Most efforts to improve tuberculosis treatment adherence target the patient and his or her behavior. This study examined the effects of behavioral modification training for these patients. Based on Bandura's behavioral principles of modeling, intervention strategies using a video program were devised to elicit specific patient target behaviors considered to improve patients' adher ence to tuberculosis treatment regimens. A random assignment, two-group (experimental group and control group) research design including 81 subjects was used. The main outcomes measured were pill taking measured with the Medication Event Monitaring System(MEMS) Medication Cap, patients' self-efficacy, and their knowledge of tuberculosis. The findings are as follows: 1) There was a significant difference between the experimental group and the control group in patients' feelings of self-efficacy. That is, the patients who received the behavior modification program showed greater feeling of self-efficacy to initiate and change their behavior for the tuberculosis treatment regimen than the patients who did not receive the program(t=3.51, p=0. 01). 2) There was a significant difference between the experimental group and the control group in patients' knowledge of tuberculosis. That is, the patients who received the behavior modification program showed higher level of knowledge of tuberculosis than the patients who did not receive the program(t=2.15, p=0.03). 3) There was a significant difference between the experimental group and the control group in patients' adherence to tuberculosis treatment regimens. That is, the patients who received the behavior modification program showed greater adherence to the treatment regimens than the patients who did not receive the program(t=5.11, P=0.00). The study findings provided useful insights into nursing practice, particularly in planning intervention strategies aimed at enhancing patients' adherence in tuberculosis that may also be relevant to other chronic diseases with patient adherence problems.

Many patients of acute myocardial infarction showed delay time before seeking treatment although they needed immediate thrombolytic therapy once they perceived their symptoms. The objectives of this study were to identify the relationship between clinical symptoms and the delay, and to find the time spent before seeking the treatment. This study was a retrospective research. The delay time for the treatment consisted of the length of delay from symptom onset to patients' decision (T1), from patients' decision making to finding transportation (T2), and from taking transportation to the first hospital arrival(T3). The subjects were 89 patients who were admitted in the ICU and Cardiac Ward at Chonnam University Hospital with the first attack of acute myocardial infarction. The data was collected for three months from March 1st to May 31st of 1998 through questionnaires and reviewing patients' charts: The chart information was suppled by two nurses working at the ICU and Cardiac Ward. The data was analyzed by using frequency, mean and ANOVA through the SAS program. The results of study summarized as follows: 1. Sixty two patients (69.7%) were male and twenty seven patients (30.3%) were female, the ratio of male to female was 2.3 : 1. 2. In daily life, the 70.8% of the patients felt chest pain and discomfort fatigue in 67.4%, dyspnea in 57.3%, and pain in arm, neck, and jaw in 52.8%. During the attack, 97.8% of the patients felt chest pain and discomfort dyspnea in 82.1%, pain in arm, neck, jaw in 67.4% and perspiration in 51.7%. 3. The length of time a patient spent seeking time for treatment (T1+T2+T3) was 94.6 minutes, in which the time for patients' decision making for treatment (T1) was 70.3 minutes, time for finding transportation (T2) was 8.2 minutes, and time for the transportation of the patient to the first hospital (T3) was 16.1 minutes. Time for patients' decision making to go to a hospital(T1) was 74.2% of the total time sought for treatment.

The main purposes of this study were to determine the interval between the onset of symptoms of myocardial infarction and treatment-seeking time and identify the factors related to the interval time. This study used a retrospective design, The sample consisted of 45 patients aged over 30 who were diagnosed with an acute myocardial infarction at two large university affiliated medical center from September 1, 1997 to June 30, 1998. Data was collected by using questionnaires, which included demographic data, premonitory clinical signs and symptoms of myocardial infarction, and a measure of the severity of the signs and symptoms. Also semi-structured interviews and chart reviews were used to obtain information related to treatment seeking time. The results of this study are summarized as follows: 1. The most frequent premonitory clinical symptom was chest pain(92.9%), the second, was perspiration(81.0%), and the next were nausea(40.5%) and dyspnea(38.1%). Thirty two patients reported having more than four premonitory signs and symptoms. Patients described the characteristics of chest pain as "something very heavy pressing down "(26.2%), "felt like my chest would burst"(24.4%), or "sharp pain"(16.7%). Over 95% of the sample reported having chest pain. 2. Twenty two (52.4%) patients reported to have "very severe" premonitory pain. 3. The mean time interval between the onset of signs and symptoms and the arrival at the medical center was 6.39+/-0.80 hours in 42 samples, the mean time from the onset to arrival at a local hospital was 3.27+/-.39 hours and for transfer from a local hospital to the medical center was 4.75+/-.87 hours in patients who had arrived at medical center via local hospital. 4. The severity of premonitory signs and symptoms did not differ significantly according to existence of premonitory signs and symptoms. 5. There was no significant relationship between treatment-seeking time and age, gender, marital status, economic status, occupation, or residence. But education had significant relationship(r=-0.51, p=0.01). Analysis of difference of the time interval according to the premonitory signs and symptoms showed that the time was shorter in patients who experienced nausea or dysnea(U=115.50, p=0.01, U=132.00, p=0.04), however the severity of premonitory signs and symptoms did not have statistical significance.

This study evaluated the Comparison of the Effectiveness of Pelvic Floor Muscle exercise and Biofeedback treatment for Genuine Stress Incontinence I assigned 60 participants to 2 groups : 30 to the pelvic floor muscle exercise group and 30 to the biofeedback group. Treatment protocol lasted for 6 weeks. Peak pressure, and duration time of pelvic muscle contraction were evaluated by a perineometer. Lower urinary symptoms, sexual matter and life style scores were achieved by using Jackson's scale. The treatment efficacy of the pelvic floor muscle exercise is compared with the biofeedback group and the main results of the comparison are as follows: 1. Pelvic muscle contraction 1) The peak pressure in the biofeedback group was significantly increased(P=0.000). 2. The frequency and quantity of incontinence 1) The frequency of incontinence in the biofeedback group was significantly decreased(P=0.000). 2) The quantity of incontinence in the biofeedback group was significantly decreased(P=0.000). 3. The lower urinary symptoms Daily frequency(P=0.000), nocturia(P=0.000), urgency(P=0.000), bladder pain(P=0.000), unexplained incontinence(P=0.048), wearing protection(P=0.022), changing outer clothing(P=0.005), hesitancy(P=0.008), intermittent stream(P=0.000), abnormal strength of stream(P=0.004), retention(P=0.000), incomplete emptying(P=0.000), and inability to stop mid steam(P=0.006) of the lower urinary symptoms in the biofeedback group were significantly decreased. 4. The sexual matters The dry vagina(P=0.004) and pain during sexual intercourse(P=0.002) in the biofeedback group was significantly decreased. 5. The life style. The fluid intake restriction(P=0.007), affected daily task(P=0.003), avoidance of places & situation(P=0.003), interference in Physical activity(P=0.002), interference in relationship with other people(P=0.01), and feeling about the rest of life with urinary symptom(P=0.000) in the biofeedback group were significantly decreased. In conclusion, the biofeedback treatment was more effective than the pelvic floor muscle exercise in genuine stress incontinence.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of regular exercise during dexamethasone injection in the body weight, weight of hind-limb muscles, myofibrillar protein content and glutamine synthetase activity. 180-200g female Wistar were divided into four groups: control, exercise, dexamethasone injection(dexa), and exercise during dexamethasone injection(D+E) group. The dexa group received daily subcutaneous injection of dexamethasone at a dose of 4mg/kg body weight for 7days. The exercise group ran on a treadmill for 60min/day(20minutes every 4 hours) at 10m/min and a 10degrees grade. The control group received daily subcutaneous injection of normal saline at a dose of 4mg/kg body weight for 7 days. The D+E group ran on a treadmill for 60min/day(20minutes every 4 hours) at 10m/min and a 10degrees grade during dexamethasone injection. Body weight of the control group increased significantly from days of experiment, that of the dexa group decreased significantly from day 4 of the dexa group decrease significantly from day 4 of the experiment resulting in a 82.4% decrease compared to the first day of the experiment. Body weight of the D+E group decrease significantly from day 5 of experiment resulting in a 81.77% decrease compared to the first day of the experiment. Body weights, muscle weight and myofibrillar protein content of the plantaris and gastrocnemius decrease significantly and muscle weight of the sleys tended to decrease with dexamethasone injection. Glutamine synthetase activity of the hind-limb muscles increase significantly with the dexamethasone injection. The relative weight of the soleus was comparable to the control group and that of plantaris decrease significantly and that of gastrocnemius tended to decrease compared to that of the control in the dexa group. Body weight and muscle weight of the plantaris and gastronemius of the exercise group were comparable to the control group, and the muscle weight of soleus showed a tendency to increase. The relative weight of the soleus increased significantly and that of the plantaris and gastrocnemius were comparable to the control in the exercise group. Myofibrillar protein content of the soleus and plantaris increased significantly and there was no change of GS activity of the hind-limb muscles compared to the control in the exercise group. Body weight of the D+E group was comparable to the dexa group, muscle weight of the hind-limb muscles increased significantly. Myofibrillar protein content of the soleus and plantaris increase significantly and that of the gastrocnemius tendency to increase compared to the dexa group. Body weight and muscle weight of the plantaris and gastrocnemius of the D+E group did not recover to that of the control group. Muscle weight of the soleus recovered to that of the control group. The relative weight and myofibrillar protein content of the hind-limb muscles recovered to that of the control group. From these results, it is suggested that regular exercise during dexamethasone injection might attenuate the muscle atrophy of the hind-limb muscles.