The Purposes of this study were : 1) to evaluate validity of a pain rating scale using the level of correlation between the Korean Pain Rating Scale(KPRS), Short-From KPRS(SKPRS) and the Graphic Rating Scale(GRS). 2) to identify sensitivity of the scale using pain behavior of patients with chronic pain Of the 2025 patients with chronic pain who visited the orthopedic and neurosurgical out-patients departments of 11 university hospital in various districts of Korea, 520 subjects wee selected through convenient sampling and responded to the questionnaires by mail. The results of the study can be summarized as follows ; 1. The mean pain score measured by the KPRS was 444.85 : the mean sensory score was 209.47, the mean affective score, 147.63 and the mean miscellaneus score. 87.85. The mean pain score measured by the GRS was 20.11 : the mean sensory intensity score, 10.54. and the mean distress score, 9.57. 2. The average number of hours of rest during the day was 3.3, the average score of discomfort in carrying out ADL was 99, the average frequency of pain relieving practices was 3.0 the average number of pain sites was 3.6. 3. The most sensitive scale to differentiate each group was the GRS, the KPRS and SKPRS were less sensitive than the GRS. 4. The intercorrelation between the KPRS total score and the GRS score(.500) as well as that of the SKPRS score were highly correlated(.652), but intercorrelation between the SKPRS score and the GRS score(.172) was not high. Based on the above results, it was found that the SKPRS must be studied further to obtain validity.
A written association test has been conducted to establish the concept, the meaning and the process of hope. The test consists of the major question : List of three words related to "hope". The question was given to 55 nurses(rehabilitation / cancer / internal medicine care wards units) and 61 patients. A total of 289 words have been collected, and the collection was analyzed with categorization by the value or meaning of listed words. The analysis yields three major categories, namely, components of hope, metaphors/symbols, and synonyms. The three major categories may be further partitioned into subcategories. The results are significant to define the nature of the hope and process of the hope. These understanding will facilitate the development of effective methods of nursing or chronic or cancer patients disabled.
The purposes of this study were ; 1) to assess the level of pain and to identity the varieties and the degree of pain-related behavior, 2) to measure the level of correlation between the level of pain and the degree of pain?related behavior, 3) to test the correlation between the Korean Pain Rating Scale (KPRS) and Graphic Rating Scale(GRS), and 4) to gather data relevant to the Socio-demqgraphic status of the subjects. The level of pain was measured by KPRS and GRS developed by the researchers. The KPRS consists of three dimensions ; the sensory, the affective and the miscel laneous and the GRS of two separate scales ; the intensity scale and the unpleasantness scale. Of the 2,025 who had visited orthopedic and neurosur-gical out-patients department of 11 university hospitals in various districts of Korea with the episode of joint pain, 405 subjects were self-selected by responding to the data gathering tools and questionaires mailed. The results are summaried as follows; 1. Maale(217, 53.6%) exceeded female patients( 188, 46. 4%) in number and the onset of joint pain was more prevalent in the age groups of the 20s and the 30s. 160(39.5%) had been hospitalized for the treatment of, and 87 (21.5%) had retired because of the joint pain. 2. Mean pain score measured by KPRS was 128.31 (ran ge; 0 1.344.8); mean sensory score was 43.23(range: 0-645.88%), mean affective score was 46.09(range; 0 356.72), and mean miscellaneous score was 39.99 (range; 0-341.68). Mean pain scores measured by GRS were; sensory intensity score; 109l(range: 0-200) and distress score; 99.1 (range: 0 200). 3. The prevalent sites of joint pain revealed to be the right knee joint(203: 50.1%), left knee joint(181(44. 7%), left ilium ( 147,36.3%). lumbar regir,n(106: 26. 2%), hip joint(92: 22.7%) and the ankle(84; 20.7%). 4. The average sleep hour was 6.8hours per day and the average rest hour during the day hours was 3.3hours (range 0-20). 5. The average duration of suffering from bint pain was 49.1 months. 6. Most of the subjects(298; 73.6%) used some sorts.
The purposes of this study were; 1) to gather data relevant to demographic features, major main management practices, and the level of impairment of the activities of daily living (ADL) of patients with back pain, 2) to test the sensitivity of the Korean Pain Rating Scale and the Graphic Rating Scales, and 3) to identify indirect indicators of back pain by analysing pain related-bebaviors. The level of pain was measured by Korean Pain Rating Scale(KPRS) and Graphic Rating Scales(GRS) developed by the reserchers. The GRS consists of two dimensions; the pain intensity (sensory) and unpleasantness (affective) measures. Of the 1,650 diagnosed back pain patients, from January 4 through June 30, 1987 by visiting outpatients' clinics of orthopedic and neurosurgical departments at 11 university hospitals in different districts of Korea, 330 men and women patients were self-selected by responding to the mailed questionnaires. The results were summarised as follows; Male exceeded female patients in number and onset of back pain were more prevalent in the age groups of 20s and the 30s. The average duration of suffering from the pain were 11 months, sixty three (19.1%) of the subjects retired from their jobs, one third(36.7%) have been hospitalized for the treatment of back pain. In two thirds(64.8%) of the cases pain was characterized as lower back pain. The average sleep hour was 6.8 hours per 24 hours and the average rest hour during the day was 3.3 hours. The mean percentage of pain measured by GRS was higher than that of KPRS. The level of sensory intensity as well as the affective level of pain measured by KPRS and GRS were not highly correlated (sensory intensity r=0.4986, affective r=0.5029) which indicated low discriminative power. On the other hand, intercorrelation between sensory and affective dimension measured by KPRS and GRS showed moderate interrelation(r=0.7247; r=0.7899). One-third(32.5%) of the subjects complied with the hospital prescribed treatment while the other one-third(31.5%) depended on self-remedy and traditional practices, and the last one-third did not imply any pain management practices. The following 6 pain-related behaviors such as length of hospitalization, rest hour during day hours, varieties of pain management practice implied, number of pain sites, need for ADL and discomfort accompanied by ADL revealed to be important indicators of back pain. An investigation of sociodemographic features of patients with back pain in a larger context, i.e. with bigger number of respondents is recommended.Tests for construct validity of KPRS, i.e. factor analysis is further recommended.
INTRODUCTION: Consumerism is prevailing value in Korean society, while there has been little concern about it especially in Korean nursing society even though there has been an increasing emphasis on patients' participation in decisions concerning health care and nursing as an ideal in the literature. OBJECTIVES AND METHODS: The study with survey method was carried out to examine the nature of collaboration between patient and nurse in nursing practice in Korea through a replication of the studies carried out in US, Norway, Finland, an Japan (Kim et al., 1993) and to revise and test Kim's explanatory model of collaborative decision making in nursing practice from the Korean perspectives. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS: Both patients and nurses as groups exhibited pro-consumerist attitudes regarding collaboration in health care, while there were significant differences in attitudes and perceptions of patients and nurses. These findings are similar to those of Kim et al.' s study carried out in US, Norway, Finland, and Japan. Nurses as a group compared to patients held stronger health-care consumerist attitudes and beliefs in general. However, the Korean nurses seem to hold a weaker attitude for challenging professional authority. And the Korean patients compared to the nurses seem to hold stronger belief in the patient's right to information, as found in US, Finland, and Japan. Regarding the nurse patient collaborative attitude in decision making, it revealed that one third or more of the patients as a group believe in the patients' right to be informed of decisions that nurses make for their patients, while another one third or more of them believe in the patients' right for advisory role and joint role in nursing care decision making. This result for the patients is very similar as those found in US, Norway, Finland, and Japan. However, the attitude for the nurses held stronger agreement with patients' to be informed of decision making that nurses make than the patients' right for advisory and joint role. The nurses have weaker belief in patients' self determination on their care than the patients. The results of path analyses confirmed the explanatory models that tested two explanatory models examining the factors contributing to the differences in the attitudes of patients and nurses. The path model for nurses identified nurses' lengths of experience as the important factor explaining attitudes regarding challenging professional authority and the patient's rights for information. The path model for patients identified the level of education as the most significant factor that explains patients' attitudes regarding the rejection of general authority, challenging professional authority, and the patient's right for participation in decision making.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to discuss and address the state of the knowledge development and the nature of knowledge regarding fatigue. METHOD: This study analyzed the 63 fatigue related articles published from 1990 to 2001. The analysis schema was 'Alternative linkages among philosophy, theory, and method for nursing science' (Kim, 1993). RESULT: The 63 articles had been studied only within 5 types among all 96 types of linkages. Most of the articles (59 among 63 articles) had been studied within scientific realism and deductive logic. Fifty-three articles among 59 articles were the type of explanatory and predictive theory, grasping reality by the etic method on the controlled setting. CONCLUSION: This study suggests more development of knowledge regarding fatigue with various logics, especially with discovery logic such as inductive and retroductive or methods in multiple designs on various subjects under various philosophy needed for nursing practice.
The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and valid instrument to measure hope for cancer patients in Korea. This Hope Scale(Kim and Lee Hope Scale : KLHS) was developed based on not only critical universal attributes explaining both basic hope (generalized hope) and specific hope but also particular characteristics varying from culture and situation, which were revealed in a comprehensive review of the literature. Initially 60 items were generated from three sources : 36 items from the Q-sample used in the Kim's study, 1992, 21 representative items(statements) from the rest Q-population of the above study, 3 items related to the newly discovered category in the new qualitative study using 10 open ended question(death and dying) from the new qualitative study on the 20 cancer patients. At first 3 items were eliminated by the critique of the content validity experts, who were high experienced nurse, nursing professors. And then 4 items were eliminated in consideration of corrected item total correlation coefficiency, theoretical framework of this study. After that, 14 items were eliminated in comparing two or three items identified with the same meaning in each factor by this research team with factor loading and communality. This Hope Scale was finally constructed with 39 items. Psychometric evaluation was done on 492 adults(104 cancer patients, 338 adults who imagined who were cancer patients ranging from 18 to 76 years old. The results revealed high internal consistency Alpha coefficiency of .9351. Principal Component Factor Analysis with Varimax Rotation resulted in 8 factors with more than 1.0 of Eigenvalue. Referring to Eigenvalues percent of variances(>60%), reproduced correlation matrix, and our theoretical framework, we decided the eight factors were the best solution to represent hope dimension sufficiently. The eight factors were "confidence in possibility of cure", "sense of internal satisfaction", "being in communion", "meaning of life", "Korean hope perspectives", "belief in god", "self confidence", "self-worth". Among these factors, "confidence in possibility of cure", "sense of internal satisfaction", "Korean hope dimensions from those of Nowotny Hope Scale and Herth Hope Scale. There was significant negative correlation of r=-.4736 between this hope scale and Beck Hopelessness Scale(BHS), and significant positive correlation of r=.3685 between this hope scale and Life Orientation Test(LOT) which indicate convergent and discriminant validity. The range of hope scores was from 71 to 244, with a mean of 171.97(SD=28.16).
The purpose of the study was to meta-analyze the relationships of major concepts, which were made by synthesizing similar explanatory variables into more comprehensive concepts, to hope.
The relevant researches from Jan 1980 to Dec 2003, performed in adults or adult patients, were collected. Using the SAS program, meta-analysis were done with the input data of the number of subjects, the correlation coefficients provided from most of the studies or a few transformed correlation coefficients from F value. In order to get the analysis to be done in homogeneous status of the data regarding each relationship of each major concept to hope(p>0.05), heterogeneous data were eliminated in repeating Q-test.
The major variable regarding relationship to self/transcendental being/life(spiritual wellbeing & self esteem) and social support(social support & family support) have very large positive effects on hope(D̅=1.72, D̅=1.27). The negative effect of the variable regarding captive state(uncertainty in illness, perceived unhealthiness status, & fatigue) and positive effect of coping(approach coping) on hope are in the level between moderate to large(D̅=-0.61,D̅=0.78). All the effects of the major concepts on hope were verified as significant statistically(p=.000). The Fail -Safe numbers showed the significant effects of the three major concepts except coping on hope were reliable.
The results can be a guide to advance hope theory for nursing.
This study was done to explore experiences of persons living through the periods of cancer diagnosis, treatment, and self-care.
With permission, texts of 29 cancer survival narratives (8 men and 21 women, winners in contests sponsored by two institutes), were analyzed using Kang's Korean-Computerized-Text-Analysis-Program where the commonly used Korean-Morphological-Analyzer and the 21st-century-Sejong-Modern-Korean-Corpora representing laymen's Korean-language-use are connected. Experiences were explored based on words included in 100 highly-used-morphemes. For interpretation, we used 'categorizing words by meaning', 'comparing use-rate by periods and to the 21st-century-Sejong-Modern-Korean-Corpora', and highly-used-morphemes that appeared only in a specific period.
The most highly-used-word-morpheme was first-person-pronouns followed by, diagnosis·treatment-related-words, mind-expression-words, cancer, persons-in-meaningful-interaction, living and eating, information-related-verbs, emotion-expression-words, with 240 to 0.8 times for layman use-rate. 'Diagnosis-process', 'cancer-thought', 'things-to-come-after-diagnosis', 'physician·husband', 'result-related-information', 'meaningful-things before diagnosis-period', and 'locus-of-cause' dominated the life of the diagnosis-period. 'Treatment', 'unreliable-body', 'husband · people · mother · physician', 'treatment-related-uncertainty', 'hard-time', and 'waiting-time represented experiences in the treatment-period. Themes of living in the self-care-period were complex and included 'living-as-a-human', 'self-managing-of-diseased-body', 'positive-emotion', and 'connecting past · present · future'.
The results show that the experience of living for persons with cancer is influenced by each period's own situational-characteristics. Experiences of the diagnosis and treatment-period are negative disease-oriented while that of the self-care period is positive present-oriented.
To describe psychosocial adjustment of low-income Koreans who have cancer.
Data were collected during 2008 using individual in-depth interviews with 18 Korean people with cancer. The income status of the participants was low, 11 were recipients of the National Basic Livelihood Protection program. Mean age was 58.3 yr and 11 were female. Five participants had stomach cancer, five, colorectal cancer, and four, breast cancer. Data were analyzed using grounded theory methodology.
The core category emerged as 'bearing up alone with double suffering'. 'Poverty and cancer: A double suffering' emerged as a causal condition. The adjustment process consisted of three stages: 'forming a treatment will to live' ,'practicing for the cure',and 'restructuring self and repaying favors'. Each stage indicated action-interaction strategies which were employed to bear up alone with double suffering during the illness process. Self-reflection, parental responsibility, and support from the public sector played important roles in overcoming the double suffering. Two types of consequences were identified: Transcended life and strained life suppressed by poverty and cancer.
The results provide insights into the psychosocial adjustment process for low income Korean with cancer and can be used in developing and implementing efficient home-care services for these people.
To examine the relationship between body fat percentage (BFP) and N-K cell activity (NKCA) in Korean breast and rectal cancer patients just after diagnosis.
With 35 subjects enrolled between November 2002 and May 2003, Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis was used to estimate BFP. FACS Analysis was used to measure N-K cell activity. The relationships between BFP and NKCA were identified by using curve estimation, simple regression, and multiple regression.
The mean BFPs of the subjects and all the sub-groups were higher than acceptable BFPs. Both the mean NKCAs of male and female subjects were lower than that of healthy women. NKCA was explained by BFP with a 14.9% variance in the total subjects (p<.05). There were significant negative relationships between BFP and NKCA after controlling age, type of cancer, and stage of cancer while no significant relationship was found after controlling for gender. The relationships between BFP and NKCA in the sub-groups of female, breast cancer, and stage I, and II were significant. The relationships between male, rectal cancer, and the stage III, and VI sub-groups were not identified, but they revealed a mild to moderate steep in curve estimation.
Weight reduction could prevent the risk and advancement of breast and rectal cancer in Koreans.