PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the meridian massage on the hand edema, activities of daily living (ADL), and depression in hemiplegic stroke patients. METHODS: The research was a quasi-experimental design using a non-equivalent control group pre-post test. The subjects were 40 stroke patients who admitted to rehabilitation department in a hospital. The data was collected from January to March, 2009 used the millimeter measurement for checking hand edema and the structured questionnaires. The meridian massage on affected hand was carried out for 10 minutes per day during 2 weeks to the experimental group. Descriptive statistics, -test, Fisher's exact test, and t-test with SPSS/WIN 12.0 program were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: After the intervention, there were statistically significant differences in the changes of hand edema, ADL, and depression in the experimental group compared with the control group. CONCLUSION: The meridian massage was effective in improving hand edema, the level of ADL, and depression for the hemiplegic stroke patients. Therefore the meridian massage can be utilized as an effective adjuvant therapy for stroke patients suffering from hand edema in clinical practice.
Activities of Daily Living ; Depression ; Edema ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Hand ; Humans ; Massage ; Stress, Psychological ; Stroke ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop the exercise program based on the Transtheoretical Model, and to identify it's effects on physical and psychological variables in stroke survivors. METHOD: The subjects of this study were 42 stroke survivors in the preparation and action stages. The stage based exercise program was conducted in the experimental group 8 times for 8 weeks. For data collection, physical conditioning and psychological state were measured and decisional balance and exercise specific self-efficacy were compared within groups. RESULT: For the physical conditioning, there were significant improvements in shoulder's range of motion and walking speed. For the psychological state, the mean score of self esteem for the experimental group significantly increased in both stages. The pros of decisional balance increased in the preparation stage and the cons of decisional balance increased in the action stage, but the exercise specific self-efficacy scores were not significantly changed in both stages. CONCLUSION: The stage based exercise program using the Transtheoretical Model influenced on the physical and psychological variables positively for the stroke survivors. It was demonstrated that subjects became more active during the intervention.
Data Collection ; Depression ; Humans ; Methods ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Self Concept ; Stroke* ; Survivors* ; Walking

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to explore the degree of depression, perceived health status, chronic disease and quality of life(QOL) among rural elderly and to determine the factors related to their QOL. METHOD: The design of this study was a correlational study. The subjects were 423 elderly consisted of 157(37.1%) men and 266(62.9%) women dwelling in a rural area of N City. Data were collected from May to December, 2003 using a structured questionnaire. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to identify the factors related to the QOL. RESULT: It was found that the mean score of QOL was in total with 2.15 out of 5.00 and women elderly's score was significantly lower than men(t=2.20, p=.028). Perceived health status showed statistically significant positive relationship with QOL(r=.608, p<.05), while depression(r=-.751, p<.01) and chronic illness(r=-.336, p<.01) showed statistically significant negative relationship. Depression was found to have the highest correlation with QOL among the subjects. Depression score explained QOL at the most, accounting for 36.8% of the variability, followed by perceived health(8.2%) and the number of chronic illness(.7%). Other factors related to the QOL were economic status and absence of spouse. CONCLUSION: In order to increase the QOL of rural elderly, it is necessary to decrease the depression, to increase their perceived health status and to decrease the number of chronic illness. We suggest the implementation of a program not only to promote physical health status and self-care ability but to take care of mental health for the rural elderly.
Aged* ; Chronic Disease ; Depression ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mental Health ; Quality of Life* ; Self Care ; Spouses ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The purpose of this study was to identify the degree of self-care activities of stroke patients, the family burden, and the educational needs of primary caregivers. A descriptive survey research was conducted in 97 stroke patients and their respective primary caregivers. Data were collected the using 26th to by interviews a structure questionnare from July August 5th, 1999. NIH stroke status was 12.15+/-8.40, the degree of self-care activities of stroke patients was 26.85+/-9.39. The score of objective burden of primary caregivers was 31.24+/-4.81 and subjective burden was 24.30+/-6.99. The score of the educational needs was 89.78+/-9.99. We present several imformations about clients from these scores as follows: The patients were convalescent and their depentant level of self-care was middle range: The objective burden was higher than the subjective burden: And the educational needs of family caregivers were very high. The Elain Mattis Educational Wants of Family Caregivers of Disabled Adults Questionnaire was used to assess the educational needs of primary caregivers of stroke patients. The results of this research are offered to help nurses understand the feelings of uncertainty about the new and unexpected role that family caregivers face and to help nurses meet the needs of families preparing to care stroke survivors at home.
Adult ; Caregivers* ; Humans ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Self Care* ; Stroke* ; Survivors ; Uncertainty

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a community-based group smoking cessation program among adult smokers in a rural community. METHOD: The study design was quasi-experimental with a pre and posttest. A total of 55 adult smokers participated in the study. They were evaluated 1, 3, and 6 months after the program to identify the long-term effectiveness of the program. The program consisted of a total of 5 sessions provided twice a week. To test the effectiveness of the program, urine creatinine, expired air carbon monoxide, nicotine dependence, and smoking-related knowledge were used as dependent variables. Data was analyzed with the SPSS 10.0 program with a t-test, paired t-test, and Scheffe test. RESULT: Urine creatinine, expired air carbon monoxide, and nicotine dependence were significantly decreased after the program. Also, the rates of continuous abstinence were 81.8% at posttest, 65.5% at 1 month, 54.5% at 3 months, and 54.5% at 6 months follow-up. CONCLUSION: This community-based group smoking cessation program implemented by a nurse and smoking cessation counselors was effective for quitting smoking and decreasing urine creatinine and nicotine dependence. Therefore, this smoking cessation program could be recommended to induce smoking cessation as health promotion management in the rural community.
Adult ; Aged ; Breath Tests ; Carbon Monoxide/analysis ; Cotinine/urine ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Patient Education as Topic ; Rural Population ; Smoking/prevention & control/*psychology ; Smoking Cessation/*methods ; Tobacco Use Disorder/*therapy ; Treatment Outcome

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify nicotine dependence, smoking-related attitude, and subjective norms across the stages of change for smoking cessation among adult smokers in a rural area. METHOD: The subjects were 276 current smokers (male=243, female=33). There were 3 stages of change for smoking cessation: pre-contemplation, contemplation, and preparation stage. Data was collected by an interview or self-reporting from February 12th to March 5th 2004, and analyzed with frequency, percentage, chi-square-test, Fisher's exact probability test, ANOVA, and Scheffe test using the SPSS-PC program. RESULT: According to the stages of change, 114(41.3%) current smokers were in pre-contemplation, 110(39.9%) in contemplation, and 52(18.8%) in the preparation stage. There was a higher percentage of males than females (chi-square=8.99, p=.011) in the preparation stage. The mean score of the smoking-related attitude (F=7.43, p=.001) and subjective norm(F=27.41, p=.001) were both lowest in the pre-contemplation stage and increased positively during the stages of change for smoking cessation. CONCLUSION: Based on these findings, the authors recommend that community-based smoking cessation programs should be developed by considering the intention or motives of current smokers and should be initiated in the preparation stage and primarily for male groups.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Attitude to Health ; Female ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Motivation ; Nicotine ; Questionnaires ; Rural Population ; Smoking Cessation/*psychology ; Tobacco Use Disorder/*psychology

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of a school-based obesity control program based on behavior modification and self-efficacy for obese elementary school children. The program was composed of strategies to modify diet and exercise habits and to increase self-efficacy. METHOD: The subjects were 57 obese children (experimental group = 28, control group = 29) whose Rohler index was 150 and over. The program was implemented once a week for 12 weeks from September 16 to December 12, 2003. The data was analyzed by Fisher's exact probability, chi2-test, t-test, and Wilcoxon Rank Sum test. RESULT: The Rohler index, fat mass and lean body mass of the experimental group positively changed after the intervention more than those of the control group, but there was a significant difference in the Rohler index only (t=2.06, p=.045). In addition, obesity stress significantly decreased (z=-2.86, p=.047) and dietary self-efficacy significantly increased (t=2.35, p=.023) in the experimental group than those of the control group. CONCLUSION: This study supports that a school-based obesity control program based on behavior modification and self-efficacy can be effective in decreasing obesity stress and increasing dietary self-efficacy. Parents, school nurses and the other support groups should be encouraged to participate from the planning stage of the program to be effective in weight control of obese elementary school children. Also school-based program should be implemented as an essential course in the curriculum, not as an elective.
Weight Loss ; *Self Efficacy ; *School Health Services ; Obesity/*therapy ; Male ; Humans ; Female ; Diet, Reducing ; Child ; *Behavior Therapy

Dysplasia epiphysealis hemimelica, also known as Trevor's disease, is a rare disorder characterized by osteochondral overgrowth of one or more epiphyses and usually affecting the lower limbs. It typically presents in childhood, with painless swelling or deformity around the involved joint. We report a case of recurrent dysplasia epiphysealis hemimelica which presented as a large popliteal mass four years after excision of the initial lesion.
Congenital Abnormalities ; Epiphyses ; Joints ; Lower Extremity ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging*

No abstract available.
Dwarfism*

No abstract available.
Bronchopulmonary Sequestration*