PURPOSE: This study was conducted to identify the pattern and factors associated with women's use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) during postpartum in Korea. METHODS: With a descriptive survey design, data of 423 postpartum women were collected via online and offline surveys. RESULTS: A total of 251 women (59.3%) reported CAM use during postpartum. Eating animal-based foods (65.3%), plant-based health foods (52.2%), and using oriental medicine (31.8%) were commonly used in postpartum women. The reason for using CAM were physical recovery (39.1%), breastfeeding (29.7%), weight loss (24.8%), prevention of postpartum complications (5.1%), and others (1.3%). People who recommended CAM use was mainly family (41.3%), and expense of using CAM was 751,188 Korea won. Most women discussed CAM use with doctor (44.9%), and 29.3% of women didn't even consult CAM use with health care providers. Most of (72.3%) women were satisfied with CAM use. Higher level of education and monthly income, being employed, primipara, normal range of gestational weight gain, no abortion experience, and no maternal complication were significantly associated with CAM use in postpartum women. CONCLUSION: Results of this study were somewhat different from those of western research. Findings offer baseline data of CAM use in postpartum women, and health care providers need to understand it when they care for them.
Breast Feeding ; Complementary Therapies* ; Eating ; Education ; Female ; Food, Organic ; Health Personnel ; Humans ; Korea ; Medicine, East Asian Traditional ; Postpartum Period* ; Reference Values ; Weight Gain ; Weight Loss

PURPOSE: According to the statistics announced by the Ministry of Unification, the number of North Korean refugees living in South Korea has increased by 200 on average monthly in 2010. The number of refugees increased only by 300 annually until 2000. The total number of refugees as of February 2012 was 20,956. This study aims to investigate the psychobiology of the North Korean refugees who consulted psychiatric clinics among those living daily life in South Korea. METHODS: The subjects of this study were 85 North Korean refugees that consulted psychiatric clinics from January 1, 2005 to July 2011. This study obtained demographic and psychiatric information in a retrospective approach. RESULTS: Among the 85 North Korean refugees, 75 (88.2%) were females and their average age was 48 years of age. A total of 16 (18.8%) were admitted to a clinic and among the inpatients, 4 were admitted twice and two were admitted three times. As for the claimed symptoms of outpatients, insomnia was shown in 47 (55.3%) patients, headaches in 37 (43.5%), anxiety in 20 (23.5%), depression in 19 (22.4%), etc. The major symptoms represented by inpatients were insomnia in 14 (87.5%) patients, depression in 12 (75%), and headaches in 8 (50%), etc. CONCLUSION: The most frequent psychiatric symptoms of North Korean refugees living in South Korea were insomnia and headaches. It suggests that when performing psychiatric diagnosis and treatment of North Korean refugees, we have to take into consideration the fact that they claimed the physical symptoms more than the emotional ones. Also, from the aspect that most symptoms of North Korean refugees were insomnia, more profound research on sleep is required in the future.
Anxiety ; Depression ; Female ; Headache ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Mental Disorders ; Outpatients ; Refugees ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders

PURPOSE: This study analyzes the trends of nursing researches about organ donation and transplantation, and recommends the direction of future nursing studies in Korea. METHODS: Ninety-nine researches based upon organ donation and transplantation in Korea were analyzed by descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Among them 58 papers were master's theses and 9 were doctoral dissertations. Articles about organ beneficiaries were seventy. The 47 articles among them were for kidney transplantation. By the types of research design, there were 73 quantitative studies, 19 qualitative studies, and 9 methodological studies. In correlation studies, the quality of life of subjects were evaluated the association with stress, social support, self-efficacy, and compliance. In experimental studies, the independent variables were self efficacy promotion exercise, steroid medication, educational programs regarding an organ transplantation and a brain death, Danjeon breathing exercise, and telephone counseling. The methods of qualitative studies were based on the grounded theory, phenomenology, interpretive phenomenology, and ethnography. The dominant concepts of qualitative researches were experiences of a decision-making of donors and of recipients for organ transplantation. CONCLUSION: Descriptive surveys or correlation studies were predominant on the nursing research about organ transplantation. Qualitative studies were conducted to some extent. It is recommended to conduct clinically applicable interventional researches with the experimental design.
Anthropology, Cultural ; Brain Death ; Compliance ; Counseling ; Humans ; Kidney Transplantation ; Korea ; Nursing Research ; Organ Transplantation ; Qualitative Research ; Quality of Life ; Research Design ; Respiration ; Self Efficacy ; Statistics as Topic ; Telephone ; Tissue and Organ Procurement ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants

No abstract available.
Diagnosis*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyse the level of sexual function among breast cancer survivors as compared with that among healthy women. METHOD: A total of 208 women participated in this study: 103 breast cancer survivors attending self-help group and 105 community-residing healthy women in G city. A self-reported questionnaire with the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) was used to obtain data. Data were analyzed using the SPSS Win 14.0 K+ for descriptive statistics, t-test, and two-way ANOVA. RESULTS: The sexual function score of breast cancer survivors was significantly lower than that of healthy women, respectively 14.9+/-9.9 and 20.6+/-11.1 (p<0.001). The sexual function of recurrent breast cancer survivors was significantly lower than that of women without recurrence. However, there were no significant differences in the sexual function score according to the cancer stage, period since diagnosis, and types of cancer treatment modality. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate the importance of sex-related counseling and educational programs to improve the quality of life of breast cancer survivors.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Counseling ; Female ; Humans ; Quality of Life ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Recurrence ; Self-Help Groups ; Survivors

Menkes disease is an X-linked recessively inherited neurodegenerative disorder of copper metabolism leading to death in early childhood. This disease is characterized by low serum, liver and brain Cu levels, whereas the Cu content in nearly all other organs is increased. The main clinical features are irregular kinky hair, characteristic face, progresssive degeneration of the central nervous system, bone changes, arterial rupture and thrombosis, and instability of temperature. We have experienced a case of Menkes disease in a eight months old male patient, who manifested by seizure, developmental delay, hypotonia, characteristic hair and face along with low levels of serum copper and ceruloplasmin. We report the characteristic findings of cranial MRI and MR angiography in this Menke's patient. In cranial MRI, he showed progressive brain atrophy with subdural hemorrhage and effusion. MR angiography revealed tortuosity of vessels clearly obviating necessity of more invasive conventional arteriography in diagnosis of this disease. This study suggested that cranial MRI and especially MR angiography might be helpful in making early diagnosis of this disease.
Angiography ; Atrophy ; Brain ; Central Nervous System ; Ceruloplasmin ; Copper ; Diagnosis ; Early Diagnosis ; Hair ; Hematoma, Subdural ; Humans ; Liver ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Menkes Kinky Hair Syndrome ; Metabolism ; Muscle Hypotonia ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Rupture ; Seizures ; Thrombosis

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing quality of life in kidney transplant recipients and to understand the concrete pathway of influence and the power of each variable, so that integrated prediction model to promote the quality of life of kidney transplant recipients could be developed. METHODS: The sample was composed of 218 patients in follow-up care after a kidney transplant in one of 4 university hospitals in the Honam area. A structured questionnaire was used and the collected data were analyzed for fitness, using the LISREL program. RESULTS: This model was concise and extensive in predicting the quality of life of kidney transplant recipients. CONCLUSION: The research verified the factors influencing quality of life for kidney transplant recipients and it verified that direct factors such as perception of health state, compliance, self-efficacy, stress and indirect factors such as self-efficacy and social support can be important factors to predict the quality of life for recipients. Moreover, those variables represent 87% of variance in explaining quality of life in a prediction model so that the variables can be utilized to predict quality of life for kidney transplant recipients.
Adult ; Female ; Health Status ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents/therapeutic use ; Kidney Transplantation/*psychology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Models, Psychological ; Quality of Life/*psychology ; Questionnaires ; Self Efficacy ; Social Support ; Stress, Psychological/prevention & control

Sjögren-Larsson syndrome(SLS) is a rare hereditable disease characterized by congenital ichthyosis, spastic diplegia and mental retardation. Along with the typical triad of symptoms, many patients with this disease have short stature, kyphosis and glistening dots in the retina of the eye. The pathogenesism is unknown but recent studies suggest that SLS might be, at least in part, a disorder of fatty acid metabolism. We describe a patient with a pathognomonic finding in the fundus and with the classic features of SLS.
Cerebral Palsy ; Humans ; Ichthyosis ; Intellectual Disability ; Kyphosis ; Metabolism ; Retina ; Sjogren-Larsson Syndrome*

PURPOSE: This study was done to propose a structural model to explain and predict psychosocial adjustment in patients with early breast cancer and to test the model. The model was based on the Stress-Coping Model of Lazarus and Folkman (1984). METHODS: Data were collected from February 18 to March 18, 2009. For data analysis, 198 data sets were analyzed using SPSS/WIN12 and AMOS 7.0 version. RESULTS: Social support, uncertainty, symptom experience, and coping had statistically significant direct, indirect and total effects on psychosocial adjustment, and optimism had significant indirect and total effects on psychosocial adjustment. These variables explained 57% of total variance of the psychosocial adjustment in patients with early breast cancer. CONCLUSION: The results of the study indicate a need to enhance psychosocial adjustment of patients with early breast cancer by providing detailed structured information and various symptom alleviation programs to reduce perceived stresses such as uncertainty and symptom experience. They also suggest the need to establish support systems through participation of medical personnel and families in such programs, and to apply interventions strengthening coping methods to give the patients positive and optimistic beliefs.
*Adaptation, Psychological ; Adult ; Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use ; Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy/*psychology/surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; *Models, Theoretical ; Neoplasm Staging ; Questionnaires ; Social Support ; Uncertainty

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the status of use of menstrual hygiene products and genital organ hygiene management in unmarried women. METHODS: Data from 161 unmarried women were used for analysis. The instruments consisted of self-reported questionnaires that included 40 items: 20 on General Characteristics & Sexual Health Related Characteristics, 8 on Using Status of Menstrual Hygiene Products, 12 on Genital Organ Hygiene Management. RESULTS: The subjects used disposable sanitary napkin as the most frequently but the satisfaction was low, while the use of reusable sanitary napkin and tampons were few, but satisfaction was high. Sixty-seven percent of the unmarried women had sex experience, and more than 60% experienced abnormal symptoms in the genital organ. There was a significant difference in genital organ hygiene management according to sex experience. Among subjects of this study, 44.1% wanted to use menstrual cup, and 98.8% wanted to have education for their menstrual hygiene products. CONCLUSION: Based on results of this study, a nationwide survey of the demand for menstrual hygiene products used by Korean women is needed, it is necessary to educate about the proper use of menstrual hygiene products and genital organ hygiene management.
Education ; Female ; Genitalia* ; Humans ; Hygiene* ; Menstrual Hygiene Products* ; Menstruation ; Reproductive Health ; Single Person*