The aim of this study was to identify the predictive validity of the Korean Triage and Acuity Scale (KTAS).

This methodological study used data from National Emergency Department Information System for 2016. The KTAS disposition and emergency treatment results for emergency patients aged 15 years and older were analyzed to evaluate its predictive validity through its sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value.

In case of death in the emergency department, or where the intensive care unit admission was considered an emergency, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the KTAS were 0.916, 0.581, 0.097, and 0.993, respectively. In case of death in the emergency department, or where the intensive or non-intensive care unit admission was considered an emergency, the sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 0.700, 0.642, 0.391, and 0.867, respectively.

The results of this study showed that the KTAS had high sensitivity but low specificity. It is necessary to constantly review and revise the KTAS level classification because it still results in a few errors of under and over-triage. Nevertheless, this study is meaningful in that it was an evaluation of the KTAS for the total cases of adult patients who sought help at regional and local emergency medical centers in 2016.

This investigation examined the effect of PBL on the meta-cognition, critical thinking, and problem solving process.

The research design was pre-posttest with a nonequivalent control group design. Scenarios for PBL sessions were developed on the basis of textbooks and patients' charts and tested for content validity. Seventy six nursing students who took a ‘Nursing Process’ course from two nursing schools participated in the experimental group and control group. The experimental group performed PBL during the semester. Meta-cognition and problem solving processes were assessed by questionnaires which were developed using pedagogics. Critical thinking was measured by the CCTST(California Critical Thinking Skill Test) Form 2000. The data was analyzed by repeated measure (pretest-posttest) MANOVA, and correlation analysis.

PBL improved the participants' meta-cognition and problem solving process but not critical thinking. The relationship between meta-cognition and the problem solving process was supported but the relationship between critical thinking and problem solving was not supported.

These results suggest that PBL has a positive effect on nursing students' educational outcomes. To improve the problem solving ability of nursing students, PBL should be applied to more subjects in the nursing curriculum.

The aim of this study was to develop a Korean version of Night Eating Questionnaire (KNEQ) and test its psychometric properties and evaluate items according to item response theory.

The 14-item NEQ as a measure of severity of the night eating syndrome was translated into Korean, and then this KNEQ was evaluated. A total of 1171 participants aged 20 to 50 completed the KNEQ on the Internet. To test reliability and validity, Cronbach's alpha, correlation, simple regression, and factor analysis were used. Each item was analyzed according to Rasch-Andrich rating scale model and item difficulty, discrimination, infit/outfit, and point measure correlation were evaluated.

Construct validity was evident. Cronbach's alpha was .78. The items of evening hyperphagia and nocturnal ingestion showed high ability in discriminating people with night eating syndrome, while items of morning anorexia and mood/sleep provided relatively little information. The results of item analysis showed that item2 and item7 needed to be revised to improve the reliability of KNEQ.

KNEQ is an appropriate instrument to measure severity of night eating syndrome with good validity and reliability. However, further studies are needed to find cut-off scores to screen persons with night eating syndrome.

This study was done to develop an evidence-based incontinence care protocol through an adaptation process and to evaluate the effects of the protocol.

The protocol was developed according to the guideline of adaptation. A non-randomized controlled trial was used for testing the effects of the new Incontinence Care Protocol. A total of 120 patients having bowel incontinence with Bristol stool type 5, 6, and 7 and admitted to intensive care units were recruited to this study. The newly developed incontinence care protocol was used with patients in the experimental group and conventional skin care was given to patients in the control group. Outcome variables were incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD) severity, pressure ulcer occurrence and severity.

The experimental group had significantly less severe IAD (t=6.69, p<.001), lower occurrence of pressure ulcers (χ²=7.35, p=.007), and less severity of pressure ulcers (Mann-Whitney=86.00, p=.009) than the control group.

Use of this incontinence care protocol has the effects of preventing pressure ulcers and inhibiting worsening of IAD and pressure ulcers. Therefore, this incontinence care protocol is expected to contribute to managing IAD and pressure ulcers.

The purposes of this study were to develop a Minimal Insomnia Screening Scale for Korean adults (KMISS) and to evaluate psychometric properties and discriminant ability of the developed scale.

Data from a cross-sectional survey of 959 Korean adults were analyzed to develop the summated insomnia scale, which was evaluated in terms of reliability, validity, and discriminant ability by receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis.

Item-total correlations ranged between .71-.79 and Cronbach's α was .87. Adequate validity was also evident. ROC-curve analysis showed area under ROC was .87 (95% CI: .84-.90) and identified the optimal cut-off score as ≤ 20 (sensitivity, .83; specificity, .75; positive/negative predictive values, .40/.95). Using this cut-off score, the prevalence of insomnia in the study sample was 26.3% and most frequent among women and the oldest group.

Data supports the psychometric properties of KMISS as a possible insomnia screening instrument. KMISS also shows promise as a convenient ultra-short screening measure of insomnia for adults and epidemiological studies in community health care settings.

This study was done to investigate factors affecting preparation stage to quit smoking in men.

Based on data from the Community Health Survey conducted in Chungbuk Province in 2008, we estimated rates and odds ratio (OR) of smoking cessation intention for 2,639 men who were current smokers. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors affecting preparation stage to quit smoking.

Among current male smokers, the rate of smoking cessation intention was 17.1%. The OR of factors affecting smoking cessation was as follows: Compared to men with middle school education, the OR for rate of smoking cessation intention in men with high school education was 1.47 (p=.018), and for college or higher, 1.55 (p=.017). Compared to being single, the OR for cohabitation after marriage was 1.61 (p=.011) and living alone after marriage, 2.23 (p=.005). The OR for attempt to quit smoking, exposure to secondhand smoke and participation in smoking education were 6.80 (p<.001), 1.32 (p=.020) and 1.69 (p=.005), respectively.

Results of this study show that it is necessary to decrease exposure to secondhand smoke and to increase participation in smoking cessation education targeting current smokers to move them from precontemplation or contemplation stage to preparation stage.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of pre-warming on body temperature, anxiety, pain, and thermal comfort.

Forty patients who were scheduled for abdominal surgery were recruited as study participants and were assigned to the experimental or control group. For the experimental group, a forced air warmer was applied for 45-90 min (M=68.25, SD=15.50) before surgery. Body temperature and anxiety were measured before and after the experiment, but pain and thermal comfort were assessed only after the surgery. Hypotheses were tested using t-test and repeated measured ANOVA.

The experimental group showed higher body temperature than the control group from right before induction to two hours after surgery. Post-operative anxiety and pain in the experimental group were less than those of the control group. In addition, the score of thermal comfort was significantly higher in the experiment group.

Pre-warming is effective in maintaining body temperature, lowering sensitivity to pain and anxiety, and promoting thermal comfort. Therefore, pre-warming can be recommended as a preoperative nursing intervention.