Historical Review of Modern Public Health Nursing / 農村醫學 地域保健

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to examine the modern history of public health(PH) and suggest a way forward for PH nursing(PHN). METHODS: This paper is a review article that derives results from literature review. RESULTS: In the period of beginning (up to 1944), PHN began as the PH Department was created in the Hygiene Bureau in 1908 and tasks about nurses were legislated. PHN was limited to infectious disease tasks and performed mostly by missionaries. In the period of foundation formation (1945 to 1961), the Republic of Korea was founded, and PH policies and tasks were defined with the establishment of the central government organization and the applicable laws. In the period of foundation establishment (1962 to 1979), the Regional PH Act was amended, and as a result, PH Centers(PHCs) spread across the country. In the period of foundation expansion (1980 to 1994), the PH referral system of PHCs, PH Units, and Primary Health Care Post was established. In the period of organization in each area (1995 to 2005), PH programs reflecting changes in disease structure and public needs for the quality of life. A regional health care plan was launched. In the period of funtion expansion (2006 to present day), Centers for support health living were established. CONCLUSIONS: In the future, PH nurses need to have a macroscopic perspective that views PH through the overall PH system, and to expand from the existing healthcare concept to the national and global healthcare one.

Effectiveness of Sodium Fluoride as a Glycolysis Inhibitor on Blood Glucose Measurement: Comparison of Blood Glucose using Specimens from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey / 대한진단검사의학회지

BACKGROUND: Accurate measurement of blood glucose concentrations is essential for defining diabetes, and the minimization of ex vivo glycolysis has been recommended. Recent guidelines advocate two kinds of methods for sample collection and processing: either the sodium fluoride (NaF) method or immediate refrigeration using a serum separation tube (SST). We investigated the difference between the two methods in measuring subsequent glucose concentrations using blood specimens from participants recruited for the fourth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. METHODS: Paired venous blood samples were collected in an SST and a NaF tube from 1,103 men and women. SST serum was separated within 30 min, including standing for 15 min, and then refrigerated. The NaF samples were refrigerated, but not separated until immediately before analysis. We compared the blood glucose concentrations between the SST (SST glucose) and NaF (NaF glucose) methods. RESULTS: The mean SST glucose was significantly higher than NaF glucose (99.0 mg/dL vs 96.5 mg/dL, P<0.05). NaF glucose showed a negative mean bias of 2.6 mg/dL vs SST glucose but showed high correlation (R=0.9899). There was no significant correlation between the bias of blood glucose concentrations by two methods and the storage time of NaF glucose. CONCLUSIONS: The negative bias associated with the use of NaF tubes may significantly affect the prevalence of diabetes. Serum separation and refrigeration within 30 min after venous sampling is recommended over NaF method, not only to minimize the preanalytical impact on detecting diabetes but also to reduce sample volume and number of tubes.

Perceived Social Support, Instrumental Support Needs, and Depression of Elderly Women / 여성건강간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was investigate the relationships among perceived social support, instrumental support needs, and depression of healthy, community dwelling elderly women. METHOD: This study was designed to examine whether the perceived social support and instrumental support were correlated with depression in elderly women. Data were cross-sectional and community- dwelling elderly individuals. The subject was 98 elderly women recruited from Elderly Welfare Center and Community center for Elderly. The instruments for this study were Personal Resource Questionnaire-part II, Geriatric Depression Scale (Short Form), and Instrumental Support Activities Checklist. Data were gathered by means of structured personal interviews. The internal consistency of the instruments was relatively good. RESULT: The participants' perceived social support was moderately high and instrumental support needs was low. Depression was mild and moderate relatively. The correlation analysis showed that the perceived social support was negatively related to depression and negatively related with instrumental support needs. CONCLUSION: The findings suggested that more perceived social support, less their depressive symptom in elderly women. It also revealed that the age, marital status, and socioeconomic status of elderly women also are important indicator of the elderly depression. Therefore nursing assessment and the design of intervention that incorporate the determinants supported in this study, such as perceived social support of the elderly women are needed in adopting and maintain health promoting lifestyle for the mental health and effective functioning in later life in women.

Electrocardiographic Findings in Korean Students: Electrocardiographic Findings in Cardiomegaly by Chest X-Ray

Mass screening of cardiomegaly by chest X-ray in 144,021 (male 55,491, female 88,530) students of primary, middle and high school (6~17 years of age) in Seoul was performed and electrocardiograms of 217 cases of cardiomegaly were studied. The results were as follows; 1) Cardiomegaly (cardiothoracic ratio over 0.5) was seen in 0.19% of each sex and it was higher in middle and high school ages (12~17 years) than primary school ages (6~11 years). 2) Incidences of abnormal electrocardiogram in cardiomegaly were 59.5% in male and 54.7% of female students. Major abnormal electrocardiograms in cardiomegaly were right ventricular hypertrophy (24.8%), left ventricular hypertrophy (11.6%), biventricular hypertrophy(4.8%), complete right bundle branch block (7.7%), incomplete right bundle branch block (8.7%), first degree A-V block (5.8%) and premature beat (4.3%). 3) Left ventficular hypertrophy was seen most frequently in high school ages (15~17 years) and decreased with decreasing age. Right ventricular hypertropy was seen most frequently in primary school ages (9~11 years) and decreased with increasing age. Biventricular hypertrophy was seen most frequently in primary school ages (6~8 years) and decreased with increasing age. 4) Complete and incomplete right vundle branch block were seen commonly in 12~17 years of age and first degree A-V block in 9~11 years of age.