OBJECTIVE: Rumination is a negative coping strategy defined as repetitive and passive focusing on negative feelings such as depression. The Ruminative Response Scale (RRS) is a widely-used instrument to measure rumination, but there is continuing argument about the construct validity of the RRS, because of probable overlap between the measurement of depression and that of rumination. The RRS-Revised (RRS-R), which removed 12 items of the RRS, is suggested as a more valid instrument for measuring rumination. Therefore, we translated RRS-R into Korean and explored the reliability, validity and factor structure in patients with major depressive disorders. METHODS: Seventy-nine patients with major depressive disorder took the Korean version of RRS, RRS-R, State Trait Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory and Penn State Worry Questionnaire. We performed exploratory factor analysis of RRS-R, and tested construct validity, internal reliability and test-retest reliability. RESULTS: The internal and test-retest reliability of RRS-R was high. Factor analysis revealed that RRS-R is composed of two factors. 'Brooding' factor explained 56.6% and 'Reflection' factor explained 12.5%. RRS-R, especially 'Brooding factor', was highly correlated with other clinical symptoms such as depression, anxiety and worry. CONCLUSION: In this study, we find out the RRS-R is more reliable and valid than the original RRS in Korean patients with depression because the RRS-R is free from the debate about the overlap of item with BDI. We also revealed that 'Brooding' is highly correlated with depressive symptoms. RRS-R may be a useful instrument to explore the implication of 'Brooding' in depression.
Anxiety ; Depression ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Humans ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived work environment and workplace bullying among Korean intensive care units (ICU) nurses. METHODS: This is a descriptive survey research, with 134 ICU nurses from five hospitals in Korea. The work environment was measured by the Korean Nursing Work Environment Scale. Workplace bullying was measured with the Korean version of the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised. RESULTS: ICU nurses reported moderate satisfaction with their work environment, with perception of the basic work system receiving the highest scores. A total of 94.0% of ICU nurses have experienced at least one negative act within the past 6 months, and the prevalence of bullying was 17.2% according to operational bullying criteria. The ICU nurses reported that they experienced more work-related bullying than other types of bullying. Significant negative correlations between the nursing work environment and workplace bullying were found. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that the better the nursing work environment, the less workplace bullying nurses will experience. Further research needs to be done to identify factors that influence bullying in the nurses and to develop an intervention that prevents workplace bullying.
Bullying* ; Intensive Care Units* ; Korea ; Nursing ; Prevalence

PURPOSE: This study was to examine the factors affecting prostate cancer screening behavior in Korean men using the health belief model (HBM). METHODS: It was a descriptive cross-sectional survey. A total of 121 participants answered questionnaires which included general characteristics, knowledge, and HBM variables related to prostate cancer and prostate cancer screening tests. RESULTS: Only 18 participants (14.9%) had had a prostate cancer screening test before. Participants who had had a prostate cancer screening test were more likely to perceive lower health status (odds ratio: 0.61 [95% confidence interval: 0.39, 0.93]), higher perceived sensitivity (odds ratio: 3.55 [95% confidence interval: 1.11, 11.36]), and higher self-efficacy (odds ratio: 5.77 [95% confidence interval: 1.51, 22.08]) than participants who had not had a test. CONCLUSION: We recommend developing an educational program which can increase the level of perceived sensitivity and self-efficacy to involve themselves in prostate cancer screening test actively.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Early Detection of Cancer ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Male ; Mass Screening* ; Prostate* ; Prostatic Neoplasms*

Objectives: This study examined post-disaster mental health problems and related public perception of disaster-related mental health services. The differences of these perceptions according to the disaster experience and disaster type were also investigated. Methods: Data were collected via telephone and online surveys, and information from 2928 respondents was analyzed. The participants were allocated across age, sex, and residence area. Results: Those who had experienced disasters showed a more negative perception of post-disaster mental health services than those who had not. While natural disaster survivors most often reported financial problems as secondary stressors after a disaster, social disaster survivors were more likely to report mental health problems. Regarding national mental health support for disaster, disaster-experiencing respondents more often tended to prefer mental health services than non-disaster-experiencing respondents. Conclusion The current study can help understand the public perception of disaster-related mental health and the needs of mental health services. These findings could suggest directions and grounds for policies of a national support system for disaster-related mental health.

PURPOSE: We investigated the effects of pretransplant-transfusion on engraftment, graft versus host disease (GVHD) and graft rejection after bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in children with severe aplastic anemia who had HLA-identical sibling donor. METHODS: We reviewed retrospectively the medical records of 47 children with severe aplastic anemia who received grafts from HLA-matched sibling donor using same conditioning regimen (procarbazine, antithymocyte globulin, and cyclophosphamide) from September 1986 to May 2001. GVHD prophylaxis consisted of cyclosporine and short-term methotrexate. Patients receiving multiple transfusion more than 40 transfused units in total before BMT were defined as high-risk group (HRG) and those with less than 40 transfused units were as standard-risk group (SRG). RESULTS: Among 47 patients, 30 patients were classified into SRG and remaining 17 were into HRG. The median time from diagnosis to transplant was 4 (range, 1~14) months in SRG and 36 (range, 3~360) months in HRG. Primary engraftment was achieved in all patients. Acute GVHD (> or =grade II) in HRG (13.3%) was comparable with in SRG (5.9%) (P=0.221), meanwhile corresponding fugures for chronic GVHD was 1 (3.3%) and 2 (11.8%). All of these patients have experienced complete resolution of GVHD and are no longer receiving immunosuppressive therapy. Booster stem cell infusion was needed for poor graft function (n=3) in SRG and also for poor graft function (n=1) or progressive rejection (n=3) in HRG. Five-year disease free survival rate was 100% in SRG and 94.1 6% in HRG (P=0.18). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that multiple transfusion may be not a risk factor for rejection or poor outcome. Progressive rejection was observed only in patients with multiple transfusion but did not affect the survival.
Anemia, Aplastic* ; Antilymphocyte Serum ; Bone Marrow Transplantation* ; Bone Marrow* ; Child ; Cyclosporine ; Diagnosis ; Disease-Free Survival ; Graft Rejection ; Graft vs Host Disease ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Methotrexate ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Siblings* ; Stem Cells ; Tissue Donors* ; Transplants

To substantiate psychological symptoms following humidifier disinfectant (HD) disasters, counseling records of 26 victims and 92 family members of victims (45 were bereaved) were analyzed retrospectively. Among the victims, 34.6% had Clinical Global Impression-Severity scores of over 4, which meant they were moderately ill. While anxiety/fear and depression with respiratory symptoms were frequently observed in victims and family members, chronic psychological distress such as alcohol/smoking abuse and insomnia was relatively high in bereaved family members. In conclusion, it is important to provide mental health support for victims and their families, focusing on the characteristic symptoms of each group as well as monetary compensation.
Compensation and Redress ; Counseling ; Depression ; Disaster Victims* ; Disasters* ; Humans ; Humidifiers* ; Mental Health ; Retrospective Studies ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders

Background: Although there are growing demands for stem cell-based therapy for companion animals in various diseases, a few clinical trials have been reported. Moreover, most of them are the results from only one or a few times of stem cell injection. Objectives: The aim of this study is to describe a long-term treatment with allogeneic adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) in a dog with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which is a rare canine disease. Methods: The dog with RA received intravascular injection of allogeneic ASCs derived from two healthy donors once a month for 11 months. To assess therapeutic effects of ASCs, orthopedic examination and clinical evaluation was performed. Cytokines of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 in the plasma were measured using ELISA analysis. Results: Despite this repeated and long-term administration of allogeneic ASCs, there were no side effects such as immunorejection responses or cell toxicity. The orthopedic examination score for the dog decreased after ASCs treatment, and the clinical condition of the dog and owner’s satisfaction were very good Conclusions Although ASCs has been suggested as one of the options for RA treatment because of its anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive functions, it has never been used to treat RA in dogs. The present report describes a case of canine RA treated with allogeneic ASCs for long-term in which the dog showed clinical improvement without adverse effects.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the muscles for investigating the occurrence of asymmetry of the paraspinal (multifidus and erector spinae) and psoas muscles and its relation to the chronicity of unilateral lumbar radiculopathy using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted between January 2012 to December 2014. Sixty one patients with unilateral L5 radiculopathy were enrolled: 30 patients had a symptom duration less than 3 months (group A) and 31 patients had a symptom duration of 3 months or more (group B). Axial MRI measured the CSA of the paraspinal and psoas muscles at the middle between the lower margin of the upper vertebra and upper margin of the lower vertebra, and obtained the relative CSA (rCSA) which is the ratio of the CSA of muscles to that of the lower margin of L4 vertebra. RESULTS: There were no differences in the demographics between the two groups. In group B, rCSA of the erector spinae at the L4–5 level, and that of multifidus at the L4–5 and L5–S1 levels, were significantly smaller on the involved side as compared with the uninvolved side. In contrast, no significant muscle asymmetry was observed in group A. The rCSA of the psoas was not affected in either group. CONCLUSION: The atrophy of the multifidus and erector spinae ipsilateral to the lumbar radiculopathy was observed only in patients suffering from unilateral radiculopathy for 3 months or more.
Atrophy* ; Demography ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Muscles ; Muscular Atrophy ; Paraspinal Muscles* ; Psoas Muscles ; Radiculopathy* ; Retrospective Studies ; Spine

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the differences in biomechanical parameters measured by gait analysis systems between healthy subjects and subjects with plantar fasciitis (PF), and to compare biomechanical parameters between ‘normal, barefooted’ gait and arch building gait in the participants. METHODS: The researchers evaluated 15 subjects (30 feet) with bilateral foot pain and 15 subjects (15 feet) with unilateral foot pain who had a clinical diagnosis of PF. Additionally, 17 subjects (34 feet) who had no heel pain were recruited. Subjects were excluded if they had a traumatic event, prior surgery or fractures of the lower limbs, a leg length discrepancy of 1 cm or greater, a body mass index greater than 35 kg/m2, or had musculoskeletal disorders. The participants were asked to walk with an arch building gait on a treadmill at 2.3 km/hr for 5 minutes. Various gait parameters were measured. RESULTS: With the arch building gait, the PF group proved that gait line length and single support line were significantly decreased, and lateral symmetry of the PF group was increased compared to that of the control group. The subjects with bilateral PF displayed significantly increased maximum pressure over the heel and the forefoot during arch building gait. In addition, the subjects with unilateral PF showed significantly increased maximum pressure over the forefoot with arch building gait. CONCLUSION: The researchers show that various biomechanical differences exist between healthy subjects and those with PF. Employing an arch building gait in patients with PF could be helpful in changing gait patterns to normal biomechanics.
Body Mass Index ; Diagnosis ; Fasciitis, Plantar* ; Foot ; Gait* ; Healthy Volunteers ; Heel ; Humans ; Leg ; Lower Extremity