• Information Systems Review
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.97-124
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• 2014

This study applies the concepts of sociotechnical theory and role theory in order to verify the effects of stress (that is, technostress) created from information and computer technology (ICT) concerning role stress and performance. We suggest diverse perspectives concerning the elements leading to technostress along with the stress-creating process of ICT among organizational members. The following four major hypotheses are proposed: (1) Technostress is positively related to role stress (e.g., conflict and overload of roles), adverse psychological outcomes, and adverse IS use related outcomes, (2) Role conflict is positively related to adverse psychological outcomes and adverse IS use related outcomes, (3) Role overload is positively related to adverse psychological outcomes and adverse IS use related outcomes, and (4) Innovation support will play as a moderator between technostress, roles tress, adverse psychological outcomes and adverse IS use related outcomes. A partial least square (PLS) with data gathered data from ICT users of organizations was used to verify the proposed hypotheses. The results supported our claims excluding the hypothesis associated to the relationship between technostress and role stress. We suggest a theoretical implication based on the verification of technostress related to the current concept of stress experienced by individuals within organizations. We also propose that a practical implication concerning the opposite effect of technostress, can be utilized as a method of reducing role stress, and suggests a diagnostic tool for assessing the degree of technostress within organizations.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.277-284
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• 2015

Background: This study investigates the relationship of socioeconomic status with adverse birth outcomes (low birth weight, preterm birth) and the relationship of socioeconomic status with infant mortality, using the birth cohort in Korea, 1995-2010. Methods: 8,648,035 births from National Statistics Offics, 1995-2010 were studied with respect to social variation in adverse birth outcomes and infant mortality in Korea. The effect of social inequality was examined against adverse birth outcomes and infant mortality using multivariate logistic regression after controlling for other covariates. Results: Social inequality were observed in adverse birth outcomes: low birth weight (LBW, 1,500-2,499 g), very LBW (1,000-1,499 g), and extremely LBW (500-999 g) as well as moderately preterm birth (PTB, 33-36 weeks), very PTB (28-32 weeks), extremely PTB (22-27 weeks), and infant mortality. The effect of social inequality was higher among moderately LBW (1,500-2,499 g) and PTB (33-36 weeks) than very or extremely LBW and PTB. Conclusion: The social inequality in adverse birth outcomes (low birth weight and preterm) and infant mortality existed and increased in Korea from 1995 to 2010. The effect of maternal education on adverse birth outcomes as well as infant mortality was apparent in the study results. Especially, social inequailiy in infant mortality was greater among the sub-normal births (low birth weight [1,500-2,499 g] or preterm birth [33-36 weeks]), which suggests, social interventions should aim at more among the subnormal births. This study suggest that tackling inequality in births as well as infant mortality should be focused on the social inequality itself.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.371-377
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• 2017

Background: Social status might be a determinant of occupational health inequalities. This study analyzed the effects of social status on both work environments and health outcomes. Methods: The study sample consisted of 27,598 wage employees aged 15 years and older from among the Korean Working Condition Survey participants in 2011. Work environments included atypical work, physical risks, ergonomic risks, work demands, work autonomy, social supports, and job rewards. Health outcomes comprised general health, health and safety at risk because of work, the World Health Organization-5 Well-being Index, work-related musculoskeletal disease, and work-related injury. Multivariable logistic-regression models were used to identify the associations between social status and work environments and health outcomes. Results: Employees in the demographically vulnerable group had lower occupational status compared with their counterparts. Low social status was largely related to adverse work environments. Especially, precarious employment and manual labor occupation were associated with both adverse work environments and poor health outcomes. Conclusion: Precarious and manual workers should take precedence in occupational health equity policies and interventions. Their cumulative vulnerability, which is connected to demographics, occupational status, adverse work environments, or poor health outcomes, can be improved through a multilevel approach such as labor market, organizations, and individual goals.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.30-37
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• 2020

Purpose: Preterm infants are at high risk for adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been proposed as a means of predicting neurodevelopmental outcomes in this population. It is controversial whether diffuse excessive high signal intensity (DEHSI) represents damage to the white matter or delayed myelination in preterm infants. This study investigated MRI findings for predicting the severity of neurodevelopmental outcomes and assessing whether preterm infants with DEHSI near term-equivalent age have abnormal neurodevelopmental outcomes. Materials and Methods: Preterm infants (n = 64, gestational age at birth < 35 weeks) undergoing brain MRI near term-equivalent age and subsequent neurodevelopmental outcomes were evaluated between 18 and 24 months of age. The associations of MRI findings and the risk of severe cognitive delay, severe psychomotor delay, cerebral palsy (CP), and neurosensory impairment were analyzed. The associations of DEHSI with risks of severe cognitive delay, severe psychomotor delay, CP, and neurosensory impairment (hearing or visual impairment) were analyzed. Outcome data were evaluated by logistic regression and the Fisher's exact test. Results: There were significant associations between abnormal white matter findings and delayed mental development, delayed psychomotor development, neurosensory impairment, and presence of CP. The presence of DEHSI was not correlated with delayed neurodevelopmental outcomes or presence of CP. In multivariate logistic regression analyses, cystic encephalomalacia, punctate lesion, loss of white matter volume and ventricular dilation were significantly associated with CP. Conclusion: Abnormal MRI findings near term-equivalent age in preterm infants predict adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. No significant association between DEHSI and adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes was demonstrated.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.3-11
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• 2021

There is a growing body of literature on the adverse health effects of ambient air pollution. Children are more adversely affected by air pollution due to their biological susceptibility and exposure patterns. This review summarized the accumulated epidemiologic evidence with emphasis on studies conducted in Korea and heterogeneity in the literature. Based on systematic reviews and meta-analyses, there is consistent evidence on the association between exposure to ambient air pollution and children's health, especially respiratory health and adverse birth outcomes, and growing evidence on neurodevelopmental outcomes. Despite these existing studies, the mechanism of the adverse health effects of air pollution and the critical window of susceptibility remain unclear. There is also a need to identify causes of heterogeneity between studies in terms of measurement of exposure/outcome, study design, and the differential characteristics of air pollutants and population.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.39-46
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• 2013

Purpose: Non-invasive blood pressure measurement is widely used as a pre-hospital triage tool for blunt trauma patients. However, scant data exits for using the mean arterial pressure (MAP), compared to the systolic blood pressure, as a guiding index. The aim of this study was to determine the association between adverse outcomes and mean arterial pressure (MAP) and to exhibit the therapeutic range of the MAP in adult blunt trauma patients. Methods: The electronic medical records for all trauma patients in a single hospital from January 2010 to September 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients below 17 years of age, patients with penetrating injuries, and patients with serious head trauma (injuries containing any skull fractures or any intracranial hemorrhages) were excluded. Adverse outcomes were defined as one of the following: death in the Emergency Department (ED), admission via operating theater, admission to the intensive care unit, transfer to another hospital for emergency surgery, or discharge as hopeless. Results: There were 14,537 patients who met entry criteria. Adverse outcomes occurred for MAPs in range from 90 to 120 mmHg. Adverse outcomes were found, after adjusting for confounding variables, to occur increasingly as the MAP declined below 90 mmHg or rose above 120 mmHg. Conclusion: Not only lower but also higher mean arterial pressure is associated with increased adverse outcomes in adult blunt trauma patients. Thus, patients with a MAP above 120 mmHg should be considered as a special group requiring higher medical attention, just as those with a MAP below 90 mmHg are.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.313-320
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• 2022

The KoreaN Cohort Study for Outcomes in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease (KNOW-CKD) was launched in 2011 with the support of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The study was designed with the aim of exploring the various clinical features and characteristics of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Koreans, and elucidating the risk factors for CKD progression and adverse outcomes of CKD. For the cohort study, nephrologists at 9 tertiary university-affiliated hospitals participated in patient recruitment and follow-up. Biostatisticians and epidemiologists also participated in the basic design and structuring of the study. From 2011 until 2016, the KNOW-CKD Phase I recruited 2238 adult patients with CKD from stages G1 to G5, who were not receiving renal replacement therapy. The KNOW-CKD Phase II recruitment was started in 2019, with an enrollment target of 1500 subjects, focused on diabetic nephropathy and hypertensive kidney diseases in patients with reduced kidney function who are presumed to be at a higher risk of adverse outcomes. As of 2021, the KNOW-CKD investigators have published articles in the fields of socioeconomics, quality of life, nutrition, physical activity, renal progression, cardiovascular disease and outcomes, anemia, mineral bone disease, serum and urine biomarkers, and international and inter-ethnic comparisons. The KNOW-CKD researchers will elaborate a prediction model for various outcomes of CKD such as the development of end-stage kidney disease, major adverse cardiovascular events, and death.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.867-872
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• 2016

Background: Esophageal cancer is one of the most serious malignancies. Due to the aggressive nature of this cancer, the prognosis is poor. A network meta-analysis with simultaneous comparison of multiple treatments can help determine better treatment options that have higher effects on overall survival of patients with lower adverse events. The aim of this review is to simultaneously compare efficacy and adverse events of treatment interventions for esophageal cancer. Materials and Methods: In this review, only randomized control trials (RCT) will be considered for network meta-analysis. All international electronic databases including Medline, Web of Sciences, Scopus, Cochran's library, EMBASE and Cancerlit will be searched to find randomized control trials which compared two or more treatment interventions for esophageal cancer. A network plot will be drawn for visual representation of all available treatment interventions. Bayesian approach will be used to combine the direct and indirect evidence. Treatment effects (e.g. hazard ratio for time to event outcomes, risk ratio for binary outcomes, and rate ratio for count outcomes with 95% credible interval) will be reported. Moreover, cumulative probability of the treatment ranks will be reported using the surface under the cumulative ranking (SUCRA) graphs. Consistency assumption will be assessed by the loop-specific and design-by-treatment interaction approaches. Conclusions: The results of this study may be helpful for the patients, clinicians and health policy makers in selecting treatments that have the best effect on survival and lowest adverse events.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.103-108
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• 2011

Objective: To investigate adverse pregnancy outcomes in non-obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) compared with obese-PCOS and control groups. Methods: Women with PCOS who underwent assisted reproductive technology (ART) from August, 2003 to December, 2007, were considered. A total of 336 women with PCOS were included in the study group and 1,003 infertile women who had tubal factor as an indication for ART were collected as controls. They were divided into four groups: a non-obese PCOS group, obese-PCOS group, non-obese tubal factor group, and obese tubal factor group, with obesity defined by a body mass index over 25 kg/$m^2$, and reviewed focusing on the basal characteristics, ART outcomes, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Results: There was no difference among the groups' the clinical pregnancy rate or live birth rate. Regarding adverse pregnancy outcomes, the miscarriage rate, multiple pregnancy rate, and prevalence of preterm delivery and pregnancy induced hypertension were not different among the four groups. The incidence of small for gestational age infant was higher in the PCOS groups than the tubal factor groups ($p$ <0.02). On the other hand, the morbidity of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) was not high in the non-obese PCOS group but was in the obese groups. And in the obese PCOS group, the newborns were heavier than in the other groups ($p$ <0.02). Conclusion: Non-obese PCOS presents many differences compared with obese PCOS, not only in the IVF-parameters but also in the morbidity of adverse pregnancy outcomes, especially in GDM and fetal macrosomia.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.394-402
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• 2023

Background: The optimal choice of valve substitute for aortic valve replacement (AVR) in pediatric patients remains a matter of debate. This study investigated the outcomes following AVR using mechanical prostheses in children. Methods: Forty-four patients younger than 15 years who underwent mechanical AVR from March 1990 through March 2023 were included. The outcomes of interest were death or transplantation, hemorrhagic or thromboembolic events, and reoperation after mechanical AVR. Adverse events included any death, transplant, aortic valve reoperation, and major thromboembolic or hemorrhagic event. Results: The median age and weight at AVR were 139 months and 32 kg, respectively. The median follow-up duration was 56 months. The most commonly used valve size was 21 mm (14 [31.8%]). There were 2 in-hospital deaths, 1 in-hospital transplant, and 1 late death. The overall survival rates at 1 and 10 years post-AVR were 92.9% and 90.0%, respectively. Aortic valve reoperation was required in 4 patients at a median of 70 months post-AVR. No major hemorrhagic or thromboembolic events occurred. The 5- and 10-year adverse event-free survival rates were 81.8% and 72.2%, respectively. In univariable analysis, younger age, longer cardiopulmonary bypass time, and smaller valve size were associated with adverse events. The cut-off values for age and prosthetic valve size to minimize the risk of adverse events were 71 months and 20 mm, respectively. Conclusion: Mechanical AVR could be performed safely in children. Younger age, longer cardiopulmonary bypass time and smaller valve size were associated with adverse events. Thromboembolic or hemorrhagic complications might rarely occur.