Influence of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms, Physical Activity, and Depression on the Quality of Sleep in Elderly Women with Urinary Incontinence

PURPOSE: This study was to identify factors influencing the quality of sleep in elderly women with urinary incontinence and examine the relationship among the factors. METHODS: The study investigated 113 elderly women with urinary incontinence who were subject to the visiting care program at health centers in D-gu, D-si, South Korea. The collected data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 19.0 along with χ²-test, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation, and multiple regression. RESULTS: The total Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) of the participants was found to be 11.41±4.34. As a result of the correlation analysis, PSQI was found to have significant correlations with Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (BFLUTS) (r=.32, p<.001). The Korean version of Physical Activity Scale for Elderly (K-PASE) was (r=−.34, p<.001) and the Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form (GDS-SF) was (r=.23, p=.012). Multiple regression analysis found sleeping pill use (β=−.35, p<.001) had the strongest influence on PSQI, followed by physical activity (β=−.20, p<.001), depression (β=.20, p<.001), and lower urinary tract symptoms (β=.19, p<.001). The total model explanatory power was 28.3% (F=12.07, p<.001). CONCLUSION: The study findings are expected to be useful for enhanced understanding of the quality of sleep in elderly women with urinary incontinence.

Health Care Costs of Digestive Diseases in Korea / 대한소화기학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Gastrointestinal (GI) diseases impose a heavy economic burden. We aimed to provide the first report on the health care utilization and costs of GI diseases in Korea. METHODS: We collected the data from all insurance claims database of National Health Insurance Corporation in Korea and the cause of death database in 2007 of Korea National Statistical Office. We compiled information about all digestive disease as a primary diagnosis on clinic visits, hospitalization, and cause of death from these databases. RESULTS: Seventeen million people (35.6%) had a diagnosis of GI diseases during the year 2007. Among them, the proportion of patients with upper GI diseases was prevalent in 54.9% (9.5 million patients/year). The 1/4 patients in out-patients clinic had any one of gastroesophageal reflux disease, irritable bowel syndrome and constipation. Thirteen percent of the total direct cost in 2007 was attributed to all GI diseases, which was 3,649 billion won (0.4% of GDP). The patients with hospitalization occupied by 5% of all patients with GI diseases, however, attributed to 58.9% of GI-related direct costs. GI malignancy was the major cause of medical expenses in hospitalization. Stomach cancer continues to be the leading cause of GI-related death in Korea. CONCLUSIONS: GI diseases causes a heavy socioeconomic burden with high morbidity of functional GI disorders in outpatients care and high mortality of GI malignancy in inpatient care. This report highlights the healthcare utilization burden of GI diseases for researchers and public health policy maker to create new directions of integrated researches and health care plan.

Enhanced skin wound healing by a sustained release of growth factors contained in platelet-rich plasma

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) contains growth factors that promote tissue regeneration. Previously, we showed that heparin-conjugated fibrin (HCF) exerts the sustained release of growth factors with affinity for heparin. Here, we hypothesize that treatment of skin wound with a mixture of PRP and HCF exerts sustained release of several growth factors contained in PRP and promotes skin wound healing. The release of fibroblast growth factor 2, platelet-derived growth factor-BB, and vascular endothelial growth factor contained in PRP from HCF was sustained for a longer period than those from PRP, calcium-activated PRP (C-PRP), or a mixture of fibrin and PRP (F-PRP). Treatment of full-thickness skin wounds in mice with HCF-PRP resulted in much faster wound closure as well as dermal and epidermal regeneration at day 12 compared to treatment with either C-PRP or F-PRP. Enhanced skin regeneration observed in HCF-PRP group may have been at least partially due to enhanced angiogenesis in the wound beds. Therefore, this method could be useful for skin wound treatment.