PURPOSE: This study aimed to identify pain, disability, anxiety, depression and educational needs between acute and chronic low back pain groups. METHODS: A total of 153 patients aged 18 to 64, recruited from S-neurosurgical clinic for low back pain in Gyeonggi-do. Out of 153 subjects, 70 were Acute Low Back Pain (ALBP) group and 83 were Chronic Low Back Pain (CLBP) group. The collected data was analyzed using the SAS System V 9.4 program by chi-square test/Fisher's exact test and t-test. RESULTS: The pain and disability scores were higher in ALBP group while the depression score was higher in CLBP group. The educational needs score in the area for the time for lumbar operation was higher in CLBP group. In the Low Back Pain (LBP) treatment management, ALBP group visited clinic (60.0%) most frequently and CLBP group visited both clinic & traditional medicine (66.3%) regularly. CONCLUSION: In order to minimize the progression from acute to chronic LBP, it is necessary for patients who visited the clinic to be accompanied with an education program that reflects educational needs of patients and with proven alternative therapy.
Anxiety ; Depression ; Disability Evaluation ; Education ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Low Back Pain ; Medicine, Traditional ; Needs Assessment

Both idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and pulmonary involvement of collagen vascular disease(CVD) are well known cause of diffuse interstitial lung disease which lead to fibrosis and honeycombing. We analyzed HRCT findings of 33 patients with IPF and 14 patients with CVD in terms of predominant pattern, site of involvement, mediastinal lymph node enlargement, pleural change and pulmonary volume loss. Criteria of mediastinal lymph node enlargement and pleural thickening were 15mm in long diameter and 3mm, respectively. Volume loss of the lung was measured by using hilar height ratio (apex to hilum/hilum to diaphragmatic dome). Mean age was 61 years for IPF and 46 years for CVD and male: female ratio was 27:6, 4:10, respectively. Predominant HRCT pattern was honeycombing for IPF (63%), and ground-glass opacity for CVD (66%) (p=0.001). Predominantly, subpleural involvement was seen in 90% for IPF and 74% for CVD. Mediastinal lymph node enlargement was seen in 47% of the patient with IPF and 14% with CVD (p=0.004). pleural thickening was seen in 97% of the patients with IPF and 42% with CVD (P=0.002), Pleural effusion was seen in 10% of the patients with IPF and 36% with CVD (P=0.009). Hilar height ratio of more than 1.5 was seen in 84% of the patients with IPF and 29% with CVD. In conclusion, our study shows that patients with IPF are prone to have more progressed stage of pulmonary fibrosis than the patients with CVD on HRCT.
Collagen* ; Female ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis* ; Lung ; Lung Diseases, Interstitial ; Lymph Nodes ; Male ; Pleural Effusion ; Pulmonary Fibrosis

No abstract available.
Drug Eruptions*

This study was aimed at evaluating the nutritional status of Korean lactating women, who were attending peripheral community clinics in low-income areas, by anthropometric measurement, estimating dietary intakes and analyzing the contents of breast milk components, serum lipid content and fatty acid composition. Regarding anghropometric measurements, maternal circumferences decreased significantly at the trunk but not at the limbs. The skinfold thickness on all regions had the tendency to decrease during lactation. It was found that intakes of energy, protein, lipid and carbohydrates were desirable while calcium, zinc, copper and vitamin A were low and sodium was excessive. The energy % of fat was 22.41% of the total energy which is higher than the RDA for adults but it is proper for lactating women, but energy % from each fatty acid was usually low and an intake ratio of omega6/omega3 fatty acids was desirable. Accordingly, it is thought that dietary fat intake was balanced in quality. Concentrations of the nutrients in matured human milk showed the same range as that reported form different regions with the exception of calcium and magnesium which were relatively low. Serum lipid contents were decreased with the time postpartum and the average serum lipid content of lactating women were similar to the normal range of adults. Serum polyunsaturated fatty acids. especially omega6 fatty acids have gradually increased with the time postpartum, but the composition were not greatly influenced by dietary intakes.
Adult ; Breast* ; Calcium ; Carbohydrates ; Copper ; Dietary Fats ; Extremities ; Fatty Acids ; Fatty Acids, Unsaturated ; Female ; Humans ; Lactation ; Magnesium ; Milk, Human* ; Nutritional Status ; Postpartum Period ; Reference Values ; Skinfold Thickness ; Sodium ; Vitamin A ; Zinc

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the in-vitro efficacy of the active ingredients of dentifrice following treatment time. The whitening effect was evaluated by a change in lightness value relative to the contact time of hydrogen peroxide, by using artificially stained hydroxyapatite discs. The anti-calculus effect was assessed based on the amount of calcium eluted from the human dental calculus by sodium pyrophosphate. Remineralization was evaluated by the Vickers hardness test following the application of sodium fluoride to bovine enamel. In order to view dentinal tubules occlusion, the formation of insoluble calcium salts by bovine dentin specimens was observed using scanning electron microscopy. Change in lightness value (ΔL) was 5.50±1.51 after 1 min of treatment, 5.73±0.43 after 3 min, 8.64±0.24 after 10 min, 18.93±0.76 after 30 min, and 27.35±0.54 after 60 min. The amount of calcium eluted from the human dental calculus was 4.23±0.14 ppm after 1 min of treatment, 4.51±0.04 ppm after 3 min, 12.12±0.16 ppm after 10 min, 17.85±0.81 ppm after 30 min, and 25.15±0.32 ppm after 60 min. The Vickers hardness change value (ΔVHN) was 1.96±1.44 after 1 min, 1.52±1.06 after 3 min, 9.06±0.15 after 10 min, 10.83±5.13 after 30 min, and 12.55±2.09 after 60 min. Partial dentinal tubules occlusion was observed at 10 min and complete occlusion was evident at 60 min. In summary, the use of patch type dentifrices for 10, 30, or 60 min were 1.57 to 8.26 times more effective than using the paste type dentifrices for 1 to 3 min. Based on these findings, it is reasonable to expect that the use of patch type dentifrices for 10 min would lead to remineralization, anti-calculus and dentinal tubules occlusion effects, and that use for 30 min would result in a whitening effect.
Calcium ; Dental Calculus ; Dental Enamel ; Dentifrices* ; Dentin ; Durapatite ; Hardness ; Hardness Tests ; Humans ; Hydrogen Peroxide ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Salts ; Sodium ; Sodium Fluoride

No abstract available.
Trichotillomania*

OBJECTIVES: To determine the effectiveness and clinical utility of antenatal corticosteroids in the reduction of neonatal morbidity and mortality on preterm birth Material and method: Neonatal outcomes of 312 preterm babies were evaluated retrospectively. One hundred and two preterm babies(study group) were given dexamethasone more than 1 dose antenatally and 210 preterm babies(control group) were not given dexamethasone antenatally. Antenatal steroids were administered in the form of four 5mg intramuscular doses of dexamethasone 12 hours apart. Maternal and neonatal outcomes of study group were compared with those of control group. Student t- test, x2 test, Fisher's exact test, and logistic regression analysis were used where appropriate. p-value< 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Antentenatal corticosteroid significantly decreased the incidence of RDS(OR:0.47, 95% CI:0.25-0.86), IVH/PVL(OR : 0.32, 95% CI : 0.12-0.86), necrotizing enterocolitis(OR : 0.49, 95% CI : 0.25-0.98), and neonatal death(OR: 0.30, 95% CI: 0.10 - 0.89) in preterm delivery. In the presence of PROM, antenatal corticosteoid seemed to have no protective effect on the neonatal complications such as RDS, IVH/PVL, NEC, PDA, and neonatal death. CONCLUSIONS: Antenatal administration of corticosteroids was effective to decrease the incidence of neonatal morbidity and neonatal mortality in the preterm neonates with no apparent maternal complications.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Dexamethasone ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Infant Mortality ; Infant, Newborn ; Logistic Models ; Mortality ; Premature Birth* ; Retrospective Studies ; Steroids

BACKGROUND: Some cosmetics used for treating acne are considered as cosmeceuticals. Consequently, patients with acne are now more likely to perceive such products as actual treatments. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the awareness and use of cosmetics for acne and to compare them with hospital treatments in terms of efficacy and safety. METHODS: We surveyed patients who presented at the National Medical Center for acne treatment. We collected data on demographics, hospital treatments, kinds of cosmetics for acne, awareness and use of cosmetics for acne, efficacy and adverse effects (cosmetics for acne vs. hospital treatments), and overall patient satisfaction. RESULTS: Of 101 enrolled participants, 94 (mean [SD] age, 25.6 [6.5] years; 59 women) were analyzed. Seventy-one (75.5%) patients used cosmetics for acne. Only 30% perceived that cosmetics for acne were insufficient to treat acne, whereas 45~55% deemed cosmetics for acne as applicable replacements for topical and oral treatments. The participants rated their improvement to be significantly better with hospital treatments than with cosmetics for acne (much improved: 45.1% vs. 2.8%, became worse: 1.4% vs. 8.5%, p<0.01). There were significantly fewer adverse events after hospital treatments than after use of cosmetics for acne. The overall satisfaction scores were significantly higher with hospital treatments than with cosmetics for acne. CONCLUSION: Patients with acne mistakenly believe that cosmetics for acne can replace topical and oral treatments. Dermatologists should disseminate information and educate patients about the proper treatments for acne. Moreover, it is desirable to exclude the word “acne” from the name of cosmeceuticals.
Acne Vulgaris ; Cosmeceuticals ; Demography ; Humans ; Patient Satisfaction

In the last few decades, the standard surgical treatment for primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) has shifted from bilateral neck exploration to focused/minimally invasive parathyroidectomy (FMIP). This shift was accelerated by the introduction of intraoperative parathyroid hormone (IOPTH) monitoring, which can provide intraoperative information regarding the localization and complete excision of the pathological parathyroid gland during FMIP. Since the first clinical application of the IOPTH assay in 1991, IOPTH monitoring has substantially improved to date to increase its performance and availability. In addition, the clinical applications of IOPTH changed with the needs of actual clinical practice, although the fundamental concept and technique remained unchanged. In this review, we discuss the role of IOPTH monitoring in the surgical management of PHPT based on the results of contemporary studies and summarized the major issues regarding IOPTH.

Objective: It is essential to measure the effect of burnout on doctors because burnout can affect doctors’ mental health as well as the functioning of medical practice. This study aims to validate a Korean version of the single-item burnout measure (SIBM), which was developed to quickly measure the level of burnout among doctors. Methods: Through an online survey, a self-report questionnaire was administered to 324 public health doctors in Korea. The Korean version of the SIBM was validated against the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) screening tool, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Vaccination Attitudes Examination (VAX) scale. Pearson correlation coefficients and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to determine the association between the SIBM and other scales. ANOVA was additionally used to determine the associations between the subscales of the MBI-GS and those of the SIBM. Results: The correlation coefficient between the SIBM and the MBI-GS, PHQ-9, GAD-7, and PSS was positive (p<0.01), and the correlation coefficient between the SIBM and the VAX scale was not significant. Therefore, convergent and discriminant validity was verified. Exhaustion and cynicism, which were correlated with the SIBM, with r2=0.43 (p<0.01) and 0.48 (p<0.01), yielded R2 scores of 0.27 (p<0.01) and 0.20 (p<0.01) in ANOVA. Conclusion The Korean version of the SIBM is an appropriate screening tool for burnout. It can be evaluated in a short time, thereby enhancing continuous follow-up observations and response rates to burnout.