PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to identify the effects of telephonic counseling on burnout, depression, life satisfaction, and perceived physical health among family caregivers of older adults with dementia. METHOD: Subjects were randomly assigned into telephonic counseling group (n=21) and the comparison group (n=32). A weekly telephone counseling was conducted by research assistants for 12 weeks. T-test were used to answer the research questions. RESULT: 1) There were no significant differences between the two groups on the level of burnout, depression, life satisfaction, and perceived physical health after telephone counseling. 2) Spouse caregivers under the telephone counseling tended to report higher perceived physical health than comparison group at the post-test (t=-1.88, p=.08). Spouse caregivers under the telephone counseling tended to report higher emotional exhaustion and lower feeling of self achievement. 3) Daughter-in-law caregivers under telephone counseling showed increased feeling of self achievement, improved physical health condition, and decreased depression. CONCLUSION: This study showed potential effects of the problem-solving telephone counseling to improve perceived physical health and to reduce the level of burnout and depression. The findings suggest the necessity of screening most vulnerable subgroups of caregivers to increase the effectiveness of nursing intervention such as telephone counseling.
Adult* ; Caregivers* ; Counseling* ; Dementia* ; Depression* ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Nursing ; Telephone*

This study was performed to evaluate the effects on hearing of video tape manufacturing workers exposed to organic solvents. The experimental groups included solvents exposed group 51 and unexposed group 57 workers. All workers was examined air and bone conduction sensitivity by pure tone audiometer. The mean age of solvents exposed group was 34.1 and nonexposed group was 35.8. The mean duration of solvents exposed group was 7.3years. High frequency hearing loss prevalence of both groups was 23.5% in the group exposed to organic solvents and 17.5% in nonexposed group. There is no statistical significants in the prevalence of high frequency hearing loss. According to comparison of mean auditory threshold value by frequencies, on the air conduction test, right was statistically significant in the 250, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000Hz, except 8000Hz. Left 250, 500, 1000Hz was statistically significant. On the bone conduction test, left250, both 500, 1000, 2000, 4000Hz, except right 250Hz, was statistically significant difference. Generally, auditory sensitivity threshold of the exposed group was higher than the nonexposed group.
Auditory Threshold ; Bone Conduction ; Hearing Loss ; Hearing* ; Prevalence ; Solvents*

PURPOSE: This study was to identify important predictors of depression among characteristics of caregiving situation and utilized resources in order to provide basic information for effective nursing interventions to reduce depression experienced by family caregivers of older adults with dementia. METHOD: Seventy one family caregivers were identified from community service centers and face-to-face interviewed using structured questionnaires. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and hierarchical multiple regression using SPSS WIN 10.0 program. RESULT: Family caregivers reported high levels of depression, moderate levels of social support, and moderate utilization of coping strategies. Female caregivers who (beta=.22) utilized 'negative' coping strategies more often (beta=.48) and 'cognitive reconstructuring' coping strategies less often (beta=-.23) were more likely to report higher depression (R2=0.63). CONCLUSION: Nursing interventions increasing family caregivers' utilization of positive coping strategies such as problem solving, existential growth, and help seeking and decreasing their utilization of negative coping strategies such as self-blaming are needed to decrease their depression levels.
Adult* ; Caregivers* ; Dementia* ; Depression* ; Female ; Humans ; Methods ; Nursing ; Problem Solving ; Social Welfare

Allergic contact dermatitis is an inflammatory condition associated with periorbital erythema, edema, and pruritus. The periorbital skin is relatively thin compared with the skin over other facial areas; therefore, it is vulnerable to allergen penetration and may show a variety of cutaneous manifestations. Recently, vision enhancement surgery is a widely performed procedure, and the prevalence of senile cataract and glaucoma is increasing. The prevalence of periocular allergic contact dermatitis is increasing secondary to the growing use of topical ophthalmic medications. Several studies in Korea have reported periocular allergic contact dermatitis secondary to the use of topical ophthalmic medications including latanoprost (Latano®), fluorometholone (Tolon®), polymyxin B (Terramycin®), atropine sulfate (Atropine®), neomycin sulfate (Cambison®), and befunolol hydrochloride (Bentos®), among others. However, ofloxacin (Effexin®)-induced allergic contact dermatitis has not been reported in the domestic and/or foreign literature. We report a case of periocular allergic contact dermatitis secondary to the use of ofloxacin ophthalmic ointment.
Atropine ; Cataract ; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact* ; Edema ; Erythema ; Fluorometholone ; Glaucoma ; Korea ; Neomycin ; Ofloxacin* ; Polymyxin B ; Prevalence ; Pruritus ; Skin

The most serious problem after splenectomy is the increased risk of life-threatening infections caused by encapsulated bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Neisseria meningitidis. Purpura fulminans, which is commonly associated with meningococcal sepsis, is characterized by disseminated intravascular coagulation and rapidly progressive purpuric skin lesions. Purpura fulminans can also develop in invasive pneumococcal infection especially after splenectomy, however, there has been no report in Korea. We report a case of overwhelming pneumococcal sepsis manifested as purpura fulminans in a splenectomized patient.
Bacteria ; Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation ; Haemophilus influenzae ; Humans ; Korea ; Neisseria meningitidis ; Pneumococcal Infections ; Purpura Fulminans* ; Purpura* ; Sepsis ; Skin ; Splenectomy ; Streptococcus pneumoniae* ; Streptococcus*

PURPOSE: We wanted to evaluate an acceptable compression rate of JPEG2000 for long term archiving of CT and MR images in PACS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nine CT images and 9 MR images that had small or minimal lesions were randomly selected from the PACS at our institute. All the images are compressed with rates of 5:1, 10:1, 20:1, 40:1 and 80:1 by the JPEG2000 compression protocol. Pairs of original and compressed images were compared by 9 radiologists who were working independently. We designed a JPEG2000 viewing program for comparing two images on one monitor system for performing easy and quick evaluation. All the observers performed the comparison study twice on 5 mega pixel grey scale LCD monitors and 2 mega pixel color LCD monitors, rspectively. The PSNR (Peak Signal to Noise Ratio) values were calculated for making quantitative comparisons. RESULTS: On MR and CT, all the images with 5:1 compression images showed no difference from the original images by all 9 observers and only one observer could detect a image difference on one CT image for 10:1 compression on only the 5 mega pixel monitor. For the 20:1 compression rate, clinically significant image deterioration was found in 50% of the images on the 5M pixel monitor study, and in 30% of the images on the 2M pixel monitor. PSNR values larger than 44 dB were calculated for all the compressed images. CONCLUSION: The clinically acceptable image compression rate for long term archiving by the JPEG2000 compression protocol is 10:1 for MR and CT, and if this is applied to PACS, it would reduce the cost and responsibility of the system.
Data Compression ; Noise

OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the diabetes education program implemented in a community hypertension and diabetes education center. METHODS: Participants were thirty nine diabetic patients who received the education program in the center from May 2014 through May 2015. The education program consisted of two sessions for 2 days (45 minutes per session) regarding clinical information, nutrition and exercise for type 2 diabetes patients. Initially, they were assessed for general characteristics, knowledge on diabetes, self-efficacy and self-care behaviors. Reassessment was performed on their knowledge and self-efficacy directly after the program, and on self-care behaviors at 12 weeks after the program. RESULTS: The mean score of diabetes knowledge was significantly increased from 5.27±2.10 to 8.21±1.20 (p < 0.001) between before and after the program. The self-efficacy score was also significantly increased from 6.88±1.72 to 8.16±1.47 (p < 0.001). The self-care behavior score was significantly increased from 3.59±1.89 before the program to 4.35±1.29 (p < 0.001) at 12 weeks after the program. CONCLUSION: The diabetes education program may be effective on the improvement of knowledge, self-efficacy and self-care behaviors in type 2 diabetic patients.
Diabetes Mellitus ; Education* ; Health Education ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Self Care* ; Self Efficacy

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The risk factors and clinical outcome of infective endocarditis (IE) have changed over the past few decades. Recently, the incidence of Staphylococcus aureus IE (SAIE) has increased. We investigated the clinical and microbiological characteristics and clinical outcomes of SAIE. METHODS: All patient cases that were diagnosed as IE according to the modified Duke criteria in Samsung Medical Center during the period of January 1995 to December 2006 were reviewed retrospectively. The clinical and microbiological characteristics of patients with SAIE were compared to those of non-SAIE patients with IE. RESULTS: We enrolled 304 patients with IE. Of these, 240 cases were IE culture-positive, including 73 cases of SAIE. The mean age of patients with SAIE was 48.15+/-19.87 years, with male patients accounting for 71.2% of our study group. Congenital heart disease (8.2%) was less common among SAIE patients. Hospital-acquired IE was significantly more common in SAIE than in non-SAIE cohorts (p<0.05). Surgical treatment was performed in 33 cases (45.2%). Valvular regurgitation with heart failure was the most frequent cause of surgery (39.3%). Twenty-three cases exhibited complications, including extra cardiac embolization (16.4%) and heart failure (5.6%). Fever persisting for a period longer than seven days was more common among those in the SAIE group. Twelve patients (16.4%) died and four patients (5.4%) were discharged without hope of improvement. The in-hospital mortality rate was higher among SAIE patients (17.3%) compared to that among non-SAIE patients (11%), although this comparison was not statistically distinct (p> 0.05). Methicillin resistance and non-surgical treatment were significant risk factors for in-hospital mortality. CONCLUSIONS: SAIE is more strongly associated with systemic embolization, persistent fever, and longer hospital stays compared to non-SAIE. Further studies are warranted to evaluate adequate treatment and to improve the outcome of patients with SAIE.
Accounting ; Cohort Studies ; Endocarditis ; Fever ; Heart Diseases ; Heart Failure ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Incidence ; Length of Stay ; Male ; Methicillin Resistance ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Staphylococcus ; Staphylococcus aureus

The pneumonia severity index (PSI) and CURB-65 are widely used tools for the prediction of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). This study was conducted to evaluate validation of severity scoring system including the PSI and CURB-65 scores of Korean CAP patients. In the prospective CAP cohort (participated in by 14 hospitals in Korea from January 2009 to September 2011), 883 patients aged over 18 yr were studied. The 30-day mortalities of all patients were calculated with their PSI index classes and CURB scores. The overall mortality rate was 4.5% (40/883). The mortality rates per CURB-65 score were as follows: score 0, 2.3% (6/260); score 1, 4.0% (12/300); score 2, 6.0% (13/216); score 3, 5.7% (5/88); score 4, 23.5% (4/17); and score 5, 0% (0/2). Mortality rate with PSI risk class were as follows: I, 2.3% (4/174); II, 2.7% (5/182); III, 2.3% (5/213); IV, 4.5% (11/245); and V, 21.7% (15/69). The subgroup mortality rate of Korean CAP patients varies based on the severity scores and CURB-65 is more valid for the lower scores, and PSI, for the higher scores. Thus, these variations must be considered when using PSI and CURB-65 for CAP in Korean patients.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Cohort Studies ; Community-Acquired Infections/*mortality ; Female ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pneumonia/*mortality ; Prospective Studies ; Republic of Korea ; *Severity of Illness Index ; Young Adult