BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to identify predictive factors for preventive behaviors of falls in elderly inpatients. METHODS: Data on 200 elderly inpatients at one university hospital were collected. Descriptive analysis, independent t-test, analysis of variance, and stepwise multiple regression analysis were done to analyze the data. RESULTS: The high risk group, scoring higher than 5.0 in the degree of self-awareness of fall risk, scored low in knowledge about falls while subjects with activity limitations and not using hearing aids scored significantly high in the same area. Subjects with no training regarding falls and the high risk group scored low in fall efficacy while subjects with activity limitations and using hearing aids scored significantly high in the same area. The degree of self-awareness of fall risk, knowledge about falls, and fall efficacy were significant factors affecting fall prevention activities. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that self-awareness of the risk of falls, knowledge about falls, and fall efficacy are significant factors in preventing falls. These factors should be considered when developing nursing assessment tools and intervention programs for elderly inpatients.
Accidental Falls ; Aged ; Hearing Aids ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Nursing Assessment

Eleven patients underwent posterior sagittal anorectoplasty(PSARP) as a secondary procedure. Two of them had rectovaginal fistula and another two had rectocutaneous fistula. Six of the rest complained of frequent fecal soiling and the last one had severe anorectal stricture after perineal anoplasty. Five patients had lived with colostomy until the second operations were carried out. The ages at the time of the secondary PSARP were between 7 months and 29 years. Distal colostogram and MRI were taken to evaluate distal colon, position of the rectum and voluntary muscle. All patients had normal sacrum except one who had anorectal stricture. Seven patients, six with fecal incontinence and the other one with rectovaginal fistula had mislocated anorectums. Three patients, two with rectocutaneous fistula, the other one with anorectal stricture, had abdominal approach to obtain enough length of colon for pull-through procedure. With the posterior midsagittal approach, we could manage all the problems, rectovaginal fistulas, rectocutaneous fistulas, strictures and malpositioned rectums, without difficulty. No patients had serious complications except wound infection in one. All patients were satisfied with the results after redo-PSARPs even though normal continence has been achieved in only one patient. Seven patients who had continuous soiling or rectocutaneous fistula, needed no more diapers even though four of them showed fecal staining under stressful condition and the other three showed intermittent fecal leaking less than once a day. The rest three of the patients maintained their continence with support of drugs and/or enemas because of constipation. The PSARP is a popular procedure as a primary operation; however, our results suggested that this procedure also gave us a good opportunity for management of serious complication developed after primary anoplasties.
Colon ; Colostomy ; Constipation ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Enema ; Fecal Incontinence ; Fistula ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Rectovaginal Fistula ; Rectum ; Sacrum ; Soil ; Wound Infection

PURPOSE: To ascertain the factors associated with the proportion of death certificate only (DCO) cases contained in the Kwangju Cancer Registry (KCR) that are not as yet in the good range. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The distribution of DCO cases was analyzed by sex, age, cancer site, histological verification (HV) as well as the physician's death certificate status. RESULTS: All cases (n=4,243) in Kwangju diagnosed as having cancer between 1997 and 1998 were registered with the KCR. Death certificates (n=2,390) reporting cancer as the causes of death were collected from the National Statistics Office and reviewed with hospital data linkage and a total of 590 cases were registered as DCO. DCOs accounted for 12.2% (male 12.8%, female 11.5%) of all registrations in Kwangju, 1997~1998. The proportion of DCO cases was high in subjects under 15 (male13.5%,female 9.4%) as well as those 75 and over (male 20.3%, female 27.2%). For cancer sites, the proportion of DCO cases was high (over 10%) for liver, bronchus-lung, esophagus and pancreas and low (under 3%) for skin, bladder, uteri cervix and breast. The proportion of DCO cases was inversely associated with HV%. When the death certificate was issued by physician, the possibility of DCO decreased. CONCLUSION: The proportion of DCO is positively associated with increasing age and negatively associated with HV% and the issuance of a physician's death certificate. These findings suggest that further socio-cultural efforts are required to reduce the DCO proportion.
Breast ; Cause of Death ; Cervix Uteri ; Information Storage and Retrieval ; Death Certificates* ; Esophagus ; Female ; Gwangju* ; Humans ; Korea ; Liver ; Pancreas ; Skin ; Urinary Bladder ; Uterus

One hundred eighty infants with oxygen therapy who were under 2,500gm birth weight or under 37 weeks of gestational age, were examined between January 1990 and November 1992. We performed clnical analysis and results were as follows. 1) Fifty six infants (31.1%) were diagnosed as retinopathy of prematurity. 2) The first examination was performed at 2.5 weeks of life on average, and the retinopathy of prematurity was diagnosed at 3.8 weeks on average. 3) The incidence of retinopathy of prematurity was highly associated with low birth weight (< or =1,890 gm), low gestational age ( < or =33.1 weeks), and high oxygen concentration with long duration (FiO2> or =0.4 over 1 week)(P<0.005). 4) Other associated risk factors were idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome, anemia, neonatal hypoxia and sepsis.
Anemia, Neonatal ; Anoxia ; Birth Weight ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Oxygen ; Retinopathy of Prematurity* ; Risk Factors ; Sepsis

No abstract available.
Disabled Persons* ; Female ; Humans ; Menarche*

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Foreign Bodies* ; Granuloma, Foreign-Body* ; Lipectomy*

The medical curriculum is designed to provide a core of scientific knowledge and technical skills that ultimately enables a student to care for primary patients. In addition to specific knowledge, the school offers an environment in which students have the opportunity to acquire the habits of study, the sound attitud, and the sense of responsibility for patients that characterize the true physician. To achive these purposes, the clerkship of medical student is very important. We investigated current problems in clinical clerkship of Chonnam University Medical School, and the problems were as follow: (1) relatively short period of clinical training especially in main subjects, (2) lack of presonnels in charge of clinical training, (3) lack of objective test, (4) lack of clinical training in primary care hospital, (5) lack of opportunity of self learning. The methods to improve clinical training were to promote interests in clinical education of staffs, to prolong the duration of clinical clerkship, to select and educate the personnel in charge of clinical education, to do the objective tests, to do the elective tests, to do the elective course, to use of integrated course and problem oriented education, and to let the student care the patients under supervision.
Clinical Clerkship ; Curriculum ; Education ; Education, Medical ; Humans ; Jeollanam-do ; Learning ; Linear Energy Transfer ; Organization and Administration ; Primary Health Care ; Schools, Medical ; Students, Medical*

BACKGROUND: When one of family members must be treated, the others are required to get various forms of changes including modification of their proper roles in the family. Particularily when he or she can not perform his or her activities of daily living(ADL) owing to functional impairment by himself or herself, there seems to be greater dependence upon his or her family. Accordingly, we tried to give help in the treatment of patients through the comparative analysis concerning functional impairment in both groups on the assumption that there is difference of family function between two family groups which have a patient in family, or not. METHODS: This study was carried out to 83 inpatients in Sun Hospital in Dae Jeon and local rehabilitation clinics in Iksan from 1. July. 1995 to 31. Jun. 1996. We evaluated activites of daily living by using modified Barthel Index(MBI) and classified them into dependent group with 60 points or less(6roup I ), and independent group with more than 60 points(Group II). We also used Family APGAR score and FACES III to evaluate their family functions. RESULTS: MBI scores to evaluate ADL were 42.9+/-15.6 in Group I and 82.1+/-17.9 in Group II. Family APGAR scores were 6.93+/-2.52 in Group I and 7.24+/-17.9 in Group II but there was no significance between two groups. Types of family according to Family APGAR score were highly functional, morderate dysfunctional, and severly dysfunctional one in order of frequency in both groups, but there was no significance in their frequencies in both groups. Types of Family in view of cohesion was disengaged, separated, connected, and enmeshed one in order of frequency in Group I, and separated, disengaged, connected, and enmeshed one in order of frequency in Group II but there was no significance between two groups. Types of family in view of adaptability were rigid, chaotic structured,and flexible one in order of frequency in Group I, and were flexible, structured, rigid, and chaotic one in orders in Group II, which showed significance between two groups. Extremal types of family structure were large in numbers in Group I, but it didnt show significance. CONCLUSIONS: Assuming that there were large numbers of rigid and chaotic family in Group I, it is considered that tne family which has a patient with severely impaired function seems to have weaker adaptability to their family stresses than otherwise. Therefore, it is desirable that physicians who take charge of such patients provide continuous and comprehensive medical care for them including their family with greater concerns and through analysis and assessment of their family functions.
Activities of Daily Living ; Apgar Score ; Daejeon ; Humans ; Inpatients* ; Jeollabuk-do ; Rehabilitation* ; Solar System

Kinship testing in forensic casework is largely based on a likelihood ratio (LR) approach with short tandem repeat (STR) markers; however, in order to efficiently identify potential relatives in a specific population, the threshold values for kinship prediction should be determined by analyzing the kinship index distributions of the population in question. In this study, 250,000 DNA profiles were simulated using allele frequencies at 20 autosomal STR loci in Koreans, then the LRs were calculated for true close relatives and unrelated pairs. The LR distributions in related and unrelated pairs under a given relationship were compared in 2 sets of 13 Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and 20 STR profiles. Using 13 CODIS STRs, true relatives in parent/child and full-sibling relationships were sufficiently discriminated from unrelated pairs with LR thresholds of 1,000 and 100, respectively. However, the CODIS STRs lacked the discriminatory power to differentiate between related and unrelated pairs in uncle/nephew and first cousin relationships due to high false-positive and false-negative rates with a LR threshold of 10. Increasing the number of STR loci to 20 increased discrimination of close relatives, but high false results remained in uncle/nephew and first cousin relationships. The kinship index data from this study will help make decisions on various kinship testing and familial searching in Koreans.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; DNA ; Gene Frequency ; Humans ; Microsatellite Repeats