Purpose: This study aimed to identify the relationships among attitudes towards death, perceptions of hospice care, and hospice care needs as perceived by family members of patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: This study used a descriptive correlational method. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 114 participating families in the ICU at Dong-A University Hospital, from October 10 to November 1, 2019. The data were analyzed in terms of frequency, percentage, and mean and standard deviation. The t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation coefficients were also conducted. Results: Perceptions of hospice care showed significant differences according to age (F=3.06, P=0.031) and marital status (t=3.55, P=0.001). However, no significant differences in attitudes towards death or hospice care needs were found. A significant positive correlation was found between perceptions of hospice care and hospice care needs (r=0.49, P＜0.001). Conclusion In order for families to recognize the need for hospice care and to receive high-quality palliative care at the appropriate time, it is necessary to increase public awareness of hospice care through various educational and awareness-raising efforts, thereby providing opportunities for families of terminally ill patients to request hospice care.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the relationships among attitudes towards death, perceptions of hospice care, and hospice care needs as perceived by family members of patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: This study used a descriptive correlational method. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 114 participating families in the ICU at Dong-A University Hospital, from October 10 to November 1, 2019. The data were analyzed in terms of frequency, percentage, and mean and standard deviation. The t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation coefficients were also conducted. Results: Perceptions of hospice care showed significant differences according to age (F=3.06, P=0.031) and marital status (t=3.55, P=0.001). However, no significant differences in attitudes towards death or hospice care needs were found. A significant positive correlation was found between perceptions of hospice care and hospice care needs (r=0.49, P＜0.001). Conclusion In order for families to recognize the need for hospice care and to receive high-quality palliative care at the appropriate time, it is necessary to increase public awareness of hospice care through various educational and awareness-raising efforts, thereby providing opportunities for families of terminally ill patients to request hospice care.

BACKGROUND: Whether pancreatic steatosis has a local or systemic effect, like ectopic fat of other major organs, remains unknown. Data on the influence of pancreatic steatosis on microvascular complication are rare. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between pancreatic steatosis and diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: The attenuation of three pancreatic regions (head, body, and tail) and the spleen (S) in 186 patients with T2DM was measured using non-enhanced computed tomography imaging. We used three parameters for the assessment of pancreatic steatosis (‘P’ mean: mean attenuation of three pancreatic regions; P–S: difference between ‘P’ mean and ‘S’; P/S: the ‘P’ mean to ‘S’ ratio). The presence of DR was assessed by an expert ophthalmologist using dilated fundoscopy. RESULTS: The average P mean was 29.02 Hounsfield units (HU), P–S was −18.20 HU, and P/S was 0.61. The three pancreatic steatosis parameters were significantly associated with the prevalence of DR in non-obese T2DM patients. In the non-obese group, the odds ratios of P mean, P–S, and P/S for the prevalence of DR, after adjustment for age, sex, and glycosylated hemoglobin level, were 2.449 (P=0.07), 2.639 (P=0.04), and 2.043 (P=0.02), respectively. CONCLUSION: In this study, pancreatic steatosis was significantly associated with DR in non-obese patients with T2DM. Further studies are necessary to clarify the causal relationship between pancreatic steatosis and the development of DR.
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* ; Diabetic Retinopathy* ; Fats ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated ; Humans ; Odds Ratio ; Pancreas ; Prevalence ; Spleen

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Gastric schwannoma (GS), a rare neurogenic mesenchymal tumor, is usually benign, slow-growing, and asymptomatic. However, GS is often misdiagnosed as gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) on endoscopic and radiological examinations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate EUS characteristics of GS distinguished from GIST. METHODS: A total of 119 gastric subepithelial lesions, including 31 GSs and 88 GISTs, who were histologically identified and underwent EUS, were enrolled in this study. We evaluated the EUS characteristics, including location, size, gross morphology, mucosal lesion, layer of origin, border, echogenic pattern, marginal halo, and presence of an internal echoic lesion by retrospective review of the medical records. RESULTS: GS patients comprised nine males and 22 females, indicating female predominance. In the gross morphology according to Yamada's classification, type I was predominant in GS and type III was predominant in GIST. In location, GSs were predominantly located in the gastric body and GISTs were predominantly located in the cardia or fundus. The frequency of 4th layer origin and isoechogenicity as compared to the echogenicity of proper muscle layer was significantly more common in GS than GIST. Although not statistically significant, marginal halo was more frequent in GS than GIST. The presence of an internal echoic lesion was significantly more common in GIST than GS. CONCLUSIONS: The EUS characteristics, including tumor location, gross morphology, layer of origin, echogenicity in comparison with the normal muscle layer, and presence of an internal echoic lesion may be useful in distinguishing between GS and GIST.
Adult ; Aged ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Endosonography ; Female ; Gastric Fundus/pathology ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors/*diagnosis/diagnostic imaging/pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Neurilemmoma/*diagnosis/diagnostic imaging/pathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms/*diagnosis/diagnostic imaging/pathology

PURPOSE: This study investigated medication status by examining the effects of a medication management education program on the knowledge of medications and medication misuse behaviors in the elderly in a local community. METHODS: This study used a non-equivalent control group quasi-experimental design. For the study, 116 subjects were assigned to the control group and another 116 subjects were assigned to the experimental group. The medication management education program consisted of 1:1 education, practice in medication management, consultation, and discussion. Data were analyzed using the SPSS 21.0 program. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were found between the experimental and control groups in terms of their knowledge of medications and medication misuse behaviors. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the medical management education program is effective in improving the knowledge of medications and decreasing medication misuse behaviors. Therefore, this education program can be used as an intervention to improve the medication behaviors of the elderly in local communities.
Aged* ; Education* ; Humans ; Medication Therapy Management ; Prescription Drug Misuse

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the oral health status among some disabled persons in Jinju. METHODS: Two dentists taken calibration training from the national oral health survey examined the oral health status on 200 disabled persons in Jinju, in June 2008. The surveyed disabled persons aged 6 to 29 years have been supplied with oral health care services by dentists and oral hygienists of dental clinics established at their schools supported from Jinju Public Health Center since 2006. The data obtained from this survey were analyzed with SPSS statistical package and were compared with the data from other oral health reports on disabled persons examined in 2010 Korean Oral Health Survey by Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. RESULTS: Among the disabled persons in Jinju, DMF rate was 65.00%; DMFT index, 3.10; DT rate, 39.61%; MT rate, 8.94%; and FT rate, 51.45%. DMFT indexes and DT rates of the disabled persons in Jinju were evaluated to be higher than those of the disabled persons from 2010 Korean National Oral Health Survey. CONCLUSIONS: Oral health programs should be strengthened for the prevention and treatments of dental caries for disabled persons.
Aged ; Calibration ; Dental Caries ; Dental Clinics ; Dentists ; Disabled Persons ; Humans ; Oral Health ; Public Health

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to examine the effects of exercise on physiological, physical and psychological functions of the frail elderly. METHODS: The research design was a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. Data were collected from September 9 to October 10, 2009. The subjects were 56 frail elders who agreed to participate in this study and each subject was randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n=28) or the control group (n=28). The exercise program was provided to each subject in the experimental group twice in a week for 6 weeks. Data were analyzed with frequency, chi2-test, Kolmogorov-Smirnor test and independent t-test using SPSS/WIN 12.0. RESULTS: There was a significant improvement in psychological functions in the experimental group compared to the control group (t=1.726, p=.045). CONCLUSION: The exercise program showed the effects to improve the psychological functions of the frail elderly with chronic disease. In recommendation, this exercise program could be utilized as a health promoting program for the frail elderly.
Aged ; Chronic Disease ; Depression ; Frail Elderly ; Humans ; Quality of Life ; Research Design

No abstract available.

PURPOSE: To evaluate treatment outcomes and prognostic factors in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with concurrent chemoradiation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2005 to June 2009, 51 patients were treated with concurrent chemoradiation for 3 different aims: locally advanced stage III, locally recurrent disease, and postoperative gross residual NSCLC. Median age was 63 years. Distribution of stages by the 6th edition of American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) was as follows: IIIA (37.3%), IIIB (56.9%). Chemotherapy was administered every week concurrently with radiation using one of the following regimens: paclitaxel (60 mg/m2), docetaxel+cisplatin (20 mg/m2+20 mg/m2), cisplatin (30 mg/m2). Total radiation dose was 16-66.4 Gy (median, 59.4 Gy). RESULTS: Median follow-up duration was 40.8 months. The overall response rate was 84.3% with 23 complete responses. The median survival duration for the overall patient group was 17.6 months. The 3-year survival rate was 17.8%. A total of 21 patients had recurrent disease at the following sites: loco-regional sites (23.6%), distant organs (27.5%). In the multivariate analysis of the overall patient group, a clinical tumor response (p=0.002) was the only significant prognostic factor for overall survival (OS). In the multivariate analysis of the definitive chemoradiation arm, the use of consolidation chemotherapy (p=0.022), biologically equivalent dose (BED)10 (p=0.007), and a clinical tumor response (p=0.030) were the significant prognostic factors for OS.The median survival duration of the locally recurrent group and the postoperative gross residual group were 26.4 and 23.9 months, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that clinical tumor response was significantly associated with OS in the overall patient group. Further investigations regarding the optimal radiation dose in the definitive chemoradiation and the optimal treatment scheme in locally recurrent NSCLC would be required.
Arm ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Cisplatin ; Consolidation Chemotherapy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Joints ; Multivariate Analysis ; Paclitaxel ; Survival Rate

PURPOSE: To evaluate treatment outcomes and prognostic factors in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with concurrent chemoradiation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2005 to June 2009, 51 patients were treated with concurrent chemoradiation for 3 different aims: locally advanced stage III, locally recurrent disease, and postoperative gross residual NSCLC. Median age was 63 years. Distribution of stages by the 6th edition of American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) was as follows: IIIA (37.3%), IIIB (56.9%). Chemotherapy was administered every week concurrently with radiation using one of the following regimens: paclitaxel (60 mg/m2), docetaxel+cisplatin (20 mg/m2+20 mg/m2), cisplatin (30 mg/m2). Total radiation dose was 16-66.4 Gy (median, 59.4 Gy). RESULTS: Median follow-up duration was 40.8 months. The overall response rate was 84.3% with 23 complete responses. The median survival duration for the overall patient group was 17.6 months. The 3-year survival rate was 17.8%. A total of 21 patients had recurrent disease at the following sites: loco-regional sites (23.6%), distant organs (27.5%). In the multivariate analysis of the overall patient group, a clinical tumor response (p=0.002) was the only significant prognostic factor for overall survival (OS). In the multivariate analysis of the definitive chemoradiation arm, the use of consolidation chemotherapy (p=0.022), biologically equivalent dose (BED)10 (p=0.007), and a clinical tumor response (p=0.030) were the significant prognostic factors for OS.The median survival duration of the locally recurrent group and the postoperative gross residual group were 26.4 and 23.9 months, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that clinical tumor response was significantly associated with OS in the overall patient group. Further investigations regarding the optimal radiation dose in the definitive chemoradiation and the optimal treatment scheme in locally recurrent NSCLC would be required.
Arm ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Cisplatin ; Consolidation Chemotherapy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Joints ; Multivariate Analysis ; Paclitaxel ; Survival Rate