A Study on the Correlation Between Subjective and Objective Scales in the Evaluation of Depressive Symptoms for the Elderly

Objective@#The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between subjective and objective depression rating scale for the elderly with depressive symptoms. @*Methods@#Thirty three outpatients aged more than 55 with depressive symptoms were assessed with the Patient Health Questionnare-9 (PHQ-9) and the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). Similar items from each scale were paired to investigate their correlations. The level of agreement between the PHQ-9 and the MADRS was also assessed for subjects by using discrepancy-score. @*Results@#Correlation between total scores of the PHQ-9 and the MADRS was significant (r=0.85, p<0.001). There were signifi-cant correlations between the paired items except for the item about volition. These results were the same in the group whose total education years are 7 or more. However, in the group whose total education years are 6 or less, there was no significant corre-lation between the paired items about sleep, concentration and volition. @*Conclusion@#These results demonstrate that using the PHQ-9 in elderly patients is reliable and education level might be considered when interpreting the scale.

Relationship between Kimchi and Metabolic Syndrome in Korean Adults: Data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES) 2007~2012

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between Kimchi intake and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Korean adults (over 19 years old), using data from the Korean National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), 2007~2012. A total of 30,630 participants were analyzed in this study. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed using the NCEP ATP III criteria standards. Out of the 30,630 participants, 8,230 (23.45%) had meatabolic syndrome. When the subjects were grouped by their Kimchi intake, those who consumed a sufficient amount (36.0~82.125 g) showed a lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome (P<0.001). However, multiple logistic regression analysis results after adjusting for sex and age, exercise status, smoking status, drinking status, energy intake, income level, occupation, area, frequency of eating-out, showed that the Kimchi intake did not significantly affect the odds ratio of metabolic syndrome. High sodium contents of Kimchi was the major cause of various cardiovascular diseases, and was associated with the hypertension risk factors of the metabolic syndrome. However, in this study, the Kimchi intake, even after adjusting sodium intake, did not have negative influence on the development of metabolic syndrome.

The Association Study of Kir6.2 E23K Polymorphism and Fat Distribution in Koreans / 체질인류학회지

Obesity is caused by interactions of energy consumption, amount of food intake, physical activity and etc, and these elements are influenced by genetic factors. Obesity related genes which have been known by now are over 200. One of these is Kir6.2 which forms the pore region of K(ATP) channel, and genetic variation of which may result in altered beta-cell electrical activity, insulin secretion, glucose homeostasis, and increased susceptibility to type 2 diabetes. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Kir6.2 E23K polymorphism and fat distribution or metabolic profiles in Korean. A total of 164 patients who visited Dongsan Medical Center Obesity Clinic from February 2004 to December 2005, were enrolled in this study. Screening for Kir6.2 polymorphism carried out by PCR-RFLP analyses. We divided this group into three groups E/E, E/K, K/K. Serum lipid and blood glucose were measured by autoanalyzer. Visceral fat amount and subcutaneous fat by abdominal CT, total fat mass by DEXA were measured. The subjects of E/E, E/K, K/K genotypes were 24, 79, and 61, respectively. The results of ANOVA analysis was that subjects with the K/K genotypes had more visceral fat amount (P<0.05) and higher total cholesterol levels (P<0.05) than E/E subjects group. Visceral fat amount and serum total cholesterol were significantly different according to Kir6.2 E23K polymorphism. Therefore, Kir6.2 polymorphism may act on fat distribution in Koreans.