• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.11
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• pp.781-788
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• 2022

Proline plays a multifaceted role in protein synthesis, redox balance, cell fate regulation, brain development, and other cellular and physiological processes. Here, we focus our review on proline metabolism in neurons, highlighting the role of dysregulated proline metabolism in neuronal dysfunction and consequently neurological and psychiatric disorders. We will discuss the association between genetic and protein function of enzymes in the proline pathway and the development of neurological and psychiatric disorders. We will conclude with a potential mechanism of proline metabolism in neuronal function and mental health.

• 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.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 2003

Objectives : To assess the difference in the volume of psychiatric treatments provided to health insurance inpatients, compared with those on medical assistance(the medical aid program) Korean psychiatric hospitals, and to determine factors which affect the volume of the services. Methods : 21 psychiatrists, from 3 Korean psychiatric hospitals recorded the frequencies psychiatric treatments provided to inpatients in one week (February 18-24, 2002). The records of 329 patients were analyzed through t-tests, and random effectmixed model analyses to define the difference between the two groups, and to find other factors affecting the volume of service. Results : A significant difference in the volume of psychiatric treatments provided was observed between the health insurance and medical assistance groups. The variation in the volume of service between hospitals was prominent, and other factors (gender, agegroup, length of stay and mental disorder)were also found to be significant. The patients on medical assistance received only 70% of the psychiatric treatments of those on health insurance. Conclusions : More effort is required to improve the methods of payment to increase the level of fee scheduling for medical assistance. Further studies on the mechanisms causing these differences in the volume of service are required.

• Journal of East-West Nursing Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.93-102
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• 2014

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of patients attempting suicide and to analyze treatment determination factors for patients with mental illness who go to an emergency center for treatment. Methods: Data collected from 117 suicide attempters who visited Busan Regional Emergency Medical Center were analyzed using frequency, percentage, ${\chi}^2$-test with SPSS/WIN 15.0. Results: Only 31 cases consulted with the psychiatric department; the other attempters' refused to consult (26.5%). Among the 31 attempters who consulted, 23 cases (74.2%) were suffering from depression. The most common reason (38.6%) suicidal attempters gave to refuse psychiatric treatment was "I'm not mad. I don't need the psychiatric treatment". Treatment determination factors for mental illness were religion (p<.001), past history (p=.017), financial satisfaction (p=.048), previous history of suicidal attempts (p=.006), sleep disturbance (p<.001), expression of suicide (p=.010), and type of leaving the emergency room (p=.020, p<.001). Conclusion: Results suggest that people frequently misunderstand psychiatric treatment which leads to their refusal to accept psychiatric treatment. Therefore hospitals need to develop standard guidelines and procedures for suicidal attempters with the collaboration of emergency and psychiatry departments. In addition, medical teams need to provide attempters appropriate information and encourage them to actively seek psychiatric treatment.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 2013

Objectives : Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is classified as an anxiety disorder. PTSD occurrence is known to be increased in middle-aged and older people, female, and individuals with a previous history of psychiatric disorders, lower education levels, low socioeconomic status, and severely injured patients. Anxiety symptoms are also related to later development of PTSD. In this study, we investigate the influences of injury severity and sociodemographic factors on severe anxiety in PTSD patients with no previous history of psychiatric disorders. Methods : Forty-one PTSD patients without previous history of psychiatric disorders were recruited from the psychiatric clinic at Chosun University Hospital. Subjects underwent psychiatric and physical examinations including the Injury Severity Score (ISS), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Korean-Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (K-WAIS). We defined severe anxiety as a BAI scores of 30 or more. Logistic regression analyses and multi-step model selection were applied to identify predictive factors for severe anxiety. Results : In univariate analysis, age, ISS, and socioeconomic status were found to be significant factors. Through multivariate logistic regression analyses and a stepwise model selection, we found the combination of age and ISS to be the best-fitted model for affecting severe anxiety in PTSD patients without a previous history of psychiatric disorders. Conclusion : Our findings suggest that the combination of age and ISS could develop severe anxiety in PTSD patients with no previous history of psychiatric disorders.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.78-83
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• 2021

Objective : Current study investigated the association between internet addiction and suicidal attempts in psychiatric patients. Methods : Patients who visited emergency department or psychiatry outpatient unit of Chungnam National University Hospital from January 2020 to July 2021 were included in this study. Total of 192 participants, 96 suicidal attempt cases and 96 psychiatric control patients without history of suicidal attempt were matched by gender and baseline diagnosis. Depression and internet addiction were assessed by using Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT). Independent t-tests, and logistic regression analyses were conducted. Results : IAT scores were significantly higher in suicidal attempt case group (41.09±18.196 years) compared to psychiatric control patients without history of suicidal attempt (36.63±17.016 years) (p=0.040). Internet addiction (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR]=2.049, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]=1.004-4.539, p=0.0493) was an independent risk factor for suicidal attempt in psychiatric patients after controlling age, gender, and sociodemographic factors, such as marital status, education level and employment status. Conclusion : This is the first study to investigate the relationship between internet addiction and suicidal attempt in psychiatric patients in Korea. Internet addiction is significantly associated with suicidal attempt in psychiatric patients, after adjusting sociodemographic variables. This study provides evidence to future studies to further investigate on causality of internet addiction and suicidality in psychiatric patients.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.38-43
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• 2023

Objectives: Psychiatric symptoms in epilepsy are very common, and the most common symptoms are depression, insomnia, and anxiety. These symptoms not only lower the quality of life of epilepsy patients, but also elevate the risk of epileptic seizures. There are no specific criteria for the available antiepileptic drugs to ameliorate these symptoms in patients with epilepsy, and there is a lack of evidence to support the efficacy and safety of existing drugs. The Shugan Jieyu capsule (SJC) is a traditional herbal medicine composed of Acanthopanax senticosus and Hypericum perforatum and is reported to be effective in relieving psychiatric symptoms. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of SJC as a treatment for psychiatric symptoms in epilepsy patients. Methods: Electronic databases will be investigated for publications in English, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese. The participants of the study are epilepsy patients with psychiatric symptoms diagnosed using any validated criteria. All types of controls will be compared-placebo, conventional treatments, and no treatment-to groups treated with SJC or modified SJC. We will measure the degree of improvement in psychiatric symptoms and check epileptic symptoms, such as the frequency of seizures. The study selection and data extraction will be performed by two independent reviewers, who will also assess methodological quality using the risk-of-bias tool by Cochrane. We will use Review Manager software (RevMan) to carry out all statistical analyses. Results: This systematic review and meta-analysis will be performed in accordance with the PRISMA-P statement. Conclusion: This systematic review is the first study to assess the efficacy and safety of SJC for the treatment of psychiatric symptoms in epilepsy. We expect that this study will provide clinically applicable evidence for patients with epilepsy when selecting drug treatments.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.813-825
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• 2023

This study was analyzed using a mixed methods approach to clarify the concept of compassionate communication competencies of psychiatric nurses. In the theoretical phase, the literature published from 2000 to 2022 was collected and 38 articles were analyzed. For the fieldwork phase, in-depth interviews were conducted with eight psychiatric nurses from December 1 to December 28, 2022. In the final analysis phase, the dimensions and attributes of psychiatric nurses' compassionate communication competence were identified and conceptualized. Based on the attributes identified in the theoretical and fieldwork phases, the definition of psychiatric nurses' compassionate communication competence was synthesized into five dimensions and 12 attributes. Therefore, psychiatric nurses' compassionate communication competence refers to the skills and abilities of psychiatric nurses to use active listening and empathic skills for effective communication based on compassion and understanding of the target, to be sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of the target, to accurately convey what the target wants to express, to respect the target, and to empower the target.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.215-225
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• 1996

We studied the factors that would affect the severity of psychiatric symptoms of the Sampoong accident survivors. In this study, the analyzed factors are sex, age, marital status, educational level, loss of consciousness, witness of death, death of related person, duration until the rescue, duration of hospitalization, and psychiatric treatment after the accident. Although our study has some limitations, we found some factors that affect the severity of psychiatric symptoms after the severe traumatic accident.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.3-7
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• 2009

Psychiatric disorders are quite common in surgical patients. However, surgeons are less likely to refer patients to psychiatrists than other physicians, who also have a tendency to under-recognize psychiatric disorders among their patients. Therefore, a large proportion of psychopathology in surgical patients is either undiagnosed or misdiagnosed and not optimally treated, if treated at all. This column focuses on common psychiatric issues that generally arise in surgical patients and reviews psychiatric issues specific to specialized surgical settings and patients (eg, burn units, obesity surgery).