PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of balance taping on pain and Range of Motion (ROM). ROM of the knee joint in the elderly with lower limbs arthritis. METHODS: This study was a nonequivalent pretest-posttest design, quasi-experimental study. An experimental group of 35 elderly and a control group of 35 elderly were assigned. Subjects responses to the Visual analogue Scale (VAS) and range of motion scores as measured by a joint goniometer. Data were analyzed by, t-test and repeated measures ANOVA. RESULTS: In the experimental treatment group, the pain score was significantly decreased from 6.46 to 2.09 after balance taping (p<.001). In addition, knee joint ROM of the experimental group was significantly increased from 114.80 to 121.92 after balance taping (p=.003, p<.001, p<.001). CONCLUSION: This is a very important study as it is an excellent treatment that nurses can utilize and these data support the efficacy of the method.
Aged ; Arthritis ; Humans ; Joints ; Knee ; Knee Joint ; Lower Extremity ; Range of Motion, Articular

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of balance taping for elders suffering from leg pain. METHOD: This study was a nonequivalent pretest-posttest design, quasi-experimental study. There were 25 elders in the experimental group and 25 in the control group. The degree of leg pain was measured three times. RESULTS: In the experimental group, the leg pain score before taping was 6.28, but 1 hour after the taping was applied it was 3.24, and at 24 hours after the taping was applied, 2.16. The leg pain score for elders in the experimental group decreased significantly but for those in the control group, it hardly changed. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study support the conclusion that balance taping may benefit individuals with leg pain. Also, balance taping therapy can be used as an independent nursing intervention.
Leg ; Stress, Psychological

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the actual condition and the general cognition toward the disclosure of diagnosis among cancer patients. METHODS: A survey using a structured questionnaire was conducted with 195 cancer patient from October 18, 2011 to November 19. The data was analyzed with SPSS (version 18.0) for frequency analysis and chi2 test. RESULTS: 88.2% of cancer patients were agreed to the disclosure of cancer diagnosis. Cancer patients had preferences for a doctor to notify the disclosure of their cancer diagnosis (90.8%) and immediate notification of the cancer diagnosis (89.7%). The sequences of disclosing cancer diagnosis were following; the patient and the care-giver notified at the same time (47.2%). the patient notified first (32.3%) and the care-giver notified first (20.5%). Cognition toward disclosure of cancer diagnosis was statistically significant only with age (p=.003). CONCLUSION: These result suggested that cancer patient wanted to notify their cancer diagnosis by doctor, as soon as cancer diagnosis confirmed, before notifying to their family, and to know accurate cancer related information. Therefore, principals and guidelines in disclosing cancer diagnosis are essential to increase the quality of cancer patient care.
Cognition ; Disclosure ; Humans ; Patient Care ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: This methodological study develops an oral health assessment tool for critically ill patients.METHOD: From February 15 to April 30, 2014, this study was conducted to test the validity and reliability of the tool at two general hospitals and three medical and surgical intensive care units (ICUs) in Seoul, Korea.RESULTS: The result of the intraclass correlation coefficient to test the between-observer reliability by analyzing the oral health assessment scores before and after oral nursing care showed that .93 of before oral care and .90 of after oral care. The correlation coefficient values of .68 (p < .001) and .71 (p < .001) before and after providing oral nursing care, respectively, indicated the presence of a statistically significant correlation between the tool and the criterion. Using the paired t-test, the differentiated validity of the tool was tested in patients who had developed pneumonia after entering the ICU. A statistically significant difference in scores was found between the time of entering the ICU and that of developing pneumonia (t=−8.73, p < .001), which provided evidence for the differentiated validity of the tool.CONCLUSION: Since the validity and reliability of the tool developed in this study were verified, this tool can be used to assess the oral health conditions of critically ill patients.
Critical Care ; Critical Illness ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Korea ; Methods ; Nursing Care ; Oral Health ; Pneumonia ; Reproducibility of Results ; Seoul

Purpose: This study investigated the effects of auricular acupressure therapy on pruritus, skin dryness, and depression in hemodialysis patients. Methods: This was a randomized control group pre-post experimental study. Fifty-four patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis at a single center voluntarily participated in the study. Twenty-seven participants were randomly assigned to the experimental group, to whom auricular acupressure was applied to five designated acupoints (shenmen, heart, kidney, lung, and occiput) for 5 weeks. The control group (n=27) received no intervention for the first 5 weeks, and the auricular acupressure intervention was administered due to ethical considerations after 5 weeks. Pruritus, pruritus-related sleep disturbance, and depression were scored accordingly. Skin dryness was assessed by measuring transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and stratum corneum hydration (SCH) levels. Results: Auricular acupressure therapy significantly reduced pruritus (z=-3.97, p<.001) and pruritus-related sleep disturbance (z=-2.97, p=.003) in the experimental group. TEWL showed a significant reduction in the arm (z=-2.23, p=.026) and body (z=-1.97, p=.049) but not in the leg. There were no differences in SCH levels and depression (z=-0.35, p=.721). Conclusion Auricular acupressure therapy effectively alleviated pruritus and skin dryness. This study confirmed the safety and effectiveness of auricular acupressure therapy as a viable intervention for pruritus in hemodialysis patients.

PURPOSE: This study was to present improvement strategy and the problems of the nursing fee in national health insurance system. METHODS: A total of 23 nursing activities performed by nurses were selected. Data were collected the relative value score and criteria of the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Agency. Sixty clinical nursing experts panels were composed and nursing time surveyed self-reported method. The actual fee was calculated through the nursing time, relative value score and actual labor costs. Nextly, the labor costs analyzed was compared with that in the national health insurance. RESULTS: Although the practices were mainly performed by the nurse, other occupations have been recorded as main practitioners and the time of the nursing activity is partially improperly reflected. Additionally, although the nurse practiced mainly in glucose (semi-quantitative) test, it was confirmed that the principal practitioner was described as a clinical pathologist. The the labor cost gap was estimated that is 9.3 times (median) and 11.9 times (average) in this analysis. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that it is necessary to legislate a policy that can improve the quality of clinical nursing by reinforcing the appropriateness and improving nursing fee through reflection of the actual time spent for nursing care.
Fees and Charges ; Glucose ; Insurance, Health ; Methods ; National Health Programs ; Nursing Care ; Nursing ; Occupations ; Relative Value Scales

Glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3β has been known as a pro-inflammatory molecule in neuroinflammation. The involvement of GSK-3β remains unsolved in acute monophasic rat experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). The aim of this study was to evaluate a potential role of GSK-3β in central nervous system (CNS) autoimmunity through its inhibition by lithium. Lithium treatment significantly delayed the onset of EAE paralysis and ameliorated its severity. Lithium treatment reduced the serum level of pro-inflammatory tumor necrosis factor a but not that of interleukin 10. Western blot analysis showed that the phosphorylation of GSK-3β (p-GSK-3β) and its upstream factor Akt was significantly increased in the lithium-treated group. Immunohistochemical examination revealed that lithium treatment also suppressed the activation of ionized calcium binding protein-1-positive microglial cells and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 expression in the spinal cords of lithium-treated EAE rats. These results demonstrate that lithium ameliorates clinical symptom of acute monophasic rat EAE, and GSK-3 is a target for the suppression of acute neuroinflammation as far as rat model of human CNS disease is involved.
Animals ; Autoimmunity ; Blotting, Western ; Calcium ; Central Nervous System ; Central Nervous System Diseases ; Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental ; Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 ; Glycogen Synthase Kinases* ; Glycogen Synthase* ; Glycogen* ; Humans ; Interleukin-10 ; Lithium* ; Models, Animal* ; Multiple Sclerosis* ; Paralysis ; Phosphorylation ; Rats* ; Spinal Cord ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in Lewis rats is characterized by transient paralysis followed by recovery. To evaluate whether transient paralysis in EAE affects bone density, tibiae of EAE rats were morphologically investigated using micro-computed tomography and histology. The parameters of bone health were significantly reduced at the peak stage of EAE rats relative to those of controls (p < 0.05). The reduction of bone density was found to remain unchanged, even in the recovery stage. Collectively, the present data suggest that osteoporosis occurs in paralytic rats with monophasic EAE, possibly through the disuse of hindlimbs and/or autoimmune inflammation.
Animals ; Autoimmunity ; Bone Density ; Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental* ; Hindlimb ; Inflammation ; Osteoporosis* ; Paralysis ; Rats* ; Tibia

Olfactory dysfunction occurs in multiple sclerosis in humans, as well as in an animal model of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). The aim of this study was to analyze differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in olfactory bulb of EAE-affected mice by next generation sequencing, with a particular focus on changes in olfaction-related signals. EAE was induced in C57BL/6 mice following immunization with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein and adjuvant. Inflammatory lesions were identified in the olfactory bulbs as well as in the spinal cord of immunized mice. Analysis of DEGs in the olfactory bulb of EAE-affected mice revealed that 44 genes were upregulated (and which were primarily related to inflammatory mediators), while 519 genes were downregulated; among the latter, olfactory marker protein and stomatin-like 3, which have been linked to olfactory signal transduction, were significantly downregulated (log2 [fold change] >1 and p-value < 0.05). These findings suggest that inflammation in the olfactory bulb of EAE-affected mice is associated with the downregulation of some olfactory signal transduction genes, particularly olfactory marker protein and stomatin-like 3, which may lead to olfactory dysfunction in an animal model of human multiple sclerosis.
Animals ; Down-Regulation ; Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Immunization ; Inflammation ; Mice ; Models, Animal ; Multiple Sclerosis ; Myelin-Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein ; Olfactory Bulb ; Olfactory Marker Protein ; Signal Transduction ; Spinal Cord ; Transcriptome