PURPOSE: This one group experimentation was designed to develop a program for relieving 'Hwa-Byung'(HB) symptoms and examine its effects on HB symptoms, pain threshold emotions like anger, anxiety and depression. METHOD: The program consisted of three components the change of the cognitive thoughts, the formation of a supportive network, and induction of mind-body relaxation. Sixteen middle-aged women with HB were divided into three groups for group dynamics according to the time of the recruitment. Data was collected for nine months at three time points, before, immediately after, and one month later of its application. RESULT: There were statistically significant differences in the severity level of state anger, state anxiety, depression, and HB symptoms according to the time interval. The means of state anger and state anxiety were reduced after the intervention, but it was slightly increased one month later. The means of depression and HB symptoms were continuously reduced after the intervention and one month later. CONCLUSION: This was the first management program for HB women in Korea. A future study must be done with the research design formethodological strength revision of the program.
Adult ; Anger ; Anxiety ; Cognitive Therapy ; Depression/therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Mental Disorders/complications/*therapy ; Middle Aged ; Relaxation Therapy ; Social Support ; Somatoform Disorders/psychology/*therapy

OBJECTIVETo compare the efficacy of Chinese medicine and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), fluoxetine, on somatic disorder (SD) and to explore the advantage of Chinese medicine.

METHODSPatients with SD screened with Hamilton depression scale (HAMD) were randomly assigned to the fluoxetine group treated with fluoxetine 20 mg once per day administered after breakfast, and the Chinese medicine group with combination of Xiaoyao Decoction (XD) and Wendan Decoction (WD) one dose a day given before supper everyday, the treatment for both groups was lasted for 8 weeks. Clinical general impression (CGI) and symptom checklist 90 (SCL-90) were applied to evaluate the changes in symptoms before and after treatment, and a self-made rating scale was used to evaluate the adverse reaction.

RESULTSCGI score changed significantly in both groups after treatment, showed the average 2-week reduction rate of more than 30% and the average 8-week reduction rate of more than 70%, without significant difference shown between the two groups (P > 0.05). SCL-90 scoring showed the average score of somatic factor was significantly lower in the Chinese medicine group than in the fluoxetine group (P < 0.05) with few adverse reaction, while no significant difference was found in the respective scores of other factors between the two groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONChinese medicine shows noticeable superiority in treating SD, it has the effect similar to that of new antidepressants.

Adult ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Somatoform Disorders ; drug therapy ; psychology ; Treatment Outcome

This is the first study to investigate the influence of depression, anxiety and somatization on the treatment response for lower urinary tract symptoms/benign prostatic hyperplasia (LUTS/BPH). The LUTS/BPH patients were evaluated with the Korean versions of the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and the PHQ-15. The primary endpoint was a responder rate defined by the total score of IPSS (< or = 7) at the end of treatment. The LUTS/BPH severity was significantly higher in patients with depression (whole symptoms P = 0.024; storage sub-symptom P = 0.021) or somatization (P = 0.024) than in those without, while the quality of life (QOL) was significantly higher in patients with anxiety (P = 0.038) than in those without. Anxious patients showed significantly higher proportion of non-response (odds ratio [OR], 3.294, P = 0.022) than those without, while somatic patients had a trend toward having more non-responders (OR, 2.552, P = 0.067). Our exploratory results suggest that depression, anxiety and somatization may have some influences on the clinical manifestation of LUTS/BPH. Further, anxious patients had a lower response to treatment in patients with LUTS/BPH. Despite of limitations, the present study demonstrates that clinicians may need careful evaluation of psychiatric symptoms for proper management of patients with LUTS/BPH.
Anxiety/epidemiology/*psychology ; Causality ; Comorbidity ; Depression/epidemiology/*psychology ; Humans ; Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms/epidemiology/prevention & control/*psychology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care)/methods ; Prostatic Hyperplasia/epidemiology/*psychology/*therapy ; Psychometrics/methods ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Severity of Illness Index ; Somatoform Disorders/epidemiology/*psychology ; Treatment Outcome

This is the first study to investigate the influence of depression, anxiety and somatization on the treatment response for lower urinary tract symptoms/benign prostatic hyperplasia (LUTS/BPH). The LUTS/BPH patients were evaluated with the Korean versions of the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and the PHQ-15. The primary endpoint was a responder rate defined by the total score of IPSS (< or = 7) at the end of treatment. The LUTS/BPH severity was significantly higher in patients with depression (whole symptoms P = 0.024; storage sub-symptom P = 0.021) or somatization (P = 0.024) than in those without, while the quality of life (QOL) was significantly higher in patients with anxiety (P = 0.038) than in those without. Anxious patients showed significantly higher proportion of non-response (odds ratio [OR], 3.294, P = 0.022) than those without, while somatic patients had a trend toward having more non-responders (OR, 2.552, P = 0.067). Our exploratory results suggest that depression, anxiety and somatization may have some influences on the clinical manifestation of LUTS/BPH. Further, anxious patients had a lower response to treatment in patients with LUTS/BPH. Despite of limitations, the present study demonstrates that clinicians may need careful evaluation of psychiatric symptoms for proper management of patients with LUTS/BPH.
Anxiety/epidemiology/*psychology ; Causality ; Comorbidity ; Depression/epidemiology/*psychology ; Humans ; Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms/epidemiology/prevention & control/*psychology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care)/methods ; Prostatic Hyperplasia/epidemiology/*psychology/*therapy ; Psychometrics/methods ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Severity of Illness Index ; Somatoform Disorders/epidemiology/*psychology ; Treatment Outcome