The number of North Koreans defecting to South Korea is increasing rapidly. They are important people to South Korean society not only for humanitarian reasons, but also for their impact on the future Korean unification and the integration of the two different South and North Korean peoples. However, the defectors have experienced many difficulties in their adaptation to South Korean society due to their own characteristics and due to the misunderstandings of the South Korean people. To obtain comprehensive qualitative data about the characteristics and difficulties of North Korean defectors' adaptation to South Korean society, 58 semi-structured in-depth interviews were performed with 32 defectors who had entered South Korea from 1990 to 1997. Four categories of adaptation difficulties were encountered, which are related with the defectors' suspiciousness, different ways of thinking, searching for new sets of values, and with the prejudice of the South Korean people. Finally, three areas of suggestions for the more successful adaptation of the defectors to South Korean society were made; a need for more comprehensive perspectives on the defectors' adaptation, suggestions regarding educational programs and suggestions for educating the South Korean people.
Adaptation, Psychological* ; Adolescence ; Adult ; Emigration and Immigration* ; Female ; Human ; Interview, Psychological ; Korea ; Male ; Middle Age ; Politics*

Chronic cough-defined as a cough that persists for more than 3 weeks-is one of the most common symptoms during childhood that requires evaluation of causes and appropriate management, because it can be very disturbing to daily activities at home and school. Besides asthma, postnasal drip syndrome, post infectious cough, chronic bronchitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease and congenital anomaly, psychogenic factors are known to be possible causes of chronic cough in children. "Habit cough" and "respiratory tic" are different names given to psychogenic coughs. Psychogenic cough is croupy, loud, and unresponsive to antitussives or bronchodilators. It becomes more noticeable to attention and disappears during sleep. Over 90% of cases of psychogenic cough have been reported in patients under 18 years of age and its diagnosis is often delayed due to the time consumed for exclusion of other underlying organic disorders and the recognition of psychogenic factors as an etiology. We report on the case of an 11-year-old boy who presented with chronic cough of a barking nature and was diagnosed as having psychogenic cough by characteristics and 24-hour monitoring of cough frequency and who was treated by psychological interview.
Antitussive Agents ; Asthma ; Bronchitis, Chronic ; Bronchodilator Agents ; Child ; Cough* ; Diagnosis ; Gastroesophageal Reflux ; Humans ; Interview, Psychological ; Male

The myofascial pain syndrome patients usually have characteristic personalities. The purpose of this study is to investigate the psychological characteristics of myofascial pain syndrome patients. We reviewed medical records of fifty-four patients with myofascial pain syndrome for their Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Visual Analogue Scale, and psychological interview notes. On MMPI profile, the patients scored high in hypochondriasis, hysteria and depression scales, which are the triad of neurosis. According to stress factors and occupations, the psychologic responses were different. We have compared the severity of pain according to different life stress and occupations. VAS scores of the student group were higher statistically in the occupation comparison and of the marital problem group were higher in the life stress comparison. It is suggested that psychologic intervention on myofascial pain syndrome patients should be stressed for the management of pain.
Depression ; Humans ; Hypochondriasis ; Hysteria ; Interview, Psychological ; Medical Records ; MMPI ; Myofascial Pain Syndromes* ; Occupations ; Psychology ; Rehabilitation ; Stress, Psychological ; Weights and Measures

INTRODUCTIONThis study aims to validate the Zarit Burden Interview as an instrument to measure the level of burden experienced by caregivers of patients with dementia (PWD) in Singapore.

MATERIALS AND METHODSAdult family caregivers of PWD were recruited from the ambulatory dementia clinic of a tertiary hospital and the Alzheimer's Disease Association. All subjects completed a battery of questionnaires which consisted of demographic questions and the following instruments: the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), Burden Assessment Scale (BAS), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), Dementia Management Strategies Scale (DMSS), and the Revised Memory and Behaviour Problems Checklist (RMBPC). A subgroup of subjects also completed the ZBI for the second time 2 weeks after the fi rst survey.

RESULTSA total of 238 subjects completed the survey. As hypothesised, the Zarit burden score was strongly correlated with BAS, GHQ-28, DMSS, and RMBPC scores (Pearson's correlation coefficient: 0.53 to 0.73); caregivers who undertook the major role in caregiving, had spent >1 year in caregiving, or experienced financial problems had higher Zarit burden scores than those who were not main carers, with ≤1 year of caregiving, or reported no/minimal financial problems, respectively. The Cronbach's alpha value for the ZBI items was 0.93; the intra-class correlation coefficient for the test-retest reliability of the Zarit burden score was 0.89 (n = 149).

CONCLUSIONThe results in this study demonstrated that the Zarit Burden Interview is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the burden of caregivers of PWD in Singapore.

Adult ; Caregivers ; psychology ; Cost of Illness ; Dementia ; nursing ; Female ; Humans ; Interview, Psychological ; methods ; standards ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales ; standards ; Stress, Psychological ; diagnosis ; ethnology

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to help understand the life and illness-experiences of focusing on a positive lifestyle, patients with Parkinson's disease, METHOD: The present study adopted a ethno graphic methodology. The participants for this study were 4 men and 3 women, who were treated for Parkinson's disease. Data was collected by an interview and participant observations from August 2003 to September 2004. Tape-recorded interviews were transcribed after the interview and classified and described to realistic tale. RESULT: Patients with Parkinson's disease experienced the stage of retake-off pursuing positive life by overcoming the acceptance process of illness including the stage of recognition of change, the stage of disruption and the stage of acceptance. The factors of positive life of Patients with Parkinson's disease were their strong will and social support. CONCLUSION: This study may be used in future studies as an important resource to develop nursing intervention strategies and programs for patients with Parkinson's disease that can help the patients to achieve strong willingness and positive life in Korea.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Interview, Psychological ; Life Style ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Parkinson Disease/*psychology ; *Quality of Life ; Sick Role ; Social Support

About 60,000 men were undergone voluntary sterilization by the 497 designated doctors during the period from 1962 to October 1965 by the government subsidy program. Besides these numbers more than 15,000 private cases were sterilized by private doctors during the period from 1960 to 1964 in Korea. A general comprehension of the sterilization operation for motivation of customers was illustrated. An analysis of the social history and background of the sterilized men were made on the author's private group and the subsidized group. The most common occupation of the private group was commerce and that of the subsidized group was africulture. The duration intervening between marriage and sterilization indicated 13.6 years in the private group and 16.7 years in the subsidized group. An average age of the sterilized men showed 40 and that of their wives 35. An average number of children of the private group showed 4.7 while that of subsidized group indicated 5.3. Sexual drive following the sterilization was not changed in 81 per cent of the private group and in 71 per cent of the subsidized group. Decrease in sexual activity was revealed in 5 per cent of the private group but in 11 per cent of the subsidized group. General health after the sterilization was not changed in 83 per cent of the private group and in 70 per cent of the subsidized group. Decrease in general health was noted in only 6 per cent of the private group but in 11 per cent of the subsidized group. Frequency of sexual intercourse per week of the private group indicated 1.95 times preoperatively and 1.88 times postoperatively whereas that of the subsidized group revealed 2.27 times preoperatively but 1.99 times postoperatively. In regarding the sexual feeling of their wives, more than 87 per cent of the private group showed no change before and after the operation while 71 per cent of the wives of the subsidized group were not changed. Very few wives of the private group complained of some decrease, but 10 per cent of the subsidized group complained decrease. The time lost from work after the sterilization was about 2 days in the private group while about 8 days in the subsidized group. About 93 per cent of the private group were satisfied with the sterilization but 2 per cent of them did not feel happy after the operation. In the subsidized group 88 per cent were satisfied with the operation but 10 per cent were not satisfied. All of the private group and 80 per cent of the subsidized group would recommend the sterilization method to their friends. Untoward effects on sexual drive and general health are found to be higher in the subsidized group than in the private group. These outcomes are partly due to low edcation and low income of the subsidized group compared with the private group and partly due to unsatisfactory operative technique of the designated doctors. Psychological studies by means of MMPI conducted on 20 sterilization neurosis patients and the results were compared with the control nonvasectomized group. The sterilized group had definite psychological instability so that a preoperative psychological interview is found to invariably be necessary to prevent the sterilization neurosis. It is concluded by this preliminary clinical survey of the vasectomized cases through the author's private system and the government subsidy program that the few who told to decrease in sexual capacity and general health were outnumbered by those reporting an increase. The majority of the cases told of no change. The changes noted by a small proportion of patients appeared to be chiefly of psychological origin because there was no physiologic reason why the operation of vasectomy should causes sexual excess or decrease.
Child ; Coitus ; Commerce ; Comprehension ; Financing, Government ; Friends ; Humans ; Interview, Psychological ; Korea ; Male ; Marriage ; MMPI ; Motivation ; Occupations ; Sexual Behavior ; Spouses ; Sterilization ; Sterilization, Reproductive ; Vas Deferens ; Vasectomy*

The postpartum depression outcome and the effect of psychological intervention were studied in order to reduce the occurrence and development of the postpartum depression. A survey of 4000 women within 4-6 weeks postpartum in 80 communities in Shenzhen, China was performed using random cluster sampling method. By employing Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) as a screening tool, the positive women (defined as EPDS ≥10) were randomly divided into intervention group and control group at a ratio of 1:2. The women in the intervention group were treated by means of mailing postpartum depression prevention and treatment knowledge manual, face-to-face counseling, and telephone psychological counseling interventions aiming at individual risk factors, while those in the control group were treated with conventional methods. EPDS scores were assessed in these two groups again at 6th month postpartum. Totally, 3907 valid questionnaires were obtained. All the 771 positive women were divided into two groups: 257 in the intervention group, and 514 in the control group. At 6th month postpartum, the EPDS scores in the intervention group were decreased significantly, from baseline stage (12.84±3.02) to end stage (3.05±2.93), while EPDS scores in the control group were reduced from 12.44±2.78 to 6.94±4.02. There were significant differences in the EPDS scores at end stage between the two groups (t=13.059, P<0.001). Psychological intervention can reduce postpartum depression, with better maternal compliance. It is feasible and necessary to establish postpartum depression screening and psychological intervention model in community-hospital and include the postpartum depression screening, intervention, and follow-up into the conventional healthcare.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Depression, Postpartum ; diagnosis ; psychology ; therapy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Interview, Psychological ; Mass Screening ; Psychotherapy ; methods ; Risk Factors ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult