• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2023

Purpose The concentration of PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) after radical prostatectomy in prostate cancer patients is a predictor of biochemical recurrence, and the AUA (American Urological Association) is defined as biochemical recurrence when the concentration of PSA is measured at 0.2 ng/mL or more, and when the concentration is measured at 0.2 ng/mL or more at the retest. This standard is also applied our hospital. In this laboratory, the PSA reagent using IRMA (Immunoradiometric Assay) is used, and the sensitivity at a very low value was not as good as the reagent used in the department of laboratory medicine. This study aims to increase the reliability of the results by improving the precision and sensitivity of very low values. Materials and Methods As a reagent for the study, PSA reagent using IRMA was used. As a method to improve the precision and sensitivity of very low values, a variation method on the serum volume(25 uL, 50 uL, 100 uL, 200 uL) was studied, and variation usefulness evaluation was conducted. The evaluation items were compared the results of precision, analytical sensitivity, recovery rate, dilution test, high-dose hook effect test, parallel test and very low concentration values(n = 20). Results The validation results were displayed in the order of 25 uL, 50 uL, 100 uL, 200 uL. As the serum volume increased, it was confirmed that CV (Coefficient of Variation)(%) improved. Analytical sensitivity(ng/mL) was 0.038, 0.041, 0.017, 0.015 and recovery rate(%) was 101±3, 101±3, 99±2, 97±4. very low concentration values(ng/mL) between each volume(n=20) were 0.135±0.068, 0.076±0.050, 0.048±0.034, 0.046±0.034. and high dose hook effect appeared as the serum volume increased. Conclusion Through the variation usefulness evaluation, it was confirmed that as the serum volume increased, the precision and sensitivity improved at very low concentration values. However, it is necessary to pay special attention to the occurrence of high-dose hook effect as the serum volume increases. In the case of tests that requires very low concentration values, it is thought that the reliability of the result will be increased if the variation method is properly used after the variation usefulness evaluation.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.233-238
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to investigate the reliability of static balance measurements using a smartphone. Thirty subjects were selected among university students who had no fractures, history of operation, or inflammatory arthritis, and they had not started regular exercise during the past three months. The smartphone used in this study was a Galaxy S5LTE (SM-G900F, Samsung, Korea, 2014), and the application was a Sensor Kinetics Pro (Ver. 2.1.2, INNOVENTIONS Inc., US, 2015). Static balance ability was measured three times at one-day intervals between tests and retests. The first and second measurements used the same process. Analysis was done using the Wilcoxon signed rank test and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC (2,1)). The results were as follows. With eyes opened, there was no significant difference (p>0.05), a high volume of correlation (r>0.75, p<0.05), and very high reliability (ICC>0.80) between the first measurement and second measurement. With eyes closed, there was also no significant difference (p>0.05), a high volume of correlation (r>0.75, p<0.05), and very high reliability (ICC>0.80) between the measurements. The results show that the smartphone is likely accurate for measuring static balance. This study will look forward to being the only basis for measuring future application development and the ability to balance.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.376-380
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is the develop a questionnaire for measuring Yin-Deficiency and examine the reliability and validity for its' value as a barometer for evaluating Yin-Deficiency. Questionnaire was developed according to the symptoms of Yin-Deficiency suggested in the 'Standardization of diagnostic terms and requirements of Korean Medicine', With and as a reference, each symptom has been worked on to be put on the questionnaire. Visual analogue scales(VAS) was used as a barometer for measuring frequency of manifestation of symptoms. A study was performed to measure validity and reliability of the final questionnaire for analysis. reliability of YinDQ was measured by Cronbach's alpha coefficient and test-retest method. This study utilized factor analysis and clinical validity for evaluation of validity. For the purpose of decreasing the amount of data-the number of factors, and at the same time minimize the loss of information factor analysis was performed Component factors were extracted using Principal Component Analysis. This study evaluated the clinical validity for examination of difference between the normal group and the patient group. Evaluation on the's internal consistency showed strong internal consistency with value of 0.8615. reliability from test-rest with three-week interval, followed by comparisons of the correlation coefficient and mean values of each item between the two. The Spearman correlation coefficient was 0.54-0.79. By factor analyse two factors with Eigen value of greater than 2.2 were selected. Factor 1 consists of items of 'irritable fever on the five Hearts', 'flushing of the zygomatic region in the afternoon', 'tidal fever', 'night sweats', and 'dryness on the mouth or the throat'. Factor two consists of items of 'emaciation', 'dizziness', 'insomnia', 'decreased amount of urine with yellowish color', and 'constipation'. The comparison between the patient group and the normal group showed significant differences for every ten questions. The results implies that YinDQ is a barometer with sufficient reliability and validity. The questionnaire for Yin-Deficiency may not be enough to replace the specific differential diagnosis by a doctor of Oriental medicine. Nevertheless, it can be effectively utilized as an assisting method in consultation or a method of measuring the degree of Yin-Deficiency in a group.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.2644-2651
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate difference between grip strength, upper limb dexterity, and hand function according to touch and heat sensory stimulus. Forty healthy men were recruited. After obtaining subjects characteristics, examined grip strength, upper limb dexterity, and hand function, then we made touch sensory input using soft brush and tried the test again. Next day, we made thermal input using hot pack and did retest, too. The result showed significant differences appeared on every variable in grip strength and upper limb dexterity test (p<.001), and significant differences appeared on every variable except lifting small objects in hand function (p<.01). In conclusion, sensory input is to increase grip strength, upper limb dexterity, and hand function. The thermal sensory input has a tendency to increase grip strength, upper limb dexterity, and hand function than that of touch sensory input in effect of stimulus classification. The application of proper stimulus helps to facilitate upper limb and hand function in rehabilitation and in industrial field. So it is necessary to try more tests of frequency and intensity of stimulus.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.21-36
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• 1996

This study was attempted to investigate reliability and validity of premenstrual assessment form(PAF). PAF was administered to 230 high school students who had reported premenstrual changes. PAF revealed considerable diversity in premenstrual symtom changes of the subjects. The items with most frequent reported premenstrual changes were 21 items out of 95. Cronbach's internal consistency was .95, and test-retest reliability was .80. Validity test was performed by constructional validation analysis. 8 factors(impulsive & unstable factor, depressive factor, withdrawal & social functioning impairment factor, anxiety & cognitive dysfunction factor, physiological factor, general discomfort factor, increased well-being factor, other factor) emerged at factor analysis. Each of them accounted for 33.97, 5.10, 3.70, 2.93, 2.64, 2.46, 2.12, 2.03 of total variance respectively. High school students experienced impulsive & unstable features of premenstrual symptoms more frequently. This study suggests PAF can be a reliable and valid tool as a initial screening and evaluation of premenstrual changes. finally, factor analysis result was compared with PAF typological categories.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.628-638
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• 2014

The aim of this study was to explore the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the Recovery Assessment Scale in psychiatric patients. The original RAS was translated into Korean and the content was verified through back-translation procedures. This study included 142 patients who had chronic mental illness and were aged 18 or older. The subjects were assessed by using RAS-K, the 12-item Dispositional Hope Scale(DHS), the 28-item Mental Health Recovery Measure(MHRM), the 32-item Behavior and Symptom Identification Scale (BASIS-32). In the reliability test, Crobach's a coefficient and test-retest reliabilities were 0.92 and 0.79, respectively, indicating that the RAS-K has good internal consistency. In the analysis of the concurrent validity of the RAS-K, there were significant correlations between the RAS-K and DHS(r=.675, p<0.01), and between the RAS-K and MHRM(r=.816, p<0.01), but lower correlations with symptoms and clinician-related measures of psychiatric functioning. Factor analysis resulted in a five factor solution accounting for 62.476% of the common variance. Our study indicates that the RAS-K is an appropriate instrument to assess recovery in Korean psychiatric patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.2731-2737
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• 2013

Background: This study evaluated the validity and reliability of applying the Katz's Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scale in an Iranian sample of elderly oncologic patients following initial cancer treatment. Materials and Methods: The scale was translated with the forward-backward procedure to give an Iranian version. The ADL scale was then applied in a random sample of 400 oncologic patients aged 60 and older following initial cancer treatment. Assessment of the scale stability was twice, with a 14-days (two weeks) interval, to 30 (of the 400) eligible elderly cancer patients in March 2012. To measure treatment effects, the index was run with 150 patients in a three month recall, following oncology processing. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was performed for assessment of construct validity of the Katz's ADL. Reliability was measured with internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha co-efficient), and test/retest (Spearman's r value) of the instrument. Criterion validity was evaluated by comparing the Katz with Physical Function (PF) subscale of SF 36. Known-group validity was approved by comparing of Katz' ADL between quartile groups of PF subscale of SF 36. Results: In our study the ADL demonstrated a high degree of internal homogeneity (Cronbach's alpha 0.923). There was a high correlation between scores of two time measurement of Katz's ADL (p value of two- related- samples test was 0.3). Construct validity showed a correlation coefficient of 0.572 between the ADL and PF scores. In factor analysis, 2 factors were extracted. Evidence for the reliability of the questionnaire was good and known group validity was approved by significant differences of ADL score between quartiles of the PF subscale of SF36. Conclusions: The results suggest that the Iranian version of ADL applied for oncologic older adult patients following initial cancer treatment is a reliable and a valid clinical instrument and comparable to those reported in other studies.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.26 no.1 s.41
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• pp.147-164
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• 1993

A study has been conducted on developing questionnaires to serve as on site diagnostic tools for the early detection of neuropsychiatric impairment among workers chronically exposed to low-level organic solvents. Two drafts of tentative questionnaires have been developed as follows; several question items were selected from questionnaires which were administered to workers exposed to organic solvents in previous studios and were grouped into each symptom category based on the presence of its association using Guttman scaling method, then these selected items were reviewed by neuropsychiatry specialists. The final draft of the questionnaire (total symptom score=36) was developed by selecting 33 question items which had more than a 0.88 Guttman coefficient of reproducibility in each symptom category from a pilot study in which these tentative questionnaires were administered to workers manufacturing soles. Three plants using organic solvents and one plant never using organic solvents as a control group were selected to test the reliability and validity of the developed questionnaires. The major organic solvent in the workplace environment detected by a personal air sampler and GC/MSD nab toluene. The concentration of toluene in air from the department using organic solvent was statistically different from that of the department never using organic solvent. The concentration of toluene from almost all of the workplace did not exceed the allowable level. There was no statistically significant difference between the concentration of urinary hippuric acid from the workers of the department using organic solvent and that of the department never using it. Total symptom score of the plant never using organic solvents was 9.8 and those of the three plants using organic solvents were 15.6, 14.7, and 13,7 respectively. In order to evaluate the validity of the questionnaires, the workers from two different departments of the plant in which usage of organic solvents are totally dofferemt were compared. The total symptom score was 17.8 for workers of the department using organic solvent and 13.5 for the department never using organic solvent and scores of each symptom group between exposure and non-exposure group also showed statistically significant difference. The finding that total symptom score of the exposure group increased as the duration of employment increased indirectly suggests the usefulness of the developed questionnaire to assess the health effects of chronic exposure to organic solvents. The correlation coefficient, which was calculated to evaluate the test-retest reliability, was 0.581 (p=0.001). The coefficient of Crohnbach which reflects the internal consistency of the questionnaire was 0.91. In conclusion, the reliabilty of the questionnaire was well maintained over the time lapse between the two administrations of the questionnaire and despite the seasonal difference.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.24 no.1 s.33
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• pp.93-97
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• 1991

The time honoured tuning fork at present widely available for examining vibration sensation is brought about the problem of great interobserver variation. To resolve t his problem, author developed a divice using electric magnet that stimulates constantly tuning fork. The perception time of vibration from tunung fork by this device was tested on the index finger of dominant hand of twenty eight subjects. It was 12.44 seconds on average and ranged from 9.47 to 17.25. Coefficient of variation of it was 16.89 percent. Correlation coefficient between test and retest after 30 minutes was 0.957(p<0.01). This device is portable. Test procedure in non-invasive, non-aversive and simple, can be performed within one minute, and does not require the skilled technician. It is felt that this device testing vibration perception time is suitable as screening tool for early detection of occupational peripheral neuropathy.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.224-232
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to test the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the fear of daily activities questionnaire (FDAQ) for low back pain patients. Seventy-three subjects with low back pain were participated in this study. The subjects completed ten standardized self-administered questionnaires that measure fear of specific daily activities. The reliability of the acquired data was determined by the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) and the Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ for internal consistency. Constructive validity was analyzed by factor analysis, and concurrent validity was acquired from comparison FDAQ scores to the visual analogue scale (VAS) and Oswestry disability index (ODI) scores. The test-retest reliability of the Korean version of the FDAQ showed good ICC (2,1)= 0.96 (95%CI 0.94.0.98) and Cronbach's alpha value was 0.93. Factor analysis suggested two factors solution consisting of spinal loading and spinal movement/posture, it explained 76.1% of the total variance. The concurrent validity was moderately related with pain and disability. Therefore, the Korean version of the FDAQ is a useful method for measuring the fear of daily activities of patients with low back pain.