The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among variables which are categorized by two groups : the first group consists of obesity, serum lipids, and blood pressure which were measured by physical index or physiological index, and the second group consists of demographic variables and variables related to lifestyle that is known to influence the first group. The canonical correlation analysis was conducted with the data collected from 400 male clients who visited one university hospital located in Inchon in a period, from May 1996 to December 1996, for physical examination. According to the results, blood pressure and HDL of the first group were shown to have strong relationship with age, alcohol, smoking, exercise of the second group. And total cholesterol, triglyceride, systolic, BMI of the first group were shown to have strong relationship with income status, education, exercise of the second group. And all of the serum lipids (total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL), BMI, and diastolic were shown to have relationship with education, smoking, alcohol. It should be noted that fat rate, which was one of the indices for obesity, was not significant in any of the canonical variates. From the comparative study results on which combination of indices of obesity, serum lipids and blood pressure was related to either alcohol or smoking more, it can be seem that smoking was more highly related to two blood pressure indices such as systolic and diastolic, and that alcohol was highly related to serum lipid indices such as HDL, total cholesterol, triglyceride. Also investigation on what differences exist between the combination of variables showing high relationship to systolic and the combination of variables showing high relationship to diastolic was conducted. Systolic turned out to have relationship with total cholesterol, triglyceride, obesity (fat rate), income status, education, exercise. And diastolic was related to HDL-c, total cholesterol, tryglyceride, obesity (BMI), education, smoking, alcohol. From this results, it could be seen that the combination of variables which have high relationship to systolic and diastolic have different patterns. Lastly, the investigation on what relationships exist between serum lipids and demographic variables/lifestyle variables was conducted. It turned out that HDL-c had high relationship with age, education, income status, alcohol, and that all of serum lipids (total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL) were shown to have high relationship with income status, education, age, exercise. From these results, it could be seen that the demographic variables were more influential both on HDL and on all of serum lipids than lifestyle variables were.
Arteriosclerosis* ; Blood Pressure ; Cholesterol ; Education ; Humans ; Incheon ; Life Style ; Male ; Obesity ; Physical Examination ; Risk Factors* ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Triglycerides

The purpose of this study is to define requisite content of physiology for nursing education. This study classifies the subjects of physiology into 15 areas. The areas are cell and cell membrane, body fluid, nervous system, special sense, muscular system, blood, cardiovascular system, respiratory system, urinary system, digestive system. energy metabolism, body temperature, immune system. endocrine system, and reproductive system. Each subject area is further classified into subarea, resulting in a total of 194 subarea. The importance of each subarea is measured with a 3-point scale using a questionnaire. The subjects of this study were full-time professors teaching nursing in Korean universities. The analysis of the data collected from 68 respondents is as follows. 1. The areas of physiology necessary for nursing education in the order of importance are : body fluid, blood, endocrine, immune system, body temperature, urinary system, respiratory system, digestive system, reproductive system, energy metabolism, nervous system, cardiovascular system, cell and cell membrane, muscular system, and special sense. 2. Depending on the specific areas of nursing(such as pediatric nursing, maternity nursing), the importance of each physiology area may differ. For instance, the most important area for maternity nursing is reproductive physiology, whereas one for the psychiatric nursing is neurophysiology. 3. The importance of each physiology area does not determine the importance of its subarea. For example, while the importance of cell and cell membrane was relatively very low across the respondents from different areas of nursing science, the importance of such subarea as osmosis, diffusion, and filtration reported by most respondents were high.
Body Fluids ; Body Temperature ; Cardiovascular System ; Cell Membrane ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Diffusion ; Digestive System ; Education, Nursing* ; Endocrine System ; Energy Metabolism ; Filtration ; Immune System ; Infant, Newborn ; Maternal-Child Nursing ; Nervous System ; Neurophysiology ; Nursing* ; Osmosis ; Pediatric Nursing ; Physiology* ; Pregnancy ; Psychiatric Nursing ; Respiratory System

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to identify comprehensive predictors of fatigue in cancer patients. METHODS: One hundred ten cancer patients visiting in-patient or out-patient clinics of a university hospital located in Incheon participated in this study. RESULTS: The hematologic indicators (WBC and Hemoglobin) were significant for explaining fatigue. The psychological factors of fatigue were statistically significant. Both anxiety and depression, included as psychological factors, were significant in explaining fatigue in cancer patients. The influence of physical factors on fatigue was also statistically significant. Among the variables included as physical factors, pain, nausea/vomiting/anorexia, and sleep disturbance were significant whereas, dyspnea was not significant. The influence of the daily activity factor on fatigue was statistically significant. Among the variables included as daily activity factors, regular exercise or not and the usual activity level were significant in explaining fatigue of cancer patients, while the level of rest was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: From the study results fatigue of cancer patients appeared to be influenced by multidimensional factors, such as physiological, physical, psychological, and activity related factors.
Activities of Daily Living ; Adaptation, Physiological ; Adult ; Aged ; Fatigue/etiology/*nursing ; Female ; Health Status ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Models, Nursing ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasms/complications/*nursing ; Sick Role ; Sickness Impact Profile

This study was performed to clarify the overall inter-relationships between the arteriosclerotic risk factors, including smoking, alcoholic consumption, obesity, serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels, high density lipoprotein, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure using a meta analysis method. The subjects of this study were included in 24 primary studies reported in Korea since 1980, which concerned arteriosclerotic risk factors. The results show that smoking is significantly associated with total cholesterol (R = .04), triglyceride (R = .10) and HDL-cholesterol (R = -.06). Alcohol consumption is also significantly and positively associated with all three serum lipid parameters: cholesterol (R = .04), triglyceride (R = .08) and HDL-cholesterol (R = .10). The effect of smoking and alcohol consumption on cholesterol levels were found to be almost equal. However, smoking has a predominant effect on triglyceride, whereas, alcohol consumption exerts an influence primarily on the HDL-cholesterol level. Obesity was positively correlated with cholesterol (R = .25) and triglyceride (R = .21), however, it was negatively correlated with HDL-cholesterol (R = -.14). It appears that the serum lipid parameter, which shows strongest correlation with obesity, is the total cholesterol level. Obesity also showed a significant correlation with systolic (R = .19) and diastolic blood pressure (R = .13). Blood pressure was also positively correlated with cholesterol (R = .18) and triglyceride (R = .26), however, it correlated negatively with HDL-cholesterol (R = -.23). In conclusion, the overall inter-relationships between the arteriosclerotic risk factors; smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, serum lipid level and blood pressure were all found to be significant.
Arteriosclerosis/etiology* ; Blood Pressure ; Ethanol/adverse effects ; Human ; Lipids/blood ; Lipoproteins, HDL Cholesterol/blood ; Obesity/complications ; Risk Factors ; Smoking/adverse effects

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to examine the relationships between the recurrence of pneumothorax with demographic and health-related risk factors. METHODS: Demographic factors (age and gender) and health-related risk factors (Body Mass Index, smoking, exercise, stress, fatigue, and morbidity from colds) were measured from 60 patients admitted to two acute care institutions due to pneumothorax. RESULTS: The study results showed significant differences in factors such as height and minutes of performing exercise per week, between the first occurrence and recurrence groups. However, other risk factors did not show significant differences between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Prevention of recurrences is important for the treatment and management of pneumothorax. More studies are required to accumulate empirical evidence for health-related risk factors and pneumothorax recurrence, as the relationship between all factors and recurrence were not obtained by the study results.
Demography ; Fatigue ; Humans ; Pneumothorax ; Recurrence ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking

The purpose of this study was to compare the circadian blood pressure and heart rate rhythm of dippers and non-dippers. Biochemical and clinical characteristics of dippers and non-dippers were also compared to determine whether non-dippers have an increased prevalence of hypertension- related conditions. The subjects were 123 out-patients with essential hypertension who had undergone ambulatory blood pressure monitoring at the University Hospital in Inchon, South Korea, from January 1, 1997 to December 31, 1998. Daytime values were determined between 6:00 AM and 8:00 PM and the nighttime values were determined between 8:00 PM and 6:00 AM. Non-dippers were defined as those who showed a reduction in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure or heart rate less than 10% and they accounted for 25%, 32% and 31% of the subjects, respectively. The timings of the circadian systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate in dippers were very consistent: showing the lowest values during the night, rising in the early morning and reaching a plateau in the late morning. Non-dippers' circadian rhythms of systolic and diastolic blood pressures fluctuated less than those of dippers, and the 24-hours heart rate rhythms of the dipper and non- dipper groups were completely reversed. None of the biochemical characteristics tested in the present study showed a significant difference between dippers and non-dippers whether dipper was classified by systolic or diastolic blood pressure or heart rate. Similarly, hypertension-related symptoms and complications were not associated with the dipper/non-dipper description, whether classified by sBP, dBP, or HR.
Aged ; *Blood Pressure ; *Circadian Rhythm ; Female ; *Heart Rate ; Human ; Hypertension/*physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Age

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to investigate the individual and cross influences of age, gender, and severity on recovery of patients with brain injury. METHODS: For the purpose of the study, traumatic or spontaneous brain injury patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) were conveniently selected. The data regarding outcomes were collected 3 months after admission. RESULTS: Individual influences of the study variables on patients' recovery were significant, except for gender. But while the individual influence of gender on recovery was not significant, cross influence of gender and age was significant, but only for the sub-dimension of 'arousalbility and awareness'. The study results also showed that 3-way cross influence of gender, age, and severity was only significant on the sub-dimension of 'arousalbility and awareness'. CONCLUSION: The sub-dimension of recovery cross influenced by the demographic factors of gender and age, and severity was 'arousalbility and awareness'. This might indicate that the study variables that cross influencing recovery had more influence on consciousness compared to physical function and psycho-social adaptation.
Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Awareness ; Brain Injuries/*diagnosis ; Demography ; Female ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Recovery of Function ; Severity of Illness Index ; Sex Factors

The purpose of this study was to examine 1) whether the relationship between smoking and obesity was linear or non-linear (specifically U-shaped), and 2) if this relationship was proved to U-shaped, whether it was due to the in teraction of the effects of smoking and alcohol consumption on obesity. The present study was performed using cross sectional data taken from the medical records of 400 male patients. Data was analyzed using linear and curvilinear estimation, Fisher's exact test, and two-way ANCOVA. The relationship between smoking intensity and BMI was able to be explained significantly by a quadratic model, rather than by linear model. As has been shown in other studies, this relationship was parabolic (or U-shaped), though it was not particularly remarkable. This U-shaped relationship appeared to be due to the interaction of the effects of smoking intensity and alcohol consumption on BMI. On the other hand, the relationship between smoking intensity and the percentage of body fat was able to be explained significantly by a linear as well as a quadratic model. Additionally, the interaction effect between smoking intensity and alcohol consumption did not influence the percentage of body fat significantly. In conclusion, there is no doubt that smoking and obesity are both serious health hazards. Based on the results of this and other studies, it can be confirmed that heavy smoking has a positive relationship with obesity. Therefore, the health benefits of smoking cessation, as well as the correction of unhealthy habits such as alcohol consumption should be clearly emphasized.
Adipose Tissue/pathology ; Adult ; Aged ; *Alcohol Drinking ; Body Mass Index ; Human ; Male ; Middle Age ; Obesity/pathology/*physiopathology ; *Smoking

The purpose of this study was to define the content of physiological knowledge needed for clinical nursing practices. Subjects of physiology were classified into 15 areas, and each area was further classified into subareas, resulting in a total of 194 subareas. The degree of importance of each subarea was measured with a 4-point scale. The subjects of this study were 179 nurses of two university hospitals located in Seoul and Inchon. The results were as follows: 1. The areas of physiology necessary for clinical nursing practice as a basic knowledge in the order of importance were : blood, respiratory system and renal physiology , function of the immune system, body fluid and cardiovascular system, body temperature, endocrine physiology and gastrointestinal physiology. However, the degree of importance for reproductive physiology, neurophysiology, energy and metabolism, cell and cell membrane physiology, muscular physiology and special sense was relatively low. 2. The most important content of physiology for all clinical areas in nursing was blood physiology. However, the degree of importance for each physiology area was different depending on clinical areas. 3. Subareas of physiology as a basic knowledge for clinical practice and education in nursing were blood transfusion, blood type, function of red blood cell, white blood cell and platelet, characteristics and function of hemoglobin, composition and function of hemoglobin, composition and function of plasma protein, and mechanism and function of plasma protein, and mechanism of blood coagulation and anticoagulation. In conclusion, areas of physiology necessary for clinical nursing practice were blood, respiratory system and renal physiology, function of immune, body fluid and cardiovascular system, body temperature, endocrine physiology and gastrointestinal physiology. However, the degree of importance for each physiology area was different depending on clinical areas in nursing.
Blood Coagulation ; Blood Physiological Phenomena ; Blood Platelets ; Blood Transfusion ; Body Fluids ; Body Temperature ; Cardiovascular System ; Cell Membrane ; Education ; Erythrocytes ; Hospitals, University ; Immune System ; Incheon ; Leukocytes ; Metabolism ; Neurophysiology ; Nursing* ; Physiology* ; Plasma ; Respiratory System ; Seoul

The purpose of this study was to clarify the dynamic relationships among risk factors of arteriosclerosis and to develop and examine a model which could explain this relationship clearly. Data were collected from medical records of 400 male clients who visited a university hospital located in Inchon for physical examinations, from May 1996 to December 1996. Data were analyzed using the LISREL (Linear Structural Relationship) 8 program. To test the fitness of the hypothesized model, chi-square, RMSR (root mean square residual), GFI (goodness of fit index), CN (critical number) and Q-plot were used. Most of the fitness measurements, except the chi-square showed that the hypothesized model complimented the real data. According to the results, there were trends that obesity and hyperlipidemia were prevalent in heavier smokers, higher alcohol intakers, and groups who excercised less. Also, hypertension was more prevalent in older age, higher alcohol intaker, and higher serum lipid level groups. In contrast to the hypothesis, alcohol intake did not significantly affect serum lipid levels. This might be due to the serum lipid measurements (total cholesterol and trigryceride) used in this study to estimate hyperlipidemia. The direct effect of smoking on hypertension was not significant. However, the total effect of smoking on the hypertension was significant since indirect effects of smoking on hypertension, such as obesity and hyperlipidemia, were significant. The total effect of obesity on hypertension was significant since the indirect effect of obesity on hypertension via hyperlipidemia was significant, although the direct effect of smoking on hypertension was not significant. The degree of explaining hyperlipidemia with smoking, exercise, and obesity was high (60%), however, the degree of explaining obesity with age, smoking, alcohol intake, and exercise was very low (7%). On the basis of these results, high risk factors of arteriosclerosis such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, or obesity are either directly or indirectly correlated each other. Therefore, it is difficult to predict outcomes for increasing or decreasing the risk factors by simply modulating a factor. Smoking, alcohol, and exercise both directly and indirectly affected major risk factors of arteriosclerosis. Therefore, correcting these variables is required to decrease risk factors. Finally, the relationship among other risk factors which have been known to be related with arteriosclerosis (diet, stress or hereditary) should be clarified in further studies.
Arteriosclerosis* ; Cholesterol ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; Hypertension ; Incheon ; Male ; Medical Records ; Obesity ; Physical Examination ; Risk Factors* ; Smoke ; Smoking