• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.110-118
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• 2021

Objectives: A growing number of people depend on flexible employment, characterized by outsider employment status and perceived job insecurity. This study investigated whether there was a synergistic effect of employment status (full-time vs. part-time) and perceived job insecurity on major depressive disorder. Methods: Data were derived from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey-Mental Health of 12 640 of Canada's labor force population, aged 20 to 74. By combining employment status with perceived job insecurity, we formed four employment categories: full-time secure, full-time insecure, part-time secure, and part-time insecure. Results: Results showed no synergistic health effect between employment status and perceived job insecurity. Regardless of employment status (full-time vs. part-time), insecure employment was significantly associated with a high risk of major depressive disorder. Analysis of the interaction between gender and four flexible employment status showed a gender-contingent effect on this link in only full-time insecure category. Men workers with full-time insecure jobs were more likely to experience major depressive disorders than their women counterparts. Conclusions: This study's findings imply that perceived job insecurity may be a critical factor for developing major depressive disorder, in both men and women workers.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.286-293
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• 2022

Background: The death rate of workers due to industrial accidents in South Korea (3.61 persons in 2017) is higher than the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average (2.43) and the fifth highest among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries. Although the pandemic of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has changed, the socioeconomic aspects of Korean society, the number of Koreans suffering accidents and the number of deaths in 2020 have increased. It is necessary to take measures to prevent accidents and make comprehensive efforts to return to work. This study proposes research questions about the effect of workers' positive perception on whether to work after accidents and the impact of the experience of rehabilitation services on the return to work. Methods: This research performed a panel logistic regression analysis using data on workers' compensation insurance in Korea for two years (2018-2019). Results: This research finds that workers' positive perceptions of workability and life satisfaction contributed affirmatively to their re-employment. Several factors related to employment (e.g., work period, the number of job qualifications) also positively affect their return to work. However, the experience of rehabilitation services did not have a significant effect on re-employment. The variables of their health conditions (e.g., disability grade, feelings of health problems, age) negatively influenced their return to jobs. Conclusion: These results suggest the importance of workers' mental recovery and the need to innovate rehabilitation services for their employment. Positive thinking and self-rehabilitation could be critical for workers, parallel with social welfare policies.

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.6
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• pp.5-18
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• 1999

This study was attempt to encourage for developing on rehabilitation delivery system and programs as a substitute service instead of hospitalization for accident patients at work, such as hospital based home health care nursing service. It needs vary substitutes service of hospitalization to curtail the length of stay for inpatients who were hospitalized with workers compensation insurance. It focused on developing an estimation of early discharge day of accident inpatients based on a detail statement of treatment for 115 inpatients who were hospitalized at General Hospital in 1997. This study has four specific purpose as follows. First, to find out the status of health service utilization. Second, to estimate the early discharge days and income increasing effect based on the early discharge for those patients. Third, to identify the factors to affect total medical expenditure and the length of stay for those inpatients. Forth, to figure out the need of utilizing home health care nursing service for accident patients. In order to analyze of the length of stay and medical expenditure for inpatients who were hospitalized due to the accident, the authors conducted with micro-analysis and macroanalysis from medical records and medical expenditure records. Micro-analysis was done by nominal group discussion of 4 expertise with the critical criteria. such as a decrease in the amount of treatment after surgery, treatments, tests, drugs and changes in the tests consistency, drug methods, vital signs, start of ROM exercise, doctor's order, patient's outside visiting ability, stable conditions. In addition to identify affected variables for medical expenditure. the length of stay and income effect due to early discharge day, the data was analyzed with multiple regression analysis and linear regression analysis model by SPSS-PC for windows and Excell program. Results of this study as follows. First, the mean length of stay was 37.1 days, whereas the mean length of stay due to early discharge was 28.2 days at the hospital. The estimation of early discharge days were shown that depends on the length of stay. The longer length of stay, the longer length of early discharge days, such as under 7 days length of stay patients was to estimated the mean length of stay was 4.9 days and early discharge days was 4.6. whereas the mean length of stay was 122.6 days and early discharge days was 92.0 respectively. The mean medical expenditure per day were found to be 133.409 Won. whereas the mean medical expenditure per day was shown negative linear trends according to the length of stay at the hospital. The estimation results of the income effect due to 11 early discharge days per bed was around 2,150,000 won. However, it means not the real benefits from early discharge, but the income increasing amount without considering medical prime cost in general hospital. Therefore, it needs further analysis on the cost containments and benefits under the considering as well turn over rates per bed as the medical prime costs. The length of stay was most significant and the sign was positive to the total medical expenditure, as expected. Surgery and patient's residential area also an important variable in explaining medical expenditure. The level of complications was most significant variable in explaining the length of stay. The level of the needs on horne health care nursing service which can be used for early discharge accident patients were shown very high. The needs distribution varied from 65.5% of patients and 88.9% of caregivers, to 96.4% of doctors, and 99.1% of nurses. In addition horne health nurse responded that they can be managed the accident inpatients from early discharge. From these research findings. the following suggestions has been drawn it needs to develop strategies on rehabilitation delivery system in order to focused on consumer's side which is planned for 21 century health policy in Korea. Vary intermediate facilities and horne health care would have been developed in the community based for comprehensive rehabilitation services as a substitutes of hospitalization for shortening the length of stay of hospitalizations. In hospital based horne health care nursing service, it's available immediately to utilize for the patients who wanted rehabilitation services as a substitutes of hospitalization under the cooperations with workers compensation insurance company.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.167-176
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• 2017

Background: This study aimed to analyze the impact of community health care resources on the place of death of older adults with dementia compared to those with cancer in South Korea, using public administrative big data. Methods: Based on a literature review, we selected person- and community-level variables that can affect older people's decisions about where to die. Data on place-of-death and person-level attributes were obtained from the 2013 death certification micro data from Statistics Korea. Data on the population and economic and health care resources in the community where the older deceased resided were obtained from various open public administrative big data including databases on the local tax and resident population statistics, health care resources and infrastructure statistics, and long-term care (LTC) insurance statistics. Community-level data were linked to the death certificate micro data through the town (si-gun-gu) code of the residence of the deceased. Multi-level logistic regression models were used to simultaneously estimate the impacts of community as well as individual-level factors on the place of death. Results: In both the dementia (76.1%) and cancer (87.1%) decedent groups, most older people died in the hospital. Among the older deceased with dementia, hospital death was less likely to occur when the older person resided in a community with a higher supply of LTC facility beds, but hospital death was more likely to occur in communities with a higher supply of LTC hospital beds. Similarly, among the cancer group, the likelihood of a hospital death was significantly lower in communities with a higher supply of LTC facility beds, but was higher in communities with a higher supply of acute care hospital beds. As for individual-level factors, being female and having no spouse were associated with the likelihood of hospital death among older people with dementia. Conclusion: More than three in four older people with dementia die in the hospital, while home is reported to be the place of death preferred by Koreans. To decrease this gap, an increase in the supply of end-of-life (EOL) care at home and in community-based service settings is necessary. EOL care should also be incorporated as an essential part of LTC. Changes in the perception of EOL care by older people and their families are also critical in their decisions about the place of death, and should be supported by public education and other related non-medical, social approaches.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.49-57
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• 2011

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the change in incidence and clinical characteristics of acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis (APSGN) through a single center's experience. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 53 children who were diagnosed with glomerular nephritis at National Health Insurance Corporation Ilsan Hospital between March 2000 and December 2009. Twenty-six of 53 patients falled to meet the dragnostic criteria of APSGN and were excluded. Chief complaints, physical examinations, urinalysis, urine culture, laboratory results, chest x-ray, and clinical manifestations were all retrieved from the remaining 27 patients. Results: The incidence of APSGN by age was highest in children between six to seven years of age, with similar distributions in both genders, and seasonal incidence was higher from November to February when compared to other months, which was similar to the previously reported studies. However, the annual number of APSGN patients did not show a significant decrease from 2000 to 2009. The incidences of edema and hypertension were 59.3% and 48.1% respectively, suggesting lower incidences than those from previous studies. Six patients (22.2%) experienced hematuria for more than 6 months. Hypertensive encephalopathy, one of APSGN critical complications occurred in one patient but resolved with conservative treatment. Conclusion: Our study shows that APSGN still occur as a common renal disease but the disease severity seems to decrease with milder clinical manifestations and less complications compared to past studies.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.137-145
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• 2020

The recent bridge construction projects demand thorough and systematic safety and risk management, due to the increase of risk factors following the introduction of new and complex construction methods and technologies. Among many types of damages that can occur in bridge construction projects, the damages to third parties who are not directly related to the existing property of the contractor construction project can also bring about critical loss in the project in order to compensate the damages. Therefore, risks that could be caused by the loss occurred to indemnify the third party damages should be clearly analyzed, although there are not subsequent amount of studies focusing on the issue. Based on the past record of insurance payment from domestic insurance companies for bridge construction projects, this study aimed to analyze the risk factors of bridge construction for loss caused to compensate the third-party damages happened in actual bridge construction projects and to develop a quantified and numerical predictive loss model. In order to develop the model, the loss ratio was selected as the dependent variable; and among many analyzed independent variables, the superstructure, foundation, flood, and ranking of contractors were the four significant risk factor variables that affect the loss ratio. The results produced can be used as an essential guidance for balanced risk assessment, supplementing the existing analysis on material losses in bridge construction projects by taking into account the third-party damage and losses.

• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.41-59
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• 2016

There have been continuous improvements in human life expectancy. Life expectancy is as a key factor in an aging population and can wreak severe damage on the financial integrity of pension providers. Hence, the projection of the accurate future mortality is a critical point to prevent possible losses to pension providers. However, improvements in future mortality would be overestimated by a typical mortality projection method using the Lee-Carter model since it underestimates the mortality index ${\kappa}_t$. This paper suggests a mortality projection based on the projection of the skewness of the mortality versus the typical mortality projection of the Lee-Carter model based on the projection of the mortality index, ${\kappa}_t$. The paper shows how to indirectly estimate future t trend with the skewness of the mortality and compares the results under each estimation method of the mortality index, ${\kappa}_t$. The analysis of the results shows that mortality projection based on the skewness presents less improved mortality at an elderly ages than the original projection.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.125-134
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• 2008

Purpose: Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) is a potent differentiating agent for cells of the osteoblastic lineage. It has been used in the oral cavity under a variety of indications and with different carriers. However, the optimal carrier for each indication is not known. This study evaluated the bone regenerative effect of rhBMP-2 delivered with different carrier systems. Materials and Methods: 8 mm critical-sized rat calvarial defects were used in 60 male Sprague-Dawley rats. The animals were divided into 6 groups containing 10 animals each. Two groups were controls that had no treatment and absorbable collagen membrane only. 4 groups were experimentals that contained rhBMP-2 only and applied with absorbable collagen sponge($Collatape^{(R)}$), $MBCP^{(R)}$, Bio-$Oss^{(R)}$ each. The histological and histometric parameters were used to evaluate the defects after 2- or 8-week healing period. The shape and total augmented area were stable in all groups over the healing time. Results: New bone formation was significantly greater in the rhBMP-2 with carrier group than control group. rhBMP-2/ACS was the highest in bone density but gained less new bone area than rhBMP-2/$MBCP^{(R)}$ and rhBMP-2/Bio-$Oss^{(R)}$. The bone density after 8 weeks was greater than that after 2 weeks in all groups. However, rhBMP-2 alone failed to show the statistically significant difference in new bone area and bone density compared to control group. Also $MBCP^{(R)}$ and Bio-$Oss^{(R)}$ particles remained after 8 weeks healing period. Conclusion: These results suggest that rhBMP-2 with carrier system is an excellent inductive agent for bone formation and we can use it as the predictable bone tissue engieering technique. Future study will likely focus on the kinetics of BMP release and development of carriers that is ideal for it.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.57-101
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• 2002

These days, the environment of hospital marketing is changing rapidly. The level of expectation and demand of patients have become greater and more diversified, and patients have more alternatives in selecting hospitals. The standard of hospital selection and the type of using hospital have been changed, and competition among hospitals has been accelerated due to the opening of the medical market through globalization. Accordingly, differentiation strategies are critical in hospital marketing. The quality of medical service oriented toward patient satisfaction becomes a strong strategic weapon to secure a hospital's competitive advantage. Therefore, marketing and communication strategies should be focused on patient-oriented, rather than hospital-oriented. Considering the changes in the hospital environment and the increase in the patients' expectation level, this study categorizes doctors' communication styles into four different ones: trust-type, professional-type, cooperation-type, and control-type. The effects of these communication styles on patient satisfaction were empirically examined. The moderating roles of the patient's characteristics and clinical characteristics between the doctors' communication styles and patient satisfaction were also investigated to find out managerial implications for hospital management. To achieve such goals, data were collected from patients of 12 general hospitals in Busan. The data were analyzed to test research hypotheses that examine 1) the relationships between doctors' communication styles and patient satisfaction, 2) the moderating roles of the patient characteristics and clinical characteristics in the research model, and 3) the impact of patient satisfaction on positive word-of-mouth and repurchase. The following summarizes the major results of this research. First, the data showed that patient satisfaction varied across doctors' communication styles. Trust-type style had the strongest impact on patient satisfaction while control-type style had the weakest influence on patient satisfaction. Professional-type style and cooperation-type style also had positive effects on patient satisfaction but the impact of the two are not statistically different. Second, significant differences in terms of patient satisfaction were found depending upon demographic variables such as gender, marital status, age, occupation, and education. Patient satisfaction, however, was consistent across varying income groups. Third, patients' medical insurance types were also related to patient satisfaction. It implies that a doctor may need to use different communication styles depending on a patient's medical insurance type. Fourth, out-patient and in-patient showed a different level of satisfaction with varying communication styles. Fifth, highly professional knowledge and strong control can influence patient satisfaction depending on the characteristics of the patient treatment field. Sixth, patient satisfaction were proved to have significantly positive effects on word-of-mouth and repurchase. The implications drawn from this study must be tempered by its limitations. First of all, the subjects used in this study were patients in Busan and small- and medium-size hospitals were excluded from the research. Therefore, future research should examine the research model by using a variety of hospitals and clinics throughout Korea. Another research agenda has to do with finding more determinant and moderating variables which will increase an explanatory power of the model. In short, this study may be the first empirical research that investigates the effects of doctors' communication styles on patient satisfaction. Interestingly enough, the results showed that each communication style had a unique impact on patient satisfaction. The findings from this research can be very useful in developing hospital marketing strategies.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.27-44
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• 2009

The length of stay in emergency departments has been used as a quality indicator to reflect the overall efficiency of emergency care. Identifying characteristics associated with length of stay is critical to monitor overcrowding and improve efficient throughput function of emergency departments. This study examined the level of waiting time for initial assessment by physician and length of stay in emergency departments. Furthermore, we investigated the characteristics of patients' attendance associated with length of stay. An observational study was performed for a sample of 1,526 patients visiting ten nation-wide emergency departments. A structured form was designed to collect information about patients' demographics, route of admission, time and mode of arrival, triage level, cause of attendance, initial assessment time by physician, departure time, and disposition. Multiple regression analysis was performed to determine factors associated with length of stay. The average length of stay was 209.4 minutes (95% confidence interval [CI]=197.1-221.7), with a mean waiting time for initial assessment of 5.9 minutes (95% CI=5.1-6.7). After controlling for emergency department characteristics, increasing age, longer waiting times, attendance due to diseases, higher acuity, multiple diagnoses($\geq$2) and requiring admission or transfer to other health care facilities were positively associated with length of stay in emergency departments. The findings suggest that both patients' characteristics and the flow between emergency departments and parent hospitals should be taken into account in predicting length of stay in emergency departments.