The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of death anxiety and social support on the preferences for care near the end of life in older adults staying at long-term care hospitals. By understanding these relationships among the factors, we provide crucial insights for enhancing end-of-life care with respect to patients’ end-of-life care preferences. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 155 older adults staying at long-term care hospitals participated in the study. Data collection was performed from January 9, 2023 to March 9, 2023. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Results: The results of this study show that death anxiety (β=.23, p=.002), social support (β=.22, p=.003), intensive care transfer (β=.18, p=.022), and severity of illness (β=.16, p=.033) were significantly affecting factors to the care preferences near the end of life in older adults staying at long-term care hospitals. Conclusion: Understanding the end-of-life care preferences of older adults with death anxiety in long-term care hospitals is important. Expressing these preferences in a timely manner requires extensive support from patients, family, and health professionals. Developing an effective program for end-of-life care preferences is continuously needed for future studies.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors related to burnout of nurses working at intensive care units. Methods: The subjects of this study included 149 nurses in intensive care units at six general hospitals. The data was analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 23.0 program with descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Scheffé test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and Stepwise multiple regression analysis were used. Results: The factors significantly affecting burnout included work stress ‘high to very high’ (β=.39, p<.001), communication skill (β=-.24, p=.001), subjective health status ‘normal’ (β=.22, p=.001) and ‘bad to very bad’ (β=.20, p=.002) and problem-driven coping (β=-.19, p=.010) in order, and the explanatory power of these factors to the burnout was 46.3%. Conclusion: Based on the results, effective interventions need to be provided to improve intensive care unit nurses’ health conditions and to relieve their work stress. It is necessary to develop practical strategies to improve nurses’ communication and stress coping skills to reduce their burnout.

Nevus comedonicus (NC, acneiform nevus) is a rare variant of adnexal hamartoma, which is clinically characterized as confluent clusters of dilated follicular orifices resembling comedones. NC usually occurs unilaterally along the line of Blaschko and presents at birth or develops during childhood. A 66-year-old man presented with a 6-month history of multiple skin-colored to brownish papules resembling comedones on both the upper and lower eyelids.The patient did not complain of ophthalmologic or neurologic symptoms. Skin punch biopsy revealed dilated follicular openings filled with eosinophilic keratinous material and lymphocytic infiltration. Based on clinical and histopathologic findings, a diagnosis of late-onset bilateral NC of the eyelids was reached.

Background: Topical recombinant human epidermal growth factor (rhEGF) is effective in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers, surgical wounds, burns, and scars. Binding of EGF to EGF receptors results in cell proliferation and differentiation. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of topical rhEGF ointment compared with that of topical mupirocin in healing herpes zoster (HZ) lesions. Methods: Thirty patients diagnosed with typical HZ were recruited in August, 2018. The rats were randomly divided into two groups: topical mupirocin and topical rhEGF ointment. HZ lesions were evaluated using the Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) at the initial visit, 1st, 2nd, and 4th weeks. Results: The total number of recruited patients (n=30) included males (n=16, 53.3%) and females (n=14, 46.7%) with a mean age of 58.2. The proportion of patients with a 50% reduction in the VSS score (VSS 50) at 2nd week was significantly higher in the rhEGF group (33.0% vs. 72.0%, respectively, p=0.035). The complete resolution rate (VSS=0, 1) at 4th week was also higher in the rhEGF group (17.5% vs. 50.0%, p=0.03). Conclusion Topical rhEGF showed a more rapid treatment response and anti-scarring effect than topical mupirocin in patients with HZ lesions.

no abstract available.

Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is defined as the occurrence of spontaneous wheals, angioedema, or both for >6 weeks in the absence of specific causes. It is a common condition associated with substantial disease burden both for affected individuals and societies in many countries, including Korea. CSU frequently persists for several years and requires high-intensity treatment; therefore, patients experience deteriorations in quality of life and medication-associated complications. During the last decade, there have been major advances in the pharmacological treatment of CSU and there is an outstanding need for evidence-based guidelines that reflect clinical practice in Korea. The guidelines reported here represent a joint initiative of the Korean Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Clinical Immunology and the Korean Dermatological Association, and aim to provide evidence-based guidance for the management of CSU in Korean adults and children. In Part 1, disease definition, guideline scope and development methodology as well as evidence-based recommendations on the use of antihistamines and corticosteroids are summarized.

Background: and purpose Whether pharmacologically altered high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) affects the risk of cardiovascular events is unknown. Recently, we have reported the Prevention of Cardiovascular Events in Asian Patients with Ischaemic Stroke at High Risk of Cerebral Haemorrhage (PICASSO) trial that demonstrated the non-inferiority of cilostazol to aspirin and superiority of probucol to non-probucol for cardiovascular prevention in ischemic stroke patients (clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01013532). We aimed to determine whether on-treatment HDL-C changes by cilostazol and probucol influence the treatment effect of each study medication during the PICASSO study. Methods: Of the 1,534 randomized patients, 1,373 (89.5%) with baseline cholesterol parameters were analyzed. Efficacy endpoint was the composite of stroke, myocardial infarction, and cardiovascular death. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis examined an interaction between the treatment effect and changes in HDL-C levels from randomization to 1 month for each study arm. Results: One-month post-randomization mean HDL-C level was significantly higher in the cilostazol group than in the aspirin group (1.08 mmol/L vs. 1.00 mmol/L, P<0.001). The mean HDL-C level was significantly lower in the probucol group than in the non-probucol group (0.86 mmol/L vs. 1.22 mmol/L, P<0.001). These trends persisted throughout the study. In both study arms, no significant interaction was observed between HDL-C changes and the assigned treatment regarding the risk of the efficacy endpoint. Conclusions Despite significant HDL-C changes, the effects of cilostazol and probucol treatment on the risk of cardiovascular events were insignificant. Pharmacologically altered HDL-C levels may not be reliable prognostic markers for cardiovascular risk.