• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.158-168
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare musculoskeletal pain, menopausal symptoms and depression by women's menopausal stage. Method: With a survey design, a convenience sample of 203 women between age of 40 to 64 was recruited through a community. Data were collected via a structured study questionnaire from May to July, 2008. Measures included with symptom severity list for menopausal symptoms, Aches and Pains scale, and Beck's Depression Inventory. Results: Thirty-seven percent of women belong to early peri-menopausal stage, 31% to late peri-menopausal stage, and 32% to postmenopausal stage. By group comparison, late peri-menopausal and post menopausal women reported higher scores of depression than early peri-menopausal women. Postmenopausal women had greater scores in two pain subscales (bodily pain and pain that interferes with normal work) and two menopausal symptoms subscales (sleep pattern and sexual behaviors) than early peri-menopausal women. There were moderate levels of positive relationships among study variables at each menopausal stage. Conclusion: Postmenopausal women seem to have greater musculoskeletal pain and menopausal symptoms, and have depression more than did early peri-menopausal women. Tailored nursing strategies are required to reduce these kinds of common symptoms for women with menopausal transition to improve their physical and psychological wellbeing.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.145-152
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• 2010

Objectives : Clinical differences between elderly patients with early and late onset depression have been described although these have been inconsistent. We aimed to compare differences of clinical symptoms using the 17 items Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression(HAM-D-17) between two groups. Methods : Data of 175 elderly patients with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder according to DSM-IV from January 2005 to November 2009 were collected. Seventy five patients were early onset depression and one hundred patients were late onset depression. Depressive symptoms were assessed by the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for depression. Results : There were some differences in HAM-D-17 scores between early and late onset depression. Early onset depression patients scored significantly higher in retardation(t = 2.41, p = 0.017) and somatic symptoms( general)(t = 2.37, p = 0.019) than late onset depression patients. Conclusion : We concluded that early onset depression patients have more severe psychomotor retardation and general somatic symptoms than late onset depression patients in Korea. Because of some limitations of this study, further investigations will be needed to validate this study results.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.187-195
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this report is to report the clinical application and safety of oriental treatment to pain and symptoms caused by traffic accident during early pregnancy. Methods: The three patients who suffered from several pain and symptoms caused by traffic accident during early pregnancy were treated with herbal medicine, acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping therapy and physical treatment during their admission. And we followed up by phone call after their delivery. Results: Patients' pain and symptoms of this case were improved with oriental treatment during their admission. And serious side effects were not found on the patients and infants after treatment. Conclusion: This report shows that oriental treatment can be effective for those who suffering from several pain and symptoms caused by traffic accident during early pregnancy.

• Asian Spine Journal
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.1043-1052
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• 2018

Study Design: Level III retrospective cross-sectional study. Purpose: To define and characterize the presentation, symptom duration, and patient/surgical risk factors associated with 'post-decompressive neuropathy (PDN).' Overview of Literature: PDN is characterized by lower extremity radicular pain that is 'different' from pre-surgical radiculopathy or claudication pain. Although it is a common constellation of postoperative symptoms, PDN is incompletely characterized and poorly understood. We hypothesize that PDN is caused by an intraoperative neuropraxic event and may develop early (within 30 days following the procedure) or late (after 30 days following the procedure) within the postoperative period. Methods: Patients who consented to undergo lumbar laminectomy with or without an instrumented fusion for degenerative lumbar spine disease were followed up prospectively from July 2013 to December 2014. Relevant data were extracted from the charts of the eligible patients. Patient demographics and surgical factors were identified. Patients completed postoperative questionnaires 3 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year postoperatively. Questions were designed to characterize the postoperative pain that differed from preoperative pain. A diagnosis of PDN was established if the patient exhibited the following characteristics: pain different from preoperative pain, leg pain worse than back pain, a non-dermatomal pain pattern, and nocturnal pain that often disrupted sleep. A Visual Analog Scale was used to monitor the pain, and patients documented the effectiveness of the prescribed pain management modalities. Patients for whom more than one follow-up survey was missed were excluded from analysis. Results: Of the 164 eligible patients, 118 (72.0%) completed at least one follow-up survey at each time interval. Of these eligible patients, 91 (77.1%) described symptoms consistent with PDN. Additionally, 75 patients (82.4%) described early-onset symptoms, whereas 16 reported symptoms consistent with late-onset PDN. Significantly more female patients reported PDN symptoms (87% vs. 69%, p=0.03). Patients with both early and late development of PDN described their leg pain as an intermittent, constant, burning, sharp/stabbing, or dull ache. Early PDN was categorized more commonly as a dull ache than late-onset PDN (60% vs. 31%, p=0.052); however, the difference did not reach statistical significance. Opioids were significantly more effective for patients with early-onset PDN than for those with late-onset PDN (85% vs. 44%, p=0.001). Gabapentin was most commonly prescribed to patients who cited no resolution of symptoms (70% vs. 31%, p=0.003). Time to symptom resolution ranged from within 1 month to 1 year. Patients' symptoms were considered unresolved if symptoms persisted for more than 1 year postoperatively. In total, 81% of the patients with early-onset PDN reported complete symptom resolution 1 year postoperatively compared with 63% of patients with late-onset PDN (p=0.11). Conclusions: PDN is a discrete postoperative pain phenomenon that occurred in 77% of the patients who underwent lumbar laminectomy with or without instrumented fusion. Attention must be paid to the constellation and natural history of symptoms unique to PDN to effectively manage a self-limiting postoperative issue.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.179-186
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• 2013

Objectives This study is designed to compare the clinical characteristics of patients with early onset schizophrenia to those of adult onset schizophrenia patients in first episode. Methods Authors reviewed medical records of 16 early-onset schizophrenia patients and 22 adult-onset schizophrenia patients who had been admitted in the psychiatric ward and diagnosed as schizophrenia according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth Edition (DSM-IV) at Eulji University Hospital during 2004-2008. Socio-demographic data and clinical characteristics such as duration between onset and active phase, number of significant positive and negative symptoms, positive and negative symptom scores of Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) scores, duration from onset to admission, duration of admission, and equivalent dose of antipsychotics were reviewed. These clinical characteristics of early-onset group were compared to those of adult-onset group. Correlation between age of onset and other clinical characteristics was also analyzed. Results Early-onset group showed more insidious onset pattern and had longer duration of hospitalization than adult-onset group. Early onset group also exhibited more negative symptoms, higher negative symptom scores, and higher CGI-S scores than adult-onset group after treatment. However, there were no significant differences in family history of psychosis, positive symptom frequency at discharge and equivalent dose of antipsychotics between two groups. Conclusions This study revealed that patients with early-onset schizophrenia exhibited more insidious onset, more negative symptoms, and more severe symptoms than those with adult-onset schizophrenia after treatment.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.197-202
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• 2011

Subsyndromal anxiety disorder indicates mental states of having anxiety symptoms not fulfilling criteria for anxiety disorders. Despite of the lack of previous objective findings of the subsyndromal anxiety disorder, its clinical importance has increased. It can cause many kinds of clinical anxiety symptoms and functional disabilities. But the early intervention and early treatment make it possible not only to attenuate the anxiety symptoms and functional disabilities but also to prevent disease progression to a full syndromal anxiety disorder. In this article, we will review the previous studies about the subsyndromal anxiety disorder and discuss its clinical characteristics and importance.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.100-111
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• 2022

Purpose: Based on the theory of unpleasant symptoms (TOUS), this study aimed to examine the direct effect of antecedent factors on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and its indirect effect via symptoms in Korean women during the late menopausal transition (MT) and early postmenopause. Methods: This cross-sectional survey employed a descriptive correlational research design. The respondents were 152 middle-aged women 40 to 60 years with an intermenstrual interval of 60 days or more (late MT) or less than 5 years from the last menstrual period (early postmenopause). The respondents were recruited through convenience sampling in Busan, Korea, from December 1, 2020, to January 31, 2021. Based on the TOUS, self-report data were collected on perceived health status, psychological distress, social support, menopausal symptoms, and HRQoL. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statics, independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and the Hayes' PROCESS macro. Results: TOUS was supported on this sample (n=152) of Korean women during the late MT and early postmenopause. Perceived health status, psychological distress, and social support had significant direct relationships with HRQoL. Menopausal symptoms had significant indirect relationships between antecedent factors (perceived health status, psychological distress, and social support) and partially mediated HRQoL. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that menopausal symptoms play an important role as an intervening factor of HRQoL in women during the late MT and early postmenopause. Therefore, women need an integrated program that manages antecedent factors and menopausal symptoms to improve HRQoL in these menopausal stages.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.537-541
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• 1990

Early esophageal carcinoma is defined as a lesion wherein invasion is confined to the mucosa and submucosa without metastasis to lymph node or other organs. Postoperative 5-year survival rate for early esophageal carcinoma is much superior than advanced carcinoma. Unfortunately, because of the anatomic characteristic of esophagus and absence of specific early symptoms, detection is frequently belated, and advanced disease is present at the time of the initial diagnosis. We experienced 2 cases of early esophageal carcinoma. They complained no specific symptoms. The diagnosis was made by barium esophagogram, esophagofiberscopy with dye staining and endoscopic biopsy. We performed esophagectomy with esophagogastrostomy. All had good postoperative course without any complication. We concluded that the combined use of double contrast radiography, esopagofiberscopy aided by intraluminal staining with Toluidine blue or Lugol`s solution, and endoscopic biopsy is very important in the diagnosis of early esophageal carcinoma in high risk patient group.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.1767-1770
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• 2012

Background: The Asia Pacific consensus for colorectal cancer (CRC) recommends that screening programs should begin by the age of 50. However, there have been reports about increasing incidence of CRC at a younger age (i.e. early-onset CRC). Little is known about the features of early-onset CRC in the Vietnamese population. Aim: To describe the clinical, endoscopic and pathological characteristics of early-onset CRC in Vietnamese. Method: A prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted at the University Medical Center from March 2009 to March 2011. All patients with definite pathological diagnosis of CRC were recruited. The early-onset CRC group were analyzed in comparison with the late-onset (i.e. ${\geq}$ 50-year-old) CRC group. Results: The rate of early-onset CRC was 28% (112/400) with a male-to-female ratio of 1.3. Some 22.3% (25/112) of the patients only experienced abdominal pain and/or change in bowel habit without alarming symptoms, 42.9% (48/112) considering their symptoms intermittent. The rate of familial history of CRC in early-onset group was significantly higher that of the late-onset group (21.4% versus 7.6%, p<0.001). The distribution of CRC lesions in rectum, distal and proximal colon were 51.8% (58/112), 26.8% (30/112) and 21.4% (24/112), respectively; which was not different from that in the late-onset group (${\chi}2$, p = 0.29). The rates for poorly differentiated tumors were also not significantly different between the two groups: 12.4% (14/112) versus 8.3% (24/288) (${\chi}2$, p = 0.25). Conclusion: A high proportion of CRC in Viet Nam appear at an earlier age than that recommended for screening by the Asia Pacific consensus. Family history was a risk factor of early-onset CRC. Diagnosis of early-onset CRC needs more attention because of the lack of alarming symptoms and their intermittent patterns as described by the patients.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.113-128
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• 2012

Objectives : This study was performed to investigate the effect of Needle-Embedding Therapy in early stage of intractable peripheral facial paralysis. Methods : 46 patients with severe peripheral facial paralysis were treated with oriental medicine therapy including Needle-Embedding Therapy in their early stage. We evaluated the effect of Needle-Embedding Therapy by House-Brackmann Grading system, decrease of subjective symptoms and satisfaction measurement. Results : After treatment, HB-Scale grade was significantly decreased(p-value<0.001). More than 50% of subjective symptoms were disappeared in 82.61% of patients. 80.48% of the patients was satisfied with the Needle-Embedding Therapy. Conclusion : Needle-Embedding Therapy could be effective to improve symptoms of severe peripheral facial paralysis in early stage. Further studies will be required to identify the beneficial effect of Needle-Embedding Therapy in early stage of peripheral facial paralysis.