• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.151-157
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• 2009

Background: We hypothesized that if a fluoroscopic image of the lumbar sympathetic ganglion block (LSGB) showed the spread patterns of contrast at both the L2/3 and L4/5 disc areas, then this would demonstrate a more profound blockade effect because the spread patterns are close to sympathetic ganglia. In addition, we compared the effects of LSGB and transforaminal epidural steroid injection (TFESI) for the patients suffering with spinal stenosis. Methods: Eighty patients were divided into two groups (Group S: the patients treated with TFESI, Group L: the patients treated with LSGB). The patients of group L were classified into three groups (groups A, B and, C) according to their contrast spread pattern. The preblock and postblock temperature difference between the ipsilateral and contralateral great toe ($DT^{pre}$, $DT^{post}$, $^{\circ}C$), and the DTnet were calculated as follows. $DT^{net}$ = $DT^{post}$ - $DT^{pre}$. Results: Both group showed a significant reduction of the visual analogue score (VAS) and the Oswestry disability index (ODI) score. Only the patients of group L showed a significant increase of their walking distance (WD). Group A showed the most significant changes in the $DT^{post}$ ($6.1{\pm}1.2^{\circ}C$, P = 0.021), and the DTnet ($6.0{\pm}1.0^{\circ}C$, p = 0.023), as compared to group C. Conclusions: LSGB showed a similar effect on the VAS, and ODI, and a significant effect, on WD, compared with TFESI. Group A showed a significant sympatholytic effect, as compared to group C.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.210-228
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• 2002

Background: The purpose of this research was to examine the fall incidence rate and its related factors of fall in inpatients. Methods: The data were collected from the 138 fall incident reports in one tertiary hospital in Seoul from April 1st 1999 to September 30th 2001. The Fall Incident Report Form was originally developed based on that of Massachusetts General Hospital revised in 1995. And this was modified for this survey by the collaborating work of QI team including researcher and department of nursing service of this particular hospital. The contents of Fall Incident Form were general characteristics of patient. factors related to fall. types and places of fall. circumstances, nursing interventions. and outcome. Results: 1) The incidence rate of fall was 0.08% of total discharged patients and 0.081 per 1000 patient-day. This incidence rate is much lower than that of several hospitals in USA. This finding might result from the different incidence report system of each hospital. 2) The characteristics of fall-prone patient were found as follows. They were mostly over 60 years old, in alert mental status, ambulatory with some assistance, and dependent on ambulatory device. The types of diseases related high incidence rate were cerebrovascular disease(3.2), hypertension(1.6), cardiovascular disease(1.4), diabetes(1.3) and liver disease(0.6). 3) The majority of fall events usually occurred m bed. bedside(walking or standing) and bathroom in patient room. Usually they were up on their own when they fell. And there were more falls of elderly occurred during night time than day or evening. 4) 63.8% of fall events resulted in physical injuries such as fracture and usually the patients had diagnostic procedures and some treatment(ex. suture) which caused additional cost to the patients and their families. 5) The found risk factors of fall were drugs(antihypertensive drug, diuretics) and environmental factors like too high bed height, long distance of bedside table and lamp switch, and slippery tile of bathroom floor. Conclusion: Considering these results, every medical and nursing staff should be aware of the risk factors of patients in hospital, and should intervene more actively the preventive managements, specially for the elderly patients during night. Therefore, it is recommended that the development of Fall Prevention Programs based on these results.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.217-227
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• 2015

Objectives : This study is an evaluation of the effectiveness of treatments combined with Korean medical methods, such as relaxative Chuna and Gangchuk herbal medicines, for patients with failed back surgery syndrome. Methods : In this study, medical records of ten patients who experienced failed back surgery syndrome and participated in intensive Korean medical treatment were reviewed. All patients received relaxative Chuna and acupuncture along with Gangchuk herbal medicines during hospitalization. Numeric rating scale(NRS) in the degree of 0 to 10, pain-free walking distance(PFWD) and oswestry disability index(ODI) were measured before and after treatments. Results : The patients were hospitalized for an average of 22 days. The average NRS of lumbar pain in all patients decreased from $7.7{\pm}1.6$ to $3.2{\pm}2.2$ and the average NRS decline of leg pain was from $7.7{\pm}1.7$ to $3.2{\pm}2.2$, both of which indicate statistical significance(p < 0.05). PFWD in all patients increased from 113.3 m to 798.1 m on average. The average ODI in all patients significantly improved from $63.9{\pm}7.0$ to $43.9{\pm}6.9$(p < 0.05). Conclusions : The treatments combined with Korean medical methods for failed back surgery syndrome patients are clinically effective and viable.

• Sijohaknonchong
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• v.20
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• pp.75-96
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• 2004

A pavilion is located in the place with beautiful scenery, which maximizes the poetical features of nature. So a scholar in the Chosun Dynasty had the dream of possessing it. This trends of the Chosun scholar resulted in producing lots of literary works related with the pavilion. In this thesis, I researched the characters of Pavilion Si-Jo in accordance with the function of pavilion. First, the pavilion, which is surrounded by the beautiful scenery, is a good place to see the beauty of nature. It is needless to walk around to see the scenery thanks to its open structure. So the feeling in the pavilion Si-Jo is distinguished from other sightseeing Si-Jos: those show the way of seeing the scenery walking here and there, but this shows the way of seeing the scenery only just looking up, looking down, and looking in the distance. Second, the pavilion functions as an academic place. In this case, it can be said that it functions like a lecture hall. It is more effective to study in the pavilion than in the closed structure, a lecture hall. Furthermore, the scholar studying in the pavilion understand the principle of nature with seeing the beautiful mountain and river, and it can be a place for growing a vast-flowing spirit. This kind of poetry has been handed down with the Chinese poetry, and the character who operated the pavilion often appears in the work. Third, the pavilion functions as a space for a fraternity or poetry circles. The poetic exchange was conducted by host of pavilion. which is the key ingredient for organizing a poetry circles. Finally, the pavilion functions as an entertainment. Although it is a space for an entertainment, there is no deviation as a man of novel birth. If the pavilion has the feature of closeness, there are sometimes works which shows the deviation of them.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.1-14
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• 2011

This study has been conducted to research the interests and tastes in Korean cuisine aiming at Germans who have lived in Korea for over 6 months, create new Korean menu items to their taste, and provide preliminary data for the globalization of Korean cuisine. Germans living in Korea tend to prefer Korean dishes as much as German dishes, and males have more opportunities to have different Korean dishes than females through social activities. Most of them answered that they barely cook Korean food and gave low marks for the globalization of Korean food and ease of cooking. The main reason given for not cooking Korean food themselves was that it is complicated to cook, which is a direct indication of the lack of knowledge of the recipes. Therefore, the importance of simplification and standardization of recipes for the globalization of Korean food was revealed. From the study on Korean food preferences based on the restaurant frequenting practices of Germans, the most popular Korean restaurants were those which were located in popular restaurant districts or within walking distance and those with an elegant or tranquil ambience. To promote the globalization of Korean food, development of diverse easy recipes or education about Korean dishes for foreigners would enhance their understanding and familiarity of Korean cuisine.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.61 no.6
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• pp.533-546
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• 2006

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of self-efficacy promoting pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods: thirty six patients, with clinically stable COPD were randomly assigned: 18 to a rehabilitation group and another 18 as a control group, The subjects participated in a the self-efficacy promoting pulmonary rehabilitation program for 8 weeks. This program consisted of education, breathing retraining, exercise training, relaxation and counseling. The control group received education only. The outcome variables were self-efficacy, dyspnea, exercise endurance, pulmonary function, and quality of life. Dyspnea was measured using the modified Borg scale. Exercise endurance was measured by the six minute walking distance. The quality of life was measured by the quality of life index for pulmonary disease patients. Results: In the rehabilitation group after performing the self-efficacy promoting pulmonary rehabilitation program, the self-efficacy score, exercise endurance, and quality of life score were higher than the control group (p=0.007, p=0.038, and p=0.039, respectively). and the exertional dyspnea score was significantly lower than controls(p=0.045). However, the dyspnea score and FEV1 were similar after performing the self-efficacy promoting pulmonary rehabilitation program. Conclusion: The self-efficacy promoting pulmonary rehabilitation program is effective to in improve self-efficacy, exertional dyspnea, exercise endurance and quality of life in patients with COPD.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.138-142
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• 2007

Background: Depression is a frequent comorbid disease of chronic pain patients. This study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of depression and to correlate associated factors and depression in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis. Methods: The data of this survey was collected from 97 patients that visited our pain clinic for the management of lumbar spinal stenosis. Depression was examined by a self-reported survey using the Korean version of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and the life satisfaction scale score were also obtained. Demographic and clinical characteristics (including spouse status, employment status, smoking status, the number of patients with multiple painful areas, the number of patients with combined disease, pain duration, visual analogue scale, Roland 5-point scale and walking distance) were obtained from an interview with the patient. The patients were divided into group N ($BDI{\leq}14$, n = 43) and group 0 (BDI > 14, n = 54) according to the BDI scale. Of the 97 patients, 55,7% had a high BDI score. Results: The patients in group N had a higher rate of employment (48.0%, P < 0.05) and had higher life satisfaction scale scores ($9.4{\pm}2.5$, P < 0.01) as compared to group D patients. The BDI score showed a close correlation with employment status and the life satisfaction scale. Conclusions: Many lumbar spinal stenosis patients had high BDI scores. Employment status and the life satisfaction scale were closely correlated with the BDI score.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.89-99
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the value of information on Bus-Route concerning on the User's Individual value. The value of information is estimated with the price of time saving by using the information. The price of unit time for each user is applied to convert the saving time to the cost. To estimate the user's expense from origin to destination the previous model is modified. Bus-travel cost is estimated with variables such as bus-travel time, bus-interval, bus-fare, and the price of walking distance. In this study, to estimate in-vehicle time the bus-travel time model is developed based on the spatial characteristics distinguished by three types of circular-road in the network of Daegu Metropolitan area. For the case study, a set of the origin and destination is selected as Dalsu-gu District Office and East Daegu Train Station respectively. There are several bus-routes which can be used as direct or transferable bus-routes selected. The study showed that when the value of time for individual users is \1,738/hr, there is no benefit to using information of transferable bus-routes. It also showed that the more discount rates of bus fare is increased, the benefit to using information of transferable bus-routes is increased, and that the lower value of time is, the benefit to using information of transferable bus-routes is increased.

• 한국노년학
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.669-686
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to investigate types of neighborhood environments and to verify whether the types of neighborhood environments are directly related to life satisfaction of older adults. To achieve this goal, I used'2014 National Survey on Older Koreans' data which surveyed the older adults aged 65 and over living in the community and a total of 10,281 respondents were analyzed. To determine the types of neighborhood environment, the time taken by walking from community organizations or places such as grocery stores, medical centers, administrative agencies, welfare centers, public transportation was used as an neighborhood environment indicators. As a results, there were six types of neighborhood environment: a leisure-welfare walk-limited type(20.3%), a leisure-welfare long-distance type(15.5%), a balanced proximity type(7.8%), a store-traffic type(35.8%), a traffic proximity type(10.1%), and a marginalized area type(11.3%). Compared to the balanced proximity type, older adults living in a store-traffic type and a marginalized area type were more likely to have negative life satisfaction. older adults who have higher life satisfaction were more likely to be female, more educated, get higher household income, and have a spouses or partner. Moreover, the better the health conditions, the higher the frequency of contact with children, siblings, friends and neighbors, the higher the satisfaction of life. Finding from the study highlight the importance of neighborhood environment in late life and provide implications for building age-friendly community.

• Asian Spine Journal
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.1085-1091
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• 2018

Study Design: Case-control. Purpose: To determine optimal cut-off value for body mass index (BMI) in predicting surgical success in patients with lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSCS). Overview of Literature: BMI is an essential variable in the assessment of patients with LSCS. Methods: We conducted a prospective study with obese and non-obese LSCS surgical patients and analyzed data on age, sex, duration of symptoms, walking distance, morphologic grade of stenosis, BMI, postoperative complications, and functional disability. Obesity was defined as BMI of ${\geq}30kg/m^2$. Patients completed the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) questionnaire before surgery and 2 years after surgery. Surgical success was defined as ${\geq}30%$ improvement from the baseline ODI score. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to estimate the optimal cut-off values of BMI to predict surgical success. In addition, correlation was assessed between BMI and stenosis grade based on morphology as defined by Schizas and colleague in total, 189 patients were eligible to enter the study. Results: Mean age of patients was $61.5{\pm}9.6years$. Mean follow-up was $36{\pm}12months$. Most patients (88.4%) were classified with grades C (severe stenosis) and D (extreme stenosis). Post-surgical success was 85.7% at the 2-year follow-up. A weak correlation was observed between morphologic grade of stenosis and BMI. Rates of postoperative complications were similar between patients who were obese and those who were non-obese. Both cohorts had similar degree of improvement in the ODI at the 2-year followup. However, patients who were non-obese presented significantly higher surgical success than those who were obese. In ROC curve analysis, a cut-off value of ${\leq}29.1kg/m^2$ for BMI in patients with LSCS was suggestive of surgical success, with 81.1% sensitivity and 82.2% specificity (area under the curve, 0.857; 95% confidence interval, 0.788-0.927). Conclusion: This study showed that the BMI can be considered a parameter for predicting surgical success in patients with LSCS and can be useful in clinical practice.