Analysis of the Characteristics of the Older Adults with Depression Using Data Mining Decision Tree Analysis

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop a prediction model for the characteristics of older adults with depression using the decision tree method. METHODS: A large dataset from the 2008 Korean Elderly Survey was used and data of 14,970 elderly people were analyzed. Target variable was depression and 53 input variables were general characteristics, family & social relationship, economic status, health status, health behavior, functional status, leisure & social activity, quality of life, and living environment. Data were analyzed by decision tree analysis, a data mining technique using SPSS Window 19.0 and Clementine 12.0 programs. RESULTS: The decision trees were classified into five different rules to define the characteristics of older adults with depression. Classification & Regression Tree (C&RT) showed the best prediction with an accuracy of 80.81% among data mining models. Factors in the rules were life satisfaction, nutritional status, daily activity difficulty due to pain, functional limitation for basic or instrumental daily activities, number of chronic diseases and daily activity difficulty due to disease. CONCLUSION: The different rules classified by the decision tree model in this study should contribute as baseline data for discovering informative knowledge and developing interventions tailored to these individual characteristics.

The effects of chronic lead exposure on norepinephrinergic neurons of the nucleus locus ceruleus of the rat / 대한해부학회지

The neurotoxic effects of inorganic lead, a common environmental toxic substance, include peripheral neuropathy in adults and encephalopathy in children. Behavioral changes including hyperactivity, short attention span, easy distractibility and impulsiveness have also been noted in patients with chronic lead exposure in childhood. The level of norepinephrine in brain may relate to hyperactivity and chronic lead exposure. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of inorganic lead (PbCl(2)) administration in neonatal rats using immunocytochemical and electron microscopical analysis of norepinephrinergic neurons of the locus ceruleus. Lead chloride were dissolved in distilled water at the concentration of 0.05%, 0.1% and 0.2% and the solution was administered orally via drinking water. After 4, 8 or 12 weeks of continuous administration, all rats were sacrificed and the brain was processed and immunostained with antibody against tyrosine hydroxylase, a rate limiting enzyme of norepinephrine synthesis antibody. The number of tyrosine hydroxylase immunostained cell bodies in locus ceruleus was estimated. Densitometric analysis of tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive profiles in electron microscopic photographs were done by using image analyzer. The number of tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive neurons in the locus ceruleus had increased statistically after lead administration. Density of tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive profiles in the electron microscopy had also increased. Degenerative changes, such as intra-axonal vacuolar space formation, were found within tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive axons. Somewhat widened intercellular spaces and retracted processes were also found in the region of the locus ceruleus. Increased tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity may correlate with hyperreactivity of lead intoxicated children. Degenerative changes may be responsible for the short attention span, easy distractibility and impulsiveness observed in case of mild lead poisoning.

Mauriac Syndrome in a Patient with Type I Diabetes Mellitus

Mauriac syndrome consists of a triad of poorly controlled diabetes, profound growth retardation and hepatomegaly. We experienced a case of Mauriac syndrome in an 18-year-old girl who had poorly controlled diabetes mellitus, short stature, hepatomegaly and central obesity. Also at the time of examination, she had complications of diabetic cataract and nephropathy. Fourteen years prior to admission, she was diagnosed as diabetes mellitus at a hospital. Thereafter, she had been managed with irregular insulin injection. On physical examination at admission, her height was 135cm(<3 percentile) and her weight was 39kg(<3 percetile). She was short and obese. The liver was 5 cm palpable below the right subcostal margin. Her sexual maturation was Tanner stage I. On ophthalmologic examination, the cataracts were observed on both eyes and diabetic retinopathy was absent. Diabetic nephropathy could not be confirrned by kidney biopsy due to her mother's refusal. We studied the hormonal, radiographic and histological abnormalities. The hormonal study was normal and the bone age was by delayed as much as 10 years. The liver biopsy revealed glycogen accumulation in hepatocyte. She was consistent with Mauriac syndrome. She was managed by strict diabetic control with insulin therapy, diabetic diet and intensive education. She was discharged with well controlled blood glucose. Five months later, growth acceleration and sexual maturation have not been observed, but hepatomegaly subsided. (J Korean Pediatr Soc 2000;43-837-841)