The methodological and statistical validity of 382 original articles published in the Journal of the Korean Medical Association, from January 1980 to December 1989 was reviewed by the author-devised c heck list consisting of 21 items (14 items for methodological validity and 7 items for methodology, and of 297 articles using statistical analyses a total of 290 articles (97.6%) were found to contain at least one error in statistical methods used. The mean and standard deviation of 'validity score of one article', defined as the total number of valid items devided by the total number of applicable items and then multiplied by 100, were 43.8 and 15.2, respectively. The distribution of validity score was as follows ; over 60 (57 articles, 14.9%), 30 to 59 (266 articles, 69.6%), and under 30 (59 articles, 15.5%). The proportion of articles, of which validity score was over 60, was significantly higher in descriptive study (19.4%) than in analytic study (8.4%, p = 0.003). Also the articles of over 60 in validity score were more frequent in survey (15.9%) than in experiment (8.2%), and in cross-sectional study (16.8%) than in longitudinal study (10.6%), but this finding was not statistically significant. The averaged validity score of two year period was highest in 1984-1955 (50.24), and lowest in 1986-1987 (38.85). There was no significant time trend of the averaged validity score over 10 years(p>0.1). These results suggest that medical articles published in Korea, 1980-1989, were short of their expected quality, and there have been no evidence of improvement with time. It is concluded that a basic training in biostatistical methods in the medical postgraduates and residencies, more consultation of medical investigators with statistician or other experts, and careful review by someone knowledgeable in biostatistics or research design before accepting a manuscript are needed. In addition, refutation should be allowed for the controversial point through the journal.
Biostatistics ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Humans ; Internship and Residency ; Korea* ; Longitudinal Studies ; Research Design ; Research Personnel

PURPOSE: This study was done to investigate changes in nursing students' moral judgment throughout their professional education, and to identify more suitable ways to evaluate ethics education by using P (%) scores only and P (%) scores with 4th scores. METHODS: The study consisted of cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys as well as a study using a nonequivalent control group pre-post experimental design. The participants were nursing students attending a university in Gyeongju, Korea. The data were collected from September 1, 2006 to October 31, 2009 using the Korean version of the Defining Issues Test. RESULTS: In the cross-sectional survey, there was no significant difference in the nursing students' moral judgment scores according to their school grades. In the longitudinal survey, nursing students' moral judgment scores did not change significantly over the duration of their education. In the nonequivalent control group study, the effectiveness of nursing ethics education was identified by P (%) scores only. CONCLUSION: The evidence indicates that nursing professional education does not influence the development of nursing students' moral judgment, and using P (%) scores only seems to be a better way compared to other ways to evaluate the effects of nursing ethics education.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Education, Nursing ; Education, Professional ; Ethics, Nursing ; Humans ; Judgment ; Korea ; Longitudinal Studies ; Research Design ; Students, Nursing

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify trends in nursing research on children and adolescents with cancer in Korea and suggest the direction for future research. METHODS: A COSI model was used to guide the search process between the years 1988 and 2014, using the keywords 'cancer', 'malignancy', 'leukemia', 'HSCT', 'BMT', 'children', 'adolescent' and 'nursing'. RESULTS: Of 104 papers, 10 were doctoral dissertations, 34 were master's theses and 60 were from academic journals. Quantitative research accounted for 91.3% while qualitative research accounted for 7.7%. The most frequently used research designs were quasi-experimental (84.6%) for experimental research and surveys (75.6%) for non-experimental research. As survival rates improved, the focus shifted to descriptive studies examining the adjustment of childhood cancer survivors. CONCLUSION: The overall findings of this study suggest that future research should include more well-designed experimental studies and repeated studies to confirm the effect of previous study findings. Longitudinal studies are recommended to determine long-term child adjustment. Supporting systems and funding are required to help activate research of clinical nurses.
Adolescent* ; Child* ; Financial Management ; Humans ; Korea* ; Longitudinal Studies ; Nursing Research* ; Nursing* ; Qualitative Research ; Research Design ; Survival Rate ; Survivors

The purpose of this study is to investigate domestic and international research trends in studies of medical students' characteristics by using the scoping review methods. This study adopted the scoping review to assess papers on the characteristics of medical students. The procedure of research was carried out according to the five steps of the scoping review. The full texts of 100 papers are obtained and are read closely, after which suitable 88 papers are extracted by us for this research. The review is mapped by the year of the study, source, location, author, research design, research subject, objective, and key results. The frequency is analyzed by using Microsoft Excel and SPSS. We found 70 papers (79.5%) on a single medical school, 15 (17.0%) on multiple medical schools, and three (3.4%) on mixed schools, including medical and nonmedical schools. Sixty-nine (79.5%) were cross-sectional studies and 18 (20.5%) were longitudinal studies. Eighty-two papers (93.2%) adopted questionnaire surveys. We summarized research trends of studies on medical students in Korea and overseas by topic, and mapped them into physical health, mental health, psychological characteristics, cognitive characteristics, social characteristics, and career. This study provides insights into the future directions of research for the characteristics of medical students.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Humans ; Korea ; Longitudinal Studies ; Mental Health ; Research Design ; Research Subjects ; Schools, Medical ; Sociological Factors ; Students, Medical

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the long-term results of short implants and assess its clinical importance.

METHODSA total of 77 short implants were consecutively placed in 43 patients from August 1998 to August 2004. The clinical data was reviewed and the crown-implant ratio (C/I) was measured. Twenty-nine short implants in 15 patients were loaded for more than 5 years and the marginal bone height around implant measured. The implant success and survival ratio were evaluzted according to Zarb's successful criteria and Wheeler's survival criteria.

RESULTSThe mean follow-up time was 5.4 years (36 ∼ 99 months). Among these 77 short implants, 74 implants were fixed restoration, which mean C/I was (1.08 ± 0.21), 3 implants were removable restoration. Of 29 short implants which were loaded for more than 5 years, the mesial bone height at the times immediately after inserting implant, before second stage surgery, loading for less than 3 years and loading for more than 5 years was (0.59 ± 0.66), (0.64 ± 0.59), (-0.05 ± 1.11), (-0.37 ± 1.29) mm; and the distal bone height was (0.62 ± 0.77), (0.60 ± 0.86), (-0.26 ± 1.12), (-0.23 ± 1.59) mm. The 5 year's survival rate and success rate were 97% and 93% respectively.

CONCLUSIONSThe success and survival rate of short dental implant under function were comparable to those reported for normal implants. By using the short implant, the patients can avoid the graft operation, alleviate sufferings, shorten the treatment period and reduce the cost. Therefore, it has a high value in clinical application.

Crowns ; Dental Implants ; Dental Prosthesis Design ; Dental Prosthesis, Implant-Supported ; Dental Restoration Failure ; Humans ; Longitudinal Studies ; Mandible ; Retrospective Studies

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective case series PURPOSE: This study aims to present the early clinical and radiological outcomes of anterior longitudinal ligament (ALL) reconstruction following disc arthroplasty. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: Although cervical and lumbar disc arthroplasty have entered the clinical setting, there are still concerns regarding the short and long term complications arising from hypermobility of current prosthesis designs. Reconstruction of the ALL is a potential solution to disc arthroplasty hypermobility. METHODS: ALL reconstruction following disc arthroplasty have been performed by the senior author over a 24 month period. Ligament replacements used include allograft and synthetic, ligament advanced reinforcement system (LARS) ligaments. Methods of fixation used include titanium staples, bone anchors and suture fixation. Radiological follow-up pre- and postoperative Oswestry disability index, Neck Disability Index, Patient Satisfaction index scores were recorded on all patients. RESULTS: A total of 18 ALL reconstructions were performed. There have been no cases of early complications, revision surgery for recurrent symptoms or implant failure. Of the 6 patients receiving a minimum of 15 months follow-up, 4 patients received an allograft, 2 patients received the LARS ligament. Favourable, postoperative clinical and radiographic outcomes have been demonstrated. CONCLUSIONS: ALL reconstruction following cervical and lumbar disc arthroplasty is a promising solution to addressing non-physiological kinematics of current disc arthroplasty devices. Randomized, controlled studies with larger study samples and long-term follow-up are required to establish these conclusions.
Allografts ; Arthroplasty* ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Cervical Vertebrae ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Ligaments ; Longitudinal Ligaments* ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; Neck ; Patient Satisfaction ; Prosthesis Design ; Retrospective Studies ; Spondylosis ; Suture Anchors ; Sutures ; Titanium

By analyzing several aspects of the problem of traditional Chinese medicine injection on basic research, quality standards, production technology and clinical application, put forward content and steps of re-evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine injection.
Biomedical Research ; Drug Evaluation ; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Longitudinal Studies ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; economics ; methods ; Public Sector ; Research Design

The practice of diabetes self-care plays an important role in achieving and maintaining good glycaemic control. However, not all patients with insulin-treated diabetes engage in their self-care activities. There is some evidence that self-care practices in patients with insulin-treated diabetes can be understood and predicted by their health beliefs, although studies are often hampered by methodological weaknesses, and the fact that less is known about adults with insulin-treated diabetes in Malaysia. This study was conducted to examine whether health beliefs (as specified in the Health Belief Model: HBM) can predict self-care practices and glycaemic control in patients with insulin-treated diabetes in Malaysia. Longitudinal design with self-reported questionnaire measures was administered at baseline (Time 1:T1) and six months later (Time 2: T2). Participants were recruited from three endocrinology clinics in Malaysia. The measures included self-care practices (diet, insulin intake, exercise and self-blood glucose monitoring: SMBG), health beliefs and diabetes knowledge. Participants’ glycaemic control was examined based on their glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) results. Data analysis was performed at different points of the study times; T1, T1-T2 and T2. Diabetes knowledge and demographic data were controlled for in predictive statistical analyses. A total of 159 patients with insulin-treated diabetes (aged 18-40 years) completed the measures at T1. Of these, only 108 (67.9%) completed follow-up measures at T2. However, demographic characteristics were not significantly different between those who completed and dropped out of the study (p>0.05). The HBM was significantly predictive of diet self-care at T2, insulin intake practice at T1 and HbA1c at T1-T2 andT2. Of the HBM constructs, perceived benefits significantly predicted good dietary habits at T1 (OR 1.92) and T2 (OR .23) and adherence to insulin injection at T1 (OR 3.17) and T1-T2 (OR 2.68). With the exception of perceived severity, all other HBM constructs significantly predicted HbA1c [perceived susceptibility (β .169) at T1, perceived barriers (β -.206) and perceived benefits (β -.397) at T2 and cues to action (β -.233) at T1-T2]. Health beliefs predict self-care practices and glycaemic control in young to middle-aged adults with insulin-treated diabetes in Malaysia. Diabetes educators could use this knowledge in their efforts to improve diabetes self-care in this patient groupby modifying those beliefs through their diabetes education.
Insulin-treated diabetes ; health beliefs ; Health Belief Model ; longitudinal design ; self-care ; diet ; exercise ; insulin adherence ; self-monitoring blood glucose ; glycaemic control.

The authors hypothesized that the placement of the interspinous implant would show a similar clinical outcome to the posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) in patients having spinal stenosis with mild segmental instability and that this method would be superior to PLIF without significantly affecting degeneration at the adjacent segments. Forty two adult patients having degenerative spinal stenosis with mild segmental instabilit who underwent implantation of Coflex(TM) (Spine motion, Germany) or PLIF at L4-5 between January 2000 and December 2003 were consecutively selected and studied for one-year clinical outcome. At 12 months after surgery, both groups showed a significant improvement in the visual analogue scale score and Oswestry disability index score for both lower extremity pain and low back pain. However, the range of motion at the upper adjacent segments (L3-4) increased significantly after surgery in the PLIF group, which was not manifested in the Coflex(TM) group during the follow-up. The authors assumed that interspinous implantation can be an alternative treatment for the spinal stenosis with segmental instability in selected conditions posing less stress on the superior adjacent level than PLIF.
Treatment Outcome ; Spinal Stenosis/complications/*surgery ; Spinal Fusion/*instrumentation/methods ; Prosthesis Design ; Pain Measurement ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) ; Middle Aged ; Male ; Lumbar Vertebrae/*surgery ; Longitudinal Studies ; Joint Instability/complications/*prevention & control ; Intermittent Claudication/diagnosis/etiology/*prevention & control ; Humans ; Female ; Equipment Failure Analysis ; Back Pain/diagnosis/etiology/*prevention & control ; Aged ; Adult