In other to study relationship of anxiety and serum cholesterol in general population, we performed the interview survey and screening test for the Ju-am cohort and residents in controlling area at 1995. Among them, 622 people are selected for this analysis. The results were summarized as follows. 1. Anxiety and total serum cholesterol related each other in the group of anxiety. Correlation coefficient was 0.39(p<0.01). 2. According to the result of multiple regression that the total serum cholesterol regarded as the dependent variable, anxiety and total serum cholesterol were related each other positively in the group of anxiety(p<0.05). 3. As the symptoms of anxiety was dichotomized affective and somatic symptom. There was no relationship of 2 symptoms and total serum cholesterol in all subjects, but there was more relationship on the affective symptom than on the somatic symptom in the group of anxiety(p<0.05). The above results show that anxiety and total serum cholesterol related each other significantly in the anxiety group. And the relationship of psychological factors and serum cholesterol could be applied significantly in general population as well as in the special group.
Affective Symptoms ; Anxiety* ; Cholesterol* ; Cohort Studies ; Mass Screening ; Psychology

OBJECTIVES: Slip and fall accidents in the workplace are one of the top causes of work related fatalities and injuries. Previous studies have indicated that fall risk was related to postural and dynamic stability. However, the usage of this theoretical relationship was limited by laboratory based measuring instruments. The current study proposed a new method for stability assessment by use of inertial measurement units (IMUs). METHODS: Accelerations at different body parts were recorded by the IMUs. Postural and local dynamic stability was assessed from these measures and compared with that computed from the traditional method. RESULTS: The results demonstrated: 1) significant differences between fall prone and healthy groups in IMU assessed dynamic stability; and 2) better power of discrimination with multi stability index assessed by IMUs. CONCLUSION: The findings can be utilized in the design of a portable screening or monitoring tool for fall risk assessment in various industrial settings.
Acceleration ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Human Body ; Mass Screening ; Risk Assessment

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to test the construct validity of the Type D personality scale (DS14). METHODS: The DS14 and other personality scales, which have good construct validity (MMPI-2), TCI-RS, MBTI, NEO-PI-R) were administered to 151 college students. Correlation and regression analyses were performed to evaluate the validity of the DS14. RESULTS: There were significant positive correlations between the DS14 total score and scores on the F, D, Pa, Pt, Sc, Si and 'negative emotionality' scales (MMPI-2), the 'harm avoidance' scale (TCI), the 'neuroticism' scale (NEO-PI-R), and the 'introversion' scale (MBIT). Additionally, there were significant negative correlations between the DS14 total score and extroversion, agreeableness, openness to experience, cooperativeness, and reward dependence scales. Stepwise regression analysis also showed coherent RESULTS: negative emotionality, introversion, RCd and RC2 (MMPI-2), harm avoidance (TCI), neuroticism (NEO-PI-R), introversion, thinking (MBIT) scales were selected as significant explanatory variables. CONCLUSION: Individuals with a Type-D personality, as assessed by the DS14, seem to have a tendency to experience negative emotions such as depression and anxiety. As a construct, Type-D personality also seems to be closely related to neuroticism and introversion. These results indicate that the DS14 has sound construct validity as a screening tool for measuring stress-vulnerability traits, that is to say, type-D personality.
Anxiety ; Anxiety Disorders ; Depression ; Extraversion (Psychology) ; Humans ; Introversion (Psychology) ; Mass Screening ; Reward ; Thinking ; Weights and Measures

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Balloon expulsion test (BET) is regarded as a screening tool of dyssynergic defecation (DD). However, some patients with normal BET results may be treated effectively by biofeedback training. This study aims to validate BET as a single screening test. METHODS: Two hundred and thirty-two patients who were diagnosed with functional constipation or irritable bowel syndrome with constipation who underwent anorectal manometry (ARM) and BET at Seoul National University Hospital were enrolled. We evaluated the validity of BET based on ARM and electromyography (EMG) during biofeedback training. RESULTS: If BET ≤ 1 minute was defined as normal, sensitivity and negative predictive value (NPV) of BET in predicting paradoxical contraction based on ARM findings were 71.4% and 13.9%. If BET ≤ 3 minutes was defined as normal, sensitivity and NPV were 35.2% and 6.6%. Specificity and positive predictive value (PPV) of BET ≤ 3 minutes criteria were 84.8% and 93.3%. Same analysis was conducted in 107 patients who underwent EMG during biofeedback training. With 1-minute criteria, sensitivity and NPV of BET were 70.3% and 14.3%. With 3 minutes criteria, sensitivity and NPV of BET was 38.6% and 8.8%. Specificity and positive predictive values were both 100.0%. CONCLUSIONS: Based on either ARM or EMG during biofeedback training, sensitivity was at most 71.4% and NPV was less than 15.0% irrespective of whether BET was within 1minute or within 3 minutes. BET seems to have a limitation as both a screening test for dyssynergic defecation and a simple assessment to rule out the necessity of biofeedback training.
Arm ; Biofeedback, Psychology ; Constipation ; Defecation* ; Electromyography ; Humans ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome ; Manometry ; Mass Screening* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Seoul

PURPOSE: In a sequential objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), all students initially take a short screening OSCE. Examinees who pass are excused from further testing, but an additional OSCE is administered to the remaining examinees. Previous investigations of sequential OSCE were based on classical test theory. We aimed to design and evaluate screening OSCEs based on item response theory (IRT). METHODS: We carried out a retrospective observational study. At each station of a 10-station OSCE, the students' performance was graded on a Likert-type scale. Since the data were polytomous, the difficulty parameters, discrimination parameters, and students' ability were calculated using a graded response model. To design several screening OSCEs, we identified the 5 most difficult stations and the 5 most discriminative ones. For each test, 5, 4, or 3 stations were selected. Normal and stringent cut-scores were defined for each test. We compared the results of each of the 12 screening OSCEs to the main OSCE and calculated the positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV), as well as the exam cost. RESULTS: A total of 253 students (95.1%) passed the main OSCE, while 72.6% to 94.4% of examinees passed the screening tests. The PPV values ranged from 0.98 to 1.00, and the NPV values ranged from 0.18 to 0.59. Two tests effectively predicted the results of the main exam, resulting in financial savings of 34% to 40%. CONCLUSION: If stations with the highest IRT-based discrimination values and stringent cut-scores are utilized in the screening test, sequential OSCE can be an efficient and convenient way to conduct an OSCE.
Discrimination (Psychology) ; Humans ; Income ; Iran* ; Mass Screening ; Observational Study ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND: Fecal occult blood tests have been widely used for colorectal cancer screening. In recent years, many laboratories have used automated fecal occult blood test analyzers using immunologic techniques for convenience, fast reporting and quantitative handling. Hemo Techt NS-Plus C15 (NS-Plus C) (Alfresa pharma Co., Japan) is a newly-introduced automated fecal occult blood test analyzer using colloidal gold agglutination methods. We evaluated the performance of NS-Plus C. METHODS: The linearity, precision and carry-over rate of NS-Plus C were evaluated. We performed parallel test between NS-Plus C and HM-JACK (Kyowa Medix Co., Japan) using 219 stool specimens. RESULTS: The linearity was good (R2=0.998) and coefficient of variation (CVs) of within-day precision were 2.61% and 2.07% in low and high concentration, and between-day CVs for each group were 3.18% and 1.63%, respectively. Carry over rate was 0% and concordance rate between NS-Plus C and HM-JACK was 98.6%. CONCLUSIONS: NS-Plus C showed good performance for linearity, precision, carry over rate and comparison study. Therefore, this is believed to be a highly reliable measurement system for fecal occult blood test.
Agglutination ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Gold Colloid ; Handling (Psychology) ; Immunologic Techniques ; Mass Screening ; Occult Blood

BACKGROUND: It is well-known that dyspeptic symptoms in functional dyspepsia are related to psychological factors such as stress and mood disorder. But it is still controversial whether H. pylori infection is a important factor for functional dyspepsia. We conducted this study to investigate whether H. pylori infection or stress are related to dyspeptic symptom severity in functional dyspepsia. METHODS: From Mar. 1 1999 to Apr. 30 1999, attendees to a Health Screening Center and a Family Practice Center were eligible study subjects. The subjects were responded to questionnaire including dyspeptic symptom severity items and BEPSI-K(stress scale). And among eligible subjects, one hundred and thirty two diagnosed with functional dyspepsia by gastrofibroscopy were final study subjects. H. pylori infection was confirmed by antral biopsies & smear (Giemsa stain). RESULTS: In functional dyspepsia, high BEPSI-K score group(upper tertile) complained more severe dyspeptic symptom severity than low BEPSI-K score group(lower tertile) after adjusted for other variables(adjusted OR=8.389, 95% C.I.=2.232-31.231). But the dyspeptic symptom severity was not associated with H. pylori infection status (adjusted OR=1.514, 95% C.I.=0.567-4.046). CONCLUSIONS: The dyspeptic symptom severity in functional dyspepsia was associated with stress but not with H. pylori infection status.
Biopsy ; Dyspepsia* ; Family Practice ; Helicobacter pylori* ; Helicobacter* ; Mass Screening ; Mood Disorders ; Psychology ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVE: Analyses of the 24 items of the Mini-Memory Test (MiMeT) using the item response theory. METHODS: Item difficulty and item discrimination of all items were evaluated with the 2-parametric logistic model in elderly psychiatric patients with memory impairment (n=332, 48.4%) and without (n=354, 51.6%). The BILOG 3 for Windows was employed for the analysis. RESULTS: The mean item difficulty (+/-SD) was -0.878 (+/-1.176), with range of -3.299~0.902. The mean item discrimination (+/-SD) was -1.051(+/-0.392), ranging from 0.346 to 1.848. Discriminations of 19 items were above appropriate level and the delayed recall of short story items of the long-term memory had the highest discrimination. CONCLUSION: All the MiMeT items were thought as having no problems as memory screening test in terms of difficulty and discrimination at the level of p<0.01.
Aged* ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Mass Screening ; Memory ; Memory, Long-Term

BACKGROUND: To prevent and control legionellosis outbreaks, it is important to monitor cooling towers for Legionella and establish epidemiological markers. We determined level of contamination with Legionella of cooling tower in Seoul city, analyzed the distribution of Legionella subtypes, and evaluated molecular typing methods for discrimination power and feasibility. METHODS: Water samples from 120 cooling towers in 25 areas(Gu) of Seoul city were collected during June, 1997. Culture and duplex-PCR(polymerase chain reaction) with Southern hybridization probed with Legionella-specific genes were performed with filtered samples. Twenty-two Legionella isolates were analyzed comparatively by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis(PFGE) and arbitrarily primed(AP)-PCR using a M13 reverse primer. RESULTS: Culture and duplex-PCR with Southern hybridization were positive for Legionella in 22(18.3%) and 106(88.3%) of 120 samples, respectively, resulting in 90.8%(109/120) of contamination level. Out of 22 Legionella isolates, 17 were identified as Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1, 4 as L. pneumophila serogroup 6 and 1 as an unknown. Molecular analysis of 17 isolates of L. pneumophila serogroup 1 showed 7 subtypes by PFGE(A0 in 9 isolates; A1, 2; A2, 1; A3, 2; B, 1; C, 1; D, 1) and 5 subtypes by AP-PCR(Ia in 11 isolates; Ib, 2; Ic, 2; II, 1; III, 1). The agreement of results of both methods was 76.5%(13/17) of L. pneumophila serogroup 1 and 81.8%(18/22) of all isolates, respectively. CONCLUSION: Most of cooling towers in Seoul city were already contaminated with Legionella just before summer, requiring decontamination measures and continuous surveillance. L. pneumophila serogroup 1 was the predominant isolate with variable subtypes. The AP-PCR can be used as a rapid and reproducible screening tool in tracking legionellosis outbreak.
Decontamination ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Disease Outbreaks ; Legionella pneumophila ; Legionella* ; Legionellosis ; Mass Screening ; Molecular Typing ; Seoul* ; Water*

Massage therapy is a traditional, alternative and nonphamacological means of promoting rest and relaxation. However, nursing intervention by massage for middle-aged women is rarely practiced by nurses. The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of the hand and arm massage as an independent nursing intervention tool for middle- aged women. The data used in this research were collected from forty-nine subjects using a nonequivalent control group non- synchronized design. Twenty-four persons for the experimental group and Twenty-five persons for the control group were selected from D city and C city from July 1997 to September 2000. Subjects' ages were between forty and fifty-six years old with mean the age of 45.6. Hand and arm massage developed by Cayce and Reilly was applied to the experimental group for a session of 15 minutes two or three times a week for four weeks. The instruments used for the measurement of the subjects' stress, anxiety, depression and the middle-life crisis were Langners's 22-item Screening Score, Spielberger's State Anxiety Inventory, Zung's Self-rating Depression Scale, and Kim's Middle Life Crisis Scale(1988). These psychological factors were measured before and after the implementation of hand and arm massage. The data were analyzed with mean+/-s.d, percent, t-test, and a paired t-test. The results were summarized as follows; 1. Before the treatment, there were no significant differences between the two groups. 2. After the treatment, there were significant differences in the stress and the occurrence of mid life crisis between the two groups. The findings suggest that the use of the hand and arm massage for middle-aged women made significant changes in the level of stress and middle life crisis. Therefore, it is recommended that hand and arm massage be used as an independent nursing intervention tool for middle-aged women. For further research, is needed replication of this concept of research with different subjects in a larger population. Also, it is recommended to investigate the effects of massage with aroma therapy for the berefit of decreasing womens' stress level further.
Anxiety ; Arm* ; Aromatherapy ; Depression ; Female ; Hand* ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Massage* ; Nursing ; Psychology ; Relaxation