• Korea journal of population studies
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.207-234
• /
• 2001

Even though the number of Korean Americans has dramatically increased over the last 20 years, there have been very few studies that have examined the health of this population. This paper investigates the contemporary health status of Korean Americans in comparison to Koreans, employing mortality related health measures: life expectance, age-specific death rates, and leading cause of death. Overall, we find that Korean American adults enjoy longer life expectancy and lower age-specific death rates than do their Korean counterparts, suggesting superior health status of the former as compared to the latter. Comparison of leading causes of death indicates that Korean American adults (age of 25-64) are more likely to die from neoplasms than are their Korean counterparts, while Koreans show a dramatically higher probability of death from liver-related diseases than Korean Americans. When these two cause of death are regressed on various demographic and socioeconomic factors, the difference in prevalence of neoplasms between the two populations disappeared, while that of liver-related diseases remains unaffected. Based on the outcomes from this research, we suggest that Korean Americans are a self-selected group in terms of health and socioeconomic status, and they adopt healthy behaviors after immigration. This has resulted in the relatively superior health of Korean Americans as compared to Koreans.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.1-14
• /
• 2005

Objectives: This study attempts to analyze the length of hospital stay and expenses of frequent disease admitted in a Vaterans Hospital. Methods: Data was collected from January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2003 from the Claim records of 9,640 patients in a Vaterans Hospital. Results: The results were as follows: 1. In age & sex distribution, there was male 70.9%, female 29.1%, and 35.8% of them is 70 age group. Frequency by insurance program was Health insurance 78.1%, Medical aid 14.2%, no insurance 4.1%, others 3.6%. Distribution of each department was internal medicine 28.3%, orthopedic surgery 21.3%, surgery 16.6%, neurosurgey 7.1%, pediatrics 5.9%. Also, in the veterans group, male to female patient ratio was 99.3% male to 0.7% female, them over 70 years old was 51.6%, and them which live in daejeon was 43.5%. 2. In frequency of disease, there was gastroenteritis 4.8%, pneumonia 3.8%, cartaract 3.7%, cerebral infarct 3.2%, hyperplasia of prostate 3.0%. In frequency of korean standard classification of diseases, there was injury and poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes 17.1%, diseases of digestive system 16.1%, diseases of musculoskeletal system and connective tissue 13.9%, diseases of respiratory system 9.4%, diseases of genitourinary system 8.6%. Also, in veterans group, frequency of them was diseases of musculoskeletal system and connective tissue 19.4%, diseases of digestive system 16.8%, injury and poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes 15.7%, diseases of genitourinary system 9.7%, diseases of circuatory system 8.2%. 3. Average length of hospital stay was 29.0 days for total patients, 51.8 days for the veterans group, 15.7 days for the non-veterans one. Average total expenses was 3,669,579 won, the veterans group 7,263,877 won, the non-veterans one 1,560,333 won. The ratio of insurer to insuree was 55.2 : 44.8, the ratio of amount paid by patient in the veterans group 61.7%, in the non-veterans one 33.0%. 4. In items of medical expenses, fee for hospital accommodation was 34.7%, fee for medication 13.2%(injection 7.8%, drug 5.4%), fee for service 48.6%(physical therapy 26.3%, operation 9.7%, laboratory examination 5.2%, radiological examination 3.1%, etc), others 3.4%. In them for the veterans group, fee for physical therapy was 35.3%, fee for hospital accommodation 35.2%, fee for injection 6.2%, fee for operation 5.9%, for the non-veterans one, fee for hospital accommodation 35.7%, fee for operation 16.4%, fee for injection 11.4%, fee for laboratory examination 8.3%. 5. In the comparison of the frequency by Korean standard classification of diseases and distance between the hospital and home, the region under 21.5Km was more frequent in symptoms, signs an abnormal clinical and laboratory findings 56.0%, injury and poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes 55.6%, diseases of the eye and adnexa 52.9%, the one over 21.5Km was more frequent in neoplasms 57.4%, diseases of musculoskeletal system and connective tissue 55.9%, diseases of genitourinary system 53.5%.

• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
• /
• v.39 no.1
• /
• pp.91-117
• /
• 2022

The number of depressed patients in Korea and around the world is rapidly increasing every year. However, most of the mentally ill patients are not aware that they are suffering from the disease, so adequate treatment is not being performed. If depressive symptoms are neglected, it can lead to suicide, anxiety, and other psychological problems. Therefore, early detection and treatment of depression are very important in improving mental health. To improve this problem, this study presented a deep learning-based depression tendency model using Korean social media text. After collecting data from Naver KonwledgeiN, Naver Blog, Hidoc, and Twitter, DSM-5 major depressive disorder diagnosis criteria were used to classify and annotate classes according to the number of depressive symptoms. Afterwards, TF-IDF analysis and simultaneous word analysis were performed to examine the characteristics of each class of the corpus constructed. In addition, word embedding, dictionary-based sentiment analysis, and LDA topic modeling were performed to generate a depression tendency classification model using various text features. Through this, the embedded text, sentiment score, and topic number for each document were calculated and used as text features. As a result, it was confirmed that the highest accuracy rate of 83.28% was achieved when the depression tendency was classified based on the KorBERT algorithm by combining both the emotional score and the topic of the document with the embedded text. This study establishes a classification model for Korean depression trends with improved performance using various text features, and detects potential depressive patients early among Korean online community users, enabling rapid treatment and prevention, thereby enabling the mental health of Korean society. It is significant in that it can help in promotion.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.64-67
• /
• 2005

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome(OSAS) is a common disease in the field of otorhinolaryngology and is characterized by repeated upper airway occlusions occurring during sleep. OSAS can occur due to various etiologies of the nasal, oral, pharyngeal and laryngeal airway in adults. Nasal obstruction can be caused by septal deviation, nasal polyps, concha bullosa, choanal atresia, neoplasms, foreign body, postoperative/post-traumatic synechiae, various rhinitis and so on. There are various kinds of surgical treatment of OSAS including nasal surgery, LAUP, UPPP, surgery of tongue base, tracheostomy and so on, but the effect of nasal surgery on snoring and OSAS is controversial. The authors report the case of a patient who had experienced nasal obstruction, moderate snoring and OSAS and who improved after septoplasty and turbinoplasty.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.182-195
• /
• 2003

Background: Marriage is one of the major life events and the primary source of individual happiness and meaning of life. It is not possible to predict who will marry whom and which marriage will be successful. Marital adjustment has significant influences on an individual and relationship functioning and is associated with mental health. Good marital quality may imply good general relationship. There are several factors that correlate with or predict good marital quality. Especially individual personality factors may be a major factor in achieving and maintaining marital stability, satisfaction and happiness. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible relationship between dyadic adjustment and personality dimensions in urban married women. Methods: Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Eysenck's Personality Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were administered to 215 married women. Data analysis was based on 170 women who provided reliable informations. The descriptive statistics of demographic data and 4 scales were obtained. Then the possible relationships between each data were tested by calculating Pearson's product moment correlations. To test the effects of depression and anxiety on dyadic adjustment, stepwise multiple regression analysis was done. Results: Age and length of marriage were negatively correlated with affectional expression and dyadic cohesion. Educational level was positively correlated with total dyadic adjustment score and dyadic satisfaction. Family income was positively correlated with total dyadic adjustment score, dyadic consensus, dyadic satisfaction and dyadic cohesion. Different family type showed different total dyadic adjustment score, dyadic satisfaction and dyadic cohesion. Psychoticism was negatively correlated with total dyadic adjustment score, dyadic consensus, dyadic satisfaction, affectional expression and dyadic cohesion. Neuroticism was negatively correlated with total dyadic adjustment score, dyadic consensus, dyadic satisfaction and affectional expression. Extraversion and lie were not correlated with any factors. Beck Depression Inventory and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory scores were negatively correlated with total dyadic adjustment score, dyadic consensus, dyadic satisfaction, affectional expression and dyadic cohesion. The result of multiple regression analysis indicated that psychoticism was correlated with dyadic adjustment. Conclusion: These results showed that the demographic factors such as age, length of marriage, educational level, family income and family type were significantly correlated with dyadic adjustment. Psychoticism and neuroticism measured by Eysenck Personality Inventory were significantly correlated with dyadic adjustment. But the correlations with extraversion and lie were not significant. Especially correlation between neuroticism and dyadic adjustment seemed to be mediated by emotional state such as depression and anxiety. These findings suggest that personality factors may be involved in marital relationship and that clinician must consider personality aspect in dealing with marital problems. Future study about differences between control group and psychiatric patient group will be needed.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.27-34
• /
• 2012

Objectives: The analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) is a useful non-invasive tool to investigate the autonomic nerve function. Previous studies on the relationship between HRV and depression have been reported controversial results. Similarly, the correlation between the serum lipids and depression is debatable. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between heart rate variability, lipid profile and depression. Methods: A total of 42 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 32 age and sex-matched normal subjects who had no previous history of major medical and mental illnesses were recruited for this study. A structured-interview was used to assess the general characteristics and psychiatric illness. HRV measures were assessed by time-domain and frequency-domain analyses. Psychological symptoms were measured using the Hamilton rating scale for anxiety (HAM-A), Hamilton rating scale for depression (HAM-D). In addition, the evaluation for lipid profile was performed by blood test. Results: In serum lipid profile test, MDD group showed higher cholesterol ($197.68{\pm}42.94$ mg/dL vs. $176.85{\pm}34.68$ mg/dL, p=0.044), TG ($139.45{\pm}92.54$ mg/dL vs. $91.4{\pm}65.68$ mg/dL, p=0.018), LDL ($130.03{\pm}33.18$ vs. $106.62{\pm}27.08$, p=0.004) level than normal control group. In HRV time domain analyses, the standard deviation of the NN interval (SDNN) was decreased in MDD group than normal control group, but was not significant ($32.82{\pm}14.33$ ms vs. $40.36{\pm}21.40$ms, p=0.078). ApEn (Approximate Entrophy) was significantly increased in MDD group than normal control group ($1.13{\pm}0.11$ vs. $0.91{\pm}0.18$, p<0.001). ApEn was correlated with LDL level (r=0.277, p=0.028), HAM-D scores (r=0.534, p<0.001) and HAM-A scores (r=0.470, p<0.001). Conclusions: MDD patients showed increased ApEn, one of the HRV measurement. And this ApEn was correlated with LDL, HAM-D and HAM-A scores. In this study, the analysis of ApEn would be a useful test of MDD.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.157-164
• /
• 2004

Objectives : This study was designed to investigate depression, anxiety, alexithymia, stress responses between well-controlled and poorly-controlled diabetic patients by glycated hemoglobin levels. Methods : The subjects were 55 diabetic patients(mean age : $49.9{\pm}9.9$, 27 men and 28 women) who were confirmed to have diabetes depending on the laboratory findings as well as clinical symptoms at the St. Vincent Hospital Diabetes Clinic, from Mar. 2004 to Aug. 2004. Korean version of Beck Depression Inventory(BDI), State and Trait Anxiety Inventory(STAI), Toronto Alexithymia Scale(TAS) and Stress Response Inventory(SRI) were used for assessment. Based on glycated hemoglobin levels, the patients were divided into 10 well-controlled group(below 7%) and 45 poorly-controlled group(above 7%). We compared BDI, STAI, TAS and SRI scores between two groups by independent t-test. Results 1) Well-controlled diabetics, compared with poorly controlled group, manifested decreased illness duration($12.2{\pm}55.4$months vs. $55.4{\pm}66.6 months)(p=0.000), but other demographic data showed no difference between two groups. 2) The STAI scores of poorly-controlled group were significantly higher in both state anxiety sores $(38.7{\pm}3.8 \;vs.\;43.7{\pm}6.7)(p=0.29)$ and trait anxiety scores$(36.9{\pm}5.7\;vs.\;41.5{\pm}6.4)(p=0.43)$ than well-controlled groups. 3) No significant differences were found in the score of BDI, TAS, SRI between well and poorly-controlled diabetic groups. Conclusion : The above results suggest that poorly-controlled diabetic patients are more likely to have higher anxiety level than well-controlled diabetic patients. However, there were no differences in depression, alexithymia, stress responses between two group. We suggest that physicians should consider integrated approaches for psychiatric problems in the management of diabetic patients.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.36-63
• /
• 1992

The purpose of this study was development of school health education curriculum in primary school based on analysis of the textbooks published in 1991. 1) The health education curriculum in primary school consisted of four major components such as health education aspects of the healthful school environments, health education aspects of school health services, health education course, and health instruction in related subjects. However, health instruction taught by physical education, biology, and other health related subjects was not systematic organization for health care. 2) A considerable amount of health knowledge and attitude, and some health practices was learned as the result of experiences in other courses, where there was little or no reference to health. It must be developed health edcation course separated from health related subjects. 3) Direct health insruction was represented by the health education course. The health education courses must be considered to be heart of the school health education curriculum. 4) The health education course developed by this study was consisted of eight health units and problems in the early elementary grade or health classes in the higher years. 5) The health education course developed by this study provided the opportunity for acquring new knowledge, attitude, and practice, for discarding the unhealtful attitude and strengthening the healthful attitude and practices of primary school students.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.510-514
• /
• 2003

The Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant disorder characterized by dental and ocular abnormalities. The essential ocular features include partial or complete bilateral hypoplasia of the iris stroma, abnormalities of the angle structures with congenital iris adhesions, and anterior displacement of Schwalbe's corpuscles. Common oral findings are hypodontia(especially in anterior maxillary segment), microdontia, misshaped teeth, delayed eruption of the teeth. Additionally, other systemic symptoms can be seen and early detection by the pedodontist through dental diagnosis should prevent visual impairment.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.17 no.8
• /
• pp.454-462
• /
• 2017

The purpose of this study was to explore the lonely-death phenomenon and to understand the circumstances surrounding the lonely-death cases among elderly people by examining the articles on such phenomenon and the media reports of such cases. The cases of lonely death reported from 2007 to 2017 were used. Case analysis was conducted, and the news articles that described the lonely death cases were identified using an internet search engine. Forty seven cases were analyzed. Several risk factors emerged from the data obtained, such as economic hardship, chronic illness, mental health problems like alcohol addiction, social isolation, disconnection from family members or the neighborhood, unemployment, single household, unmarried or divorced status, and living in an urban area. Based on the findings, prevention strategies were addressed.