No abstract available.
Drug Therapy* ; Germ Cells* ; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal*

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the psychiatric status of HIV-infected/AIDS inpatients in a general hospital over the past 2.5 years. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was conducted of psychiatric consultations performed between January 1, 2011, and July 30, 2013. The records of 97 HIV-infected/AIDS patients were analyzed. These included a total of 282 psychiatric consultations. RESULTS: Of the 97 patients, 91(93.8%) were male, the mean age was 48 years, and mean number of consultations was 2.8. Depressed mood was reported in 102 consultations(23.8%), insomnia in 60(14.0%), and anxiety in 31(7.2%). Psychiatric disorders diagnosed on initial consultation included depressive disorder(37 patients ; 37.0%), cognitive disorder(11 ; 11.0%), and delirium(9 ; 9.0%). Recommended psychotropic medication included Lorazepam(99 ; 17.2%), Escitalopram(90 ; 15.7%), and Quetiapine(84 ; 14.6%). CONCLUSIONS: The main complaints of HIV-infected/AIDS patients were depressed mood, insomnia, and suicidal ideation(including suicide attempts). In total, 85(93.3%) patients of those consulted were diagnosed as meeting the criteria for a psychiatric condition. However, considering that only 16.9% of patients consulted received follow-up treatment, longitudinal research is needed to examine the influence of psychiatric disorders on the transmission of HIV-infection/AIDS, as well as on prognosis and treatment adherence.
Anxiety ; Follow-Up Studies ; HIV ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Male ; Prognosis ; Referral and Consultation ; Retrospective Studies ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; Suicide

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

No abstract available.
Humans ; Myasthenia Gravis ; Myositis ; Thymus Neoplasms

PURPOSE: This study was to evaluate the effects of a smoking prevention program among preschool children. METHOD: This study used a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The participants were 141 preschool children aged 6 or 7 at two childcare centers in Jecheon City, who were divided into an experimental group (n=66) and a control group (n=75). The smoking prevention program was applied through 9 sessions and 30 minutes per session. Surveys were conducted before and after the smoking prevention program to examine the preschoolers' knowledge and attitude toward smoking and smoking coping behavior. RESULTS: There were significant differences between the experimental group and the control group in smoking knowledge (t=-2.02, p=.044) and smoking coping behavior (t=-2.01, p=.047), but smoking attitude (t=-1.20, p=.230) was not statistically significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSION: As a result, further research is needed into the long term effects of a smoking prevention program on the future behavior of preschoolers so that the health benefits of early prevention can be quantified. It is necessary for parents to participate actively in influencing preschoolers' attitudes and behaviors with regard to the avoidance of smoking.
Adaptation, Psychological* ; Child, Preschool* ; Chungcheongbuk-do ; Humans ; Insurance Benefits ; Parents ; Smoke* ; Smoking*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to analyze the smoking behaviors and to identify the impacts of depression, temperament, and characteristic on smoking experience in the female adolescents. METHODS: This study surveyed 691 highschool girls in the Gangwon area using self-administered questionnaires. Data were analyzed by SPSS 12.0. using Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression. RESULTS: The smoking rate of the highschool girls was lower than that of the national average. Depression was observed to be seriously in the highschool girls. There were a positive correlations among smoking experience, the school records and novelty seeking and a negative correlation between smoking and cooperativeness. The significant predictors of smoking experience were the type of school, the satisfaction with school, the school records, novelty seeking, reward dependence and cooperativeness. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that femalel adolescents who have the factors identified in this study are considered to have the potential for smoking. These results provide the basis for developing smoking prevention and cessation programs.
Adolescent* ; Depression* ; Female ; Gangwon-do ; Humans ; Reward ; Smoke* ; Smoking* ; Temperament* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

No abstract available.
Sturge-Weber Syndrome*

PURPOSE: Behcet's disease (BD) is rarely reported to be associated with malignancies in the literature. However, the frequency of cancer in BD patients remains unknown. This study evaluated cancer morbidity in BD patients compared with that in the general population of Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed on 506 patients visiting our hospital from 1994 to 2011 for BD. We analyzed the standardized morbidity rate (SMR), which is the ratio of observed to expected malignancies. Furthermore, we reviewed cases of solid cancer in BD patients in the literature. RESULTS: Of the 506 patients with BD, 11 (2.17%) developed cancer. We found a variety of solid cancers without predominance and no hematologic malignancies. The total number of cancers observed was less than expected, which was determined from the statistical data of the National Cancer Information Center of Korea, with an SMR of 0.023 (95% confidence interval, 0.012-0.039). CONCLUSION: BD may be associated with a lower cancer-related morbidity compared with the general population of Korea.
Adult ; Behcet Syndrome/*complications/drug therapy/epidemiology ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms/*epidemiology/etiology/surgery ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Retrospective Studies

Background: Recent studies have shown that oral administration of probiotics may improve the immune imbalance caused by dysbiosis of the gut microbiome in atopic dermatitis (AD). This study aimed to investigate the clinical and immunological effects of Lactobacillus pentosus in children with mild to moderate AD. Methods: Children aged 2–13 years with AD were randomized to receive either 1.0 × 1010 colony-forming units of L. pentosus or placebo, daily, for 12 weeks. The clinical severity of AD and transepidermal water loss were evaluated. Blood eosinophil counts, serum total immunoglobulin E (IgE), and cytokine levels were measured. The diversity and composition of the gut microbiota were also analyzed. Results: Eighty-two children were recruited, and 41 were assigned to the probiotics intervention group. The mean scoring of atopic dermatitis (SCORAD) indices at baseline were 30.4 and 34.3 for the probiotics and placebo groups, respectively. At week 12, the mean indices were 23.6 and 23.1 for the probiotics and placebo groups, respectively. Clinical severity decreased significantly over time in both groups, with no significant difference between the two groups. In both groups, there were no significant differences in cytokine levels, microbial diversity, or the relative abundance of the gut microbiota at week 12 compared with the corresponding baseline values. The mean subjective scores of SCORAD indices after intervention for the probiotics group were significantly lower than those for the placebo group in IgE sensitized AD (P = 0.019). Conclusion Our results show improved symptoms in the probiotics and placebo groups, and we could not find additional effects of L. pentosus in AD. However, the mean subjective scores of SCORAD indices for the probiotics group are significantly improved compared with those for the placebo group in allergen-sensitized AD.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop a health education program on the health promoting behavior and self-efficacy in university students and evaluate its effects. METHOD: A nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used. The subjects were 148 students [experimental(N=80) and control(N=68) groups] from a university in J City. The experimental group members participated in thirteen sessions of a health education program for fifteen weeks and the degree of their health promoting behavior and self efficacy was evaluated. The instruments for this study were the health promoting lifestyle profile developed by Walker et al.(1987) and self-efficacy scale developed by Sherer & Maddux(1982). Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, t-tests, and paired t-test using SPSS 10.0. RESULT: The experimental group had a significantly higher health promoting behavior score(F=10.389, p=.002) than the control group, while no significant difference was found in the self-efficacy score(F=.481, p=.489). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the health education program can be utilized as an effective program to promote health promoting behavior in university students.
Health Education* ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Life Style ; Self Efficacy