• Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.79-82
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• 2022

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.105-119
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• 2022

Purpose: This study was attempted to identify the awareness of paramedic students to patients with mental and behavioral disorders and suggest its improvement measures. Methods: Data were collected from the paramedic students after consent to this study through online. The period of data collection was from May 18 to August 1, 2022 and 120 questionnaires were analyzed using SPSS statistics 28.0. Results: The level of prejudice of subjects showed 2.73 points and their level of discrimination showed 2.52 points. There was statistically significant difference according to gender, grade, experience of field practice, reason for major selection etc. in prejudice and discrimination levels. There was statistically significant difference according to contact experience to patients, contact place, taking subjects etc. in prejudice and discrimination levels. The high correlation showed between total prejudice and discrimination (r=.853, p<.001). The improvement measures of an awareness about patients were positive role of mass media, better educational contents etc. Conclusion: Paramedic students need to treat patients with mental and behavioral disorders without prejudice and discrimination. Therefore, it needed to develop and apply the various educational programs for paramedic students to be able to improve an awareness about patients with positive role of mass media about them.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.37-47
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• 2023

This review article explores the psychological characteristics, comorbid mental disorders, and psychosocial assessments throughout the solid organ transplant journey, spanning the pre-transplant, peri-transplant, and post-transplant phases for transplant recipients. The psychological burden and anxiety in the pre-transplant phase are high for organ failure patients with complex physical difficulties who are deciding to undergo transplantation and are on the waiting list. The pre-transplant psychosocial evaluation covers various aspects, including the patient's readiness, awareness of, and commitment to transplant treatment, medical compliance, psychopathological conditions such as cognitive function and personality disorders, lifestyle factors, including substance abuse, as well as various psychosocial factors like social support. During the peri-transplant phase, mental health problems such as postoperative delirium should be carefully recognized and addressed. After transplantation, it is essential to assist patients in coping with the various stressful experiences they encounter, manage psychiatric symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and insomnia, and improve treatment adherence and quality of life during long-term care for the transplanted organ. Managing psychiatric problems in post-transplant patients requires a deep understanding of immunosuppressant medications and a keen awareness of associated risks, including adverse effects and potential drug interactions. This comprehensive review emphasizes the significance of proactive mental health care and psychosocial evaluation, highlighting the necessity of a multidisciplinary approach to enhance the quality of life and overall success of transplant patients throughout all phases of transplantation.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.333-348
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• 2020

Purpose: The present study investigated the association between nurse staffing and health outcomes among psychiatric inpatients in Korea by assessing National Health Insurance claims data. Methods: The dataset included 70,136 patients aged 19 years who were inpatients in psychiatric wards for at least two days in 2016 and treated for mental and behavioral disorders due to use of alcohol; schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorders; and mood disorders across 453 hospitals. Nurse staffing levels were measured in three ways: registered nurse-to-inpatient ratio, registered nurse-to-adjusted inpatient ratio, and nursing staff-to-adjusted inpatient ratio. Patient outcomes included length of stay, readmission within 30 days, psychiatric emergency treatment, use of injected psycholeptics for chemical restraint, and hypnotics use. Relationships between nurse staffing levels and patient outcomes were analyzed considering both patient and system characteristics using multilevel modeling. Results: Multilevel analyses revealed that more inpatients per registered nurse, adjusted inpatients per registered nurse, and adjusted inpatients per nursing staff were associated with longer lengths of stay as well as a higher risk of readmission. More adjusted inpatients per registered nurse and adjusted inpatients per nursing staff were also associated with increased hypnotics use but a lower risk of psychiatric emergency treatment. Nurse staffing levels were not significantly associated with the use of injected psycholeptics for chemical restraint. Conclusion: Lower nurse staffing levels are associated with negative health outcomes of psychiatric inpatients. Policies for improving nurse staffing toward an optimal level should be enacted to facilitate better outcomes for psychiatric inpatients in Korea.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.562-569
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to investigate the determinants of total payment for mental and behavioral disorders patients admitted through the emergency room. Study data was selected from the Korean National Health Insurance sample data in 2009. This data was consisted of 753 inpatients who are 331 inpatients with only main sick(F31-F39) and 422 inpatients with main sick codes(F31-F39) and sub sick(F00-F99) admitted through the emergency room. SPSS v.18 was used for the statistical analysis such as descriptive analysis, t-test, ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis. In multiple regression analysis, significant variables affecting total payment of main sick patients were gender(p<.01), treatment result(p<.001), path of the emergency room(p<.001), and length of stay(p<.001). Also, main sick patients with sub sick were gender(p<.01), age(p<.001), treatment result(p<.001), path of the emergency room(p<.001), and length of stay(p<.001). These findings implied that it is necessary to build short, middle, and longterm program and system for high risk mental and behavioral disorders groups.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.303-313
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• 2024

Objectives: Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses characterized by disturbances in eating behaviors with related thoughts and emotions. The objective of this study was to report a patient with an eating disorder who was treated using a combination of Korean medicine psychotherapy and traditional Korean medicine. Methods: Psychological assessment scales, including Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Bulimia Test, and Eating Attitudes Test-26, were used to evaluate the severity of the patient's psychological and behavioral symptoms. The patient underwent treatment with Korean medicine psychotherapy and traditional Korean medical therapies to alleviate both physical and psychological discomfort. Results: Following treatment, the patient's eating disorder symptoms were reduced with improvements in psychological assessment scales. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that treating a patient with an eating disorder using Korean medicine psychotherapy and traditional Korean medical treatments could lead to improvements in both eating disorder symptoms and psychological assessment outcomes.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.106-114
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• 2002

Objectives: Daytime sleepiness is a common symptom and is associated with sleep behavior, sleep deprivation, and night shift, etc. It is also one of the most important symptoms of sleep disorders like obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). According to our survey on Korean literature, a few studies have dealt with daytime sleepiness, and we have not been able to locate any study comparing normal subjects with polysomnography-proven sleep disorder patients regarding daytime sleepiness. We aimed at comparing daytime sleepiness among normal healthy daytime workers, medical students being expected to have daytime sleepiness due to chronic sleep deprivation, and patients having sleep disorders diagnosed with polysomnography. We also studied the association between subjective daytime sleepiness and objective polysomnographic findings in patients with sleep disorders. Methods: One hundred three hospital workers, 137 medical students, and patients with sleep disorders were studied. Sleep disorders included OSA, periodic limb movements in sleep (PLMS), insomnia, and narcolepsy. The degree of subjective sleepiness in each group was measured by the Korean version of Epworth sleepiness scale and compared. The relationship between polysomnographic findings reflecting severity of sleep disorder in each patient group and subjective sleepiness was analyzed. As for patients with narcolepsy, the relationship between the mean sleep latency and subjective sleepiness was studied. Results: There was a significant difference of ESS score (F=68.190, dF=5.752, p<0.001) among daytime workers, medical students, and sleep disorder patients. In OSA patient group, the degree of the sleepiness had no significant correlation either with mean O2 satuaration (p=0.062) or with RDI (p=0.807). In PLMS patient group, there was no correlation between periodic limb movement index (PLMI) and subjective sleepiness (p=0.761). In narcolepsy patient group, the subjective sleepiness had no correlation with mean sleep latency measured with MSLT (p=0.055). Conclusion: We found a significant difference of subjective sleepiness among daytime workers, medical students, and patients with sleep disorders. However, no consistent correlation was found between severity of subjective sleepiness and objective polysomnographic findings reflecting severity of each sleep disorder. This research confirms that the evaluation of subjective sleepiness is important clinically, but it cannot substitute the objective measures such as nocturnal polysomnography and MSLT.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2022

Purpose: Recently, oxytocin has been introduced experimentally as a pharmacological treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study attempted to investigate the possibility of oxytocin as a treatment option for patients with PTSD by examining its dose, interval, and effectiveness in patients with PTSD. Methods: A systematic review was done on articles published from 1967 to 2020 using the PubMed, PsycINFO, and Cochrane databases. Our inclusion criteria were 1) subjects 18 years of age or older diagnosed with PTSD or exposed to a traumatic event that met criterion A of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) for PTSD, 2) oxytocin was administered at least once, 3) clinical trials, and 4) studies published in Korean or English. Two independent researchers reviewed 22 articles and recorded the contents. The risk of bias was evaluated to determine the quality of the reviewed article. Results: The parameters for evaluating the effectiveness of oxytocin were identified as socio-behavioral measures in 11 articles, neuronal imaging in 9, and biomarkers in 4. In 5 papers, oxytocin was administered multiple times. Socio-behavioral measures were improved in 3 out of 5 studies in which oxytocin was administered multiple times. In 2 studies in which prolonged exposure treatment and nasal oxytocin administration were combined for 10 weeks, patient symptoms were decreased compared to the control group. Conclusion: The possibility of oxytocin as an adjuvant treatment for PTSD psychotherapy was confirmed. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the long term effectiveness of administering oxytocin multiple times combined with psychotherapy.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.416-423
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• 2009

Objectives : This study was performed to examine medical care utilization of psychiatric patients and to explore patients' characteristics associated with extended hospitalization. Methods : Data were extracted from information of Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. All data associated with admission and outpatient clinic visit were analysed by patient characteristics. We selected first psychiatric admission patients who diagnosed mental and behavioral disorders due to use of alcohol (main disease code: F10), schizophrenia and related disorders (F20-29) and mood disorders (F30~33) from January to June 2005. We analysed status of admission, mean length of stay, regular access to outpatient clinic and rates of extended hospitalization during 3 years. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with extended hospitalization. Results : The number of psychiatric patients during the first six month of 2005 was 30,678. The mean length of stay was longest for schizophrenia and related disorders but shortest for mood disorders. Patients who experienced an extended hospitalization were 18.8% of total subjects. An extended hospitalization was more common in schizophrenia and related disorders than other diagnostic groups. The factors associated with the extended hospitalization were age, sex, diagnostic group, type of insurance and medical care utilization groups. Conclusions : The study indicates the problem of an extended hospitalization for psychiatric patients in Korea. It is suggested that variations in rates of extended hospitalization among medical care utilization group may need an active early intervention system in psychiatric treatment service. Particular attention needs to be devoted to planning and funding for reducing extended hospitalization.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.157-171
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the characteristics and effects of the forest therapy programs for adult patients. Methods: Six databases (PubMed, Cochrane library, CiNii, PsychoInFO, AGRICOL, EMBASE) and six domestic databases were systematically searched with language restrictions of Korean, English, and Japanese. The systematic review was based on the Preferred Reporting Items Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) flow diagram. Results: Twenty five studies met the inclusion criteria. A systematic review identified adult patients classified as 1) disease of the circulatory system, 2) mental and behavioral disorders, 3) malignant neoplasms, 4) etc. (diabetes mellitus, chronic pain). This integrative review showed a positive effect of the forest therapy program for adult patients on physiological indices such as blood pressure, heart rate, heart rate variability, level of stress hormone, and natural killer cells as well as social·psychological indices such as the Profile of Mood States (POMS), anxiety, depression, and quality of life. Conclusion: The results of this study could be useful key principles in developing and applying the forest therapy programs in nursing intervention. Further research should be conducted to develop the forest therapy programs suitable for each patient group and measure its effectiveness.