• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.33-53
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• 1988

This study aimed at developing a desirable family planning policy and strategy by examining the current status of family planning practice in rural Korea and by indentifying the crucial factors which affect fertility control behavior. For this purpose, an analytical study was conducted, using the survey data collected in July 1985, on an interview basis, on 1, 440 married women living in the Soyi, Wonnam and Maingdong townships of Eumseong County(in North Chungcheong Province). This study population has the typical characteristics of rural areas, and the results of the analysis can be summarized as follows: 1. In regard to the demographic characteristics of the study population : their average age at marriage was 23.7, they had an average of 2.6 children( 1.3 boys, 1.3 girls) :10% experienced the death of their child (ren) :14% had spontaneous abortion(s) :4% weathered stillbirth(s) :35% went through induced abortion (s) : and 5.5% were currently pregnant. The average of their ideal numbers of children was 2.2, while 44% felt that they must have a son. 2. Looking at the contact rate with medical & health institutions, over the past 1 year, the visit rate to health subcenters was 43.7%, while 26.9% visited the (county) health center :59.6% had been to private clinics : and 41.5% went to the Soonchunhyang - Eumsung hospital : thus showing a relatively high rate of accessibility. 3. The utilization rate of family planning services was 76.5%, with tubectomy being the most prominent method at 52.3%, while the informants were health workers in 54.2% of the acceptors. Of the 8.4% who discontinued the use of contraceptive methods, only 26% did so due to want for pregnancy, natural infertility (meno - pause), or other reasons, while the remaining 74% stopped usage on account of side effects, failure in the methods themselves, and inconvenience of use, thus pointing to a situation where the proper choice of family planning methods have not yet been made. It can be noted that there is a strong motivation for early birth stopping as 35.3% practice family planning even with only one child, of which 38.3% have had sterilization operations. According to results of a multiple regression analysis, among the variables affecting contraception usage the most significant variable was the number of sons. 4. 34.8% experienced induced abortions. It was shown as a result of multiple regression analysis that the number of children and attitudes toward induced abortions extensively affected their frequency of abortions conducted. 5. In the regard to the relation between family planning and induced abortions, 33.7% of the women used both, while 52.0% of them used only the former(family planning), with only 1.4 % utilizing solely the latter(abortion), and 12.9% totally abstaining from fertility regulation : again, the discriminant analysis indicated that the choice of family planning and/or induced abortion was determined by the number of children and attitudes toward induced abortion. In view of the above mentioned results, the following are some comments and suggestions concerning problems related to the current family planning policies, in Korea : 1. It is difficult to expect a further quantitative expansion in family planning program operations, as there has been an excessive supply of target-oriented sterilization operations on women. From a maternal and child health care point of view, it will be desirable to have a diversification of service points in the future where family planning methods may be properly chosen, so that choices of methods which suit the mothers' characteristics and tastes may be made by the individuals themselves by strengthening their quality of family planning information services. 2. Along with the strengthening of the qualitative improvement of family planning services policies must be implemented to effectively promote the moral (ethical) deterrents to induced abortions and to preference for sons. From a maternal care standpoint, the social permissive norm toward induced abortion must be modified, and the bias towards son must be analyzed as the women with more daughters have a lower rate of family planning acceptance. Such changes in attitudes, however, can not be hoped to be accomplished with ad hoc policies, but will only be possible when an enhancement of the women's status(within the society) is brought about in a long - term perspective.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.1413-1420
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• 2018

This study was conducted to provide the information for the promotion of oral health in nursing students. The subjects were 207 in female students for self-administered questionnaires. The percentage of subject to visit dental clinic was 64.3%, to Regular checkup was 25.9%, cure of caries was 23.5% for last one year. The percentage of reasons not treated 'less importance' were 12.6%, 'fear of the dental clinic' was 10.6%. The average number of brushing teeth were 3.1. 56.0% students brush their teeth for two ~ three minutes. But intention of visit to the dentist were 'only when treated' was 51.7%, 'only when there is pain' was 10.1%. The intention of oral education was 54.6%, the content of the desired education 'whitening' were 34.5%, 'prevention of bad breath' was 19.2%. Dental health information acquisition path 'internet' were 42.0%, 'family or friends' was 25.6%. Susceptibility was 2.47 points, severity was 2.00 points, benefit was 4.03 points in oral health belief. Compared to students who needed dental treatment but did not receive treatment, oral health beliefs were higher among those who were treated(p<.001), students with cavities showed a higher level of oral health belief than those without cavities(p<.001). There was significant corelation between 'number of caries' and susceptibility(r=.330, p=.002), severity(r=.25, p=.019). The result should be reflected in the development of effective program for nursing students' oral health care.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.15-29
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• 2013

Shopping is considered a 'must-do' activity for most people on travel. One of the major parts of tourist shopping is the purchasing of souvenirs. Souvenirs are universally associated with tourism as a commercially produced and purchased object to remind the purchaser of the experience. Recently, Korea becomes one of the most popular destinations that many Asian tourists like to visit. Among those Asian tourists, the number of Thai tourists bound for Korea shows an incredible rapid growth. Thai people pick Korea and Seoul as their favorite country and city to visit for three consecutive years since 2009. One of the major reasons why Thais are choosing to tour Korea is the enthusiasm for Korean pop culture. That is, 'Hallyu' has influenced Thais' decision to visit Korea and purchase Korean products. The primary objective of the current research is to explore the shopping experiences of Thai tourists, specifically their souvenir shopping. It adopts a reflexive interpretive approach to bring light to the various meanings Thai tourists attach to the souvenirs they purchase in Korea. In order to accomplish the objective, the individual interviews were conducted. A total of 12 Thais who have experienced traveling in Korea participated in the study. Four themes were identified through interview text analysis. First, the research participants almost always purchase souvenirs in Korea because the souvenirs represent their identities as tourists. Especially, they purchase the souvenirs as gifts for others, including family members, friends, and colleagues. The souvenirs as gifts show love and thanks to others, and they cement the social relationship. However, purchasing souvenirs for others is more like the moral obligations which evoke the psychological stress. Secondly, the research participants feel closer to Korea while shopping souvenirs around. Thirdly, they obtain imaginative experiences and pleasure through souvenirs related to the Korean pop culture. Souvenirs provide them to visually extraordinary experiences. Lastly, souvenirs purchased in Korea act as visible status marker when they go back to Thailand. They show the socioeconomic status and lifestyles. Tourists themselves and others place special value to souvenirs that were purchased out of Thailand. The findings of this study are of both academic and practical importance. Souvenirs are among the most pervasive elements of the travel experience. However, souvenir shopping is the complicated consumer behavior within tourism both from business and social science perspectives. Along the same line, it needs strategic approaches in order to maximize the economy effects. It concludes by suggesting how further research could offer unique insights into how the souvenirs are positioned both in the context of tourism academics and industry.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.61-69
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• 2016

Purpose: It is important to alleviate care burden for terminal cancer patients and their families. This study investigated the factors associated with care burden among family caregivers (FCs) of terminally ill cancer patients. Methods: We analyzed data from 289 FCs of terminal cancer patients who were admitted to palliative care units of seven medical centers in Korea. Care burden was assessed using the Korean version of Caregiver Reaction Assessment (CRA) scale which comprises five domains. A multivariate logistic regression model with stepwise variable selection was used to identify factors associated with care burden. Results: Diverse associating factors were identified in each CRA domain. Emotional factors had broad influence on care burden. FCs with emotional distress were more likely to experience changes to their daily routine (adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 2.54; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.29~5.02), lack of family support (aOR, 2.27; 95% CI, 1.04~4.97) and health issues (aOR, 5.44; 2.50~11.88). Family functionality clearly reflected a lack of support, and severe family dysfunction was linked to financial issues as well. FCs without religion or comorbid conditions felt more burdened. The caregiving duration and daily caregiving hours significantly predicted FCs' lifestyle changes and physical burden. FCs who were employed, had weak social support or could not visit frequently, had a low self-esteem. Conclusion: This study indicates that it is helpful to understand FCs' emotional status and family functions to assess their care burden. Thus, efforts are needed to lessen their financial burden through social support systems.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.317-326
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• 2012

Objectives : This study aims to examine satisfaction of dental treatment and revisit and intention of recommendation to dental patients and to supply as a basic resource for dental management improvement. Methods : 645 dental patients to dental hospitals in G City were subjects of this study. 27 dental hospitals were randomly chosen per 5 or 6 in 5 Districts. The intention of the survey was explained to 645 patients and it was agreed to have questionnaire survey. Questionnaire survey was carried out for 2 weeks in April 2011. Total 593 were used for the analysis except for insufficient answer sheets. The analysis was executed by using SPSS 18.0 and the results are as follows. Results : 1. The highest figures are as follows: female was 53.29% in sex, 20-29 age group was 44.52%, graduates of university were 38.62%, students were 28.50%, monthly family income with 300-399 million won was 31.70%. As to the treatment, dental caries were highest with 46.21% followed by scaling with 40.81%. As to the number of visit, 39.80% were over 5 times, and as to the opportunity to use, 29.34% answered it because it is close to home. 2. As to satisfaction, male was 4.15, over 60years old was 4.58, self-employed was 4.33, friendship with dentist as opportunity to use was 4.37. And as to revisit intention, over 60 years old was 4.60, over postgraduate in education level was 4.38, self-employed was 4.43, over 5 times visit was 4.32, and fame as opportunity to use was 4.39 which were the highest. As to the intention of recommendation to others, female was 4.24, over 60 years old was 4.65, self-employed was 4.36, friendship with dentist as opportunity was 4.43 which were the highest and showed significant differences (p<0.05). 3. As to patient satisfaction, there were strong relevance between revisit intention and intention of recommendation with 0.769 and 0.744 respectively. And, as to revisit intention, it had significant relation with revisit intention with 0.791. 4. The explanatory power of the regression analysis on the factors affecting revisit intention was 61.20%. The revisit intention was high when the satisfaction of dental hospital was high (${\beta}$=0.767, p<0.001), the number of visit (${\beta}$=0.026, p<0.01), reason for a visit (${\beta}$=0.070, p<0.01), education level (${\beta}$=-0.063, p<0.05) and occupation (${\beta}$=0.078, p<0.05). 5. The explanatory power of the regression analysis on the factors affecting intention of recommendation was 59.9%. The intention was taken patients satisfaction(${\beta}$=0.601, p<0.001), dental hygienist's kindness (${\beta}$=0.218, p<0.001), female (${\beta}$=0.079, p<0.05), reason for a visit(${\beta}$=-0.059, p<0.05), dissatisfaction treat(${\beta}$=0.084, p<0.05), dentist's kindness (${\beta}$=-0.080, p<0.05), age (${\beta}$=0.054, p<0.05). Conclusions : To improve revisit rate of patients, the refurbishing hospital facility, treatment and kindness of dental hygienists and satisfaction of treatment must be improved. And it also needs to accept complaint from female patients in a positive manner, and understand and correct complaints actively from the perspective of patients.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.297-308
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• 2008

Previous research on elderly care in rural areas has focused on inter-generational support, ignoring the possibility of elderly care among community members in the rural areas of Korea. This study attempts to explore the roles and potentials of community-based elderly care in rural areas where nearby family or formal services are unavailable. For this purpose, data was collected from the elderly in three Korean rural villages using qualitative case study methods. Each village was studied as a separate case study and in-depth interviews with the elderly in each village were conducted. All interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim for the analysis. The data was analyzed using the Reflective Qualitative Analytic Technique. Results showed that rural elderly in all three villages had lunch, talked, and played together; almost everyday in the winter. However, the nature of care among rural elderly varied depending on the characteristics of the rural community (the traditional rural, the rural mixed with the urban, and the neighboring rural with the urban). Specifically, the use of mutual aids (providing food, repairing housing, and checking personal safety by telephone or visit, etc.) was most consistent at the traditional rural village. Because both the rural village mixed with the urban and the neighboring rural village with urban have better access to many aids and programs from formal institutions, mutual aids among community members decreased compared with the traditional rural village. However, regular group activities such as sports, dancing or debate help to provide pleasure and integrate the community. These results suggest that community relationships as a substitution for social support provide by family or formal services can be utilized in rural areas.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.36-49
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• 1997

Background : Hypertension is one of the most important risk factors of the cerebrovascular accident and coronary artery disease which are the major causes of mortality in Korea. In Korea, the quality of care provided by office-based physicians has not been evaluated formally. The purpose of this study is to assess the quality of hypertension management of office-based physicians. Method : Self-administered questionnaires were mailed to the office-based physicians with the speciality of internal medicine, general surgery, family medicine, and general practitioners. Among 2,045 physicians, 981 doctors(48.0%) replied the questionnaires. Contents of questionnaires were based on the recommendation from the JNC-V report(the Fifth Report of the Joint National Committee on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure), and included the criteria of diagnosis, treatment, follow-up interval, and other characteristics of physicians(age, sex, type of speciality, and location of practice). Results : Eighty four percent of the office-based physicians made diagnosis of hypertension with less than 3 times of blood pressure measurements. The performance rate of required examination for hypertensives was very low in most items. Rate of fundoscopic examination is the lowest one among them(5.9%). The performance rate of laboratory examination was also low in most items. Internists tended to order more frequent laboratory examinations than any other type of physicians. Only 11.4% of the physicians did appropriate treatments for the mild hypertension case. The antihypertensives selected by the physicians as a first line drug were in the order of beta blocker(26.4%), calcium channel blocker(23.4%), diuretics(23.1%), ACE inhibitors(14.3%). The visit interval for established hypertensives was very short. Proportion of physicians with follow-up interval longer than 4 weeks was only 4.3%. Conclusions : The overall quality of hypertension management of office-based physicians in Korea is very problematic in many aspects. So further investigations to find out the reasons of low quality arid quality of care should be initiated.

• Journal of architectural history
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.131-148
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• 2003

This study has main purpose to understand the traditional house, not by outside researcher's but by inside dweller's view. The house in Geochang, is descendent house of Jeong-On who was faithful scholar at Chosen Dynasty. In order to understand, I restore firstly the house form and space at traditional era, 60 years ago, and every dwellers not only family members but also servants and guests, by interviewing old matriarch. One of the main rules of the house disposition is Ancester worshipping life. Worshipping floor of Anchae, main building, is located unusually in front of Shrine for Jeong-On, in order to connect all activities directly. Sarangchae, men's building, opened to the funeral mourners, is separated by a wall because women have to serve foods and wail at the backside. Space for everyday life is separated by man/woman, insider/outsider, master/subordinate. Agricultural production is also key factor of the space allocation: big storage buildings for rice crop needed to tenant farming. Both activities of ancestor worship ceremony and guest greeting need large kitchen annex area for food preparation and serving space of rear veranda floor. A number of guests visit the house: guest-greeting activity is taken place from the family pavilion, Neungheo-Jeong and Saranchae by the social position. This study show that architectural space and form of the house reflects exactly dwellers life.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.281-285
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• 2009

Paragonimiasis typically results from the consumption of raw or improperly cooked crustacea, especially crabs and crayfish. Although previously endemic in Korea, the prevalence of this disease decreased in the early 1970s because of educational campaigns and fewer intermediate hosts as a result of ecological changes. Recently, we were presented with a family where all members were infected with Paragonimus after ingestion of Kejang (= drunken crab). The mother was hospitalized for general myalgia and weakness first, followed by the father, who was hospitalized for dyspnea 2 month later. After the parents were diagnosed with paragonimiasis, we recommended their daughter to visit our hospital for a checkup, because they all had eaten freshwater crabs soaked in soybean sauce. She complained of generalized myalgia, fever, and pleuritic pain, and was also diagnosed with paragonimiasis. Peripheral blood of the 3 patients revealed hypereosinophilia, and computed tomography (CT) scans of their chests showed pleural effusion. The results of antibody tests by ELISA were positive for paragonimiasis. We report here the case series of familial paragonimiasis in a modern urban city, rather than in a typical endemic area.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.186-194
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to understand the effect of loyalty program in family and fastfood restaurant on relationship quality (trust, commitment) and revisit intention. Based on total 394 samples obtained from empirical research, this study reviewed the reliability and fitness of a research model using the Amos program. The hypothesized relationships in the model were simultaneously tested using a structural equation model (SEM). The proposed model provided an adequate fit to the data, ${\chi}^2$ 102.338 (df 48), GFI .959, RMR .049, NFI .970, CFI .984 SEM resulted that loyalty progam (${\beta}$= .429, t=7.880, p< .001) showed a positive significant effect on trust, and that loyalty program (${\beta}$= .455, t=9.532, p< .001) had a positive significant effect on commitment. Also, both trust (${\beta}$= .450, t=6.595, p< .001) and commitment (${\beta}$= .474, t=5.117, p< .001) had a positive significant effect on revisit intention. In addition, there were moderating effects related to restaurant type (family and fastfood restaurant) in terms of causal relationships between loyalty program, relationship quality and revisit intention. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed.