BACKGROUND: Gender and social relationships are believed to have a strong influence on health care attitudes and behavior. This study was designed to determine the effect of the gender of closely associated persons on t,he health care-seeking behavior of persons of the oppsite sex. METHODS: We developed a 10-item questionnaire that requested information on social and demographic characteristics, health status, and influences on the decision to seek health care, and administered it to 314 consecutive patients seen at two family medicine clinics in Seoul. Data were analyzed by means of one way analysis of variance for continuous variables and the chi-square test for categorical variables. Additionally, data were analyzed by means of a multivariate logistic regression model that calculated odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: Men were 4.6 times more likely to be influenced than women to seek health care by a member of the opposite sex(95% CI, 2.4 to 8.9). CONCLUSIONS: Women make an important influene on the decisions for men to seek health care.
Delivery of Health Care ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Odds Ratio ; Seoul ; Surveys and Questionnaires

No abstract available.
Rupture* ; Scrotum* ; Ultrasonography*

The Chiari 1.5 malformation is defined as a tonsillar herniation within a Chiari I malformation with additional caudal descent of the brainstem through the foramen magnum. We describe a patient with Chiari I malformation who evolved to Chiari 1.5 malformation during longitudinal follow-up. A 15-year-old girl presented with neck pain during exercise for two years. She had been diagnosed with Chiari I malformation with mild hydrocephalus after minor cervical trauma at the age of six years. At that time, she was asymptomatic. After she complained of aggravated neck pain, neuroimaging (nine years after first imaging) revealed caudal descent of the brainstem and syringomyelia in addition to progression of tonsillar herniation. Posterior fossa decompressive surgery resulted in complete resolution of neck pain. Based on neuroimaging and operative findings, she was diagnosed as Chiari 1.5 malformation. Neuroimaging performed seven months after surgery showed an increased anterior-posterior diameter of the medulla oblongata and markedly decreased syringomyelia. This case demonstrates progressive developmental process of the Chiari 1.5 malformation as an advanced form of the Chiari I malformation.
Adolescent ; Brain Stem ; Encephalocele ; Follow-Up Studies ; Foramen Magnum ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus ; Medulla Oblongata ; Neck Pain ; Neuroimaging ; Syringomyelia