• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.174-180
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• 2016

Objective: To investigate psychological distress and fertility quality of life (FertiQoL) in infertile Korean women, and to investigate whether a correlation exists between psychological distress and FertiQoL. Methods: Participants in this study were made up of 141 infertile women and 65 fertile women. We conducted a survey on psychological distress (using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales [DASS]-42 questionnaire) and administered a FertiQoL questionnaire. The levels of stress hormones (adrenocorticotropic hormone [ACTH] and cortisol) in serum were assessed. Results: The scores for depression ($13.7{\pm}8.4$), anxiety ($10.7{\pm}6.4$), and stress ($18.0{\pm}8.3$) among the infertile women were significantly higher than the scores for depression ($9.4{\pm}7.5$), anxiety ($6.6{\pm}6.0$), and stress ($12.2{\pm}8.3$, p<0.001) among the fertile women. There was no difference in the scores for depression ($13.5{\pm}8.2$, $13.8{\pm}8.6$), anxiety ($10.0{\pm}6.2$, $11.5{\pm}6.6$) and stress ($17.7{\pm}8.4$, $18.4{\pm}8.1$) between younger (${\leq}34$) and older (${\geq}35$) participants. The mind-body (r =-0.495) and emotional (r =-0.590) subscales showed a higher negative correlation with stress compared with other scales of psychological distress. At the same time, the social (r =-0.537) and relational (r =-0.385) subscales showed a higher negative correlation with depression. Levels of cortisol and ACTH in infertile women were $9.1{\mu}g/mL$ and 11.9 pg/mL, respectively, which are within normal ranges. Conclusion: The levels of psychological distress and quality of life in infertile Korean women seem to require psychological intervention. This study provides a baseline measurement of psychological distress and FertiQoL in infertile women in Korea, which will be available for developing psychological interventions for infertile Korean women.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.5-15
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• 2008

Purpose : This study is a descriptive research to provide basic factors of posttraumatic stress in Firefighters. This study was carried out to develop the effective program for the fire fighters to cope with the posttraumatic stress following the disasters. Methods : The questionnaires were collected among fire fighters who serviced in K and I community from April 1 to June 30 in 2008. Total 304 questionnaires were analyzed by SPSS WIN program for descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient and t-test. Results : 1. 48.0% of 300 fire fighters were at the age of 31-40, and 42.3% were under 30. 2. Work burden had a significant difference of 2.30 in low-risk group, 2.60 in high-risk group(t-value=-3.85, p=0.00). However, life event had no significant difference 0.79 event in low-risk group, 1.41 event in high-risk group(t-value=-2.27, p=0.24). 3. Concerning posttraumatic stress factors, there was positive correlation between mobilization impact level r=0.38(P<0.01), work burden r=0.38(p<0.01), and life event r=0.27(p<0.01). 4. According to the Symptom Check List-Revised(SCL-90-R), somatization had a significant differences(t-value=5.46, p=0.00), obsessive-compulsive(t-value=7.16, p=0.00), interpersonal sensitivity(t-value=6.15, p=0.00), depression(t-value=6.62, p=0.00), anxiety (t-value=7.33, p=0.00), hostility(t-value=5.94, p=0.00), phobia anxiety(t-value=6.85, p=0.00), paranoid ideation(t-value=5.55, p=0.00), psychotism(t-value=6.52, p=0.00) in low-risk and high-risk group. Conclusion : As a consequence, mobilization impact, work burden, and life event were the influential factors on posttraumatic stress. Also, high-risk group revealed significantly higher score on all 9 scales. The information obtained from surveys made recommendation to develop the intervention of stress management to control mobilization impact and posttraumatic stress.