• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.98-108
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between fatigue and quality of life (QOL) of Korean cancer inpatients. Methods: The data were collected from May to August 2007. Study subjects were recruited at D, Y and A university hospitals in Daegu and Kyungpook, Korea. The research instruments utilized in this study were fatigue (FACT-F) and quality of life (FACT-G) in Korean version 4. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation using SPSS Win 12.0 program. Results: Fatigue of subjects showed a significant difference according to the type of treatment, change in weight, performance status, exercise, and sleep. The QOL of subjects showed a significant difference according to the purpose of treatment, change in weight, performance status, exercise, and sleep. The mean score of fatigue was 22.48 and the mean score of QOL was 55.52. The fatigue was negatively related to QOL, physical well-being, emotional well-being, and functional well-being. Conclusion: The results suggest the needs for intervention in order to reduce fatigue and to improve QOL of cancer inpatients.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.375-384
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• 2003

The purpose of this study is to identify the amount of social support and quality of life perceived by elderly people in rural areas and to examine the relationship between social support and quality of life in an effort to provide the basic data for effective nursing intervention to enhance quality of life among elderly people. Data were collected from a sample of 220 elderly people aged over 60 from a stratified probability method from one rural area in South Jeolla province from Aug. 15 to Sep. 15, 2002. For data collection, pre-educated researchers visited the participants' homes and surveyed them face-to-face. The statistical analysis was performed using the SAS program along with t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson Correlation. The findings were as follows: 1. The most socially supportive people they answered were Spouses (57.28%), followed by children, friends/neighbors, in descending order. In terms of satisfaction about social support, the subjects felt the most satisfaction from spouses, followed by friends/neighbors, children, in descending order. 2. The participants' perceived social support was 26.0 and the highest score was 108.0 out of 125. Also, the average score and average grade point was 81.7 and 3.35, respectively. A comparison of the average grade points per items within sub-areas of social support revealed financial aid(3.56), informative support(3.34), emotional support (3.27), and evaluation support(3.22). 3. Their perceived social support had statistically significant differences in terms of how much they earned (F=18.56, p= .00001) and whether they had family members living together (F=2.68, p= .0512), quality of life had statistically significant differences in terms of how much they earned (F=35.34, p= 0.00001). 4. The quality of life they perceived was the lowest score 47.0, the highest score 196.0, average score 145.7, and average grade points 3.28. A comparison of the average grade points per items within sub-areas of quality of life revealed neighbor relationships(3.97), self-esteem(3.49), family relationships(3.35), economic conditions 3.12), physical health (2.98), and psychological health(2.74). 5. The relationship between the amount of the subjects' social support and quality of life was significantly correlated (r=.696, p< .001). The findings revealed that social support for elderly people in rural areas was a greatly effective factor on their quality, of life. Also, it was shown that the larger the social support for the elderly, the greater the quality of life for them. Therefore, it is necessary to foster geriatric nurse specialists and develop nursing intervention programs connected with health care and social wellbeing in order to enhance the quality of life of elderly people in rural areas. Also, it is necessary to develop effective models for community and its applications, which will playa leading role for elderly people.

• Journal of East-West Nursing Research
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.36-49
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• 2000

This study aims to provide the fundamental data for substantial nursing intervention in the elderly through a comparative appreciation on family support, self-esteem, and health status between the institutionalized elderly people and the home-staying ones. The subjects of this study are the institutionalized 108 elderly people of E and C Public Homes and the home-staying 109 elderly ones of O-Nho In Jeong(a kind of public recreational facilities for the aged) over the age of 65. The instruments for this research are based upon the tool(11 items, 5 points for each) for measuring family support developed by Choi, Young Hee(1984), a self-esteem scale done by Rosenberg (1965), the tools(20 items) for checking the health status of the elderly done by Lee, Young-Ja(1989). The sampling for this study has been carried on from July, 2000 until November, 2000. Questionnaire data were drawn up by personal interviews. The analyses of collected data are based on general characteristics calculated at the rate of 100 percentage to the average, t-test, ANOVA(some difference on a level with p<.05 being subsequently confirmed by DMR) for family support, self-esteem and health status, and Pearson Correlation to verify the hypothetical correlation among the subjects' family support, self-esteem and health status. The results of this study are as follows: 1. The difference between two groups in the light of family support, self-esteem and health status. (1) Family support - The rate of the family support that the institutionalized elderly people perceive turned out to be 22.13, that of the home-staying ones 30.99. (2) Self-esteem - The rate of the self-esteem that the former perceives proved to be 25.59, that of the latter 32.28. (3) Health Status - The rate of the health status that the former perceives turned out to be 39.67, that of the latter 51.60. 2. Family support, self-esteem, health status in terms of demographic characteristic (1) Family support - The group of institutionalized elderly people shows a tendency to be chiefly influenced by the death or life of the spouse and the number of the children; the group of the home staying ones to be chiefly influenced by the educational level (2) Self-esteem - The group of institutionalized elderly people shows a tendency to be chiefly influenced by educational level; the group of the home staying ones to be chiefly influenced by the amount of pocket money, the pocket money provider and the family main supporter. (3) Health Status - The group of institutionalized elderly people shows a tendency to be chiefly influenced by educational level; the group of the home staying ones to be chiefly influenced by age, the death or life of spouse, religion, and the educational level. 3. Correlation among family support, self-esteem, and health status The rate of correlation between family support and health status proved to be the highest (r=.549). After came the rate of correlation between health status and self-esteem, which turned out to be(r=.506). The last came the rate of correlation between family support and self-esteem, which proved to be(r=.406). According to this study, there is a conspicuously close correlation among family support, self-esteem, and health status for the elderly. Thus, it would be indispensable to seek out a variety of nursing intervention ways how the elderly could promote family support, self-esteem, and health status.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.101-108
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• 1994

Many previously described nuclear medicine procedures to assess glomerular filtration rate have some problems because numerous blood sample is to be taken and they don't measure each separate renal function. Gates described isotopic method for the measurement of global and unilateral GFR based on the fractional renal uptake of $^{99m}Tc$-DTPA 2 to 3 minutes after its intravenous injection. We evaluated GFR using $^{99m}Tc$-DTPA in 57 people according to Gates method and compared with creatinine clearance. A good correlation was observed between creatinine clearance and GFR calculated by Gates' formula with an r value of 0.9(P<0.05). And also the relationship between parameters of $^{99m}Tc$-DTPA renal scan images and GFR was taken. They were significantly correlated with GFR calculated by Gates' formula : r value 0.66 between relative intensity of peak renal to peak aortic activity(pK/pA) and GFR, -0.42 between time between aortic and kidney peak(A-K) and GFR and -0.48 between parenchymal renal activity at 25 min compared to peak kidney activity(25K/pK) and GFR. In conclusion, the determination of GFR according to the Gates' formula shows good and reproducible of GFR with rapidity and simplicity. And the parameters from the renal scan images can use to estimate the renal function.