• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.833-840
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• 2023

Insect-healing program is designed for farm use, and this study attempted to scientifically investigate its healing effect based on application methods. The insects used in the program are Trypoxylus dichotomus, Papilio xuthus, and Bombyx mori. Insect-healing program was conducted on 61 adults of over 50 years old and at two different farms for 12 weeks. Stress, anxiety, insomnia, and cognitive function were measured through pre- and post-surveys. Result of the analysis showed that cognitive function changed positively in direct experienced group (those that encountered live insects) and indirect experience group (those that encountered insects only through photos and videos). However, psychological variables such as stress and anxiety decreased and sleep time increased significantly only in the direct experienced group. These results demonstrate that an agro-healing program that involve the use of insect must include activities such as raising and taking care of live insect to achieve positive psychological healing effects.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.99-105
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• 2021

Background: The number of heart transplantations (HTx) is increasing annually. Due to advances in medical and surgical support, the outcomes of HTx are also improving. Extracorporeal circulatory life support (ECLS) provides patients with decompensated heart failure a chance to undergo HTx. A medical approach involving collaboration among experienced experts in different fields should improve the outcomes and prognosis of ECLS-bridged HTx. Methods: From December 2003 to December 2018, 1,465 patients received ECLS at Samsung Medical Center. We excluded patients who had not undergone HTx or underwent repeated transplantations. Patients younger than 18 years were excluded. We also excluded patients who received an implantable durable left ventricular assist device before HTx. In total, 91 patients were included in this study. A multidisciplinary team approach began in March 2013 at our hospital. We divided the patients into 2 groups depending on whether they were treated before or after implementation of the team approach. Results: The 30-day mortality rate was significantly higher in the pre-ECLS team group than in the post-ECLS team group (n=5, 18.5% vs. n=2, 3.1%; p=0.023). The 1-year survival rate was better in the post-ECLS team group than in the pre-ECLS team group (n=57, 89.1% vs. n=19, 70.4%; p=0.023). Conclusion: We found that implementing a multidisciplinary team approach improved the outcomes of ECLS-bridged HTx. Team-based care should be adapted at HTx centers that perform high-risk HTx.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-21
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• 1997

In order to analyze the shifts in the volume and profits of Computed Tomography(CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging(MRI) utilization for a year before and after the implementation of insurance coverage for CT, this study has been undertaken examining CT and MRI cost data from 'Y' University Hospital situated in Seoul, Korea. Following are the results of this study: 1. The medical insurance payment for CT, implemented on January 1, 1996, increased CT utilization from January 1996 to April 1996 due to low insurance premiums: however, from May 1996 the number of CT cases significantly decreased as a result of strengthened medical cost reviews and the new 'Detailed standards for approval of CT' announced near the end of April 1996 by the insurer. 2. Since the implementation of insurance coverage for CT, CT fee reduction rates for reimbursements by the insurer to the hospital were 50% and 40% for January and February, respectively, and 31% and 15% for March and April. A significant point in the lowering of the reduction rate was reached in May at 11%; furthermore, since June the reduction rate fell below the average reduction rate for reimbursements for all procedures. If the 'Detailed standards for approval of CT' had been announced before the implementation of insurance coverage for CT, CT utilization would not have been so high due to the need to meet those 'standards'. In addition, loss of hospital profits resulting from the reduction for reimbursements would not have occurred. 3. The shifts in MRI utilization showed that there was no particular change with the beginning of insurance coverage for CT, and the introduction of the 'Detailed standards for approval of CT' made MRI utilization increase because MRI is free of restrictions imposed by the insurer. 4. The relationship between CT utilization and MRI utilization showed that they were supplementary to each other before insurance coverage for CT, but that CT was substituted for MRI because of strengthened medical cost reviews after t~e beginning of insurance coverage for CT. 5. The shifts in volume by patient characteristics showed that the number of inappropriate case patients, according to the insurer's "Standards for approval", decreased more than the number of appropriate case patients after the introduction of insurance coverage for CT. Therefore, the health insurance fee schemes for CT have influenced patient care. 6. The shifts in profits from CT utilization showed a net profit decrease of 31.6%. In order to match the pre-coverage profit level, 5,471 more cases would need to be seen and productivity would need to be increased by 32.7%. This profit decrease resulted from a decrease of CT utilization and low reimbursements. With insurance coverage, net profits from CT were 24.4%, and a margin of safety ratio was 39.6%. Because of the net profits and margin of safety ratio, CT utilization fees for insured appropriate cases could not be considered inappropriate. 7. The shifts in profits from MRI utilization before and after the introduction of CT coverage showed that in order to match pre-CT coverage profit levels, 2,011 more cases would need to be seen and productivity would need to be increased by 9.2%. The reasons for needing to increase the number of cases and productivity result from cost burdens created by adding new MRI units. But with CT coverage already begun, MRI utilization increased. Combined with a minor increase in the MRI fee schedule, MRI utilization showed a net profit increase of 18.5%. Net profits of 62.8% and a 'margin of safety ratio' of 43.1% for MRI utilization showed that the hospital relied on this non-covered procedure for profits. 8. The shifts in profits from CT and MRI utilization showed the net profits from CT decreased by 2.33billion Won while the net profits from MRI increased by 815.7million Won. Overall, these two together showed a net profit decrease of 1.51billion Won. The shifts in utilization showed a functional substitutionary relationship, but the shifts in profits did not show a substitutionary relationship. From these results, We can conclude that if insurance is to be expanded to include previously uncovered procedures using expensive medical equipment, detailed standards should be prepared in advance. The decrease in profits from the shifts in coverage and changes in fees is a difficult burden that should be shared, not carried by the hospital alone. Also, a new or improved fee schedule system should include revised standards between items listed and the appropriateness of the fee schedule should constantly be ensured. This study focused on one university hospital in Seoul and is therefore limited in general applicability. But it is valuable for considering current issues and problems, such as the influence of CT coverage on hospital management. Future studies will hopefully expand the scope of the issues considered here.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.59-70
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• 2022

Background: Diabetes education is an important factor in blood glucose control. Reinforced education is necessary for effective diabetes education. However, it is difficult to provide reinforced diabetes education within Korea's medical environment. Therefore, we want to analyze the effect of continuous diabetes education using mobile health care that can effectively provide repeated education without having to face the patient. Methods: This study is a multicenter, randomized, controlled, pre-post design study conducted to analyze the effect of a continuous diabetes education method. A total of 109 people were registered at five hospitals in south Korea, and they were randomly assigned to the app group (34 people) who received real-time coaching and repetitive training, the logbook group (37 people) who received face-to-face training after writing a blood glucose logbook, and the general group (38 people) who received a one-time diabetes education. The study was conducted for a total of 24 weeks. Twenty-one patients withdrew their consent and failed to perform an HbA1c. A final 88 patients were analyzed. The difference in HbA1c, Self-management behavior, and Quality of life before and after education was analyzed. Results: The study involved 51 (58%) male subjects, mean age was 55.8 years and mean duration of diabetes was 7.6 years. After 24 weeks of intervention, there was no significant difference in self-care behavior and quality of life between the three groups, but the HbA1c of the app group significantly decreased after education compared to the logbook group and the general group (F=4.62, p=.013). Conclusion: It can be seen through the app group that receiving real-time education is more effective in improving blood glucose management and continuous diabetes education is important.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.164-172
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• 2016

Objectives: This study attempted to evaluate the usefulness and direction of development of post-traumatic assessment and interventions based on the opinions of psychiatrics and disaster and trauma-related experts using the Delphi survey technique. Methods: In-depth individual interviews served as the pre-survey and were followed by Delphi primary and secondary surveys. Specialists in child and adolescent mental health, psychological support professionals specialized in disasters and related practitioners with experience of disasters in Korea completed a set of questionnaires and participated in focus group interviews and in-depth individual interviews on post-traumatic assessment and intervention. Results: We found that the following issues have a significant impact on the interventions after disasters: the proper time of the initial interview in the event of a disaster, assessment notices, aged assessment services, mandatory enforcement measures, scale screening and treatment intervention elements, symptoms degree classification, intervention standardization, the use of a levelled program, care unit environment, and operation plan. Conclusion: This study proposed effective mental health intervention measures and has implications for the development of evaluation treatment protocols after disasters.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.469-472
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• 2010

Purpose: Aplasia Cutis Congenita (ACC) is a rare disease characterized by the focal defect of the skin at birth, frequently involving scalp, but it may affect any region of the body. There are no etiology known but some conditions such as intrauterine vascular ischemia, amniotic adherences and viral infections are associated. The ideal treatment for the ACC is not known. Superficial and relatively small sized defects (< $3{\times}5\;cm$) may heal spontaneously and large defects related with risks of infection and bleeding may require aggressive surgical treatment. Hyalomatrix$^{(R)}$ is a bilayer of an esterified hyaluronan scaffold beneath a silicone membrane. It has been used as a temporary dermal substitute to cover deep thickness skin defect and has physiological functions derive from the structural role in extracellular matrix and interaction with cell surface receptor. This material has been used for the wound bed pre-treatment for skin graft to follow and especially in uncooperative patient, like a newborn, this could be a efficient and aseptic way of promoting granulation without daily irritative wound care. For this reason, using Hyalomatrix$^{(R)}$ for the treatment of ACC was preferred in this paper. Methods: We report a case of a newborn with ACC of the vertex scalp and non-ossified partial skull defect. The large sized skin and skull defect ($6{\times}6\;cm$) was found with intact dura mater. No other complications such as bleeding or abnormal neurologic sign were accompanied. Escharectomy was performed and Hyalomatrix$^{(R)}$ was applied for the protection and the induction of acute wound healing for 3 months before the split-thickness skin graft. During the 3 months period, the dressing was renewed in aseptic technique for every 3 weeks. The skin graft was achieved on the healthy granulation bed. Results: The operative procedure was uneventful without necessity of blood transfusion. Postoperative physical examination revealed no additional abnormalities. Regular wound management was performed in out-patient clinic and the grafted skin was taken completely. No other problems developed during follow-up. Conclusion: Hyalomatrix$^{(R)}$ provides protective and favorable environment for wound healing. The combination of the use of Hyalomatrix$^{(R)}$ and the skin graft will be a good alternative for the ACC patients with relatively large defect on vertex.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.113-127
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• 2023

Background: Resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) may aid in understanding the link between painmodulating brain regions and the descending pain modulatory system (DPMS) in fibromyalgia (FM). This study investigated whether the differences in rs-FC of the primary somatosensory cortex in responders and non-responders to the conditioned pain modulation test (CPM-test) are related to pain, sleep quality, central sensitization, and the impact of FM on quality of life. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 33 females with FM. rs-FC was assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Change in the numerical pain scale during the CPM-test assessed the DPMS function. Subjects were classified either as non-responders (i.e., DPMS dysfunction, n = 13) or responders (n = 20) to CPM-test. A generalized linear model (GLM) and a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were performed to check the accuracy of the rs-FC to differentiate each group. Results: Non-responders showed a decreased rs-FC between the left somatosensory cortex (S1) and the periaqueductal gray (PAG) (P < 0.001). The GLM analysis revealed that the S1-PAG rs-FC in the left-brain hemisphere was positively correlated with a central sensitization symptom and negatively correlated with sleep quality and pain scores. ROC curve analysis showed that left S1-PAG rs-FC offers a sensitivity and specificity of 85% or higher (area under the curve, 0.78, 95% confidence interval, 0.63-0.94) to discriminate who does/does not respond to the CPM-test. Conclusions: These results support using the rs-FC patterns in the left S1-PAG as a marker for predicting CPM-test response, which may aid in treatment individualization in FM patients.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.943-952
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• 1997

This study was done to analyze the effects of prompted voiding therapy on urinary incontinence in elderly patients in an elderly care hospital. Specifically, this study looks to evaluate the effects of prompted voiding as an intervention for improving independent voiding and also identified the relationship of urinary continence to cognitive, emotional, and physical factors. The study was based on a pre-experimental design used to evaluate the effects of prompted voiding therapy on an experimental group without a control group. An experimental group of 143 patients was selected through convenience sampling from patients in an elderly care hospital. The data was collected from November 4 to December 14, 1996. Prompted voiding therapy is a behavioral therapy for managing incontinence and it is applied to patients who are cognitively impaired and dependent. In this study, the patients were asked at each designated time whether or not they had to urinate. If they answered yes, they were either given a bedpan or were assisted to the bathroom, and if the patient answered no, their diaper was checked to determine whether or not it was wet. The results were then recorded on the patients urinary voiding record. The urinary voiding score based on the model presented by Burton(1984), Burke and Walsh(1992), Chenitz, Stone & Salisbury(1991) was modified and used as a tool in this study. After forty six out of the total of 143 patients were selected for interviews through random sampling the levels of cognitive functions, mental depression and ADL(activities of dally life) within the given time frame were measured. In this study, the cognitive function was measured using the scale developed by Kabhn, Goldfarb, Pollack & Peck(1960), elderly mental depression, using the tool developed by Sheikh & Yesavage(1986), and the ADL(activities of dally living), through the Barthel Index. The data was analyzed through SPSS windows for descriptive statistics, repeated measured ANOVA and Pearson's correlation. According to the results of the study, the application of the prompted voiding therapy can improve the voiding pattern of patients. It was shown especially that incontinence could be controlled by the intervention developed according to the individual voiding pattern. In terms of the relationship between cognitive function, mental depression and ADL and the voiding function score, a close correlation was not found. It was shown that urinary incontinence can be improved through therapy even though patients have problems nth their cognitive, mental and physical functions.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.226-232
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• 2015

Critical pathway (CP) defines the optimal care process, sequencing and timing of intervention by multidisciplinary health care teams for a particular diagnosis and procedure. The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness and the satisfaction of patients and dental staff after implementation of a critical pathway for the dental treatment of disabled children and adolescents under conscious sedation. Thirty patients are divided in two groups (Pre-CP and CP) at the department of Pediatric Dentistry of Pusan National University Dental Hospital. The satisfaction levels of patients/guardians and the staff members were collected by survey questionnaire. The parents' satisfaction was significantly improved after the implementation of CP. Also, medical/dental staff members were highly satisfied with its usefulness. The application of a critical pathway for disabled children and adolescents might be useful and improve the satisfaction of the parents and medical/dental staff members.

• The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.73-83
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• 2001

The aims of this study were to identify the mothers educational needs when they have children who have had open heart surgery in congenital heart disease, to identify the children's characteristics with this problem, and also to provide the basic information on the development of the educational program for the mothers. The subjects of the study were 101 mothers of children and their children hospitalized with congenital heart disease in pediatric wards of G. University Hospital in Inchon and S. Hospital in Puch on from June to November 2000. The study used a Likert-type questionnaire with 39 questions which was based on a previous questionnaire developed by Lee Mi-ryun(1989) for adult open heart surgery patients. The reliability of the questionnaire was Cronbach' ${\alpha}$=.9375. The data were collected directly from mothers of the patients in wards. The t-test, ANOVA was adopted for the data analysis. The key results of the study are as follows : 1) The average age of the children was 32.90 months. The majority of the children are male and weighted 3.0-3.5Kg at birth. Most of the children had VSD(29.7%), and 10.9% of children had a family history of heart disease. 2) An average score of 4.62 out of a maximum of 5.00 was recorded for the educational needs of the children's mother. The highest score of 4.69 was for home care after discharge followed by a score of 4.67 for diagnosis and prognosis on congenital heart disease. And pre-post operation care scored 4.51. The mean scores of single-question items of educational need were, in order, 4.81 for immunization after operation, 4.80 for recovery process, and 4.77 for prognosis of the disease. The score of 4.18 for measurement of intake and output was the lowest. 3) The analysis on the children's mothers educational needs by social-demographic characteristics such as sex, age of patient and mother, economical status, educational status, number of child, hospitalization times, and hospitalization cause showed no significant difference statistically, but there was a significant difference between mothers with jobs and with out jobs.