• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.549-555
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• 2013

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of drilling on the ceiling in three different postures (standing, standing on the ladder and supine on the height adjusted board) and the subjective responses of perceived discomfort after the drilling. Background: Overhead work has been identified as a major occupational risk factor and has been a main research subject. Method: Ten young participants drilled 20 holes at the pre-marked places on the ceiling in three different postures. The drilling duration, resting and drilling heart rate were measured. The levels of perceived discomfort at neck, shoulder, elbow, hand and overall body were asked at the end of each task. Results: The working posture affected the heart rate after the drilling. Perceived discomfort in the neck decreased significantly in supine compared to drilling on the ladder. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that drilling in supine can be an alternative way to reduce the drilling heart rate and the level of perceived discomfort in the neck without sacrificing the productivity. Application: The results of this study would be considered when drilling on the ceiling is required in construction workers.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.237-245
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• 2002

Purpose: This study was to examine the changes in cold discomfort according to the type of blanket used after surgery. Methods : Women scheduled for Cesarean Section were divided into two groups. After the surgery, 30 patients were covered with a warming blanket which was set at $40^{\circ}C$ by the warmer and the other 30 patients were covered with an ordinary blanket. Both group's cold discomfort was measured at 5 time points using a mercury thermometer, shivering scale. and subjective thermal sensation scale. Data were analyzed by using mean scores with t-test, paired t-test using the SPSS/WIN program. Result: At 30 min after being covered with the blanket, the axillary temperature had returned to the pre-operation temperature in both groups. At 45 min after being covered with the blanket, the women in the warming blanket group had no further shivering but for those in the ordinary blanket group shivering continued. At 45 min after being covered with the blanket, the women in the warming blanket group had returned to the condition before surgery, but those in the ordinary blanket group continued to complain of cold sensation. Conclusion: This study suggests that use of a warming blanket helps to relieve cold discomfort following surgery. This study is also expected to enhance understanding of the Importance of subjective data by exploring the difference between subjective complaints and objective data about cold discomfort.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.362-372
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• 2016

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate whether job satisfaction in clinical nurses was dependent on work intensity and whether physical discomfort mediated the relationships between these variables. Methods: Structural equation modeling was used with a sample of 253 clinical nurses from four general hospitals. In the model, absolute work intensity, relative work intensity, and flexibility were considered as exogenous variables and physical discomfort as a mediating variable. Data were collected using self-report measures such as the Labor Intensity Questionnaire, the Rating of Perceived Exertion, and the Index of Job Satisfaction. Results: The results of the structural equation modeling found that the higher scores on absolute and relative work intensity were positively associated with physical discomfort but only relative work intensity was significantly related to job satisfaction. Physical discomfort mediated the relationships between absolute work intensity and job satisfaction and between relative work intensity and job satisfaction. Among three kinds of work intensity, only relative work intensity had direct and indirect effects on job satisfaction. Conclusion: The findings suggest that increase in relative work intensity might play an important role in decreasing job satisfaction in clinical nurses and a reasonable reward system considering relative work intensity could be necessary.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.209-217
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• 2005

Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate the effects of foot reflexzone massage on state - anxiety and discomfort of ovarian cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Method: A quasi experimental design with a non equivalent control group and non synchronized design was used. The experiment was conducted from October 1, 2003 to September 30, 2004. The subjects consisted of 40 patients admitted to C University Hospital. Twenty subjects were assigned to the experimental group and received foot reflexzone massage everyday for 3 days. The other 20 subjects were in the control group and received routine care. Foot reflexzone massage was done on both feet of the subjects for 30 minutes for 3 days using standard protocol. The 'State-Anxiety Inventory' developed by Spielberger was used to measure the degree of state-anxiety. Discomfort was assessed using the 'Symptom Distress Scale' of McCorkle and Young. Data was analyzed by a SAS program using t-test, Wilcoxon signed rank sum test and Wilcoxon rank sum test. Results: State-anxiety and discomfort of subjects receiving foot reflexzone massage were significantly lower than those of the control group. Conclusion: These findings indicate that foot reflexzone massage could be an effective nursing intervention for relieving state-anxiety and discomfort in ovarian cancer patients.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.535-541
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• 2012

The three-down one-up method which is commonly used in the field of psychophysics is employed in this study that is to reveal how much magnitude of vibration makes discomfort in passenger vehicle on idle condition. Thirteen taxi drivers were invited for subject of the experiment where they evaluated the controlled vibrations on rigid seat in terms of idle vibration on passenger vehicle at frequency range from 15 Hz to 40 Hz. As the result, vibration of 100~105 dB is marginal range to make discomfort on passenger seat. Frequency dependency of the discomfort was found at the frequency range, which is the higher frequency the lower discomfort with the same magnitude of vibration. The frequency dependency found here was compared with ISO 2631-1 that is more sensitive at the frequency range.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.391-397
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• 2018

Objectives : This case describes the effectiveness on Fidget accompanied with chest discomfort, Nausea, Sleep discomfort by using Cheongnijagam-tang gagam Methods : For relieving symptoms, Korean medical treatments, including herbal medicine, acupuncture and moxibustion, were performed. To evaluate the effects of the treatments, visual analog scale (VAS) was used. Results : After treatments for 5weeks, the clinical symptoms of the patient were improved. Conclusions : This report suggests that herbal medicine is effective for Fidget accompanied with chest discomfort, Nausea, Sleep discomfort.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.4053-4056
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• 2013

Background: Colposcopy is the gold standard procedure for evaluating cervical cytological abnormalities. Although it is essentially a minimally invasive intervention, referral for colposcopy may cause significant distress on patients. In this study, we aimed to determine if pre-procedural anxiety levels have a significant association with procedure related pain and discomfort in women undergoing colposcopy for evaluation of abnormal cervical cytology. We also assessed the impact of various clinical factors on anxiety, pain and discomfort in these patients. Materials and Methods: This prospective study was performed at the gynecologic oncology department of Zekai Tahir Burak Women's Health Education and Research Hospital in Ankara, Turkey between January and June 2013. After taking informed consent, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) form and a 14-item questionnaire were filled for women who were admitted to our outpatient colposcopy unit for evaluation of abnormal cervical cytology. STAI scores were calculated for each participant. Immediately after the procedure, visual analog scale (VAS) scores for procedure-related pain and discomfort were obtained. Associations between STAI and VAS scores were investigated using correlation analyses. The effect of various contributing factors on anxiety, pain and discomfort were evaluated with linear regression analysis. The p values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 222 women met the inclusion criteria within the study period. Mean patient age was $38.5{\pm}9.6$. Median state and trait anxiety scores were 47 and 46, respectively. Median VAS scores for pain and discomfort were 4 for both variables. State anxiety had a significant correlation with procedure related discomfort (p=0.02). Colposcopy related pain VAS scores were significantly affected by state anxiety level, marital status and prior gynecological examination (p<0.05). Colposcopy related discomfort VAS scores were significantly affected by state anxiety level, marital status, prior gynecological examination and educational status. Conclusions: Additional measures should be implemented in women that carry higher risk for experiencing pain and discomfort. Social, cultural and lifestyle issues may also affect women's experiences during colposcopy, therefore further studies are needed to define specific determining factors in various populations.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.565-575
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• 2014

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of weight of load and time on the physical workload of repetitive upper-limb tasks with handling light weight loads using EMG and perceived discomfort, and to investigate the relationship between EMG and perceived discomfort for those repetitive tasks of moving light weight loads. Background: Repetitive upper-limb motion is known as one of the main risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders, and a lot of repetitive tasks are carried out while handling light weight loads in the industry. In evaluating the workload of repetitive tasks handling light weight loads, EMG and perceived discomfort can be used, though their relationship in those work conditions are not much investigated. Method: A laboratory experiment with 18 healthy males were conducted to record EMG signals from 5 muscle sites of the right arm and shoulder and rate perceived discomforts for the body parts and the whole body while carrying out repetitive materials-handling tasks for 52min. The subjects were divided into 3 groups which handled the loads of 1kg, 2kg and 3kg, respectively. ANOVAs were conducted to analyze the effects of the weight and time on RMS of EMG amplitude (normalized RMS: NRMS), median frequency of power spectrum of EMG (normalized MDF: NMDF) and perceived discomfort. The correlations between NRMS and NMDF and perceived discomfort were also analyzed. Results: Statistically significant muscular fatigue effects were not found from NRMS and NMDF in most muscles, while there were significant increases of discomfort as the task time elapsed. It was shown that there were an increasing trend of the muscular activity as the weight of load increased and a decreasing trend of median frequency of EMG of upper and lower arms as time elapsed. It was found that there were significant negative correlations between NMDFs from the lower arm and discomfort ratings, though the relationships were weak. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the working conditions adopted in this study were not enough to induce muscular fatigue, while there was significant increase in perceived discomfort. A further study is necessary to integrate the objective and subjective measures for more reliable and sensitive evaluation of workload of repetitive tasks of handling light weight loads. Application: This study can be used as a basic study for the evaluation of workload of repetitive tasks handling light weight loads.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.24-32
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• 2008

The ultimate purpose of the study is to develop a discomfort glare forecasting formula that can be practically used in Korea in order to effectively forecast discomfort glare considering the optical characteristics of the Koreans. The study was to examine the relations between discomfort glare and the variables such as luminance, background luminance, solid angle, luminous area and louver. To this end, experiments were conducted in a mock-up office that emulates the lighting environment of an ordinary office. The study was conducted by four steps as follow. First, previous studies on discomfort glare rating to define and rate discomfort glare were analyzed and modified to be applied to the experiments of this study. Second, experiment variables, variable scope, evaluation objects and evaluation points were determined after review on existing discomfort glare evaluation experimental formulas. Third, experiments were conducted in a mock-up office to be able to control variables. Finally, sensitivity of experiment variables were analyzed through examination of the relation between discomfort glare and the variables such as luminance, solid angle, louver, luminous area and subject's position. The result showed that the most influential variables on discomfort glare of an artificial light source is luminance and louver, luminous area and subject's position(solid angle) followed.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.95-102
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• 2009

Ten young females were participated in this study to investigate the effects of types of shoes (sneakers, high heels, kill heels), types of tasks (standing, walking floor, step up and down), and areas of foot (fore foot, middle foot, rear foot) on foot pressures as well as subjective discomfort ratings. Results showed that kill heels had the most discomfort shoes, followed by high heels and sneakers. Generally, as the heel was higher, the discomfort of foot increased. For the analyses of task types, generally discomfort ratings were highest for the step down and up, followed by walking floor and standing. Especially discomfort ratings of high heels and kill heels were more evident in case of step up and step down than standing and walking floor. Standing task was rated as the lowest levels of discomfort on users' foot. Peak and mean foot pressures were also evaluated in this study. The findings represented that there was no significant differences between types of shoes in both peak and mean foot pressures. The peak pressure (82.14kPa) and mean pressure (40.32kPa) for standing task were significantly lower than those of other tasks [walking floor (190.55kPa, 55.46kPa), step up (191.43kPa, 53.80kPa), and step down (200.66kPa, 52.62kPa)]. Generally discomfort ratings and peak/mean pressures associated with foot showed that fore foot had higher discomfort ratings as well as peak and mean pressures than middle and rear foots. In particularly, this trend was more obvious in case of high heels and kill heels. For the high heels and kill heels, the peak pressures of fore foot were 4.5~4.8 times and 2.3~2.5 times greater than that of middle foot and rear foot, respectively, whereas the peak pressures of fore foot were 2.9 times and 1.7 times greater than that of middle and rear foots, respectively, in case of sneakers.