BACKGROUND: Obesity is known to influence on physical, mental, functional health problems but there have been no study of relationship between body mass index (BMI) and quality of life (QOL) in Korean elderly. METHODS: A total of 216 elderly who had been attending two geriatric welfare facilities in Seoul answered the Korean version of obesity-related quality of life (KOQOL) questionnaire. Height, weight, waist circumference were measured. Body fat (%) was measured with HTM20 by impedance technique. Sociodemographic and medical factors were interviewed. QOL was assessed using KOQOL (ver.1) after excluding two sexual life related questions and one work related question. The total score is 48 points. The higher is the score, the poorer is the QOL. RESULTS: In multivariable analysis, BMI, age, history of diabetes mellitus, history of osteoarthritis were associated with KOQOL score. Especially, BMI was significantly associated with KOQOL score after adjusting for waist circumference, body fat (%) (P = 0.002). CONCLUSION: The more BMI increases, the worse the obesity related QOL is in Korean ambulatory elderly.
Adipose Tissue ; Adult ; Aged ; Body Mass Index ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Electric Impedance ; Humans ; Obesity ; Osteoarthritis ; Quality of Life ; Waist Circumference ; Surveys and Questionnaires

No abstract available.
Alloxan* ; Animals ; Rats*

BACKGROUND: The product of oxygen-free radicals inf1ict oxidative injuries on healthy cells. Antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase(SOD), glutathione peroxidase, and reduced glutathione(GSH) are present in almost all cells and play important roles in metabolism, transport, and cellular protection. We measured blood GSH levels in healthy controls and patients with non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus(NIDDM) for evaluation of the clinical usefulness of GSH. METHODS: Erythrocyte GSH levels were measured in fifty healthy controls and thirty NIDDM patients with diabetic retinopathies by Beutler's method. We also tested within-run precision, between-run precision, linearity and recovery rate to evaluate this method measuring erythrocyte GSH levels. RESULTS: The GSH levels (mean +/-SD) of NIDDM patients (5.03+/-0.67mumo1/Hb) were significantly lower than those of healthy control group (6.46+/-0.85mumo1/Hb)(P<0.001). The results of within-run precision and between-run precision when stored at 4degrees Cwere excellent (coefficient of variation were 2.79% and 2.42%, respectively), however, when stored at the room temperature the GSH levels were sharply declined. The linearity and recovery rate were acceptable. CONCLUSIONS: The prescision, linearity, and recovery rate of GSH measurement were excellent. The GSH levels in NIDDM patient group were reduced, and this probably contributes to the defective defense mechanism against increased oxidative stress. Additional measurement of other antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase and glutathione Peroxidase may be required to clarify the pathologic significance of glutathione metabolism in various diseases.
Antioxidants ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Diabetic Retinopathy ; Erythrocytes* ; Glutathione Peroxidase ; Glutathione* ; Humans ; Insulin ; Metabolism ; Oxidative Stress ; Superoxide Dismutase ; Superoxides

No abstract available.
Oncogene Proteins* ; Oncogenes* ; Teratocarcinoma*

No abstract available.
Aged* ; Femur Neck* ; Femur* ; Humans

No abstract available.
Humans ; Twins*

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to evaluate the adoption behavior of a newly developed Electronic Medical Record (EMR)-based information system (IS) at three public hospitals in Korea with a focus on doctors and nurses. METHODS: User satisfaction scores from four performance layers were analyzed before and two times after the newly develop system was introduced to evaluate the adoption process of the IS with Rogers' diffusion theory. RESULTS: The 'intention to use' scores, the most important indicator for determining whether or not to adopt the IS in Rogers' confirmation stage for doctors, were very high in the third survey (4.21). In addition, the scores for 'reduced medication errors', which is the key indicator for evaluating the success of the IS, increased in the third survey for both doctors and nurses. The factors influencing 'intention to use' with a high odds ratio (>1.5) were the 'frequency of attendance of user training sessions', 'mandatory use of system', 'reduced medication errors', and 'reduced medical record documentation time' for both doctors and nurses. CONCLUSIONS: These findings show that the new EMR-based IS was well accepted by doctors. Both doctors and nurses also positively considered the effects of the new IS on their clinical environments.
Diffusion of Innovation ; Diffusion* ; Electronic Health Records* ; Hospitals, Public* ; Information Systems* ; Korea ; Medical Records ; Odds Ratio

The recording of middle cerebral artery (MCA) flow veloeity by transcrsnisl Doppler technique offers s new, noninvasive, and continuous technique for studies of cerebral circu lation. The influence of changes in PaCO2 on MCA flow velocity were observed during hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass(CPB) surgery by means of transcranial Doppler tech- niques. In ten patients who were undergoing hypothermic CPB surgery, the right MCA flow velocity was measured before initiation of CPB(prebypass period) and after the termination of CPB (postbypass period). During steady state CPB(constant hematocrit, constant temperature, and constant total pump flow), baseline MCA flow velocity(CPB I period) was measured and then repeated after specific alteration of PaCO2 achieved by changing of fresh gas flow to oxygenetors(CPB II period). And carbon dioxide reactivity defined as percent change of MCA flow velocity per mmHg changes in PaCO2 was observed during stable hypothermic CPB. MCA flow veocity showed no statistical difference between the prebypass value(56.9+/-13.5 cm/sec) and the postbypass value(64.7+/-29.7 cm/sec). PaCO2 of 20.5+/-2.5 mmHg was associated with MCA flow velocity of 25.2+/-10.1 cm/sec in the CPB I period while PaCO2 of 27.1+/-3.5 mmHg was associated with MCA flow velocity of 35.3+/-12.9 cm/sec. MCA flow velocity carbon dioxide reactivity during steady state hypothermie CPB was 6.68+/-2.26 %/ mmHg. These results have demonstrated that the response of MCA flow velocity to changes in PaO2 was well maintained during hypothermic CPB and the use of transcrsnial Doppler would give valuable results in the study of cerebral circulation during hypothermic CPB.
Blood Flow Velocity* ; Carbon Dioxide* ; Carbon* ; Cardiopulmonary Bypass* ; Hematocrit ; Humans ; Middle Cerebral Artery

Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS), also known as allergic granulomatous angiitis, is a rare disorder characterized by the presence of asthma, eosinophilia and small-to-medium-sized vessels vasculitis. The peripheral nervous system is frequently involved in CSS, but central nervous system (CNS) involvement is rare. Furthermore, transverse myelitis (TM) as a presenting symptom in patients with CSS is extremely rare. We report here on a 60-year-old female who presented peripheral eosinophilia, lung eosinophilic infiltration, lung vasculitis, and TM. She was diagnosed as CSS based on clinical manifestation, pathologic findings, and the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Asthma ; Central Nervous System ; Churg-Strauss Syndrome ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils ; Female ; Humans ; Lung ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Middle Aged ; Myelitis, Transverse ; Peripheral Nervous System ; Vasculitis

BACKGROUND: The lateral radiograph-based system described by Tsuyama is used widely to classify ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) of the cervical spine. However, OPLL is a complex 3-dimensional (3-D) lesion, not a simple and uniplanar one, which is often difficult to identify on a lateral radiograph. Furthermore, its reliability among spine surgeons has not been investigated. Given the popularity of a reconstructed computed tomography (CT), this study examined the inter- and intra-observer reliability of lateral radiograph-based OPLL classification using that modality. METHODS: Five spine surgeons independently reviewed the lateral radiograph, axial CT, 2-D (sagittal) and 3-D reconstructed CT images of 108 OPLL patients on 2 separate occasions. Based on these images, the reviewers classified each OPLL case according to the Tsuyama's system. The kappa values were used to assess the statistical reliability. RESULTS: The inter- and intra-observer kappa values were only 0.51 and 0.67 for the lateral radiograph, even in combination with the axial CT images, 0.70 and 0.85 for 2-D CT images, and 0.76 and 0.86 for 3-D CT images, respectively. These kappa values showed a good-to-excellent range for the 2-D and 3-D reconstructed CT images while those of the lateral radiograph indicated a fair range. According to the OPLL types, the inter- and intra-observer reliability was low in the continuous type and high in the circumscribed type on the lateral radiograph. However, the low reliability of the continuous type on lateral radiograph was overcome somewhat using 2-D and 3-D reconstructed CT images. CONCLUSIONS: The inter- and intra-observer kappa values were only 0.51 and 0.67 for the lateral radiograph, even in combination with the axial CT images, 0.70 and 0.85 for 2-D CT images, and 0.76 and 0.86 for 3-D CT images, respectively. These kappa values showed a good-to-excellent range for the 2-D and 3-D reconstructed CT images while those of the lateral radiograph indicated a fair range. According to the OPLL types, the inter- and intra-observer reliability was low in the continuous type and high in the circumscribed type on the lateral radiograph. However, the low reliability of the continuous type on lateral radiograph was overcome somewhat using 2-D and 3-D reconstructed CT images.
Adult ; Aged ; Cervical Vertebrae/radiography ; Female ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Observer Variation ; Ossification of Posterior Longitudinal Ligament/*classification/*radiography ; *Tomography, X-Ray Computed