• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.95-100
• /
• 2017

Objectives : This study was designed for the purpose of the relationship between psychopathology and suicide in North Korean Refugee Adolescents. Methods : The subjects were 104 North Korean Refugee Adolescents. We investigated the The Korean version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies for Depression, Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. We also investigated the suicide ideation, planning and attempt. The self-report was taken to the North Korean Refugee Adolescents. Results : The Center for Epidemiologic Studies for Depression Score(Z=-4.050, p<0.001), Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Score(t=-2.757, p<0.01), Rosenberg Self-Seteem Score(Z=-2.328, p<0.05) were significantly associated with the suicide ideation in North Korean Refugee Adolescents. In logistic regression analysis, only The Center for Epidemiologic Studies for Depression Score(p<0.005) expected the suicidal ideation. Conclusions : The management of depression would be helpful to reduce the suicide in North Korean Refugee Adolescents.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.295-306
• /
• 2010

Objectives : This study was undertaken to examine the metabolomic changes due to gender and diurnal variation at sampling time and to identify an appropriate time point for urine sampling in epidemiologic studies using metabolomic profiles. Methods : Urine samples were collected twice a day (morning and afternoon) from 20 healthy Korean adults after fasting for 8 hours. The metabolomic assay was investigated using $^1H$ NMR spectroscopy coupled with the principal components analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). The metabolites responsible for differentiation between groups were identified through the loading plot of PLS-DA and quantified using Chenomx NMR Suite with a 600 MHz library. Results : Metabolites responsible for differentiation in gender and sampling time were creatinine, trimethyl anine oxide (TMAO), hippurate, mannitol, citrate and acetoacetate. Dimethylamine showed difference only as a factor of diurnal time. The level of creatinine was higher in men compared to women, and the levels of citrate, TMAO, hippurate, mannitol, and acetoacetate were higher in women compared to men. The levels of creatinine, TMAO, hippurate, dimethylamine and mannitol were higher in the morning rather than the afternoon while those of citrate and acetoacetate were higher in the afternoon rather than the morning. Conclusions : Since urinary metabolomic profiles varied by gender and diurnal cycle, urine sampling should be performed at the same time point for all participants in epidemiologic studies using metabolomic profiles.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.49 no.4
• /
• pp.213-222
• /
• 2016

Purpose: Coffee is the most frequently consumed food item in South Korea after rice and cabbage. Coffee contains various substances, including caffeine, cafestol, kahweol, chlorogenic acid, and many other known and unknown ingredients with some health benefits. Especially, cumulative evidence has shown that regular coffee use is associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes, although limited and inconsistent data are available regarding metabolic syndrome. Methods: This study reviewed all available scientific and epidemiologic evidence on coffee consumption, metabolic syndrome, and the association between them. Most epidemiologic research regarding this association was of a cross-sectional design, and a few case-control and cohort studies were available. We conducted meta-analysis with 11 observational studies investigated in Europe, America, and Asia. Summary odds ratios (OR) were calculated using a random-effects model. Results: The overall OR of metabolic syndrome was 0.90 (95% Confidence Interval (CI), 0.81-0.99) for the highest category of coffee intake compared with the lowest intake category. These associations were stronger in populations of US and Europe (OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.76-0.94), whereas no association was observed in the Asian population (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.81-1.23). Conclusion: The review results indicate that frequent coffee consumption may be beneficial to metabolic syndrome, but the association between coffee consumption and metabolic syndrome may differ by nations or continents.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.186-196
• /
• 2007

Background : The aim of this study was to confirm the risk factors for low back pain and injury to improve the prevention and treatment of lower back pain. Materials and Methods : An epidemiologic study of low back pain and injury was performed with questionnaires distributed to 471 women working at Yeungnam university hospital. The differences in low back pain and injuries among various hospital departments were analyzed by a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and the relevant factors included in the questionnaire were determined by a factor analysis. Results : The frequency of low back pain in women in the department of diet and in the maintenance department was higher than among the other departments. The frequency of low back pain was mainly related to the frequency of psychosomatic symptoms. In addition, the low back pain was partially related to the frequency of psychosomatic symptoms and partially related to the frequency of pushing during the workday. The degree of disability from low back pain was increased by lifting and hard physical work and was related to the frequency of psychosomatic symptoms and the degree of work dissatisfaction. The frequency of low back injury was increased by increased standing time during work and hard physical work. The frequency of low back injury was related to advancing age and in part to psychosomatic symptoms. Conclusion : Lower back pain and its associated complications are related to psychosomatic factors and type of work. Lower back injury is related to physiological factors such as age. For the prevention and treatment of lower back pain, a multidisciplinary approach is required.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.135-149
• /
• 2001

Purpose : To describe the characteristics of the claims for compensation and the methodology of investigations concerning adverse events following immunization(AEFI) and epidemiologic characteristics of the AEFI. From these results, to give a suggestion for improving AEFI surveillance system, consequently to stabilize National Immunization Program. Methods : Totally 61 cases were reported to the National Compensation Program and surveillance system of AEFI from 1995 to 2000. Documents from National Compensation Program, medical records and epidemiologic investigation reports of the cases were collected and analyzed. Results : The number of reported cases was 12 in 1995, 3 in 1996, 12 in 1998, 5 in 1999, and 29 in 2000, respectively. That of deaths was 24(39.3%) and 16 cases among them were autopsied(66.7%). That of claims for compensation was 36 and 17 cases among them were compensated(47.2%). The proportion of claim was lower in 1999~2000 than in 1995~1998, but proportion of compensation increased. Although proportion of investigation was lower in 1999~2000 than in 1995~1998, cases which were not epidemiologically investigated, decreased. The epidemiologic investigation launched within 24 hours after report increased from 25% in 1995~1998 to 48.3% in 1999~2000. Among reported cases, the number of boys was 31(50.8%), and 75.4% of subjects were from 2 months to 24 months old. 78.4% of adverse events occurred within one week after immunization. Conclusion : We can find that surveillance system of AEFI and quality of epidemiologic investigation has been somewhat improved. But, it seems that severe cases were more frequently reported than moderate or mild cases, and reporting rate was lower than that of other developed countries. We could not identify the detailed epidemiologic characteristics of AEFI due to these limitation of data. To achieve the stabilization of National Immunization Program, reporting rate and the quality of investigation should be improved.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.83-93
• /
• 2016

Objectives : The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale-Revised is a recently revised scale which has been reported as a valid tool for the assessment of depressive symptoms. It encompasses cardinal symptoms of depression described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders, fourth edition. In this study, we assessed the reliability, validity and psychometric properties of the Korean version of the CESD-R(K-CESD-R). Methods : Forty-eight patients diagnosed as major depressive disorder, dysthymia, depressive disorder NOS according to the DSM-IV criteria using Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview and 48 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. They were assessed with K-CESD-R, K-MADRS, PHQ-9, KQIDS-SR, STAI to check cross-validation. Statistical analyses were performed using calculation of Cronbach's alpha, Pearson correlation coefficient, Principal Component Analysis, ROC curve and optimal cut-off value. Results : The Cronbach's alpha of K-CESD-R was 0.98. The total score of K-CESD-R revealed significantly high correlations with those of K-MADRS, PHQ-9, KQIDS-SR(r=0.910, 0.966 and 0.920, p<0.001, respectively). Factor analysis showed two factors account for 76.29% of total variance. We suggested the optimal cut-off value of K-CESD-R as 13 according to analysis of the ROC curve which value sensitivity and specificity both equally. Conclusions : These Results showed that the K-CESD-R could be a reliable and valid scale to assess depressive symptoms. The K-CESD-R is expected as a useful and effective tool for screening and measuring depressive symptoms not only in outpatient clinic but also epidemiologic studies.

• Toxicological Research
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.7-11
• /
• 2014

Malondialdehyde (MDA), used as an oxidative stress marker, is commonly assayed by measuring the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) using HPLC, as an indicator of the MDA concentration. Since the HPLC method, though highly specific, is time-consuming and expensive, usually it is not suitable for the rapid test in large-scale environmental epidemiologic surveys. The purpose of this study is to develop a simple and rapid method for estimating TBARS levels by using a multiple regression equation that includes TBARS levels measured with a microplate reader as an independent variable. Twelve hour urine samples were obtained from 715 subjects. The concentration of TBARS was measured at three different wavelengths (fluorescence: ${\lambda}-_{ex}$ 530 nm and ${\lambda}-_{em}$ 550 nm; ${\lambda}-_{ex}$ 515 nm and ${\lambda}-_{em}$ 553 nm; and absorbance: 532 nm) using microplate reader as well as HPLC. 500 samples were used to develop a regression equation, and the remaining 215 samples were used to evaluate the validity of the regression analysis. The induced multiple regression equation is as follows: TBARS level (${\mu}M$) = -0.282 + 1.830 ${\times}$ (TBARS level measured with a microplate reader at the fluorescence wavelengths ${\lambda}-_{ex}$ 530 nm and ${\lambda}-_{em}$ 550 nm, ${\mu}M$) -0.685 ${\times}$ (TBARS level measured with a microplate reader at the fluorescence wavelengths ${\lambda}-_{ex}$ 515 nm and ${\lambda}-_{em}$ 553 nm, ${\mu}M$) + 0.035 ${\times}$ (TBARS level measured with a microplate reader at the absorbance wavelength 532 nm, ${\mu}M$). The estimated TBARS levels showed a better correlation with, and are closer to, the corresponding TBARS levels measured by HPLC compared to the values obtained by the microplate method. The TBARS estimation method reported here is simple and rapid, and that is generally in concordance with HPLC measurements. This method might be a useful tool for monitoring of urinary TBARS level in environmental epidemiologic surveys with large sample sizes.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
• /
• v.42 no.2
• /
• pp.201-206
• /
• 2015

Background Although plastic surgeons daily encounter various facial tumors in the field, reports limited on face are scarce. In our study, we want to provide basic epidemiologic data to help clinicians to decide the proper management for their patients. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients including age and gender, location and size of the tumor, histopathologic result, recurrence, type of anesthesia and any associated disorders who had undergone a surgical removal of their facial tumors and received the histopathologic report in the same institution between January 2009 and October 2012. Results One hundred eighty-nine patients with 203 non-melanocytic benign tumors were included. The most frequent site of tumors was the central subunit of the forehead, followed by the lateral subunit of the cheek and the auricular unit. Of 36 different histopathologic results, the epidermal cyst was most frequent, followed by lipoma, pilomatricoma and osteoma. Statistical analysis showed that males were dominant in the epidermal cyst and lipoma groups. While, females were dominant in the osteoma and pilomatricoma groups. No associations were found between lesions and other diseases. Conclusions Our study is the at most specific and concentrated study on non-melanocytic benign tumors of the face. We expect the epidemiologic data of our study may help plastic surgeons who are confronted with so many facial lesions in the field to decide on the most proper management for their patients.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.15-25
• /
• 2011

Objectives : The aim of this study was to find correlations between characteristics of Four constitution and Hwa-byung. Methods : Clinical data were collected from Hwa-byung Epidemiologic study data. we selected 130 self-labelled Hwa-byung patients data and 83 of them were diagnosed as Hwa-byung by SCID. We used Hwa-byung SCID, Hwa-byung scale, CES-D, STAI, STAXI and Personality and Physiological Symptom Questionnaire(PPSQ) as evaluation tools. We performed statistical analysis of each 2 groups, self-labelled Hwa-byung group(N=130) and diagnosed Hwa-byung group(N=83). Results : 1. In self-labelled Hwa-byung group, Greater yin score showed significant negative correlation with 3 indices of Hwa-byung scale and significant positive correlation with 1 index. Lesser yin score showed significant positive correlation with 6 indices. In diagnosed Hwa-byung group, Greater yin score showed significant negaitive correlation with 5 indices. In both groups, Lesser yang score showed no significant correlation with any indices of Hwa-byung scale. 2. In self-labelled Hwa-byung group, Greater yin score showed significant negative correlation with both trait anger score and state anger score of STAXI. Lesser yin score showed significant positive correlation with trait anxiety score, state anxiety score and CES-D score self-labelled Hwa-byung group. Lesser yang score showed significant positive correlation with anger-out score of STAXI. But Lesser yin score showed significant negative correlation with same index diagnosed Hwa-byung group. Conclusions : 1. The higher Greater yin score, suppression or denial, psychological defense mechanism, become more stronger. 2. The higher Lesser yin score, anger-out tendency become more weakened and increased prevalence of Hwa-byung symptoms. 3. The higher Lesser yang score, anger-out tendency become more stronger.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.124-139
• /
• 2013

Unlike studies of Europeans and Americans, many epidemiological studies of the Korean population have indicated that their risk for cardiovascular disease does not decrease with a vegetable-rich diet. The different dietary practices of Koreans, who consume salted vegetables instead of fresh vegetables (common in the Western diet), has been suggested as a reason for this observation. Korea is in a period of rapid epidemiologic transition, which includes dietary and disease patterns; therefore, this study investigated differences in the food consumption pattern and blood lipid profiles of Koreans compared to Europeans and Americans. The identification of dietary patterns related to blood lipid abnormalities was carried out using the 2007~2009 Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey data from 14,056 subjects. Dietary patterns were analyzed according to food group and nutrient intake. Blood lipid abnormalities were classified into three groups: hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and low HDL cholesterolemia (hypo-HDL-cholesterolemia). The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypo-HDL-cholesterolemia was 12.4%, 16.2%, and 27.7% respectively. In our analysis, the low consumption of all food groups was related to hypercholesterolemia. The high consumption of vegetable-containing foods, alcoholic beverages, and the low consumption of milk products were associated with hypertriglyceridemia and hypo-HDL-cholesterolemia. Thus, unlike Europeans and Americans, the low consumption of all food groups is related to hypercholesterolemia and a low consumption of milk products is related to hypertriglyceridemia and hypo-HDL-cholesterolemia. Dietary pattern might play a role in epidemiologic transition of Korean. Also, this study implies necessity of further research using longitudinal data.