PURPOSE: This study of this study was to identify factors influencing the burden of main family caregivers who take care of elderly patients with brain and spinal diseases. METHODS: This was conducted as descriptive research and data were collected from 255 main family caregivers who were taking care of elderly patients with brain and spinal diseases from 4 hospitals in Daegu and Gyeongbuk Province. Stepwise-multiple regression was used to identify the influencing factors of burden felt. RESULTS: As the score of burden felt by the main family, economic, social, physical, interdependent and emotional burdens were high in order. Factors influencing burden felt by main family care givers taking care of elderly patients with brain and spinal diseases were changed relation with patient after hospitalization, daily life ability, marital status, education and family caregiver's personality (explanatory power of 24.6%). Family caregivers felt a heavier burden when their relation with the patient was changed negatively or when the patient's activity of daily living was low. CONCLUSION: Based on these results, we need to develop coping measures and interventional programs for reducing the burden felt by the main family caregivers of elderly patients with brain and spinal diseases.
Aged* ; Brain Diseases ; Brain* ; Caregivers* ; Cost of Illness ; Daegu ; Education ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Life ; Marital Status ; Spinal Diseases*

PURPOSE: This study of this study was to identify factors influencing the burden of main family caregivers who take care of elderly patients with brain and spinal diseases. METHODS: This was conducted as descriptive research and data were collected from 255 main family caregivers who were taking care of elderly patients with brain and spinal diseases from 4 hospitals in Daegu and Gyeongbuk Province. Stepwise-multiple regression was used to identify the influencing factors of burden felt. RESULTS: As the score of burden felt by the main family, economic, social, physical, interdependent and emotional burdens were high in order. Factors influencing burden felt by main family care givers taking care of elderly patients with brain and spinal diseases were changed relation with patient after hospitalization, daily life ability, marital status, education and family caregiver's personality (explanatory power of 24.6%). Family caregivers felt a heavier burden when their relation with the patient was changed negatively or when the patient's activity of daily living was low. CONCLUSION: Based on these results, we need to develop coping measures and interventional programs for reducing the burden felt by the main family caregivers of elderly patients with brain and spinal diseases.
Aged* ; Brain Diseases ; Brain* ; Caregivers* ; Cost of Illness ; Daegu ; Education ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Life ; Marital Status ; Spinal Diseases*

PURPOSE: This study used MDS-HC 2.0 to identify health problems in the elderly who live alone. METHOD: The subjects of this study were 100 living-alone elders aged over 65 in Daegu city. This study was performed through home visiting interviews during the period from the 1st of September to the 30th of September 2005. Analysis in this study was made using SPSS Version 11.0. RESULTS: Frequent health problems in the living-alone elderly were: preventive heath measure (90), health promotion (80), social function (78), visual function (75), depression and anxiety (61), pain and communication disorder (60), cognition (55), environmental assessment (48) and oral health (45) in order of frequency. Informal services were provided to 73% of the subjects for emotional support. IADL services were provided to 57% of the subjects, and ADL services to 66%. CONCLUSION: Nursing intervention programs based on health problems from MDS-HC 2.0 should be provided in order to cope with individual health problems and living-alone elders needs. The results of this study suggest that MDS-HC 2.0 is applicable to help decide nursing interventions for the elderly who live alone in community.
Activities of Daily Living ; Aged* ; Anxiety ; Cognition ; Communication Disorders ; Daegu ; Depression ; Health Promotion ; House Calls ; Humans ; Nursing ; Oral Health

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to identify nursing professional values and job satisfaction depending on the types of personality in visiting nurses. METHODS: Two hundred twenty six visiting nurses participated in this study. Data collection was conducted in 26 Public Health Centers in Korea. The Korean version of the Enneagram nursing professional values and job satisfaction was used to measure the nursing professional values and job satisfaction. RESULTS: The most common personality is type 9, a center of the Instinctive Center where energy tends to stress outwards. There was a significant difference in nursing professional values depending on the type of personality. The type 1, 2 and type 9 had a significant difference by depending on the type of personality. There was but no difference in job satisfaction. There was a negative correlation between nursing professional values and job satisfaction by depending on the type of personality. The nurses with the type 9 and type 1 of personality showed a significant differences with the negative correlation between professional values and job satisfaction. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study showed the necessity of a self-understanding program to improve the working efficiency by increasing the professional values and job satisfaction of visiting nurses.
Community Health Nursing ; Data Collection ; Instinct ; Job Satisfaction ; Korea ; Public Health

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to identify nursing professional values and job satisfaction depending on the types of personality in visiting nurses. METHODS: Two hundred twenty six visiting nurses participated in this study. Data collection was conducted in 26 Public Health Centers in Korea. The Korean version of the Enneagram nursing professional values and job satisfaction was used to measure the nursing professional values and job satisfaction. RESULTS: The most common personality is type 9, a center of the Instinctive Center where energy tends to stress outwards. There was a significant difference in nursing professional values depending on the type of personality. The type 1, 2 and type 9 had a significant difference by depending on the type of personality. There was but no difference in job satisfaction. There was a negative correlation between nursing professional values and job satisfaction by depending on the type of personality. The nurses with the type 9 and type 1 of personality showed a significant differences with the negative correlation between professional values and job satisfaction. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study showed the necessity of a self-understanding program to improve the working efficiency by increasing the professional values and job satisfaction of visiting nurses.
Community Health Nursing ; Data Collection ; Instinct ; Job Satisfaction ; Korea ; Public Health

The purpose of this study was to investigate the inhibitory role of vitamin A with respect to activation of Ito cells in fibrosis of the rat liver induced by common bile duct ligation(CBDL). The liver was examined by immunohistochemical staining for a-smooth muscle actin,the known marker of activated Ito cells, and light and electron microscopy after CBDL andCBDL with intraperitoneal injection of retinoic acid (Sigma, USA) 1 mg/Kg in 3 times per week. The results were sumrrlerized as follows: After CBDL, the bile ductules were markedly proliferated in the periportal areas extending toterminal hepatic veins. Interstitial fibrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration appeared, however,cholestasis was minimal. Retinoic acid treatment with CBDL decreased bile ductular proliferationand interstitial fibrosis compared to CBDL only. After CBDL, proliferated and activated Ito ceIs showing positive reaction in smooth muscle actin were present in the periductular andperisinusoidal areas, and areas of increased interstitial fibrosis. Activated ito cells weredecreased in number after CBDL with vitamin A treatment. Electron microscopically,intracytoplasmic fat droplets and the cytoplasmic processes of Ito cells were decreased afterCBDL. Myofibroblasts were frequently appeared in the interstitial fibrosis after CBDL. But,intracytoplasmic fat droplets of Ito cells were well preserved, and myofibroblasts were found lessfrequently after CBDL with vitamin A treatment. The results suggest that vitamin A plays an inbitory role in the activation and fibrogenesis ofIto cells after CBDL.
Rats ; Animals

BACKGROUND: Monofunctional psoralens plus UVA radiation are not severely phototoxic and have less mutagenic activity than bifunctional psoralens plus UVA radiation. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate pigment producing effect using various concentrations(0.02%, 0.1%, 0.5%) of monofunctional psoralens such as angelicin, khellin and comparing it's effect with TMP in topical photochemotherapy. METHOD: Ninty three C57BL mice were painted with either angelicin, khellin or TMP solution in concentrations of 0.02%, 0.1% and 0.5% each and were UVA irradiated. Skin biopsies were performed at 1,3,5 weeks after UVA irradiation. The pigment producing effects were measured by the number, area and perimeter of the melanocytes after topical PUVA. RESULTS: The comparison of melanocyte numbers between different psoralens after five weeks of photochemotherapy showed a significant difference in decreasing order of TMP, khellin and angelicin. The area and perimeter of melanocytes were larger in the TMP group after five weeks photochemotherapy than the other group. However in the khellin and angelicin group, the area and perimeter of melanocytes were not increased by increasing the frequency of the UVA irradiation. CONCLUSION: The number, area and perimeter of melanocytes after topical PUVA increased in the TMP group compared to angelicin or khellin group. We expect the clinical application of angelicin and khellin in vitiligo is possible considering the result of the study of pigment producing effect with a higher concentration and higher dose of UVA.
Animals ; Biopsy ; Ficusin* ; Furocoumarins ; Khellin ; Melanocytes* ; Methods ; Mice* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Paint ; Photochemotherapy* ; Skin ; Thymidine Monophosphate ; Vitiligo

Empathy is an essential factor for establishing therapeutic relationship. Especially for pediatric nursing, the nurses need to know how to perceive children's feeling and thought and to express her understanding about them affectively. So, empathy is considered as an important concept in pediatric nursing. This study was attempted to measure the empathic ability of pediatric nurses by pediatric nurse and mothers of hospitalized children. The subject of this study consisted of 83 pediatric nurses and 106 mothers of hospitalized children in 4 hospitals in Seoul and 1 hospital in Kyung-Gi. Data were collected from Jan. 14 to Feb. 6, 1997, by the questionnaire method. The instrument for this study was the Empathic Construct Rating Scale : ECRS(60-item, 5 point scale). Data Were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test and ANOVA. Result of this study are summarized as follows : 1. Pediatric nurses perceived their empathic ability to be moderately high(Mn=3.71) The level of perceived empathic ability of the pediatric nurses showed no significance by general characteristics. 2. The mothers of hospitalized children perceived nurses' empathic ability to be moderate(Mn=3.27). The level of perceived nurses' empathic ability of the mothers of hospitalized children showed significant differences by the experience of hospitalization of the children and the age of the mothers. 3. The perceived nurses' empathic ability of the mothers was significantly low than of the pediatric nurses(t=6.50, P<.001). From the above results, it can be concluded. that the empathic ability of the pediatric nurses is not sufficient for caring children and mothers efficiently. So, the pediatric nurses' empathic ability is needed to improve through facilitative relationship training as refreshment in-service education program.
Child ; Child, Hospitalized ; Education ; Empathy* ; Gyeonggi-do ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Mothers ; Pediatric Nursing ; Seoul ; Child Health ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: This study was carried out to investigate the relationships among suicidal risk, self-esteem, and spiritual well-being of high school students, and to provide basic data for developing suicide prevention programs. METHOD: The subjects of this study were 1.176 high school students from six academic high schools and two technical high schools in Daegu City. Data were collected from the 13th to the 25th of September 2004. The research tools were the Suicide Probability Scale developed by Go. Kim and Lee (2000), the Self-Esteem Inventory modified by Choi and Jeon (1993), and the tool of Spiritual Well-Being modified by Yoo (2002). Data were analyzed with SPSS Windows 11.0. RESULT: Variables that showed statistically significant difference in suicidal risk were school type, whether to have the best friends, the number of close friends, current relationship with close friends, experience of school violation, respect for the teacher, grades, financial condition, parents marital status, father's education level, mother's education level, home atmosphere, conversation with father, conversation with mother, smoking, drinking, experience of counseling for problems, whether to have physical illnesses, experience of thinking about suicide, experience of attempting suicide. Suicidal risk was in a significantly negative correlation with self-esteem and spiritual well-being. CONCLUSION: The researcher identified many different variables that affect the suicidal risk of high school students. Self-esteem and spiritual well-being were found to be in a significant correlation with suicidal risk. Therefore, the results of this study can be used as basic data and information for suicidal prevention programs.
Atmosphere ; Counseling ; Daegu ; Drinking ; Education ; Fathers ; Friends ; Humans ; Marital Status ; Mothers ; Parents ; Self Concept ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Spirituality ; Suicide ; Thinking

A 51-year-old man had small, tender, skin colored firm nodule on the helix of the both ears for eight months. He was found to have classic features of chondrodermatitis nodularis chronica helicis, namely, tender nodule less than 1 cm in length with central crusting, localization to helix, age, men, and histologic findings. The histologic examination of the biopsy specimen showed the presence of thinned epiderrnis on center. acanthosis on the adjacent epidermis, with hyperkeratosis and parakeratosis, and cleft between epidermis and dermis. In the dermis, highly vascularized connective tissue and chronic inflarnmatory infiltrate were visible with perichondrial fibrosis. Elastic tissue stain showed degeneration of elastic fibers. After complete excision, no recurrence was obsered until now.
Biopsy ; Connective Tissue ; Dermis ; Ear ; Elastic Tissue ; Epidermis ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Hypertrichosis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Parakeratosis ; Recurrence ; Skin