PURPOSE: Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia is one of the most common community- acquired pneumonias in childhood. Recently, it has tended to occur at a young age. We reviewed clinical manifestations of M. pneumoniae pneumonia in the young. METHODS: A total of 378 children who were admitted to the Bundang Jesaeng Hospital due to M. pneumoniae pneumonia from 2003 to 2006 were retrospectively analyzed. M. pneumoniae infection was confirmed by mycoplasma antibody titer >1:320 or four-fold increase of titer. The children were divided into an infant group (Group A, 0-4 years) and an older children group (Group B, 4-14 years). We analyzed the differences between the two groups according to incidence, clinical manifestations, laboratory and radiologic findings. RESULTS: The number of patients in Group A was 147 (38.9%) and in Group B, 231 (61.1%), respectively. Seasonal distribution showed the highest frequency in autumn and the lowest frequency in spring in both groups. The most common symptom was cough (98.6% and 96.5%, respectively) and fever (85.7% and 91.3%, respectively). The most common physical findings were crackle (72.8% and 73.3%, respectively). The common radiologic findings were lobar pneumonia in both groups (55% and 76.1%, respectively), followed by bronchopneumonia (29.2% and 11.6%, respectively). Group A had a lower incidence of high antimycoplasma antibody titer (>1:5,120) and severe pulmonary complication than Group B. CONCLUSION: Group A had the more incidence of sputum production, leukocytosis, bronchopneumonia and duration of fever less than 7days. Group B had the more incidence of weak breathing sound, lobar pneumonia and duration of fever more than 7days.
Bronchopneumonia ; Child ; Cough ; Fever ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Leukocytosis ; Mycoplasma pneumoniae* ; Mycoplasma* ; Pneumonia* ; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma* ; Respiratory Sounds ; Retrospective Studies ; Seasons ; Sputum

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) is a rare entity of all soft tissue sarcomas. It has four different types of glandular, melanocytic, rhabdomyoblastic, and epithelioid. Epithelioid MPNST is composed of predominantly epithelioid cells. In contrast, typical MPNST is consisted of spindle cells, which is arranged in a fascicular or whirling pattern. A 33-old man showed two skin-color to reddish brown protruding nodules on the left thigh. Microscopically, one nodule was made up of epithelioid cell, primarily. In addition, the other nodule was composed of epithelioid cells and spindle cells, which also showed Antoni A and B. Immunohistochemical study showed the cells being positive for S-100 protein (weak and focal) and neuron-specific enolase, and negative for HMB-45, smooth muscle actin. Herein, we report a case of two different forms of malignant nerve sheath tumor on the left thigh, which was not associated with neurofibromatosis-1.
Actins ; Epithelioid Cells ; Muscle, Smooth ; Nerve Sheath Neoplasms ; Neurilemmoma ; Neurofibromatoses ; Peripheral Nerves ; Phosphopyruvate Hydratase ; Prognosis ; S100 Proteins ; Sarcoma ; Thigh

PURPOSE: This study is to investigate the job stress and presenteeism of nurses with work shift. METHODS: The data were collected through questionnaires from 281 clinical nurses working for a university hospital located in D city from 13 to 28 of February, 2009. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Scheffe verification test, Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression using SPSS/WIN 16.0. RESULTS: The mean score of job stress was 3.47. Work overload and psychological burden scored the highest point as the sub-category of work stress factor. Work performance loss out of presenteeism showed 26.89 and perceived productivity, 79.79. Also 94.7% of respondents answered they had health problems. A significantly positive correlation was found among job stress, work performance loss and health issue. To determine the factors affecting persenteeism, work performance loss was associated with work overload and perceived productivity with interpersonal relationship conflict. CONCLUSION: Based on the findings of the study, job stress is positively correlated with work performance loss, and health problems. Therefore, health problems of nurses with work shift need to be considered and plans to manage their job stress affecting presenteeism need to be developed at an earlier stage.
Surveys and Questionnaires ; Efficiency ; Linear Models

OBJECTIVES: To determine changes in the incidence and pattern of eclampsia in Il Sin Christian Hospital over a 46-year period. METHODS: Information was collected from medical records of the 1910 eclamptic patients among 233,613 deliveries in Il Sin Christian Hospital from Jan. 1 1953 to Dec. 31 1998. Incidence, presentation, and management of eclampsia were reviewed retrospectively, and maternal mortality rate and perinatal mortality rate were calculated. Statistical analysis was done by Chi-squared and Fisher's exact test through two by two tables looking at relative changes between each study period. RESULTS: The overall incidence of eclampsia was 81.8 per 10,000 deliveries. The incidence of eclampsia had increased from 137.3/10,000 in 1953-1962 to 278.4/10,000 in 1963-1972, but the rate had reduced to 6.5/10,000 in 1993-1998. There was a statistically significant fall in the rate of eclampsia every decade between 1973 and 1992, but there has been steady decrease in the last study period. Convulsion occurred antepartum in 54% of patients, intrapartum in 29% and postpartum in 17%. With the reduction in the proportion of antepartum eclampsia, there has been a relative increase in that of intrapartum and postpartum eclampsia. Maternal death occurred in 59 cases among eclampsia, and maternal mortality rate was 3.1%. Maternal mortality rate had significantly decresed from 11.1% in 1953-1962 to 3.8% in 1963-1972, and there has been no maternal death from eclampsia since 1986. Postpartum eclampsia had increased death risk compared with antepartum or intrapartum eclampsia. There were 280 cases of perinatal death and overall perinatal mortality rate was 144.1 per 1000 deliveries. There was a significant decrease in the rate from 243.2/1000 in 1953-1962 to 141.5/1000 in 1963-1972, but the rate has risen steadily since 1983. CONCLUSIONS: With the improvement in antenatal care and management of eclampsia, the incidence of eclampsia and its associated maternal mortality has decreased over the last 46 years. But eclampsia still remains a significant complication of pregnancy with high maternal and perinatal mortality.
Eclampsia* ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Maternal Death ; Maternal Mortality ; Medical Records ; Perinatal Mortality ; Postpartum Period ; Pregnancy ; Retrospective Studies ; Seizures

OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to identify the relations between the old's participation in voluntary service activities and health-related quality of life. METHODS: The subjects of the study were 318 elderly people aged over 65 years. They were interviewed with the use of a questionnaire from May 1 to June 30, 2012 to collect data. To verify the data collected, this study carried out a linear regression analysis. RESULTS: The health-related quality of life of the elderly who were participating in voluntary service activities was statistically significantly higher than that of those who were not. CONCLUSIONS: This study has meaning in that it discovered that the elderly people's participation in voluntary service activities had a positive effect on their health-related quality of life.
Aged* ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Quality of Life*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine factors that affect poor quality of life (QOL) of older adults who received home health service. METHOD: The sample 492 older adults participated in the study. The QOL was measured using the scale of QOL of Ware and other data were collected through face-to-face interviews from September to August, 2009. RESULTS: The level of QOL was moderate (Mean 24.4, SD 7.4). The QOL was poorer in older adults (p<.05) and in those living alone (p<.01) compared to older adults and those living with couple or family respectively. The QOL was positively correlated with a sense of mastery (r=.213, p<.05), connection of health (r=.160, p<.05) and a cognitive function (r=.119, p<.01), and negatively correlated with Activities of Daily Living (r=-.266, p<.01) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (r=-.339, p<.01). Sense of mastery, connection of health & welfare, and IADL were significant predictors of QOL. CONCLUSION: Finding suggest that home health service program should incorporate strategies for increasing sense of mastery and capability of performing IADL, and strengthening connection of health service that may improve QOL of older home health service recipients.
Activities of Daily Living ; Adult ; Health Services ; Humans ; Quality of Life

Purpose: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of nurse-led interventions on quality of life, medication adherence, anxiety, and depression in kidney transplant recipients. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Two researchers independently selected the final literature, and the quality assessment was performed using Cochrane’s Risk of Bias tool. Additionally, a meta-analysis was conducted using the statistical software RevMan 5.4 to estimate effect sizes. Results: Among the reviewed 2,264 papers, 8 final papers, including 6 from the literature search and 2 from manual searches, were included in the analysis. The total number of participants included in the analysis was 477. Nurse-led interventions were found to be effective in improving quality of life (d=1.05) and reducing anxiety (d=-0.98) and depression (d=-1.25). Due to the heterogeneity of the measurement tools, the effect size for medication adherence could not be calculated. Despite this, nurse-led interventions were shown to improve medication adherence. In the cases of anxiety and depression, longer intervention periods showed a more significant reduction trend. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that nurse-led interventions positively impact quality of life, medication adherence, anxiety, and depression in kidney transplant recipients. Therefore, it is important to recognize the crucial role of nurses and explore ways to provide continuous nursing interventions for kidney transplant recipients.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to prove the effects of topical anesthetics (EMLA) to control pain in preterm infants during invasive procedure (percutaneous central venous catheterization, PCVC). METHODS: A total of 18 preterm infants of birth weight <2,000 g and gestational age <36 weeks born at EulJi University Hospital, at Daejeon in 2010 were randomly included in this study. EMLA was applied in nine preterm infants 40 minutes before starting PCVC and placebo was applied in another nine preterm infants. Based on PIPP (preterm infant pain profile), we evaluated their heart rate, oxygen saturation before, 15 seconds during and 30 seconds after procedure. Behavioral responses were also recorded for 2 minutes after procedure. RESULTS: Experimental group showed significantly less behavioral response during procedure (P=0.005) and 2 min after procedure (P=0.001). Also, experimental group showed less increase in heart rate (P=0.033) and reduction of behavioral state (P=0.017). CONCLUSION: Despite limitation of small size in this study, experimental group showed lower pain score compared with placebo control group during catheterization. In neonatal care unit (NICU), we recommend the use of topical anesthetics such as EMLA to control pain during invasive procedures.
Anesthetics ; Birth Weight ; Catheterization ; Catheterization, Central Venous ; Catheters ; Central Venous Catheters ; Gestational Age ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Lidocaine ; Oxygen ; Prilocaine

PURPOSE: This study was to investigate the effect of the application of cancer pain management guidelines on pain management among patients in Cancer Emergency Room. METHODS: This study was a retrospective descriptive study. Before application, data were collected by analyzing the Electronic Medical Record in Cancer Emergency Room in September, 2011, and after application in February, 2012. The subjects of this study consisted of 231 patients (pre-application group 83, post-application group 148), who stayed over 24 hours and complained of pain higher than Numeric Rating Scale score 4. The post-test was conducted after educating the nurses about the application of the pain management guidelines in the Electronic Medical Record. RESULTS: This survey showed that, as the cancer pain management guidelines were applied for cancer patients with above moderate pain, the pain intensity decreased, the number of patients reaching the treatment goal score increased. Furthermore, the estimated time to reach the treatment goal decreased significantly. CONCLUSION: Pain intensity of the cancer patients was decreased through regular pain assessments by nurses and the medication of analgesics according to the cancer pain management guidelines. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the pain management program and to provide the physicians and nurses with intensive education about the pain management guidelines for systematic and effective pain management.
Analgesics ; Electronic Health Records ; Electronics ; Electrons ; Emergencies ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Methods* ; Pain Management ; Pain Measurement ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Retrospective Studies

The purpose of this study was to investigate the status of recognition and intake of Saeng shik among housewives in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Kwangju and Daejeon during February, 2002. Saeng shik is an uncooked freeze dried powdered food made from grains and vegetables. We interviewed 800 housewives, aged 30 to 49 years, living in urban areas. The survey was conducted using individual interviews on demographic characteristcs, status of recognition of Saeng shik, and the intake of Saeng shik. The data was analyzed using a SPSS program. The results were summarized as follows: Forty percentage of the subjects were well acquainted with Saeng shik. More than 60% of the subjects understood that Saeng shik is 'the thing of grains and vegetables in the form of freeze-dried powder without heating process'. Saeng shik was taken by 16.9% of subjects. There was a significant regional and economic level difference in Saeng shik intake (p < 0.05). Among the reasons given for Saeng shik intake, meal substitution ranked the highest. Other reasons were prevention of adult diseases, or it being a low calorie food. The survey questioned which the subjects considered before buying Saeng shik, taste, effect, constitution, sanitation and safety, satiety. 'Taste' ranked the highest. Among the subject who had experienced taking Saeng shik, 35.6% answered that they would continue taking Saeng shik. The reasons given for stopping taking Saeng shik included its high cost and taste. The subjects recognized it not only as a meal substitute, but also as a nutrient supplement. Based on these results on urban housewives' status of recognition of Saeng shik and their intake of it, more research is needed to improve Saeng shik.
Adult ; Busan ; Edible Grain ; Constitution and Bylaws ; Daegu ; Gwangju ; Heating ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Meals ; Sanitation ; Seoul ; Vegetables