| Chang Ho Youn | 5 Articles |
Pain is the most common but severe physical symptom among cancer patients. This study aimed to identify correlation between pain and psychological symptoms for terminal cancer patients. The total sample consisted of 69 subjects who were recruited through two hospice wards, limited to patients who were mentally alert and had no psychiatric diseases. The subjects were divided into two groups according to the numerical rating scale: the pain-free group, 0 to 3 points; and the pain group, 4 to 10 points. We used the Beck depression inventory (BDI), Beck anxiety inventory (BAI), mini-mental status examination-Korea (MMSE-K), and short form 36 health survey (SF-36). Logistic regression analysis was performed to verify the correlation between pain and other psychosocial disorders. The mean scores of BDI in the pain-free and pain groups were 25.7 and 31.5; mean BAI scores were 23.4 and 34.7; mean MMSE-K scores were 25.7 and 21.8, respectively. There were no significant differences between the two groups in SF-36 score except scores of body pain. The results of logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, sex, marital status, types of cancer, history of chemotherapy, or radiotherapy showed significant correlation between pain and depression (BDI ≥ 24; odds ratio [OR], 4.199; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.171 to 15.060), and pain and cognitive impairment (MMSE < 24; OR, 5.495; 95% CI, 1.449 to 20.843); but not between pain and anxiety (BAI ≥ 22; OR, 3.011; 95% CI, 0.907 to 9.997). Pain significantly affects depression and cognitive impairment among advanced cancer patients in the hospice ward. Accordingly, more aggressive treatment of pain is required to reduce not only physical suffering but also physiological distress. Citations Citations to this article as recorded by
Background
Aging process causes several changes in the typical sleep patterns. Elderly people complain frequently about sleep duration, changes of sleep/wake rhythm and day time sleepiness. This study was performed to evaluate improvement of sleep quality after laughter therapy. Methods: On July 2007, the study participants aged over 65 were recruited through a community center in Daegu. There were 48 subjects in the experimental group and 61 in the control group. The laughter therapy program was applied to the experimental group. We compared Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) before and after laughter therapy. Data were analyzed by independent t-test, chi-square test, paired t-test, and ANCOVA using SPSS windows ver. 14.0. Results: At initial study, there were no signifi cant differences in baseline characteristics. The ISI scores were 8.00 ± 6.29 and 8.36 ± 6.38; the PSQI scores were 6.98 ± 3.41 and 7.38 ± 3.70; The Geriatric Depression Seals (GDS) scores were 7.98 ± 3.58 and 8.08 ± 3.95 in experimental and control groups, respectively. After laughter therapy, the ISI scores were 7.58 ± 5.38 (P = 0.327) and 9.31 ± 6.35 (P = 0.019), PSQI scores were 6.04 ± 2.35 (P = 0.019) and 7.30 ± 3.74 (P = 0.847), GDS scores were 6.94 ± 3.19 (P = 0.027), 8.43 ± 3.44 (P = 0.422) in experimental and control groups, respectively. Conclusion: The laughter therapy is considered to be useful for the elderly people in a community that improves insomnia and sleep quality. Citations Citations to this article as recorded by
Background
: Reduced pulmonary function is a common outcome in pulmonary patients with reduced bone mineral density. But, there are few studies on the relationship in adult females who do not have pulmonary diseases. Thus, this study was to assess the correlation between bone mineral density and pulmonary function in healthy women. Methods : A total of 193 subjects was selected among adult females who visited a health promotion center. BMD was measured by Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry and T-score of lumbar spine (L1-L4) was used. Pulmonary function was measured by spirometer and questionnaire survey was used to obtain information from the subjects. Results : Mean T-score of L-spine was -0.284, FEV1 (pred %) was 98.82% and BMI was 23.50 kg/m2. The results showed positive correlation (0.128) between BMD and FEV1 by multiple regression analysis (P＜0.05). Conclusion : As FEV1 of subjects increased, BMD increased in adult women who did not have pulmonary diseases.
Background
: An association between low serum cholesterol concentrations and depressive symtoms has ever been found in several studies. The objective of this study is to evaluate neurotic symptoms in hypocholesterolemia. Methods : In the course of two months (from June to August, 1998), 81 subjects were selected among the people who screened in adult disease survey of one university hospital. As the control group, 80 subjects were selected from a healthy population. In the study population, we excluded people who had medical history of hypertension diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease, chronic liver disease and history of any medication to lipid metabolism and other psychotic disease history. Neurotic symptoms were measured by Symptom Checklist for Minor Psychiatric Disorders (SCL-MPD) questionnaire. Results : There was no difference between the distribution of age and sex in the hypocholesterolemia groups. As the level of the education and kind of employement, no significant difference between two groups. Hypocholesterolemia groups scored significantly higher than conrol group in some questionnaire of SCL-MPD. The results of depression scale (p<0.01) and anxiety, hypochondriasis scale (p<0.05) were significant. The men of hypocholesterolemia groups have significant relation to hypochondriasis scale (p<0.001) and the women to anxiety scale (p<0.05) Conclusion : Though in some scale of neurotic symptoms, the association between hypocholesterolemia and neurotic symptoms was found in our study. There need to be a further study on the correlation of hypocholesterolemia and neurotic symptoms.
Background
: Although elevated serum cholesterol level has been considered as a significant health problem because it is associated with coronary artery disease, the relation with various health problem (esp. depression) from low serum cholesterol is not well known in Korean people. The authors tried to observe the degree of depression in low serum cholesterol group for its better management. Methods : The study population was selected among adults who visited the National University Hospital Health Screening Center between May and July 1998. They had no history of cancer and liver disease and no significant medical illnesses which may affect blood cholesterol level. Using the Korean standard BDI, we evaluated the degree of depression scale. Results : The number of subjects with low serum cholesterol was 77 (males 42, females 35) and that of the control group was 82 (males 47, females 34). The low serum cholesterol group had a statistically significantly higher BDI score(12.2±8.2) than the control group(7.6±6.3) (P<0.05). In males the mean BDI score of 11.9±7.4 in the low serum cholesterol group was significantly higher than the mean score of 5.0±3.8 in the control group(P<0.5), In females, there was no significant difference in depression scale between both groups. Conclusion : Since the male low serum cholestrerol group had a high depression scale, the multi disciplinary approaches which include psychological supports may be required to manage and treat them. And persistent, significant association between low serum total cholesterol level and psychological problems suggests that further long-term study on the association of low choleserol with depression is necessary.
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