• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.353-356
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• 2016

Background: This study used receiver operating characteristic curve to analyze Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) for glassy cell carcinoma data to identify predictive models and potential disparities in outcome. Materials and Methods: This study analyzed socio-economic, staging and treatment factors. For risk modeling, each factor was fitted by a generalized linear model to predict the cause specific survival. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (ROCs) were computed. Similar strata were combined to construct the most parsimonious models. A random sampling algorithm was used to estimate modeling errors. Risk of glassy cell carcinoma death was computed for the predictors for comparison. Results: There were 79 patients included in this study. The mean follow up time (S.D.) was 37 (32.8) months. Female patients outnumbered males 4:1. The mean (S.D.) age was 54.4 (19.8) years. SEER stage was the most predictive factor of outcome (ROC area of 0.69). The risks of cause specific death were, respectively, 9.4% for localized, 16.7% for regional, 35% for the un-staged/others category, and 60% for distant disease. After optimization, separation between the regional and unstaged/others category was removed with a higher ROC area of 0.72. Several socio-economic factors had small but measurable effects on outcome. Radiotherapy had not been used in 90% of patients with regional disease. Conclusions: Optimized SEER stage was predictive and useful in treatment selection. Underuse of radiotherapy may have contributed to poor outcome.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.77-92
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to examine and compare effects of psychological factors on market mavenism and fashion leadership in order to determine the differences of two influential groups in the marketplace. The data were collected from 20's-50's consumers through an online survey institute and a total of 857 questionnaires were analyzed. Demographic variables (gender, age, and income level) were entered into the regression model 1 as independent variables, and 6 factors of consumer self-confidence, clothing involvement, status consumption, and price consciousness were entered into the regression model 2. In the regression model 1, gender (female) alone was significant in explaining market mavenism, while the income level had a positive relationship with fashion leadership. In the regression model 2, information acquisition, social outcome, persuasion knowledge among consumer self-confidence, and status consumption were significant predictors of market mavenism. On the other hand, personal outcome, social outcome, persuasion knowledge, clothing involvement, and status consumption had an effect on the fashion leadership. When comparing magnitudes of effects in predicting market mavenism and fashion leadership, social outcome and status consumption showed to have stronger impacts on fashion leadership than on market mavenism. Psychological factors showed to be more powerful in predicting market mavenism or fashion leadership, as compared to demographic variables.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.652-661
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• 2006

Purpose. The purposes of this study were to apply data mining tool to nursing specific knowledge discovery process and to identify the utilization of data mining skill for clinical decision making. Methods. Data mining based on rough set model was conducted on a large clinical data set containing NMDS elements. Randomized 1000 patient data were selected from year 1998 database which had at least one of the five most frequently used nursing diagnoses. Patient characteristics and care service characteristics including nursing diagnoses, interventions and outcomes were analyzed to derive the meaningful decision rules. Results. Number of comorbidity, marital status, nursing diagnosis related to risk for infection and nursing intervention related to infection protection, and discharge status were the predictors that could determine the length of stay. Four variables (age, impaired skin integrity, pain, and discharge status) were identified as valuable predictors for nursing outcome, relived pain. Five variables (age, pain, potential for infection, marital status, and primary disease) were identified as important predictors for mortality. Conclusions. This study demonstrated the utilization of data mining method through a large data set with stan dardized language format to identify the contribution of nursing care to patient's health.

• Neonatal Medicine
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.18-24
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• 2009

Seizures are the most common clinical symptom of a neurologic insult and have long been recognized as an obvious marker of brain dysfunction in newborns. Presence of seizures in newborn infants may signify substantial risk for subsequent neurodevelopmental impairment including postneonatal epilepsy and death. The outcomes of seizures in neonates are determined mainly by the etiology of the seizures. Despite the decreasing trend of mortality of neonatal seizures, the prevalence of long-term neurodevelopmental sequelae in survivors has remained unchanged over time. Clinical studies have contributed to identifying significant prognostic factors for neurodevelopmental outcome. The underlying etiology of the seizures and electroencepaphalography background pattern are considered as most reliable early predictors of later neurologic sequelae. However, clinicians managing neonatal seizures are still challenged by difficult therapeutic and prognostic questions because of many unresolved issues in seizure recognition, terminology, relationships to the underlying brain lesion, effect of current management, particularly antiepileptic drugs on long-term outcomes. This review presents the prognosis of neonatal seizures, especially about mortality and neurodevelopmental deficit, and predictors of outcomes.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the MTHFR variants, folate and vitamin $B_{12}$ deficiencies increase the risk of hyperhomocysteinaemia and adverse pregnancy outcome such as short gestational age or reduced birth weight. Healthy pregnant women (n=136; 24-28 gestational weeks; 20-40 years old), who visited Ewha Womans University Hospital for prenatal care, participated in this study. At the time of delivery, trained nurses recorded the pregnancy outcome from medical chart. We determined maternal MTHFR polymorphisms (C to T subsitution at nucleotide 677) and measured serum homocyteine, vitamin $B_{12}$, and folate concentrations. We compared serum homocysteine level by MTHFR genotype, serum folate and serum vitamin B12 levels using ANOVA. To evaluate the association between serum homocysteine level and pregnancy outcome, we compared the gestational age and birth weight by serum homocysteine levels using multiple regression analysis, adjusting for other potential predictors. Mean level of serum homocysteine was highest among pregnant women of the MTHFR variants with low levels of serum folate and vitamin $B_{12}$. Regarding association with birth outcome, we found the relationship between homocysteine levels and increased gestational age (p=0.03) and reduced birth outcome (p>0.05). Our data demonstrates that serum level of folate and vitamin $B_{12}$ among pregnant women affects significantly serum homocysteine levels, and the genetic polymorphism of MTHFR modulates the relationship between them. However, we did not have conclusive evidence of association between high homocysteine level and adverse pregnancy outcome such as preterm or low birth weight.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.1449-1452
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• 2016

Background: Adult rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a rare and aggressive disease with limited data compared with pediatric RMS. The goal of this study was to determine the treatment outcome and identify factors related to survival outcome in Thailand. Materials and Methods: Adult patients (${\geq}15$ years old) with the pathological diagnosis of RMS between 1985 and 2010 were reviewed. The data were retrospectively reviewed from the pathological results and medical records from Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen University. Results: A total of 34 patients were identified in the study. The median age at diagnosis was 35.5 years and the most common primary sites were extremity and the head and neck region. The incidence of pleomorphic RMS increased with age and none was found in those aged younger than 20 years old. The median survival time was 9.33 months (95%CI: 5.6-13.1). The 1- and 5- year survival rates were 38.2% (22.3-54.0) and 20.6% (9.1-35.3). On multivariate analysis, age and size of tumor did not predict better outcome while chemotherapy and surgery were significantly associated with longer survival. Conclusions: Outcome of adult RMS was poor. Surgery and chemotherapy are strongly associated with better prognosis and multimodality treatment should be incorporated in the clinic.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.536-543
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• 2021

Background: Sickness absenteeism is an area of concern in nursing and is more concerning given the recent impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare. This study is one of two meta-analyses that examined sickness absenteeism in nursing. In this study, we examined demographic, lifestyle, and physical health predictors. Methods: We reviewed five databases (CINAHL, ProQuest Allied, ProQuest database theses, PsycINFO, and PubMed) for our search. We registered the systematic review (CRD de-identified) and followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Additionally, we used the Population/Intervention/Comparison/Outcome Tool to improve our searches. Results: Following quality testing, 17 articles were used for quantitative synthesis. Female employees were at higher risks of sickness absenteeism than their male counterparts (OR = 1.73; 95% CI: 1.33-2.25). Nursing staff who rated their health as poor had a greater likelihood of experiencing sickness absence (OR = 1.38; 95% CI: 1.19-1.60). Also, previous sick leave predicted future leaves (OR = 3.35; 95% CI: 1.37-8.19). Moreover, experiencing musculoskeletal pain (OR = 2.41 95% CI: 1.77-3.27) increased the likelihood of sickness absence with greater odds when it is a back pain (OR = 3.05; 95% CI: 1.66-5.62). Increased age, physical activity, and sleep were not associated with sick leave. Conclusion: Several variables were statistically associated with the occurrence of sickness absenteeism. One primary concern is the limited research in this area despite alarming rates of sick leave in healthcare. More research is required to identify predictors of sickness absence, and thereby, implement preventative measures.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.4091-4094
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• 2014

Background: This study used the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) to analyze Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) bronchioaveolar carcinoma data to identify predictive models and potential disparity in outcomes. Materials and Methods: Socio-economic, staging and treatment factors were assessed. For the risk modeling, each factor was fitted by a Generalized Linear Model to predict cause specific survival. The area under the ROC was computed. Similar strata were combined to construct the most parsimonious models. A random sampling algorithm was used to estimate modeling errors. Risk of cause specific death was computed for the predictors for comparison. Results: There were 7,309 patients included in this study. The mean follow up time (S.D.) was 24.2 (20) months. Female patients outnumbered male ones 3:2. The mean (S.D.) age was 70.1 (10.6) years. Stage was the most predictive factor of outcome (ROC area of 0.76). After optimization, several strata were fused, with a comparable ROC area of 0.75. There was a 4% additional risk of death associated with lower county family income, African American race, rural residency and lower than 25% county college graduate. Radiotherapy had not been used in 2/3 of patients with stage III disease. Conclusions: There are socio-economic disparities in cause specific survival. Under-use of radiotherapy may have contributed to poor outcome. Improving education, access and rates of radiotherapy use may improve outcome.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.179-186
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• 2012

Objective : Even in the patients with neurologically good outcome after intracranial aneurysm surgery, their perception of health is an important outcome issue. This study aimed to investigate the quality of life (QOL) and its predictors of patients who had a good outcome following anterior circulation aneurysm surgery as using the World Health Organization Quality of Life instrument-Korean version. Methods : We treated 280 patients with 290 intracranial aneurysms for 2 years. This questionnaire was taken and validated by 99 patients whose Glasgow Outcome Scale score was 4 and more and Global deterioration scale 3 and less at 6 months after the operation, and 85 normal persons. Each domain and facet was compared between the two groups, and a subgroup analysis was performed on the QOL values and hospital expenses of the aneurysm patients according to the type of craniotomy, approach, bleeding of the aneurysm and brain injury. Results : Aneurysm patients showed a lower quality of life compared with control patients in level of independence, psychological, environmental, and spiritual domains. In the environmental domain, there were significant intergroup differences according to the type of craniotomy and the surgical approach used on the patients (p<0.05). The hospital charges were also significantly different according to the type of craniotomy (p<0.05). Conclusion : Despite good neurological status, patients surgically treated for anterior circulation aneurysm have a low quality of life. The craniotomy size may affect the QOL of patients who underwent an anterior circulation aneurysm surgery and exhibited a good outcome.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.331-336
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• 2007

Objective : The aim of this study was to analyze the treatment results and prognostic factors in patients with massive cerebral infarction who underwent decompressive craniectomy. Methods : From January 2000 to December 2005, we performed decompressive craniectomy in 24 patients with massive cerebral infarction. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records, radiological findings, initial clinical assessment using the Glasgow Coma Scale, serial computerized tomography (CT) with measurement of midline and septum pellucidum shift, and cerebral infarction territories. Patients were evaluated based on the following factors : the pre- and post-operative midline shifting on CT scan, infarction area or its dominancy, consciousness level, pupillary light reflex and Glasgow Outcome Scale. Results : All 24 patients (11 men, 13 women; mean age, 63 years; right middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory, 17 patients; left MCA territory, 7 patients) were treated with large decompressive craniectomy and duroplasty. The average time interval between the onset of symptoms and surgical decompression was 2.5 days. The mean Glasgow Coma Scale was 12.4 on admission and 8.3 preoperatively. Of the 24 surgically treated patients, the good outcome group (Group 2 : GOS 4-5) comprised 9 cases and the poor outcome group (Group1 : GOS 1-3) comprised 15 cases. Conclusion : We consider decompressive craniectomy for large hemispheric infarction as a life-saving procedure. Good preoperative GCS, late clinical deterioration, small size of the infarction area, absence of anisocoria, and preoperative midline shift less than 11mm were considered to be positive predictors of good outcome. Careful patient selection based on the above-mentioned factors and early operation may improve the functional outcome of surgical management for large hemispheric infarction.