The pinching motion is thought to be one of fundamental hand functions, the power of which has been quantified by measuring it isometrically with variously devised pinch-meters. The present authors describe the investigations on the pinching power of 350 healthy persons, 200 male and 150 female Koreans, by the use of Preston Pinch Gauge. Six kinds of pinch were chosen: (1) thumb index finger tip pinch (1-2TP), (2) thumb-middle finger tip pinch (1-3TP), (3) thumb-index finger pulp pinch (1-2PP), (4) thumb-middle finger pulp pinch (1-3PP), (5) thumb-index-middle finger pulp pinch (3PP), (6) key pinch (KP), which were classified again into 19 kinds according to the shape of thumb, index, middle, or other fingers during each pinch. We describe those as principal type, hyperextension-flexion type, hyperextension type and other type into four. It should be justified to calculate the mean normal value of principal type pinching power in Korean. Principal type of pinch involves 1-2TP, 1-3TP, 1-2PP, 1-3PP, 3PP and KP, as to Hyperextension type of 1-2PP, 1-3PP, 3PP and KP. Other type of pinch involving 1-2TP, 1-3TP, 1-2PP, 1-3PP, 3PP and KP is different from Principal type simply because of the shape of nonjoining fingers during pinch. Generally, the pinching power of Principal type was clearly highest among the four types except for pulp pinches.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Female ; Fingers ; Hand ; Humans ; Male ; Reference Values ; Thumb

Acute hematogenous osteomyelitis adjacent to hip, though uncommon, should be included in the differential diagnosis of the patients presenting symptoms suggestive of septic arthritis of hip. When it occurs in children, it is particularly serious, because the diagnosis at first may be very difficult to be made. Our observations on seven cases reported here suggest the following findings to be helpful for early differential diagnosis of osteomyelitis of innominate bones from septic hip. 1. Among 7 cases, 4 had lesions in ischium, and 3 in os ilii. 2. The initial diagnosis on admission in 3 cases out of 7 was wrongly made to be septic arthritis of hip. 3. Early accurate diagnosis is essential to initiate early treatment, and there by shortens the convalescent time and minimize sequelae. 4. The diagnosis could be made in the cases by clinical and roentgenographic findings, such as fever, pain nature, antalgic posture of hip together with range of hip motion, tender point around hip and positive soft tissue and bony X-ray findings, but K-ray taken on early stage of infection could not provide any clue until bone lesion appears. 5. Gentle passive motion of hip is more easily permitted without eliciting severe pain and restriction of motion in the infection of innominate bone than in the septic hip. This also can be another clue to differentiate the acute osteomyelitis of innominate bone from septic arthritis of the hip.
Arthritis, Infectious ; Child ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Fever ; Hip ; Humans ; Ischium ; Osteomyelitis ; Pelvic Bones ; Posture

The purpose of this study was to investigate the level of anxiety for the mothers of leukemic children and to provide the fundamental data for the better performance of caring to them. The subject were 292 mothers : 100 mothers whose children had a leukemia, 80 mothers whose children had taken a tonsillectomy, 112 mothers whose children with medical disease except cancer. The data were collected through the state-Trait Anxiety Inventory of Spilberger and analyzed by t-test, ANOVA, Scheffe test. The results were as follows ; 1. The state anxiety mean score of mothers with leukemic children was 54.16. 2. The state anxiety of mothers with leukemic children was higher than that of the rest (F=8.00, P=0.0004). 3. There was no significant difference in anxiety of mothers with leukemic children in relation to leukemic children's and their mother's general characteristics.
Anxiety* ; Child* ; Humans ; Leukemia ; Mothers* ; Tonsillectomy ; Child Health

BACKGROUND: Computers can in many ways improve the quality and efficacy of medical care. The purpose of this study was to perform a comprehensive survey of present computer use and investigate the factors affecting computer use by family physicians. METHODS: One thousand and 1250 family physicians were surveyed by mail from May to August, 1999. The survey protocol included demographic characteristics, opinions on computer use in medicine, present computer usages and wanted applications in the future. RESULTS: Of the 306 responses received, 291 responses were analysed. 91.4% replied that they used computers in the medical field, and 58.1% said they used computers during medical interview. Factors preventing computer use in medicine were cost(33%), time(16%), insufficient information(14%), the doctor-patient relationship(12%) and no perceived need(6%). While 46% of the responders who used computers in the medical field cited fellow doctors for their interest in computer use in the medical field, only 6.2% answered that medical societies or associations had promoted their interest. Present usage of computers included word processing, online communication, internet, medical insurance billing, in descending order. Factors affecting the present degree of computer use that were statistically significant, were the computer system used, factors preventing computer use and the present form of practice. CONCLUSION: Although, most family physicians use computers in the medical field, its use is still limited to a few areas.
Computer Systems ; Humans ; Insurance ; Internet ; Medical Informatics ; Physicians, Family* ; Postal Service ; Societies, Medical ; Word Processing

The purpose of the study was to investigate physical stress symptoms and health risk behaviors of adolescent athletes and high school students as a basis for providing a health promotion program of adolescent athletes. The subjects consisted of 160 male students of a physical education high school(athletes) in Kyonggi and 147 male high school students(non-athletes) in Seoul. Data was obtained from the physical stress symptoms and the health risk behaviors questionnaire. The result were as follows : 1.Physical stress symptoms didn't make significant difference between groups. GI symptom, as the subscale of physical stress symptoms of non-athletes were higher then those of athletes. The highest ranked physical stress symptoms in athletes was cardiopulmonary symptom ll(upper respiratory symptoms) and in non- athletes was central-neurological symptoms. 2.Health risk behaviors didn't make significant difference between groups. Weight control, as the subscale of health risk behaviors of athletes were higher then those of non-athletes. The highest ranked health risk behaviors in athletes was alcohol and in non-athletes was smoking. 3.There were the low positive correlation between physical stress symptoms and health risk behaviors.
Adolescent* ; Athletes* ; Gyeonggi-do ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Male ; Physical Education and Training ; Risk-Taking* ; Seoul ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Child Health ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND: In the Republic of Korea, there had been no reports about indigenous malaria cases since 1984 until a vivax malaria case was detected in 1993. Thereafter fram 1993 to 1996, 486 malaria cases were reported. Most of the patients were soldiers in the northern militarized zone. However, since 1997, several patients with malaria were detected in Kang Hwa where there had previously been no report of malaria cases. It is our intent to report the 16 cases diagrnosed in Kang Hwa Community Hospital from January 1, 1997 to August 10, 1998. METHODS: Medical records of the malaria cases from January 1, 1997, to August 10, 1998 in Kang Hwa Community Haspital were reviewed. All of the patients had no histories of traveling abroad, drug abuse or blood transfusion. They were all civilians. Laboratory studies including blood cell count, routine chemistry and platelet-associated IgG(PAIgG) and abdominal sanography were taken. RESULTS: All of the patients were diagnosed with malaria by blood smears. Common symptams were fever(100%), headache(94%), rigors(81%), myaJgia(56%), nausea or vomiting(44%), alternate day fever (25%), left flank pain(19%), diarrhea(13%), and abdominal pain(13%). Splenomegaly was detected in 92% of cases by sonography. Laboratory findings included leukopenia(37.5%), anemia(37.5%) and thrombocytopenia(81.3%). Platelet-associated IgG was elevated in 1 of 5 thrombocytopenic patients who had had the laboratory study performed. All recovered withaut complications. CONCLUSIONS: Cases of indigenous malaria have been progressively increasing in the Republic of Korea. Fortunately, patients responded well to treatment, but continued interest will be required in the future.
Blood Cell Count ; Blood Transfusion ; Chemistry ; Fever ; Hospitals, Community ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Malaria ; Malaria, Vivax ; Medical Records ; Military Personnel ; Nausea ; Republic of Korea ; Splenomegaly ; Substance-Related Disorders ; Thrombocytopenia

Insulin therapy is indicated in the treatment of gestational diabetic women and overt diabetic pregnant women for hyperglycemia after failure to respond to the diets and exercise regimens. The insulin is administered to mimic normal pancreatic function. The normal pancreas secretes 50% of the total daily insulin as mealtime boluses. This delivery may be mimicked by four-injection-per-day of combination of NPH and regular insulin (RI). Hypoglycemia is a well-recognized complication of intensive insulin therapy in patients with Type II diabetes. Recently, it has been reported that insulin-lispro, an analogue of regular human insulin with a peak insulin action achieved with a 1 hour after injection improves postprandial glucose concentration in non-pregnant diabetic patients. Treatment of gestational or diabetic pregnant women with NPH and insulin-lispro has significantly lower postprandial glucose levels without an increase in hypoglycemic events. Here, we report 2 cases of hyperglycemic control with four times daily administration of NPH & insulin-lispro on diabetes in pregnancy, with brief reviews.
Diabetes Mellitus ; Diet ; Female ; Glucose ; Humans ; Hyperglycemia ; Hypoglycemia* ; Insulin Lispro* ; Insulin* ; Meals ; Pancreas ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnant Women

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze and assess the current situation of Korea's school health education program and to establish measures to efficiently carry out school health education in Korea. METHOD: The survey was conducted through the internet with the health educators of elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide to assess the current condition of school health education programs, and 2,459 samples were collected which accounted for 23.4% of the total respondents. RESULTS: According to school health educators on the enforcement of health education, the higher the education became, the less the health education was enforced. The enforcement rate was 96.9% in elementary schools, 76.7% in middle schools, and 67.3% in high schools. The major reasons were found as difficulty in securing class time (54.5%) and other excessive workloads (20.9%). As a result of the health education awareness survey, over 99% answered that health education is needed, over 80% answered that the education requires independent health textbooks, and over 95% answered that health educators are suitable for the person in charge of the education. CONCLUSION: This study will be a useful in establishing a detailed policy on enhancing school health education in the future.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Health Education/organization & administration/*trends ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Questionnaires ; School Health Services/*trends

The prevalence of Loa loa infections in non-endemic areas such as Korea is very low, even though it is quite common in the endemic regions of West and Central Africa. We describe a patient who presented with temporary localized edema (classical Calabar swellings) after travelling to Cameroon and in whom the diagnosis of loiasis was made by ELISA. This is the second reported case of loiasis in Korea. As international travel is becoming more frequent, Loa loa infection should be considered in the differential diagnosis for patients with eosinophilia and Calabar swellings in Korea.
Adult ; Angioneurotic Edema/parasitology* ; Animal ; Antinematodal Agents/therapeutic use ; Arm/parasitology* ; Case Report ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Human ; Ivermectin/therapeutic use ; Loa/isolation & purification ; Loiasis/pathology* ; Loiasis/parasitology* ; Loiasis/complications ; Male ; Skin Diseases/pathology* ; Skin Diseases/parasitology*

OBJECTIVE: The measurement of liver size can be used for the diagnosis of the fetal growth abnormality (FGR, macrosomia etc.). The purpose of this study was to evaluate a mathematical relationship between the fetal liver size(liver length or volume) and the gestational age in the normal pregnancies. Brief comparisons were also tried on the base of the degree of the correlation between liver length and its volume. METHODS: We collected 54 singleton pregnancies of 20 to 36weeks of gestation for measuring fetal liver length and 57 singleton pregnancies for measuring fetal liver volume. We used Combison 530 utrasonic machine(Kreztechnik AG, Zipf, Austria). RESULTS: There was significant correlation between liver size( length and volume) and gestation age. And the liver volume better correlated with gestational age than liver length(r=0.93 : r=0.78, p<0.0001, p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: Ultrasonic measurement of fetal liver size is a reliable indicator of fetal growth, especially liver volume. Therefore these data may have a potential value for the prediction of abnormal fetal growth(FGR, macrosomia).
Diagnosis ; Fetal Development ; Gestational Age* ; Liver* ; Pregnancy* ; Ultrasonics