PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the reason to select complementary and alternative therapy for terminally ill cancer patients. METHODS: The data were collected from 21 terminal cancer patients and families through the in-depth interview. Data analysis were performed by the Colaizzi's phenomenological method (1976). RESULTS: The reason to select complementary and alternative therapy for terminal cancer patients and families was then categorized with 4 elements; Awareness of limitations in contemporary medical treatments, Belief in effectiveness of the CAM, Satisfaction with emotional needs of family members, and Disbelief due to negative attitudes of physicians. The result indicated the following 9 themes expectation for a complete cure, uncertainty in hospital treatments, complementary method for management of side effect of chemotherapy, alleviation of symptoms and life-sustaining, fear for side effects of cancer treatments, belief in earned information, referrals by other, responsibility of family, and dissatisfaction with negatine attitudes of physicians. CONCLUSION: Physicians should provide a sufficient explanation and try to effectively communicate with clients about hospice and palliative service and the CAM. We strongly realized that concerns about patients' best care and satisfactions with family's needs should be understood.
Complementary Therapies ; Hospices ; Humans ; Qualitative Research ; Referral and Consultation ; Statistics as Topic ; Terminally Ill ; Uncertainty

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) was designed to measure self-reported auditory disability in a wide variety of listening situations. Its 49 items cover many aspects of speech perception, spatial hearing, and qualities of hearing, which constitute the three parts of SSQ. However, there has been no reliable and valid Korean version of SSQ (K-SSQ), which made the measurement of auditory disability difficult. The aim of this study is to develop a K-SSQ and to determine its reliability and validity for clinical or academic use. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: An expert panel translated the original SSQ into Korean. A bilingual translator back-translated the translated version into English, which was then compared with the original version. After cognitive debriefing, K-SSQ was administered to 400 patients with hearing disability in 14 referral hospitals. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient and correlation study. Validity was evaluated by factor analysis and criterion validity based on the results of pure tone audiometry. RESULTS: K-SSQ showed good reliability with high internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.99), and strong positive correlations across all three parts of SSQ. Construct validity was confirmed by the results of factor analysis and criterion validity demonstrated positive correlations between each part of SSQ and the results of pure tone audiometry. CONCLUSION: The K-SSQ is a reliable and valid tool for use as a behavioral measure of hearing ability in Korean-speaking patients, and it will provide a very useful evaluation tool for both clinicians and researchers.
Audiometry ; Hearing* ; Humans ; Methods ; Referral and Consultation ; Reproducibility of Results* ; Speech Perception ; Statistics as Topic

OBJECTIVE: To describe consultation practice patterns of an otolaryngology chief resident in China. METHOD: The pattern and frequency of patient encounters during the Xijing Hospital of the Fourth Military Medical University otolaryngology residency program for one chief resident were retrospectively analyzed. RESULT: A total of 1062 new inpatients were consulted during a 10-month period of otolaryngology residency, including emergency consultation for 467 cases (43.97%) and routine consultation for 595 cases (56.03%). The chief resident consulted an average of 28 new patients perweek. The most common diagnosis for an emergency consultation was epistaxis (279 cases, 59.72% of emergency consultation), characterized by disturbances of blood coagulation, hypertension, renal failure or liver failure, iatrogenic factors. The second cause was laryngeal obstruction and tracheotomy (113 cases, 24.19% of emergency consultation). There were 43 cases with foreign body in bronchus . For routine consultation on general internal medicine, chronic rhinitis and sinusitis (169 cases) was the most common disorder, followed by chronic pharyngitis, acute or chronic tonsillitis. For consultation on surgery, most cases were concerned about preoperative evaluations (67 cases) of the chronic otolaryngological disorders. CONCLUSION Consultation is an inimitable clinical practice and a challenge to otolaryngology residents. The chief residents should be prepared for the consultation practice. Accumulation of related data from consultation is necessary and helpful for chief residents.
Humans ; Otolaryngology ; Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Physicians ; Referral and Consultation ; statistics & numerical data ; Retrospective Studies ; Workforce

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Client Oriented Scale of Improvement (COSI) has been designed to identify client needs, changes in listening ability, and final listening ability in situations important to each client. The aim of this study was to translate COSI into Korean with subsequent linguistic validation and to determine the reliability of the Korean version of the COSI (K-COSI). SUBJECTS AND METHOD: An expert panel translated the original version of COSI into the Korean language. A bilingual translator back-translated the translated version into English, which was subsequently compared with the original English version. K-COSI was administered at 14 referral hospitals, to 128 patients with hearing disability after cognitive debriefing. Reliability was assessed using correlation study. RESULTS: K-COSI showed an excellent test-retest correlation and high reliability in degree of change (Spearman correlation=0.89, interclass correlation coefficient=0.922). It also showed a fair test-retest correlation and high reliability in final hearing ability (Spearman correlation=0.49, interclass correlation coefficient=0.353) CONCLUSION: K-COSI proved to be highly reliable. The results suggest that the adapted Korean version of COSI is a reliable and valid measure for Korean-speaking patients with hearing loss.
Hearing ; Hearing Aids ; Hearing Loss ; Humans ; Linguistics ; Methods ; Referral and Consultation ; Statistics as Topic

Adolescent ; China ; Female ; Health Services Needs and Demand ; statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Male ; Referral and Consultation ; Sexually Transmitted Diseases ; prevention & control ; Single Person ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo establish a profile of the causes of apparently unexplained SS in genetic referral center and evaluate the current referral system.

METHODSThis was a retrospective database survey on patients who were referred our clinical genetic service from 1988 - 1998 primarily because of SS. We retrieved the study population from our computer database using "short stature"as a search handle and then studied the demographic, clinical and laboratory data from their medical records.

RESULTSThree hundred and fifty-three subjects were referred for genetic evaluation of SS in 1988 - 1998. The mean age of referred subjects was 11.5 years and the female to male ratio was 7.6. All referrals had undergone cytogenetic studies to exclude chromosomal abnormalities, 19% of girls with apparently unexplained short stature had Turner syndrome; at least 47.9% of the study population were normal variants and 25% of the referrals had inadequate information for classification.

CONCLUSIONSGenetic investigation is essential in the management of patients with SS, especially for girls suspected of having Turner syndrome, in which growth hormone treatment has shown to improve final height. We also highlight the inherited causes of short stature, which were often misdiagnosed as benign familial short stature, and discussed the drawbacks of the current referral system.

Child ; Databases as Topic ; statistics & numerical data ; Family Health ; Female ; Growth Disorders ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; genetics ; Hong Kong ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Karyotyping ; Male ; Referral and Consultation ; statistics & numerical data ; Retrospective Studies ; Turner Syndrome ; genetics

A review of cases of ectopic pregnancy operated upon at Vila Central Hospital during 1992 with an analysis of clinical presenting features and diagnostic factors is presented. Comparison is made between hospital, regional and national figures and possible explanations for the differences are given. Recommendations are made to ensure that ectopic pregnancy is always at the forefront of differential diagnosis in women presenting with abdominal pain.
Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Hospitals, District - statistics & ; numerical data ; Hospitals, District - trends ; Medical Audit ; Pelvic Inflammatory Disease - complications ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Ectopic - surgery ; Referral and Consultation - statistics & ; numerical data ; Vanuatu

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Repeat endoscopy with biopsy is often performed in patients with previously diagnosed gastric cancer to determine further treatment plans. However, biopsy results may differ from the original pathologic report. We reviewed patients who had a negative biopsy after referral for gastric cancer. METHODS: A total of 116 patients with negative biopsy results after referral for biopsy-proven gastric cancer were enrolled. Outside pathology slides were reviewed. Images of the first and second endoscopic examinations were reviewed. We reviewed the clinical history from referral to the final treatment. RESULTS: Eighty-eight patients (76%) arrived with information about the lesion from the referring physician. Among 96 patients with available outside slides, the rate of interobserver variation was 24%. Endoscopy was repeated at our institution; 85 patients (73%) were found to have definite lesions, whereas 31 patients (27%) had indeterminate lesions. In the group with definite lesions, 71% of the lesions were depressed in shape. The most common cause of a negative biopsy was mistargeting. In the group with indeterminate lesions, 94% had insufficient information. All patients with adequate follow-up were successfully treated based on the findings in the follow-up endoscopy. CONCLUSIONS: A negative biopsy after referral for biopsy-proven gastric cancer is mainly caused by mistargeting and insufficient information during the referral.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Biopsy/statistics & numerical data ; Diagnostic Errors/*statistics & numerical data ; Female ; Gastroscopy/*statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Observer Variation ; Referral and Consultation/statistics & numerical data ; Reoperation/statistics & numerical data ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach/*pathology ; Stomach Neoplasms/*pathology ; Young Adult

INTRODUCTIONThe objective of this study was to determine factors, other than the Diagnostic Related Grouping (DRG), that can explain the variation in the cost of hospitalisation and length of hospital stay (LOS) in older patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODSThis was a prospective, observational cohort study involving 397 patients, aged 65 years and above. Data collected include demographic information, admission functional and cognitive status, overall illness severity score, number of referral to therapists, referral to medical social worker, cost of hospitalisation, actual LOS, discharge DRG codes and their corresponding trimmed average length of stay (ALOS).

RESULTSThe mean age of the cohort was 80.2 years. The DRG's trimmed ALOS alone explained 21% of the variation in the cost of hospitalisation and actual LOS. Incorporation of an illness severity score, number of referral to therapists and referral to medical social worker into the trimmed ALOS explained 30% and 31% of the variation in the cost and actual LOS, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe DRG model is able to explain 21% of the variation in the cost of hospitalisation and actual LOS in older patients. Other factors that determined the variation in the cost of hospitalisation and LOS include the degree of illness severity, the number of referral to therapists and referral to medical social worker.

Age Factors ; Aged ; Confidence Intervals ; Diagnosis-Related Groups ; Female ; Frail Elderly ; statistics & numerical data ; Health Resources ; economics ; statistics & numerical data ; Health Status Indicators ; Hospitalization ; economics ; statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; statistics & numerical data ; trends ; Linear Models ; Male ; Prospective Studies ; Psychometrics ; Referral and Consultation ; Reproducibility of Results ; Severity of Illness Index ; Singapore ; Statistics, Nonparametric

Multicenter Study on the Prevalence of Perennial Allergic Rhinitis and Allergy-Associated Disorders This study was aimed to determine the prevalence of perennial allergic rhinitis (PAR) using the skin test, radioallergosorbent test (RAST), or multiple allergosorbent test (MAST) and to clarify the clinical aspects of the patients diagnosed as having PAR by the questionnaire survey and rhinologic examination. The 71,120 subjects who had visited the 23 otolaryngology clinics at the randomly selected tertiary referral hospitals in Korea between November 1, 1999 and April 30, 2000 were studied. PAR was diagnosed when subjects complained of two or more associated symptoms and the skin test, RAST, or MAST using perennial inhalant allergens was positive. The questionnaire survey and rhinologic examination were performed in subjects with PAR. The prevalence of PAR was 3.93%. We could find no significant difference in the prevalence of PAR between the two sexes. However, there was a significant difference in the prevalence of PAR between the child and adult groups. The chief complaints were, in order of decreasing frequency, nasal obstruction, watery rhinorrhea, and sneezing. There was a family history of PAR in 40.2% of the subjects. The 39.6% of the subjects had associated allergic diseases, being atopic dermatitis most common. In conclusion, the prevalence of PAR in tertiary referral hospitals in Korea is 3.93%. Many subjects with PAR have family history and appear to be associated with other allergic diseases.
Adult ; Child ; Dermatitis, Atopic/diagnosis/*epidemiology ; Family Health ; Female ; Human ; Korea/epidemiology ; Male ; Prevalence ; Questionnaires ; Referral and Consultation/statistics & numerical data ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial/diagnosis/*epidemiology ; Sex Distribution ; Skin Tests