PURPOSE: This study examined the effects of health status and health behaviors on depression in married female immigrants in South Korea. METHODS: Sampling 316 immigrant women from the Philippines, Vietnam, China, and other Asian countries, a cross-sectional research design was used with self-report questionnaires that assessed sociodemographic characteristics, health status, health behaviors, and depression. RESULTS: There were significant differences in stillbirth experience, induced abortion, morbidity, perceived health status, meal skipping, and physical activity between depressed and nondepressed immigrant women. After adjusting for sociodemographic variables, stillbirth experience, poorer perceived health status, more meal skipping, and less physical activity were associated with greater depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Both health status and health behaviors had significant impacts on depression, suggesting that development of nursing interventions and educational programs should be targeted towards improving maternal health, healthy lifestyle, and subjective health perception to promote married female immigrants' psychological well-being.
Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group/ethnology ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Depressive Disorder/*epidemiology ; Emigrants and Immigrants/statistics & numerical data ; Female ; *Health Behavior ; *Health Status ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; *Marriage ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Rural Health ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Urban Health ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of occupational stress and coping styles on burnout of clinical nurses. METHODS: The participants in this study were 397 nurses, working at the hospitals in Seoul, Gangwon, and Gyongbuk provinces. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from November, 2009 to January, 2010. The SPSS WIN 13.0 version program was used for data analysis. RESULTS: The most significant predictors of burnout were positive reappraisal and work load. Work load, resource inadequacy, role ambiguity, and indifference coping style positively correlated with burnout. Positive reappraisal and problem-focused coping styles negatively correlated with burnout. CONCLUSION: The study results indicate that it is important to reduce work load, resource inadequacy, and role ambiguity in nurses and to strengthen their positive reappraisal and problem-focused coping styles to prevent burnout. This could be achieved with job redesign, modification of shift work systems, and by offering burnout prevention program.
Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the impact of nursing professionalism on the nursing performance and retention intention among psychiatric mental health nurses. METHODS: As a descriptive correlational study, this study sampled 206 psychiatric mental health nurses in six hospitals in Seoul and Gyeonggi area through convenience sampling. Data were collected from March 2 to 31, 2009 using a self-report questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS WIN 16.0. RESULTS: In the subscales of professionalism, the 'Sense of calling' had the highest mean score while the 'Professional organization' had the lowest mean score. A significant positive correlation was observed in nursing professionalism, nursing performance and retention intention. According to an analysis on the impact of each subscale of nursing professionalism on nursing performance and retention intention, the 'Sense of calling' and 'Autonomy' were the most significant predictor variable. CONCLUSION: The results confirmed that the improvement of psychiatric mental health nurses' professionalism increases their nursing performance and retention intention and the 'Sense of calling' and 'Autonomy' are critical prediction factors. It is necessary to come up with a strategy which strengthens nursing professionalism in order to improve psychiatric mental health nurses' performance and retention intention.
Humans ; Intention ; Mental Health ; Nursing Staff ; Professional Practice ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Retention (Psychology)

Purpose: Anaphylaxis may be life-threatening, and thus requires early recognition and a rapid response. We investigated current demands imposed by anaphylaxis and the responses of pediatric and youth educational institutions. We surveyed school nurses and childcare teachers in Gangwon-do Province, South Korea. Methods: The online survey featured 2 questionnaires: one exploring demands imposed by anaphylaxis and the current response status and the other evaluating awareness of anaphylaxis among school nurses and childcare teachers. Results: A total of 105 school nurses and 263 childcare teachers responded, of whom 16.2% and 1.9% reported that they had encountered anaphylaxis at work, and 6.7% and 11.0% had epinephrine auto-injectors (EAIs) available, respectively. Furthermore, 7.6% of school nurses and 3.0% of childcare teachers had been requested by parents to obtain institutional EAIs. Screening for anaphylaxis at the beginning of each school year was performed in 81.9% of schools and 41.1% of childcare institutions, and 55.2% of schools and 44.5% of childcare institutions had formulated action plans for anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis education had been received by 72.4% of school nurses and 38.8% of childcare teachers. However, anaphylaxis awareness and coping skills seemed to be lacking in most participants. Conclusion Given the nontrivial numbers of pediatric patients with anaphylaxis and thus the demand for assistance, the lack of institutional prevention and management systems (screening, action plans, and coping skills) is of concern. In addition to increasing teacher awareness, institutional changes are required.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to find the factors associated with becoming obese children during the past 2 years in 6th grade children of elementary school and then to evaluate the high risk groups for childhood obesity. METHODS: The 738 children from May to June, 2001 in 6th grade of 5 elementary schools in Busan were the subjects of this study. The children's height and weight in 4th grade and 6th grade were obtained from school health records. We calculated the body mass index in 4th and 6th grades and classified into 3 weight groups (normal, at risk for obesity, and obese) according to the age and sex-specific BMI established by the Korean Academy of Pediatrics. If children's weight group in 4th grade was changed to heavier weight group in 6th grade, we defined it as increased group. Otherwise, we defined it as non-increased group. The association between the increase in weight group and parental and children's characteristics were analyzed by x2-test, x2-test for the trend, t-test, ANOVA and multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: Among the total, 3.3% of children with normal weight and 16.9% of children at the risk for obesity in 4th grade were transformed to increased group in 6th grade, respectively (P<0.001). Children who had excessive appetite (P<0.001), watched TV greater than or equal to 2 hours per day (P=0.004) or had an obese father (P=0.044) were more likely to become increased group. After adjusting for father's obesity, appetite and TV watching time in children, the odds ratio of transforming to increased group after 2 years in children at risk for obesity or in obese child in 4th grade was 2.5 (95% CI: 1.09~5.55) compared to children with normal weight. Children having excessive appetite were 3.2 times (95% CI: 1.42~7.01) more likely to become the increased group after adjusting for father's obesity, TV watching time and weight in 4th grade. Children watching TV greater than or equal to 2 hours/day was 2.8 times (95% CI: 1.27~6.18) more likely to become increased group after adjusting for father's obesity, appetite and weight in 4th grade. CONCLUSION: The risk of becoming obese was higher in children at risk for obesity or obese children in those with excessive appetite or those who have watched TV> or =2 hours/day for the past two years. These findings suggest promotion of educational plan to prevent childhood obesity.
Appetite ; Body Mass Index ; Busan* ; Child* ; Fathers ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Obesity ; Odds Ratio ; Parents ; Pediatric Obesity ; Pediatrics ; Risk Factors ; School Health Services

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to identify dietary factors related to infertility in Korean women through a case-control study. METHODS: The case group was composed of 236 women who had been diagnosed as infertility in hospital. The control group of 181 healthy women with children were recruited from local immunization centers. Socio-economic status, medical history, dietary intakes using food frequency questionnaire and stress were surveyed by interview. Anthropometric measurements were made and the causes of infertility were identified through medical records. Fasting blood samples were taken from subgroup of the subjects. RESULTS: The mean age of infertile and control groups was 31.1 and 32.4 years, respectively and the difference was statistically significant. The mean Body Mass Index of infertile women was not significantly different from control women, however, Waist/ Hip Ratio and Triceps Skinfolds Thickness were significantly lower in infertile women than in control women. The dietary intake status was generally satisfactory in both groups. The intakes of energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate, retinol, vitamin B2 and niacin were lower in infertile women than in control women. The infertile women also showed lower intakes of animal foods.No differences were found between two groups in serum concentrations of albumin, hemoglobin, Fe, TIBC, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglyceride, C3, IgA, IL-2, however, infertile women showed higher levels of Zn and IgG. The stress score was higher in infertile women. CONCLUSIONS: From the results of this study, dietary factors and nutritional status do not seem to be directly related to infertility. However, the intertile women have lower nutrient intake and lower body fat content than control women. Further researches are needed according to the causes of infertility for long term to establish the relationship between dietary factors and infertility.
Adipose Tissue ; Animals ; Body Mass Index ; Case-Control Studies ; Child ; Cholesterol ; Fasting ; Female ; Hip ; Humans ; Immunization ; Immunoglobulin A ; Immunoglobulin G ; Infertility ; Interleukin-2 ; Korea* ; Medical Records ; Niacin ; Nutritional Status ; Riboflavin ; Triglycerides ; Vitamin A ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: Ultrarush immunotherapy (ultra-RIT) is more convenient and higher compliant than conventional immunotherapy, but it has rarely used in clinical practice due to severe systemic reactions. This study aimed to determine the safety of ultra-RIT in children and adolescents. METHODS: We investigated 19 patients who received ultra-RIT with the same schedule between January 2011 and May 2016. They were sensitized to house dust mites (HDMs) and/or pollen and had their symptoms associated with positive allergens. Over a 1-day hospitalization period, all patients received ultra-RIT subcutaneously 3 times, increasing at hourly intervals. Systemic reactions were classified according to the World Allergy Organization grade system. RESULTS: Systemic reactions occurred in 14 patients (73.7%). The mean time to adverse reactions after the last injection was 36 minutes, and the majority of systemic reactions were pruritus and urticaria. In addition, the injection of HDM alone or HDM plus pollen caused more than grade 2 systemic reactions in about 50% each of the patients. CONCLUSION: Since ultra-RIT caused a higher incidence of systemic reactions in children and adolescents, it should be carried out cautiously in the hospitalization rather than the office.
Adolescent ; Allergens ; Appointments and Schedules ; Child* ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Immunotherapy* ; Incidence ; Injections, Subcutaneous ; Pediatrics ; Pollen ; Pruritus ; Pyroglyphidae ; Urticaria

Apert's syndrome(acrocephalosyndactyly) is a rare congenital anomaly that is characterized by the combination of premature fusion of multiple cranial sutures primarily involving the coronal suture and severe symmetrical syndactyly of fingers and toes. Some patients of this syndrome have various abnormalities of the central nervous system. We experienced a case of Apert's syndrome with craniofacial malformations, symmetric syndactyly, occipital encephalocele and hypogenesis of corpus callosum. She had a oxycephalic head with small sized anterior fontanelle, elongated forehead, hypertelorism, down-slanting palpebral fissures, flattened nose, cleft palate, low set ears and short neck. A 5x3 cm sized scalp-covered soft mass protruded in the occipital area through defect of the occipital bone. MRI showed hypogenesis of corpus callosum, occipital encephalocele, dilatation of the lateral and the third ventricles. She also had hands and feet with symmetric syndactyly involved skin and soft tissue but not bones.
Central Nervous System ; Cleft Palate ; Corpus Callosum* ; Cranial Fontanelles ; Cranial Sutures ; Dilatation ; Ear ; Encephalocele* ; Fingers ; Foot ; Forehead ; Hand ; Head ; Humans ; Hypertelorism ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neck ; Nose ; Occipital Bone ; Skin ; Sutures ; Syndactyly ; Third Ventricle ; Toes

Avian metapneumovirus (AMPV) is an emerging pathogen causing respiratory and reproductive illness in poultry worldwide. To demonstrate the presence of AMPV in domestic chickens in Korea, we attempted to isolate AMPV from affected chickens. A cytopathic agent was isolated using chicken tracheal ring culture from dead chickens from a broiler breeder farm with reduced egg production in Korea. This agent, termed SC1509 strain, subsequently passed in Vero cells with distinct cytopathic effects. The SC1509 strain was confirmed as avian metapneumovirus (AMPV) using both RT-PCR test and monoclonal antibody-based immunofluorescence assay. Sequence analysis based on the G glycoprotein revealed that the SC1509 strain had 22.5 to 96.0% nucleotide sequence identity and 11.1 to 92.7% predicted amino acid sequence identity with previously published AMPV strains, particularly with the highest sequence homology (95.8 to 96% for nucleotides and 92.2 to 92.7% for amino acids) to European strains belonging to genotype B. The SC1509 strain was phylogenetically clustered with genotype B viruses, confirming that the SC1509 strain belongs to genotype B. This is the first report of genotype B avian metapneumovirus from chickens in Korea.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Base Sequence ; Chickens ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Genotype ; Glycoproteins ; GTP-Binding Proteins ; Herpesvirus 1, Cercopithecine ; Korea ; Metapneumovirus ; Nucleotides ; Ovum ; Poultry ; Sequence Analysis ; Sequence Homology ; Sprains and Strains ; Vero Cells

BACKGROUND: In the Korean Red Cross, anti-HTLV (Human T-cell lymphotropic virus)-1/2 screening assay has been performed in all donated blood except plasmapheresis since April 2009. For anti-HTLV-1/2 positive donors, both Western blot (WB) and nucleic acid amplification test (NAT) are performed as confirmatory assays. In this study, we evalutated the efficiency of the current confirmatory assay scheme to improve the confirmatory assay scheme for anti-HTLV1/2. METHODS: The results of the HTLV confirmatory assay from April 15th 2009 to April 14th 2015 were analyzed using the Blood Information Management System of the Korean Red Cross. We also investigated the current situation in other countries. RESULTS: Of 12,923,854 donations, 3,483 (0.027%) showed positive results in anti-HTLV-1/2. Of the 3,483 donations, 499 (14.3%) showed positive results in WB or NAT or both. The number of positive cases in both was 461. Therefore, the concordance rate was 92.4%. In the cases of positive results only in NAT, the WB results were all indeterminate (ID). Most countries are using immunoblot assay as a confirmatory assay for anti-HTLV positive blood donors. In the results, there were no cases of positive result in only NAT with a negative result in immunoblot assay. CONCLUSION: It was considered that the accomplishment of only WB as a confirmatory assay for anti-HTLV-1/2 positive donors may be sufficient in the aspect of safety and economics. However, in the case of WB ID result, it may be better to perform NAT as a supplemental test.
Blood Donors* ; Blotting, Western ; Humans ; Information Management ; Mass Screening ; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques ; Plasmapheresis ; Red Cross ; T-Lymphocytes ; Tissue Donors