Purpose: This cross-sectional study aimed to identify factors influencing the intention for continual fertility treatments among women undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART). Methods: A total of 197 women were recruited through convenience sample from fertility hospitals in Gyeonggi-do and Busan, South Korea. Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire incorporating measures of uncertainty; Depression Anxiety Stress Scales; Fatigue Severity Scale; Coping Scale for Infertility-Women; spousal support; treatment environment; and intention for continual fertility treatment. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, t-tests, and logistic regression analysis were conducted using IBM SPSS 26.0. Results: As many as 70.6% of the participants expressed an intention for continual fertility treatments. Logistic regression analysis revealed that factors such as uncertainty (odds ratio [OR] = 0.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.20~0.95), active coping (OR = 4.04, 95% CI 1.11~14.71), treatment environment (OR = 2.77, 95% CI 1.26~6.07), and the duration of marriage (OR = 2.61, 95% CI 1.24~5.49) were significantly related with this intention. Conclusion These findings underscore the significance of uncertainty management, having proactive coping strategies, having supportive treatment environments, and considering the duration of marriage concerning women’s intention for continual fertility treatment in the context of ART. The implications of these results extend to the development of nursing intervention programs aimed at providing crucial support for women undergoing ART and seeking to continue their infertility treatment.

No abstract available.
Epidermal Cyst* ; Melanins*

OBJECTIVES: Insufficient sleep could have harmful effects on mental health. We examined the mental health status of Korean adolescents according to daily sleep time and subjective sleep satisfaction using a nationwide representative sample of Korean adolescents. METHODS: Data from the 2016 Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey was used. Sleep duration on weekdays and subjective sleep satisfaction during the past week were asked. Participants' perceived health, happiness, stress, depressive mood, and suicidality during past 12 months were also investigated. Participants were classified by mean duration of daily sleep time and the level of sleep satisfaction, and the odds of having mental health problems were compared. RESULTS: Compared to adolescents who slept more than 6 hours per day and satisfied with their sleep, adolescents who slept less than 6 hours per day and/or dissatisfied with their sleep were less likely to perceive themselves healthy and happy. They were also more likely to have severe stress, depressive mood, and suicidality, with highest odds ratios among adolescents with both short and dissatisfying sleep. CONCLUSIONS: Given the significant associations between sleep insufficiency and mental health problems, attention to the sleep shortage among Korean adolescents is needed. Prospective studies are warranted to elucidate the causal relationships between subjective and objective sleep insufficiency and psychiatric conditions.
Adolescent ; Depression ; Happiness ; Humans ; Mental Health ; Odds Ratio ; Prospective Studies ; Risk-Taking ; Suicidal Ideation

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate family functioning among spouses of gynecologic cancer patients in Korea. McCubbin and McCubbin’s Family Resilience Model (1993) guided the study focus on burden of care, family resilience, coping, and family functioning. Methods: An online survey collected data from 123 spouses of gynecologic cancer patients through convenience sampling from online communities for gynecologic cancer patients in Korea. Burden of care, family resilience (social support, family hardiness, and family problem-solving communication), coping, and family functioning were measured by self-report. Results: The patients (44.7%) and their spouses (47.2%) were mostly in the 41 to 50-year age group. Stage 1 cancer was 44.7%, and cervical cancer was the most common (37.4%) followed by ovarian cancer (30.9%) and uterine cancer (27.6%) regarding the cancer characteristics of the wife. Family function, burden of care, family resilience, and coping were all at greater than midpoint levels. Family functioning was positively related with social support (r=.44, p<.001), family hardiness (r=.49, p<.001), problem-solving communication (r=.73, p<.001), and coping (r=.56, p<.001). Multiple regression identified significant factors for family functioning (F=25.58, p<.001), with an overall explanatory power of 61.7%. Problem-solving communication (β=.56, p<.001) had the greatest influence on family function of gynecologic cancer families, followed by coping (β=.24, p<. 001) and total treatment period of the wife (β=.17, p=.006). Conclusion Nurses need to assess levels of family communication and spousal coping to help improve gynecologic cancer patients’ family function, especially for patients in longer treatment.

Purpose: We aim to assess infertility stress, gratitude, and changes in couple relationship of the women under reproductive treatments and to identify the relationships between variables. Methods: The subjects were 212 infertile women receiving reproductive treatments. The data were collected by self-administered questionnaires from June to August in 2019. The questionnaire consisted of the questions about infertility stress, gratitude and changes in their couple relationships. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, 1-way analysis of variance, and correlation coefficient were analyzed using the SPSS 26.0 Windows program. Results: The level of Infertility stress, gratitude, and changes in couple relationship averaged 3.23±0.59 (range of 1 to 6), 4.85±1.06 (range of 1 to 6), 3.03±0.55 (range of 1 to 5), respectively. Infertility stress had a negative correlation with gratitude (r=-0.322, p<0.001) and changes in couple relationship (r= -0.371, p<0.001). Gratitude also had a negative correlation with changes in couple relationship (r=-0.370, p<0.001). Conclusion The results revealed that infertility stress has a negative correlation with gratitude and changes in couple relationship. Thus, psychological interventions that can alleviate negative emotions should be provided.

Purpose: We aim to assess infertility stress, gratitude, and changes in couple relationship of the women under reproductive treatments and to identify the relationships between variables. Methods: The subjects were 212 infertile women receiving reproductive treatments. The data were collected by self-administered questionnaires from June to August in 2019. The questionnaire consisted of the questions about infertility stress, gratitude and changes in their couple relationships. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, 1-way analysis of variance, and correlation coefficient were analyzed using the SPSS 26.0 Windows program. Results: The level of Infertility stress, gratitude, and changes in couple relationship averaged 3.23±0.59 (range of 1 to 6), 4.85±1.06 (range of 1 to 6), 3.03±0.55 (range of 1 to 5), respectively. Infertility stress had a negative correlation with gratitude (r=-0.322, p<0.001) and changes in couple relationship (r= -0.371, p<0.001). Gratitude also had a negative correlation with changes in couple relationship (r=-0.370, p<0.001). Conclusion The results revealed that infertility stress has a negative correlation with gratitude and changes in couple relationship. Thus, psychological interventions that can alleviate negative emotions should be provided.

Purpose: This study aimed to translate the Infertility Stigma Scale (ISS) into Korean and to evaluate its reliability and validity in the Korean context. Methods: Data were collected from 350 women who underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF). Data were analyzed using SPSS WIN 25.0 and AMOS 22.0. Content validity was analyzed using the item-level content validity index (I-CVI) and scale-level content validity index/averaging (S-CVI/Ave). The preliminary survey was conducted on 20 women who had experienced IVF at least once to check the level of understanding of the tool and the time required to fill out the questionnaire. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to test construct validity. Additionally, hypothesis-testing construct validity were tested. Cronbach’s α was used to assess the reliability. Results: The Korean-ISS (K-ISS) consists of 25 items, excluding two items from the original ISS questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis identified four factors, which explained 75.6% of the total variance. The four distinct factors were infertility stigma with self-devaluation (56.8%), public stigma (8.1%), social withdrawal (6.5%), and family stigma (4.2%). In the confirmatory factor analysis, the 25 items in the four-factor structure were validated (χ 2 /df ≤ 3, RMSEA ≤ 10). The hypothesis-testing construct validity of K-ISS against FPI (r = .58∼.71, p < .001) and FQI (r = - .49∼- .65, p < .001) was tested and found to be significant. The internal consistency reliability of the K-ISS, assessed using Cronbach’s α, was .97. Conclusion The K-ISS has satisfactory construct validity and reliability; therefore, it can help minimize the negative impact of stigma by measuring the stigma associated with women experiencing infertility.

PURPOSE: To describe a case of Wyburn-Mason Syndrome, which is a rare phakomatosis, and its associated optical coherence tomography findings. CASE SUMMARY: A 5-year-old boy was referred to our clinic for decreased vision in his right eye. He had nevus flammeus on his right forehead, upper eyelid, and cheek. His best corrected visual acuity was hand motion in the right eye, in which a relative afferent pupillary defect was noted. Fundus examination of the right eye showed marked dilation and tortuosity of retinal vessels, which could not be discriminated between arteries and veins on the posterior pole. Optical coherence tomography showed multiple large intraretinal vessels without involvement of the internal limiting membrane. Cerebral angiography revealed arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) and feeder vessels from the internal carotid artery to the ophthalmic artery, extending to the ethmoidal artery in the nasal cavity. CONCLUSIONS: Wyburn-Mason syndrome is a rare phakomatoses and shows unique retinal AVM. Misdiagnosis or undertreatment of Wyburn-Mason syndrome can lead to serious complications. Patients with facial nevus flammeus should undergo thorough ocular examinations to rule out this disorder. Optical coherence tomography is a useful method for understanding structural features of retinal vascular malformations in Wyburn-Mason syndrome.
Arteries ; Arteriovenous Malformations ; Carotid Artery, Internal ; Cerebral Angiography ; Cheek ; Child, Preschool ; Diagnostic Errors ; Eyelids ; Forehead ; Hand ; Humans ; Male ; Membranes ; Methods ; Nasal Cavity ; Neurocutaneous Syndromes ; Nevus* ; Ophthalmic Artery ; Port-Wine Stain* ; Pupil Disorders ; Retinal Vessels ; Retinaldehyde ; Tomography, Optical Coherence* ; Vascular Malformations ; Veins ; Visual Acuity

PURPOSE: The mechanism of erectile dysfunction in type II non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) has not been well demonstrated. The aims of this study were to investigate erectile function and cavernosal TGF-beta expression in Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats, which develop NIDDM naturally. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty male OLETF rats and ten control LETO rats were included in this study. After 30 weeks, blood glucose levels and body weights were measured. Systemic arterial pressure and intracavernosal pressure were measured before and after pelvic nerve stimulation. Cross sections of the penis were processed for histologic and immunohistochemistry examinations. RESULTS: The mean body weights and mean blood glucose levels were significantly higher in the OLETF group (645.0 40.0 g; 130.8 55.6 mg/ml) compared to control group (538.0 14.4 g; 84.1 14.7 mg/ml), respectively (p<0.05). Nerve stimulation-induced peak intracavernosal pressure (mmHg) was significantly decreased in the OLETF group (41.3 15.4 mmHg) compared to control group (83.3 15.8 mmHg) (p<0.05). In the OLETF rats, the collagen connective tissue in the corpus cavernosum showed a dense and irregular arrangement. The immunoreactivity for TGF-beta 1 was prominent in collagen fibers, fibroblast and smooth muscle in the OLETF rats. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, OLETF rats showed significantly decreased erectile function compared with control rats, and histologic examination revealed cavernosal fibrosis and increased TGF-beta 1 expression. These results imply that the OLETF rat may be a good model to study the mechanism of erectile dysfunction in NIDDM.
Animals ; Arterial Pressure ; Blood Glucose ; Body Weight ; Collagen ; Connective Tissue ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Erectile Dysfunction ; Fibroblasts ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Muscle, Smooth ; Penis ; Rats ; Rats, Inbred OLETF* ; Transforming Growth Factor beta*