• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.37-48
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• 2010

This study analyzes the present condition of the elements of a healing environment of the waiting rooms in outpatient clinics of children' hospitals (3 hospitals in Seoul) so as to propose a design to build a healing environment within the children' hospital. And analyzing the importance, satisfaction and preference of the healing environment in the waiting rooms, this paper has come to the following conclusions: 1)The study shows that the space structure of outpatient clinics in children' hospitals are composed of 1 story or 2 stories and designed in a duplication design or a dispersed alcove design. 2)The waiting room of the SC Hospital, with an area of 66.56$m^2$, and the waiting room of the SU Hospital, with an area of 38.78$m^2$ received the highest score for its space. 3)As most patients visit the hospital with their guardian, the waiting room should also be someplace families can rest and share information with others. 4)It is essential to build an environment that eliminates stress elements that patients may come to face by minimizing noise and elements that obstruct the view for mental stability. 5)The results show that those who took part in the survey preferred the following, respectively, healing environment design for the waiting room in the outpatient clinic at children' hospital: Pleasantness>Easiness in finding one' destination>Artificial materials>Natural materials>Environment like that at home>Co-promotion spaces>Space that supports the patients'activities>Openness>Sociality>Safety/Security>Approachability and Privacy. The results also show that healing conditions respect these preferences.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.104-112
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• 2018

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to examine whether the topical preparations containing 12 herbal extracts is effective for patients with atopic dermatitis. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 11 patients who were prescribed topical preparations containing 12 herbal extracts on the outpatient clinic of 4 hospitals; Noble Korean Medicine Clinic, Amar Korean Medicine Clinic, Chung-Yeon Korean Medical Hospital, Donggwangju Chung-Yeon Korean Medical Hospital. Results and Conclusions : A total of 11 patients were included in the selection and exclusion criteria. The OSI mean value before treatment and at the last treatment day decreased significantly from $37.03{\pm}16.75$ to $13.32{\pm}9.83$, and the mean value of EASI decreased from $13.33{\pm}12.85$ to $2.78{\pm}5.00$, which was statistically significant. No safety concerns were reported. The results of this study confirmed the possibility that the topical preparations can be effective in moderate to severe infants, adolescents, and adult atopic dermatitis patients.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.559-569
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• 1999

The purpose of this study is to identify the effects of the supportive nursing care for arthritis patients enrolled in a rheumatoid clinic. To achieve this purpose, this study adopted a quasi-experimental, pre- and post-test research design, categorized subjects into experimental and control groups. Outpatient clinic nurse alloted the subjects by experimental and control groups and nurse researcher meets the experimental subject with in-depth, direct personal interview and advices via telephone for 8 weeks. During this pre and after the treatment period, the level of pain, uncertainty, self-efficacy, family support, and perception for health were measured. Analyses for the measured results for pre- and post-test showed that the supportive program conducted during this study decreased the level of uncertainty and increased the perception of family support in experimental group. So, the supportive healing interpersonal communication service proved to be effective and this result justifies the argument that the role of the nursing professionals at out-patient clinic should be extended for the more qualified care for the patient.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.10-19
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• 2014

In recent, hospital information systems are widely used to electronically record, manage and share the data collected in hospitals. Such systems have contributed greatly to improving the work efficiency in modern hospitals, however, the collected data concerning the patients should be appropriately processed and reused to provide the healthcare service providers with decision supports. Especially, this paper proposes the patient flow monitoring system for the operations management of the outpatient department for patients with chronic diseases, and discusses the related issues. The proposed system visualizes the standard process model extracted from the patient history data and various performance measures, and this enables the managers to evaluate and enhance the operations of the outpatient clinic. In this paper, the patient flow monitoring system is applied to the rheumatology clinic, and the prototype system optimized for I-pad is illustrated.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2010

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the scores of postpartum depression(PPD) on the first day, 1st week, and 6th week after the delivery and to explore their related factors before and after delivery in postpartum women. Methods: With a survey design, 293 postpartum women were recruited from a postpartum unit, Ilsin Christian hospital in Pusan via convenience sampling and were followed at 1st week and 6th week in the outpatient clinic. Results: Results showed that the scores of PPD(EPDS score) were low at postpartum 1st day, 1st week and 6th week but prevalence of PPD(EPDS ${\geq}13$)was 3.1%at 1st day, 8.2%at 1st week and 7.5%at 6th week, respectively. The pre-delivery factors were experience of depression, and the post-delivery factors were baby's sex(1st day), no caregiver for baby(1st week), and no help and concern for taking care of baby from husband and family(1st day and 6th week). The greater satisfaction with becoming a mother and her life, and greater maternal attachment were related to lower level of PPD at the three time points. Conclusion: Regular screening for postpartum depression and supportive and informative education is needed for postpartum women visiting the outpatient clinic for follow-up.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1427-1430
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• 2015

Aim: To compare prevalence of anxiety in women with abnormal cervical cytology (Pap) undergoing colposcopy to that of women attending the outpatient clinic for check-up and to examine predicting factors. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional analytical study, 100 women with abnormal cervical cytology (abnormal Pap group) and 100 women who attended our outpatient clinic for check-up (control group) were recruited from June 2013 to January 2014. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was employed to determine anxiety in the participants with the score of ${\geq}11$ suggestive of clinically significant anxiety. The prevalence of anxiety and the mean HADS scores for anxiety were compared between the groups. For those with abnormal Pap, association between clinical factors and anxiety was assessed. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Median age was different between the groups, 44.0 years in the abnormal Pap group and 50.0 years in the control group (p=0.01). The proportion of participants who had more than one sexual partner was higher in the abnormal Pap group, 39.2% vs. 24.7% (p=0.03) and the prevalence of anxiety was significantly higher 14/100 (14.0%) vs. 3/100 (3.0%) (p < 0.01). The prevalence of depression was comparable between the groups. The mean HADS scores for anxiety and depression subscales were significantly higher in the abnormal Pap group, 6.6 vs. 4.8 (P < 0.01) and 3.9 vs. 3.1 (p=0.05), respectively. For the abnormal Pap group, no definite association between clinical factors and anxiety was demonstrated. Conclusions: The prevalence of anxiety in women with abnormal Pap awaiting colposcopy was significantly higher than that of normal controls. Special attention including thorough counselling, with use of information leaflets and psychological support, should be directed to these women.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.36-41
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• 2009

Background and Objectives: Topical administration of mitomycin-C (MMC) has been reported to reduce or delay scar formation in airway surgery. However, it is not infrequent to experience recurrent stenosis or adhesion of operative wound even after a meticulous MMC application during the laryngeal surgery. Therefore we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of repeated postoperative MMC applications and the technical feasibility of MMC applications to the laryngeal wound at an outpatient clinic. Methods: We reviewed medical records of 13 consecutive patients who received office-based MMC applications after laryngeal airway surgery at Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. The patients were grouped into 3 categories according to the site of surgical wound and the purpose of MMC application; group I : supraglottic stenosis (n=5), group II : cordectomy and arytenoidectomy site granulation prevention (n=3), Group III : laryngeal web prevention (n=5). Outcomes in each group and adverse effects of repeated MMC applications were evaluated. Results: Office-based MMC application was successfully performed one to four times with a week interval for each patient. No significant complications were observed except slightly decreased mucosal wave in one female patient who received 4 times of MMC application at the anterior commissure of vocal fold. Repeated MMC applications at the outpatient clinic resulted in wide or acceptable supraglottic airway in group I, clean wound healing without granulation formation in group II, and negligible or no web formation at the anterior commissure in group III. Conclusion : Office-based topical administration of MMC to the larynx was technically feasible. Postoperative repeated MMC applications were effective to reduce recurrent stenosis or adhesion of supraglottic structures, to prevent granuloma formation after laser arytenoidectomy and glottic web formation after anterior commissure resection.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.362-369
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• 2019

Background: Chronic nonspecific symptoms attributed to indoor nonindustrial work environments are common and may cause disability, but the medical nature of this disability is unclear. The aim was to medically characterize the disability manifested by chronic, recurrent symptoms and restrictions to work participation attributed to low-level indoor pollutants at workplace and whether the condition shares features with idiopathic environmental intolerance. Methods: We investigated 12 patients with indoor aire-related work disability. The examinations included somatic, psychological, and psychiatric evaluations as well as investigations of the autonomic nervous system, cortisol measurements, lung function, and allergy tests. We evaluated well-being, health, disability, insomnia, pain, anxiety, depression, and burnout via questionnaires. Results: The mean symptom history was 10.5 years; for disabling symptoms, 2.7 years. Eleven patients reported reactions triggered mainly by indoor molds, one by fragrances only. Ten reported sensitivity to odorous chemicals, and three, electric devices. Nearly all had co-occurrent somatic and psychiatric diagnoses and signs of pain, insomnia, burnout, and/or elevated sympathetic responses. Avoiding certain environments had led to restrictions in several life areas. On self-assessment scales, disability showed higher severity and anxiety showed lower severity than in physician assessments. Conclusion: No medical cause was found to explain the disability. Findings support that the condition is a form of idiopathic environmental intolerance and belongs to functional somatic syndromes. Instead of endless avoidance, rehabilitation approaches of functional somatic syndromes are applicable.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.504-515
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• 2021

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Malnutrition risk and malnutrition among the elderly is a public health concern. In combating this health-related problem, it is critically important to evaluate the risk factors in a multidimensional way and to apply appropriate nutrition intervention based on the results. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 215 elderly patients (32.6% male, 67.4% female) in a geriatric outpatient clinic of a hospital in Turkey. Nutritional questionnaires that incorporated the 24-h recall method were applied to determine general characteristics of patients, their health status, nutritional habits, and daily energy and nutrient intakes. Mini Nutritional Assessment was used to determine nutritional status. Relevant anthropometric measurements were obtained. RESULTS: The subjects' mean age was 76.1 ± 7.0 years, and the prevalence of malnutrition (n = 7) and risk of malnutrition (n = 53) among the 215 subjects was 3.2% and 24.7%, respectively. Patients with malnutrition or risk of malnutrition were found to be single, have a depression diagnosis, in an older age group, have less appetite, more tooth loss, have more frequent swallowing/chewing difficulty, and have more frequent meal skipping. In addition, mean daily energy, carbohydrate, fat, fiber, vitamin E, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin C, folates, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron intake, and water consumption were found to be statistically significantly low in subjects with malnutrition or risk of malnutrition. After performing regression analysis to determine confounding factors, malnutrition risk was significantly associated with marital status, loss of teeth, appetite status, and depression. CONCLUSIONS: Routine nutritional screening and assessment of the elderly should be performed. If nutritional deficiencies cannot be diagnosed early and treated, self-sufficiency in the elderly may deteriorate, resulting in increased institutionalization.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Planning & Design
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• v.33 no.12
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• pp.41-52
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• 2017

This study investigates the waiting and resting behaviors of children within a restorative healthcare facility design. In particular, the aim is to compare children with and without disabilities and reveal similarities and differences in terms of their behavioral characteristics and uses of design facilities, related to positive distraction, for restoration in the hospital. Three major common spaces for outpatients in S children's hospital in Seoul were examined including the main lobby and two waiting and resting spaces in the pediatric and rehabilitation medicine departments, respectively. A total of 155 children under the age of 12-67 with physical disabilities and 88 without-were observed while they waited and rested at the three spaces before or after doctors' examination. Basic demographic information and waiting and resting behavioral characteristics were compared between the two groups. The results indicated that the disabled children were more restricted in terms of space, facilities used, and social behaviors. However, regardless of disabilities, the children showed more positive distractions related to cognitive and social behaviors in areas where restorative design elements such as an aquarium, garden, or visual images were available. Based on the results, design implications were discussed to strengthen positive distraction behaviors in children with and without disabilities and to foster the restorative quality of the spaces for waiting and resting in the children's hospital.