This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a customized health promotion program (CHPP) on depression, cognitive functioning, and physical health of elderly women living alone in the community.

A randomized comparison of pre-and post-test design was used with 62 participants assigned to either an intervention (n=32 in seven clusters) or a control group (n=30 in seven clusters) in 14 areas of a town. The final sample included 30 intervention participants who completed the CHPP for 10 weeks, and 26 control participants. The intervention group participated in the CHPP weekly; they were provided with instructions about coping with their chronic illnesses, lifestyle modification, risk management, providing emotional support to each other, and floor-seated exercise, which they were encouraged to do three times a week in their homes.

Significant group differences were found in depression (U=48.50, p<.001), cognitive functioning (U=2.50, p<.001), left arm flexibility (U=251.50, p=.023), right arm flexibility (U=225.00, p=.007), static balance (U=237.00, p=.012), and gait ability (U=190.50, p=.004). However, there were no significant differences in bothgrip strength and muscle mass between the two groups.

The findings indicate that CHPP was overall effective at improving depression, cognitive functioning, and physical functioning of elderly women living alone, and could therefore be considered a positive program for community-dwelling elderly women living alone.

This study aimed to explore the effects of a community-based first and third Intergenerational Exchange Program (IGEP) on older adults’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL), loneliness, depression, and walking speed, and on 4~5-year-old preschool children's learning-related social skills.

This study employed a non-equivalent control group pre-post-test design. The experimental group included 42 older adults and 42 children who participated in the IGEP for 8 weeks, and the control group included 39 older adults. The experimental group participated in the IGEP once a week for 8 weeks. It comprised a traditional play program based on the intergroup contact theory.

Compared to the control group, there was a significant increase in scores on the HRQoL-Visual analogue scale (VAS) and a decrease in loneliness and depression in older adults in the experimental group (p<.05). Children who participated in the IGEP showed an improvement in their learning-related social skills (p<.001).

These results confirm that the IGEP is an effective intervention to improve HRQoL-VAS, loneliness, and depression among older adults and learning-related social skills among preschool children in the community.

To investigate the effect of progressive resistance training (PRT) on body composition, physical fitness, quality of life, lipid and nutritional profile of patients on hemodialysis (HD).

A non equivalent comparison group pretest and posttest design study was used with 40 participants who were randomly assigned to the exercise group (20 participants) and the comparison group (20 participants). The exercise group received PRT for 30 minutes per session, 3 sessions a week, for 12 weeks, while the comparison group received usual care. The PRT consisted of upper and lower body exercises using elastic bands and sandbags. Outcome measures evaluated were: body composition, physical fitness, quality of life, and lipid profile.

Skeletal muscle mass, grip, leg muscle strength, and quality of life all improved significantly in the exercise group. Body fat rate, total cholesterol and triglyceride rate decreased significantly in the exercise group.

These results suggest that PRT improves body composition, physical fitness, quality of life, and lipid profile of patients on HD. PRT using elastic bands and sandbags can be utilized as part of a regular care plan for these patients.

To investigate the accuracy, precision and validity of fever detection of tympanic membrane (TM), temporal artery (TA) and axillary temperature (AT) compared with pulmonary artery temperature (PA).

Repeated-measures design was conducted for one year on 83 adult cardiac care unit patients with pulmonary artery catheters after open heart surgery. Sequential temperature measurements were taken three times at 20-minute intervals. Accuracy, precision, repeatability, and validity of fever detection were analyzed.

Mean pulmonary artery temperature was 37.04℃ (SD 0.70℃). The mean (SD) offsets from PA, with the mean reflecting accuracy and SD reflecting precision, were -1.31℃ (0.75℃) for TA, -0.20℃ (0.24℃) for TM, and -0.97℃ (0.64℃) for AT. Percentage of pairs with differences within ±0.5℃ was 9.6% for TA, 19.7% for AT, and 91.6% for TM. Repeated measurements with all three methods had mean SD values within 0.04℃. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of tympanic measurements were 0.76, 1.0, and 1.0, and 0.90, respectively.

Results show that TM best reflects PA, and is most consistent, accurate, and precise. AT tends to underestimate PA, and TA is least accurate and precise. Therefore tympanic membrane measurement is a reliable alternative to other non-invasive methods of measuring temperatures.

This study was conducted to assess optimal needle length for gluteal intramuscular injections (IM) via simple skinfold thickness (SFT).

For this study, 190 healthy adults were recruited and grouped into eight groups according to gender and body mass index (BMI) (kg/m²). The Korean Society for the Study of Obesity criteria defines a BMI under 20 as underweight, 20.1-22.9 as normal, 23-24.9 as overweight and over 25 as obese. For each participant, the SFT of dorsoguteal (DG) and ventrogluteal (VG) sites were measured using a caliper. Subcutaneous tissue thickness was acquired through ultrasonic images.

For men in the overweight and obese groups at the DG site, for the obese group at the VG site, and for women in the normal weight, overweight and obese groups at both sites, the mean subcutaneous tissue thickness exceeded 1.84 cm, the minimal length for a 1 inch needle used for IM. At the DG site, optimal intramuscular needle length (OINL) was 1.4 times in women and 1.0 times in men compared to SFT. At the VG site, OINL was 1.3 times in women and 0.9 times in men compared to SFT.

The results of this study suggest that SFT is a reliable index to determine optimal needle length with minimal effort prior to IM.

To study the thickness of gluteal subcutaneous fat (SCF) and propose an adequate length for needle for gluteal intramuscular injections based on computed tomography (CT) measurements.

The thickness of gluteal SCF were measured and studied for 568 patients who visited a tertiary hospital in Seoul, Korea between January 2007 and February 2009 for routine health screening and who had abdominopelvic CT.

The average thickness of gluteal SCF was 15.92±4.08 mm in males and 24.90±5.47 mm in females. The thickness of gluteal SCF differed significantly according to gender. The gluteal SCF thickness was greater than 20.4 mm for 54 (12.3%) of the 440 male patients and 99 (77.3%) of the 128 female patients.

The most common syringe needle used for gluteal intramuscular injections in Korea is a 23 G, 25.4 mm-needle. The SCF thickness must be less than 20.4 mm in order to reach the dorsogluteal muscles to a depth of at least 5 mm if this 25.4 mm needle is used. In many patients, especially in female patients, the 25.4 mm needles will result in improper intramuscular injections with the injection being into the SCF. Therefore an appropriate needle should be selected by considering the gender and SCF thickness of patients receiving gluteal intramuscular injections.

To examine the effect of tooth-brushing education on the oral health of preschoolers.

A quasi-experimental design with a non-equivalent control group was used. Two kindergartens were selected and 39 preschoolers from one kindergarten were assigned to the experimental group with tooth-brushing education and 39 from the other kindergarten to the control group. The tooth-brushing education program included 1 session on oral health education, individual tooth-brushing instruction for 1 week and supervised tooth-brushing after lunch for 4 weeks. Oral health behavior including use of tooth paste, tooth-brushing time and method of tooth-brushing, plague, streptococcus mutans, lactobacillus and dental caries were measured before and after the education. Fisher's exact test, t-test and paired t-test with the Window SAS 9.1 program were used to analyze the data.

A significant increase in the use of tooth paste, tooth-brushing time and the practice of correct tooth-brushing and a decrease in plague and development of dental caries were observed in the experimental group.

This tooth-brushing education was partially effective in improving oral health of preschoolers.