No abstract available.
Evoked Potentials* ; Intercostal Nerves* ; Neural Conduction*

PURPOSE: This study was done to examine the effects of abdominal breathing on VAS-Anxiety (VAS-A), blood pressure, peripheral skin temperature and saturation oxygen in pregnant women in preterm labor. METHODS: The study design was a matched control group interrupted time series. Forty-six women matched to gestational age were assigned to either the experimental group (26) or control group (20). Data were collected between March 2007 and May 2008. For the experimental treatment the women performed abdominal breathing 30 times, which took 5 minutes, and did one set of 5-minute abdominal breathing daily for three days. Data collection was done before and after the abdominal breathing to measure VAS-A, blood pressure, peripheral skin temperature and oxygen saturation. Descriptive, chi-square, Mann-Whitney U tests were used to analyze the data with the SPSS/PC+Win 15.0 program. RESULTS: For the experimental group there were significant decreases in VAS-A (Z=-4.37, p=.00), systolic blood pressure (Z=-3.38, p=.00), and an increase in skin temperature (Z=-4.50, p=.00) and oxygen saturation (Z=-3.66, p=.00). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that abdominal breathing in pregnant women in preterm labor results in decreases in anxiety(VAS-A) including biological evidences such as systolic blood pressure, and increases in peripheral skin temperature and oxygen saturation. Further longitudinal study is needed on the lasting effects and obstetric and neonatal outcomes following abdominal breathing.
Anxiety ; Arginine Vasopressin ; Blood Pressure ; Data Collection ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Obstetric Labor, Premature ; Oxygen ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women ; Respiration ; Skin ; Skin Temperature

PURPOSE: This study was done to examine differences in mammography screening according to breast cancer and social network characteristic. METHODS: Data were collected from 187 married women 35 years and older who were using public health centers, health promotion centers, cultural centers, obstetrics and gynecology hospitals or other relevant community sites. Data were collected between October 24 and December 4, 2008. Data were analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 15.0 program. RESULTS: The participation rate for mammography screening was 35.3%. The following general and breast cancer characteristics showed statistically significant differences: religion, family incomes, regular medical-care, general health examinations during past 2 years, and history of breast disease. The following social network characteristics showed statistically significant differences: social norms and subjective norms. Using logistic regression analysis, regular medical-care, breast cancer risk appraisal, social norm, and subjective norms were highly predictive of subsequent mammography. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that it is important to develop and provide tailored intervention programs through integrated socially mediated programs. By consciously including social network and support systems, breast cancer detection efforts would not end as a one-time event, but naturally build on network structure of adults women, thus facilitating regular mammography screening.
Adult ; Breast ; Breast Diseases ; Breast Neoplasms ; Female ; Gynecology ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Mammography ; Mass Screening ; Obstetrics ; Public Health

PURPOSE: To evaluate the pattern of colonic diverticulosis according to age and sex, and recent trend. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors retrospectively reviewed 120 cases of colonic diverticulosis in 1,020 patients who had undergone a double contrast barium enema examination between January 1st, 1993, and December 31st, 1995, and analyzed the frequency, size, multiplicity and anatomical site, according to age and sex. Diverticulum size was classified into one of three groups : less than 5mm, 5-10mm, over 10mm in diameter. RESULTS: The overall incidence of colonic diverticulosis was 120 cases among 1,020 patients(11.8%) with an incidence 5.3 times higher in males than in females. Peak incidence was in the fifth decade, with 19 cases (15.8%) among males, and after the sixth decade, with four cases(3.3%) among females. Mean age was 57.7 years. Diverticulum size of 5-10mm in diameter was predominant 2% of cases) ; average diameter was 5-6mm. The incidence of colonic diverticulosis was 5.1 times more frequent in the right colon(101 cases) than in the left (20 cases). CONCLUSION: The overal overall incidence of colonic diverticulosis has continually increased; in addition it has also recently increased slightly in left-sided colon. This is thought to be due to various factors, both congenital and acquired, including longer life with good health care, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, stress and the tendency of eating patterns to more closely resemble those of the west.
Barium* ; Colon* ; Constipation ; Delivery of Health Care ; Diverticulosis, Colonic* ; Diverticulum ; Eating ; Enema* ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome ; Male ; Retrospective Studies

No abstract available.
Splenectomy*

The experimental evidences suggest that the roles of basal ganglia are cognition and emotion through the corticostriatothalamocortical relationship. The patients with lesions in the caudate nucleus have high incidences of cognitive and behavioral abnormalities accompanied with the motor paralysis. In these patients, the accurate assessment of neuropsychologic dysfunctions and the prompt application of cognitive rehabilitation programs are important for the functional restoration. We evaluated the patients with stroke of basal ganglia for the clinical and neuropsychological characteristics in relation to the involved substructures of basal ganglia. Fourteen patients were evaluated for the clinical neurologic examinations, functional assessment by functional independence measure(FIM), speech assessment, and various neuropsychological tests for the assessment of attention and memory functions. The results were analysed a ccording to their lesion sites. Of the nine patients with stroke at the right basal ganglia, five patients had neglect of the contralateral hemispace and one had dysarthria. On the other hand, of the five patients with stroke at the left basal ganglia, none had hemispatial neglect and three had aphasia or dysarthria. Of the six patients with caudate lesions, three had aphasia or dysarthria, whereas of the eight patients without caudate lesion, one had dysarthria. The scores of Wechsler memory test were significantly lower in the patients with caudate lesions(P<0.05). Among the FIM subscales, the scores of communication and social cognition were significantly lower in the patients with caudate lesions(P<0.05). The Motor Score was significantly lower in the patients with putamen lesions(P<0.05). Among the FIM subscales, the scores of self care and locomotion were significantly lower in the patients with putamen lesions(P<0.05).
Aphasia ; Basal Ganglia* ; Caudate Nucleus ; Cognition ; Dysarthria ; Hand ; Humans ; Incidence ; Locomotion ; Memory ; Neurologic Examination ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Paralysis ; Perceptual Disorders ; Putamen ; Rehabilitation ; Self Care ; Stroke*

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of a contralateral shoe-lift and ipsilateral leather outsole on the energy consumption in hemiplegic gait. METHOD: Ten hemiplegic patients who could walk independently were enrolled. Using portable ergospirometer (K4b2, Cosmed, Italy), quantitative evaluation of oxygen consumption under varying shoes conditions was done: 1) regular shoes 2) a half-inch shoe-lift on the sound side 3) a half-inch shoe-lift on the sound side and leather outsole on the plegic side. The evaluation distance was 20 meter on comfortable walking speed. RESULTS: The oxygen consumption was significantly decreased after the application of shoe-lift compared with regular shoes (p<0.01), and the oxygen consumption was least with the application of shoe-lift and leather outsole (p<0.05). This effect was prominent in subject with poor muscle power in hemiplegic lower extremity. The walking speed was also increased with shoe-lift and leather outsole (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrate that proper shoes modification can reduce the energy consumption in hemiplegic gait and can lead to more efficient functional ambulation.
Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Gait Disorders, Neurologic* ; Humans ; Lower Extremity ; Oxygen Consumption ; Shoes* ; Walking

OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the reliability of the Korean version of Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM) and to compare the sensitivity of the SCIM to functional changes of spinal cord injury (SCI) patients with that of the Functional Independence Measure (FIM). METHOD: Seventeen subjects with SCI were studied. The SCIM was translated and modified to convert as SCIM Korean-version. All patients were evaluated with the SCIM and the FIM by two raters every other week. To determine inter-rater reliability, the relationship between the SCIM scores obtained by two raters was evaluated by Kappa coefficient and linear regression. To determine relative sensitivity of the test to functional changes, changes in the scores on the SCIM and FIM were compared by McNemar test. RESULTS: The Kappa coefficient of the various individual tasks in SCIM ranged between 0.63 and 1.00. High correlations were also found between the total SCIM scores for the paired raters (r=0.99, p<0.01). The SCIM detected all the functional changes detected by FIM total scoring, but in 3 (14%) of 22 sequential test batteries, the FIM missed changes detected by SCIM total scoring. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrated that the SCIM is reliable and more sensitive than the FIM in reflecting the functional changes of SCI patients.
Humans ; Linear Models ; Spinal Cord Injuries* ; Spinal Cord*

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the lower extremity blood flow in hemiplegic patients with a quantitative Doppler ultrasound examination of the common femoral artery(CFA). METHODS: Cross-sectional area(CSA), peak systolic velocity(PSV) and inflow volume(IV) of CFA of normal and paralyzed limbs in 24 hemiplegic patients were measured with a Doppler ultrasound. Patients were divided into three groups according to the ambulation levels: 1) nonambulator, 2) assisted ambulator, and 3) independent ambulator. The results from Doppler images of paralyzed lower extremity were compared with the normal side in each three different groups. RESULTS: In the nonambulator group, the three parameters were not significantly different between normal and paralyzed lower extremity. In the assisted ambulator group, the CSA of the paralyzed lower extremity was significantly smaller than the normal side (p<0.05). In the independent ambulator group, the CSA and IV of the paralyzed lower extremity were significantly smaller than the normal side (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The results of this study proved that the blood flow of the paralyzed lower extremity was diminished than the normal side in hemiplegic patients especially for the independent ambulator group.
Extremities ; Hemiplegia ; Humans ; Lower Extremity* ; Ultrasonography* ; Walking

Significant illnesses or a major trauma including spinal cord injury can induce the changes of thyroid hormone metabolism, leading to the findings of "Euthyroid Sick Syndrome(ESS)". The physicians should be aware of these changes in order to interpret thyroid function test correctly after the spinal cord injury. We report three cases of ESS after the spinal cord injury. On a routine evaluation, they showed a low serum T3 level, and the T3 level returned to the normal range on a follow up study without any specific treatment.
Euthyroid Sick Syndromes* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Metabolism ; Reference Values ; Spinal Cord Injuries* ; Spinal Cord* ; Thyroid Function Tests ; Thyroid Gland