PURPOSE: The purpose was to compare operating room (OR) nurses and general ward nurses on their communication competence and interpersonal relationship ability within the medical team. METHODS: Participants were 276 nurses (OR 122, ward 154) working in one of 4 university hospitals located in I and K areas. Data were collected using a questionnaire and data collection was done in June, 2013. Comparisons between OR nurses and general ward nurses on communication competence and interpersonal relationship ability were analyzed using ANCOVA. RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences between the two groups in communication competence (F=11.96, p=.001) with average score for OR nurses at 3.37 points and ward nurses at 3.53 points. There were statistically significant differences between the two groups in interpersonal relationship ability (F=15.51, p<.001) with the average score for OR nurses at 3.30 points and ward nurses at 3.50 points. CONCLUSION: The results indicate a need to develop a variety of programs to promote communication competence in OR nurses and to enhance the openness of interpersonal relationship ability in human resource management.
Data Collection ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Mental Competency* ; Operating Rooms* ; Patients' Rooms* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the influence of digital literacy and patient activation on sick role behavior in vulnerable older adults with diabetes. Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive study included 142 vulnerable older adults aged over 65 with diabetes who were seen at Busan Medical Center. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and stepwise multiple regression analysis with SPSS for Windows version 23.0. Results: Sick role behavior was significantly correlated with digital literacy (r=.68, p<.001) and patient activation (r=.83, p<.001). Digital literacy had a significant correlation with patient activation (r=.63, p<.001). Multiple regression analysis for sick role behavior revealed that the most powerful predictor was patient activation (β=.55, p<.001). Patient activation, digital literacy, gender (female), religiosity (being religious) and cohabitation (living with family) explained 81.0% of the variance in sick role behavior. Conclusion Various factors were found to be related to the sick role behavior of vulnerable older adults with diabetes. Based on the results of this study, further development and application of a customized educational interventional program for improving the sick role behavior of older adults with diabetes will have a positive influence on disease treatment and health management for this population.

OBJECTIVES: To summarize the evidence regarding the association of parity and breast feeding duration with the risk of osteoporosis in postmenopausal Korean women. This was because studies have been inconsistent regarding the effect of parity and breast feeding duration on the risk of osteoporosis. METHODS: A systematic literature search of relevant studies published by December 26, 2018 was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, CINAHL, RISS, KISS, KMbase, and KoreaMed. Outcome estimates of odds ratio (OR) or standardized mean difference were pooled with fixed or random-effect model. In case of heterogeneity, subgroup analysis was conducted. RESULTS: Seven cross-sectional studies (with 3,813 subjects) were included in the analysis. OR for osteoporosis was 1.43 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.09–1.88, P = 0.010) in postmenopausal women with higher parity compared to those with less parity. Moreover, OR for osteoporosis was 1.93 (95% CI = 1.28–2.93, P = 0.002) in postmenopausal women with longer durations of breast feeding than in those with shorter durations of breast feeding. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that duration of breast feeding increased the risk of osteoporosis in postmenopausal Korean women. More cohort studies with high quality research designs are needed to confirm our results.
Bone Density ; Breast Feeding ; Breast ; Cohort Studies ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Odds Ratio ; Osteoporosis ; Parity ; Population Characteristics ; Postmenopause ; Research Design

Valproic acid is a commonly prescribed medication approved for epilepsy, migraine and bipolar disorder. The common adverse effects associated with valproic acid include nausea, vomiting, tremor and weight gain. Less common but more serious adverse effects can occur. These include irreversible hepatotoxicity and pancreatitis. We report one case of pancreatitis, an uncommon disorder in children, in an 11-year-old boy treated with valproic acid for simple partial seizure.
Bipolar Disorder ; Child ; Epilepsy ; Humans ; Male ; Migraine Disorders ; Nausea ; Pancreatitis* ; Seizures ; Tremor ; Valproic Acid* ; Vomiting ; Weight Gain

BACKGROUND: It is debatable whether psychiatric problems are overrepresented in the epileptic patient population. In addition, the significance of MMPI elevations in epileptic patients is still uncertain. This study attempted to find out MMPI profile characteristics of patients with medically refractory epilepsy (MRE). METHODS: MMPI was administered to 172 MRE patients and 139 normal controls. RESULTS: In terms of the mean value of MMPI scales, the MRE patients group had normal mean values comparable to the normal control group. However, the MRE patients could be classified into three subgroups by a multivariate cluster analysis, which include a subgroup with normal profile group (41% of patients), neurotic profile group (elevated Hs-D-Hy scales; 19% of patients), and psychiatric profile group (elevated Pa-Pt- Sc & Hs-D-Hy scales; 40% of patients). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that the majority of MRE patients have abnormal MMPI profiles and suggests that psychiatric disorders or problems might be common in MRE patients. (J Korean Neurol Assoc 19(3):226~231, 2001)
Epilepsy* ; Humans ; MMPI* ; Psychotic Disorders ; Weights and Measures

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is a highly contagious viral infection affecting young children during the spring to fall seasons. Recently, serious outbreaks of HFMD were reported frequently in the Asia-Pacific region, including China and Korea. The symptoms of HFMD are usually mild, comprising fever, loss of appetite, and a rash with blisters, which do not need specific treatment. However, there are uncommon neurological or cardiac complications such as meningitis and acute flaccid paralysis that can be fatal. HFMD is most commonly caused by infection with coxsackievirus A16, and secondly by enterovirus 71 (EV71). Many other strains of coxsackievirus and enterovirus can also cause HFMD. Importantly, HFMD caused by EV71 tends to be associated with fatal complications. Therefore, there is an urgent need to protect against EV71 infection. Development of vaccines against EV71 would be the most effective approach to prevent EV71 outbreaks. Here, we summarize EV71 infection and development of vaccines, focusing on current scientific and clinical progress.
Animals ; Appetite ; Blister ; Child ; China ; Disease Outbreaks ; Enterovirus* ; Exanthema ; Fever ; Foot-and-Mouth Disease ; Hand ; Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease ; Humans ; Korea ; Meningitis ; Models, Animal ; Paralysis ; Seasons ; Vaccines*

Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis is characterized by ophthalmoplegia, ataxia, and disturbance of consciousness. It is similar to Miller Fisher syndrome, a variant of Guillain-Barre syndrome, in that they share features such as ophthalmoplegia and ataxia. The difference is that patients with Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis have impaired consciousness, whereas patients with Miller Fisher syndrome have alert consciousness and areflexia. Here, we report the case of a 3-year-old child who was diagnosed with Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis presenting typical clinical features and interesting radiological findings. The patient showed ophthalmoplegia, ataxia, and subsequent stuporous mentality. Brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed high signal intensity in the pons and cerebellum around the 4th ventricle on a T2-weighted image. He was successfully treated with intravenous immunoglobulin. Differentiation of Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis and Miller Fisher syndrome is often difficult because they possess many overlapping features. Brain magnetic resonance imaging may be helpful in diagnosing Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis, especially when lesions are definitely found.
Ataxia ; Brain ; Brain Stem* ; Cerebellum ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Consciousness ; Encephalitis* ; Guillain-Barre Syndrome ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Miller Fisher Syndrome ; Ophthalmoplegia ; Pons ; Stupor

Although listeria monocytogenes is widely distributed in nature, it rarely causes clinical infection in previously healthy people. However, this microorganism may cause severe infectious disease in pregnant women and newborns due to impaired cell-mediated immunity. Various clinical symptoms have been described such as sepsis, central nervous system infections, endocarditis, gastroenteritis and localized infections. A clinical presentation of listeriosis in an early third trimester pregnant woman and in a preterm infant is emphasized in addition to taking a careful patient history, early empirical administration of antibiotics, aggressive ventilation therapy and also pharmacological support.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Central Nervous System Infections ; Communicable Diseases ; Endocarditis ; Female ; Gastroenteritis ; Humans ; Immunity, Cellular ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Listeria monocytogenes ; Listeriosis* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Third* ; Pregnant Women* ; Sepsis ; Ventilation

OBJECTIVES: Schizophrenic patients have been reported to be associated with abnormal performance on a broad range of neuropsychological tests. But it has been a persistent controversy in the neuropsychology of schizophrenia whether this disorder is characterized by generalized deficits or specific deficits. The purpose of this study was to investigate, using standardized Benton Neuropsychological Assessment(BNA), whether the specific pattern of neurocognitive deficits is found in schizophrenics. METHODS: The subjects were composed of (1) 30 schizophrenic inpatients who were diagnosed as paranoid subtype according to DSM-IV diagnostic criterior and (2) 30 normal subjects with matching demographic variables(i.e. age, sex, educational level). All tests of BNA were given to schizophrenic patients and normal subjects, and the performances of schizophrenic patients and normal subjects were compared on all aspects of BNA. Schizophrenic symptoms were assessed via Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale(PANSS) to determine the relationship between clinical symptoms and schizophrenic cognitive deficits. RESULTS: Of 12 tests of BNA, schizophrenic patients' performances on Serial Digit Learning(SDL), Facial Recognition Test(FR), Tactile Form Perception(TFP), Finger Localization(FL) were significantly lower than those of normal subjects. In addition, schizophrenic patients showed significantly lower performances than those of normal subjects on Right Hand, Left Hand, Identification of two simultaneously touched fingers of FL, and more Peripheral Error on Visual Form Perception Test(VFPT). Finally, no significant correlation was found with respect to the relationships between total scores, positive symptom scores, negative symptom scores of PANSS, and all scores of BNA tests in schizophrenic patients. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that schizophrenic patients may have a specific pattern of neurocognitive deficits in verbal working memory, learning, attention, and complex sensory information processing in visual and haptic modality such as facial perception skills, tactile information processing, independent of psychotic symptoms. The pattern of deifcits is at least in partial, in agreement with many previous study results. On the tests of linguistic functions, visuospatial perception, and constructional abilities, schizophrenic patients' performances were not significantly different from those of normal subjects. The findings on visuospatial perception and constructional abilities imply that some posterior cortical zones may be relatively uncompromised in schizophrenia. Both poor performances on object recognition tests relative to normal performances on object location tests and verbal working memory dysfunction may be associated with the putative dysfunction of the reciprocal connections either (1) between the prefrontal and parietal cortex or (2) between the prefrontal cortex and hippocampal formation. This tentative explanation remains to be confirmed.
Automatic Data Processing ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Fingers ; Form Perception ; Hand ; Hippocampus ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Learning ; Linguistics ; Memory, Short-Term ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Neuropsychology ; Prefrontal Cortex ; Rabeprazole ; Schizophrenia*

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of increased aminotransferase levels and to identify associated factors in children admitted to hospital with urinary tract infections (UTIs). METHODS: The study included children with a diagnosis of UTI who were admitted to the Konyang University Hospital from January 2007 to May 2011. The total number of patients was 249 and the mean age was 15.88+/-28.21 months. UTI was defined as a positive urine culture (>105/colony forming unit [CFU]) with pyrexia. Patients were treated by intravenous antibiotics, such as ampicillin/sulbactam, aminoglycoside, cephalosporins or vancomycin. Patients with neonatal jaundice or other liver disease were excluded. We investigated the relationship of aminotransferase levels with the type of antibiotic, degree of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR), and causative organisms. RESULTS: Children with increased aminotransferase levels were younger than those with normal levels (p=0.001), but white blood cell count, platelet count, causative organisms, type of antibiotics and presence of VUR were not associated with aminotransferase levels. Aminotransferase levels became normal within 1 month after discharge without special measures, except in 1 case. CONCLUSION: We found that many children with UTI have abnormal aminotransferase levels. In most cases, this change is mild and self-limiting. We conclude that increased aminotransferase level increase during UTI do not require unnecessary tests and excessive treatment.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Cephalosporins ; Child ; Fever ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Jaundice, Neonatal ; Leukocyte Count ; Liver Diseases ; Liver Function Tests ; Platelet Count ; Prevalence ; Sepsis ; Urinary Tract ; Urinary Tract Infections ; Vancomycin ; Vesico-Ureteral Reflux