• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.25-36
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• 1968

Introduction In order to improve medical education through the introduction of a concept of comprehensive health care of a community, an area surrounding the University Campus was chosen for the Community Health Service Project. It has been on operation for last 4 years with its major emphasis on family planning services, and maternal and child health care. The major objectives of this survey at the area are to obtain: 1) The demographic data, 2) The health need and trend of medical care, 3) The attitude and practice in maternity care to be used for further improvement of the planning and the services of the project. Population and Survey Method Out of three Dongs of the Community Health Service Area, only two Dongs namely Changchun and Yonhee were selected for the survey. Total number of households and population in the area studied was 3,683 and 21,857 respectively. An interview was performed with questionnaire schedule which was recorded by interviewers. This includes the degree of utilization of health services provided by the Community Health Service Program such as family planning, prenatal care during their last pregnancy, delivery history and complications of the delivery as well as the incidence of illnesses in general. Prior to the interview, all interviewers were trained for interviewing technique for two days. The survey was carried out during the period from October December 1967. Results 1) Demographic Data : 41.3% of the population studied were children under age 15 and only 3.5% were over 60 years of age. Crude birth rate and crude death rate of this area studied during the period of November 1966-October 1967 were 20.5 and 7.7 respectively. Infant mortality rate during the same period was 35.9. 50.4% of the 2,832 households fell into the category of middle class, 39.8% to the lower class and 9.5% to the upper class in economic condition. 19.8% of 2,832 householders had no formal education, 22.7% primary school, and 57.5% middle or higher school education. 2) Health Status and Utilization of the Community Health Service: Those who suffered from many illnesses during the month of October, 1967 were 690(4.6% of 14,891 persons). Classification of these patients into the type of disease shown respiratory diseases 27.4%, gastrointestinal diseases 18.1%, tuberculosis 10.9%, skin and genitourethral diseases 4.5% and gynecologic patients 4.5%. Only 55.9% of the patients received medical care at hospital or doctor's clinic. But among TB and gynecologic patients, 70.7% and 72.4% were treated at medical facilities. 10.6% of 2,832 householders interviewed has ever utilized the Community Health Service Program provided by the Yonsei Medical School, Classifying these clients into the type of service, 35.9% utilized the wellbaby clinic, 31.0% the family planning clinic, 14.7% the home delivery care, and the rest utilized other services such as the premarital guidance cinlic and the sanitary inspection service. 3) Maternity Care: 23.6% of 2,151 deliveries were done at medical facilities such as hospital, private clinic, while 76.4% were done at home. Acceptance rate of prenatal care was 32.6% as whole, but 49.6 of 774 women who had the prenatal care service had their deliveries at medical facility. 45.1% of total deliveries were attended by medical and or paramedical personnel. 75.8% of the deliveries of those received prenatal care were attended by medical and or paramedical personnel while only 27.8% of the deliveries of those who did not have prenatal care attended by medical and or paramedical personnel. 49.8% of deliveries of the upper class, 29.8% of the middle class and 9.9% of the lower class were attended by medical and or paramedical personnel. 6.2, 3.3% and 24.8% of mothers reported about their xeperience of edema, coma and fever during the period of trimester of pregnancy and puerperium. 4) Family Planning: The rate of practice of family planning was 27.9%. 31.7% of them were by IUD, 2.9% by oral pill, 15.2% by sterilization and the rest by traditional methods. Those women who had 3 to 4 children had highest(30.2%). Practice rate among the various methods of family planning, oral pill was the most popular method to whom had 2 or less children. In relation between the practicing rate of family planning and living standard, the upper, middle and lower class practiced 37.5, 29.4 and 19.9% respectively.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.501-509
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• 2013

The purpose of the study is to confirm the effect of the oral health management program in exemplary kindergartens for prevent the dental caries. The study performs the survey on the parents about the changes in the oral health behaviors after the oral health education in April 2012 and measures the patient hygiene performance (PHP) index before the education, after the education and 3 weeks after the education to assess the removal capability to plaque on the teeth surface for the children. The analysis is performed on 130 people who join the program and respond the survey. There is no change in the behavior related to the tooth brushing of children after the oral health education. No change is found from the interest in the oral health education (p>0.05) but the recognition in the importance of the tooth positively change, as well as recognition of the tooth brushing method and the reaction to recommending to tooth brushing. The PHP index of children is significantly improved from 3.87 before the education through 2.71 after the education and 3.27 3 weeks after the education (p<0.001). The observation from the patents shows that their children have interest in preventing the cavities including 33.1% after having xylitol and 60.7% after the oral health education. In conclusion, the study confirms the effect of the oral health management program in exemplary kindergartens to prevent the cavities, meaning that it is required to activate the programs and keep implementing the programs including providing xylitol and education for teachers, parents and children to habituate the oral health behavior of the children and completely learn toothbrushing method under continuous management and reeducation.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.238-252
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• 1998

Reumatic arthritis is a disease with joint pain being one of the key symptoms. The patient suffers from the pain, stiff sensation and edema due to the inflammation taking Place In one or more joints. Accompanying these problems are fatigue, unusual exhaustion, fever, tachycardia and weakness. Inaddition, joints are often deformed and muscles shrink along with the progress of edema, coupled with depression and psychological instability resulting from the loss of the mobile function and limitations on the daily life. Some patients become fed up with the long and hard flight with the disease and just give up, which aggravates the symptoms. Others come to the hospital only when the conditions have become serious. We need to prevent these and guide the patients in the right direction. Against this backdrop, this study aims to look into the relations between the knowledge on the part of the patients together with their feeling of self-efficacy and the compliance. The results are expected to help the patients improve their life, In addition to providing useful materials for setting up appropriate plan for nursing intervention. The study was conducted by distributing questionnaire to 88 patients selected from the out-patient department of a university hospital in Inchon, from April 6 to 27, 1998. The following tools were used the yardstick of self-efficacy, developed in 1997 by the Society for the Health of Rheumatism Patients, was used for measuring the levels of knowledge and the feeling of self-efficacy. The degree of compliance was measured by the data collected from documents in addition to the results of the analysis of the interviews with the patients. The reliability of the tools was confirmed. In the analysis, the general characteristics were expressed in figures and percentages. The levels of knowledge, feeling of self-efficacy, and compliance were expressed in the average values and standard deviations. The relations among the variables following the general characteristics were analysed by the t-test and one-way ANOVA. The Pearson correction coefficient was used for the analysis of factors. Multiple-loop analysis was used to identify the variables affecting the compliance. The following are the results of this study. 1. Among the 88 patients, 18 were men and the remaining 70 were women, with a ratio 1 : 3.87. Regarding the age groups, 23 were between 50 and 59 years old, with those between 50 and 69 accounting for 51.1% of the total. High school graduates or higher amounted to 58%. Religious patients was 67% or 59 persons. Fifty nine percent were unemployed, and 58.3% (49 persons) had two children or fewer. The period of suffering from rheumatism varied between 2 months and IS years, with 70% less than years. 2. The average figure In relation to the of knowledge was 17.63 points over 30 or 58. 76%, which means a medium level. 3. The average figure of the feeling of self-efficacy was 60.06 points. 4. The level of compliance was 3.26, which was above average. 5. The relation between the feeling of self-efficacy and compliance showed an "r" value of 0.37, which was significant. It means that the higher the feeling, the greater the compliance points. 6. The analysis of the knowledge level revealed that the difference is found only between the college graduates and junior-high graduates or lower. 7. The feeling of self-efficacy varied along with the age and education level. 8. The general characteristics of patients as discussed above did not show significant difference with the compliance. 9. Regarding the elements influencing the compliance, the number of children, period of suffering, income, age, feering of self-efficacy, knowledge, and compliance had 54% of significance. In conclusion, rheumatism victims can lead a better life if they are appropriately educated, based on efficient training program from the early days of the disease ; if they become able to manage themselves thanks to the training ; and if they are helped by a program focusing on the increase of the feeling of self-efficacy aimed at changing patient's behavior.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.185-197
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• 1991

An eating behavior research was done with 50 females at a buffet styled restaurant during their lunch time. Of the respondents, 52.0% were professional and 54.0% were graduate school graduates. Of the respondents, 58.0% of the company were friends and 24.0% were relatives. The average time period of eating was $93.0{\pm}23.4$ minutes. The average frequency of taking food was $4.0{\pm}1.1$ and the average frequency of taking food after satiety was $1.4{\pm}0.8$. It is significant that lower frequency of food consumption was directly proportional to the age groups of respondents. The average selected food items were $30.4{\pm}7.1$ out of 175 and the average weight of the consumed food was $995.0{\pm}240.9$ g. The older age group chose a similar number of food items, but the amount of each food item was considerably less than younger. So the younger the age group was, the more they ate. The average food items at one time was $7.1{\pm}2.2$ and the average food weight time was $233.7{\pm}69.7$ g. The percentage of respondents who evaluated themselves as 'ate too much' was 70.0% and those who evaluate themselves 'ate properly' was 14.0%. Most of them were satisfied with the buffet service. The average of number of food items consumed by respondents before cooking was $50.5{\pm}8.9$. The consumption of calories and nutrients was compared with the Korean Daily Recommended Dietary Allowances. The consumed calories were 60.9% of RDAs, protein 104.4%, calcium 77.1%, iron 129.8%, vitamin A 66.5%, thiamin 96.0%, riboflavin 95.7%, niacin126.6% and ascorbic acid 112.3%. This data exceeded 1/3 of the Korean Daily RDAs tremendously and tells us extreme overeating. The energy ratio of carbohydrate: fat: protein was 51.6: 29.9: 18.5. Caloric consumption of animal food was 27.9% and the consumption rate of the other nutrients from animal food was considerably high. But the consumption rate of vitamin A was 90.9% from vegetable groups. Accoding to this study, buffet service gives some advantages. It gives customers an good opportunity to vary their food intake, which enhances eating experiences and can cause an improvemont of food habits. But overeating is a problem. Therefore, we think it is necessary for those women who have influence over their family's food selection, to have nutrition education about a desirable order of eating a meal, food selection, and health problems due to overeating at buffet styled restaurant. There should be some improvement in the management of buffet service. For example, proper temperature, texture, and freshness of the food should be maintained. Prevention of mixed food smells should be considered as well. To lower the price it is desirable to reduce the number of similar items and to use seasonal food as much as possible. A buffet styled restaurant with less food items with cheaper prices is recommended. Various traditional food should be developed for the menu items. We expect buffet services to be sutable to maintain good health and to be popular to any eater.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.105-117
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• 2004

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of aroma therapy on anxiety and pain before and after tooth extraction. The subjects in this study were 60 patients who felt severe anxiety and pain due to tooth extraction. The experiment was conducted from January through March, 2004, by organizing an experimental group and a control group with 30 patients each. The experimental group was asked to keep wearing lavender-containing necklaces from two days before tooth extraction to inhale lavender, and no such an action was taken to the control group. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS 10.0 program to obtain statistical data. and ${\times}2$ test and t-test were implemented. The findings of this study were as follows: 1. Regarding whether or not the experimental and control groups were homogeneous, men outnumbered women, and the largest number of the patients were in their 30s. Those who were married were more than the others who were unmarried in number, and those who lived with their spouses under the same roof together outnumbered the others who didn't, as the rate of the former stood at 65 percent in the experimental group and 86.4 percent in the control group. They expressed high satisfaction at their spouses, since 45 percent of the experimental group and 31 percent of the control group did it, but the difference between them and those who were unsatisfied was insignificant (pE0.347). By occupation, the largest number of people in the experimental group, which numbered 16.7 percent, were self-employed, and lots of patients in the control group were government workers. As for blood type, type A was most prevailing, which recorded 43.3 percent. By religion, 43 percent of the experimental group had no religion, whereas 36.7 percent of the control group were Christian. The most common monthly income ranged from 2 million to 2.5 million won. 2. There was little disparity in past pain experience between the two groups before aroma therapy was applied. The experimental group underwent more pain (6.15) than the control group (5.78), but the difference wasn't significant. The experimental group (90%) experienced more anxiety and fear than the control group(83%), but the difference was insignificant. This fact showed that there was little gap between the two groups in anxiety and fear caused by tooth extraction. Contrary to earlier expectation that pre-anxiety might not be the same. little significant difference was found. 3. After aroma therapy was applied, 50 percent of the experimental group and 23.3 percent of the control group suffered significantly less anxiety and fear about tooth extraction(${\times}2$=4.59, pE.05). And the experimental group exposed to aroma therapy was less nervous(3.0) than the control group(4.39), and the gap between the two was significant (t=13.37, pE.001). Therefore, aroma therapy had a good effect on alleviating their anxiety. During tooth extraction. 73.3 percent of the experimental group and 93.3 percent of the control group felt pain. The former group suffered Significantly less pain(${\times}2$=4.32, PE.05). Concerning the extent of pain, the experimental group(2.53) found it less painful to have their teeth extracted than the control group(5.50), and the gap between the two was significant(t=5.89, PE.05). 4. As to the effect of aroma therapy on alleviating anxiety or fear, the experimental group(33.3%) felt that aroma therapy let them more relieved. Every member of that group was willing to use aroma therapy again in the future, and 86.7 percent of that group perceived that aroma therapy made a difference to dental treatment. The experimental group responded to aroma therapy favorably, as every member of it had an intention to advise others to use that therapy.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.91-98
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• 2006

A filtrate powder, designated as KNF2022, produced from culture broth of Acinetobacter sp. KTB3 was tested for their inhibitory effects on Pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) infection to Nicotiana glutinosa or N. tabacum cv. Xanthi nc. When 1/100 dilution with distilled water was treated to the plants and PMMoV was inoculated, the inhibition was estimated to be 94.3 and 95.6%, respectively. The same concentrations of KNF2022 inhibited infections of Pepper mottle virus (PepMoV) and Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) on Chenopodium amaranticolor by 97.1 and 92.5%, respectively. Duration of inhibitory activity of the filtrate powder from Acinetobacter sp. culture broth against PMMoV infection on N. glutinosa was maintained for 2 days at 80% inhibition level, however, the inhibitory effect was diminished from 4 days after treatment to 50% levels. To evaluate inhibitory effects on systemic host plants of the antiviral agent, symptom developments of PMMoV, PepMoV and CMV on KNF2022-treated pepper plants were investigated. Delayed symptom developments until 10 days after inoculation (DAI) were observed for all the three viruses when the viruses were inoculated individually, and these delayed symptom development effects were maintained until 30 DAI in case of PepMoV. Moreover, PepMoV was not detected by RT-PCR and ELISA until 30 DAI. These delayed symptom development effects were diminished in all combinations of three virus co-inoculations due to synergism of three viruses on symptom developments. Inhibitory effect of KNF2022 was verified under electron microscopic examinations using purified virus preparations. Particles of PMMoV and PepMoV were observed on specimens from 5 min after KNF2022 treatment, and the particle sizes were reached in the range of 200-250 nm and 400-600 nm, respectively. Furthermore, the viral particles were destructed and particle sizes were reached in the range of 100-150 nm and 300-500 nm, respectively, on 60 min after treatments. Reduction of local lesion numbers on N. tabacum cv. Xanthi nc and C. amaranticolor were accompanied with reduction of virus particle sizes. In the case of CMV destructed particle numbers were also increased according to incubation period after KNF2022 treatment and local lesions on C. amaranticolor were reduced.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.746-756
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to investigate food safety knowledge, food safety attitudes, and handling behavior in the elderly. The survey was conducted on 358 individuals over 65 years old in urban and rural areas. Data were analyzed with descriptive analysis and ${\chi}^2$ test analysis of variance using SPSS. From the results on elderly's food safety knowledge, the item 'tangerines should be washed before eating' was correctly answered by urban subjects (75.4%) than rural subjects (49.7%). 'Is it okay to cook meat left on the sink since afternoon in the evening' showed the lowest correct answer rate in both urban (23.1%) and rural (31.9%) subjects. For the item related to food keeping, 'Bacterial cells do not multiply in Samgyetang when it is kept in a refrigerator right after boiling thoroughly', 58.5% of urban and 54.6% of rural elderly answered correctly. Most elderly people showed a tendency to think that boiled foods might be safe to eat. Secondly, for food safety attitudes, urban elderly had more proper attitude regarding the item, 'Namul is very tasty only when mixed with bare hands' (disagree rate 34.9%) than rural elderly (P<0.05)'. On the other hand, rural elderly had more positive attitudes regarding the store principle "first in, first out" compared to urban elderly (P<0.001). Thirdly, regarding food safety behaviors, only 67.9% of urban and 58.7% of rural elderly responded that they washed their hands right after answering the telephone while cooking. Exactly 33.8% of urban and 39.6% of rural older people replied 'defrost meat on top of sink or table' as the defrost method for frozen foods, showing that elderly did not recognize the risk of foodborne illness during improper defrosting at room temperature.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.23-35
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• 1999

Purpose : The hospice movement began about 30 years ago in Korea. However, basic studies have seldom been conducted about the general public's knowledge concerning hospice care and their needs for it. The purpose of this study was to investigate the general public's knowledge of and attitude toward hospice, and their needs for hospice care, and to analyze the needs for hospice care in relation to their knowledge and attitude in residents from a specific community. Methods : The survey was conducted with 924 people randomly selected from a district in Seoul. The data were collected through a self-reporting questionnaire constructed by the authors. With 30 items given in the questionnaire, the level of hospice needs showed Cronbach's alpha .89 in a pilot study and .92 in this study and the items were classified into four areas by a factor analysis. The data collected were analyzed by means of t-test and ANOVA. Results : 1) The average age of the respondents was 38. The majority of the respondents were well-educated. 2) Regarding awareness of hospice care, 54%(501 people) indicated they have heard of hospice. About 74% thought that people should be able to prepare for death in advance. About 83% wanted to be informed when they have life threatening illnesses such as terminal cancer. Also, about 63% responded that patients with terminal diseases should be provided with physical, spiritual, and psychological care for minimizing pain and peaceful death. Regarding the attitude toward hospice care, 74% responded that they would use hospice care if needed. The number of the respondents who preferred home visitation by the hospice team to care for the terminally ill ranked first with 34%. Concerning needs for hospice care : 1) By needs area, physical need showed highest mean(M=4.37), followed by social need(M=3.96), emotional need(M=3.87), and the spiritual need(M=3.79). The overall need level showed the mean value of 4.00 which reflects a considerable need for hospice care. 2) By demographic characteristics, people age over 50, the married, and the unemployed indicated higher level of needs for hospice care. Women showed higher level of needs than did men, and Catholics demonstrated higher level of needs than believers of other religion(P<0.0001). 3) As for the knowledge of and attitude toward hospice rare, the level of hospice care needs was significantly higher in the following groups: those who have heard of hospice, those who are aware of death preparation, those who want information on terminal diseases, those who want to use every method to sustain life, and those who are aware of hospice needs(P<0.001). Conclusion : It is assumed that the findings of this study on the knowledge, attitude, and needs for hospice care in the public can contribute to planning a successful hospice care program. Furthermore, the findings of this study will serve as useful data for the promotion of home hospice care to improve the quality of life of community residents, and contribute to the development of hospice care as a whole.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-19
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• 1971

Nutritional anemia is an important nutritional problem affecting large population groups in most developing countries. Nutritional anemia is caused by the absence of any dietary essential involed in hemoglobin formation or by poor absorption of these dietary components. The most likely causes are lack of dietary iron, and folate, vitamin $B_{12}$ and high qualify protein. Anemia is considered to be a late mainfeastation of nutritional deficiencies, and even mild anemia is not the earilest sign of such a deficiency. Therefore, the object of therapy is to correct underlying deficiency rather than merely its manifestation. Iron deficiency anemia is generally much the most common form of anemia. And it is very prevalent particularly in pregnant women and young children, especially under five year of life. According to the rapid growth rate of infants, dietary iron should he provided for infants over three months of age in adequate amounts for the synthesis of hemoglobin required by the increasing blood volume and for the demands of newly formed cells. The principal causes of iron deficiency anemia are an inadequate dietary iron content, interference with absorption of iron from the intestine, excessive losses of iron from the body, disturbance of iron metabolism by infection, and social and cultural environments. The present study is planned to obtain informations concerning nutritional anemia through anthropometric and biochemical determinations for the assessment of nutriture in pre-school children. Determination was taken in 226 pre-school children in ruraI arae in 1968, 122 pre-school children in 1970, and 1526 hospitalized pre-school children in 1970. The results of this study are as follows; (1) According to Iowa Malnutrition Borderline (85 percentile) for weight, the proportions of underweighed pre-school boys and girls in rural area were 47.2% and 46.2% in1968, and were 36.1% and 51.8% in 1970. According to Iowa Malnutrition Borderline for height, the proportions of underheight boys and girls in rural area were 30.5% and 33.7%, and were 26.2% and 21.8% in 1970. Malnutrition scores of underweight for height values of boys and girls in rural area were 19.3 and 17.3 in 1968, and the scores of boys and girls were 15.6 and 15.5 in 1970. (2) The mean hemoglobin values of boys and girls in rural area were $11.2{\pm}1.8g/100ml\;and\;11.4{\pm}1.6g/100ml$ in 1968. In 1970, the mean values of boys and girls in rural area were $11.3{\pm}1.3g/100ml\;and\;11.7{\pm}2.4g/100ml$. The mean hemoglobin values of hospitalized boys and girls were $11.9{\pm}2.2g/100ml\;and\;11.7{\pm}2.4g/100ml$ in 1970. It is found that 92 of 215 children (42.7%) in rural area had concentrations of hemoglobin less than 11.0g/100ml in 1968. In 1970, 55 of 121 children (45.4%) in rural area and 559 of 1526 hospitalized children (36.6%) had concentrations of hemoglobin less than 11.0g/100ml. (3) The mean hematocrit levels of hospitalized boys and girls were $35{\pm}26.8%\;and\;35.4{\pm}6.4%$ in 1970. And 443 of 1334 hospitalized children (33.2%) had hematocrit values below 33%. (4) The average mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration levels of hospitalized boys and girls were $32.4{\pm}2.2\;and\;32.3{\pm}2.2$ in 1970. And 1016 of 1352 hospitalized children (75.1%) had the mean corpuscular hemoglobin values below 34. (5) The mean iron values of young children in rural area and hospitalized children were $62.0{\pm}6.3{\mu}g/100ml\;and\;60.7{\pm}22.8{\mu}g/100ml$. The proportions of anemia cases below $50{\mu}g/100ml$ in rural area was 37.9%, and 34.3% in hospitalized children. (6) The mean total iron binding capacity of young children in rural area was $376{\pm}57.88{\mu}g/100ml,\;and\;342.2{\pm}6.15{\mu}g/100ml$ in hospitalized children. (7) The average transferrin saturation percentage of young children in rural area was $16.9{\pm}4.7%,\;and\;18.0{\pm}8.4%$ in hospitalized children. The proportions of anemia cases below 15% of young chi1dren in rural area and hospitalized children were 48.3% and 41.2%. Therefore, authors wish to recommend that the following further studies should be undertaken: (1) Standardization of simplied laboratory examination of nutritional anemia. (2) The prevalence of nutritional anemia and the requirements of iron, folate, and vitamin $B_{12}$ of pre-school children. (3) The content and absorption of iron in Korean food. (4) The pathogenesis of nutritional anemia and prevention of parasitic disease. (5) Maternal health and nutrition education.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.219-229
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• 2003

Background : The management of thoracic empyema and complicated parapneumonic effusion requires adequate antibiotics use and prompt drainage of infected pleural space. Tube thoracostomy for loculated empyema has low success rate and is also an invasive procedure with potential morbidity. Complications include hemothorax, perforation of intra-abdominal or intra-thoracic organs, diaphragmatic laceration, empyema, pulmonary edema, and Horner's syndrome. Given the potential morbidity of traditional chest tube insertion, use of the image-guided pigtail catheter drainage(PCD) of empyema has been employed. We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of patients with empyema or complicated parapneumonic effusion to determine the efficacy of percutaneous pigtail catheter drainage. Materials and Methods : 45 patients with complicated parapneumonic effusions or empyema were treated at Gil medical center from January 1998 to June, 1999. All were initially given PCD procedure and the following data were collected: clinical symptoms at the time of diagnosis, alcohol and smoking history, the characteristics of pleural effusion, radiologic findings (at the time of catheter insertion, removal and 1 month after catheter removal), the amount of effusion drained for initial 24 hours, the time from catheter insertion to removal and the use of surgical approach. Results : Male gender was more frequent (42 men vs. 3 women), the mean age of the study population was 52(range: 21~74) years. Empyema was found in 23 patients, complicated parapneumonic effusion in 22 patients. Four patients(three, parapneumonic effusion and one, with empyema) with PCD only treated, were cast off. Among the available patients, 36(80%) patients were treated with PCD only or PCD with urokinase. Among the 23 patients with empyema, surgical approach was required in five patients(27.1%, one required decortication, four open thoracostomy), one patient, treated with surgical procedure, died of sepsis. There was no significant difference of the duration of catheter insertion, the duration of hospital admission after catheter insertion and the mean amount of effusion drained for initial 24 hours between the patients with only PCD treated and the patients treated with PCD and urokinase. The duration of catheter insertion($9.4{\pm}5.25days$ vs. $19.2{\pm}9.42days$, p<0.05) and the duration of hospital admission after catheter insertion($15.9{\pm}10.45days$ vs. $38.6{\pm}11.46days$, p<0.01) of the patients with only PCD treated were more longer than those of the patients treated with surgical procedure after PCD. They were same between the patients treated with urokinase after PCD and the patients treated with surgical procedure after PCD($11.1{\pm}7.35days$ vs. $19.2{\pm}9.42days$, p<0.05, $17.5{\pm}9.17days$ vs. $38.6{\pm}11.46days$, p<0.01). In 16 patients(44.4%) with only PCD treated or PCD and urokinase treated, the amount of effusion at the time of catheter removal was decreased more than 75% and in 17 patients(47.2%) effusion decreased 50~75%. .In one patient effusion decreased 25~50%, in two patients effusion decreased less than 25%. One month after catheter removal, in 35 patients(97.2%, four patients were cast off), the amount of pleural effusion was successfully decreased more than 50%. There were no complications related to pigtail catheter insertion. Conclusion : In this study, PCD seemed to be an early efficacious procedure in treating the patients with complicated parapneumonic effusion or empyema without any serious procedure related complication.