PURPOSE: This study evaluated the operability for disease of lumbar intervertebral disc (LID) of practitioners and pay doctors of orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons by examining their websites. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From March 2006 to April 2006, we searched the internet using the key words orthopedic surgery and neurosurgery, with NAVER as the portal site. There were 68 homepages of orthopedic hospitals and physician's offices (OHP) and 27 homepages of neurosurgical hospitals and physician's offices (NHP). Each homepage was visited in order to survey the operability for disease of an intervertebral disc and the number of board of orthopedists and neurosurgeons. Statistical analysis was carried out using a chi-square test. RESULTS: In 45.6% (31/68) of OHP and 85.2% (23/27) of NHP, the operation for LID was performed and there was significant difference (p<0.001). In 16.2% (11/68) of OHP, neurosurgeons employed by OHP performed the operation for spinal disorders. In 29.4% of OHP, the orthopedic surgeon performed the operation for LID. Orthopedists were employed in 51.9% of NHP. NHP were significantly higher than OHP in the cases in whom the orthopedists and neurosurgeons worked together in a single hospital (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: In 70% of OHP, surgery for LID was not performed. A survey about reasons for not performing operation for LID and improvement of that reasons should be carried out by the medical association.
Internet ; Intervertebral Disc ; Neurosurgery ; Orthopedics ; Physicians' Offices

BACKGROUND: A new multiple antigen simultaneous test (MAST) has recently been introduced that is simple, rapid, and economical, and requires a small amount of serum samples. We evaluated the MAST-immunoblot assay (AllergyScreen; R-Biopharm, Darmstadt, Germany) for its specific antigen detection rate, and the results were interpreted based on the cut-off levels of classes 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 and correlated with clinical information. METHODS: A total of 166 allergic patients were tested by AllergyScreen (AS) for 10 specific allergens and the results were compared with skin prick test (SPT, cut-off=2+) or specific IgE (cut-off=class 1) on Uni-CAP system (uCAP). Thirty-five healthy subjects considered as truly negative for all allergens were also tested by AS to get the best cut-off level using the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis and to evaluate its clinical specificity. RESULTS: The sensitivities (AS/uCAP, 73-31% and AS/SPT, 27-63%), specificities (AS/uCAP, 89-100% and AS/SP, 81-97%), and agreements (AS/uCAP 71-82% and AS/SPT 77-80%) varied with the cut-offm levels used and allergens tested. The overall linear regression equation was Y=0.69X+0.10, R=0.81 (P<0.0001). The best cut off level was >0.5 class and efficiency was 82% (AS/uCAP) and 75% (AS/ SPT). However, 25 (71%) of the healthy subjects showed positive reactions (0.6-4.0 class) to at least one allergen. CONCLUSIONS: Using an appropriate cut-off, AS/uCAP showed the sensitivity, specificity, and agreement at an acceptable level, and similar or better results compared with previous reports on MAST/ SPT. The AS can be an efficient way of testing for specific allergens in the clinical laboratory or at the physician's office. But, in view of the positive reactions in the healthy subjects, a class of less than 4.0 on AS must be integrated with clinical information for an appropriate data interpretation.
Allergens ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E* ; Linear Models ; Physicians' Offices ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Skin

Because blood pressure (BP) is an ever changing hemodynamic phenomenon, a BP value, once measured at a physician's office (Office BP), is often unrepresentative of an individual's true BP status. Both ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) and home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) provide more accurate and reproducible estimate of BP, and produce stronger predictive ability for cardiovascular outcome than conventional office BP. Two BP measuring techniques, ABPM and HBPM have been widely in clinical use for the detection and management of hypertension. However, they have different advantages and limitations in practice. At present, it has become crucial to understand the characteristics and clinical implications of these BP measuring techniques for those responsible for the care of hypertensive patients.
Benzhydryl Compounds ; Blood Pressure ; Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Physicians' Offices

The National Medical Knowledge Advancement Committee, appointed by The Korean Medical Association, conducted a study with aims to offer useful and practical health care information to the populace. The primary objective of this study was to provide a national survey regarding various aspects of health care information including resources, confidentiality, search frequency, preferable kinds of information, most desirable mediums and common knowledge of medicine. The research was compiled from results of a questionnaire offered by the Medical Association. The study's major findings are as follows: 1. Populace's health care information search tendencies from the doctors : 'always' 6.8%, 'frequently' 11.1%, 'occasionally' 57.2%, and 'rarely' 25.0%. 2. Populace's health care information resources : TV 73.9%, newspaper 56.7%, Internet 39.6%, personal information 30.0%, and drugstore 20.4%. 3. Most confidential health care information resources : general hospital 40.0%, TV 14.3%, physician's office 9.7%, lecture 6.0%, Internet 5.6%, and newspaper 4.1%. 4. Preferable health care information : disease prevention and health promotion 43.5%, early detection of disease 25.1%, wrong medical common sense 14.3%, disease treatment 12.2%, and current medical issue 2.9%. 5. Affirmative answer to preferable medium for health care information offered from Medical Association was lecture 51.3% and Internet 78.4%. Individuals in their sixties and who did not graduate from middle school preferred lectures at higher rates. Secondary school graduates preferred the internet at higher rates. 6. The subject's correct medical common sense with respect to a questionnaire consisting of 10 questions, had a mean of 3.1 and a standard deviation of 2.1 questionnaire. The younger age group, women, and higher educated individuals were significantly more likely to provide the correct answer.
Confidentiality ; Delivery of Health Care* ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Health Promotion ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Internet ; Lectures ; Periodicals ; Physicians' Offices ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The age of puberty represents a very critical time in the life history of every young woman. The menarche stands as primary indicator of the onset of sexual maturation in females. By late adolescence, 75% of girls experience some problem associated with menstruation. Delayed, irregular, painful, and heavy menstrual bleeding are leading reasons for physician office visits by adolescents, and dysmenorrhea is the leading reason for school absenteeism among girls. This article discusses normal menstrual function during adolescence, then reviews the clinical presentation, evaluation, and management of adolescent dysmenorrhea, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, amenorrhea, and polycystic ovary syndrome.
Absenteeism ; Adolescent* ; Amenorrhea ; Dysmenorrhea ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Menarche ; Menstruation ; Metrorrhagia ; Physicians' Offices ; Polycystic Ovary Syndrome ; Puberty ; Sexual Maturation

BACKGROUND: Because up to 80% of all illness encountered in a primary care physician's office is due to psychological stress, stress management is important for the aged who are susceptible to stress. The positive effect of exercise therapy on psychological stress has been studied for a long time, but the research related to geriatric stress and exercise is still insufficient. Therefore, we investigated the effect of aquarobics, which is known to be suitable for the aged, on the stress reduction. METHODS: The data were collected from 11 women over 60 years old who visited the Public Health Center of Seodaemun-gu Office. The subjects participated in a 3 months' water exercise program 2 times a week for 60 minutes. Before and after exercise program, they were assessed according to Modified-Korean BEPSI scores. RESULTS: The subjects exercised 31 times on average (Maximum 40). Before exercise, mean BEPSI score was 1.6, which conformed to moderate risk group, but after 3 months exercise program they showed statistically significant stress reduction when compared to pre-exercise state (P=0.0313). CONCLUSION: We conclude that 3 months water exercise program reduced stress effectively in the aged over 60 years.
Exercise Therapy ; Female ; Geriatrics ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Physicians' Offices ; Primary Health Care ; Public Health ; Stress, Psychological ; Water*

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the analytical performance of LC-175CRP TM (Horiba Ltd., Kyoto, Japan), an automated blood cell counter and C-reactive protein (CRP) measuring instrument, and its clinical usefulness. METHODS: LC-175CRP was evaluated for linearity, precision, and comparison using patient specimens and quality control material. Usefulness of simultaneous measurement of WBC count and CRP was analyzed using results from 114 patients with infectious or inflammatory diseases. RESULTS: LC-175CRP showed a good linearity (R(2) > or =0.98, P<0.001) and within-run and total-run CVs within 8% for all items analysed. Good correlations were found for all analyzed parameters (r > or = 0.94, P<0.001) except monocyte proportion (r=0.35, P=0.02). Among the 55 patients who showed abnormal results of either WBC or CRP, 48 patients (87.3%) showed CRP elevation alone. CONCLUSIONS: LC-175CRP is a small instrument and easy to operate, offers simultaneous, rapid measurement of blood cell count and CRP, and shows an excellent performance. It can be very useful at the emergency room or physician's office for patients suspected to have acute infections or inflammations.
Blood Cell Count* ; C-Reactive Protein* ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Leukocyte Count ; Monocytes ; Physicians' Offices ; Quality Control

The extent of utilization of computers at clinics (physicians'office) setting in Korea has not yet been studied. Lack of such information hinders developing effective strategic plans for implementing Information and Communication Technology(ICT) to physicians office practice. Therefore this study was conducted to elucidate current status of computer use in physicians office practice. A mail survey was carried out to randomly selected 2,000 members of Korean Medical Association and 26.3% responded. The results showed that percent of clinics currently using computers and internet for the clinical practice was 98.0% and 85.2%, respectively. With recent gain of popularity in using computers and internet in public, more than 50% of respondents thought that transmission of sensitive medical information through internet was acceptable. Ninety six percent of respondents utilized computerized health insurance claims and electronic medical record system. However, 36.3% of respondents was keeping paper form patients medical records in addition to the computerized records to meet regulatory requirements. Overall, this study seems to indicate that physicians in practice show a strong interest in computerization, although the adaption of ICT in the field of medicine is relatively slow. In conclusion, physicians office practice can be a potential area for future ICT application.
Surveys and Questionnaires ; Electronic Health Records ; Humans ; Insurance, Health ; Internet ; Korea* ; Medical Informatics Computing ; Medical Records ; Physicians' Offices* ; Postal Service

Osteoarthritis is a musculoskeletal disease representative of an aging society. As medical conditions are usually complicated in an aging population, osteoarthritis becomes more frequently encountered in the physician's office. There is a growing need, therefore, for physicians to pay attention to this common orthopedic condition. Cartilage degeneration, arthritic pain, and joint dysfunction are major manifestations of osteoarthritis, and degenerated cartilage is difficult to repair with conventional treatment modalities. Scientists and physicians have developed various therapeutic strategies, including the use of stem cells. Here, we discuss previous and current progress in cartilage regenerative therapy against osteoarthritis.
Adult Stem Cells ; Aging ; Cartilage ; Chondrogenesis ; Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells ; Joints ; Musculoskeletal Diseases ; Orthopedics ; Osteoarthritis ; Physicians' Offices ; Stem Cells

BACKGROUND: Although urinary incontinence is a common problem, its prevalence and severity in community is not well established. The main objects of this study were to define the prevalence in adult men and women who came to a primary care office for health care. METHODS: Men and women aged 20 years and over who came to family physician's offices seeking health care for any reason during an 2-week period were the subjects of a survey by anonymous questionnaire. Ten family practice offices in Cheonan Practice-Based Research Network participated. We defined "current significant urinary incontinence" as aver any degree of annoying incontinence in the past 12 months. RESULTS: Of the 1,130 responders, 46.3% experienced urinary incontinence. Incontinence was experienced by 26.7% of the men and 50.2% of the women. 'Current significant urinary incontinence' was experienced by 3.7% of the men and 10.12% of the women. CONCLUSIONS: Urinary incontinence is a common problem among those seen in primary care settings, and patients hesitate to seek cansultation of their problems with physicians. Therefore, family physicians should deal with the symptoms of incontinence more attentively during history taking.
Adult* ; Anonyms and Pseudonyms ; Chungcheongnam-do* ; Delivery of Health Care ; Family Practice* ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Physicians' Offices ; Physicians, Family ; Prevalence* ; Primary Health Care ; Urinary Incontinence* ; Surveys and Questionnaires