No abstract available.
Aged* ; Humans

No abstract available.
Low Back Pain* ; Primary Health Care*

BACKGROUND: A survey is the only direct way of determining the distribution of behavioral risk factors among a population. The department of Family Medicine in Seoul national university hospital adopted telephone interviewing for collecting information about behavioral risk factors of Koreans. Because methodological aspect of telephone survey is different according to the telephone and communication environment of the area in which the survey would be held, we tried to figure out adequate methodological aspects of a telephone survey on the behavioral r isk factor in Korea. METHODS: We sampled telephone numbers from the telephone number database which is supported by Infornet Ltd. with stratified cluster random sampling method and selected respondent by using algorithm of Kish. 13 part-time job interviewers were trained for 6 hours and then interviews were made in a fixed area for the time assigned. RESULTS: 13 interviewers tried to do 1,826 interviews for 4 weeks. Sociodemographic characteristics of respondents were compared with the census estimates and another face to face interview and there were no significant differences. A response rate of 79.8%, refusal rate of 12.9% and interview efficiency of 58.1% were obtained, yielding 1060 completed interview. A total of 28,830 person minutes of interview time were spent on the survey with an average of 27.2 minutes per completed interview. CONCLUSIONS: Sampling method using the telephone number database could be used keeping the representativeness of the samples and telephone survey was considered to be reliable and affordable method for determining the prevalence of behavioral risk factors in Korea.
Censuses ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Disulfiram ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Korea* ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors* ; Seoul ; Telephone*

Intron prediction is an important problem of the constantly updated genome annotation. Using two model plant (rice and Arabidopsis) genomes, we compared two well-known intron prediction tools: the Blast-Like Alignment Tool (BLAT) and Sim4cc. The results showed that each of the tools had its own advantages and disadvantages. BLAT predicted more than 99% introns of whole genomic introns with a small number of false-positive introns. Sim4cc was successful at finding the correct introns with a false-negative rate of 1.02% to 4.85%, and it needed a longer run time than BLAT. Further, we evaluated the intron information of 10 complete plant genomes. As non-coding sequences, intron lengths are not limited by a triplet codon frame; so, intron lengths have three phases: a multiple of three bases (3n), a multiple of three bases plus one (3n + 1), and a multiple of three bases plus two (3n + 2). It was widely accepted that the percentages of the 3n, 3n + 1, and 3n + 2 introns were quite similar in genomes. Our studies showed that 80% (8/10) of species were similar in terms of the number of three phases. The percentages of 3n introns in Ostreococcus lucimarinus was excessive (47.7%), while in Ostreococcus tauri, it was deficient (29.1%). This discrepancy could have been the result of errors in intron prediction. It is suggested that a three-phase evaluation is a fast and effective method of detecting intron annotation problems.
Codon ; Genome ; Genome, Plant ; Humans ; Introns ; Plants ; Triplets

PURPOSE: This study was done to identify the intensive care unit nurses' knowledge of and compliance with the standard precautions (universal precaution) as stated in infection control guidelines. METHOD: From September 14 to September 28, 2006, data were collected via a questionnaire survey from 189 Intensive Care Unit nurses working at three university branch hospitals and one general hospital in Gyeonggi province. RESULTS: The mean knowledge score was 18.8/20.0 (93.9%). The mean compliance score was 3.4/4.0 (85.8%). Two factors influencing compliance were perception of the standard precautions and experience of needle stick injuries over the past year (p<.05). Two factors influencing knowledge were support of co-workers in the use of protective devices and the availability of hand-washing device or waterless alcohol gel (p<.05). CONCLUSION: In order to improve knowledge and compliance with standard precautions, all factors of importance for knowledge and compliance must be taken into consideration in the clinical work place and in education.
Compliance ; Hospitals, General ; Hospitals, Satellite ; Hypogonadism ; Infection Control ; Critical Care ; Intensive Care Units ; Mitochondrial Diseases ; Needlestick Injuries ; Ophthalmoplegia ; Protective Devices ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Universal Precautions ; Workplace

BACKGROUND: Obesity has been generally diagnosed by 'Body Mass Index (BMI)' in primary care. Recently the use of Bioelectrical Impedance Analyzer' has become popular in Korea to evaluate body fat rate (BFR), as cost is inexpensive and the method to use is simple. As a result, the opposed finding of normal BMI and elevated BFR vice versa in same individuals are being encountered frequently. We designed this study to find out the characteristics and cardiovascular risk of people in these groups. METHODS: The medical records of health promotion center were obtained and 22,704 applicants visitor who undeerwent health risk questionnaire, screening tests and physical examination for cardiovascular disease were reviewed. RESULTS: After adjusting for age, sex, exercise and education level, cardiovascular risk such as hypertension, DM, and hypercholesterolemia, LDL tended to increase linearly and HDL tended to decrease linearly with increase of BFR or BMI. In comparison with normal BMI and BFR group, the odds ratios of normal BMI and elevated BFR group or vice versa were increased. CONCLUSION: If either one of BMI or BFR of a person was elevated, even though the other was within normal range, the cardiovascular risk of that person was shown to be high.
Adipose Tissue* ; Body Mass Index* ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Education ; Electric Impedance ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Hypercholesterolemia ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Medical Records ; Obesity ; Odds Ratio ; Physical Examination ; Primary Health Care ; Reference Values ; Risk Factors* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

No abstract available.
Korea*

BACKGROUND: In spite of its high prevalence and social impact, pain in the elderly has not been managed appropriately. Understanding the multidimensional aspect of pain is crucial in its effective management. Patients with chronic pain are known to be more profoundly affected by psychological and social factors. We, therefore, classified chronic pain patients and especially focused on the relationship between pain and stress. METHODS: The subjects were 149 persons older than 60 years attending a certain geriatric college. A survey was peformed employing the Korean version of Geriatric Pain Measure (GPM-K), the Korean Version of Brief Pain Inventory (BPI-K), the Elderly Life Stress Inventory (ELSI), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form-Korea Version (GDSSF-K), and the Revised Chalder's Fatigue Scale (Fatigue). RESULTS: A total of 103 people, who completed both the questionnaires on pain and stress were enrolled. There was a significant correlation between GPM-K and ELSI (ELSI: r=.38, P<0.01). In chronic pain patients, not only ELSI, but also PSS was correlated with GPM-K (ELSI: r=.37, P<0.01, PSS: r=.25, P=0.04). CONCLUSION: There was a significant correlation between GPM-K and ELSI in the elderly. In chronic pain patients, it was more closely associated with GPM-K. We, therefore, believe that stress management can be useful in the management of pain, especially in the management of chronic pain patients.
Aged ; Chronic Pain ; Depression ; Fatigue ; Humans ; Prevalence ; Social Change ; Stress, Psychological ; Surveys and Questionnaires

No Abstract Available.
Depression* ; Primary Health Care*

Osteoporosis is the most common metabolic bone disease that results in an increased risk of fragility fractures. Bisphosphonates are commonly used in the treatment of osteoporosis. Concerns about their association with several possible adverse effects have been raised. Here, we experienced a rare case regarding a 63-year-old female patient who had localized amnesia related to once-monthly oral risedronate. A clear cause-and-effect relationship between the treatment of risedronate and this event has not been established and the mechanism behind the adverse effect is unknown. As clinical uses of bisphosphonates continue to expand, clinicians should be aware of the rare but potential adverse effects associated with bisphosphonates including neuropsychiatric problems.
Aged ; Amnesia ; Bone Diseases, Metabolic ; Diphosphonates ; Etidronic Acid ; Female ; Humans ; Osteoporosis ; Risedronate Sodium