Factors associated with Postpartum Depression and Its Influence on Maternal Identity

PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the factors associated with postpartum depression and its influence on maternal identity of postpartum women. METHODS: Research design was a cross sectional descriptive study with a total of 89 women within the six month postpartum period. Associations of eating habits, overall sleep quality and other factors with postpartum depression utilizing the Korean Beck Depression Inventory (K-BDI) were done. The influence of postpartum depression on maternal identity was analyzed. Variables yielding significant associations (p<.05) were included in an adjusted logistic regression and a stepwise multiple regression. RESULTS: Mean scores of postpartum depression was 9.42+/-6.08 and 31.5% (n=28) for mild depression, 11.2% (n=10) was moderate and 4.5% (n=4) was severe depression on the K-BDI scale. Perceived health status and overall sleep quality were predictors of postpartum depression. Postpartum depression and the husband's love were predictors of maternal identity. CONCLUSION: Awareness of poor health perception and sleep quality will be helpful to detect for postpartum depression. Strategies to increase maternal identity during the postpartum period would be tailored by level of depression

Trend Analysis of Research Articles Published in the Korean Journal of Women Health Nursing from 2013 to 2017

PURPOSE: To analyze articles published in the Korean Journal of Women Health Nursing from 2013 to 2017 to determine the latest research trends and understand how 2013 Korea Women's Health Statistics were reflected in journal articles. METHODS: A total of 130 studies were analyzed. Research design, types of research, research framework, research subjects, characteristics of quantitative research, characteristics of qualitative research, and keywords were analyzed using a structured analysis format. RESULTS: Quantitative and qualitative research accounted for 83.8% and 13% of these 130 studies analyzed, respectively. Non-experimental and experimental research accounted for 70.7% and 13.1% of these studies, respectively. The most frequent study subjects were childbearing women (62.8%), including college students, mothers, and adults. A total of 69.1% of non-experimental research and 88.2% of experimental research used convenience sampling. Questionnaires were most frequently used for data collection. The most frequent keyword domain involved health-related concepts (41%) among nine domains and the most frequently used keyword was “women.” CONCLUSION: This study suggest that further experimental research should be conducted in the future. Also, adolescent and the elderly women should be focused on as subjects in future studies based on results of 2013 Korean Women's Health Statistics

The correlation between poor prognosis and increased yes-associated protein 1 expression in keratin 19 expressing hepatocellular carcinomas and cholangiocarcinomas

Abstract Background The Hippo pathway plays a vital role in liver regeneration and development by determining cellular lineage and regulating cell proliferation and apoptosis. In this study, we aimed to assess the role of the Hippo pathway in hepatic carcinogenesis and morphogenesis by examining Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1) expression in the spectrum of hepatic carcinomas based on cellular lineage. Methods We examined 913 primary hepatic carcinomas, including hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), combined hepatocellular and cholangiocarcinomas (cHC-CCAs), intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas (IHCCAs) and perihilar extrahepatic bile duct carcinomas (EHBCAs). Our study group was categorized into 8 disease groups, based on histological diagnosis and cytokeratin 19 (CK19) expression, and immunohistochemistry was used to detect and compare YAP1 expression levels between the groups. The eight disease groups we identified were: 1) CK19(−) HCC, 2) CK19(−) scirrhous HCC, 3) CK19(+) HCC, 4) stem cell feature of cHC-CCA, 5) classical cHC-CCA, 6) cholangiolocellular IHCCA, 7) non-cholangiolocellular IHCCA, and 8) EHBCA. Results Positive rates of YAP1 were the highest in the EHBCA group (21%). CK19(+) HCC and non-cholangiolocellular IHCCA groups also showed high expression levels (10% -11%), while the CK19 (−) HCC, CK19 (−) scirrhous HCC, cHC-CCA, and cholangiolocellular IHCCA groups showed low expression levels, ranging between 0% and 5%. Survival analysis, restricted to pT1 stage HCCs and IHCCAs, showed poor overall survival for YAP1(+) IHCCA patients (39 ± 17 vs. 109 ± 10 months, mean ± SD, log rank p-value 0.005). For HCCs, a trend of poor progression-free survival for YAP1(+) HCCs was observed (39 ± 18 vs. 81 ± 5 months, mean ± SD, log rank p-value 0.205) Conclusions YAP1 activation was more commonly found in CCAs than in pure HCCs. However, a differing pattern of YAP1 expression between cHC-CCAs and CK19(+) HCCs and the poor prognosis of YAP1 positive hepatic carcinomas suggests that YAP1 may have a preferential role in aggressive tumor behavior, rather than in the determination of cellular lineage in hepatic carcinomas

Current Status of Patient Safety Regulations, Guidelines and Support Mechanisms in Korean Hospitals

Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate patient safety regulations and guidelines in order to understand their current status, and to examine support measures to improve patient safety in Korean hospitals. Methods: The participants were the safety officers from hospitals with 200 or more beds and 112 hospitals responded to the online survey. The questions covered patient safety regulations, the performance level of patient safety activities, patient safety incident reporting systems, the dedicated professional, training, support mechanisms, and expectations of reporting systems. Results: Among preventative measures, fall prevention and hand hygiene were reported to be most widely practiced (92% and 91%, respectively). Time-out for invasive procedures showed a relatively low practice rate at 70%. Among patient care activities, transfusion, surgery and sedation, medication, and infection management were performed by 84, 74, 93 and 93% of the hospitals, respectively. Patient safety activities included patient safety committee, patient safety cooperation between decision-making bodies, patient safety workshops, seminars, lectures, and training for employees. Conclusion: Patient safety regulations and guidelines have not yet been sufficiently prepared, and a public institution such as a certification authority is of crucial importance to enforce these guidelines