The Validity and Reliability of Korean Version of Lubben Social Network Scale / 가정의학회지

BACKGROUND: Over the past decade, considerable evidence has been accumulated showing that social networks influence health. However few valid and reliable instruments exist for assessing social networks among elderly population. Therefore, we translated the Lubben social network scales (LSNS) and tested the validity and reliability of Korean version. METHODS: Ten items, self-administered questionnaires were translated by multidisciplinary committee members. Also they were reverse translated by bilingual and modified from pretest procedure. Reliability was tested by 4 weeks testretest reliability and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha). Validity was tested by factor analysis and construct validity comparison with the Korean version of Duke-UNC and Korean Health Related Quality of Life Scale (KQOLS) were tested for validity testing. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha was 0.75. Four weeks test-retest Pearson coefficient was 0.78 (P < 0.0001). Correlation coefficient with the Korean version of Duke-UNC was 0.58 (P < 0.0001). Correlation coefficient with social function domain of KQOLS was 0.40 (P < 0.0001). Principal components analysis identified 3 factors. Three contents areas are family and friends networks, interdependent social support and living arrangements. CONCLUSION: Korean version of LSNS is both valid and reliable instrument, but fine refinements will be needed to adapt for use in practical settings.

Beta-glucan for Glycemic Control Effects in Adults: a Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Recently, there has been an increase of emerging concerns between dietary fiber and diabetics. Increasing intake of dietary fiber leads to delaying absorption of glucose, and lowering of serum insulin levels. In the past studies, there were inconsistent glycemic control effect of beta-glucan. Our purpose was to assess the glycemic control effect of beta-glucan in adults. METHODS: Electronic searches (Cochrane, PubMed, EMBase), hand-searching and review of reference were done. The search term for beta-glucans [mh], "Avena sativa" [mh], "Hordeum" [mh], beta glucan* [tw], oat [tw], barley [tw], with no language restriction were used. All RCT that included available data of beta-glucan or that could impute dose of beta-glucan, at least one relevant outcome of glycemic control, run-in period more than 2 weeks, and intervention period of more than 2 weeks or greater were selected. A fixed-effect model was used to assess the summary effect of studies. RESULTS: A total of 43 articles were identified, 4 studies met our inclusion criteria and then analyzed. In pooled analysis, the effect size of fasting glucose level was 0.13 (95%CI: -1.25 to 1.51), and serum insulin level was -0.95 (95%CI, -2.37 to 0.47). It was impossible to adjust for sex and age owing to the lack of raw data. CONCLUSION: In this review, the results suggested that there were negative impacts of beta-glucan on fasting glucose and serum insulin level in adults, but we concluded that there was insufficient evidence to confirm about glycemic control effect. More powerful and well-designed RCT were required to confirm about glycemic control effect of beta-glucan.