OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of cold spray (Ethyl chloride) on reducing pain during needle electromyography (EMG). METHOD: Seventy-six adults, who had experienced needle electromyographic examination, were studied. They were randomly assigned to either experimental or control group. In experimental group, cold spray was applied to needling point of examining muscles before each needle examination. In control group, needle examination was performed without pre-treatment. The intensity of pain was assessed by the Visual analogue scale (VAS) and Verbal rating scale (VRS). Denial to re-examination was evaluated after EMG study. RESULTS: The VAS, VRS and denial to re-examination were significantly lower in experimental group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The application of cold spray before needle examination decreased the intensity of pain and denial to re-examination.
Adult ; Denial (Psychology) ; Electromyography* ; Humans ; Muscles ; Needles*

OBJECTIVES: To study the mechanism of alcohol craving is difficult because it involves both cognitive and emotional processes, which are discordamtly influenced by patients' avoidance and denial. The objective of this study is to examine the mechanism of craving by evaluating responses of emotional component of alcohol-related stimuli, explicitly and implicitly. METHODS: The subject group was composed of 19 patients with alcohol dependence, 25 heavy drinkers, and 20 social drinkers. An implicit association test (IAT) measuring differential association of 2 target concepts (alcohol versus beverage) with 2 attribute dimensions (positive versus negative) was completed. Explicit evaluation of emotional valence and arousal for alcohol-related and control stimuli was also completed. RESULTS: The patient group reported alcohol-related stimuli more negatively on both implicit and explicit evaluation. In explicit arousal evaluation, they evaluated alcohol-related stimuli more arousing than control stimuli, whereos control groups did not. While the strength of alcohol-negativity association was not related to any clinical variables, the strength of alcohol-positivity association was related to the arousal level of alcohol related stimuli, the severity of alcohol dependence, and the mean drinking amount per occasion. CONCLUSION: Alcohol craving can be regarded as negative emotion on both explicit and implicit levels in alcoholics. It seems that craving induced by alcohol-related stimuli may not be recognized by the patients but related to increased arousal or positive implicit evaluation of alcohol.
Alcoholics ; Alcoholism* ; Arousal ; Cues* ; Denial (Psychology) ; Drinking ; Humans

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to identify a theoretical basis of end-of-life care by examining attributes of the concept of the nurses' acceptance of patient deaths. METHODS: Walker and Avant's approach to concept analysis was used. A literature study was performed to check the usage of the concept. To identify the attributes of the concept and come up with an operational definition, we analyzed 16 qualitative studies on nurses' experiences of death of patients, published in a national science magazine from 1999 to 2015. RESULTS: The nurses' acceptance of death of patients was identified as having four attributes: acceptance through mourning, attaining insight on life and death while ruminating life, facing with fortitude and practicing human dignity. Antecedents of the concept were experiences of patient's death, confusion and conflict, negative emotions, passive responses, denial of patients' death. The consequences of the concept were found as the holistic end-of-life care and active pursuit of life. CONCLUSION: This study on the attributes of the concept of the nurses' acceptance of death of patients and it's operational definition will likely lay the foundation for applicable end-of-life care mediations and theoretical development.
Denial (Psychology) ; Grief ; Humans ; Periodicals as Topic ; Personhood ; Walkers

OBJECTIVES: This subjects investigated the psychological characteristics of patients with functional dyspepsia. METHODS: The subjects included ninety patients with functional dyspepsia and sixty four psychiatric out-patients. We administered Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and Illness Behavior Questionnaire(IBQ). RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the patients with functional dyspepsia and the psychiatric out-patients by MMPI. Two groups both showed a higher distribution in hypochondriasis, depression, hysteria subscales than in any other subscales. The patients with functional dyspepsia showed lower scores in disease conviction and affective disturbance subscales in IBQ subscales were similar between the patients with functional dyspepsia and the psychiatric out-patients. The patients with functional dyspepsia were divided into three groups for the Multivariate cluster analysis: normal(group 1), similar to psychiatric out-patient(group 2), and severe neurotic(group 3). The severe neurotic group showed higher scores in hypochondriasis, depression, hysteria, psychathenia, and schizophrenia subscales in MMPI and showed significant different scores in affective disturbance, disease conviction, psychological and somatic concerns, affective disturbance, denial, and irritability subscales in IBQ. CONCLUSION: If patients with functional dyspepsia show severe neurotic behavior, such as those in(group 3), they would need appropriate psychiatric intervention.
Denial (Psychology) ; Depression ; Dyspepsia* ; Humans ; Hypochondriasis ; Hysteria ; Illness Behavior ; MMPI ; Outpatients ; Psychology* ; Schizophrenia

OBJECTIVES: Although previous studies have suggested that Type 1 or Type C personality may be associated with the development of cancer, the results have not been consistent. There have been some evidences that repression, denial, or non-expression of anger are related with the incidence of colorectal cancer. However, according to the results of recent researches, aggressive hostility was related to the development of colorectal cancer. This study attempted to delineate psychological characteristics or personality patterns of the patients with colorectal cancer based on multidemensions of anger and Type 1 personality for cancer development. METHOD: The subjects were composed of 35 patients with colorectal cancer and 37 normal controls. Grossarth-Maticek personality questionnaire and the Spielberger state-trait anger expression inventory were administered. RESULTS: In comparison with the normal control group, the colorectal cancer patient group showed significantly higher scores on anger experience, angry temperament and state anger but no significant differences on Type 1 personality scale and other subscales. In the discriminant analysis patients and control groups were classified by means of state anger, angry temperament, angry reaction, anger-in, anger-out and anger control variables. When angry temperament variable was selected as a discriminant variable, 65.8% of cases had been correctly classified. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested the relationship between the disposition to experience and express anger without particular provocation and the development of cancer.
Anger* ; Colorectal Neoplasms* ; Denial (Psychology) ; Hostility ; Humans ; Incidence ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Repression, Psychology ; Temperament

PURPOSE: This study is to explore the relationships among spirituality, death anxiety and burnout level of nurses caring for cancer patients. METHODS: Participants were 210 nurses from a cancer hospital in Seoul. Data were collected from April until June 2012 and analyzed using t-test, one-way ANOVA, Scheffe's test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient. RESULTS: The mean score for spirituality was 3.51 out of six. Among sub-categories, the one that scored the highest was the purpose and meaning of life, followed by unifying interconnectedness, inner resources and transcendence. The mean score for death anxiety was 3.22, and the sub-categories in the order of high score were denial of death, awareness of the shortness of time, pure death anxiety and fear of matters related to death. For the burnout, the mean was 4.10. Among sub-categories, highest mark was found with emotional exhaustion, followed by depersonalization and personal accomplishment. The spirituality level was negatively correlated with those of death anxiety and burnout. Death anxiety was positively correlated with burnout levels. Nurses with the higher spirituality level also had a higher level of education and experience of spiritual education, believed in the existence of God. In contrast, death anxiety and burnout levels were higher among those with a lower level of education, atheists, and for those who answered that religion has little influence on life. CONCLUSION: Thus, it is necessary to provide spiritual interventions for nurses who care for cancer patients to develop their spirituality, reduce death anxiety and prevent them from burning out easily.
Anxiety* ; Burnout, Professional ; Burns ; Cancer Care Facilities* ; Denial (Psychology) ; Depersonalization ; Education ; Humans ; Spirituality*

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and describe the experience of people with HIV/AIDS. Three men and three women with HIV/AIDS participated in the study. They were asked open-ended and descriptive questions in order for them to talk about their experience in their own terms. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed to maintain data integrity and to reduce perceptual bias. The transcripts were analyzed by the Colaizzi method. Member checks from the participants were used to validate the emergent themes. Seven themes emerged from the analysis. 1. People with HIV/AIDS have a strong impact and emotional reaction when receiving positive HIV test results. 2. All people with HIV/AIDS attempt to conceal HIV infection because of fear of stigma or rejection. 3. After the initial brief traumatic reaction to HIV/AIDS diagnosis, all participants feel lonely because they had no one to express or share their own experiences. 4. People with HIV/AIDS reflect on their life, think about the death and dying process and they become depressed. 5. Most participants feel that the family members who know his/her diagnosis are a big source of support. 6. According to the normativeness of infection route of HIV, the degree of guilty feeling differs among participants. 7. Although all participants think medication is a lifeline, the adherence to medication is not maintained because of side effects, denial and concealment of HIV/AIDS. The results of this study may help nurses and other health care workers to implement more efficient nursing strategies for people with HIV/AIDS by more deeply understanding their experience.
Bias (Epidemiology) ; Delivery of Health Care ; Denial (Psychology) ; Diagnosis ; Female ; HIV ; HIV Infections ; Humans ; Male ; Nursing

Peripartum cardiomyopathy is a cardiac condition characterized by development of heart failure during the last month of pregnancy or during the first five months of post partum period without any other identifiable cause of heart failure. The hypercoagulable state in the pregnancy along with left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction predisposes the patient to thromboembolic complications like intraventricular thrombi. We report a case of a 30-year-old female with peripartum cardiomyopathy along with a highly mobile mass in the LV cavity on two dimensional echocardiography. Three dimensional transthoracic echocardiography clearly showed the pedicle of the mass attached to the interventricular septum along with internal echolucent areas within the mass. Due to denial of the patient to undergo surgery, she was started on oral anticoagulation, with complete dissolution of the mass within one month.
Adult ; Cardiomyopathies* ; Denial (Psychology) ; Echocardiography ; Echocardiography, Three-Dimensional* ; Female ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Peripartum Period* ; Pregnancy ; Thrombosis*

OBJECTIVE: Geriatric depression is a disease, that possibly can cause serious problems, in case it is not detected and treated. As the mean age of patients on Sorok Island increases, possibility of depression along with dementia rises, but up to date prevalence of this disease in this population has not been studied. This study identifies dementia and depression in patients on Sorok Island via a questionnaire survey, to incorporate the results in future treatment. METHOD: Two hundred thirty-six Sorok Island residents (142 male, 94 female) were enrolled in this survey including Geriatric depression scale (GDS), Korean modified Mini Mental Status Exam (k-mMMSE), and Global Deterioration Scale (GDS). RESULTS: Suspicious group of depression was found in 25% and Certain group of depression in 17%, which adds up to a high overall prevalence of 42%. There was no gender difference in Suspicious group of depression, but Certain group of depression was significantly more prevalent in women compared to men. Suspicious group of depression detected with k-mMMSE and GDS showed a prevalence of 30% and 35%, respectively, and prevalence was higher in women. Comparing depression group to non-depression group, a significantly higher prevalence of depression group was detected in patients with symptoms of dementia. CONCLUSION: The results, compared to prevalence studies in other populations, showed a higher prevalence of depression and dementia in patients on Sorok Island. This may be due to the relatively higher mean age or due to a realtively lower functional level of the patients. Possiblity of dementia accompanied by depression is high, and in geriatric patients, the denial of depression or misinterpretation of it as somatic disorders is common. Thus, implication of these results in treatment may yield an improvement of future outcome.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Dementia ; Denial (Psychology) ; Depression ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Leprosy ; Male ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The Resilience is described as the personal capacity which brings psychosocial comeback. The role of nursing is to do its best to rehabilitate patients and to explore the individual in order to promote patients psychosocial change. However, as the current nursing is heavily physical nursing oriented, the identity of the nursing would be lost. Therefore this researcher reviewed if the concept of resilience can be applied to the nursing after examining the concept of resilience by Documents and Fieldwork. The methodology of this research is Hybrid Model developed by Schwartz-Bracott and Kim for the concept development and analysis. The process and procedure consist of The Theoretical Phase, The Fieldwork Phase and The Final Analytical Phase in accordance with the Hybrid Model. The followings the summary of the Research. 1. The Concept of Resilience Finally Analyzed by Documents and Fieldwork. (1) The Redefinition of Resilience. The resilience is the latent psychological capacity which minimize the negative emotion and promote the adaptation under adversity. Resilience appears as cognitive, emotional and behavioral response in the course of changing from negative response to positive response through the interaction of the individual and the environments in a given time. Resilience changes and decreases according to time and situation and it can be nurtured. Resilience is the higher concept including hardiness, sense of coherence and self-strength which maintain the health under stress. (2) The Attribute of Resilience. The attribute of resilience was divided into psychological and social dimension. In psychological attributes, there are admission of reality of situation, denial of negative emotion, desire to live, responsibility, confidence, courage, hope, pursuit of positive meaning, identification and pursuit of goal, self-esteem, reception, spontaneity, planning, positiveness, will power, flexibility and creativity. In social attributes, there are a sense of belonging, perception of social support and active social relations. (3) The Process of Resilience. There are 4 resilience phases which were the process minimizing the possibility of the negative chain reactions under adversity, the process minimizing the negative emotion, under adversity, the process gaining the desire to live and the process exposing the active social relations. 2. The Application Possibility of Resilience Concept to Nursing. The resilience concept is the psychosoical capacity with which an individual manages adversity. As many nursing scientists have developed nursing theory based on this capacity and the identification of nursing has been established in this field, resilience is not the new conception in nursing. However, since resilience appears in the attributes related with the resilience process concretely, it would help a lot when nurses execute psychosocial nursing.
Creativity ; Denial (Psychology) ; Fertilization ; Hope ; Humans ; Nursing ; Nursing Theory ; Pliability ; Sense of Coherence