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.

No abstract available.

PURPOSE: This research was designed to develop an instrument that can be used for measuring of the quality of life for the elderly in Korea. METHOD: Subjects were 2,110 aged people, residing in Seoul and Kyeungi-Do. In developing this instrument, the researcher first established a conceptual framework based on the literature review and interview and open questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS-WIN program. For the component factors of the measuring instrument, a factor analysis method and item analysis was used. The reliability of the scale was tested by Cronbach's alpha. RESULT: 1) The results of the analysis of the 32 items making up the instrument were classified into the following 4 factors: life stability, easy of resource utility, health and affection in family, establishment of support- base. 2) The reliability of the instrument for the quality of life was 0.952 (Cronbach's alpha). In the factor analysis Cronbach's alpha correlations for the 4 factors ranged from 0.736 to 0.949. CONCLUSION: This scale could be adequately applied in assessing the quality of life for the elderly in Korea. And the results of this scale in a study can contribute to the promotion of quality of life for the elderly.
Aged* ; Humans ; Korea ; Quality of Life* ; Seoul ; Surveys and Questionnaires

To elucidate the significance of the nesidiodysplasia of pancreas, histological re-evaluation and immunohistochemical studies for insulin, glucagon and somatostatin were done on 16 consecutive cases (5 premature babies, 2 stillborns, 5 infants and 3 adults) in which paraffin blocks of the pancreas were available. Only one infant was hypoglycemic. All 16 pancreases showed changes of nesidiodysplasia which appeared immunohistochemically to have isulin, glucagon and /or somatostatin. The histologic patterns of nesidiodysplasia included ductoendocrine proliferation, endocrine cell dysplasia, adenomatosis, septal islet, islket cell hypertrophy and islet hypertrophy. All the patterns of nesidiodysplasia except for the adenomatosis were seen in premature babies, infants, stillborns and adults with or without hypoglycemia. The adenomatosis was found only in the hypoglycemic infant. The result suggests that all patterns of nesidiodysplasia of other than the adenomatosis does not imply the pathologic basis of hypoglycemia.
Infant ; Adult ; Male ; Female ; Humans

Various kinds of spinal instrumentation have been developed for treatment of spinal disorders which are associated with instability. Recently, newly designed devices using pedicle screw were developed with advantages of short segment fixation and firm internal fixation. This is a retrospective clinical and roentgenographic study to evaluate the effectiveness of Cotrel 1. Of the 27 cases, spinal stenosis were 11, spondylolisthesis were 8, spondylolysis were 4, burst fracture were 2, metastatic bone tumor was 1, and failed back syndrome was 1 case. 2. Result of clinical evaluation by Hanley's criteria at last follow up were excellent in 7(27%), Good in 15(58% ), fair in 4(15%). (1 case of metastatic bone tumor was excluded). 3. In the cases of spondylolisthesis, we tried to reduce the displacement in 2 cases of Meyerding Grade II, and 1 case was reduced and 1 case was not reduced. In the cases of of Meyerding Grade I, no further displacement was developed. 4. The complications were observed in 10(37%)cases. A) Generalized complications were 2 cases of hematoma, 3 cases of superficial infection of wound, and 1 case of nerve root irritation. B) Failure in instrmentation were 1 case of screw breakage, 1 case of complete loss of fixation between screw and rod, and 2 cases of partial loss of fixation. 5. To prevent above mentioned complications in fixation of the instrument, the following factors are recommended: 1) Selection of the adequate length of rod. 2) Fixation of the additional implant such as security bolt when instability between screw and rod is predictable. 3) Selection of the closed head screw in the fixation of proximally sided screw if possible. 6. Cotrel-Dubousset instrument has many advantages such as rigid internal fixation, anatomical reduction, and good maintenance and also effective in reduction and maintenance of spondylolisthesis and in wide posterior decompression of spinal stenosis, but for prevention of some complications, precise use of instrument and good application of surgical technique will be needed.
Decompression ; Follow-Up Studies ; Head ; Hematoma ; Internal Fixators ; Pedicle Screws ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Stenosis ; Spine ; Spondylolisthesis ; Spondylolysis ; Wounds and Injuries

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a major and growing public health problem and it calls for life-long management. The antihypertensive agents are still playing major roles in the management of hypertension. We studied the effect of the long-term therapy with a new calcium channel blocker, felodipine in patients with essential hypertension. METHODS: We recruited 31 patients with mild to moderate essential hypertention and gave them 5mg (1 tablet) of felodipine(Munobal(R)) once daily for 12 months. We measured the blood pressure and the heart rate every month and tried to detect any untoward symptoms and signs during the whole observation period. Baseline work-up for the hypertensive patients were done as usual before and after the study. RESULTS: The average systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 162.7+/-9.7/99.6+/-7.4mmHg respectively before the administration and they came down to the level of 139.7+/-15.0/87.3+/-8.6mmHg respectively at the end of the 1st month (p<0.05). This trend was maintained during the whole observation period, so they were 141.2+/-11.0/85.6+/-8.2mmHg respectively at the end of the study (p<0.05). Untoward drug reactions such as gastrointestinal troubles, facial edema, leg edema, chest pain and headache were present in 11 patients (35%) but they were not serious. There was no case in which the drug was withdrawn. There was one case in which the level of the serum triglyceride increased after the administration of the drug. CONCLUSION: Felodipine has good and persistent hypotensive effect and it is safe and easy to use.
Antihypertensive Agents ; Blood Pressure ; Calcium Channels ; Chest Pain ; Edema ; Felodipine ; Headache ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Leg ; Public Health ; Triglycerides

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Neuroblastoma*