No abstract available.
Fasting* ; Female ; Humans

The serodiagnostic test of syphilis employed with the greatest freguency in this country is the VDRL procedure which is one of the flocculation test utilizing cardiolipin-lecithin as an antigen. As well known, the immunologically nonspecific nature of this test relegates it only to screening test, so that all the sera displaying weakly reactive or reactive VDRL in the absence of definite evidence of present or past syphilis should be confirmed by using the specific treponemal antigen tests. However, there are only lirnited numbers of institutions at which the specific treponemal antigen tests are carried out, because the tests usually need quite coaiplicatnl technology and specifically trained personnel. The Treponema. pallidum hema.gglutination assay (TPHA) which was first described by Rathlev in 1965 and established as more improved and standardized procedure in serodia,gnosis of syphilis by Tornizaxva and Kasamatsu (1966) has been found to h as sensitive and specific as the technically more complicated Fluorescent treponemaI antibody absorption (FTA-ABS) or Treponema pallidum immobilization (TPI) po cedure by rnany investigators from different parts of the world during these 10 years. The TPHA has also been found to have definite advantage over the other tests because it is easy to perform and economic. The present authors felt. that the TPHA meight be the most reasonable method to be used in this country and decided to evaluate it in the serodiagnosis of problem cases. Sera from 516 presumed normal persons, 686 pregnant women ancl 1345 patients with various diseases other than syphilis were screened with the standard VDRL procedure as described and recommanded by USPHS. Out of these, 475 of t.he presumed normal persons, 646 of the pregnant women and 1243 of the patient group wit;h various diseases other than syphilis v;ere serologically nonreactive and 10, 12 and Rl sera from each of the above groups, respectively, were found to be true syphilitc with definite evidence of clinical signs or history of syphilis. Thirty-one out of the presumed normal persons, 28 out of the pregnant women and 71 out of the patient group with various diseases other than syphilis showed either weakly reactive or reactive VDRI, in undiluted sera without definite evidence of syphilis and these 130 sera from 130 persons were the subject of the present study. The TPHA was carried out on these 130 sera. according to the ma.nual MEA-TP instructed by National Institute of Health, Japan. The reagents used in this study rvere rnanufactured and supplied hy the Fujizoki Pharmaceutical Co. Ten (32.3%) out of the R1 sera from preaumed normal persons, 11 (39.4%) out of the 28 sera from pregna.nt women a.nd 28 (69.4%) out of the patient group with various disea ses other then syphilis showed reactive TPHA. Eighty-seven of the total 130 sera showed weakly reactive VDRL so called rough result and 19 (21.8%) Of these 87 sera showed reactive TPHA, while 30(69.8%) of the 43 sera which showed reactive VDRL were found to be TPHA reactive. These results arc in general agreement with those of other investigators confirmed by the more complicated FTA-ABS or TPI. The overall incidence of syphilis was 3.87%, 3.35% and 4.38% in presumed normal persons, in pregnant women and in patient group with various diseases other than syphilis respectively. Considering the relative lack of study concerning to the false positive reactions in this country, these results may be helpful to the clinician to rnake a cert.ain diagnostic decision when they meet such a patient whose VDRL is weakly reactive or reactive in the absence of definite evidence of syphilis. The authors concluded that: the MHA-TP technique is easy in performance, economic and highly specific in serodiagnosis and that this technique is highly recommanded in this country. * The authors thank Fujizoki Pharrnaceutical Company, Tokyo, Japan which provided the TPHA reagents used in this study.
Absorption ; Bezafibrate ; False Positive Reactions ; Female ; Flocculation Tests ; Humans ; Immobilization ; Incidence ; Indicators and Reagents ; Japan ; Mass Screening ; Pregnant Women ; Research Personnel ; Serologic Tests* ; Syphilis* ; Treponema ; Treponema pallidum ; United States Public Health Service

PUPPOSE: This study was to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and educational needs for sexuality of the elderly. METHOD: This was a descriptive study, in which data were collected from February to April 2002 from 354 elderly who were residing in Chung-Chung province. RESULT: 1. The level of knowledge regarding sexuality was below average. 2. The level of the attitudes toward sexuality of the elderly was neither positive nor negative. 3. The educational needs of the elderly were above average. 4. Higher level of knowledge on sexuality was significantly correlated with more positive attitudes and education needs for sexuality, and more positive attitudes toward sexuality was significantly correlated with more educational needs for sexuality. CONCLUSION: Particularly men, with good health, and those who were in intimate relationships with their spouses and still engaged with active sexual life showed somewhat higher level of knowledge and positive attitudes as well as higher educational needs. Therefore, further development and applying of sexuality promotion programs for healthy elder couples should be considered in the future to enhance the quality of life of elder population. In addition, it is also suggested to develop an alternative intervention program on sexuality for elderly who are women, those with meager health, and the bereaved.
Aged* ; Education ; Family Characteristics ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Quality of Life ; Sexuality* ; Spouses

No abstract available.
Low Back Pain*

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to compare home care nursing intervention activities analyzed by the Nursing Intervention Classification (NIC) system for hospice and general patients. METHOD: For the descriptive survey study, data was collected by reviewing charts of 151 hospice patients and 421 general patients who registered in the department of home health care nursing at K Hospital. RESULTS: According to the NIC system application, there were 2380 total nursing interventions used for the hospice patients and 8725 for the general home care patients. For both sets of patients (hospice vs. general), the most frequently used nursing intervention in level 1 was the Physiological: Complex domain (40.13 vs. 31.06 percent), followed by the Safety domain; in level 2, the Risk Management class (28.4 vs. 27.70 percent), followed by Tissue Perfusion Management; and in level 3, Vital Sign Monitoring (6.18 vs. 4.84 percent), followed by Health Screening. CONCLUSION: The study showed that there was a lack of specialized hospice nursing interventions such as emotional, family and spiritual support, and care for dying hospice patients.
Classification ; Home Care Services* ; Home Health Nursing ; Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing ; Hospices* ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Nursing* ; Perfusion ; Risk Management ; Vital Signs

No abstract available.
Holoprosencephaly* ; Prune Belly Syndrome*

No abstract available.
Immobilization* ; Rib Fractures* ; Ribs*

PURPOSE: This study was designed to investigate the effects of a network program to prevent obesity and improve dietary habits for patients taking antipsychotics or antidepressants. METHOD: Thirty-seven patients in two hospitals were assigned to a control group (21 patients) or an intervention group (16 patients). The intervention group was evaluated to analyze the effect of the network program for six weeks after the program. RESULT: There was a difference in the rate of increased body weight between the control group and the intervention group. Notably, the body weight of both groups before the intervention was significantly increased. However, after the intervention the body weight of the intervention group rarely increased, whereas, the body weight of the control group was significantly increased as expected. There was an observed difference in diet between the control group and the intervention group. After the intervention, caloric intake per day of the intervention group decreased. Also, the duration of the meal of the intervention group after the intervention was longer than before. CONCLUSION: The network program for preventing obesity and improving dietary habits of patients taking antipsychotics or antidepressants was effective. The study shows that a network program can be an important part of a nursing intervention in clinical practice.
Weight Gain/drug effects ; Schizophrenia/drug therapy ; Obesity/chemically induced/*prevention & control ; Mood Disorders/drug therapy ; Male ; Humans ; Female ; Energy Intake ; Diet, Reducing ; Antipsychotic Agents/*adverse effects ; Antidepressive Agents/*adverse effects ; Adult ; Adolescent

Although the incidence of tuberculosis in Korea in general has declined in recent years, it remains an importat health problem, especially in children. Inspite of the recent controversy over the necessity of tuberculin skin test prior to measles vaccination, this brief report shows 13.8% of positive skin test at 9 and 15 months of age at the time of measles vaccination. We feel, in Korea, practicing tuberculin skin test prior to measles vaccination is good way of detecting asymptomatic infection in young age who needs preventive therapy.
Asymptomatic Infections ; Child ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Measles* ; Skin Tests* ; Skin* ; Tuberculin* ; Tuberculosis ; Vaccination*

Acute necrotizing encephalopathy is a recently established disease entity, proposed by Mizuguchi et al in 1995, that shows a characteristic symmetric and multifocal involvement of both thalamus, brainstem tegmentum, cerebral periventricular white matter, and cerebellar medulla. It is known to be prevalent in Japan and other Far Ease countries. The etiology of the acute necrotizing encephalopathy remains unknown. The typical course of acute necrotizing encephalopathy is the development of the irreversible neurologic symptoms related to brain lesions. The diagnosis can be made on the basis of the combination of a typical clinical profile and characteristic radiologic findings. We experienced a first case of acute necrotizing encephalopathy in a 9 month old boy in Korea. We report this case with the brief review of related literatures.
Brain ; Brain Stem ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Infant ; Japan ; Korea ; Male ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Thalamus