Long-term hemodialysis(HD) patients manifest various signs of protein and caloric malnutrition due to poor intake of nutrients and other causes. Poor nutritional status increases the mortality and morbidity rates in HD patients. Thus, mataintnance of adequate nutritional status has been a major task in taking care of patients receiving HD. This study was to evaluate the nutritional status of HD patients and to clarify the degree of nutritional deficit based on usual dietary intake, anthropometric and biochemical indicators. Sixty HD patients comprised a HD group, while the control group consisted of 60 healthy adults whose age and sex matched those of the HD group. Nutritional status was evaluated by dietary intake using instant nutritional scale, anthropometric measures, serum protein concentrations and the number of lymphocytes. The data were analyzed by using Chi-square test and unpaired t-test. The results are as follows. 1. Regarding usual dietary intake of HD group : 1) Estimated caloric intake was significantly lower than the recommended daily allowance(RDA) and among them, 35% were taking calories less than 85% of the RDA. 2) Estimated protein intake was significantly higher than the RDA and among them 40% were taking protein more than 115% of the RDA. 3) Estimated fat intake was lower than the RDA. 4) Vitamin A, B, B1, B2, C and niacin in take was lower than the RDA respectively. 5) Estimated ferrous intake was within the normal limit the RDA while estimated calcium intake was higher than the RDA. 6) Both caloric and protein intake were higher for the 10 patients who had been under continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis than for the patients under HD from the beginning. 2. Regarding anthropometric measures : 1) Body mass index(BMI), midarm circumference(MAC), and triceps skinfolds thickness(TSF) were lower in the HD group than in the control group. 2) Among HD group, 47.1% were within the normal limit of BMI, while 86.7% were within the same limit in the control group. 3) Among HD group, 35.0% were within the normal limit of MAC, while 83.3% were within the same limit I the control group. 4) Among HD group, only 8.3% were normal, 30.3% were mild deficit status of FSF, while 50% were normal and 48.3% were mild deficit status in the control group. 3. Regarding biochemical laboratory tests 1) Albumin, transferring concentrations and the number of lymphocytes were lower in HD group than in the control group. 2) Among HD group, 98.3% were within the normal limit of albumin concentration and all were within the same limit in the control group. 3) Among HD group, only 11.7% were within the normal limit of transferring concentration, while 81.7% were within the same limit in the control group. 4) Among HD group, 25% were within the normal limit, while 93.3% were within the same limit in the control group. The above findings suggest that HD patients were in nutritional deficit status. Adequate diet therapy and periodical evaluation of the nutritional status in HD patients ar needed. Accordingly, it turned out that anthropometric measures were very reliable parameters and easy to use to evaluate nutritional status. So nurses are encouraged to adopt anthropometric measures to examine nutritional deficit status of HD patients.
Adult ; Calcium ; Diet Therapy ; Energy Intake ; Humans ; Lymphocytes ; Malnutrition ; Mortality ; Niacin ; Nutritional Status ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory ; Renal Dialysis* ; Vitamin A

This study was conducted to explore the nurse's perception of technological development and professional self-concept. The research subjects were 560 clinical nurses in Korea, who worked the general hospitals in Seoul, Kyeonggi, and the Kangwon province. Data sampling was done for the month, of December. 1997. The research tool consisted of 82 items questionnaires which were demographic data, TIQ, PSCNI. The research findings were as follows: 1. Nurses perceived the technological development as slightly positive (Mean =48.8). Also, nurses saw that the fastest developing technological nursing unit was the cardiac care unit, while the lowest technological developing nursing unit was the psychiatric unit. 2. The view of technological development was found to be significantly different according to religion (P=.0109), marital status (P=.0431), and the practical setting (P=.0048). Professional self concept was significantly different according to age (P=.0001), religion (P=.0001), education (P=.0007), marital status (P=.0000), career (P=.0001), and position (P=.0000). 3. The relationship between a nurse's perception of technological development and professional self-concept was highly correlated(r=.26, P=.0001). In the results of the multiple regression, the factors influencing professional self-concept were career, the nurse's perception of technological development,the level of technological development in nursing unit, and education. All these parameters showed the explaining power of 15.4% of the professional self-concept. In conclusion, nurses recognized the technological development was related to the professional self-concept. This study shed light on the meaning of technological development and vision of the nursing profession. Inservice education program should be developed to help the adaptability to technological development and conduct the qualitative research to explore the world of technological development which the nurses are experiencing in nursing.
Education ; Gangwon-do ; Gyeonggi-do ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Korea ; Marital Status ; Nursing ; Qualitative Research ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Research Subjects ; Self Concept ; Seoul

The prognosis of maintenance hemodialysis(HD) patients is closely related to their nutritional status. It is important to develop and use of a reliable, useful and easy method of nutritional assessment scale for evaluation of nutritional status and progression of the patients. This study was initiated to evaluate the clinical usefulness of Instant Nutritional Assessment Scale(INAS) by cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. One hundred HD patients entered a continuing nutritional study and followed for 1 year. The results were as follow : 1. 23% of patients was normal to mild, 43% was moderate and 33% was severe deficit of nutritional status. 2. The mean INAS score of the patients was 8.00(S. D.=2.83), and there didn't reveal any differences in INAS score by general characteristics. The mean transferrin score was 1.98, which was the highest of 5 nutritional parameters of INAS. Only 7 patients had within normal range of transferrin concentration. 3. Within one year since this study was initiated, 10 patients died. Six of them were with severe deficit and one of them was normal to mild deficit groups. The death rate in severe deficit group was higher than that of normal to mild deficit group(P=.0640). 4. Occurrence of acute complication during HD in severe deficit group was higher than that of normal to mild deficit group(P=.001). 5. The number of consultation to the doctor and hospital admission in severe deficit group was higher than that of normal to mild deficit group(P=.0001). 6. INAS score was significantly correlated with occurrence of acute complications during HD and the number of consultation to the doctor. In conclusion, INAS based on the levels of body mass index, midarm circumference, triceps skinfold thickness, transferrin concentration and total lymphocyte count seems to be a reliable predictive nutritional index for prognosis. So nurses are encouraged to adopt INAS in care of the chronically ill patients. Recommendations for further research was suggested.
Body Mass Index ; Chronic Disease ; Humans ; Longitudinal Studies ; Lymphocyte Count ; Mortality ; Nutrition Assessment* ; Nutritional Status* ; Prognosis* ; Reference Values ; Renal Dialysis ; Skinfold Thickness ; Transferrin

PURPOSE: This study was designed to explore pain and self-care behaviors and identify related variables in patients with chronic arthritis. METHOD: One hundred fifty patients with arthritis were recruited from two university based arthritis centers according to selection criteria. Collected data were analyzed using the SAS program to analyze the responses to the structured questionnaires of the study. RESULT: Most of the participants expressed pain and the intensity of the pain was moderate. There were significant differences according to age, educational level, diagnosis, duration of illness, number of affected joint, and use of complementary therapy. Self-care behavior scores were moderately high. The highest practice was for "regular visits to the hospital", and the lowest for "applying physical therapy at home". The mean self-care behavior scores showed significant differences according to economic status and educational level. Pain scores showed no correlation with self-care behavior. CONCLUSION: Developing self-management programs for patients with chronic arthritis should focus on self-care skills which are applicable in the relief of pain and enhancement of knowledge. The skills are recommended not only for better health practices but also for enhancing the level of well-being and life satisfaction.
Arthritis* ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Joints ; Patient Selection ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Self Care*

This survey was done to identify the self-esteem of nurses in Korea. Data was collected from 700 nurses in hospital setting. These data were collected by self-reporting questionnaire, Rosenberg's self-esteem scale, Professional self-concept of nurses instrument, from Dec. 1994 to Jan, 1995. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics with SAS program. The results of this study were as follows : 1. The mean of self-esteem was 30.74. 2. The correlation between self-esteem and PSCNI was slightly moderate(r=.5739) 3. The self-esteem of nurses was found to be significant by age(P=.0245), religion(P=.0004), position(P=.0186). This study suggested that we need to identify the factors influencing self-esteem and to design the program increasing self-esteem.
Korea ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to assess optimal needle length for gluteal intramuscular injections (IM) via simple skinfold thickness (SFT). METHODS: For this study, 190 healthy adults were recruited and grouped into eight groups according to gender and body mass index (BMI) (kg/m2). The Korean Society for the Study of Obesity criteria defines a BMI under 20 as underweight, 20.1-22.9 as normal, 23-24.9 as overweight and over 25 as obese. For each participant, the SFT of dorsoguteal (DG) and ventrogluteal (VG) sites were measured using a caliper. Subcutaneous tissue thickness was acquired through ultrasonic images. RESULTS: For men in the overweight and obese groups at the DG site, for the obese group at the VG site, and for women in the normal weight, overweight and obese groups at both sites, the mean subcutaneous tissue thickness exceeded 1.84 cm, the minimal length for a 1 inch needle used for IM. At the DG site, optimal intramuscular needle length (OINL) was 1.4 times in women and 1.0 times in men compared to SFT. At the VG site, OINL was 1.3 times in women and 0.9 times in men compared to SFT. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that SFT is a reliable index to determine optimal needle length with minimal effort prior to IM.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Body Mass Index ; Equipment Design ; Female ; Humans ; Injections, Intramuscular/*instrumentation ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Needles ; Republic of Korea ; Sex Factors ; *Skinfold Thickness ; Subcutaneous Fat/ultrasonography

PURPOSE: This study was done to identify the risk factors associated with falls among patients with Parkinson's Disease(PD). METHOD: A retrospective study design was used through the collection of physiological and physical health, and psychosocial functions. RESULTS: Of the 100 participants, fifty-nine(59%) reported one or more falls and seventy-one(71%) reported one or more near-falls. Anaverage 34.7 falls and 150.3 near-falls were reported in the previous year per person. Stage of PD, foot problems, balance, fear of falling, and activities of daily living were significantly associated with an increased risk of falls. CONCLUSION: The findings confirm the high risk of falling in PD patients. Also these results have implications for developing fall prevention programs for PD patients.
*Accidental Falls/prevention & control ; Activities of Daily Living ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Parkinson Disease/*complications/physiopathology ; Postural Balance ; Risk Factors

PURPOSE: This study was done to investigate the effects of backrest elevation of 0 degree and 30 degrees that minimize the risk of increasing ICP when CVP is measured. METHODS: Subjects were sixty-four patients who stayed in the neurosurgical intensive care unit after brain surgery at two university-based hospitals. CVP, blood pressure, heart rate and ICP were measured along with position changes in order of backrest position with primary 30 degrees backrest position, 0 degree backrest position and secondary 30 degrees backrest position. For data analysis, one-group, repeated-measures analysis of variance design was used in SAS program. RESULTS: Backrest elevations from 0 degree to 30 degrees did not alter the CVP without increasing the ICP. Therefore, 30 degrees backrest position is a preventive position without increasing ICP. CONCLUSION: 30 degrees backrest position might be appropriate for brain injury patients when CVP is measured.
Adult ; Aged ; Back ; Bed Rest/*methods/nursing ; Brain Injuries/nursing/*rehabilitation/surgery ; *Central Venous Pressure ; Clinical Nursing Research ; Female ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; *Intracranial Pressure ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Posture

PURPOSE: To provide the epidemiological information for developing preventive programs encourage appropriate eating and weight control behaviors. METHOD: 349 college students in Seoul were administered self-report question- naires to examine eating habits, trend of disordered eating, weight reduction practice and body size evaluation from September to October 2002. Data were analyzed by SAS program for frequency, t-test, ANOVA with Scheff test. RESULT: The mean eating score was moderate and it differed by subjects' characteristics. The mean score of EAT-26 was relatively lowered, and 3.4% of the subjects score showed disordered eating behavior. It differed significantly by subjects' general characteristics. 30.4% of total sample were currently trying to lose weight and had interested in trying to lose weight. EAT-26 was significantly different by weight reduction practices and interest. Perceived body size differed by the score of eating habit and EAT-26. CONCLUSION: It can be suggested weight preoccupation have a relation to eating habits, weight control practice and disordered eating. Further study is recommended educational interventions targeting at-risk subjects.
Body Size* ; Eating* ; Feeding Behavior ; Humans ; Seoul* ; Weight Loss*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of foot reflexology on fatigue and insomnia in patients suffering from coal workers' pneumoconiosis. METHOD: This study was a quasi-experimental study of pre-test and post-test design in a non-equivalent control group. The subjects of this study consisted of both the experimental group of twenty-nine and the control group of thirty coal workers' pneumoconiosis patients. Data was collected from December 10, 2002 to February 15, 2003. Foot reflexology was performed for 60 minutes twice a week through five weeks in the experimental group, but none in the control group. To evaluate the effects of foot reflexology, the scores of fatigue and insomnia were measured before and after the experiment in both groups. Fatigue was evaluated by Fatigue Symptoms Inventory. Insomnia was measured with the visual analogue scale (VAS). Data of this experiment was analyzed by Chi-square test, t-test, unpaired t-test and Repeated Measures ANOVA with the SAS Program. RESULTS: The scores of fatigue and insomnia decreased in the experimental group but not in the control group. There was a significant difference of fatigue and insomnia between the two groups. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that foot reflexology might have beneficial effects on reducing fatigue and insomnia in patients suffering from coal workers' pneumoconiosis, and can be recommended as a nursing intervention program for patients with coal workers' pneumoconiosis.
Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders/complications/*nursing ; Pneumoconiosis/*complications/physiopathology ; Middle Aged ; *Massage ; Male ; Humans ; *Foot ; Fatigue/complications/*nursing ; *Coal Mining ; Aged