• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.294-300
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• 2020

Background: Mandibular fractures are one of the most common types of facial fractures, the treatment of which can be delayed due to the severity of the trauma resulting in an increase of complications; thus, early evaluation of trauma severity at the time of visit is important. In South Korea, trauma patients are triaged and intensively treated in designated regional trauma centers. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between trauma severity and mandibular fracture patterns. Methods: A medical records review was performed on patients who visited the regional trauma center at our hospital for mandibular fracture between 2009 and 2018. Epidemiologic data and mandibular fracture patterns were analyzed and compared with the conventional facial injury severity scale (FISS). Results: Among 73 patients, 51 were classified as non-severe trauma patients and 22 as severe trauma patients. A higher trauma severity was associated with older age (odds ratio [OR], 1.164; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.057-1.404) and lower risk was associated with fractures located in the angle (OR, 0.001; 95% CI, 0-0.022), condylar process (OR, 0.001; 95% CI, 0-0.28), and coronoid process (OR, 0.004; 95% CI, 0-0.985). The risk was lower when the injury mechanism was a pedestrian traffic accident (OR, 0.004; 95% CI, 0-0.417) or fall (OR, 0.004; 95% CI, 0-0.663) compared with an in-car traffic accident. Higher FISS (OR, 1.503; 95% CI, 1.155-2.049) was associated with a higher trauma severity. The proposed model was found to predict the trauma severity better than the model using FISS (p< 0.001). Conclusion: Age, location of mandibular fractures, and injury mechanism showed significant relationships with the trauma severity. Epidemiologic data and patterns of mandibular fractures could predict the trauma severity better than FISS.

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

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.174-177
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• 2005

Purpose : We evaluated children with Henoch-$Sch{\ddot{o}}nlein$ purpura(HSP) in terms of epidemiology and clinical characteristics. Methods : A total of 424 medical records of children with HSP admitted to The Catholic University of Korea, Daejeon St. Mary's Hospital, from 1987 to 2003 were retrospectively analyzed. Results : The mean annual number of cases was $25.1{\pm}7.9$ and no one year showed an outbreak. There was a steady number of patients throughout the year with a decrease during the summer season. The male-to-female ratio was 1.3 : 1 with the median age of the patients being 6-years-old. The age distribution showed a peak at age 6 in a bell-shaped distribution curve. Purpura was noted in 100 percent of the patients, gastrointestinal involvement in 53.8 percent, joint involvement in 40.8 percent, and renal involvement in 18.9 percent. Nephrotic syndrome occurred in 1 percent of all patients. Conclusion : The epidemiologic and clinical features of HSP were similar to those of other regions in Korea and foreign nations, irrespective of time.

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

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.15-25
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• 2016

Objectives: In this study, we examined the validity of Clostridium difficile culture results as a proxy measure of Clostridium difficile infection, and inferred the epidemiologic characteristics of Clostridium difficile infection by tracking the trends of Clostridium difficile culture results. Methods: We reviewed the medical records to figure out the actual possibilities of Clostridium difficile infection of those with positive or negative results of Clostridium difficile culture during the time span from January 2012 to March 2012. We calculated the positive and negative predictive value of Clostridium difficile culture results for Clostridium difficile infection. Furthermore, epidemiologic characteristics of Clostridium difficile infection in a tertiary general hospital in 2012 were analyzed. Result: The estimated positive predictive value of Clostridium difficile culture tests for Clostridium difficile infection was 100%, and the estimated negative predictive value was around 94.4~99.3% depending on the cutoff value of possibility of Clostridium difficile infection. A total of 622 cases were identified as Clostridium difficile infection in a tertiary general hospital in 2012 and there were 4.9 patients with Clostridium difficile infection per 1,000 inpatients. Conclusion: In conclusion, we identified that Clostridium difficile culture results can be used as a proxy measure of Clostridium difficile infection.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.1129-1137
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• 1993

This study was carried out to analyze the effects of dietary and life-style factors on the prevalence of depression in Korea. Epidemiologic data from a nation-wide sample of 2,000 adults who were selected with the stratified random sampling method in Korea were interviewed by trained interviewers. Data were presented on the CES-D, a 20-items self-report depression symptom scale developed by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies in U.S.A. The prevalence of depression among all the respondents was 13.5%, with 13.1% in urban samples and 15.5% in rural samples. The prevalence was higher in females(15.3%) than in males(11.7%). There were highly marked differences in the prevalence of depression by sex(p<0.05), age(p<0.0001), education(p<0.001) and income(p<0.01). Respondents of 60 years and over group, the less educated group(below elementary school graduated), and the less income group(less than 400,000 won/month) reported the highest rate of depression. However subjects' occupation and residence had little relation with the prevalence of depression. Drinking and smoking habit appeared to be highly associated with depression in females(p<0.0001) but not in males. The prevalence of depression and eating behavior were highly related(p<0.005). Male respondents below 20 years, 20-29, and 60 years and over depressed group reported significantly lower energy and protein intakes compared to that of the normal group. However, in the female respondents 20-29 years and 60 years and over depressed groups showed the significantly lower energy and protein intakes compared to those of the normal groups(p<0.05), it can be concluded that the various ecological factors such as epidemiological, dietary, and health factors may affect the prevalence of depression among Korean.

• Korean journal of aerospace and environmental medicine
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.75-79
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• 2020

This study focuses on the comparative and quantitative analysis of the epidemiologic trends and aspects of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) outbreaks between Korea and Japan from 2013 to 2017. The following factors were analyzed; cumulative incidence rate (CIR), cases-fatality rate (CFR), and the epidemic aspects, including cases related to gender, male-to-female morbidity ratio (MFMR), age, seasonal, and geographical distributions. We observed 607 SFTS cases with CIR in Korea during the period 2013 to 2017 were as 0.24 per 100,000 populations and with a 127 fatal-cases (F.C.s), corresponding to a CFR of 20.9%, respectively. During the same period in Japan, 319 SFTS cases with a CIR of 0.05 and with 60 F.C.s to a CFR of 18.8% observed. When compared, the CIR of SFTS in Korea was significantly higher than in Japan (P<0.01), but there were no significant differences levels of the CFR and MFMR between Korea and Japan. Also, a higher incidence of SFTS was observed in people aged over 50-years or elders in Korea and those of 60-years or elders in Japan (P<0.01). The seasonal distribution of SFTS outbreak cases showed that the incidence in summer through autumn in Korea (92.4% of total cases) was higher than in Japan (65.2%), while the outbreaks of SFTS in spring was much higher in Japan (31.0%) than in Korea (7.4%), (P<0.01). The regional distribution revealed no significant difference between the eastern area (44.8%) and the western area (46.8%) of the Korean peninsula except Jeju-island (8.4%). However, in Japan, the incidence only occurred in Chubu-Kinki-Chugoku (30.3%), Shikoku (25.7%), Kyushu (42.6%) and Okinawa (0.3%), which are the western and southern areas of Japan. These differences in SFTS occurrence may reflect the influences of vector/hosts, climate, and geographical and cultural characteristics between the two countries.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.138-150
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• 2022

Background: Epidemiology is a fundamental study of public health, including environmental health, since the features and causes of diseases discovered through epidemiology provide crucial information for developing successful disease prevention strategies. Objectives: This paper tried to define the role and function of epidemiologic research in the field of environmental health, summarize examples of epidemiological studies with regard to selected environmental health events in South Korea, and address important issues that should be considered when conducting epidemiological research in the future. Methods: Epidemiological studies of selected environmental health events were reviewed and summarized in terms of their contribution to environmental health in South Korea. Based on the information, important issues were suggested for future epidemiological studies in environmental health. Results: The role and function of epidemiologic research in the field of environmental health includes the systematic description of the health effects caused by environmental exposure, verification of the causal relationship between environmental exposure and health effects, and provision of background data for conducting prevention strategies and developing policies. A number of epidemiological studies have contributed to characterizing and assessing the environmental risks involved in a series of environmental health events in South Korea. Conclusions: Important issues for future epidemiological studies may include health effects from chronic low-level environmental exposure, application of analytical epidemiology to elucidate causal relationships, use of exposure/disease/susceptibility biomarkers, accurate reconstruction of past exposure status, cohort recruitment and long-term follow-up, and in-advance surveillance of diseases with environmental causes.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.391-400
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• 2001

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine depression in order to identify and improve health care policies promoting health among Korean women. Method: There were 329 participants, all older than 18 years old, and staying in Kyungki-Do, city. The data was collected from July to September 1999. The instrument used for this study was the CES-D (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale) to evaluate depression. The collected data was analyzed with frequency, percentage, t-test, ANOVA, $\chi$2-test and Multiple logistic Analysis. Result: The result of this study are as follows: 1. Among the participants, 90.6% had normal to mild depression and 9.4% had severe depression. 2. For general characteristics, there were significant difference in the degree of depression according to age(P=0.0001), and marital status(P=0.0001). As for health related characteristics, the depression scores were affected by health perception(P= 0.0001), menopause(P=0.0005), stress (P= 0.0001) and sexual activity(P=0.0001). 3. There was a significant relationship between marital status and stress. Conclusion: This study suggests that a replicate study is needed. The results are also is useful in developing various nursing intervention programs.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.123-130
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• 2009

Purpose : This study was performed to determine the clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of nosocomial rotavirus gastroenteritis. Methods : We retrospectively analyzed 628 medical records of patients with rotavirus gastroenteritis between 2001 and 2005. The patients were divided into two groups (the community-acquired group [528 cases] and the nosocomial group [100 cases]. The epidemiologic and clinical indices between the groups were analysed. For clinical comparison, 100 agematched cases were selected from the community-acquired group. Results : The male-to-female ratio was similar (1.4:1 vs. 1.5:1), but the mean age was lower in the nosocomial group compared to the community-acquired group (21.9${\pm}$15.5 months vs. 16.6${\pm}$10.3 months, P <0.001). The patterns of age distribution, annual frequency, and seasonal distribution were similar in both groups. The proportions of nosocomial cases in each year ranged from 9.8% to 22.4% of annual rotaviral infections, and these were not proportional to annual cases. The duration of fever appeared more prominent in the nosocomial group, and the severity of diarrhea was not different between the groups. The cases with a BUN >20 mg/dL were more in the community-acquired group (16% vs. 4%, P=0.01). Conclusion : The clinical and epidemiologic charateristics of nosocomial rotavirus gastroenteritis were similar and correlated to those of the community-acquired gastroenteritis.