial volume (TIV) is a major nuisance of neuroimaging research for interindividual differences of brain structure and function. Authors intended to prove the reliability of the atlas scaling factor (ASF) method for TIV estimation in FreeSurfer by comparing it with the results of manual tracing as reference method. Methods The TIVs of 26 normal children and 26 children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were obtained by using FreeSurfer reconstruction and manual tracing with T1-weighted images. Manual tracing performed in every 10th slice of MRI dataset from midline of sagittal plane by one researcher who was blinded from clinical data. Another reseacher performed manual tracing independently for randomly selected 20 dataset to verify interrater reliability. Results The interrater reliability was excellent (intraclass coefficient = 0.91, p < 7.1e-07). There were no significant differences of age and gender distribution between normal and ADHD groups. No significant differences were found between TIVs from ASF method and manual tracing. Strong correlation between TIVs from 2 different methods were shown (r = 0.90, p < 2.2e-16). Conclusions The ASF method for TIV estimation by using FreeSurfer showed good agreement with the reference method. We can use the TIV from ASF method for correction in analysis of structural and functional neuroimaging studies with not only elderly subjects but also children, even with ADHD.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.17-25
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• 2012

Purpose: Recently, a three dimensional approach to hard and soft tissues of the maxillofacial area has been widely used. This study was to evaluate the reproducibility and accuracy of a stereocamera compared to actual measurement methods using a digital caliper and digitizer. Methods: The stereoscopies of 7 head dummies with different sizes and shapes were obtained using a Di3D system (Dimensional Imaging, Glasgow, UK) after marking reference points on facial areas. From the obtained stereoscopy, 10 measurements representing the width, height and depth of each of the facial sections of the dummy were measured twice using a three dimensional reverse engineering software program (RapidForm$^{TM}$ 2006, Inus, Seoul, Korea). The x, y, and z coordinates of each of the three dimensional measurements were obtained and distances between two points were calculated. All procedures were repeated twice. The actual measurement method was performed twice, directly on dummies, using a digital caliper and values were compared with the previously determined values. Results: The results were as follows. In the ANOVA analysis, there were no significant statistical differences among the three measurement methods. In the Bonferroni analysis, with adjustments applied for multiple comparisons, there was no difference between actual measurement methods using a digitizer and a digital caliper. However, there was some difference between using a stereocamera and actual measurement methods using a digitizer and a digital caliper in values of $Ex_{Rt}-Ex_{Lt}$, $En_{Rt}-En_{Lt}$, $Ala_{Rt}-Ala_{Lt}$, $Ch_{Rt}-Ch_{Lt}$, G-Pg', $Ala_{Rt}$-Prn, $Ala_{Rt}$-Prn. The mean value for technical error in measurement (TEM) in Di3D (0.98 mm) was slightly higher than for a digital caliper (0.17 mm) and a digitizer (0.30 mm). In an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) there were no significant differences among the three measurement methods, but the Di3D system with the stereocamera showed relatively lower reproducibility compared to actual measurement methods using a digitizer and a digital caliper. Conclusion: These results indicate that some complementary measures may be needed to improve accuracy and reproducibility in the Di3D system with stereocamera.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.674-682
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of applying oriental music therapy and reliability of electroencephalogram(EEG) equipment. The study was approved by the critical trial judge committee from ${\bigcirc}{\bigcirc}$(IRB No. 2013-07) university. In order to measure test-retest reliability for 15 subjects, EEG for same participants were measured using same method mentioned above after 2 hours from the first measurement. Same provider implemented to each person at same time. Firstly, EEG was measured for 5 minutes after the subject with attached electrodes sat on chair comfortably for 10 minutes. Then, the subject was given mental stress using the four fundamental arithmetic operations for 5 minutes, and measured EEG for another 5 minutes. After that the subject sat on the chair comfortably listening oriental medicine music therapy for 5 minutes, and EEG was measured for 5 minutes again. There was no side effect regarding music therapy reported. Raw data, which was measured in each step, were converted through FFT(fast fourier transform) and analyzed after divided into certain frequency including ${\alpha}$ wave, ${\beta}$ wave, ${\theta}$ wave, immersion wave, stabilization wave, sef100 wave, and sef95 wave. Data were analyzed using wilcoxon signed rank test, Intraclass correlation coefficient(ICC), repeated measures ANOVA with the SPSS program. In test-retes method, there were significantly differences in ${\alpha}$ wave, ${\beta}$ wave, immersion wave, stability wave, ${\theta}$ wave, sef100 wave, sef95 wave. ICC has shown a high degree of reliability that it was ${\alpha}$ wave .877, ${\beta}$ wave .855, ${\gamma}$ wave .895, immersion wave .897, stability wave .816, ${\theta}$ wave .904, sef100 wave .910, sef95 wave .776. Also, there was a statistically significant difference in ${\alpha}$ wave after applying oriental music therapy. Based on these results, it is considered that average of the channel EEG and application of oriental music therapy would be practiced by increase of sample size using this machine.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.147-152
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• 2011

Objective : The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Pediatric Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Questionnaire Brain Tumor Survivor (version 2.0) Aged 13 years and older (Parent Form) (pedsFACT-BrS parent of adolescent). Methods : The pedsFACT-BrS parent of adolescent was translated and cross-culturally adapted into Korean, following standard Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) methodology. The psychometric properties of the pedsFACT-BrS parent of adolescent were evaluated in 170 brain tumor patient's mothers (mean age=43.38 years). Pretesting was performed in 30 mothers, and the results indicated good symptom coverage and overall comprehensibility. The participants also completed the Child Health Questionnaire Parent Form 50 (CHQ-PF-50), Neuroticism in Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and Karnofsky score. Results : In validating the pedsFACT-BrS parent of adolescent, we found high internal consistency, with Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ coefficients ranging from 0.76 to 0.94. The assessment of test-retest reliability using intraclass correlation coefficient revealed satisfactory values with ICCs ranging from 0.84 to 0.93. The pedsFACT-BrS for parent of adolescent also demonstrated good convergent and divergent validities when correlated with the Child Health Questionnaire Parent Form 50 (CHQ-PF-50) and the Neuroticism in Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. The pedsFACT-BrS parent of adolescent showed good clinical validity, and effectively differentiated between clinically distinct patient groups according to the type of treatment, tumor location, shunt, and Karnofsky score of parent proxy report. Conclusion : We confirmed that this reliable and valid instrument can be used to properly evaluate the quality of life of Korean adolescent brain tumor patients by their parents' proxy report.