BACKGROUND: In recent studies, tacrolimus ointment has been shown to be effective for the treatment of atopic dermatitis with an excellent safety profile. OBJECTIVE: This study was done to assess the efficacy and side-effects of tacrolimus ointment for the facial atopic dermatitis(AD) in Korean. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Open-label, non-comparative study with 2 months' follow-up was done to assess the efficacy and safety of tacrolimus ointment (Protopic0ointment 0.1%, Fujisawa, Japan) in moderate to severe facial AD. Patients were instructed to apply it two times daily for 8 weeks. Facial lesions were evaluated at baseline, 4 and 8 weeks of treatment with in-tensity score by investigator. RESULTS: In comparing of intensity scores and each clinical score at baseline with those of 4 and 8 weeks of treatment, a significant decrease was noticed at all follow-up periods. Burning sense(54.5%) and pruritus(18.2%) were detected. CONCLUSION: Tacrolimus ointment is effective in treatment of severe facial AD and has tolerable mild adverse effects at the site of application in Korean.
Burns ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Research Personnel ; Tacrolimus*

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to examine the mediating effect of empowerment in the relationship of nurse managers' authentic leadership, with nurses' organizational commitment and job satisfaction. METHODS: The participants in this study were 273 registered nurses working in five University hospitals located in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. The measurements included the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire, Condition of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire-II, Organizational Commitment Questionnaire and Korea-Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, Scheffe test, Pearson correlation coefficients, simple and multiple regression techniques with the SPSS 18.0 program. Mediation analysis was performed according to the Baron and Kenny method and Sobel test. RESULTS: There were significant correlations among authentic leadership, empowerment, organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Empowerment showed perfect mediating effects in the relationship between authentic leadership and organizational commitment. It had partial mediating effects in the relationship between authentic leadership and job satisfaction. CONCLUSION: In this study, nurse managers' authentic leadership had significant influences on nurses organizational commitment and job satisfaction via empowerment. Therefore, to enhance nurses' organizational commitment and job satisfaction, it is necessary to build effective strategies to enhance nurse manager's authentic leadership and to develop empowering education programs for nurses.
Adult ; Attitude of Health Personnel ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; *Job Satisfaction ; *Leadership ; Nurse Administrators/psychology ; Nursing Staff, Hospital/*psychology ; Organizational Culture ; *Power (Psychology) ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Young Adult

Purpose: This study aimed to compare the differences in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome between menopausal women and women of childbearing age and to determine the risk of metabolic syndrome among women in each group depending on whether they eat alone. Methods: Data of 1,813 women from the seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016) were used. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0, and complex sample frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, complex sample cross analysis, complex sample general linear regression, and complex sample logistic regression analysis were performed. Results: According to the results of the study, there was no difference in the prevalence and risk of metabolic syndrome according to the presence of companions during meals between women of childbearing age and post-menopausal women, but there was a difference in health behavior. In other words, women of childbearing age who ate alone had a lot of experience of drinking, and menopausal women who ate alone did not tend to make any efforts to control their weight and did not perform aerobic exercise. In particular, the negative health behavior of menopausal women who ate alone increased the risk of prevalence of metabolic syndrome. Conclusion The findings indicate that, for women who eat alone, interventions to prevent metabolic syndrome should be differentiated before and after menopause. Therefore, it is suggested to offer an educational program to prevent metabolic syndrome in women of childbearing age as well as provide regular assessments to diagnose metabolic syndrome and health behavior improvement programs for menopausal women.

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to derive a substantive theory on lived experiences of elderly cancer patients. METHODS: The data were collected from February to March 2018 through in-depth personal interviews with 14 elderly cancer patients. The collected data were analyzed based on Corbin and Strauss's grounded theory. RESULTS: The core category was “the journey to find balance in daily lives as a cancer patient by recovering disturbed ego integrity.” The core phenomenon was “shattered by suffering from cancer,” and the causal conditions were “physical change” and “limitations in daily life.” The contextual conditions were “decreased self-esteem,”“feelings of guilt toward the family,” and the sense of “economic burden.” The participants' action and interaction strategies were “maintaining or avoiding social relations,”“seeking meaning of the illness,”“falling into despair,” and “strengthening the willingness to battle the cancer.” The intervening conditions were “support from health care providers and family,”“dissatisfaction with health care providers,”“spiritual help from religion,” and “the improvement or worsening of health conditions.” The consequences were “having a new insight for life,”“living positively along with cancer illness,” and “the loss of willingness to live.” A summary of the series of processes includes the “crisis stage,”“reorganizing stage,” and the “ego integration stage.” CONCLUSION This study explored the holistic process of ego integrity impairment and the recovery experience of elderly cancer patients. This study is expected to be used as a basis for the development of nursing interventions that can support patients when coping with all stages of their cancer illness trajectory.

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to derive a substantive theory on lived experiences of elderly cancer patients. METHODS: The data were collected from February to March 2018 through in-depth personal interviews with 14 elderly cancer patients. The collected data were analyzed based on Corbin and Strauss's grounded theory. RESULTS: The core category was “the journey to find balance in daily lives as a cancer patient by recovering disturbed ego integrity.” The core phenomenon was “shattered by suffering from cancer,” and the causal conditions were “physical change” and “limitations in daily life.” The contextual conditions were “decreased self-esteem,” “feelings of guilt toward the family,” and the sense of “economic burden.” The participants' action and interaction strategies were “maintaining or avoiding social relations,” “seeking meaning of the illness,” “falling into despair,” and “strengthening the willingness to battle the cancer.” The intervening conditions were “support from health care providers and family,” “dissatisfaction with health care providers,” “spiritual help from religion,” and “the improvement or worsening of health conditions.” The consequences were “having a new insight for life,” “living positively along with cancer illness,” and “the loss of willingness to live.” A summary of the series of processes includes the “crisis stage,” “reorganizing stage,” and the “ego integration stage.” CONCLUSION: This study explored the holistic process of ego integrity impairment and the recovery experience of elderly cancer patients. This study is expected to be used as a basis for the development of nursing interventions that can support patients when coping with all stages of their cancer illness trajectory.
Aged ; Delivery of Health Care ; Ego ; Grounded Theory ; Guilt ; Health Personnel ; Humans ; Nursing ; Qualitative Research

Purpose: This study aimed to compare the differences in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome between menopausal women and women of childbearing age and to determine the risk of metabolic syndrome among women in each group depending on whether they eat alone. Methods: Data of 1,813 women from the seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016) were used. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0, and complex sample frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, complex sample cross analysis, complex sample general linear regression, and complex sample logistic regression analysis were performed. Results: According to the results of the study, there was no difference in the prevalence and risk of metabolic syndrome according to the presence of companions during meals between women of childbearing age and post-menopausal women, but there was a difference in health behavior. In other words, women of childbearing age who ate alone had a lot of experience of drinking, and menopausal women who ate alone did not tend to make any efforts to control their weight and did not perform aerobic exercise. In particular, the negative health behavior of menopausal women who ate alone increased the risk of prevalence of metabolic syndrome. Conclusion The findings indicate that, for women who eat alone, interventions to prevent metabolic syndrome should be differentiated before and after menopause. Therefore, it is suggested to offer an educational program to prevent metabolic syndrome in women of childbearing age as well as provide regular assessments to diagnose metabolic syndrome and health behavior improvement programs for menopausal women.

PURPOSE: This study examined the relationships between nurses' exercise behavior and their anger control using a cross-sectional descriptive design. METHODS: The participants were 290 nurses in South Korea, who completed a survey questionnaire on general characteristics, the stage of exercise behavior change, and anger emotion, evaluated using state anger and anger expression method. RESULTS: Those who engaged in regular exercise behavior exhibited lower levels of state anger and higher levels of anger control than those who did not. In the prediction model, a significant association of exercise behavior with anger control was found. The levels of anger control decreased as the age, education level, and work experiences of nurses decreased. Anger control scores were significantly higher than anger suppression scores and anger expression-out scores in the hospital nurses. CONCLUSION: Engaging in regular exercise may help nurses manage anger emotions better.
Anger ; Education ; Korea ; Methods

Proinflammatory cytokines and their receptors are increased in the peripheral blood of patients with heart failure. We measured cytokines and their receptors in systemic artery (SA), coronary sinus (CS) and infra-renal inferior vena cava (IVC), in order to investigate their origin and influential factors. Thirty patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy were performed echocardiography at admission, and right heart catheterization after stabilization. Blood was drawn from 3 sites for measurement of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and soluble tumor necrosis factor- receptor (sTNFR) I, II. TNF-alpha at CS (3.25+/-0.34 pg/mL) was higher than those of SA (1.81+/-0.39 pg/mL) and IVC (1.88+/-0.38 pg/mL, p<0.05). IL-6 at CS (18.3+/-3.8 pg/mL) was higher than that of SA (5.8+/-1.2 pg/mL, p<0.01). The levels of sTNFR I, II showed increasing tendency in sequence of SA, IVC and CS. TNF-alpha and sTNFR I, II from all sites were proportional to worsening of functional classes at admission (p<0.05). E/Ea by Doppler study at admission, which reflects left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) was positively correlated with TNF-alpha from SA (R=0.71, p<0.01), CS (R=0.52, p<0.05) and IVC (R=0.46, p<0.05). Thus, elevated LVEDP during decompensation might cause cytokine release from myocardium in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.
Adult ; Aged ; Cardiomyopathy, Congestive/*blood/*immunology ; Female ; Heart/anatomy & histology ; Hemodynamic Processes ; Human ; Interleukin-6/*blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor/*blood ; Statistics ; Tumor Necrosis Factor/*metabolism

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: It has been shown that the coronary flow reserve (CFR) of an infarct related artery can predict left ventricular functional recovery following acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, the prognostic value of CFR on the long-term clinical outcome of patients with an AMI has not been studied. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Using a Doppler guide wire, we measured the CFR in 130 patients with an AMI following successful intervention (6+/-3 days after onset of the AMI). Two-year follow-up was conducted with regard to end points, including : cardiac death, non-fatal AMI, and severe congestive heart failure (CHF; > or = NYHA III). RESULTS: During the follow-ups, cardiac events occurred in 17 patients (5 deaths, 3 non-fatal AMIs and 9 severe CHFs). After analysis of the receiver operating characteristic curves, the best cut-off value for CFR in predicting cardiac events was 1.4 (sensitivity 76.5%, specificity 73.5%, accuracy 82.0%). With cardiac events as an end point, a 2-year Kaplan-Meier event survival analysis revealed that the patients with a CFR < or = 1.4 had a worse prognosis than those with a CFR >1.4 (Event free survival rates were 69.8% vs. 95.4%, respectively, p<0.001). Using Cox proportional hazard analyses, as an independent predictor, age, heart rate, CFR and left ventricular end systolic volume index, were also found to be significantly associated with cardiac events (hazard ratios 1.1224, 1.0404, 0.1887, and 1.0588, respectively). CONCLUSION: The coronary flow reserve, of infarct related arteries, measured during the early recovery phase can be used as an independent predictor for the prognosis of patients with an acute myocardial infarction following successful intervention.
Arteries ; Coronary Circulation ; Death ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Failure ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Prognosis ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Stroke Volume ; Survival Rate

BACKGROUND: The diagnostic and prognostic implication of exaggerated blood pressure response to exercise has not been well characterized. Endothelial dysfunction has been demonstrated in patients with atherosclerosis or with risk factors for coronary artery disease. However, whether the cause of exercise induced hypertension might be due to endothelial dysfunction has not been well elucidated. Therefore, we designed this study to evaluate the endothelial function in patients with exaggerated blood pressure response during exercise. METHODS: Exercise hypertension is defined as a systolic blood pressure >or= 210 mmHg in men and >or= 190 mmHg in female, during treadmill exercise test. The endothelial function of the brachial artery, in 35 patients with exercise hypertension and 35 control subjects (mean age of 45.5+/-8.1) were measured by a high resolution ultrasound technique. The concentrations of nitrite and cyclic-GMP were measured from exercise hypertension group and control subjects during, before and after treadmill exercise. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the clinical variables between the control and exercise hypertension group. The LVH on ECG was detected more frequently in exercise hypertension group (14 % vs. 40 %, p<0.05) and LV mass/BSA (132+/-12 vs. 139+/-14 g/m2, p<0.05) was also higher in exercise hypetension group. Endothelial-dependent vasodilation was impaired in patients with exercise hypertension (6.5+/-0.8 vs. 3.1+/-0.6 %, p<0.05). On univariate analysis, the extent of vasodilation was significantly correlated with age (r=-0.28, p<0.05) and delta systolic blood pressure (r=-0.36, p<0.05). Both the levels of NO2-/NO3- and cyclic-GMP at the maximal exercise were significantly higher than those at rest and recovery in control and exercise hypertension group (p<0.05). Although there was no difference at the increment of NO2-/NO3- during the maximal exercise between the control and exercise hypertension group (55+/-17 vs. 56+/-12 mmHg, p>0.05), a significant difference of cyclic GMP level during the maximal exercise was noted between the groups (10+/-1.8 vs. 8.3+/-2.5 pmol/mL, p<0.05). CONCLSUION: Patients with exercise induced hypertension have impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilation. This study supports the concept that endothelial dysfunction may play a significant role in exercise induced hypertension.
Atherosclerosis ; Blood Pressure* ; Brachial Artery ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Cyclic GMP ; Electrocardiography ; Endothelium ; Exercise Test* ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Male ; Nitric Oxide ; Risk Factors ; Ultrasonography ; Vasodilation