PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to identify the correlation that exists between quality of life and self-efficacy of schizophrenic patients, focusing on the influence of related factors on these varables. METHOD: The subjects of this study were 151 schizophrenic patients. The data were collected using questionnaires. The instruments used for this study were the general self-efficacy scale developed by Sherer & Maddex (1982), the specific self-efficacy scale modified and complemented by these co-researchers on the basis of the past studies and modified SIP by Voruganti (1996). The period of data collection was from July. 2000 to Jan. 2001. Data analysis was done by SPSS, t-test, ANOVA and the Pearson Correlation Coefficient. RESULT: 1. The level of self-efficacy showed a mean score of 60.0 and the level of quality of life, a mean score of 47.0. 2. The general characteristics affecting the self-efficacy of schizophrenic patients were staying with family (p=0.05) and employment (p=0.00). 3. The general characteristics affecting the quality of life of schizophrenic patients were staying with family (p=0.04), employment (p=0.05) and duration of illness (0.03). 4. A positive correlation was identified between self-efficacy and quality of life (r=-0.469, p=0.000). CONCLUSION: The study suggests that nursing intervention strategy should be worked out to develop a psychiatric rehabilitation program that can promote self-efficacy and thus enhance the quality of life of schizophrenic patients.
Complement System Proteins ; Data Collection ; Employment ; Humans ; Nursing ; Quality of Life* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Rehabilitation ; Schizophrenia ; Statistics as Topic

Purpose: This study investigated awareness of dying well, as well as attitudes and preferences toward advance directives (ADs), among elderly individuals who lived alone. Methods: The participants were 173 elderly people living alone. Data were collected from July 2019 to September 2019 using questionnaires on perceptions of dying well, awareness of advance directives, and general characteristics. Results: The majority of participants (68.2%) stated that they had never heard of advance directives. The information they requested to include in their advance directives mostly involved decisions on pain treatment, such as the use of analgesic drugs in the final stages of a terminal disease. Perceptions of dying well were statistically significantly different according to age and education. Conclusion This study discussed the attitudes and preferences of elderly living alone regarding advance directives to provide basic resources for the systematic and active use of advance directives.

Purpose: This study investigated awareness of dying well, as well as attitudes and preferences toward advance directives (ADs), among elderly individuals who lived alone. Methods: The participants were 173 elderly people living alone. Data were collected from July 2019 to September 2019 using questionnaires on perceptions of dying well, awareness of advance directives, and general characteristics. Results: The majority of participants (68.2%) stated that they had never heard of advance directives. The information they requested to include in their advance directives mostly involved decisions on pain treatment, such as the use of analgesic drugs in the final stages of a terminal disease. Perceptions of dying well were statistically significantly different according to age and education. Conclusion This study discussed the attitudes and preferences of elderly living alone regarding advance directives to provide basic resources for the systematic and active use of advance directives.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of auricular acupressure therapy on sleep disorder and fatigue in menopausal women. Methods: The study design was a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design.The participants were 40~60 years old women, assigned to the experimental group (n=25) or the control group (n=27). Auricular acupressure using vaccaria seeds was administered to the experimental group. The sessions continued for 6 weeks. Outcome measures included Pittsburgh sleep quality index, sleep meter, sleep diary, fatigue assessment instrument, serum cortisol, and serum serotonin. Results: Menopausal women in the experimental group showed significant increases in deep sleep, light sleep, serotonin level and sleep duration compared with the control group.Also, the experimental group reported decreases in PSQI, sleep latency, awakening time, fatigue and cortisol level compared with the control group. Conclusion Results show that auricular acupressure using vaccaria seeds is considered as an effective treatment for sleep disorder and fatigue in menopausal women. We conclude that it can be used as a nursing intervention method proven to reduce sleep disorder and fatigue in menopausal women.

Body surface potential map, an electric potential distribution on the body torso surface, enables us to infer the electrical activities of the heart. Therefore, observing electric potential projected to the torso surface can be highly useful for diagnosing heart diseases such as coronary occlusion. The BSPM for the heart of a patient show a higher level of sensitivity than 12-lead ECG. Relevant research has been mostly based on clinical statistics obtained from patients, and, therefore, a simulation for a variety of pathological phenomena of the heart is required. In this study, by using computer simulation, a body surface potential map was implemented according to various occlusion locations (distal, mid, proximal occlusion) in the left anterior descending coronary artery. Electrophysiological characteristics of the body surface during the ST segment period were observed and analyzed based on an ST isointegral map. We developed an integrated system that takes into account the cellular to organ levels, and performed simulation regarding the electrophysiological phenomena of the heart that occur during the first 5 minutes (stage 1) and 10 minutes (stage 2) after commencement of coronary occlusion. Subsequently, we calculated the bipolar angle and amplitude of the ST isointegral map, and observed the correlation between the relevant characteristics and the location of coronary occlusion. In the result, in the ventricle model during the stage 1, a wider area of ischemia led to counterclockwise rotation of the bipolar angle; and, during the stage 2, the amplitude increased when the ischemia area exceeded a certain size.
Cardiac Electrophysiology* ; Computer Simulation* ; Coronary Occlusion ; Coronary Vessels* ; Electrocardiography ; Electrophysiological Phenomena ; Electrophysiology ; Heart ; Heart Diseases ; Humans ; Ischemia ; Torso

Callus is a nonpenetrating circumscribed hyperkeratosis produced by repeated friction or pressure. It occurs on parts subjected to intermittent pressure, particularly on the palms and soles, and particularly over the bony prominences of the joints. In painful callosities of the feet, ill-fitting shoes and orthopedic problems of the foot (bunions, exostoses) are some of the etiological factors to be considered. Gout is a condition of inborn metabolic and/or acquired form of the disease characterized by hyperuricemia, tophaceous deposits of sodium urate and recurrent attacks of arthritis. We present a case of callus caused by tophi. The patient was a 45-year-old man who had complained of a painful, well-demarcated, hyperkeratotic plaque on the heel of the left foot for 18 months. After the tophi beneath overlying whitish thickened skin had been removed, the skin lesion disappeared and to date has not recurred.
Arthritis ; Bony Callus* ; Callosities ; Foot ; Friction ; Gout ; Heel ; Humans ; Hyperuricemia ; Joints ; Middle Aged ; Orthopedics ; Shoes ; Skin ; Uric Acid

BACKGROUND: Whole body 131I scan is routinely performed in the postoperative evaluation of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma to detect recurrence and functioning metastasis. Previous reports suggested that posttreatment whole body scan had higher rate of detecting metastatic lesions that were not visualized by pretreatment images. We observed the frequency of discordance of the two scans and analysed the clinical significances. METHODS: Forty-one patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma underwent radioactive iodine-131 whole body scans after administration of diagnostic dose (4 mCi) and then therapeutic dose (100~200 mCi of iodine-131). The median age of the patients was 46.9 +/- 15.7 years (range, 17~76). RESULTS: In 16 of the 41 patients (39.0%), pretreatment scan showed additional uptakes that were not seen in the pretreatment scan. Serum thyroglobulin was elevated in 13 of the 16 patients. Of the 22 patients who had been received radioactive iodine therapy previously, eight patients showed new additional lesions in the therapeutic scans but there was no significance according to the history of radioactive iodine therapy, Addisional uptakes after therapeutic dose were noted in neck area in 9 cases, lung in 2 cases, bone in 4 cases and mediastinum in one case. Diffuse hepatic uptake was definitely seen in 7 cases and there were 2 cases whose scans showed liver uptake without any thyroid uptake. CONCLUSION: Posttreatment whole body scan is more sensitive to detect residual tissues and metastasis compared to the usual pretreatment diagnostic whole body scan, and it is suggested that posttreatment whole body scan should be routinely performed after 'I therapy in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma for exact evaluation.
Humans ; Iodine ; Liver ; Lung ; Mediastinum ; Neck ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Recurrence ; Thyroglobulin ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms* ; Whole Body Imaging

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of immunosuppressants on in-hospital mortality from sepsis. METHODS: Using data of the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, we collected data from patients who were admitted to the hospital due to sepsis from 2009 to 2013. Based on drugs commonly used for immunosuppression caused by various diseases, patients were divided into three groups; immunosuppressant group, steroid-only group, and control group. Patients with no history of immunosuppressants or steroids were assigned to the control group. To identify risk factors of in-hospital mortality in sepsis, we compared differences in patient characteristics, comorbidities, intensive care unit (ICU) care requirements, and immunodeficiency profiles. Subgroup analysis according to age was also performed. RESULTS: Of the 185,671 included patients, 13,935 (7.5%) were in the steroid-only group and 2,771 patients (1.5%) were in the immunosuppressant group. The overall in-hospital mortality was 38.9% and showed an increasing trend with age. The steroid-only group showed the lowest in-hospital mortality among the three groups except the patients younger than 30 years. The steroid-only group and immunosuppressant group received ICU treatment more frequently (p < 0.001), stayed longer in the hospital (p < 0.001), and showed higher medical expenditure (p < 0.001) compared to the normal group. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that age, male gender, comorbidities (especially malignancy), and ICU treatment had a significant effect on in-hospital mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Despite longer hospital length of stay and more frequent need for ICU care, the in-hospital mortality was lower in patients taking immunosuppressive drugs than in patients not taking immunosuppressive drugs.
Comorbidity ; Health Expenditures ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Immunosuppression ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; Insurance* ; Insurance, Health ; Intensive Care Units ; Korea* ; Length of Stay ; Male ; Mortality ; Multivariate Analysis ; Risk Factors ; Sepsis* ; Steroids

The purpose of this study was to assess the use of food materials at elementary school in Busan area and provide school meal management with basic data to improvement of guideline. A survey was done by e-mail with a set of questionnaires, which was responeded by 122 dietitians in elementary school foodservice. The results were as follows; Sixty percent of the dietitians though to the general imported food materials had to use. Regarding mean score of using the imported food materials; safety was 2.12/5.00, freshness 2.48/5.00, sanitation 2.68/5.00, nutrition 2.73/5.00, preference 2.93/5.00, external form 3.09/5.00, package 3.12/5.00, and price 3.63/5.00. Thirty seven percent of the dietitians had purchase the pro-environment farm products(PEFPs) and 32.0% of them purchased those products for the students' health. But 52.4% could not purchase to the PEFPs because of expensive price. They had negative opinions about deficient supplying of PEFPs 4.51/5.00, too expensive price 4.34/5.00, and the truth or false in source of PEFPs 3.96/5.00. Most of them perceived that using the PEFPs had to apply the step by step. Among of them, 33.9% had the knowledge of PEFPs, but 16.4 of them did not know to the PEPPs. 57.4% of them hoped to purchase the food materials through a center of supporting school meal servcie(it called non-profit-making organizations).
Busan* ; Electronic Mail ; Hope ; Humans ; Meals ; Nutritionists* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Sanitation

PURPOSE: For the production and evaluation of the tissue-equivalent phantom. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used agarous gel and oil as a basic component of the mixture and added Tween 80 for the stabilization of phantoms. We did the test for homogeneity and measured T1 and T2 relexation times of each phantom tube. RESULTS: T1 relaxation time ranged from 642 to 2781 msec and T2 relaxation times from 42 to 157 msec. Each phantom was significantly different in T1 relaxation time and T2 relaxation time (p < .0001). CONCLUSION: Tissue equivalent phantom may provide good information on the optimal sequence before MR imaging of patients and may be valuable if it is used with the patients' MR imaging.
Agar ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Polysorbates ; Relaxation