PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of pelvic floor muscle exercise using electric stimulation and biofeedback on maximum pressure of vaginal contraction, vaginal contraction duration and sexual function in women who have had vaginal rejuvenation. METHODS: The research design was a non-equivalent control group non-synchronized design study. Participants in this study were women who had vaginal rejuvenation at C obstetrics and gynecology hospital. The 15 participants in the experimental group were given pelvic floor muscle exercise using electric stimulation and biofeedback and the 15 participants in the control group received self pelvic floor muscle exercise. RESULTS: For maximum pressure of vaginal contraction, the experimental group showed a statistically significant increase compared to than the control group (t=5.96, p<.001). For vaginal contraction duration, the experimental group also showed a statistically significant increase compared to the control group (t=3.23, p=.003). For women's sexual function, the experimental group showed a significant increase when compared to the control group in total sexual function scores (t=3.41, p=.002). CONCLUSION: The results indicate that pelvic floor muscle exercise with electric stimulation and biofeedback after vaginal rejuvenation is effective in strengthening vaginal contraction pressure, vaginal contraction and that it also positively functions to increase women's sexual function.
Adult ; Biofeedback, Psychology ; *Electric Stimulation ; *Exercise ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Muscle Contraction/physiology ; Pelvic Floor/*physiology ; Rejuvenation/*physiology ; Sexual Behavior/psychology ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Vagina/*physiology/surgery

A few cases of reticulate acropigmentary disorders have been reported in Korea. Most of them were reticulate acropigmentation of Kitamura, but not acropigmentation symmetrica of Dohi. A 21 year-old male patient diagnosed as acropigmentation symmetrica of Dohi had been previously treated with various treatment methods unsuccessfully. Re-treatment with the Q-switched alexandrite laser(755 nm, 100nsec) showed a temporary improvement but a relapse of the lesion was experienced again. We describe a case of acropigmentation symmetrica of hi treated with the Q-switched alexandrite laser.
Humans ; Korea ; Lasers, Solid-State* ; Male ; Recurrence

The concept of bipolar disorder is an ongoing process, still in evolution, although its roots can be found from ancient Greek. Until recently, it was believed that no more than 1% of the general population has bipolar disorder. But literature on the lifetime prevalence of the bipolar spectrum disorder suggests rates of 4-5%. Bipolar spectrum disorder is a longitudinal diagnosis characterized by abnormal mood swings comprising some of the following cross-sectional clinical states: mania, hypomania, mixed states, hyperthymic temperament, major depressive episode, and depressive mixed state. Failure to recognize subthreshold expressions of mania, such as hypomania, cyclothymia, and hyperthymia, contributes to the frequent under-diagnosis of bipolar disorder. There are several reasons for the lower rate of recognition of subthreshold manic symptoms, when compared to the analogous pure depressive one. These include the lack of subjective suffering, enhanced productivity, egosyntonicity, diurnal and seasonal rhythmicity associated with many of the manic and hypomanic symptoms, and the psychiatrists' difficulty in differentiating with personality disorders. In addition, most patients with bipolar spectrum disorder seek treatment for depression, rather than mania or hypomania. Therefore clinicians often miss the diagnosis of bipolar spectrum disorder. The recent 10 years of researches have suggested that 30-55% of patients with major depressive disorder are actually identified with broader spectrum of bipolar disorders. However, 48% of patients of bipolar disorder consulted 3 or more professionals before receiving a correct diagnosis, and 10% consulted 7 or more for their first diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Several studies have documented that patients often wait as long as 10 years for the correct diagnosis of bipolar spectrum disorder. This delay in diagnosis often has substantial adverse results. Patients do not get the appropriate treatment to alleviate their symptoms. They may even get treatments that exacerbate their symptoms, such as prescription of antidepressants precipitating mania and producing rapid cycling. The concepts of hypomania, cyclothymia, mixed state, depressive mixed states, hyperthymic temperament are the new areas of studying mood disorders in recent 20 years. The authors will review the studies on various subtypes of bipolar spectrum disorder with their historic aspects, and introduce the suggested screening tests for bipolar spectrum disorder in clinical practice.
Antidepressive Agents ; Bipolar Disorder ; Classification ; Depression ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Diagnosis ; Efficiency ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Mood Disorders ; Periodicity ; Personality Disorders ; Prescriptions ; Prevalence ; Seasons ; Temperament

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify relationships of resilience, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD), and quality of life of breast cancer patients. The findings from this study would provide baseline data needed for nursing intervention. METHODS: A sample of 129 breast cancer patients was recruited from three hospitals in J and C cities in Korea. The survey was conducted with participants by utilizing self-reported questionnaires. RESULTS: Quality of life showed statistically significant differences on religion (t=2.11, p=.033) and hobby (t=2.79, p=.006). Resilience and PTSD had a negative correlation (r=-.22, p=.010). Resilience and quality of life of the participants had a positive correlation (r=.58, p<.001), whereas PTSD and quality of life had a negative correlation (r=-.45, p<.001). Significant predictors of quality of life were resilience and PTSD. These variables explained 44.9% of the variance in quality of life. CONCLUSION: Findings indicate that as resilience of breast cancer patients rose higher and PTSD got lower, their quality of life increased. Based on these results, nursing interventions directed towards improving resilience and relieving PTSD is proposed.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Hobbies ; Humans ; Korea ; Nursing ; Quality of Life* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic*

No abstract available.
Intussusception* ; Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships of pain cognition, performance status, and hope with health-related quality of life. METHODS: Patients(n=149) with various cancer diagnoses completed the SF-36 standard Korean Version and the Herth Hope Index. The Perceived Meanings of Cancer Pain Inventory was used to measure the cognition dimension of pain, whereas the Brief Pain Inventory Korean version was used to represent the sensory dimension of pain. RESULTS: The patients in the pain group had significant differences in the three dimensions(loss, threat, spiritual awareness) of pain cognition. There were statistically significant negative correlations between the three dimensions(loss, threat, and spiritual awareness) of pain cognitions and SF-36 dimension, and the positive correlations between challenge dimension and SF-36 dimension. Hope had the positive correlation with SF-36 dimensions. CONCLUSION: Pain has a negative impact on health-related quality of life, especially on physical health. However, patients who ascribed more positive meaning to their pain, tended to have a higher quality of life. Therefore, nursing intervention to reinforce the positive aspects of pain cognition is to empower patients to create a sense of control and assume an active role in pain management and quality of life.
Cognition* ; Diagnosis ; Hope* ; Humans ; Nursing ; Pain Management ; Quality of Life*

This study was performed to evaluate the effect of dietary protein source and sulfur amino acid content on bone metabolism in rats. Thirty male rats (body weight 145 +/- 2 g) were divided into three groups. The rats in the first group were fed on casein 20% diet as animal protein source and those in the second group were fed on soy 20% diet as plant protein source. Sulfur amino acid ratio of these group was 1.07 : 1. The rats in the third group were fed on soy 20% diet and the sulfur amino acid were supplemented with the amount contained as much in the soy 20% diet. All rats were fed on experimental diet and deionized water ad libitum for 9 weeks, The total body, spine, femur bone mineral density and bone mineral content were measured using Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry. Calcium, phosphate, pyridinoline, creatinine in urine and calcium, phosphate, alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin in serum were measured. During the experimental period, plant protein (soy protein) group had a lower urinary Ca excretion, urine pyridinoline & crosslinks value and had a higher Ca efficiency in total bone and femur bone mineral density than animal protein (casein) group. There were no significant differences in serum calcium, phosphate, alkaline phosphatase and osteocalcin among the three groups of the rats. The findings from this study demonstrated that plant protein (soy protein) is beneficial of bone mineral density because it had a higher Ca efficiency in total bone and femur bone mineral density than animal protein (casein). However, the supplementation of sulfur amino acid on soy results were consistent with prior studies that dietary sulfur amino acid load had a negative effect on calcium balance. The rats fed sulfur amino acid supplementation diet increased urinary calcium excretion and decreased calcium efficiency for total and femur mineral density. Therefore, dietary protein source and sulfur amino acid content influence bone metabolism.
Absorptiometry, Photon ; Alkaline Phosphatase ; Animals ; Bone Density ; Calcium ; Caseins ; Creatinine ; Diet ; Dietary Proteins* ; Femur ; Humans ; Male ; Metabolism* ; Osteocalcin ; Plants ; Rats* ; Spine ; Sulfur* ; Water

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of organizational justice, organizational culture and emotional intelligence on intention to stay in reemployed nurses. Methods: Data were collected from 154 reemployed nurses working in the two university hospitals located in G Province. Data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient and Multiple Regression Analysis with SPSS/WIN 25.0. Results: Factors influencing intention to stay in the participants were period willing to stay (β=.36, p<.001), emotional intelligence (β=.35, p<.001), career break (β=.16, p=.015), organizational justice (β=.14, p=.046). The total explanatory power was 31%. Conclusion In this study, organizational justice, emotional intelligence, career interruption, period willing to stay were found to be influential factors affecting intention to stay in reemployed nurses. A systematic intervention program for emotional intelligence is needed to increase the intention of retention in reemployed nurses. Further, human resource managers and specialists should consider organizational justice when designing the talent retention strategies.

OBJECTIVE: To compare clinical features and surgical outcomes of laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH) by the number of ports in the treatment of uterine myoma and adenomyosis. METHODS: Between 1st January 2009 and 31th March 2010, 50 patients underwent 5 mm-2 port LAVH and 10 mm-3 port LAVH respectively by same surgeon at Chosun university hospital. We compared clinical features and surgical outcomes. RESULTS: There was no difference in weight of uterus between the 5 mm-2 port LAVH group and the 10 mm-3 port LAVH group (465.2+/-206.9 g vs. 470.8+/-148.5 g) (Mean+/-S.D.), and in amounts of blood loss during procedure between the two groups (115.0+/-179.3 mL vs. 125.0+/-211.7 mL). The duration of procedure showed a difference between the two groups(55.1+/-12.0 minutes vs. 60.4+/-19.5 minutes) (p=0.03). In the 5 mm-2 port LAVH group, 2 of 50 (4%) converted to laparotomy, and 1 of 50 (2%) in the 10 mm-3 port LAVH group. There was no difference in length of postoperative hospital day between the two groups (5.8+/-1.0 days vs. 6.3+/-1.6 days). In the comparison of postoperative complications, 1 of 50 (2%) required readmission and reoperation for both of the two groups. CONCLUSION: We conclude that 5 mm-2 port LAVH could be a available method in the treatment of uterine myoma and adenomyosis.
Adenomyosis ; Female ; Humans ; Hysterectomy, Vaginal ; Laparotomy ; Myoma ; Postoperative Complications ; Reoperation ; Uterus

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of and the sociodemographic risk factors for depressive symptoms among inpatients with chronic diseases who completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) conducted by a social work department at university medical centers. METHODS: In 2015, PHQ-9 data were collected from six medical centers affiliated with Hallym University Medical Center. The sample comprised 517 inpatients aged 18 years or over with chronic diseases. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test, simple logistic regression, and multiple logistic regression were used for data analyses. RESULTS: The prevalence of depressive symptoms among inpatients with chronic diseases was 31.7 percent. The results of the simple and multiple logistic regressions showed that the single/widowed/divorced/separated group was at higher risk for depressive symptoms than married inpatients. Having a religion or being unemployed also increased the risk of depressive symptoms among the respondents. CONCLUSIONS: Findings of this study emphasize the importance of systematic depressive symptom management for inpatients with chronic diseases.
Academic Medical Centers ; Chronic Disease ; Depression ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Logistic Models ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Social Work ; Statistics as Topic ; Surveys and Questionnaires