• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.26-31
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• 2015

Objectives: This study used semiology based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to investigate vital energy (Qi) behavior in women with abdominal myofascial pain syndrome (AMPS). Methods: Fifty women diagnosed with chronic pelvic pain (CPP) secondary to AMPS were evaluated by using a questionnaire based on the theories of "yin-yang," "zang-fu", and "five elements". We assessed the following aspects of the illness: symptomatology; specific location of myofascial trigger points (MTrPs); onset, cause, duration and frequency of symptoms; and patient and family history. The patients tongues, lips, skin colors, and tones of speech were examined. Patients were questioned on various aspects related to breathing, sweating, sleep quality, emotions, and preferences related to color, food, flavors, and weather or seasons. Thirst, gastrointestinal dysfunction, excreta (feces and urine), menstrual cycle, the five senses, and characteristic pain symptoms related to headache, musculoskeletal pain, abdomen, and chest were also investigated. Results: Patients were between 22 and 56 years old, and most were married (78%), possessed a elementary school (66%), and had one or two children (76%). The mean body mass index and body fat were 26.86 kg/cm2 (range: 17.7 - 39.0) and 32.4% (range: 10.7 - 45.7), respectively. A large majority of women (96%) exhibited alterations in the kidney meridian, and 98% had an altered gallbladder meridian. We observed major changes in the kidney and the gallbladder Qi meridians in 76% and 62% of patients, respectively. Five of the twelve meridians analyzed exhibited Qi patterns similar to pelvic innervation Qi and meridians, indicating that the paths of some of these meridians were directly related to innervation of the pelvic floor and abdominal region. Conclusion: The women in this study showed changes in the behavior of the energy meridians, and the paths of some of the meridians were directly related to innervation of the pelvic floor and abdominal region.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.510-531
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• 2021

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to review the status of numeric rating scale (NRS) usage and suggest the potential for use in multicenter retrospective studies of various diseases. Methods: Articles published from 2011 to 2021 that used the keywords "NRS", "Multi-center", and "RCT" were identified in foreign databases, including EMBASE, PubMed, CENTRAL. The articles were analyzed according to their use of "NRS" by symptoms and by disease group using the major classifications of the Korean Standard Classification of Diseases (KCD-7). Results: Classification by symptom in a total of 288 articles illustrates that the NRS was not only commonly used in pain evaluation but also for non-pain symptoms. In usage with non-pain symptoms, chief complaint of patients was the most common at 79%, and other factors included treatment satisfaction, evaluation of daily life, and sleep quality. In disease classification according to the KCD-7, the NRS was commonly used in connection with musculoskeletal and connective tissue diseases but was also utilized in various other disease groups. Conclusions: This study confirms usage of the NRS in multi-center RCTs, as the NRS was widely used in all types of diseases and symptoms. Considering the result and the advantages of the NRS, it is recommended for use as a daily evaluation tool for the collection of common data in multicenter retrospective studies.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.210-216
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• 2021

Background: Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is the most common complication of acute herpes zoster. The treatment of PHN remains a challenge for clinical pain management. Despite the effectiveness of anticonvulsants, antidepressants, and lidocaine patches in reducing PHN, many patients still face intractable pain disorders. In this randomized controlled study, we evaluated whether hydromorphone through intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV PCA) was effective in relieving PHN. Methods: Patients with PHN were randomly divided into two groups, one group received oral pregabalin with IV normal saline, another group received oral pregabalin with additional IV PCA hydromorphone for two weeks. Efficacy was evaluated at 1, 4, and 12 weeks after the end of the treatments. Results: Two hundred and one patients were followed up for 12 weeks. After treatment, numerical rating scale (NRS) score of patients in the hydromorphone group was significantly lower than that of the control group, and the difference of NRS scores between the two groups was statistically significant at 4 and 12 weeks after treatment. The frequency of breakthrough pain in the hydromorphone group was significantly lower than that in the control group 1 and 4 weeks after treatment. After treatment, the quality of sleep in the hydromorphone group was significantly improved compared with the control group. The most common adverse reactions in the hydromorphone group were dizziness and nausea, with no significant respiratory depression. Conclusions: IV PCA hydromorphone combined with oral pregabalin provides superior pain relief in patients with PHN, which is worthy of clinical application and promotion.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.84 no.2
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• pp.96-104
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• 2021

Background: Many chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients receiving monotherapy continue to experience symptoms, exacerbations and poor quality of life. This study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of direct switch from once-daily tiotropium (TIO) 18 ㎍ to indacaterol/glycopyrronium (IND/GLY) 110/50 ㎍ once daily in COPD patients in Korea. Methods: This was a randomized, open-label, parallel group, 12-week trial in mild-to-moderate COPD patients who received TIO 18 ㎍ once daily for ≥12 weeks prior to study initiation. Patients aged ≥40 years, with predicted post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV₁) ≥50%, post-bronchodilator FEV₁/forced vital capacity <0.7 and smoking history of ≥10 pack-years were included. Eligible patients were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to either IND/GLY or TIO. The primary objective was to demonstrate superiority of IND/GLY over TIO in pre-dose trough FEV₁ at week 12. Secondary endpoints included transition dyspnea index (TDI) focal score, COPD assessment test (CAT) total score, and rescue medication use following the 12-week treatment, and safety assessment. Results: Of the 442 patients screened, 379 were randomized and 347 completed the study. IND/GLY demonstrated superiority in pre-dose trough FEV₁ versus TIO at week 12 (least squares mean treatment difference [Δ], 50 mL; p=0.013). Also, numerical improvements were observed with IND/GLY in the TDI focal score (Δ, 0.31), CAT total score (Δ, -0.81), and rescue medication use (Δ, -0.09 puffs/day). Both treatments were well tolerated by patients. Conclusion: A direct switch from TIO to IND/GLY provided improvements in lung function and other patient-reported outcomes with an acceptable safety profile in patients with mild-to-moderate airflow limitation.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.368-380
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• 1990

A central issue in the development of nursing practice is to describe the phenomenon with which nursing is concerned. To identify the health problems which can be diagnosed and managed by the nurse is the first step to organize and ensure the development of nursing science. Therefore the academic world has been discussing the application of the nursing diagnosis in nursing practice as a means of improving quality of care. The objectives of this study were to develop a standardized nursing care plan for ten selected nursing diagnoses to form a database for computerized nursing service. The research approach used in the study was (1) the selection of the ten nursing diagnoses which occur most frequently on medical-surgical wards, (2) the development of a standardized nursing care plan for the ten selected nursing diagnoses, (3) application of the plan to hospitalize patients and evaluation of the content validity by the nurses, and (4) evaluation of the clinical effects after the use of the standardized nursing care plans. The subjects were 56 nurses and 395 hospitalized patients on two medical and two surgical unit. The results of this study were as follows ; 1) The ten selected nursing diagnoses for the development of the standardized nursing care plans were “PAIN, SLEEP DISTURBANCE, ALTERED HEALTH MAINTENANCE, ALTERATION IN NUTRITION, ANXIETY, CONSTIPATION, ALTERED PATTERNS OF URINARY ELIMINATION, DISTURBANCE IN BODY IMAGE, POTENTIAL FOR ACTIVITY INTOLERANCE AND ACTIVITY INTOLERANCE”. 2. The developed standardized nursing care plans included the nursing diagnosis, definition, defining characteristics, etiologic or related factors that contribute to the condition, recording pattern, desired outcomes and nursing orders (nursing interventions). 3. The plan was used with hospitalized patients on medical - surgical wards to test for content validity. The patient's satisfaction with the nursing care and nurses' job satisfaction were investigated to evaluate the clinical effects after the use of the standardized nursing care plans. A comparison of patient satisfaction with nursing care before and after the introduction of the standardized nursing care plans showed a statistically significant higher level of satisfaction with the standardized care plans. There was no difference in the level of job satisfaction expressed by the nursing staff before and after the standardized nursing care plans were introduced. However, when opinions about the use of the standardized nursing care plans were examined it was found that there was a positive effect on clarity in defining the nursing problems, determining nursing cost, more feasible goal setting, effective and systematic nursing records and indications for nursing research. The results of this study suggest that in order to increase the use of nursing diagnoses in the clinical area, it would be effective to select some wards as a pilot project, give the nurses training in the use of nursing diagnosis and develop and use the standardized nursing care plans. In addition to the ten diagnosis used in this study it is recommended that continual development of nursing diagnoses be done using diagnoses that are appropriate to Korea and testing them for validity through standardized care plans.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7595-7600
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• 2013

Cervical cancer is a serious public health problem in developing countries. We investigated possible risk factors for cervical cancer in rural areas of Wuhan China using a matched case-control study with 33 women diagnosed with cervical cancer and 132 healthy women selected from the same area as matched controls. A questionnaire, which included questions about general demography conditions, environmental and genetic factors, the first sexual intercourse, first marriage age, age at first pregnancy, pregnancy first child's age, female personal health history, social psychological factors, dietary habits, smoking and alcohol status and other living habits was presented to all participants. At the same time, HPV infection of every participant was examined in laboratory testing. Results showed HPV infection (P<0.000, OR=23.4) and pregnancy first child's age (P<0.000, OR=13.1) to be risk factors for cervical cancer. Menopause (P=0.003, OR=0.073) was a protective factor against cervical cancer. However, there was no indication of associations of environmental (drinking water, insecticide, disinfectant) genetic (cancer family history), or life-style factors (smoking status, alcohol status, physical training, sleep quality), including dietary habits (intake of fruit and vegetable, meat, fried food, bean products and pickled food) or social psychological factors with cervical cancer. The results suggest that the risk of cervical cancer in Chinese rural women may be associated with HPV infection, menopause and the pregnancy first child's age.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.11-23
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• 2003

Objectives : The 1990s has seen advances in the conceptualization of self-perceived health status which has important roles for individual health and the quality of life. Many types of standardized questionnaires have been developed with the current wide use of SF-36, NHP, andEuroQol. However, the outcomes of these tools may be different with regard to regional, cultural and emotional backgrounds. The purpose of this study was to trial the development of a Korean Health Profile (KHP 1.0) to measure the self-perceived health stati of Koreans. Methods : The KHP 1.0 was designed on the basis of the Medical Outcome Study Form 36 (SF-36), the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP), and the EuroQOL. It was composed of 9 scales; physical functioning, role limitation-physical, pain, general health, energy, social isolation, sleep, role limitation-emotional, and e-motional health. Self-reported chronic disease conditions, and the Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), were also checked for the evaluation of clinical validity. This study was conducted, from December 2000 to January 2001, on 800 middle-aged parents, with four high school students, with 100 retest sets being conducted two weeks later. From the 800 subjects there were 588 complete responses (effective response 73.5%). The reliability of the test-retest results, and the factor analysis on the validity of the KHP 1.0 components, were evaluated using the SPSS (ver 10.0) software. Results : The reliability of the KHP 1.0 was good with Cronbach's alpha (>0.6), test-retest correlation coefficients (>0.5), but with no significant differences from the paired t-test. From the psychometric validity tests, the 9 scales of the KHP 1.0 were divided into two components; physical and mental, and trimmed to the established model with 55% of the total variance, with the exception of role limitation-emotional. The clinical validity on the basis of the comparison for the four characteristic groups; healthy, physical conditions only, mental conditions only, and physical and mental conditions were also good. Conclusions : The KHP 1.0 appears to be a valid measurement tool of self-perceived health stati of Koreans, although there are limitations, i.e. sample size was too small, a limited number of middle-aged subjects, and it was based on unconfirmed diagnoses, etc. Therefore, further study is required to standardize the assessment.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.369-379
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• 1998

Despite acknowledgment that pain is likely to be a major problem for many older adults, it is difficult to estimate the frequency of pain problems for this population. The main purpose of this study was to identify the various characteristics of chronic pain in the elderly by gender. It examines by gender, pain frequency, pain intensity, number of chronic pain sites, localization of pain, impact on activities, methods of pain management, and effects of chronic pain management. The subjects were 189 elderly people(65 years and older) living in an urban area. They were surveyed at their homes. They were surveyed by interview using a closed-ended questionnaire. The survey was done from Nov. 6th. to Dec. 6th. 1997. Descriptive statistics were used to determine all of the reported pain variables. Chi-square tests were used to determine crude differences between pain intensity and gender. T-test was used to determine differences in number of pain sites between men and women. The findings are as follows ; Of the 189 subjects, 83.6% reported experiencing pain, and men reported a lower prevalence (69.5%) than women(89.2%). Women had significantly more severe pain than did men(p=.001). Lower back pain(20.2%) and leg pain(20.2%) were the most prevalent, followed by knee pain(17.4%), arm pain(13.3%), neck and shoulder pain(11.6%), and headache(9.9%). Women experienced more multiple localizations of pain(p=.0001), the greatest impact was on movement (83.5%) , followed by usual activities(60.8%), sleep(49.4%), visiting(29.1%), and hobbies and recreations(50.0%). No differences were observed between men and women in the proportion of subjects reporting a negative impact on each of these activities. The methods of pain management were hospital visit(70.9%), drug store medication(46.7%), oriental medicine clinic(32.9%), endurance(13.3%), self-management(6.3%). Drug therapy was the most effective pain management strategy(94%), followed by physical therapy(63%) and accupuncture.byssocausis(55%). The conclusion : Pain is a symptom of great clinical importance that is often associated with disability, loss of independence, and reduced quality of life. In this study chronic pain symptoms were common but unevenly distributed in men and women. The results further advance understanding of the experience and impact of pain by gender. Future studies should incorporate questions that gather systemic and more detailed information on the characteristics of pain, especially by gender and by age.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Sensory Integration
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.44-55
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• 2020

Objective : This study used the data of the National Statistical Office to analyze the time use of disabled youth and their self-satisfaction with it by their type of occupation. Methods : Using raw data extracted from Statistics Korea, 84 disabled youth from 10 to 24 years old were re-classified into six occupational areas based on Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF)-3. The occupational types were classified according to the time use by individuals based on data from Statistics Korea. Finally, according to the type of occupation, self-satisfaction with the use of time was identified. Results : The total amount of time spent by disabled youths was the largest in the rest and sleep categories, followed by daily living, education, leisure, social participation, and play. The analysis of occupational types showed that the groups were turned around (10.71% of participants), high activity group (50.00%), low activity (28.57%), and balanced (10.71%). There were significant differences between types in the first five of the aforementioned categories. There was no significant difference in the lack of time use, but there was a significant difference among their satisfaction with their use of time. The balanced type (21.53%) reported the most satisfaction. inadequacy Conclusion : The purpose of the project was to provide the raw data of intervention activities that can improve the quality of life and health of disabled youth. By analyzing their time use and occupations, deficiencies in time management and their satisfaction with their use of time can be noted.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to estimate the ventilation rate of residential homes in Korea through tracer gas methods using indoor and outdoor concentrations of carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) and $CO_2$ generation rates from breathing. Methods: In this study, we calculated the number of occupants in a home by time through data on the average number of people per household from the Korean National Statistical Office and also measured the amount of $CO_2$ generation by breathing to estimate the indoor $CO_2$ generation rate. To estimate the ventilation rate, several factors such as the $CO_2$ generation rate and average volume of residential house provided by the Korean National Statistical Office, indoor $CO_2$ concentrations measured by sensors, and outdoor $CO_2$ concentrations provided by the Korea Meteorological Administration, were applied to a mass balance model for residential indoor environments. Results: The average number of people were 2.53 per household and Koreans spend 61.0% of their day at home. The $CO_2$ generation rate from breathing was $13.9{\pm}5.3L/h$ during sleep and $15.1{\pm}5.7L/h$ in a sedentary state. Indoor and outdoor $CO_2$ concentrations were 849 ppm and 407 ppm, respectively. The ventilation rate in Korean residential houses calculated by the mass balance model were $42.1m^3/h$ and 0.71 air change per hour. Conclusions: The estimated ventilation rate tended to increase with an increase in the number of occupants. Since sensor devices were used to collect data, sustainable data could be collected to estimate the ventilation rate of Korean residential homes, which enables further studies such as on changes in the ventilation rate by season resulting from the activities of occupants. The results of this study could be used as a basis for exposure and risk assessment modeling.