• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
• /
• v.26 no.2_2
• /
• pp.293-306
• /
• 2023

The purpose of this study is a descriptive research study to analyze the factors that affect Christians' COVID-19 preventive behavior. The subjects of the study were 262 adult Christians, and the data collected were using SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 21.0 programs. As a result of the study, the subject's religious maturity level was 4.21 ± .55 points out of 5 points, COVID-19 stress was 2.86 ± .73 points out of 5 points, optimism bias was 2.94 ± 1.26 points out of 7 points, and COVID-19 preventive health behavior was 4 points. The total score was 3. 54 ± . 44 points. As a result of the correlation analysis of the subject's religious maturity, COVID-19 stress, optimistic bias, and COVID-19 preventive health behaviors, COVID-19 preventive health behaviors were faith maturity (r=.156, p=.012), COVID-19 stress (r=.216, There was a positive correlation with optimism bias (r=174, p=.005). In conclusion, it can be said that the higher the religious maturity, the higher the COVID-19 stress, and the higher the optimistic bias, the better the preventive health behavior of COVID-19, and the explanatory power of the overall model was 9.4%. In the post-COVID-19 era, it is necessary to develop educational programs that can prevent infectious diseases and promote health in the community.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.49-60
• /
• 2024

Purpose: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had significant physical and psychological impacts on registered nurses (RNs). This study aimed to identify long COVID symptoms and their associated factors specifically among RNs. Methods: This descriptive correlational study's sample comprised 189 nurses (31.57±5.98 years, 93.7% female) in Korea. Self-reported long COVID symptoms were assessed using the COVID-19 Yorkshire Rehabilitation Scale. Data were collected from December 31, 2022, to January 13, 2023, using the online survey method and were analyzed using independent t-test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation, and a multiple linear regression analysis with the IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0 program. Results: A total of 179 participants (94.7%) experienced one or more long COVID symptoms. The most prevalent symptoms were weakness (77.8%), fatigue (68.3%), breathlessness (67.7%), cough/throat sensitivity/voice change (50.3%), and sleep problems (50.3%). The factors related to long COVID symptoms were marital status, type of institution, working time, acute COVID-19 symptoms, and vaccination status. The quarantine period (β=.26, p<.001) and the nursing workforce after COVID-19 (β=-.17, p=.018) were significantly associated with long COVID symptoms (Adjusted R² =.33). Conclusion: Providing comprehensive recognition is necessary for the understanding of long COVID symptoms and their associated factors among nurses and could promote a long COVID symptom management education program targeted at nurses. Moreover, it could facilitate effective nursing care and education plans for long COVID patients.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.52 no.6
• /
• pp.554-563
• /
• 2022

Purpose: This study aimed to determine how undergraduate nursing students' knowledge and health beliefs affected their COVID-19-related infection-prevention behaviors. Methods: This study used a descriptive survey. A total of 188 undergraduate nursing students from two universities in South Korea participated in this study. The data were collected from June 2020 to August 2020. Factors influencing infection-prevention behaviors were identified using multiple regression analysis. Results: The participants' mean knowledge level regarding COVID-19 was 84.05 ± 11.78 out of 100. The average health belief score was 2.80 ± 0.32 points out of 5. COVID-19-related preventive health behaviors were correlated with experiences of searching for COVID-19 information (r = .22, p < .01), perceived severity (r = .24, p < .01), perceived benefits (r = .29, p < .01), cues to action (r = .30, p < .01), knowledge (r = .27, p < .01), and perceived barriers (r = - .19, p < .05). Factors that significantly affected COVID-19-related preventive health behaviors were the participants' years of study, experiences regarding COVID-19 prevention education, perceived severity, perceived barriers, and cues to action. Conclusion: COVID-19-related preventive health behaviors are promoted by increasing awareness about the disease and promoting COVID-19 education in nursing curriculums.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.55 no.1
• /
• pp.11-19
• /
• 2022

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an ongoing global pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Patients with severe COVID-19 exhibit hyper-inflammatory responses characterized by excessive activation of myeloid cells, including monocytes, macrophages, and neutrophils, and a plethora of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Accumulating evidence also indicates that hyper-inflammation is a driving factor for severe progression of the disease, which has prompted the development of anti-inflammatory therapies for the treatment of patients with COVID-19. Corticosteroids, IL-6R inhibitors, and JAK inhibitors have demonstrated promising results in treating patients with severe disease. In addition, diverse forms of exosomes that exert anti-inflammatory functions have been tested experimentally for the treatment of COVID-19. Here, we briefly describe the immunological mechanisms of the hyper-inflammatory responses in patients with severe COVID-19. We also summarize current anti-inflammatory therapies for the treatment of severe COVID-19 and novel exosome-based therapeutics that are in experimental stages.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.69-84
• /
• 2020

This study is conducted to improve the quality of healthcare services responding to COVID-19 by applying the public service quality management framework that is developed from ISO18091:2019 by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety of South Korea. The COVID-19 pandemic has been impacting the world since early 2020, and now in November 2020, it still has not been eliminated. The Korean medical institutions were able to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by agile test and strict cohort isolation. As a result, the so-called K-medical defense has achieved a positive reputation from around the world. In this study, we check and evaluate the current status of the COVID-19 response targeting some Korean hospitals by applying a quality control checklist based on the public service quality management framework. Status of 7 categories are analyzed based on the interview with 3 medical institutions. We also suggest improvements for better medical service quality in case of COVID-19 being prolonged.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.67-76
• /
• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to find stress mediation strategies for pandemic task forces in the future by identifying role stress experienced by local officials in public health centers working as COVID-19 response task force. Whether they suffered from trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to COVID-19 was also determined. Methods: Subjects for this research were 185 public health center workers in 7 northern Gyeonggi cities with at least three months of COVID-19 response task force experience. The investigation lasted for two months, from February to March of 2021. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: The average role stress of research subjects was 2.79±0.60. There were 64 subjects (34.6%) who answered 'yes' for trauma experience due to COVID-19. Subjects' role stress by sociodemographic and role characteristics displayed statistically significant differences in gender (t = -2.74, p= .007), age (F = 6.41, p= .002), profession (F = 0.01, p= .014), and COVID-19 response task (F= 3.01, p= .019). Specifically, role stress was higher for females than for males, those who were in their 20's (than 40's), a nursing profession (rather than others). Role stress was also higher in COVID-19 confirmed response work or in a self-quarantine work. There was a significant difference in trauma according to COVID-19 response roles (χ² = 26.59, p= < .001) and other tasks given or not (χ²= 9.48, p= .002). Conclusion: It is necessary to take measures to reduce COVID-19 response task force's role stress and trauma.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.74-79
• /
• 2022

Purpose: Children with nephrotic syndrome may experience disease relapse or aggravation triggered by various viral infections. Limited studies on the clinical implications of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in children with nephrotic syndrome have been published worldwide. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of COVID-19 on the clinical course of nephrotic syndrome in children. Methods: The medical records of 59 patients with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome who visited our hospital between February and June 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Twenty of the total 59 patients with nephrotic syndrome were diagnosed with COVID-19 during the study period. The mean age at the time of the diagnosis of nephrotic syndrome and COVID-19 in all 20 patients was 4.6±3.5 and 8.9±3.9 years, respectively. Three patients (15%) were diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome relapse during COVID-19 and the relapse rate was similar to them without COVID-19 (20.5%, 8/39 patients). At the time of the COVID-19 diagnosis, fever (85%) and cough (40%) were the most common symptoms. After the diagnosis of COVID-19, all patients showed improvement with symptomatic treatment, including antipyretic analgesics and cold medicine. None of the critical patients required hospitalization or oral antiviral medications. Conclusions: Despite the use of immunosuppressants, the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 in children with nephrotic syndrome were not severe and are expected to be similar to that in the general population. The relapse rate of nephrotic syndrome in children with COVID-19 was also not different from them without COVID-19.

• Women's Health Nursing
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.55-65
• /
• 2023

Purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread widely throughout the world, causing psychological problems such as fear, anxiety, and stress. During the COVID-19 pandemic, pregnant women have been concerned about both their own health and the health of their fetuses, and these concerns could negatively affect maternal-fetal attachment. Thus, this study aimed to explore the level of COVID-19 stress, resilience, and maternal-fetal attachment among pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to identify factors influencing maternal-fetal attachment. Methods: In total, 118 pregnant women past 20 weeks gestation were recruited from two maternity clinics in Daegu, Korea, to participate in this descriptive correlational study during COVID-19. The factors influencing maternal-fetal attachment were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Results: The mean scores for COVID-19 stress, resilience, and maternal-fetal attachment were 57.18±10.32 out of 84, 67.32±15.09 out of 100, and 77.23±9.00 out of 96, respectively. Nulliparous pregnant women reported greater maternal-fetal attachment than multiparous pregnant women (p=.003). Religious pregnant women also reported greater maternal-fetal attachment than non-religious pregnant women (p=.039). Resilience (β=.29, p=.002), COVID-19 stress (β=.20, p=.030) and parity (β=-.17, p=.047) were factors influencing maternal-fetal attachment, and these factors explained 26.4% of the variance in maternal-fetal attachment (F=10.12, p<.001). Conclusion: Converse to common sense, COVID-19 stress exerted a positive influence on maternal-fetal attachment in pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare providers need to recognize the positive influence of COVID-19 stress and implement intervention strategies to strengthen resilience in pregnant women to improve maternal-fetal attachment.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.43 no.3
• /
• pp.363-370
• /
• 2023

Due to the spread of COVID-19, the use of public transportation such as urban railroads has changed significantly since the beginning of 2020. Therefore, in this study, daily time series data for each urban railway station were collected for three years before COVID-19 and after the spread of COVID-19, and the similarity of time series analysis was evaluated through DTW (Dynamic Time Warping) distance method to derive regression centers for each cluster, and the effect of various external events such as COVID-19 on changes in the number of users was diagnosed as a time series impact detection function. In addition, the characteristics of use by cluster of urban railway stations were analyzed, and the change in passenger volume due to external shocks was identified. The purpose was to review measures for the maintenance and recovery of usage in the event of re-proliferation of COVID-19.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.53 no.4
• /
• pp.220-227
• /
• 2020

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess how different social determinants of health (SDoH) may be related to variability in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rates in cities and towns in Massachusetts (MA). Methods: Data about the total number of cases, tests, and rates of COVID-19 as of June 10, 2020 were obtained for cities and towns in MA. The data on COVID-19 were matched with data on various SDoH variables at the city and town level from the American Community Survey. These variables included information about income, poverty, employment, renting, and insurance coverage. We compared COVID-19 rates according to these SDoH variables. Results: There were clear gradients in the rates of COVID-19 according to SDoH variables. Communities with more poverty, lower income, lower insurance coverage, more unemployment, and a higher percentage of the workforce employed in essential services, including healthcare, had higher rates of COVID-19. Most of these differences were not accounted for by different rates of testing in these cities and towns. Conclusions: SDoH variables may explain some of the variability in the risk of COVID-19 across cities and towns in MA. Data about SDoH should be part of the standard surveillance for COVID-19. Efforts should be made to address social factors that may be putting communities at an elevated risk.