PURPOSE: This study was conducted to develop an Empowerment Education Program (EEP) for kidney transplant patients and to test the program's effects on uncertainty, self-care ability, and compliance. METHODS: The research was conducted using a nonequivalent control group with a pretest-posttest design. The participants were 53 outpatients (experimental group: 25, control group: 28) who were receiving hospital treatment after kidney transplants. After the pre-test, patients in the experimental group underwent a weekly EEP for six weeks. The post-test was conducted immediately after, and four weeks after the program's completion in the same manner as the pre-test. For the control group, we conducted a post-test six and ten weeks after the pre-test, without and program intervention. A repeated measure ANOVA was performed to compare the change scores on main outcomes. RESULTS: Uncertainty was significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group, both immediately after (t=-3.84, p=<.001) and 4 weeks after (t=-4.51 p=<.001) the program, whereas self-care ability (t=5.81, p=<.001), (t=5.84, p=<.001) and compliance (t=5.07, p=<.001), (t=5.45, p=<.001) were significantly higher. CONCLUSION: Kidney transplant patients who underwent an EEP showed a decrease in uncertainty and an improvement in self-care ability and compliance. Thus, our findings confirmed that an EEP can be an independent intervention method for improving and maintaining the health of kidney transplant patients.
Compliance ; Education* ; Humans ; Kidney Transplantation* ; Kidney* ; Methods ; Outpatients ; Patient Compliance ; Power (Psychology)* ; Self Care ; Uncertainty

PURPOSE: Pelvic floor muscle exercise, biofeedback and electrical stimulation have been known as initial treatment options for women with stress urinary incontinence. We evaluated the clinical outcome of pelvic floor muscle exercise in combination with biofeedback and electrical stimulation as a treatment for stress urinary incontinence. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty three patients with stress urinary incontinence who had been treated with biofeedback and electrical stimulation from June 1999 to March 2000 were analyzed. Patients were evaluated with their medical history, physical examination, SEAPI score, and urodynamic study including Valsalva leak point pressure(VLPP). All patients were assessed for the outcome of the procedure with subjective satisfaction by scores of SEAPI classification and the relative strength of pelvic floor muscle by maximal vaginal pressure and contraction time. RESULTS: Among 23 women followed up for 6 month to 1 year, urinary incontinence completely disappeared in 6 patients(26.1%), significantly improved in 13(56.5%) and not improved in 4(17.4%). There was a significant increase in maximal vaginal pressure, contraction time and decrease in the scores of SEAPI classification. CONLUSIONS: Pelvic floor muscle exercise in combination with biofeedback and electrical stimulation is a simple, safe, and effective treatment of stress urinary incontinence. The patient compliance is closely related to the success rate.
Biofeedback, Psychology* ; Classification ; Electric Stimulation ; Female ; Humans ; Patient Compliance ; Pelvic Floor* ; Physical Examination ; Urinary Incontinence* ; Urodynamics

PURPOSE: This study was designed to examine the effect of asthma management education program applied to allergic asthma patients receiving immunotherapy due to house dust mite on their stress and compliance with health care regimens. METHODS: A quasi experimental design with non-equivalent control group and non-synchronized design was used. The subjects of this study were 61 patients who were receiving immunotherapy at intervals of a week after their symptoms were diagnosed as house dust mite allergic asthma at the pulmonary department of a university hospital in Seoul. They were divided into an experimental group of 29 patients who received asthma management education and a control group of 32 patients. The asthma management education program was composed of group education (once) and reinforcement education (three times) with environmental therapy and immunotherapy to house dust mite. RESULTS: Stress significantly decreased in the experimental group compared to that in the control group. Compliance with health care regimens significantly increased in the experimental group compared to that in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that the asthma management education program is effective for the management of stress and the improvement of compliance in patients with allergic asthma to house dust mite.
Stress, Psychological/etiology/*prevention & control ; Pyroglyphidae/*immunology ; *Patient Education ; *Patient Compliance ; Male ; Korea ; Humans ; Female ; Asthma/etiology/psychology/*therapy ; Adult

PURPOSE: This cross-sectional survey was conducted to described the compliance of Breast Self-Examination of middle-aged women using a convenient sample, and to examine relationships between the compliance of BSE and Health Beliefs, and the influencing factors on the compliance of BSE. METHODS: The subjects were 373 literate volunteers who were from 41 to 60 years of age who visited 6 public health centers. From June 7, 2004 to August 20, 2004, data were collected by 5 research assistants using a self-report questionnaire. The questionnaire was used to obtain information on the general characteristics, knowledge, health beliefs, and compliance of BSE. RESULTS: The findings of this study suggested that there were significant differences in the scores of the perceived susceptibility and severity between compliers and non-compliers of the BSE. BSE compliance was significantly correlated with knowledge, perceived susceptibility, and perceived severity. The most powerful predictor of BSE compliance was the perceived susceptibility. The perceived susceptibility, the perceived severity, the knowledge and educational level accounted for 41.8% of the variance in middle aged women's BSE compliance. CONCLUSION: Increase in knowledge about breast cancer, with a concomitant increase in both perceived susceptibility and perceived severity could produce a subtle cue or motivating force sufficient to affect a behavior change. Further research is needed to examine the qualitative difference between BSE and other early detection behaviors.
Patient Compliance/*psychology ; Middle Aged ; Korea ; Humans ; *Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Female ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Breast Self-Examination/*psychology ; Adult

OBJECTIVETo learn about the effects of psychological counseling intervention on reducing heroin use, increasing methadone dosage and improving compliance rate of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT).

METHODSSubjects who had had at least one positive result for regular urine morphine tests during the past three months were recruited from 16 MMT clinics. During the three-month intervention period, the subjects received regular psychological counseling provided by doctors (once every other week) and peer education (once a week). Positive rates of urine morphine tests, average days receiving MMT during three months before the intervention and during the intervention, and average daily dosage of methadone during the last week before intervention and during the last week of the intervention programs conducted were recorded and compared.

RESULTSA total of 492 patients receiving MMT were surveyed. There were significant changes in positive rates for urine morphine tests, average daily dosage, and average days on MMT before and during the intervention programs. The positive rate for urine morphine tests dropped from 50.1% to 27.1%; the average daily dosage of methadone increased from 63.0 mg to 72.6 mg; the average days receiving MMT increased from 69.4 days to 73.9 days.

CONCLUSIONIntensive psychological counseling intervention was effective in reducing heroin use, increasing methadone dosage and improving compliance rate of MMT among patients receiving MMT.

Counseling ; Heroin Dependence ; drug therapy ; psychology ; Humans ; Methadone ; therapeutic use ; Opiate Substitution Treatment ; psychology ; Patient Compliance ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Objective: To investigate the benefits of nursing care service in the assisted reproduction clinic to self-cycle-management and self-efficiency of the outpatients with infertility. METHODS: We randomly divided 600 females preliminarily diagnosed with infertility into a control and an experimental group, 288 in the former and 285 in the latter group excluding those whose husbands had azoospermia. For the women patients of the experimental group, we conducted nursing care intervention concerning related knowledge, skills, diet, excise, medication, and psychology, by one-to-one consultation, individualized or group communication, establishing files, telephone follow-up, and wechat guidance. After 3 months of intervention, we compared the compliance of medical visits, effectiveness of cycle management, sense of self-efficiency, satisfaction, and anxiety score between the two groups of patients. RESULTS: In comparison with the controls, the patients of the experimental group showed significantly better knowledge about assisted reproduction and higher effectiveness of self-cycle-management, self-efficiency, and satisfaction (P <0.05), but a markedly lower degree of anxiety (P <0.05). CONCLUSIONS Nursing care service in the assisted reproduction clinic can improve the compliance of medical visits, effectiveness of self-cycle-management, self-efficiency, and satisfaction and reduce the anxiety of the patients.
Anxiety ; prevention & control ; Diet ; Exercise ; Female ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Infertility ; nursing ; psychology ; Menstrual Cycle ; Patient Compliance ; Patient Satisfaction ; Reproductive Techniques, Assisted ; psychology ; Self Efficacy

BACKGROUND: Compliance from kidney transplant recipients might improve with less frequent doses of immunosuppressant drugs. We describe the development of an extended-release formulation of tacrolimus that enables taking the drug just once a day, instead of the current twice a day tacrolimus formulation. METHODS: We performed a prospective, open-label, 1:1 randomized, and multicenter study. Patients received Prograf(R) (Astellas Inc.) twice a day for 1 month post-transplantation. The patients of the investigational group converted to a dose of Advagraf(R) (Astellas Inc.) given once a day. We evaluated the efficacy, safety, and patient satisfaction of both groups. RESULTS: Within 5 months after conversion to Advagraf, the incidence of biopsy-confirmed acute rejection was 0%, while patient and graft survival was 100%. We could not find differences of the patients' estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) between the Prograf and Advagraf treated groups 1~6 months post-transplantation. The safety profile and satisfaction profiles (immunosuppressant therapy barrier scale) were also equivalent between the treated groups. CONCLUSIONS: The preliminary results of this study support the safety, efficacy, and patient satisfaction from a single daily formulation of tacrolimus (Advagraf(R)).
Compliance ; Glomerular Filtration Rate ; Graft Survival ; Humans ; Immunosuppression ; Incidence ; Kidney ; Kidney Transplantation ; Patient Satisfaction ; Prospective Studies ; Rejection (Psychology) ; Tacrolimus

Traumatic injuries of the face often involve root fractures especially in anterior teeth. The prognosis and the treatment of the root fracture depend on the extent of the fracture line, general health and patient compliance. This case report outlines a new conservative trial treatment modality to stabilize the maxillary central incisors with horizontal root fracture on the cervical to middle third by fabricating canine guidance to remove loading on the traumatized maxillary central incisors during eccentric movements and thus inducing spontaneous healing of the fractured line between the fragments. Radiographs after thirty months showed adequate healing with no signs of pathological changes including root resorption, ankylosis or displacement. Long term follow-up revealed that vitality, stability and aesthetics were maintained and the patient was satisfied with the outcome.
Ankylosis ; Dental Occlusion ; Displacement (Psychology) ; Esthetics ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incisor ; Patient Compliance ; Prognosis ; Root Resorption ; Tooth

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to compare characteristics of parents of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) children in relationship to treatment compliance. METHODS: A total of 271 school-aged children diagnosed with ADHD were devided into two groups by treatment duration; early dropout group (n=117, treatments discontinued within three months) and continuous treatment groups (n=154, treatments continued for more than three months). Scores on the Korean Personality Inventory for Children (KPI-C), Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), Korean Parenting Sense of Competence (K-PSOC), Korean Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (K-PSI-SF), and Parental Acceptance Rejection Questionnaire (PARQ) were compared between two groups. RESULTS: According to the results of the KPI-C, parents of the early dropout group showed a higher tendency to regard their children's symptoms as 'somatization' and 'delinquency', compared with those of continuous treatment groups (49.9 vs. 46.3 and 60.9 vs. 58.2, p=0.048 and 0.046, respectively). Parents in the early dropout group showed higher scores on hypochondriasis and psychasthenia subscales in MMPI (54.7 vs. 52.1 and 51.5 vs. 48.5, p=0.024, and 0.017, respectively). The results of the K-PSOC showed that parents in the early dropout group perceived a lower sense of parenting competence (27.3 vs. 58.6, p=0.047). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggested that characteristics of the parents and their perspectives regarding children's symptoms could be possible factors associated with treatment compliance in ADHD. Further researches on this issue may provide opportunities to improve treatment compliance for children with ADHD.
Child ; Compliance ; Humans ; Hypochondriasis ; Mental Competency ; MMPI ; Parenting ; Parents ; Patient Dropouts ; Personality Inventory ; Pilot Projects ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Rejection (Psychology)

OBJECTIVE: To establish an interference mode of group counseling for diabetic patients with depression and to evaluate the effectiveness of this mode on depression, treatment compliance and blood sugar level in the patients.
 METHODS: One hundred diabetic patients with depression were randomly divided into a counseling group and a control group (n=50 per group). Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) was applied to all the patients. The interference mode of group counseling was established through literature review, expert consultation or interview. The counseling group received counseling for 8 times within 2 months.
 RESULTS: There was a significant difference in the SDS scores at 0, 3, 6 or 12 months after the intervention between the 2 groups (P<0.001). For the counseling group, there was a significant difference in the SDS scores between pre-intervention and 3, 6 or 12 months after intervention (P<0.001). However, there was no significant difference in the SDS scores between any two time points after the intervention (P>0.05). There was a significant difference in the compliance between any two time points after the intervention (P<0.05). Fasting blood glucose (FBG), 2 h postprandial blood glucose (2hPG) or glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was significantly different at any two time points after the intervention (P<0.05).
 CONCLUSION Group counseling can improve depression, compliance and blood sugar control in the diabetic patients.
Blood Glucose ; analysis ; Counseling ; Depression ; therapy ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; psychology ; therapy ; Glycated Hemoglobin A ; analysis ; Humans ; Patient Compliance ; Psychotherapy, Group