PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the degree of perceived powerlessness in hospitalized elderly patients of the medical and surgical unit. METHOD: The instrument for this study was the Powerlessness Behavioral Assessment Tool(Miller, 1983). The reliability of the instruments was .85. The data was analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, and ANOVA. RESULTS: The results were as follows; 1. The mean score of powerlessness was 35.02(SD=+/-9.24) in a range of 19 to 64, and the mean of powerlessness was total 1.84. Among 4 subscales, the highest score was in the area of verbal response (M=1.98), and the lowest score for powerlessness was in the area of daily activities(M=1.74). In all items, 'verbal expression of fatalism' showed the highest score(M=2.78), and 'verbal expressions of giving up' showed the lowest score(M=1.38). 2. There were significant differences in the level of powerlessness according to hospitalization experience(t=-3.03, p=0.006), medical treatment experience(t=.291, p=.004). Especially, there was significant difference according to the hospitalization experience of the hospital in all sub-scales. CONCLUSION: Based on these conclusions, nursing education for patient's diseases and treatment can be used for proper nursing intervention in reducing the level of powerlessness of hospitalized elderly.
Aged* ; Education, Nursing ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Nursing

No abstract available.

A computer progrem which performs obstetric calculation on Clipper Language using the datas from ultrasonography was developed from personal computer. It was designed for fast assessment of fetal development, prediction of gestagional age, and weight from ultrasonographic measurements which included biparietal diameter, femur length, gestational sac, occipito-frontal diameter, abdominal diameter, and etc. The Obstetricel-Ultrasound data-Base Managemant System was tested for its performance. The Obstetrical-Ultrasound Data-Base Management System was very useful in patient management with its convenient data filing, easy retrieval of previous report, prompt but accurate estimation of fetal growth and skeletal anomaly and production of equation and growth curve for pregnant women.
Female ; Femur ; Fetal Development ; Gestational Sac ; Humans ; Microcomputers* ; Pregnant Women ; Ultrasonography*

No abstract available.

No abstract available.

Adhesion formed between tendon and its sheath after repair often impairs functional recovery. There have been many attempts to reduce adhesion around a repaired tendon, but most results have been unsatisfactory or impractical in clinical application. Moreover, most attempts were focused on extrinsic tendon healing. whereas studies on the intrinsic tendon healing are sacrce in the literature. We have previously reported that fibrotic tendon adhesion after repair was decreased by decorin, a natural inhibitor of TGF-beta. Accordingly, the serial tensile strength was measured after complete tensection and repair of the tendon severance in order to confirm the effect of decorin inhibition of intrinsic healing capability. Forty White Leghorn chickens were subject to complete transection and repair of the third toe flexor digitorum profundus tendon in Zone II. In the experimental group, 0.5ml of diluted decorin(50microgram/ml) was injected around the repaired site, and the same volume of saline solution in the control group. Tendons were harvested at 1, 3, 5 and 7 weeks. The disrupting force of the repair site was analyzed using tensiometry(LLOYD LR 30K, U.K). The tensile strength of repaired tendon was similar in both groups for all postoperative periods. This indicates that intrinsic healing proceeds normally within the decorin group in spite of the blockade of TGF-betaactivity. Decorin, a natural inhibitor of TGF-beta, showed a significant inhibitory effect on reducing post-repair tendon adhesions, without disruption of intrinsic healing in the chicken flexor tendon injury model. Therefore, decorin is expected to be a useful agent for preventnion on tendon adhesion after the repair in clinical usage.
Chickens ; Decorin* ; Postoperative Period ; Sodium Chloride ; Tendon Injuries ; Tendons* ; Tensile Strength* ; Toes ; Transforming Growth Factor beta

No abstract available.
Automatic Data Processing*

Polypharmacotherapy, both psychotropic and nonpsychotropic, is widespread in various situations including psychiatric hospitals and general hospitals. As the clinical practice of using more than one drug at a time increase, the clinical is faced with ever-increasing number of potential drug interactions. Although many interactions have little clinical significances, some may interfere with treatment or even be life-threatening. The objective of this review is evaluation for drug-drug interactions often encountered in psychiatric consultation. Drug interactions can be grouped into two principal subdivisions : pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic. These subgroups serve to focus attention on possible sites of interaction as a drug moves from the site of administration and absorption to its site of action. Pharmacokinetic processes are those that include transport to and from the receptor site and consist of absorption, distribution on body tissue, plasma protein binding, metabolism, and excretion. Pharmacodynamic interactions occur at biologically active sites. In psychiatric consultation, these two subdivisions of drug interactions between psychotropic drugs and other drugs are likely to happen. We gathered informations of the drugs used in physically ill patients who are consulted to psychiatric department in Korea University Hospital. And we reviewed the related literatures about the drug-drug interactions between psychotropic drugs and other drugs.
Absorption ; Catalytic Domain ; Drug Interactions ; Hospitals, General ; Hospitals, Psychiatric ; Humans ; Korea* ; Metabolism ; Plasma ; Protein Binding ; Psychotropic Drugs

The microsurgical free vascularized latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap was successfully applied in the correction of long-term flexion contracture of the left knee due to scalding burn on the paralyzed leg from poliomyelitis. The patient was a 21 year old male, who suffered from 70° of flexion contracture of the left knee due to scalding burn at the age of 7 years. He has had flaccid paralysis of both legs since the age of 2 years. and not been able to ambulate with bilateral crutches and long leg braces. However after posterior capsulotomy, and successful microsurgical free vascularized latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap, his left knee could be fully extended and fitted into bilateral long leg braces. So he was able to walk with bilateral crutches and discharged from the hospital on the day of 5th week after admission. Therefore microsurgical free vascularized latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap is recommended for large soft. tissue defects such as those arising from posterior capsulotomy of knee joint used in the correction of flexion contracture from scalding burn scar upon the paralyzed legs from poliomyelitis.
Braces ; Burns ; Cicatrix ; Contracture ; Crutches ; Humans ; Knee Joint ; Knee ; Leg ; Male ; Myocutaneous Flap ; Paralysis ; Poliomyelitis ; Posterior Capsulotomy ; Superficial Back Muscles

BACKGROUND: This study tested the efficacy of 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate for improving oral hygiene in intubated intensive care patients. METHODS: In a group of 57 ventilated patients, 29 received normal saline (NS) for oral hygiene, and 28 were treated with chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG). Data on oral bacterial colonization was collected for 11 months from October 2005 to August 2006. Tests of oral hygiene and oral microorganism culture were performed on the day of the ventilation, and repeated on days 4, 8, and 12. RESULTS: Oral hygiene was significantly improved in the CHG group compared to that in the NS group (P<.001). Further, all patients (100%) in the NS group tested positive for Staphylococcus aureus on the 12th day after the endotracheal intubation, whereas only 42.9% (P=0.026) of the CHG group were positive. The NS group also had higher isolation rates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa at 66.7% on the 8th day after intubation and 87.5% on the 12th day. At these same intervals, the CHG group had isolation rates of 29.4% (P=.028) and 14.3% (P=.010) respectively. CONCLUSION: The longer the period of endotracheal intubation, the more effective the 0.12% CHG treatment was for improved oral hygiene and reduction of S. aureus and P. aeruginosa colonization when compared to treatment with NS.
Chlorhexidine ; Colon ; Humans ; Critical Care ; Intensive Care Units ; Intubation ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Oral Hygiene ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; Sodium Chloride ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Ventilation