Purpose: Current clinical practices favor less or no thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) suppression for low- to intermediate-risk thyroid cancer patients who receive thyroid lobectomy. The association of TSH suppression on healthrelated quality of life (HR-QoL) in patients after thyroid lobectomy is not well studied. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of TSH suppression on patient HR-QoL after thyroid lobectomy. Methods: This study included patients enrolled in an ongoing, multicenter, randomized controlled study investigating the effects of TSH suppression. Patients were randomized to either the low-TSH group (TSH target range, 0.3–1.99 μIU/ mL) or the high-TSH group (TSH target range, 2.0–7.99 μIU/mL). The HR-QoL, hyperthyroidism symptom, and depression symptom questionnaires performed preoperatively and 2 weeks and 3 months postoperatively were evaluated. Results: Total of 669 patients (low-TSH group, 340; high-TSH group, 329) were included. Although total HR-QoL score changes were not different between the 2 groups, the high-TSH group had a significantly higher score in the physical domain at postoperative 3 months (P = 0.046). The 2 groups did not have significant differences in hyperthyroidism and depression scores. Conclusion In the short-term postoperative period, the physical HR-QoL scores in thyroid lobectomy patients were better when they did not receive TSH suppression. This study suggests the importance of considering HR-QoL when setting TSH suppression targets in thyroid lobectomy patients.

PURPOSE: Most undergraduate students are in the phase of gaining mental and physical autonomy from their parents as they expand their worlds. The ways that sexual ethics are established during this time may have an important influence on healthy lifestyles and the maintenance of social order. This study aims to determine a typology of undergraduate students' sexual ethics and the characteristics that compose the types. METHODS: Q methodology, which analyzes the subjectivity of each type of attitude, was used. The 44 selected Q statements from 43 participants were classified into the shape of a normal distribution using a 9-point scale. The collected data were analyzed using the PC-QUANL program. RESULTS: The results revealed three discrete groups of students with respect to sexual ethics: traditional absolute purity type, open-minded compromise type, and rational responsibility type. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that different approaches to educational programs on sexual ethics are recommended for undergraduate students based on the three types studied.
Attitude to Health ; Consensus ; Female ; Healthy Lifestyle ; Humans ; Male ; Republic of Korea ; Sex Education/statistics & numerical data ; Sexuality/*ethics ; Social Responsibility ; Students/*psychology ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: This exploratory study was done to categorize medical personnel's perceptions of burnout and analyzed the characteristics. METHODS: Q methodology was applied using a 45 Q-sample categorized on an 11-point scale which was completed by nurses and doctors working at a university hospital in Seoul, Korea. Collected data were analyzed using the PC-QUANL program. RESULTS: Medical personnel's perceptions of burnout were categorized into three types; 33.83% of the total variance was explained. The first type was 'functionally deteriorating pressure' the second type was 'daily powerlessness' and the third was 'achievement-oriented re-energization'. CONCLUSION: There is a need to establish and apply intervention strategies for each type to alleviate medical personnel burnout and increase work efficiency to qualitatively improve medical services.
Korea ; Seoul

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of abdominal massage on alleviating pain caused by the injection of recombinant gonadotropin for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) among infertile women. METHODS: This study employed a nonequivalent control group non-synchronized design. A total sample of 149 infertile women who never experienced in vitro fertilization was recruited at C fertility center. Seventy women were assigned into experimental group and 79 into controls. The experimental group had been informed to do abdominal massage prior to the injection and to record their subjective pain using visual analogue scale. The control group had been informed to record their subjective pain in the same way just after the injection. RESULTS: Compared to the pre-tested pain scores, the pain scores in experimental group were significantly reduced by 0.7 points, whereas the control group increased by 0.9 points (t=-4.55, p=.001). CONCLUSION: This study confirms that the use of abdominal massage prior to the injection is an effective way to alleviate pain on injection site. This massage may be a useful intervention for infertile women about pain alleviation.
Female ; Fertility ; Fertilization in Vitro* ; Gonadotropins ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques* ; Massage*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop a measurement tool of nurse's turnover intention. METHODS: Data were collected from questionnaires completed by 678 nurses who worked in 3 university hospitals in South Korea and analyzed using the SPSS 18.0 and AMOS 18 programs. Thirty-seven preliminary items were selected from 161 basic items extracted via a literature review and in depth interviews with 6 hospital nurses. Three steps with factor analysis were undertaken to verify the reliability and validity of the preliminary instruments. Finally, confirmative factor analysis was carried out. RESULTS: As a result of the analysis, 3 factors including 10 items were selected. Cronbach's Alpha for the 10 items was .83, for job satisfaction (4 items), .78, for interpersonal relationships (3 items), .80, and for work performance (3 items), .74, which was stable. CONCLUSION: This study is meaningful because through it a scale reflecting Korean culture was developed to measure turnover intention in nurses. Further studies that test the psychometrics of this scale in more diverse samples are warranted.
Adult ; Female ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Interpersonal Relations ; Interviews as Topic ; Job Satisfaction ; Male ; Nursing Staff, Hospital/*psychology ; *Personnel Turnover ; Questionnaires ; Task Performance and Analysis

PURPOSE: This study was done to identify the awareness of gender equality among nursing college students, and to provide basic data for educational solutions and desirable directions. METHODS: A Q-methodology which provides a method of analyzing the subjectivity of each item was used. 34 selected Q-statements from each of 20 women nursing college students were classified into a shape of normal distribution using 9-point scale. Subjectivity on the equality among genders was analyzed by the pc-QUANL program. RESULTS: Four types of awareness of gender equality in nursing college students were identified. The name for type I was 'pursuit of androgyny', for type II, 'difference-recognition', for type III, 'human-relationship emphasis', and for type IV, 'social-system emphasis'. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that different approaches to educational programs on gender equality are recommended for nursing college students based on the four types of gender equality awareness.
Female ; *Gender Identity ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Q-Sort ; Questionnaires ; Students, Nursing/*psychology ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The Compliance Questionnaire-Rheumatology (CQR) is a validated scale to evaluate patient compliance for anti-rheumatic medications. We developed a Korean version of the CQR (KCQR) and confirmed its reliability and validity. METHODS: We prepared the KCQR by translating and back-translating the original CQR with modifications to adapt it to Korean culture. Fifty Korean patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were enrolled in this study. The test-retest reliability of the KCQR was evaluated at a 2-week interval using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The validity of the KCQR was assessed by identifying associations between KCQR scores and patient compliance, measured using pharmacy refill data. RESULTS: The reliability of the KCQR was adequate, with an ICC of 0.71 for test-retest reliability. With respect to validity, the summed score of the weighted KCQR showed a significant correlation with pharmacy refill data (r2 = 0.57) on multiple regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the KCQR is a reliable, valid instrument to evaluate compliance of Korean patients for RA medications.
Adaptation, Psychological ; Adult ; Aged ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/*drug therapy ; Cross-Cultural Comparison ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; *Medication Adherence ; Middle Aged ; *Questionnaires ; Reproducibility of Results ; Validation Studies as Topic

PURPOSE: This study was done to examine the effects of mood state, resourcefulness, and health perception on health promoting behavior of hospital nurses. METHODS: Convenience sampling was conducted for nurses working at three University hospital and 336 nurses were selected. Data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0. RESULTS: The results of the analysis showed that the score for nurses' mood state was 41.76+/-18.90; for resourcefulness, 11.30+/-20.63; for health perception, 3.32+/-.77, and for health promoting behavior, 111.55+/-17.76. Mood state, resourcefulness, and health perception were significantly correlated with health promoting behavior. The overall explanatory power of the effects of nurses' mood state, resourcefulness, and health perception on health promoting behavior was 27.8%. CONCLUSION: Study results indicate that better mood state, higher resourcefulness, and higher health perception result in more health promoting behavior.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Korean Version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version IV(DISC-IV), a highly structured diagnostic interview used to assess more than 30 psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents. METHODS: A total of 91 study subjects, including 67 subjects who visited the child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinic at our institution and 24 community-based subjects, were assessed using the Korean Version of the DISCIV. Clinical diagnosis was used as a gold standard for the examination of the validity of the DISC-IV. Forty-four of the study subjects were randomly selected for test-retest reliability measurement. RESULTS: The validity of the Korean Version of the DISC-IV showed kappa values ranging from 0.25 to 0.40 in the clinical sample and 0.65 to 1.00 in the community sample. The sensitivities varied according to the diagnostic categories, but the specificities were excellent for all diagnostic entities. CONCLUSION: The Korean Version of the DISC-IV showed good reliability and validity in Korean children and adolescents. The Korean Version of the DISC-IV might be a useful tool for assessing psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents.
Adolescent ; Adolescent Psychiatry ; Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Appointments and Schedules* ; Child* ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Reproducibility of Results*

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of fentanyl-TTS in the management of radiotherapy induced acute pain and cancer pain treated with radiotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our study was open labelled prospective phase IV multi-center study. the study population included patients with more 4 numeric rating scale(NRS) score pain although managed with other analgesics or more than 6 NRS score pain without analgesics. Patients divided into two groups; patients with radiotherapy induced pain (Group A) and patients with cancer pain treated with radiotherapy (Group B). All patients received 25 ug/hr of fentanyl transdermal patch. Primary end point was pain relief; second end points were change in patient quality of life, a degree of satisfaction for patients and clinician, side effects. RESULTS: Between March 2005 and June 2005, 312 patients from 26 participating institutes were registered, but 249 patients completed this study. Total number of patients in each group was 185 in Group A, 64 in Group B. Mean age was 60 years and male to female ratio was 76:24. Severe pain NRS score at 2 weeks after the application of fentanyl was decreased from 7.03 to 4.01, p=0.003. There was a significant improvement in insomnia, social functioning, and quality of life. A degree of satisfaction for patients and clinician was very high. The most common reasons of patients' satisfactions was good pain control. Ninety six patients reported side effect. Nausea was the most common side effect. There was no serious side effect. CONCLUSION: Fentanyl-TTS was effective in both relieving pain with good tolerability and improving the quality of life for patients with radiotherapy induced acute pain and cancer pain treated with radiotherapy. The satisfaction of the patients and doctors was good. There was no major side effect.
Academies and Institutes ; Acute Pain ; Analgesics ; Female ; Fentanyl* ; Humans ; Male ; Nausea ; Prospective Studies ; Quality of Life ; Radiotherapy* ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; Transdermal Patch*