The Effects of Floor-seated Exercise Program on Physical Fitness, Depression, and Sleep in Older Adults: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Summary: Background: Older adults with deteriorating health and limited activity levels spend most of their leisure time sitting on the floor; this indicates the need for preventive programs to increase the accessibility of exercise. We developed a floor-seated exercise program (FSEP) for them and examined its effect. Methods: A randomized comparison of pre-and post-test design was used with 77 participants assigned to either an exercise group (n = 39 in three clusters) or control group (n = 38 in three clusters) in six senior community centers. The final sample included 33 participants who completed the FSEP for 12 weeks, and 30 control participants. The exercise group participated in the FSEP four days a week; they were provided direct and videotaped instruction respectively for two days each by a peer volunteer at the senior community center to which the participants' belonged. Results: Adjusted analysis revealed that the 12-week FSEP was significantly effective in enhancing muscle strength (p < 0.005) and shoulder flexibility (p = 0.001), except in the non-dominant side wrist muscle strength and shoulder flexibility. Further, it reduced depression (p = 0.001), but had no significant effect on sleep quality (p = 0.087). Conclusion: FSEP should be adopted as a health promotion program at senior community centers for South Korean older adults. Keywords: depression, elderly, exercise, physical fitness, slee

Relationship between technological influences and caring attributes of Korean nurses

With many well-prepared nurse academics, a buoyant economy and an advanced health-care system, it is timely that research addresses some of the features and characteristics of Korean nurses and communicates this to the English-speaking world. This study focuses on Korean registered nurses and their views of themselves as carers in a modern technological environment. By collecting data from a sample of 560 registered nurses and using an instrument previously administered in an international sample, comparisons to normative data are presented and contrasted to recent reports. The instrument uses Likert items to measure caring attributes and technological influences. The results show that older, more experienced and more qualified Korean nurses tend to report significantly higher scores for caring attributes, yet approximately 80% of the sample were aged less than 30, 70% were unmarried, 70% had less than 6 years experience and 60% were diploma prepared. These results are discussed in the light of normative findings from the international study and, in the context of this unique homogeneous cultural sample, concern is expressed about the lack of senior role models and the apparent drain of senior professionals

Effect of COPD on symptoms, quality of life and prognosis in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Abstract Background Many studies have reported the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and its effects and prognosis in patients with lung cancer, but few have considered quality of life and survival of patients with lung cancer according to severity of airway obstruction. This study investigated the presence of COPD and the severity of airway obstruction in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and analyzed how these factors affected symptoms, quality of life, and prognosis. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the prospective lung cancer database of the Catholic Medical Centers at the Catholic University of Korea from 2014 to 2017. We enrolled patients with advanced NSCLC and evaluated quality of life using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30. We also estimated pulmonary function and analyzed survival data. Results Of the 337 patients with advanced NSCLC, 170 (50.5%) had COPD and 167 (49.5%) did not. Significant differences were observed in symptoms between the two groups. The COPD group complained of more symptoms, such as cough, sputum, and dyspnea, than those in the non-COPD group. The distribution according to the severity of obstruction in the COPD group was as follows: Grade 1 (FEV1 ≥ 80%) 35 patients (20.6%), Grade 2 (50% ≤ FEV1 < 80%) 103 patients (60.6%), Grade 3 (30% ≤ FEV1 < 50%) 24 patients (14.1%), and Grade 4 (FEV1 < 30%) 8 patients (4.7%). The presence of COPD did not affect overall quality of life in patients with NSCLC, but as the airway obstruction increased, physical function decreased, and fatigue and dyspnea were more frequent. The overall median survival of the COPD group was shorter than that of the non-COPD group (median survival, 224 vs. 339 days, p = 0.035). Conclusions In this study, a high prevalence of COPD was found among patients with advanced NSCLC, and COPD patients complained about various symptoms and had diminished quality of life in several sectors. Therefore, it is necessary to actively evaluate quality of life, lung function, and symptoms in patients with lung cancer and reflect them in the treatment and management plans of these patients

Trends in Nursing Research on Infections: Semantic Network Analysis and Topic Modeling

Background: Many countries around the world are currently threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic, and nurses are facing increasing responsibilities and work demands related to infection control. To establish a developmental strategy for infection control, it is important to analyze, understand, or visualize the accumulated data gathered from research in the field of nursing. Methods: A total of 4854 articles published between 1978 and 2017 were retrieved from the Web of Science. Abstracts from these articles were extracted, and network analysis was conducted using the semantic network module. Results: ‘wound’, ‘injury’, ‘breast’, “dressing”, ‘temperature’, ‘drainage’, ‘diabetes’, ‘abscess’, and ‘cleaning’ were identified as the keywords with high values of degree centrality, betweenness centrality, and closeness centrality; hence, they were determined to be influential in the network. The major topics were ‘PLWH’ (people living with HIV), ‘pregnancy’, and ‘STI’ (sexually transmitted infection). Conclusions: Diverse infection research has been conducted on the topics of blood-borne infections, sexually transmitted infections, respiratory infections, urinary tract infections, and bacterial infections. STIs (including HIV), pregnancy, and bacterial infections have been the focus of particularly intense research by nursing researchers. More research on viral infections, urinary tract infections, immune topic, and hospital-acquired infections will be needed