• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.96-120
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• 2023

Objectives: This study reports the findings that support the efficacy of herbal medicine (HM) for premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Methods: We conducted meta-analysis of findings from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for PMS treated with HM. The articles were published before July 2022, located using 9 databases (Pubmed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, CNKI, CiNii, SCIENCE ON, KoreaMed, OASIS). Results: We observed 2,034 studies, of which 23 RCTs met our inclusion criteria. The risk of bias in the included studies was relatively unclear or high. Meta-analysis of 3 RCTs showed that HM group had a significantly higher total effective rate than the western medicine group (RR 1.20 [95% CI 1.06, 1.36, p=0.004]). Meta-analysis of 1 RCT showed that HM group had a significantly lower symptom score (MD -3.04 [95% CI -5.36, -0.72, p=0.01]), while there was no significant difference in daily record of severity of problems scale (MD -20.52 [95% CI -49.33, 8.29, p=0.16]). Conclusions: HM significantly improved PMS symptoms than general treatment and no serious adverse events were reported. However, the evidence on the effectiveness and safety of HM for PMS was not enough to provide reliable results due to the small number and low quality of included studies. We believe that rigorous RCTs will lead to more reliable evidence of the intervention.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.507-528
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• 2009

Coping and defense are similar psychological mechanisms to reduce stress response, but they are regarded as distinct from each other. Defense involved distortions of reality, but coping was used for strategies associated with accepting the true nature of the situation. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the coping and defense features of the North Korean Defectors in the Rorschach test. The subjects were then categorized into four groups based on their birth place and gender: Male North Korean defectors( N=16), female North Korean defectors(N=28), male South Koreans(N=17), and female South Koreans(N=25). All subjects were individually administered the Rorschach test, and protocols were scored according to the Exner(2003)'s Rorschach Comprehensive systems. Coping or defense-related Rorschach variables were selected for analysis: EA, CDI, Adj D, EB style, Lamda, Zd, X-%, Xu%, W:Dd:D, P, reaction time, and other behavior characteristics during the testing. Compared with other groups, female North Korean defectors were more likely to show poor coping resources(low EA), adjustment difficulties(Adj D), and distortions of reality(high X-%). They also demonstrated more 'don't know' responses and more delayed responses than other groups. These findings suggest that poor coping resources make female North Korean defectors more vulnerable to stress, and psychological intervention such as social skills training may help them settle successfully in south Korea. Limitations of the current study and implications for future research were discussed.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.339-357
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• 2009

As quickly becoming an ageing society in Korea, this study aims to investigate how family caregivers' burden with demented patients and social supports are related to their health and quality of life, and the interaction of caregiving burden and social supports on caregivers' health and quality of life. The participants were 207 family caregivers (106 females) of demented patients lived in Seoul, Kyunggi, and Chungcheong areas, whose average of age were 51.62 ( SD=9.25). The psychological tests used in this research included the following: Multidimensional Caregiver Burden Inventory, Chon's Physical Symptom Questionnaire, Hahn & Jang's Perceived Health Inventory, Negative Affect Self-Statement Questionnaire, and the Korean Version of Cambell's Subjective Well-being Scale, Social Support Survey in Medical Outcomes Study, and Kwon's Questionnaire for Maladjusted Problems of Demented. Results indicated that caregivers' burden with demented patient related to physical symptoms and depression positively, and perceived health and subjective well-being negatively. Social supports showed moderate effects on influences of caregiving burden in perceived health, depression, and subjective well-being of family caregivers with demented patients. It was identified the possibility of their buffering effect on negative results of caregiving burden with demented patients. Since caregiving burden accounted for the 34% of the variances for family caregivers' physical symptoms and depression, researchers discussed the promotion and intervention of their health and quality of life. Beside of different effects of social supports with level of caregiving burden, with previous studies it was discussed some saliant findings such as family caregivers with patients who showed severe dementia symptoms were perceiving even less supports from others.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.480-494
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• 2023

Objectives: This study sought to assess the effectiveness of community-based nutrition counseling on improving nutritional status, managing complex chronic diseases, and enhancing the quality of life for elderly individuals with chronic conditions, particularly in older adults with high levels of food insecurity and multiple chronic illnesses. Methods: Thirty elderly subjects with diabetes and hypertension who were registered at local Senior Welfare Center received individualized nutrition counseling, based on their Nutrition Quotient for the Elderly (NQ-E) index. Over a 16-week period, they received tailored counseling and underwent various health and nutritional assessments. The final analysis included 28 participants after two dropped out. Data analysis was conducted using the SPSS v28.0. Results: The subjects were over 70, with multiple chronic diseases including diabetes and hypertension and predominantly female. After 16 weeks, significant improvements were observed in the subjects' grip strength, and HbA1c levels, as well as in their NQ-E scores, indicating improved dietary balance and diversity. There were no significant improvements in the 'Moderation' subdomain of the NQ-E index, suggesting that this aspect requires further attention in nutritional counseling. The subjects' nutritional risk scores (NSI) were also significantly decreased, indicating less nutritional risk. Lastly, as measured by the SF-36K, the subjects' quality of life showed significant improvement in several domains including physical role performance and social function. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that tailored nutrition counseling, based on the NQ-E index, can improve elderly health, manage chronic diseases, and enhance quality of life. This approach potentially broadens the scope of community nutritionists' roles within an aging society. However, additional research is necessary to evaluate these interventions' long-term effects and sustainability.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.45-59
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• 2023

Objectives The aim of this study was to analyze the trends of researches on oriental medicine treatments for supraspinatus tendinopathy. Methods We used five databases for searching researches; Korean studies Information Service System, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, Research Information Sharing Service, PubMed, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure. Only randomized controlled trials suitable for the subject were selected. The methodological quality of included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was assessed by the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Results Twenty randomized controlled trials were analyzed. There were 9 types of treatment interventions; acupuncture, acupotomy, pharmacopuncture, electroacupuncture, fire needling, warming needle, catgut-embedding therapy, herbal medicine, cupping. The most frequently used treatment intervention was acupuncture and acupotomy. There were 9 outcome measurements including visual analog scale (VAS), Constant-Murley Score (CMS), and range of motion. The most used measurement was VAS. As a result of meta-analysis, acupuncture was more effective than control group in VAS. Additionally, acupotomy was clinically significant compared to control groups in VAS and CMS. Conclusions In this review, we analyzed researches on effectiveness of oriental medicine for supraspinatus tendinopathy. A provisional conclusion can be produced that acupuncture and acupotomy showed beneficial effect to supraspinatus tendinopathy. Although there were some RCT studies, many of them had a high risk of bias, so it is hard to conclude that our study can include overall clinical status. Further well-designed trials are needed.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.97-108
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• 2024

Purpose : In this study, we aimed to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nursing students' adjustment to college life by focusing on their empathic ability, perceived stress, and resilience. Methods : We applied a descriptive survey research design, which included a self-report questionnaire. The participants comprised 307 nursing students in B city. The data were analyzed by calculating the percentages, means, standard deviations, t-tests, ANOVA, Scheffé test, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and hierarchical regression using SPSS 23.0. Results : The participants' empathic ability score was 3.30±.42, perceived stress score 1.85±.49, resilience score 3.44±.64, and adjustment to college life score 3.25±.52. Adjustment to college life was positively correlated with resilience (r=.43, p<.001) but negatively correlated with perceived stress (r=.27, p<.001). Factors affecting adjustment to college life include, among general characteristics in Model 1, in descending order, major satisfaction-satisfied (β=.54, p<.001), interpersonal conflict: never (β=.26, p=.018), health status: healthy (β=.25, p=.002), character: positive (β=.21, p=.006), character: optimistic (β=.19, p=.015), parents' economic power: high (β=.15, p=.047), and gender: male (β=.11, p=.016). Model 1 was statistically significant (F=11.67, p<.001), and the explanatory power was 41 %. In Model 2, empathic ability, perceived stress, and resilience were added as independent variables. When including the dependent variables, the factors that most influenced adjustment to college life were perceived stress (β=-.37, p<.001), major satisfaction-satisfied (β=.36, p<.001), health status-healthy (β=.25, p<.001), gender-male (β=.10, p=.015), and resilience (β=.10, p=.029). Model 2 was statistically significant (F=17.65, p<.001), and the explanatory power was 56 %. Conclusion : We found that gender, major satisfaction, health status, perceived stress, and resilience affected adjustment to college life among nursing students who had experienced the COVID-19 pandemic. To increase their ability to adjust to college life, a gender-specific intervention program should be developed that can improve the students' health status, major satisfaction and resilience, and reduce their perceived stress.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2024

Objectives: Surgical intervention for removal of an impacted third molar can lead to significant pain and swelling. Corticosteroids show promise for mitigating postoperative sequelae across various surgical contexts. The use of corticosteroids following minor oral surgery, though controversial, has already been proven effective. However, little research has explored peroral prescription of corticosteroids despite its convenience for outpatients and for non-surgeons like implantologists and periodontists and others who don't have access to needle injections. The aim of this study was to address a void in the literature by comparing the effects of two styles of preoral administration of prednisolone after surgical removal of the mandibular third molar and to determine which style minimizes postoperative sequelae. Materials and Methods: A randomized, split-mouth clinical study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of two different styles of preoral prednisolone in mitigating postoperative sequelae following surgical extraction of impacted mandibular third molars. Fifteen participants were enrolled in the study. Random selection was used to determine the prescription style for the right and left mandibular arch. Group A included those who received a single dose of prednisolone 25 mg, while group B received prednisolone 5 mg postoperatively for a period of three days (5 mg three times/day on the first postoperative day, 5 mg twice/day on the second postoperative day; 5 mg once/day on the third postoperative day). Results: There was a significant difference in the distance between the corner of the mouth and tragus, which decreased with the time interval with respect to group B when compared to group A. Conclusion: The present study showed that a three-day tapered dose of prednisolone postoperatively was more effective in reducing post-extraction sequelae than a single-dose regimen.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.107-116
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• 2024

This study is a descriptive research study to determine the extent to which end-of-life care stress, death awareness, and prior decision-making attitudes of nurses at a hospice and palliative nursing institution have an impact on end-of-life care performance. The subjects of this study were 200 nurses working at a hospice and palliative nursing institution. Data collection for this study was conducted from August 9 to September 30, 2021, using two methods: written questionnaire and internet survey. The data analysis method used Pearson's correlation coefficient to analyze the relationship between the subjects' end-of-life care stress, death awareness, prior decision-making attitude, and end-of-life care performance. Hierarchical Regression was used to identify factors affecting the subject's end-of-life care performance. The results of this study showed a significant correlation between end-of-life care performance and death awareness (r=.22, p=.002), and end-of-life care performance and prior decision-making attitude (r=.20, p=.004). And prior decision-making attitude and death awareness had a significant impact on end-of-life care performance. As death awareness and prior decision-making attitudes increased, end-of-life care performance increased, and end-of-life care stress did not appear to be a statistically significant factor influencing end-of-life care performance. In order to improve hospice nurses' ability to provide end-of-life care, intervention that takes into account the influencing factors is required.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.101-134
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• 2024

Objectives The purpose of this study is to observe the effectiveness of acupotomy treatment for lateral epicondylitis by comparing it with various control groups. Methods We searched 11 domestic and international databases for systematic reviews and meta-analysis. The subjects were studies published from January 1, 2017 to September 1, 2023, and only randomised controlled trials were included. Results 208 studies were searched, of which 21 studies were finally selected. Among the studies published after 2017, the largest number of studies was published in 2019. The average number of participants per study was 72.28±20.26 and the average age was in the 40s. The most frequent intervention in the study was acupotomy alone, and the treatment most often mentioned as a control group was local nerve block. The most used evaluation tool is efficiency. Acupotomy+manipulation had statistically better effect than that of local nerve block in terms of pain (standard mean difference -1.87, 95% confidence interval, -2.18 to -1.57, p<0.00001) and elbow joint function (standard mean difference 2.25, 95% confidence interval, 1.65 to 2.86, p<0.00001). Conclusions As a result of the meta-analysis, the effect of acupotomy added manual therapy treatment was statistically significant compared to the local nerve block frequently used for lateral epicondylitis. Based on these results, it appears that more research on combination treatments other than acupotomy treatment will be needed. Also, it appears that more large-scale randomized controlled studies that strictly adhere to the standards for reporting interventions in controlled trials of acupuncture, risk of bias 2 criteria will be needed.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.63-71
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• 2024

Through the development of construction technology, various construction projects such as redevelopment projects, undergrounding of roads, expansion of subways, and metro railways are being carried out. However, this has led to an increase in the number of construction projects in existing urban centers and neighborhoods, resulting in an increase in the number of damages and disputes between neighboring buildings and residents, as well as an increase in safety accidents due to the aging of existing buildings. In this study, digital data was applied to a graphics program to objectify the progress of cracks by comparing the creation of cracks and the increase in length and width through photographic images and presenting the degree of cracks numerically. Through the application of the program, the error caused by the subjective judgment of crack change, which was mentioned as a shortcoming of the existing field survey, was solved. It is expected that the program can be used universally in the building diagnosis process by improving its reliability if supplemented and improved in the process of use. As a follow-up study, it is necessary to apply the extraction algorithm of the digital graphic data program to calculate the length and width of the crack by itself without human intervention in the preprocessing work and to check the overall change of the building.