• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.304-317
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• 2014

Objectives The purpose of this study was to find out whether there were differences of urticaria's disease aspect between patients classified into Sasang Constitution Types(SCTs) and whether those differences could be associated with Ordinary symptoms. Methods Medical records and questionnaires about 117 patients who visited one Korean medicine hospital due to urticaria were collated and statistically analyzed. Results 1) Ages 20 to 30, women, Soeumin(SE) and patients in conditions of chronic urticaria over 6 weeks were the majority among 117 patients in this study. Food and stress were most chosen as the main cause of urticaria. 2) Soyangin(SY) showed more severe symptoms of urticaria than other SCTs. In particular, the severity of pruritus, distribution of lesions and vulnerability to stress was statistically significant compared to other SCTs(p<0.05). SE expressed urticaria's symptoms at the medium-level of SY's and Taeeumin(TE)'s. TE exhibited relatively weak symptoms but TE only had slightly higher number of patients with angioedema compared to other SCTs. Taeyangin(TY) was only one case so more researches are needed. 3) In dispositional symptoms, SY had low quality of sleep and defecation. SE could not digest oily food well, felt dizzy and cold well, and had cold hands and feet. TE could eat and sweat much and tended to snore well. Conclusions In this study, urticaria had common cause of both stress and food in all SCTs but onset and severity of symptoms were different between SCTs. It could interpreted that these differences between SCTs were associated with ordinary symptoms native to each SCT.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.299-315
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• 1993

Koreans are one of the fastest growing immigrant groups in America. Stress responses and stressors among this large cultural minority has been rarely been studied by nursing researchers. Adjusting to life in foreign country produces a great deal of stress. Differences in culture, language, expectations and social behavior can lead to misunderstandings between health care providers and clients. These misunderstandings are not well accounted for in health assessment. This study investigated the relationship between life events or / and daily activities as a stressor and the symptoms of stress among a sample of Korean immigrants in America. The symptoms of stress scale (SOS) was used to identify stress responses and open-ended questions were used to identify life events and daily activities considered by the respondents to be stressful. A simple random sample of 283 subjects was selected from the Directory of the Korean Society of Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Seattle. Demographically, the subjects ranged in age from 20 to 69 years, and the percentage of women and men was approximately 50% each. Almost ninety percent of the subjects were highly educated, 17% owners of business, 19% white collar professionals, 14% employed in sales or as skilled /unskilled labor, 27% as housewives and students and 3％ had no occupation. The total group SOS mean was 0.8042 ; the SOS men for man was 0.7371, and for women was 0.8713. The stress response of this subject group was high, -the stress response of women higher than that for men. In an earlier study(June, 1992) with another sample, the total mean SOS score was similar to this one. The main stressful life events or / and daily activities were, in order, economic problems (N=97), interpersonal problems (N=68), children care problems (N=258), health problems (N=49), communication problems (N=42), family problems (N=38), worry about future career (N=36), and religious problems (N=25). There was a significant difference in the SOS means between the group that expressed life events or / and daily activities to be stressful and the group that did not. Interpersonal relationships and economic and family problems were stressors for those who complained about peripheral manifestations. cardiopulmonary symptoms, central-neurological symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, muscle ten-sion, habitual patterns, depression, anxiety, emotional irritability and cognitive disorganization. In summary, interpersonal relationships and economic and family problems influenced stress response manifestations. Income, the number of people in the family, the year of immigration. the level of education, and marital status were related to physiological and psychosocial stress responses.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.109-121
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• 2000

Increasingly nursing science is embracing the concepts and methodology derived from psycho-neuroimmunology. It has been previously shown that stress increases and immune function declines in students undergoing examinations. To date, however, no many studies have been reported on stress levels, immune function and interventions in Korean students undergoing their first clinical nursing rotation. It was proposed that nursing students during their first clinical rotation experience increase in stress because of the novelty of the situation and their lack of clinical knowledge. It was also hypothesized that biofeedback and progressive relaxation, methods of self-regulation of involuntary autonomic nervous system responses, would reduce the stress response. The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of progressive muscle laxation using biofeedback The effectiveness of the experimental methods was tested by measuring the degree of symptoms of stress (SOS) and the values of ephinephrine, pulse rate, blood pressure and natural killer cells. The subjects of this study were thirty nursing students divided into two groups: experimental group was progressive muscle relaxation group using biofeedback and control group. This study was conducted for 8 weeks of clinical practice. Biofeedback training was done by software developed by J&J company (1-410 form for progressive muscle training). Progressive muscle relaxation training according to Jacobson's Theory was done by messaged word from biofeedback. The data was analyzed using Chronbach' ${\alpha}$ and t-test of the SPSS program and the significance level of statistics was 5%. The results of the study were : 1) The progressive muscle relaxation training using biofeedback was effective for the reduction of symptoms of stress(t=-4.248, p<.001) under clinical practice stress conditions. 2) The progressive muscle relaxation training using biofeedback was not effective for the values of epinephrine(t=-1.294, p=.206). 3) The progressive muscle relaxation training using biofeedback was effective for the reduction of systolic blood pressure (t=-2.757, p=.01). 4) The progressive muscle relaxation training using biofeedback was effective for the reduction of diastolic blood pressure (p=-2.032, 0=.05). 5) The progressive muscle relaxation training using biofeedback was not effective for the reduction of pulse rate(t=-15, p=.988). 6) The progressive muscle relaxation training using biofeedback was effective for the maintenance of natural killer cells (t=2.381, p=02). The first clinical rotation for student nurses is a stressful experience as seen by the rise in the SOS in the control group. Biofeedback using progressive muscle relaxation were effective in preventing the rise of symptoms of stress and the blood pressure means when comparing the pre to post clinical experience, The mean natural killer cell count was depressed in the control group but not significantly different in the experimental groups, It is proposed here that stress via the hypothalamic - pituitary - adrenal axis suppressed the NK cell count whereas the relaxation methods prevented the rise in stress and the resulting immune depression. We recommend relaxation techniques using biofeedback as a health promotion technique to reduce psychological stress. In summary. the progressive muscle relaxation training using biofeedback was effective for the reduction of symptoms of stress under clinical practice stress conditions.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.15-31
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• 2000

The aim was to evaluate the prevailing ergonomic and psychosocial conditions regarding low back injury in an automobile assembly system. This study consisted of two parts. In the first part of the study, analytic biomechanical model and NIOSH guidelines were applied to evaluate risk levels of low back injury for automobile assembly jobs. Total of 246 workers were analysed. There were 20 jobs having greater back compressive forces than 300kg at L5/S1. Also, there were 44 jobs over Action Limit with respect to 1981 NIOSH guidelines. This might in part be explained by the ergonomic conditions of the company analysed generally being good, with a relatively low duration of 'combined' extreme work posture. The relationship between psychosocial factors and low back injury was examined in the second part of the study. It has recently been recognized that overall reaction to working conditions was influenced by a range of factors, some of which were physical and some psychosocial. The psychosocial environment surrounding the work place may contribute to the perception of risk and eventual ill-health. A battery of questionnaires concerning the psychosocial stress based on PWI(Psychosocial Well-being Index) and musculoskeletal pain symptoms at low back was completed by 246 workers at the same plant. Results showed that 207 out 246 workers experienced the symptoms and 27 workers were diagnosed as patients. Two groups(low stressed, high stressed) based on PWI score had no significant relationships with both symptoms and results of diagnosis. However, sensitivities for symptoms and diagnosis by PWI were 91.3% and 92.6% respectively. Finally, relationships between physical work load and psychosocial stress were analysed. Specifically, some postural factors {vertical deviation angle of forearm, horizontal deviation angle of upperarm, vertical deviation angle of thigh, etc) were highly correlated with psychosocial stress. The results illustrated that PWI scores were associated with some physical workloads. However, psychosocial stress levels couldn't be well related with the pain symptom as well as the actual incidence of low back injury since pain or discomfort regarding low back injury were more complex than that of other musculoskeletal disorders.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.6782-6792
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• 2014

This study examined the effects of the symptoms of musculoskeletal disorder and the burden of the body on work stress in a university hospital workers. The research surveyed 679 subjects. The relevant factors affecting the job stress were found to be female, young people age group, unmarried, shift work, work more than 8 hours, short experience workers. The work stress was significantly higher in the non-smoker (p=0.000), regular exercise/sports(p=0.022) and non-drinking(p=0.038) groups. In addition, the mental fatigue, presence of musculoskeletal symptoms, fatigue level, and marital status increase the risk of the work stress. The results showed that the burden of the body and musculoskeletal disorders are related interactively with each other.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.140-150
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• 2020

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of job stress on oral subjective symptoms observed in office workers. A survey of office workers in the Gyeonggi-do area was conducted and data collected was analyzed using SPSS 21.0 program. The results showed that among the sub-scales of job stress, job insecurity, job demand, and positive organizational system had significant effects on dysmasesis (p<.01), gum bleeding and gum disease (p<.01), and halitosis (p<.05) as well as gum disease (p<.01), respectively. Therefore, it is considered that making an effective job stress management plan and predicting related oral subjective symptoms in office workers will help improve the oral health management of office workers and adult oral health management in general.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.137-152
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• 2021

Background and objective: This study was carried out to investigate and analyze the preference for plant fragrance and the psychological effects of a agro-healing activity in 101 firefighters aged 39.71 ± 10.94. Methods: For the psychological evaluation, post-traumatic stress symptoms, Korean occupational stress scale short form (KOSS-SF), emotional intelligence, and job satisfaction were surveyed on the Likert scale. For the preference for plant fragrances, 20 ㎕ of commercially available essential oils from four plant species (Mentha spp., Lavandula spp., Citrus limon, C. sinensis) were absorbed into each test paper and provided to the participants. Results: The rate of post-traumatic stress symptoms was high at 37.6% of the firefighters surveyed.. C. limon fragrance had the highest preference among the four plant fragrances, followed by C. sinensis > Mentha spp. > Lavandula spp. with statistically significant difference (F = 14.256, p < .001). The lower their age, income, and position, and higher the education level, the higher the preference for plant fragrances. And the administrative group had higher preference for plant fragrances than field group. In addition, as a result of examining the correlation between job satisfaction, preference for plant fragrance, post-traumatic stress, emotional intelligence, and job stress for fire-fighters, the higher the job satisfaction, the higher the fragrance preference and emotional intelligence, and the lower the post-traumatic stress and job stress. Conclusion: Therefore, installing a garden using botanical fragrances at workplaces that firefighters can easily access will improve job satisfaction and relieve stress. It can be concluded that applying the fragrance of plants to the healing farming activities at the fire-fighter's workplace can increase the usefulness of the healing activities.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.10-18
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• 2017

Purpose: This study identified the prevalence of depressive symptoms and explored correlates of depressive symptoms among Korean women care-workers caring older adults living in community. Methods: A total of 465 participants were recruited for the study. Depressive symptoms was measured by the CES-D10 and distress was assessed using a single question given 5 Likert scale. Results: The prevalence of depressive symptoms and distress among care-workers were 32.5% and 32.0% respectively. Work environment safety, violence exposure experience, work-family conflict, weekly care work time, and poor health status were significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Only violence exposure experience and poor health status were associated with distress. Conclusion: Our findings suggest more attention on mental health of care-workers and their risky work condition such as violence.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.118-129
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• 2019

Firefighters are high-risk group for posttraumatic stress disorder because they are repeatedly exposed to traumatic events. In this study, we examined the effects of a short-term, intensive, Mind subtraction meditation-based healing program on the ruminations and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms of firefighters. In 2019, we used a survey questionnaire to assess the intrusive ruminations of 80 firefighters at a firefighting headquarters before and after implementing the Mind subtraction meditation-based healing program and personal journals over a period of two nights and three days. The results showed that there was a significant decrease in posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, from 32.40 (± 14.67) to 30.31 (± 13.76) among the male subjects, and a significant decrease in posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, from 32.03 (± 13.31) to 27.33 (± 10.68) and intrusive ruminations, from 5.21 (± 7.32) to 3.41 (± 6.30), among the female subjects. In conclusion, the Mind subtraction meditation-based healing program was effective in reducing the posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and intrusive ruminations of firefighters. Therefore, the Mind subtraction meditation-based healing program could be proposed as a mental health promotion program for firefighters.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.2828-2838
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to measure the level of psychosocial stress, anxiety and depression symptoms among college students, and to reveal its related factors. The survey was filled out by 551 students from Daejon City from April 1, 2012 to July 30, 2012. The independent variables of the questionnaire were socio-demographic characteristics, family life, school life, and other variables health related while the dependent variables were psychosocial stress, anxiety and depression symptoms. As a results, 22.7% of the study subjects were in the high-risk stress group, 15.6% of study subject were in the anxiety disorder group, and 22.1% were in the mild to moderate depression group. In addition, its related factors were influenced by a variety of factors such as gender, family income, satisfaction of family life, grades, social life, satisfaction of school life, subjective sleep quality, subjective health status. Psychosocial stress was significantly influenced by socio-demographic characteristics and family life variables, while anxiety and depression symptoms were influenced more so by psychosocial stress. In order to lower the level of psychosocial stress, anxiety and depression symptoms of college students, the development of programs that monitor the psychosocial stress, socio-demographic characteristics, family life variables, and school variables is imperative.