• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.333-348
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• 2020

Purpose: The present study investigated the association between nurse staffing and health outcomes among psychiatric inpatients in Korea by assessing National Health Insurance claims data. Methods: The dataset included 70,136 patients aged 19 years who were inpatients in psychiatric wards for at least two days in 2016 and treated for mental and behavioral disorders due to use of alcohol; schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorders; and mood disorders across 453 hospitals. Nurse staffing levels were measured in three ways: registered nurse-to-inpatient ratio, registered nurse-to-adjusted inpatient ratio, and nursing staff-to-adjusted inpatient ratio. Patient outcomes included length of stay, readmission within 30 days, psychiatric emergency treatment, use of injected psycholeptics for chemical restraint, and hypnotics use. Relationships between nurse staffing levels and patient outcomes were analyzed considering both patient and system characteristics using multilevel modeling. Results: Multilevel analyses revealed that more inpatients per registered nurse, adjusted inpatients per registered nurse, and adjusted inpatients per nursing staff were associated with longer lengths of stay as well as a higher risk of readmission. More adjusted inpatients per registered nurse and adjusted inpatients per nursing staff were also associated with increased hypnotics use but a lower risk of psychiatric emergency treatment. Nurse staffing levels were not significantly associated with the use of injected psycholeptics for chemical restraint. Conclusion: Lower nurse staffing levels are associated with negative health outcomes of psychiatric inpatients. Policies for improving nurse staffing toward an optimal level should be enacted to facilitate better outcomes for psychiatric inpatients in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.794-805
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• 2020

Objective : Teriparatide is known as an effective anabolic agent not only for severe osteoporosis but also for bone healing and union. We explored the possibility of teriparatide as an alternative treatment option for osteoporotic thoracolumbar (TL) burst fracture. Methods : This retrospective study enrolled 35 female patients with mean age of 73.77±6.71 years (61-88) diagnosed as osteoporotic TL burst fracture with ≥4 of thoracolumbar injury classification and severity (TLICS) score and no neurological deficits. All patients were treated by teriparatide only (12 of group A), teriparatide plus vertebroplasty (12 of group B), or surgical fixation with fusion (11 of group C), and followed up for 12 months. Radiological outcomes were evaluated using radiological parameters including kyphotic angle (KA), segmental vertebral kyphotic angle (SVKA), compression ratio (CR), and vertebral body height (anterior [AH], middle [MH], posterior [PH]). Functional outcomes were evaluated using visual analog scale (VAS) and Macnab classification (MC). Results : There were no statistical significant differences in age, bone mineral density (-3.36±0.73), and TLICS score (4.34±0.48) among the three groups (p>0.05). Teriparatide was administered during 8.63±2.32 months in group A and B. In 12-month radiological outcomes, there were significant restoration in SVKA, CR, AH, and MH of group B and KA, SVKA, CR, AH, and MH of group C compared to group A with no radiological changes (p<0.05). All groups showed similar significant improvements in 12-month functional outcomes, although group B and C showed a better 1-month VAS, 1-month MC, 3-month MC compared to group A (p<0.05). Conclusion : Non-surgical treatment with teriparatide showed similar 12-month functional outcomes compared to surgical fixation with fusion. The additional vertebroplasty to teriparatide and surgical fixation with fusion were more helpful to improve short-term functional outcomes with structural restoration compared to teriparatide only.

• Journal of Korean Foot and Ankle Society
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.181-189
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare and analyse the clinical outcomes of minimal incision repair and open repair in ruptured Achilles tendon. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of 10 patients with minimal incision repair (group 1) and 19 patients with open repair (group 2) from February 2007 to June 2011. The postoperative clinical evaluations were done by Arner-Lindholm scale, AOFAS score, overall patient's satisfaction and cosmetic satisfaction of scar. Results: There was no statistical difference between two groups in Arner-Lindholm scale, AOFAS score, overall patient's satisfaction (p=1.21, 0.87, 1.07). There was statistically high rate of cosmetic satisfaction in group 1(p<0.001). There were no complications in group 1. Complications occurred in three patients (deep infection, rerupture, deep vein thrombosis) of group 2. Conclusion: Treatment of minimal incision repair in Achilles's tendon ruptures showed high rate of cosmetic satisfaction and low rate of complication's, but there were no significant differences with open repair in other clinical outcomes. The minimal incision repair could be recommended as one of the effective treatment for the Achilles's tendon ruptures.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.18-23
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• 2019

As the population grows older and medical treatments are advancing, the number of spine surgeries in elderly patients has been increasing. To obtain a successful outcomes of spine surgery in elderly patients, surgeons should prepare meticulously because elderly patients can have osteoporosis and surgery can be more extensive than in younger patients. Therefore, this study reviewed the perioperative medical treatment, particularly for osteoporosis, to improve the surgical outcomes in elderly patients.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.8.1-8.15
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• 2020

Immune checkpoint blockade targeting PD-1 and PD-L1 has resulted in unprecedented clinical benefit for cancer patients. Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy has become the standard treatment for diverse cancer types as monotherapy or in combination with other anticancer therapies, and its indications are expanding. However, many patients do not benefit from anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy due to primary and/or acquired resistance, which is a major obstacle to broadening the clinical applicability of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy. In addition, hyperprogressive disease, an acceleration of tumor growth following anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy, has been proposed as a new response pattern associated with deleterious prognosis. Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy can also cause a unique pattern of adverse events termed immune-related adverse events, sometimes leading to treatment discontinuation and fatal outcomes. Investigations have been carried out to predict and monitor treatment outcomes using peripheral blood as an alternative to tissue biopsy. This review summarizes recent studies utilizing peripheral blood immune cells to predict various outcomes in cancer patients treated with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.413-423
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• 2014

Purpose: This study was aimed to identify NANDA-NOC-NIC linkage in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Methods: This study was a descriptive study conducted in three steps. First, nursing diagnoses were identified from the electronic nursing records. Second, content validity of nursing diagnoses and outcomes were evaluated. Third, major nursing interventions associated with expected nursing outcomes were collected from 97 nurses who worked in the oncology unit. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Four major nursing diagnoses were identified: acute pain, knowledge deficit, health seeking behaviors, and ineffective protection. Associated with each respective diagnosis, 3 major outcomes (pain level, pain control, and comfort state) for acute pain, 8 major nursing outcomes (diet, disease process, treatment regimen, illness, ostomy care, prescribed activity, health behavior, and infection management) for knowledge deficit, 4 major outcomes (health promoting behavior, health promotion, health belief, and knowledge: health resource) for health seeking behaviors, and 3 major outcomes (fatigue level, immune status, and nutritional status) for ineffective protection were identified. In addition, nursing interventions frequently used in clinical practice for each major nursing outcome were identified. Conclusion: The identified NANDA-NOC-NIC linkage can contribute to improving the applications of nursing process and care plans.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.833-842
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of spiritual intervention studies by examining biological, psychological, and spiritual outcomes. Methods: From electronic databases 2522 studies were retrieved, of which 21 studies met the inclusion criteria. These studies had 1411 participants. Two authors independently extracted data from the selected studies and assessed the methodological quality. The data were analyzed using the RevMan 5.1 program of the Cochrane library. Results: Overall effect size of spiritual intervention on spiritual and psychological (depression and anxiety) outcomes were moderate (d= -0.65 to d= -0.76, p<.001). The effects on biological outcomes (pain and functional status) ranged from -0.51 to -0.39, respectively. No publication bias was detected as evaluated by a funnel plot. Spiritual intervention had a moderate effect on psychological and spiritual outcomes and a smaller effect on biological outcomes. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that spiritual intervention can relieve depression and anxiety. Further randomized controlled trials studies are needed to evaluate the effects of spiritual intervention on biological outcomes.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.523-531
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• 2002

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the importance and sensitivity to nursing interventions of six sensitive nursing outcomes selected from the Nursing Outcomes Classification. The outcomes in this study were Self-Care: Activities of Daily Living, Self-Care: Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, Treatment Behavior: Illness or Injury, Knowledge: Health Promotion, Caregiver Performance: Direct Care, and Caregiver Physical Health. Method: Data were collected from 97 visiting nurses working in public health centers located in a province and a capital city. The Fehring method was used to estimate outcomes and indicators for content validity. Simultaneous multiple regression and stepwise regression were used to evaluate relationships between each outcome and its indicators. Results: Results confirmed the importance and nursing sensitivity of the outcomes and their indicators. Multiple regression revealed key indicators of each outcome. Self-Care: Instrumental Activity of Daily Living needed to be revised. Neither all of the indicators nor the indicators showing the highest importance and contribution ratio were selected as independent variables for the stepwise regression model. The R2 of the regression models ranged from 29 to 56% in importance by selected indicators and from 56 to 83% in contribution. Conclusion: Further research is needed for the revision of outcomes and their indicators.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.49 no.sup1
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• pp.20-27
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• 2016

Background: This study analyzed the association between the volume of heart surgeries and treatment outcomes for hospitals in the last five years. Methods: Hospitals that perform heart surgeries were chosen throughout Korea as subjects using from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. The treatment outcome of the heart surgeries was defined as the mortality within 30 postoperative days, while the annual volume of the surgeries was categorized. Logistic regression was used as the statistical analysis method, and the impacts of the variables on the heart surgery treatment outcomes were then analyzed. Results: The chance of death of patients who received surgery in a hospital that performed 50 or more surgeries annually was noticeably lower than patients receiving operations from hospitals that performed fewer than 50 surgeries annually, indicating that the chance of death decreases as the annual volume of heart surgeries in the hospital increases. In particular, the mortality rate in hospitals that performed more than 200 surgeries annually was less than half of that in hospitals that performed 49 or fewer surgeries annually. Conclusion: These results indicate that accumulation of a certain level of heart surgery experience is critical in improving or maintaining the quality of heart surgeries. In order to improve the treatment outcomes of small hospitals, a support policy must be implemented that allows for cooperation with experienced professionals.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.20-25
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• 2011

Objective: Due to longer life spans, patients newly diagnosed with unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) are increasing in number. This study aimed to evaluate how management of UIAs in patients age 65 years and older affects the clinical outcomes and post-procedural morbidity rates in these patients. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 109 patients harboring 136 aneurysms across 12 years, between 1997 and 2009, at our institute. We obtained the following data from all patients: age, sex, location and size of the aneurysm(s), presence of symptoms, risk factors for stroke, treatment modality, and postoperative 1-year morbidity and mortality. We classified these patients into three groups: Group A (surgical clipping), Group B (coil embolization), and Group C (observation only). Results: Among the 109 patients, 56 (51.4%) underwent clipping treatment, 25 (23%) patients were treated with coiling, and 28 observation only. The overall morbidity and mortality rates were 2.46% and 0%, respectively. The morbidity rate was 1.78% for Clipping and 4% for coiling. Factors such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, smoking, and family history of stroke were correlated with unfavorable outcomes. Two in the observation group refused follow-up and died of intracranial ruptured aneurysms. The observation group had a 7% mortality rate. Conclusion: Our results show acceptable favorable outcome of treatment-related morbidity comparing with the natural history of unruptured cerebral aneurysm. Surgical clipping did not lead to inferior outcomes in our study, although coil embolization is generally more popular for treating elderly patients, In the treatment of patients more than 65 years old, age is not the limiting factor.