• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.29-37
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• 2014

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the factors associated with postpartum depression and its influence on maternal identity of postpartum women. Methods: Research design was a cross sectional descriptive study with a total of 89 women within the six month postpartum period. Associations of eating habits, overall sleep quality and other factors with postpartum depression utilizing the Korean Beck Depression Inventory (K-BDI) were done. The influence of postpartum depression on maternal identity was analyzed. Variables yielding significant associations (p<.05) were included in an adjusted logistic regression and a stepwise multiple regression. Results: Mean scores of postpartum depression was $9.42{\pm}6.08$ and 31.5% (n=28) for mild depression, 11.2% (n=10) was moderate and 4.5% (n=4) was severe depression on the K-BDI scale. Perceived health status and overall sleep quality were predictors of postpartum depression. Postpartum depression and the husband's love were predictors of maternal identity. Conclusion: Awareness of poor health perception and sleep quality will be helpful to detect for postpartum depression. Strategies to increase maternal identity during the postpartum period would be tailored by level of depression.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.245-254
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• 2020

Patients diagnosed with cancer face mental problems such as alienation, isolation, anxiety about death and fear, recovering from psychological difficulties. In this study, a forest healing program was provided for cancer patients to recover from psychological stress, depression, social isolation and self-esteem caused by cancer and changes in salivary cortisol through psychological and emotional recovery were measured. From September 19 to November 28, 2017, a forest healing program composed of a total of 10 sessions, two hours per session was provided for 12 cancer patients in the Forest of Taegyo located in Yongin. Psychological tests were performed with Social Adaptation Self-evaluation Scale (SASS), Korean-version Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the collected data were analyzed with the SPSS 18.0. The salivary cortisol level was measured along with the psychological tests and were analyzed by a specialized testing agency. The results of the analysis showed that the pre- and post-assessment score of SASS was 29.17 and 25.92, respectively, and that the pre- and post-assessment score of PSS was 30.50 and 23.92, respectively. The pre- and post-assessment score of BDI was 41.00 and 34.83, respectively, which showed significant differences. In addition, the pre- and post-assessment level of saliva cortisol was 3.13 and 1.68, respectively, showing a significant decrease. In short, the forest healing program was found to be effective in reducing physiological changes caused by social isolation and stress due to the emotional and psychological difficulties that the subjects who were diagnosed with cancer and were recovering from it have. In the future, it will be necessary to develop and implement a forest healing program by conducting a forest healing requirement survey on cancer patients.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.157-164
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• 2004

Objectives : This study was designed to investigate depression, anxiety, alexithymia, stress responses between well-controlled and poorly-controlled diabetic patients by glycated hemoglobin levels. Methods : The subjects were 55 diabetic patients(mean age : $49.9{\pm}9.9$, 27 men and 28 women) who were confirmed to have diabetes depending on the laboratory findings as well as clinical symptoms at the St. Vincent Hospital Diabetes Clinic, from Mar. 2004 to Aug. 2004. Korean version of Beck Depression Inventory(BDI), State and Trait Anxiety Inventory(STAI), Toronto Alexithymia Scale(TAS) and Stress Response Inventory(SRI) were used for assessment. Based on glycated hemoglobin levels, the patients were divided into 10 well-controlled group(below 7%) and 45 poorly-controlled group(above 7%). We compared BDI, STAI, TAS and SRI scores between two groups by independent t-test. Results 1) Well-controlled diabetics, compared with poorly controlled group, manifested decreased illness duration($12.2{\pm}55.4$months vs. $55.4{\pm}66.6 months)(p=0.000), but other demographic data showed no difference between two groups. 2) The STAI scores of poorly-controlled group were significantly higher in both state anxiety sores $(38.7{\pm}3.8 \;vs.\;43.7{\pm}6.7)(p=0.29)$ and trait anxiety scores$(36.9{\pm}5.7\;vs.\;41.5{\pm}6.4)(p=0.43)$ than well-controlled groups. 3) No significant differences were found in the score of BDI, TAS, SRI between well and poorly-controlled diabetic groups. Conclusion : The above results suggest that poorly-controlled diabetic patients are more likely to have higher anxiety level than well-controlled diabetic patients. However, there were no differences in depression, alexithymia, stress responses between two group. We suggest that physicians should consider integrated approaches for psychiatric problems in the management of diabetic patients.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.102-108
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• 1996

This was an open trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of moclobemide twice daily for treatment of Korean patients with major depressive disorder(DSM-III-R). The duration of the trial was 6 weeks with the initial dose of moclobemide being fixed lor the first two weeks at 300mg/day(150mg twice daily, each token after morning and evening meals). Thereafter, when necessary, the dose was allowed to increase to 600mg/day or decrease to 150mg/day according to the seventy of the depression and/or the tolerability of the drug. Hypnotics and/or sedatives from a benzodiazepine group could be concomitantly administered at usual dosage. Patients were assessed at baseline and at days 14, 28 and 42. Efficacy was primarily judged on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression(HAM-D) and Beck Depression Inventory(BDI). Patients had to score at least 17 respectively an both scales to enter the trial. Secondary efficacy parameters included Clinical Global Impression(CGI) for severity of illness and improvement. Safety and tolerability were judged on reported adverse events, vital signs and laboratory parameters. In addition, there was a series of questions and assessments for the psychiatrists and patients to complete at the end of the trial Twenty nine patients completing trial were included in the analysis of efficacy : of thirty one patients participating in the safety and tolerability analysis, those who withdraw voluntarily without particular reasons or violated the treatment schedule were not included. The efficacies as determined by HAM-D, BDI or CGI were found to be significant compared to baseline. The number of responders defined as patients with a total score of 10 or less or with a total score of 50% or less of the baseline score on HAM-D and BDI were 17(59%) and 18(62%) respectively. Regarding safety and tolerability, nine patients(29%) reported mild adverse events probably related to moclobemide : of these one patient dropped out because of poor tolerability : however, there were no appreciable changes in blood pressure, pulse rate, body weight or laboratory parameters for all patients over the trial period. Furthermore, the physicians' and patients' opinions at final evaluation showed that moclabemide has a good antidepressant effect as well as a favorable tolerability. In conclusion, a twice-daily dosage schedule with maclobemide is recommendable for the treatment of Korean patients with major depressive disorder since its efficacy and safety were demonstrated in this study.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.163-173
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• 2013

Objectives: There has been an increase in the use of mind-body therapies to control cardiovascular risk factors recently. This trial was designed to determine whether the 'jeol'(Korean Buddhists' prostration) meditation program, as a new mind-body intervention, was effective in managing stress, depression and controlling cardiovascular risk factors in women working at a geriatric hospital. Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial to determine whether the 'jeol' meditation program could improve stress, anxiety, depression, and cardiovascular risk factors in women. We randomly assigned 57 participants to the intervention(29 participants) or control(28 participants) group. The subjects in the intervention group participated in a group Jeol meditation program once weekly, and practiced at home. The following variables were assessed: stress(Psychosocial Wellbeing Index), depression(Beck's Depression Inventory), body mass index(BMI), waist circumference, hemoglobin A1c(HbA1c), homeostasis model assessment(HOMA), low-density lipoprotein(LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein(HDL) cholesterol, and triglyceride were assessed. Results: After the 8-week program, 2 participants from the intervention group and 1 from the control group dropped out. The subjects in the intervention group exhibited decreased scores for stress(t=5.102, p<0.01), depression(t=5.259, p<0.01), BMI(t=2.942, p=0.007), and waist circumference(t=2.582, p=0.016); however these scores did not demonstrate a significant decrease in participants of the control group. The other variables showed no significant difference between the groups. Conclusion: The 'jeol' meditation program evidently reduced stress, anxiety, depression, body weight, and waist circumference in women, which suggests that this program could be employed as a mind-body therapies.