No abstract available.
Estrogens* ; Progesterone* ; Receptors, Progesterone*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate employment status after spinal cord injury (SCI) and identify personal, family, and injury characteristics those affect their employment in South Korea. METHODS: Participants were 334 community-dwelling persons 20-64 years of age who had sustained SCI for more than one year. Investigators visited each participant's home to carry out the survey. Bivariate and binary logistic regression analyses were performed to identify personal, family, and injury characteristics that influenced employment after SCI. RESULTS: Employment rate decreased significantly from 82.5% to 27.5% after SCI. Logistic regression showed that the probability of employment was higher in men than women, and in individuals older than 45 years at the time of injury than those aged 31-45 years of age. Moreover, employment was higher in individuals injured for longer than 20 years than those injured for 1-5 years and in individuals with incomplete tetraplegia than those with complete paraplegia. Employment was lower in individuals with SCI caused by industrial accidents than those injured in non-industrial accidents. CONCLUSION: Injury characteristics are the most important predictors of employment in persons with SCI. For persons with lower employment rate, individualized vocational rehabilitation and employment-support systems are required.
Accidents, Occupational ; Employment* ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Paraplegia ; Quadriplegia ; Rehabilitation, Vocational ; Republic of Korea* ; Research Personnel ; Spinal Cord Injuries* ; Spinal Cord*

No abstract available.
Hyperlipidemias ; Skin Diseases

PURPOSE: This study aims to find the factors that affect the degree of self-care performance in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. METHOD: This study used a descriptive correlational design. The data were collected using a sample of 80 PD patients, from the university affiliated Parkinson Center in Busan. Pearson's correlations and multiple regression analyses were conducted using the SPSS 18.0. RESULTS: The mean score of the self-care performance was 3.61 (+/-0.40). The highest score observed of self-care performance subscale was medication subscale (4.55+/-0.50) and the lowest score was observed in the exercise subscale (3.03+/-0.64). The self-care performance had significant correlations with depression (r=-.32, p<.01), self-care knowledge (r=.28, p<.05), function of motion (r=.25, p<.05), ability of daily activity (r=.22, p<.05), self-efficacy (r=.24, p<.05), and support from medical staff (r=.24, p<.05). The significant predictors of self-care performance included depression (beta=-.28), status of employment (beta=-.27), self-care knowledge (beta=.21), support from medical staff (beta=.28), and educational level (beta=.28), accounting for 34% of the variance in the self-care performance. CONCLUSION: Depression, self-care knowledge, medical support are significant predictors which affect the self-care performance with PD patients.
Accounting ; Depression ; Employment ; Humans ; Medical Staff ; Parkinson Disease ; Self Care

The gene encoding solute carrier family 9 member 6 (SLC9A6) on Xq26.3 is associated with Christianson syndrome (CS) mimicking Angelman syndrome. In CS, developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) appears in about 20%, and DEE with spike-and-wave activation in sleep (SWAS) is reported only in several cases. A 10-year-old boy with DEE showed multidrug resistant focal seizures from 6 months of age. He had progressive microcephaly, regression, global developmental delay without speech, hyperkinesia, and truncal ataxia; he had a long thin face, esotropia, and happy demeanor. Brain magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated cerebellar atrophy. Electroencephalogram at 7.5 years of age showed nearly continuous diffuse paroxysms in slow wave sleep. The seizures were responsive to corticosteroids for a while. Trio whole exome sequencing exhibited a likely pathogenic variant of SLC9A6 in the proband and his asymptomatic mother: c.1194dup (p.Leu399AlafsTer12).This is a rare case report of CS with DEE-SWAS in a Korean patient.

Objectives: We aimed to identify the factors related to depression and quality of life in patients with hypertension by using multilevel regression analysis. Methods: In 2019, 229 043 participants in the Korean Community Health Survey were selected as the study group. Individual factors were identified using data from the 2019 Community Health Survey. Regional factors were identified using data from the National Statistical Office of Korea. Multilevel regression analysis was conducted to find individual and local factors affecting depression and quality of life in patients with hypertension and to determine any associated interactions. Results: As individual factors in patients with hypertension, women, those with lower education-levels, recipients of basic livelihood benefits, and those with poor dietary conditions showed stronger associations with depression and quality of life. As regional factors and individual-level variables in patients with hypertension, lower gross regional personal income, fewer doctors at medical institutions, and lower rates of participation in volunteer activities presented stronger associations with depression and quality of life. In addition, the associations of depression with gross regional personal income, the number of doctors at medical institutions, and dietary conditions were significantly stronger in patients with hypertension than in patients without hypertension. The associations of gender and employment status with quality of life were also significantly greater. Conclusions Policy interventions are needed to adjust health behaviors, prevent depression, and improve quality of life for patients with hypertension, especially for those with the risk factors identified in this study.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the changes in psychological distress and the quality of life in patients with esophageal cancer from pre-surgery to 3 months after surgery. Methods: We enrolled 49 patients scheduled to undergo esophageal surgery at a tertiary hospital in Seoul, South Korea. Patients’ psychological distress and quality of life were assessed using the Korean scales, such as the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30), and an esophageal cancer-specific questionnaire (QLQ-OES18) at pre-surgery, 1 month, and 3 months post-surgery. Results: Moderate-to-severe anxiety was reported in 12.2% of patients at the pre-surgery evaluation, 57.1% of patients at 1 month post-surgery, and 8.2% at 3 months post-surgery. Moderate-to-severe depression was reported in 12.2% of patients at the pre-surgery evaluation, 63.3% at 1 month post-surgery, and 16.3% of patients at 3 months post-surgery. Clinically significant, moderate changes (10~20 points) in physical functioning, insomnia, nausea and vomiting, and dyspnea (per EORTC QLQ-C30) and dysphagia and taste problems (per QLQ-OES18) were reported from pre-surgery to 1 month post-surgery. Conclusion One month after esophageal cancer surgery, patients demonstrated severe psychological distress and worsening quality of life. Nursing intervention is needed to relieve psychological distress and improve the quality of life in patients with esophageal cancer in the 1-month early recovery period.

PURPOSE: To evaluate current complementary feeding and maternal nutritional knowledge of a multicultural family in Korea. METHODS: Foreign mothers of babies aged 9~24 months, who visited pediatric clinics or attended a meeting on a multicultural family party between December 2010 and April 2011, were asked to fill out questionnaires. Data from 146 questionnaires were analyzed. RESULTS: Complementary food was introduced at 4~7 months in 78% of babies. The following were the sources of information on complementary feeding: friends (34%), relatives (27%), books/magazines (19%), multicultural family educational support center (8%), mass media (4%), and hospitals (3%). The cases of complementary food introduction after 8 months (21% vs. 10%, p<0.001), initial use of commercial food (26% vs. 6%, P<0.001) and initial use of bottle feeding (15% vs. 3%, p<0.001) were more frequent compared to the 2009 Korean survey. Mothers agreeing with the following suggestions were relatively fewer: feeding minced meat from 6~7 months (61%), No mixed cereal powder as complementary food (61%), feeding egg white after 12 months (63%), no adding salt or sugar to the complementary food (64%), bottle weaning before 15~18 months (66%) and considering formula better than soy milk (68%). CONCLUSION: Complementary feeding practices of multicultural families showed many points of improvement compared with the 2009 Korean survey. Pediatricians should make more of an effort to consult with families of multicultural infants about nutrition and complementary feeding. Also, the government and the pediatrics academy need to institute policies to support the nutrition of multicultural infants.
Aged ; Bottle Feeding ; Edible Grain ; Egg White ; Friends ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena ; Mass Media ; Meat ; Mothers ; Pediatrics ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Soy Milk ; Weaning

Purpose: This study aimed to examine changes in nurse staffing grades and nursing fee revenues in intensive care units (ICUs) following the third amendment of the resource-based relative value scale, which was implemented in January 2024. Methods: Changes in staffing grades from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024 were analyzed among 588 general ICUs, 94 neonatal ICUs, and 13 pediatric ICUs. Annual nursing fee revenues per nurse were estimated based on the new nursing fee structure for each grade. Results: In general ICUs, the highest grade (grade S) and the second-highest grade (grade A) accounted for 7.3% and 41.5%, respectively, in tertiary hospitals, whereas 3.8% were grade S and 11.5% were grade A in general hospitals. In neonatal ICUs, the proportion of higher grades (S, A, and 1) was greater in general hospitals (54.3%) than in tertiary hospitals (38.6%). In pediatric ICUs, 30.8% were grade S and 61.5% were grade A. When applying the same grading criteria (i.e., beds per nurse) across both quarters, staffing levels remained unchanged in most ICUs. Nursing fees and their revenues did not increase proportionally to staffing requirements (i.e., the number of nurses required per patient). Conclusion Revisions to staffing grade and nursing fee systems are necessary to induce medical institutions to improve their ICU staffing levels.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine changes in nurse staffing grades and nursing fee revenues in intensive care units (ICUs) following the third amendment of the resource-based relative value scale, which was implemented in January 2024. Methods: Changes in staffing grades from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024 were analyzed among 588 general ICUs, 94 neonatal ICUs, and 13 pediatric ICUs. Annual nursing fee revenues per nurse were estimated based on the new nursing fee structure for each grade. Results: In general ICUs, the highest grade (grade S) and the second-highest grade (grade A) accounted for 7.3% and 41.5%, respectively, in tertiary hospitals, whereas 3.8% were grade S and 11.5% were grade A in general hospitals. In neonatal ICUs, the proportion of higher grades (S, A, and 1) was greater in general hospitals (54.3%) than in tertiary hospitals (38.6%). In pediatric ICUs, 30.8% were grade S and 61.5% were grade A. When applying the same grading criteria (i.e., beds per nurse) across both quarters, staffing levels remained unchanged in most ICUs. Nursing fees and their revenues did not increase proportionally to staffing requirements (i.e., the number of nurses required per patient). Conclusion Revisions to staffing grade and nursing fee systems are necessary to induce medical institutions to improve their ICU staffing levels.