PURPOSE: This study was conducted to investigate the effects of foot reflexzone massage on state - anxiety and discomfort of ovarian cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. METHOD: A quasi experimental design with a non equivalent control group and non synchronized design was used. The experiment was conducted from October 1, 2003 to September 30, 2004. The subjects consisted of 40 patients admitted to C University Hospital. Twenty subjects were assigned to the experimental group and received foot reflexzone massage everyday for 3 days. The other 20 subjects were in the control group and received routine care. Foot reflexzone massage was done on both feet of the subjects for 30 minutes for 3 days using standard protocol. The 'State-Anxiety Inventory' developed by Spielberger was used to measure the degree of state-anxiety. Discomfort was assessed using the 'Symptom Distress Scale' of McCorkle and Young. Data was analyzed by a SAS program using t-test, Wilcoxon signed rank sum test and Wilcoxon rank sum test. RESULTS: State-anxiety and discomfort of subjects receiving foot reflexzone massage were significantly lower than those of the control group. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that foot reflexzone massage could be an effective nursing intervention for relieving state-anxiety and discomfort in ovarian cancer patients.
Anxiety ; Drug Therapy* ; Foot* ; Humans ; Massage* ; Nursing ; Ovarian Neoplasms* ; Research Design

This study was designed to assess the iron nutritional status and anemia of high school students. 383 female subjects in Ulsan Metropolitan city were evaluated using a questionnaire, and a measurement of hematological indices. The average height and weight of the respondents were 161.24+/-4.90 cm and 53.12+/-6.37 kg, repectively. The average BMI(body mass index) was 20.43+/-2.26 which was in the normal ramge. The average hemoglobin(Hb) concentration of the subjects was 13.14+/-0.97g/dl, and the average hematocrit(Hct) level was 40.84+/-17.40%. Transferrin saturation{TS(%)} was 20.86+/-10.32%, and the ferritin by Hct(<36%), 27.2%by TS(<14%),26.6% by ferritin(<12 ng/ml). As for clinical symptoms, the greatest number of respondents reported that they experienced 'decreased ability to concectrate'. Mean daily intakes of iron were 14.89+/-4.48 mg and heme iron intakes were 5.04+/-2.13 mg, which was 29.6% of total iron intake. The total iron binding capacity(TIBC) was negatively correlated with Hb concentration(r= -0.222, p<0.01). Serum ferritin was positively correlated with Hb concentration(r= - 0.323, p<0.05) and negatively correlated with TIBC(r= -0.367, p<0.01). TS(%) was positively correlated with Hb concentration(r= 0.402, p<0.01) and positively correlated with serum ferritin(r=0.413, p<0.01). As for the correlation between blood biochemistry and clinical symptoms related to anemia, the Hb concentration was negatively correlated with 'shortening of breath when going upstairs(p>0.05)' and 'cold hands and feet' significantly(r= -0.109, p<0.05). The level of Mean corpuscular volume(MCV) was negatively correlated with 'feel dizzy when standing up', 'tired out easily', and 'decrease ability to concentrate' significantly(p<0.05). In particular, the level of Fe was negatively correlated with 'shortening of breath when going upstairs' and 'feeling blue' significantly(p<0.01). These results suggest That the prevalence of iron deficiency of female high school students is very high, therefore guidelin......
Anemia* ; Biochemistry ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Female* ; Ferritins ; Hand ; Heme ; Humans ; Iron* ; Nutritional Status ; Prevalence ; Transferrin ; Ulsan*

No abstract available.

This study was reviewed databases and outcomes of national/international off-line and on-line(Internet) nutrition softwares to identify the present conditions of nutrition softwares, and investigated user's needs and determine which component should be included in nutrition software. The most frequently used databases for the national programs were the food composition table provided from the National Rural Living Science Institution in Rural Development Administration and the food composition table and the nutrient contents of foods provided from the Korean Nutrition Society. For international programs, the food composition table from the USDA was commonly used. The analysed outcomes included the degree of obesity, nutrient analysis and nutrient intake compared with RDA, food intake from each by food group, food habits and the frequency of food consumption. As to the result of needs assessment for the Internet nutrition softwares, it was suggested that the needs of the Internet nutrition softwares were high because most of the respondents replied that 3-point('it is needed') or 4-point('it is necessary') on 4-points likert scale. As to the databases, the needs of 'food composition analysis' and 'the suggestion of the Korean RDA' were high. For the basic information for foods, the respondents replied that 'the classification of foods', 'foods codes', 'the amount of ingredients' and 'nutrient analysis' should be included. The needs of 'nutrient analysis of meal', 'diet therapy' and 'meal plan by caloric requirements' were high. As for utilizing the Internet meal planning programs, the respondents replied that 'it should be easy to use' most and demand for 'data saving and the saved data should be usable later' and 'meal planning education tools' were high. In conclusion, the Internet nutrition software that satisfies various needs of users should be developed for policy making that promote public health, nutritional care and self-supporting of foods.
Classification ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Eating ; Education ; Food Habits ; Internet* ; Meals ; Needs Assessment ; Obesity ; Policy Making ; Public Health ; Social Planning ; United States Department of Agriculture

This study was designed to investigate the effect of iron supplementation on the iron nutritional status and anemia of high school girls in Korea. One hundred thirty-five female students residing in Ulian metropolitan city in Korea diagnosed as having anemia or iron deficiency participated in this study. One or two tablets of iron medicine(80-160 mg Fe as ferrous sulfate/day) were administered to all participants for 3 months. Subjects were evaluated with a questionaire, measurement of hematological indices before and after iron supplementation. The average height and weight of respondents were 161.62 +/- 4.68 cm and 53.87 +/- 6.10 kg, respectively. Daily intakes of energy were 1597.8 +/- 302.35 kcal(76.0% RDA). Iron intakes were 13.72 +/- 4.17 mg (76.3% of RDA) and calcium intakes were 580.74 +/- 177.21(72.5% of RDA) before iron supp]ementation. At baseline, 63% of all participants had depleted store(serum ferritin 12 ug/ml and/or transferrin saturation(TS)<14%). After iron supplementation, this proportion declined to 19.3%. 55.6% of subjects had 12 ug/m1 of basal ferritin concentration before iron supplementation, and this proportion declined to 16.3% after iron supplementation. The basal hemoglobin(Hb) concentrations were 12.13 +/- 1.01 g/dl and they increased to 12.79 +/- 0.81 g/dl, which showed significant difference artier iron supplementation(p<0.001). The basal ferritin and TS(%) were 13.24 +/- 11.66 ng/ml, 18.42 +/- 10.12% and they significantly increased to 32.95 +/- 21.14 ng/ml, 33.53 +/- 16.64%, respectively(p<0.001). The basal total iron binding protein(TIBC) were 467.81 +/- 97.24 ug/dl and they significantly decreased to 325.05 +/- 48.89 ug/dl(p<0.001) after iron supplementation. The number of tablets administered was positively correlated with serum iron(t = 0.553, p<0.01), serum ferritin(t = 0.557, p<0.01), TS(%)(t = 0.588, p<0.01) and negatively correlated with TIBC(t= -0.409, p<0.01). The anemia symptoms such as 'Shortening of breath when going upstairs(p<0.01)', 'Tired out easily(p<0.01)', 'Feeling blue(p<0.001)', 'Decreased ability to concentrate(p<0.01)', and 'Poor memory(p<0.001)'improved significantly after iron supplementation. In this study, daily iron supplementations were efficacious in improving the iron status and anemic symptoms of female high school students. Regular check-ups and nutrition education for adolescents are necessary because of their vulnerability to iron deficiency. Further studies are needed to determine the minimum effective dose of iron and to examine the adverse effect of long-term iron supplementation.
Adolescent ; Anemia ; Calcium ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Education ; Female* ; Ferritins ; Hematocrit ; Humans ; Iron* ; Korea ; Nutritional Status ; Tablets ; Transferrin

No abstract available.
Humans ; Infant* ; Zinc*

This is a case report of the congenital ileal atresia with disuse microcolon. The patient was a 3 day-old male newborn infant who was admitted in department of pediatrics Soon Chun Hyang Hospital with complaints of persistant vomitings, no meconium passage, and jaundice from a few hours after birth. The diagnosis was established by characteristic clinical features and barium enuma and finally confirmed by operationl. The operative findings showed that entire colon showed very narrow lumen and was associated with malrotation of the cecum, volvulus of midgut, multiple bands formation, and atresia of ileum with marked dilated proximal small bowel. It is considered that this microcolon was originated from non-use of the colon due to atreisa of the ileum. Resection of the obstructed ileum with multiple bandlysis and finally ileo-ileal end to end anastomosis were done. Microscopic findings showed that sections of cord like mass revealed marked narrowing of mucosal lumen with collections of mucus and necrotic cell debris and lack of mucosa. He was discharged 50 days after operation with favorable condition and normal finding of follow-up barium enema. A brief review of related literature was also presented.
Barium ; Cecum ; Colon ; Diagnosis ; Enema ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Ileum ; Infant, Newborn ; Intestinal Volvulus ; Jaundice ; Male ; Meconium ; Mucous Membrane ; Mucus ; Parturition ; Pediatrics

No abstract available.
Edema* ; Hydrops Fetalis*

No abstract available.

PURPOSE: The use of antiepileptic drugs for the seizure control has been a remarkable breakthrough. However, excessive body weight gain is a common side effect of some antiepileptic drugs. Topiramate is a novel and highly effective antiepileptic drug that has been associated with weight loss in some patients. This study was undertaken to compare the change of body weight in children treated with valproic acid and topiramate for epilepsy. METHODS: Children who took medications for epilepsy with either valproic acid or topiramate were recruited. We collected the data of the initial weight and the follow-up weight on average, 10 months documented in the medical records. We analyzed the change of body weight due to antiepileptic drugs in the study subjects. RESULTS: Statistically significant weight gains after treatment with valproic acid were observed(mean+/-SD, 3.7+/-3.2 kg). However, there have nearly no change of body weight after the treatment with topiramate(mean+/-SD, -0.9+/-2.3 kg). There were significant difference in weight changes between two groups of two different antiepileptic drug. CONCLUSION: This study showed that topiramate caused little weight gain in children with epilepsy. Antiepileptic drugs should be selected by individual patient's characteristics.
Anticonvulsants* ; Body Weight* ; Child* ; Epilepsy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Seizures ; Valproic Acid ; Weight Gain ; Weight Loss