• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.919-925
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• 2013

Human thymic stromal lymphopoietin receptor (TSLPR) might play an important role in the development of inflammatory and allergic responses. We previously identified eleven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and two variation sites in the TSLPR gene and showed that all the SNPs of the TSLPR gene are associated with susceptibility to atopic asthma. The present study aimed to investigate whether the TSLPR gene SNPs are associated with susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We compared the genotype and the allele frequencies of the TSLPR SNPs in 457 RA patients and 570 healthy controls. The genotype and the allele frequencies of the TSLPR gene SNPs in the RA patients were not significantly different from the respective frequencies of the healthy controls. Additional analysis showed that the genotype and the allele frequencies of the TSLPR gene SNPs did not appear to be associated with RA in female RA patients. The TSLPR gene SNPs in the RA patients did not affect the production of rheumatoid factor (RF) and antisynthetic cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP). Our results suggest that the TSLPR gene SNPs are not associated with susceptibility to RA in the Korean population.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.136-152
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• 1999

The purposes of this study were to identify the prevalence of fatigue. and factors influencing fatigue in women with rheumatoid arthritis. The subjects were 124 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Most of all patients felt fatigue and mean score measured by Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue was relatirely high. Fatigue was positively correlated with pain intensity, the number of pain sites, functional disability, depression. and sleep quality. A hierachical regression model was used to determine the variance which accounts for fatigue. Pain intensity, depression. sleep quality accounted for fatigue significantly. This finding indicates that pain influences fatigue through depression and sleep quality ; depression through sleep quality. The causative factors could be identified by further study of structural eqation model.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.249-259
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• 2002

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the effects of mastery on appraisal of uncertainty in women patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods : The study subjects consisted of 168 patients who were recruited from the outpatient clinic of a rheumatic center in Seoul. Self report questionnaires were used to measure the study variables that included uncertainty, mastery, danger appraisal of uncertainty, and opportunity appraisal of uncertainty. Cronbach's alpha reliabilities of these instruments ranged from .72 to .93. For data analysis. the SPSSWIN 10.0 program was utilized to exam descriptive statistics. Pearson's correlation. and regression analysis. Results: The results were as follows.: 1) The uncertainty scores of the subjects ranged from 33 to 87 with the mean score of 63.27. 2) The mastery scores of the subjects ranged from 10 to 27 with a mean score of 18.70. 3) The danger appraisal of uncertainty scores of the subjects ranged from 8 to 32 with a mean score of 20.22. 4) The opportunity appraisal of uncertainty scores of the subjects ranged from 7 to 28 with a mean score of 17.80. 5) Significant factors that explained the danger appraisal of uncertainty were mastery (=-.444. p<.001), and education level (=-.184. p<.05). 6) Significant factor that explained the opportunity appraisal of uncertainty was level of uncertainty (=-.328. p<.001). Conclusion: Among the independent variables. the most significant factor that explained the danger appraisal of uncertainty in the women patients with rheumatoid arthritis was mastery. Therefore, a nursing intervention with strategies to improve sense of mastery should be developed for women patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.13-25
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• 1997

Rheumatoid Arthritis(RA), a chronic and systemic inflammatory disorder, is characterized by joint pain, swelling and stiffness. Patients with RA suffer from joint pain and overall pain. The painful and disabling consequences of RA are accompanied by a variety of affective, cognitive, and behavioral changes. The purpose of this paper was to explore and describe the life experiences of RA patients by eliciting verbal description of their experiences. Participants were nine persons who were diagnosed with RA, and had had it for more than six months. They were asked open ended and descriptive questions in order for them to talk about their experiences in their on terms. Interviews were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were analyzed by Colaizzi method. From the protocols, 213 significant statements about life experience were organized into 83 formulating meanings which were then grouped into five theme clusters. The major themes that emgerged from the analysis were' Emotional Disturbances', 'Trying to Adapt to the Progress of Disease', 'Progress of Treatment'. 'Change of Role Performances', 'Experiences related to Family'. The result of this study showed that RA patients and families need nursing care based on a deep understanding of their lived experiences in everyday life. Nurses and other health workers must develop rehabilitation programs that focus on the pain control, functional independence and psychosocial factors.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.91-103
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aimed to construct a structural equation model to explain and predict factors affecting the health-related quality of life (QoL) in female rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients based on the health-related QoL model by Ferrans et al. (2005) and a literature review. Methods: Patients (N=243) who were either registered members of an internet cafe composed of patients with RA or rheumatology outpatients at two tertiary general hospitals in Busan, Korea, were recruited via convenience sampling. Data were collected from July 2 to September 9, 2021, and the survey was conducted using a web-based questionnaire. The data were analyzed by SPSS and AMOS 26.0. Results: The goodness-of-fit statistics of the final model exhibited good results (χ²/degree of freedom=2.68, Turker-Lewis index=.94, comparative fit index=.96, standardized root mean-squared residual=.04, root mean- square error of approximation=.08), and 11 out of 14 paths of the model were supported. The squared multiple correlation, which reflected the explanatory power of the environmental characteristics, symptoms, functional status, and perceived health status on health-related QoL, was 80%. In the hypothesis model, 10 paths had significant direct effects, 6 paths had significant indirect effects, and 12 paths had significant total (direct and indirect) effects. Conclusion: Considering that factors directly affecting the health-related QoL of female patients with RA were social support, symptoms (fatigue and depression), resilience, and perceived health status, and that resilience was the most influential factor, clinicians can encourage resilience. Hence, to improve the health-related QoL of female patients with RA, continuing management is necessary, using various intervention methods that focus on enhancing resilience from the early stage to the end of treatment for RA.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.151-160
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• 2009

Objectives : This study is to report five cases those have an important meaning as a result of treating female Rheumatoid Arthritis(RA) patients in the reproductive years with oriental medical treatment. The patients had problems of pregnancy because of their RA and DMARDs(disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs) before oriental medical treatment. Methods : These patients were treated by acupuncture, moxibution and herb medication. Results : The conditions of patients were improved with oriental medicine even if they had stopped DMARDs. And they became pregnant and the patients maintain their conditions. Conclusions : Oriental medical treatment was effective to improve the condition of RA patients and pregnancy. For more accurate studies, further studies would be needed with more cases.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.269-280
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• 2000

This study was conducted to clarify the effect of physical ability, pain, fatigue, depression, sexual satisfaction, and spouse criticism on the sexual intrusiveness of rheumatoid arthritis(RA)women. The subjects of the study were 89 RA outpatients who visited the department of rheumatology of Dong-A University Hospital in Pusan from March 2000 to April, 2000. Pain & Fatigue via graphic rating scale, depression via CES-D(Center for Epidemiologic Studies -Depression) scale and physical ability via the Health Assessment questionnaire(HAQ) were assessed. Also we used both Sexual satisfaction scale(Kim, et al, 1997) to measure sexual satisfaction and Spouse criticism scale(Kraaimaat et al. 1996) to measure spouse criticism. The Intrusiveness rating scale which was derived from Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale(AIMS) was used to measure illness intrusiveness in sexuality. The relationships between the variables such as pain, depression, fatigue, physical ability, spouse criticism, sexual satisfaction and illness intrusiveness on sexuality were analyzed by Pearson correlation. As a result, pain & depression were significantly positively related to illness intrusiveness and physical ability & sexual satisfaction was significantly negatively related to illness intrusiveness. But these variables were interrelated. So hierarchical regression was performed to examine the relative contribution of pain, depression, physical ability, and sexual satisfaction with regard to intrusiveness of RA on sexuality. It revealed that pain, depression & sexual satisfaction predicted significantly illness intrusiveness on sexuality. Therefore it is very important to reduce pain and depression and to increase sexual satisfaction for reducing illness intrusiveness.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.61-69
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• 2007

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate the degree of fatigue and its related factors in women with rheumatoid arthritis. Method: The subjects were 143 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Data were collected by questionnaires including Multi-Dimensional Assessment of Fatigue(Tack, 1991), Korean Health Assessment Questionnaire(Bae et al., 1991), numeric scale of pain(Lee & Song, 1987), Center for Epidemiologic StudiesDepression, and Korean Sleep Scale(Oh, et al., 1998). The data were analyzed by SPSS WIN 12.0 program using descriptive statistics, Pearson Correlation, and Stepwise Multiple Regression. Result: The result were as follows. 1. The scores of fatigue of subjects averaged $4.95{\pm}1.83$, degree of fatigue was $5.85{\pm}1.98$, and influence of fatigue was $4.04{\pm}2.09$. 2. The mean score of the degree of physical dysfunction, pain, sleep disorder, and depression were $1.42{\pm}0.38,\;8.15{\pm}3.58,\;1.86{\pm}0.67,\;and\;1.85{\pm}0.46$ points respectively. 3. The subject's total fatigue score, physical dysfunction, pain, sleep disorder, and depression was correlated positively(r=.44, r=.28, r=.29, r=.27, p< .01). 4. The main influencing factors on the fatigue were physical dysfunction and sleep disorder. These two main variables made it possible to explain 23.0% of the variance in fatigue. Conclusion: Therefore, nursing interventions for fatigue experienced women with rheumatoid arthritis would be focused to decrease physical dysfunction and sleep disorder.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.107-116
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a self-management program on self-efficacy and quality of life for Korean women with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: A quasi-experimental study using a nonequivalent control group pretest posttest design was used. The data were collected from July 1 to Sep. 15, 2007. Thirty one arthritis patients (15 in the experimental group and 16 in the control group) were participated in this study. A self-management program developed by Korean Society of Muscle and Joint Health in 1994 was used. The program was consisted of 6 sessions, 2 hours each and held every Friday for 6 weeks. General Self-Efficacy Scale and Quality of Life were used to test the effect of the program. Results: Hypothesis 1; "Self-efficacy in the experimental group after program would be higher than the control group" was supported. Hypothesis 2; "Quality of Life in the experimental group after program would be higher than the control group " was not supported. Conclusion: The self-management program was effective for Korean women with rheumatoid arthritis in terms of increasing self-efficacy. Therefore, to increase self-management skills and self-efficacy for female rheumatoid arthritis patients, the program can be useful.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.294-308
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• 2000

This study was conducted to test the effect of brisk walking & muscle strengthening exercise program on bone mineral density(BMD) of the lumbar & femur in rheumatoid arthritis women. Research design was a quasi-experimental study of non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design(16 weeks). 14 for the experimental group and 14 for the control group were selected from the outpatients on rheumatoid arthritis clinic of Dong-A University Hospital. The experimental group underwent 16 weeks of brisk walking and muscle strengthening exercise. Bone mineral density was measured before and after 16 weeks of exercise by DXA at lumbar spine, femoral neck, Ward's triangle and trochanter. The results were summarized as follows : 1. BMD of the lumbar spine in experimental group who carried out the brisk walking and muscle strengthening exercise was not significantly increased after 16weeks and there was no significant difference between experimental and control group(U=70.00 p>.05). 2. BMD of the femoral neck in the experimental group who carried out the brisk walking and muscle strengthening exercises was significantly increased after 16 weeks(Z=-2.901 p<.01). But, there was no significant difference between experimental and control group(U=83.00 p>.05). 3. BMD of the femoral Ward's triangle in the experimental group who carried out the brisk walking and muscle strengthening exercises was significantly increased after 16 weeks (Z=-2.355 p<.05). But, there was no significant difference between experimental and control group(U=86.00 p>.05). 4. BMD of the femoral trochanter in experimental group who carried out the brisk walking and muscle strengthening exercise was not significantly increased after 16weeks and there was no significant difference between experimental and control group(U=75.00 p>.05). These results suggest that brisk walking and muscle strengthening exercise program has an effect on promoting bone mineral density of femoral neck and Ward's triangle in rheumatoid arthritis women.