• Perspectives in Nursing Science
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.76-91
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• 2005

Stroke patients often develop post stroke sequelae when they survive. Post stroke fatigue and emotional disturbances including depression are common along with motor dysfunction. However, medical personnel have paid relatively little attention to emotional changes and the presence of fatigue following strokes. Post-stroke fatigue was common, occurring in 57% of the patients in our series. The post-stroke fatigue appears to be related to the pre-stroke fatigue, physical disability and post stroke depression (PSD) although the relation to the lesion location remains elusive. The prevalence of post-stroke emotional disturbance has been reported to range from 12% to 64%. The wide variation in the frequency of post stroke depression may be related to methodological heterogeneity in items such as the criteria for depression, the timing of assessment, and the study population. Emotional incontinence, which is characterized by inappropriate or excessive laughing or crying is also common. The incidence of and factor related to this post-stroke emotional incontinence (PSEI) also remains unclear. We reported that out-patients with single, unilateral stroke, 18% had PSD and 34% had PSEI. Although both PSD and PSEI were related to motor dysfunction and location (anterior vs. posterior cortex) of the lesion, the latter was a stronger determinant for PSD. PSEI was more closely associated with subcortical strokes than was PSD. Another manifestation of post stroke patients is the occurrence of post stroke anger proneness (PSAP). They may become easily irritated, impulsive, less generous, and prone to be angry or aggressive at others. We also have reported the PSAP which seems to be closely associated with the presence of PSEI. The lesion distribution appears to be also similar. Both PSEI and PSAP respond well to serotonin reuptake inhibitors suggesting that these symptomsmay be possibly related to the alteration of serotonin after brain injury. Likewise, PSAP also produces a great deal of frustration and embarrassment among patients and caregivers. In summary, emotional disturbances such as depression, emotional incontinence, anger-proneness and fatigue are fairly common but under-recognized sequelae of stroke. These emotional disturbances decrease the quality of life of the patients and caregivers, and may adversely affect the overall prognosis. Therefore, these problems must be appropriately recognized and alleviated. Finding strategies to relieve the symptoms is imperative by understanding the causative factors in individual patient.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.471-477
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• 2022

Objective: The greatest motor impairment after stroke is a decreased ability to walk. Most stroke patients achieve independent gait, but approximately 70% do not reach normal speed, making it difficult to reach a standard of daily living. Therefore, a wearable exoskeleton is recommended for optimal independent gait because different residual disorders hinder motor function after stroke. This review synthesized the effect on gait speed in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in which gait training using a wearable exoskeleton was performed on post-stroke patients for qualitative and quantitative analysis. Design: A systematic review and meta-analysis of a randomized controlled trials Methods: RCTs using wearable exoskeletons in robotic rehabilitation of post-stroke patients were extracted from an international electronic database. For quality assessment and quantitative analysis, RevMan 5.4 was used. Quantitative analysis was calculated as the standardized mean difference (SMD) and presented as a random effect model. Results: Five studies involving 197 post-stroke patients were included in this review. As a result of the analysis using a random effect model, gait training using a wearable exoskeleton in post-stroke patients showed a significant improvement in gait speed compared to the non-wearing exoskeleton (SMD=1.15, 95% confidence interval: 0.52 to 1.78). Conclusions: This study concluded that a wearable exoskeleton was more effective than conventional gait training in improving the gait speed in post-stroke patients.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.23-31
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• 2009

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the prevalence and related factors of sleep-wake disturbance (SWD) in Korean post-stroke patients. This study was the first to address post-stroke SWD in Korea using a structured questionnaire. Method: We investigated the prevalence of SWD and related factors including lesion location, stroke severity, presence of depression and fatigue. We assessed sleep-wake pattern including quality of sleep, sleep latency, wake episodes, wake time after sleep onset, daytime sleep episode and sleep time at daytime. Ninety stroke patients admitted to a university affiliated hospital in Seoul between the period September 2008 and January 2009 were included in the study. Result: Thirty five patients (38.9%) complained insomnia and 32 (35.6%) complained excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). Quality of sleep (p=.000), sleep latency (p=.000) and total sleep time (p=.001) were significantly poorer in 16 patients with both insomnia and EDS than in the others. The related factors to insomnia were level of education (p=.030), depression (p=.007) and fatigue (p=.034), though related factors to EDS were stroke onset time (p=.049), stroke severity (p=.005), motor dysfunction (p=.035), dysphasia (p=.018), fatigue (p=.001) and lesion location (p=.019). Conclusion: Sleep-wake disturbance is a common problem in Korean stroke patients. Strategies to improve quality of sleep are urgently needed in the post-stroke patients.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.387-395
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• 2013

PURPOSE: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of the training using Pedalo equipment on balance function in post-stroke patients. METHODS: The present study was case-series. Ten post-stroke patients participated in the study. Participants performed the training using Pedalo equipment. The training using four Pedalo equipment lasted 30 minutes, 3 times a week for 6 weeks. Force platform, Berg Balance Scale(BBS), and Timed Up and Go(TUG) test were used to assess balance ability before and after training. RESULTS: After training using Pedalo equipment, there were significantly improved on path length and sway velocity of post-stroke patients in the both of eye open and - close conditions comparing with baseline. Also, on the BBS and TUG, there were significant improvements after training. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that the training using Pedalo equipment may be effective on improving the balance ability in the post-stroke patients. Through this study, we were able to confirm the potential of training using Pedalo equipment as an intervention in the rehabilitation of post-stroke patients.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.22-27
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• 2012

Objective: Falls are defined as contact of the body with the floor after losing balance during activities of daily living. Falls commonly occur among the elderly, and stroke patients in particular are at a high risk of falling. The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes of temporal and spatial gait parameters and gait symmetry according to experience falls in post-stroke patients. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Fifty three patients with stroke were recruited on a voluntary basis from the rehabilitation unit, who currently undergoing physical therapy. All participants were asked to answer questions regarding the frequency of falls in the past 1 year. Fifty-three patients with stroke were allocated 2 groups according to experienced falls: stroke with falls (n=26) during past 1 year and stroke without falls (n=27). The spatial and temporal gait parameters and gait symmetry ratio were measured using GAITRite system. Results: The spatial gait parameters and the temporal gait parameters were significantly different between the stroke with falls group and the stroke without falls group (p<0.05). Furthermore, step length was the only significantly different among symmetry ratio (p<0.05). Conclusions: Experience of falls can lead to impairment of gait ability in stroke patients. This result is expected to be used as a basic data for rehabilitation program development to prevent a fall of post-stroke patients.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.149-154
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• 2000

Objectives:This study was to investigate the post-stroke depression morbidity and to evaluate the post-stroke depression in relation to activities of daily living by using BDI(Beck's Depression Inventory)and MBI(Modified Barthel Index) in 45 patients with stroke. Methods:The subjects of this study were 45 stroke patients who were admittied to the Dong-Seo oriental hospital.The post-stroke depression was determined by using the BDI and the evaluation of activities daily living was measured by using the MBICollected data analysis were completed by using correlation analysis.Results:1. The post-stroke depression morbidity was 30%.2. The post-stroke depression have no significant correlation with activities of daily living skills.Conclusions:This study shows that the post-stroke depression have no significant correlation with impairment in activities of daily living.Advanced studies are required to investigate other factors that influence post-stroke depression and post-stroke depression follow-up studies.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.101-106
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• 2002

Objectives : The degree of post-stroke depression was observed and then correlated to the recovery rate of the motor functions of the above treated stroke patients. Methods : The BDI SCALE(Beck Depression Inventory Scale) and motor grades of 50 diagnosed stroke patients who were hospitalized in Dong-Seo Oriental Hospital between the period of May 2002 to September 2002 were measured. After a 1 month recovery period the BDI SCALE and motor grade of the above mentioned patients were again measured and a correlation was observed. Results : A lower BDI SCALE was observed in patients with a higher motor grade recovery rate. Conclusion : The treatment of post-stroke depression is imperative for positive effects on the motor functions of stroke patients.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.147-162
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• 2000

Predicting factors of post-stroke depression were investigated. The subjects were 254 stroke patients who had been discharged and visited regularly the outpatient clinic for follow up care. The influencing factors were classified into five categories : demographic, disease-related, current state, social support, and illness intrusiveness. Sex, age, job, and educational level were defined as the demographic factor. The disease-related factors included stroke type, illness duration, attack frequency, and NIH score. ADL, cognitive function, and social activity were considered as the current state factors. The social support was measured as the perceived amount of social support. Illness intrusiveness means the perceived illness induced life style disruptions. Demographic, disease-related, current state, and social support were hypothesized to directly and indirectly affect post-stroke depression through illness intrusiveness. The illness intrusiveness was hypothesized to directly affect post-stroke depression. The hierarchial multiple regression was used to identify significant factors. The result showed that this model explained 43.3% of variance of post-stroke depression. And the prevalence of post-stroke depression was 38.8%. Among the demographic factors, job was identified as a main contributor to indirectly increase the post-stroke depression. Among the disease-related factors, stroke type, attack frequency, and NIH score were found to indirectly affect the post-stroke depression. Among the current state factors, ADL and social activity indirectly affected the post-stroke depression through illness intrusiveness. Social support and illness intrusiveness were identified to directly affect the post-stroke depression. This study has proved the factors likely to be implicated in the development of post-stroke depression. Based upon these results, it is recommended that the nurses who take care of post-stroke patients consider the risk factors such as social support, illness intrusiveness et al. Also programs which decrease the illness intrusiveness and increase the social support to reduce post-stoke depression recommended to be developed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.623-632
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• 2010

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of recovery of disability on post-stroke depression in stroke patients. Methods : Fifty patients with stroke were participated in this study. The stroke impact scale(SIS) was used to assess the recovery of disability according to stroke and short form of geriatric depression scale(SGDS) was used to assess the poststroke depression(PSD). Results : The suspicious for depression were exhibited in 38%(n=19) and patients with depression were 58% (n=26) of 50 patients with stroke. In correlation between recovery of disability and depression, emotion and recovery of stroke negatively correlated with depression(p<.05). Conclusion : These results demonstrates that patients with stroke need to manage and treat emotion for the prevention and management of PSD.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.503-510
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• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Increased serum homocysteine (Hcy) levels have been reported to be related to the occurrence of cardio- and cerebrovascular diseases. High serum Hcy levels are also related to the development of secondary stroke and all-cause mortality. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of high serum homocysteine level and relating factors, and the change over the 10 month period post-stroke. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Consecutive stroke patients who were admitted to the Asan Medical Center were enrolled. Ten months after the onset of stroke, an interview with a structured questionnaire was performed and blood samples were obtained for the biochemical parameters. Nutritional status was determined using the mini nutritional assessment (MNA) score and dietary nutrient intakes were also obtained using a 24 hour recall method. RESULTS: Out of 203 patients, 84% were malnourished or at risk of malnutrition, and 26% had high homocysteine levels at 10 months post-stroke. Using logistic regression, the factors related with high homocysteine levels at 10 months post-stroke included heavy alcohol consumption (P = 0.020), low MNA scores (P = 0.026), low serum vitamin $B_{12}$ (P = 0.021) and low serum folate levels (P = 0.003). Of the 156 patients who had normal homocysteine levels at admission, 36 patients developed hyperhomocysteinemia 10 months post-stroke, which was related to heavy alcohol consumption (P = 0.013). Persistent hyperhomocysteinemia, observed in 22 patients (11%), was related to male sex (P = 0.031), old age (P = 0.042), low vitamin $B_6$ intake (P = 0.029), and heavy alcohol consumption (P = 0.013). CONCLUSION: Hyperhomocysteinemia is common in post-stroke, and is related to malnutrition, heavy alcohol drinking and low serum level of folate and vitamin $B_{12}$. Strategies to prevent or manage high homocysteine levels should consider these factors.