PURPOSE: This study was done to investigate the correlation among symptom experience, self-efficacy, depression, and medication adherence in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). METHODS: Participants were 100 patients with COPD recruited in one general hospital in Seoul. A structured questionnaire was used to measure the study variables. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and Spearman correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Symptom experience and depression were positively correlated (r=.41, p < .001), symptom experience and self-efficacy were negatively correlated (r=-.21, p=.035). Depression was negatively correlated with self-efficacy (r=-.60, p < .001) and medication adherence (r=-.48, p < .001). Self-efficacy and medication adherence were positively correlated(r=.76 p < .001). CONCLUSION: Findings from this study indicate that depression and self-efficacy are important variables related to medication adherence in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Therefore, depression and self-efficacy should be assessed, and customized nursing interventions should be provided in order to increase medication adherence.
Depression ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Medication Adherence ; Nursing ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Seoul

PURPOSE: Tumor marker concentrations in a given specimen measured by different analyzers vary according to assay methods, epitopes for antibodies used, and reagent specificities. Although great effort in quality assessment has been instituted, discrepancies among results from different analyzers are still present. We evaluated the assay performance of the UniCel(TM) DxI 800 automated analyzer in measuring the alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen (CA) 125, CA 15-3 and CA 19-9 tumor markers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The linearity and precision performance of the five tumor marker assays were evaluated, and concentrations of the respective markers as measured by DxI were compared to those measured by other conventional analyzers (ADVIA Centaur(TM) and Vitros(TM) ECi) using 200 specimens collected from 100 healthy persons and 100 patients with respective cancers. RESULTS: The linear fits for all five tumor markers were statistically acceptable (F=4648 for AFP, F=15846 for CEA, F=6445 for CA 125, F=2285 for CA 15-3, F=7459 for CA 19-9; p<0.0001 for all). The imprecision of each tumor marker assay was less than 5% coefficient of variation, except for low and high concentrations of AFP. The results from UniCel(TM) DxI 800 were highly correlated with those from other analyzers. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that UniCel(TM) DxI 800 has good linearity and precision performance for the tumor markers assayed in this study. However, there were discrepancies between assaying methods. Efforts to standardize tumor marker assays should be undertaken, and the redetermination of cut-off levels is necessary when developing methods of analyzing tumor markers.
CA-125 Antigen/blood ; CA-19-9 Antigen/blood ; Carcinoembryonic Antigen/blood ; Humans ; Immunoassay/*instrumentation/*methods ; Tumor Markers, Biological/*blood ; alpha-Fetoproteins/metabolism

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the subjects' health status according to the needs of visiting health and the function of the family in home care nursing. SAMPLE AND METHOD: The data collection period was from 07/01/04 to 10/31/04 and the subjects were 488 of those above 60 years of age staying at home or living alone who registered at a visiting health service of public health center at an urban area in Korea. This survey was carried out by visiting health nurses and participation was agreed on by the elderly people. RESULTS: The extent of the subjects' total health status to the general characteristics had differences according to the age, sex, monthly income, perceived health status, known functional disorder, and yes-or-no for disease. At all health status domains, visiting health need care in the group I was very lower than one in II, III, or IV groups. Also the severe dysfunctional family was lower than lightly dysfunctional family and normal functional family in all health status domains. CONCLUSION: Nurses must provide their characteristics considered nursing intervention for the elderly who have high visiting health needs and severe dysfunctional family with vulnerable health care.
Aged ; *Community Health Nursing ; Family/psychology ; Female ; *Health Services for the Aged ; Health Status ; *Home Care Services ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Needs Assessment ; *Vulnerable Populations

We report the case of a 64-year-old man presenting to the hospital for treatment of his anemia. Exact ABO blood typing is an essential step to prevent transfusion reactions. The selection of the wrong blood component for transfusion can be a clinical problem and in this case the patient had a cis-AB blood type that could have caused an ABO discrepancy. In this case neither autologous or directed blood transfusion was possible and O+ red blood cell was transfused without a transfusion reaction.
Anemia ; Blood Group Incompatibility ; Blood Grouping and Crossmatching ; Blood Transfusion ; Erythrocytes ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Phenotype

BACKGROUND: The demand for platelet concentrates has increased for patients with hemato-oncologic diseases as well as for patients with chronic diseases. As platelet concentrates are preserved at 22~24degrees C, the chance of bacterial contamination exposure is increased, which can cause fatal outcomes. We evaluated various methods for detecting bacterial contamination in platelet concentrates. METHODS: 0.5 MacFarland standard solutions were prepared using the Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 & Escherichia coli ATCC25922 strains. The platelet concentrates were inoculated with various concentrations (10(1)~10(5) CFU/mL) of bacteria and then gram staining, plate culture, broth culture and 16s RNA were used to detect bacteria. RESULTS: The gram stain method was unable to detect bacteria concentrations less than 10(4) CFU/mL. The plate culture method detected bacterial growth concentrations up to 10(3) CFU/mL, but only 1 specimen of S. aureus was detected at the lowest concentration of 10(1) CFU/mL. The broth culture method detected 10(2) CFU/mL concentrations except for samples from S. aureus and E. coli strains. Among the 10(1) CFU/mL lowest concentrations, bacterial growth detected 3 samples from S. aureus and 2 samples from E. coli. For the broth culture method, detection of bacterial growth up to 10(1) CFU/mL took 58.9 hours, it took 57.5 hours for S. aureus and E. coli respectively, and it took 43.9 hours and 49.0 hours for 10(2) CFU/mL concentrations of S. aureus and E. coli, respectively. The PCR method showed all positive results except for 1 specimen of E. coli. CONCLUSION: The broth culture method showed similar sensitivity to PCR except for the 43.9~58.9 hours of an incubation period to show positive RESULTS. Overall, the PCR method was most sensitive and rapid method for detecting bacterial contamination in platelet concentrates.
Bacteria ; Blood Platelets ; Chronic Disease ; Escherichia coli ; Fatal Outcome ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA ; Staphylococcus aureus

BACKGROUND: Bacteria that cause urinary tract infections (UTIs) are found with different frequencies in different regions; moreover, antibiotic susceptibility can also vary by region. We retrospectively studied and compared the species and antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial pathogens isolated from patients with UTIs in the northern Gyeonggi-do area. METHODS: We analyzed urine specimens collected from patients who visited the Myongji Hospital between 2007 and 2011. The urine specimens were cultured, and bacteria were identified by biochemical examination with an API kit (bioMerieux Inc., USA). Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by the disc diffusion method and the Vitek II system (bioMerieux Inc., USA). RESULTS: A total of 11,818 (31.4%) urine specimens were culture positive. The most common species identified were Escherichia coli (37.1%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (7.4%), Enterococcus faecium (6.1%), and Candida spp. (5.5%). The proportion of isolates producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamases significantly increased during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: E. coli, K. pneumoniae, and E. faecium were the 3 most common organisms identified. Of note, however, was the increasing frequency of Pseudomonas spp. and Proteus spp. isolated during the more recent years. Further studies are required from other centers in the northern Gyeonggi-do area.
Bacteria ; beta-Lactamases ; Candida ; Diffusion ; Enterococcus faecium ; Escherichia coli ; Humans ; Klebsiella pneumoniae ; Pneumonia ; Proteus ; Pseudomonas ; Retrospective Studies ; Urinary Tract ; Urinary Tract Infections

Antigens, Nuclear ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Autoantibodies ; Diagnosis ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Fluorescence ; Humans ; Immunoenzyme Techniques ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; Rheumatic Diseases ; Sensitivity and Specificity

BACKGROUND: The domestic quantity of blood components consumed has been decreasing since 2002, but the rate of a single unit RBC transfusion (SUT) has been on the increase. In the past, a SUT was regarded as an uncesssary procedure, but currently is considered as an effective method to maintain a minimal hemoglobin concentration for physiological needs. We investigated the actual conditions of a SUT. METHODS: We analyzed 800 cases of SUTs performed at a tertiary care university hospital between March 2006 March and February 2007. The subjects of the study were divided into a surgical group (n=561) and medical group (n=239) for the purpose of RBC unit usage and were analyzed by groups and ordering departments, with an analysis of the pre and post-transfusion hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit values. The distribution according to the pre and post-transfusion hemoglobin ranges were calculated. RESULTS: The mean hemoglobin concentration increment of the surgical group was significantly lower than that of the medical group (P<0.0001) and the mean pre and post-transfusion hemoglobin concentrations of the medical group were lower than that of the surgical group (P<0.0001). Approximately 26% cases of the SUTs performed in the surgical group were appropriate, based on a post-transfusion hemoglobin concentration below 10 g/dL. In the medical group, about 75% of the SUTs were appropriate based on a pre-transfusion hemoglobin concentration below 9 g/dL. CONCLUSION: Most transfusions are decided based on various clinical situations and opinions of the clinicians. Therefore, continuous evaluation of the appropriateness of transfusion is necessary. In our study, the appropriateness of a SUT was estimated indirectly based on the pre and post-transfusion hemoglobin concentration. Consequently, policies and strategies for performing asingle unit RBC transfusion are required.
Hematocrit ; Tertiary Healthcare

BACKGROUND: Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) is one of the most prevalent causes of viral infection in humans. EBV infection stage (acute, past, or absent infection) is typically determined using a combination of assays that detect EBV-specific markers, such as IgG and IgM antibodies against the EBV viral capsid antigen (VCA) and IgG antibodies against the EBV nuclear antigen (EBNA). We compared the diagnostic performance and agreement of results between three commercial EBV antibody assays using an EBV performance panel (SeraCare Life Science, Milford, MA, USA) as a reference. METHODS: EBV antibody tests of EBV VCA IgM, VCA IgG, and EBNA IgG antibodies were performed by the Architect (Abbott Diagnostics, Wiesbaden, Germany), Liaison (DiaSorin, Saluggia, Italy), and Platelia (Bio-Rad, Marnes-la-Coquette, France) assays. Agreement between the three assays was evaluated using 279 clinical samples, and EBV DNA and antibody test results were compared. RESULTS: The three EBV antibody assays showed good diagnostic performance with good and excellent agreement with the performance panel (kappa coefficient, >0.6). The overall VCA IgM positivity rate was higher in EBV DNA-positive samples than in EBV DNA-negative samples for all three EBV antibody assays (P=0.02). The three EBV antibody assays exhibited good agreement in results for the clinical samples. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic performance of the three EBV antibody assays was acceptable, and they showed comparable agreement in results for the clinical samples.
Antibodies ; Biological Science Disciplines ; Capsid ; DNA ; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections ; Herpesvirus 4, Human* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunoglobulin M ; Immunoglobulins