• 보건행정학회지
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.131-138
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to compare the health status of South Korea with those of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries and examine the trends. Position vAlue for Relative Comparison (PARC) was used as a gauge for comparison, and five sectors of the health care system were measured: demand, supply, accessibility, quality, and cost. The Mann-Kendall test was used as a statistical analysis method to examine trend of PARC values obtained from 2000 to recent years. According to the results, the demand, supply, accessibility, and quality sectors were higher than the OECD average, while the cost was lower than the average. However, there is a recent trend of sharp increases in health care costs. Some indicators: health employment, quality of primary care and mental health care were lower than the OECD average, and health determinants showed a worsening trend. Therefore, policy-makers need to take this into account and make efforts for sustainable health care.

• 보건의료산업학회지
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• 제10권4호
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• pp.97-107
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• 2016

Objectives : This study aims to : (i) characterize and differentiate between two different periods of baby boomers, (ii) study the utilization of their health care services, and (iii) establish effective ways of providing better health service utilization and preventive policy strategies for upcoming and older generations. Methods : A multiple regression analysis using descriptive statistics, frequency analysis, and dummy variables was utilized to access the presence of correlations between socio-demographic factors and health care service utilization. Results : Medical insurance type, marital status, and chronic disease were factors that influenced health care service utilization. Furthermore, the factors that influenced individual medical expenses were cohabitation, inpatient days, and chronic disease. Conclusions : Primary findings and exploratory statistics revealed that there were strong correlations and interaction among some of the predictor variables. Because of the chronologically limited nature of the sample data set gathered in 2012, it would be helpful to continue to develop or research related constructs that may capture relationships more effectively among extended populations.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.51-59
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• 2023

Purpose: We evaluated the status of patients enrolled in South Korea's pediatric palliative care pilot project based on the experience of a single center. This study examined factors related to end-of-life services and differences in medical costs. Methods: The medical records of 120 patients referred by a pediatric palliative care team were analyzed retrospectively. Data from July 1 to February 28, 2022 were collected and analyzed using the chi-square test and the Mann-Whitney U test. Results: Volunteer programs and psychological support (100%), family support and education (99.2%), and financial support through institutional linkage (62.5%) were provided to the participants. In the deceased group, there were no significant differences in general characteristics, which included age, gender, primary disease, religion, duration of hospitalization in an intensive care unit (ICU) and non-intensive care unit (non-ICU). However, the ICU group had fewer opportunities to access individual pain and physical symptom management than the non-ICU group and there were limitations in linking with external resources. Medical expenses were significantly different for the ICU group, with a 3-times higher average cost than the non-ICU group. Conclusion: Although an individualized approach is needed for each patient in pediatric palliative care, psychosocial care is essential. In addition, if early intervention for end-of-life pediatric patients is available from a palliative care team, the cost burden of medical care for patients and their families should be minimal.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제14권1호
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• pp.50-58
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• 2023

Background: Occupational health services are not available for more than 80% of the global workforce. This pertains especially to informal workers, workers in agriculture and in small enterprises, and self-employed. Many are working in hazardous conditions. The World Health Organization, the International Labor Organization, the International Commission on Occupational Health, and the World Organization of Family Doctors promote as part of a solution, basic occupational health services (BOHS) integrated in primary or community health care. Quality information on this topic is difficult to find. The objective of this study is to develop an open access bibliography, a repository, referring to publications on BOHS and similar innovations, to support progress and research. Methods: The database design and sustaining literature searches (PubMed, Google Scholar, SciELO) are described. For each publication selected, basic bibliographic data, a brief content description considering copyright restrictions, and a hyperlink are included. Results: Searches resulted in a database containing 189 references to publications on BOHS such as articles in scientific journals, reports, policy documents, and abstracts of lectures. A global perspective is applied in 43 publications, a national or regional perspective is applied in 146 publications. Operational and evaluative research material is still scarce. Examples of references to publications are shown. Conclusion: The repository can inspire pioneers by showing practices in different countries and can be used for reviews and in-depth analyses. Missing publications such as from China, Russia, Japan, Republic of Korea, and Spanish/Portuguese speaking countries, can be added in the future, and translated. Search functions can be developed. International collaboration for the promotion of occupational health coverage for all workers must be intensified.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• 제47권1호
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• pp.47-50
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• 2021

Untreated adult or elderly cleft lip and palate patients are rarely seen, but studies on delayed primary palatal closure have been performed in the less developed Asian and African countries, where access to medical care is difficult. A 64-year-old woman visited our clinic with untreated cleft palate with a 40×20-mm-wide defect in the medial palate. Two-flap palatoplasty under general anesthesia was performed to close the cleft palate. After 1 month, the result was favorable without any complications including oronasal fistula. Cleft palate primary repair in an elderly patient is rare and has some surgical problems that are associated with a wide range of defects, but good results can be obtained if surgery is performed well with appropriate considerations.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제16권6호
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• pp.2431-2440
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• 2015

Background: Registry data from four major public hospitals indicate trends in clinical care and survival from colorectal cancer over three decades, from 1980 to 2010. Materials and Methods: Kaplan-Meier productlimit estimates and Cox proportional hazards models were used to investigate disease-specific survival and multiple logistic regression analyses to explore first-round treatment trends. Results: Five-year survivals increased from 48% for 1980-1986 to 63% for 2005-2010 diagnoses. Survival increases applied to each ACPS stage (Australian Clinico-Pathological Stage), and particularly stage C (an increase from 38% to 68%). Risk of death from colorectal cancer halved (hazards ratio: 0.50 (0.45, 0.56)) over the study period after adjusting for age, sex, stage, differentiation, primary sub-site, health administrative region, and measures of socioeconomic status and geographic remoteness. Decreases in stage were not observed. Survivals did not vary by sex or place of residence, suggesting reasonable equity in service access and outcomes. Of staged cases, 91% were treated surgically with lower surgical rates for older ages and more advanced stage. Proportions of surgical cases having adjuvant therapy during primary courses of treatment increased for all stages and were highest for stage C (an increase from 5% in 1980-1986 to 63% for 2005-2010). Radiotherapy was more common for rectal than colonic cases. Proportions of rectal cases receiving radiotherapy increased, particularly for stage C where the increase was from 8% in 1980-1986 to 60% in 2005-2010. The percentage of stage C colorectal cases less than 70 years of age having systemic therapy as part of their first treatment round increased from 3% in 1980-1986 to 81% by 1995-2010. Based on survey data on uptake of adjuvant therapy among those offered this care, it is likely that all these younger patients were offered systemic treatment. Conclusions: We conclude that pronounced increases in survivals from colorectal cancer have occurred at major public hospitals in South Australia due to increases in stage-specific survivals. Use of adjuvant therapies has increased and the patterns of change accord with clinical guideline recommendations. Reasons for sub-optimal use of radiotherapy for rectal cases warrant further investigation, including the potential for limited rural access to impede uptake of treatments at metropolitan-based radiotherapy centres.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• 제18권3호
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• pp.23-36
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• 2006

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe physical therapists' self-reported: (1) attitudes and beliefs about evidence~based practice(EBP), (2) education, knowledge, and skills related to obtaining and evaluating evidence, (3) attention to the literature relevant to practice, (4) access to and availability of information and (5) perceptions of the barriers to evidence-based practice. Methods: Our study sample consisted of a random sample of 90 physical therapists in gwang-ju and junnam. Participants completed a questionnaire. Responses were summarized for each item, and logistic regression analyses were used to examine relationships among variables. Results: According to the respondents, the primary barrier to implementing EBP was lack of time. The results suggest they believe that the use of evidence in practice was necessary, that the literature is helpful to them in their practice and decision making, and that quality of patient care is better when evidence is used. Many of the beliefs, skills and behaviors we examined were related to the education courses and sex. The majority of the respondents had access to online information at home. Conclusion: They noted that they needed to increase the use of evidence in their daily practice.

• Journal of Computing Science and Engineering
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• 제7권4호
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• pp.231-241
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• 2013

Improvements in wireless sensor network (WSN) technology have resulted in a large number of applications. WSNs have been mainly used for monitoring applications, but they are also applicable to target tracking, health care, and monitoring with multimedia data. Nodes are generally deployed in environments where the exhausted batteries of sensor nodes are difficult to charge or replace. The primary goal of communication protocols in WSNs is to maximize energy efficiency in order to prolong network lifetime. In this paper, various medium access control (MAC) protocols for synchronous/asynchronous and single/multi-channel WSNs are investigated. Single-channel MAC protocols are categorized into synchronous and asynchronous approaches, and the advantages and disadvantages of each protocol are presented. The different features required in multi-channel WSNs compared to single-channel WSNs are also investigated, and surveys on multi-channel MAC protocols proposed for WSNs are provided. Then, existing broadcast schemes in such MAC protocols and efficient multi-hop broadcast protocols proposed for WSNs are provided. The limitations and challenges in many communication protocols according to this survey are pointed out, which will help future researches on the design of communication protocols for WSNs.

• 농촌의학ㆍ지역보건
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• 제17권2호
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• pp.113-121
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• 1992

In order to estimate the pattern of medical care utilization and recognition for health factor among the inhabitants in Wan-do district which is located off the southern seashore from mainland Korea, household interview survey was performed from January 15 to 30, 1990 in Wan-do Gun area. The results observed were following: 1. Among the users of medical facilities 40.8% used public health facility as first contact facility. Lower the income level was and longer the residency duration was, the utilization rate of public health facilities was higher. By age groups and medical security status the utilization pattern was likely to disperse to local clinic and secondary contact medical resources. 2. Medical expense and access time were significantly different between primary contact and secondary contact medical resources. 3. Public health facility was recognized as the favoured institute having advantage of geographic and economic accessibility. 4. Statistically significant determinants in public health facility utilization among total medical service were the region, the medical expense, and the access time.

• 대한간호
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• 제37권2호
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• pp.53-62
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• 1998

ursing as a profession is characterized by its holistic, mind-body-spirit approach to the patient. Also, nurses have historically been the leaders in health education and promotion. Parish nursing has a great potential for providing primary preventive health care. services as well as assisting people to access the health care system. While working in the community, parish nurses see the church as the new arena for delivering health care services. The parish nurse program was introduced by Granger Westberg in 1984. The concept of parish nursing is based on several beliefs; health is multidimensional and affects all aspects of an individual-physical, psychological, social, and spiritaul being. Parish nursing is one model in which churches can cooperatively work with health care institutions to address the needs of their parishioners. The role of the parish nurse is emphasized in four basic area: a) health education, b) health counseling, c) referal services, and d) facilitation and organization of support groups within the congregation. The parish nurse programs work chiefly in congregation or commuity where a certain language of faith is ready at hand. This means that the parish nurse works in an ecology of meanings and care which encourages the drawing on the message of God's grace, the practices and habits it encourages. The parish nurse may be involved in the church's health ministries and may work on either paid or volunteer basis; however, one of the most important qualification of the parish nurse is to have the nursing knowledge and skills to practice within the standards of Nursing Practice Act. The completion of standards of practice for professional nurses practicing as parish nurses had been identified as a priority by the HMA Executive Board (1996, HMA). In conclusion, parish nursing promotes health and healing by empowering the faith community, family, or individual to incorporate health and healing practices. There are several preconditions that should proceed to establish the foundation for successful development of the parish nursing program in Korea. First, reciprocal relationship with home health nursing should be considered. Second, correct terms and concepts of parish nursing should be studied and understood. Third, systematic study and investigation should be followed for further development of parish nursing. Fourth, strengths and weaknesses of different models should be studied to develop proper model of parish nursing for Korean situation. Finally, consensus of standardized education program and corporation with various religious communities as well as health institutions should be established. When these preconditions are met, the role of parish nursing as a new program for the promotion of holistic health will be established.