This study was done to analyze research trends and to suggest future directions for nursing research on the quality of life (QL) in Korea. The purposes of this study were to describe systematically 10 years of QL nursing, and to identify patterns of tools and significant variables on studies of QL. This article reviewed 71 nursing researches on QL between 1987 and 1996, by examining them according to the period of publication, research for a degree or not, research design, type of subjects, data collection methods, measurement instruments and range of reliabilities, type of nursing intervention, and association of QL and related variables. The findings of the analysis can be summarized as follows: 1. The number of studies related to QL increased from 1987 to 1994. But they have decreased since 1995. 48 of them(67.6%) identified surveys and correlational studies. 2. In all the titles of the studies, there were 7 types of concepts, including QL, quality satisfaction, life satisfaction, and well-being. Among them, QL was the most often used. 3. The subjects of 21 studies were healthy people. In 49 studies, patients had various illnesses. The majority of the patients were hemodialysis patients and cancer patients. Questionnaires were used for data collection in 58 studies. 56 studies were done for the thesis of a degree, while those in the remaining studies were not for degrees. 4. The research designs were various, except in the thesis for a doctorate. There were many more experimental studies(57.1%) done in the thesis for a doctorate. 5. The types of intervention were categorized as exercise(6), supportive care(3), reminiscence (2), relaxation(1), music(1), and hospice care(1). 6. As measurement tools, 14 types of tools relating to QL were used. 11 of them were composed of multiple dimensions. Among them, the QL Scale by You-Ja Ro(1988) was the most widely used in the studies. In the following, the Life Satisfaction Index by Jin Yun(1982), the Quality of life Scale of National Conference of Cancer nursing (1983), and the Life Satisfaction Index by Wood, Wylie and Sheafor(1969) were used. The reliabilities of the QL Scale were reported in 63 studies, and the Cronbach's alpha coefficients were over 0.7 in 60 cases. The quality of life scales included five dimensions; such as physical, psychological, social, economical, and spiritual dimensions. 7. There were two categories of factors influencing the quality of life: First, factors that cannot be changed by nursing intervention were; age, educational level, gender, marital status, income, employment status, occupation, number of family members, religion, and illness history. Second, factors that can be changed by nursing intervention were; physical activity, health status, the presence of complications, support, self-esteem, stress, self-efficacy, activities of daily life, physical strength, satifaction with life, and anxiety. Types of nursing intervention used to improve quality of life were; therapies in relaxation, exericse, reminiscence, and family support, social support, and hospice care. On the basis of the above findings, the following recommendations were made: 1. Further studies on the quality of life instruments of analysis are needed to provide an understanding of dimensions of life in detail. 2. A Meta-analysis needs to be conducted to identify intervention effects on the quality of life. 3. A tool development study is needed to measure the quality of life appropriately in different illnesses 4. More replicated analysis studies of QL are needed to prove the effect of variables on the QL.
Anxiety ; Data Collection ; Employment ; Hospice Care ; Hospices ; Humans ; Korea* ; Marital Status ; Motor Activity ; Nursing Research* ; Nursing* ; Occupations ; Oncology Nursing ; Publications ; Quality of Life* ; Relaxation ; Renal Dialysis ; Research Design ; Weights and Measures ; Wood ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: This study was aimed to investigate direct care stress and job satisfaction in home care nurses. METHOD: Subjects were 139 home care nurses of hospitals in urban cities. Data was collected by a self report questionnaire. Direct care stress was measured by Community Health Nurses Perceptions of Work-Related Stressors Questionnaire. Job satisfaction was measured by a visual analogue scale. RESULTS: The average score of direct care stress was 60.4. There were significantly high direct care stress in those who had less than that 3 years experience than in their counterparts. The average score of job satisfaction was 79.5. There were significant high job satisfaction in those who willingly chose to work. Direct care stress negatively correlated with the length of office experience of the home care nurse. CONCLUSION: A direct care educational program should be developed for those who have less than 3 years experience to decrease their stress level.
Home Care Services* ; Job Satisfaction* ; Nurses, Community Health ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Self Report

PURPOSE: To report a case of acute zonal occult outer retinopathy (AZOOR), initially misdiagnosed as retrobulbar optic neuritis, which was responsive to an immunosuppressive agent. CASE SUMMARY: A 28-year-old female with photopsia and a visual field defect in the left eye was referred to a hospital. There were no fundus abnormalities to explain her left visual field defect. Neurologic examination and brain MRI were normal. The patient was diagnosed with retrobulbar optic neuritis and treated with high-dose steroids. Four months after the onset of symptoms, she visited our hospital. Visual acuity was hand motion in the left eye. No relative afferent pupillary defect in the left eye and no anterior segment or fundus abnormalities were observed. A visual field examination of the right eye was normal and revealed field defect in the left eye. No abnormality was noted in the visual evoked potential test or fluorescein angiography. All examinations of the right eye were normal. In the left eye, fundus autofluorescence showed a hyperautofluorescent spot at the posterior pole, there was a decreased response in electroretinography and spectral domain optic coherence tomography showed that the junction between the photoreceptor inner and outer segments (IS/OS) was faintly visible only in the fovea. With the presumptive diagnosis of AZOOR, the patient was treated with an immunosuppressive agent. Visual acuity improved to 20/80 in the left eye at 10 months after the onset of symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Electroretinogaphy is essential to diagnose AZOOR in patients with photopsia, visual field defect and minimal or no fundus changes, especially in a young women. There is currently no proven standard treatment, however immunosuppressive agents may be helpful.
Adult ; Brain ; Electroretinography ; Evoked Potentials, Visual ; Eye ; Female ; Fluconazole ; Fluorescein Angiography ; Hand ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; Neurologic Examination ; Optic Neuritis ; Pupil Disorders ; Scotoma ; Steroids ; Visual Acuity ; Visual Fields

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an idiopathic, severe inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system targeting optic nerves and the spinal cord. It is characterized by acute bilateral visual loss (optic neuritis), acute transverse myelitis, and tends to spare brain early in the disease course. NMO can occur as an isolated condition or secondary to infection, toxin exposure, and autoimmune disease including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), sarcoidosis, and Behcet's disease. We experienced a case of SLE with myelitis and recurrent optic neuritis in a 28-year-old woman who presented with recurrent visual disturbance and sudden onset of paraplegia, and report here on this case along with a review of the relevant literature.
Autoimmune Diseases ; Brain ; Central Nervous System ; Demyelinating Diseases ; Female ; Humans ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; Myelitis ; Myelitis, Transverse ; Neuromyelitis Optica ; Optic Nerve ; Optic Neuritis ; Paraplegia ; Sarcoidosis ; Spinal Cord

PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to determine the adequate cutoff value of the neonatal screening test to decrease recall and false-positive rates. METHODS: During the period of January 1999 through December in Asan Medical Center, newborn screening tests for phenylketonuria, congenital hypothyroidism, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, and galactosemia were performed in 3,775, 3,707, 3,783, and 3,806 newborns respectively using commercial ELISA kits. We reviewed and analyzed the recall rate at currently used cutoff values. RESULTS: 1)In neonatal screening test for congenital hypothyroidism, using a current cutoff value, 17 microIU/mL, the recall rate was 0.9% and using a 99.7% cutoff value, 21.3 microIU/mL, the predictive recall rate was 0.4%. There were no significant differences in the other reports that suggest adequate recall rate. 2)In neonatal screening test for phenylketonuria, using a current cutoff value, 3.6 mg/dL, the recall rate was 1.5% which was no significant difference compared with expected presumptive positive rate, 1.44%. 3)In neonatal screening test for congenital adrenal hyperplasia and galactosemia, the recall rate was high when using current cutoff value. But all results were within normal limits in reevaluation. CONCLUSION: The cutoff values of screening test which are currently recommended by manufacturers of commercial kits for congenital hypothyroidism, congenital adrenal hyperplasia and galactosemia, are needed to be reset to decrease the recall rate by false-positive results on the basis of data from an individual newborn screening laboratory.
Adrenal Hyperplasia, Congenital ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Congenital Hypothyroidism ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Galactosemias ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Mass Screening ; Neonatal Screening* ; Phenylketonurias

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of depression, discomfort, spirituality, physical care, and opioid use on pain with terminally ill cancer patients residing in hospice units. The convenient sample of this study consisted of 41 terminally ill cancer patients at three hospice units in university affiliated hospitals. Patients were interviewed with structured questionnaires three times at predetermined intervals: admission to the hospice unit (Time 1), one week later (Time 2), and two weeks later (Time 3). The data was collected from January 1998 to January 1999 and was analyzed using ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multivariate multiple regression. The results of this study were as follows: 1. The mean age of the participants was approximately 55 years old. In terms of diagnosis, lung cancer showed the highest frequency (19.5%), followed by stomach cancer and rectal cancer (17.1%). The motive of seeking hospice unit admission was control (72. 2%), followed by spiritual care (50%), and symptom relief (38.9%). 2. Regarding the type of pain felt, the highest pain frequency the participants experienced was deep pain (55%), followed by multiple pain (25%), intestinal pain (10%), then superficial (5%) and neurogenic pain (5%). For the level of pain measured by VAS, there was no significant difference among the three time points; Time 1 (5.04 +/-2.21), Time 2 (4.82+/-2.58) and Time 3(4.73+/-2.51). 3. There was significant change seen in spirituality and physical care in each time interval. Namely, the longer the length of admission at the hospice unit, the higher the importance of spirituality (p=0.0001) and the more the physical care the participants received (p=0.01). The opioid use at the three time points showed the following frequencies : Time 1 (75.6%), Time 2 (85.4%) and Time 3 (75.6%). 4. Regarding factors influencing pain, the pain level was significantly affected by the depression level (p <0.01) and the opioid use (p <0.1). These results were the most significant at the two time points (Time 1 and Time 2). At Time 3 (two weeks later), the pain level was significantly affected by the depression level (p <0.05) and the amount of physical care the participants received (p <0.1). In conclusion, the terminally ill cancer patients had moderate pain, were generally depressed, and were treated with opioid analgesics. As approaching death, the patients received more physical care due to increased physical symptoms experienced and they had a higher perception of the importance of spirituality. Thus, health care professionals need to provide continuous care for each of them to die comfortably physically, psycho- logically, and spiritually.
Analgesics, Opioid ; Delivery of Health Care ; Depression ; Diagnosis ; Hospices* ; Humans ; Logic ; Lung Neoplasms ; Middle Aged ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Rectal Neoplasms ; Spirituality ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Terminally Ill*

PURPOSE: To evaluation the accuracy of the IOL power calculation formulae measured by IOL Master(R) and applanation ultrasonography for the Tecnis ZCB00 IOL. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of 170 eyes in 121 patients who underwent cataract surgery in our hospital with AMO Tecnis ZCB00 IOL.s. The SRK/T formula was used to predict the patient's implanted IOL power. Differences in the predicted refractive errors between IOL Master(R) and ultrasonography were analyzed and factors attributed to the differences were also analyzed. Three months after cataract surgery, mean numeric error and mean absolute error were analyzed. RESULTS: SRK/II and SRK/T formulas calculated using ultrasonography showed differences compared to the same formulas calculated using IOL Master(R), in which hyperopic shift was also demonstrated. No definite factor was attributed to the differences between the 2 methods. Although the 3 formulas of IOL Master(R) showed no significant difference in refractive errors, the SRK/T formula calculated using IOL Master(R) showed the least mean absolute and numeric errors. CONCLUSIONS: IOL Master(R) is considered more suitable when determining proper AMO Tecnis ZCB00 IOL power in cataract surgery. The hyperopic shift should be considered when calculating the IOL power using only ultrasonography.
Cataract ; Ultrasonography* ; Humans ; Lenses, Intraocular* ; Refractive Errors ; Retrospective Studies ; Ultrasonography

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical outcome of retreatment after refractive surgery. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 38 eyes of 24 patients who received retreatment surgery after refractive surgery from August 2008 to May 2013 was performed. Pre-initial surgery characteristics and the reason for retreatment were investigated, and preand post-retreatment uncorrected visual acuity, best corrected visual acuity, safety index, efficacy index, predictability, and postoperative complication were also investigated. RESULTS: Age at initial refractive surgery and retreatment were 28.50 +/- 7.29 years (17-49 years) and 31.21 +/- 6.49 years (21-49 years). Reasons for retreatment were myopic regression in 36 eyes (94.7%) and overcorrection in two eyes (5.3%). Methods of retreatment were laser subepithelial keratomileusis (LASEK) in 31 eyes (81.6%) and laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) in seven eyes (18.4%). Safety index values for all were above 1.0 and efficacy index values were 0.92, 0.93, and 0.95 in postoperative examination at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months, respectively. No eye showed a decrease in best corrected visual acuity. One eye had transient hyperopia after retreatment, and two eyes had postoperative corneal opacity, but no eye experienced significant alteration in visual prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: Retreatment after refractive surgery was an efficient and safe clinical course in our clinic. No long-term complications were observed, and uncorrected visual acuity and refractive errors significantly improved after retreatment. In particular, LASEK can be considered as a safe and efficient retreatment modality without risk of keratectasia.
Corneal Opacity ; Humans ; Hyperopia ; Keratectomy, Subepithelial, Laser-Assisted ; Keratomileusis, Laser In Situ ; Postoperative Complications ; Prognosis ; Refractive Errors ; Refractive Surgical Procedures* ; Retreatment* ; Retrospective Studies ; Visual Acuity

The purpose of this study was to investigate nutritional risk factors, perceptions on nutrition and health, nutritional knowledge, flood habits and their correlation to supplement use in middle-aged and elderly Koreans. A nationwide survey was conducted in the metropolitan areas (6 cities) and middle-sized cities (8 cities) of Korea from October to December, 2000. Subjects were randomly selected based on population, and 2,188 non-institutionalized adults aged over 50, and elderly (male 765, female 1,423) were studied. Data were collected using a standardized questionnaire administered in personal interviews. Nutrition and health-related scores of nutritional risk factors, perceptions on nutrition and health, nutritional knowledge, and flood habits were significantly higher in supplement users as compared to non-users. There was a negative correlation between nutritional risk factors and other nutrition and health-related scores on perceptions on nutrition and health, nutritional knowledge, flood habits, and pocket money. Also there was a positive correlation between nutritional risk factors and age. Therefore, these results may provide basic information for proper supplement use by middle-aged and elderly Koreans.
Adult ; Aged* ; Female ; Food Habits* ; Humans ; Korea ; Risk Factors* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: To compare the efficacy of time domain (TD) and spectral domain (SD) optical coherence tomography (OCT) in determining vitreomacular interface (VMI). METHODS: VMIs were evaluated with TD and SD OCT images crossing the fovea horizontally in 69 eyes (mean age 52.7 +/- 15.4 years) and were classified as follows: (1) no vitreomacular separation (VMS), (2) incomplete VMS, and (3) unknown. RESULTS: In TD OCT, no VMS was observed in 2 eyes (2.9%), incomplete VMS in 2 eyes (2.9%), and unknown in 65 eyes (94.2%). In SD OCT, no VMS was observed in 31 eyes (45.0%), incomplete VMS in 13 eyes (18.8%), and unknown in 25 eyes (36.2%). In 31 eyes with no VMS on SD OCT, 29 eyes (93.5%) presented unknown on TD OCT (p<0.0001). In 13 eyes with incomplete VMS on SD OCT, 2 eyes (15.4%) showed incomplete VMS and 11 eyes (84.6%) showed unknown on TD OCT (p<0.0001). TD OCT was also non-informative in all 25 eyes with unknown on SD OCT. CONCLUSIONS: SD OCT allows better visualization of VMI than TD OCT, especially in patients with no VMS.
Humans ; Tomography, Optical Coherence*