• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.450-465
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify cognitive impairment and risk factors among elderly persons aged 60 or more in Korea using raw data from the 2008 Elderly Survey: Basic Analysis Report of Actual Living Condition of the Elderly and Welfare Need Survey in Korea. Methods: This study was conducted using raw data obtained from 13,335 subjects representing elderly persons aged 60 or more in Korea. Data were analyzed using SPSS 19.0 software. Results: The rate of cognitive impairment was found to be 22.0%. Logistic regression analysis became more prevalent with increased aged. In addition elderly subjects with the following factors showed increased cognitive impairment: mails; underweight; slept well for 3 to 4 days per week at most; lack of high intensity physical activity; Eub/Myoun area; did not live alone; did not graduate from high school; un-employed; lack of active social participation, and not computer/Internet savvy. Conclusion: This study identified cognitive impairment and risk factors among elderly persons aged 60 or more in Korea using samples representing elderly persons aged 60 or more throughout the country.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.137-145
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• 2012

This study was planned to analyze the effect of the types of employment on work-related injury experience. The types of employment may have influenced on working conditions including the exposure to risk factors. Korean Working Conditions Survey have collected the various working conditions as household survey with structured questionnaire. The probability of work-related injury of self-employed is more than that of regular worker. But there is no difference of probability of work-related injury experience between regular and irregular worker controlled by general characteristics and the exposure to risk factors. Authors have found that the type of employment have indirect effect on work-related injury experience via the exposure to risk factors. The result of this study may be heuristic one because of data limitation as cross sectional survey data. In future, well designed survey data can evaluate the effect of the type of employment on safety and health status.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.58 no.5
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• pp.527-535
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• 2020

To clarify the reinfection profile associated with risk factors of opisthorchiasis, we conducted an epidemiological study on the chemotherapeutic effects on reinfection with O. viverrini in the endemic areas of Northeastern Thailand for 3 years. A total of 3,674 fecal samples were collected from participants in villages of 5 provinces. They were examined microscopically using a modified technique of formalin ethyl-acetate concentration. Egg-positive residents were reexamined year (2018) by year (2019) after treatment with a single dose (40 mg/kg) of praziquantel. Health education was provided to the participants yearly. The egg-positive rate of O. viverrini was 14.3%, and was highest (22.2%) in the 20-30 year-old group in 2017. The egg positive rate was 15.3% in dogs and 11.4% cats. Human reinfection rate was 15.5% and 6.3% in next 2 years, and was highest (23.2%) among the fishermen. Relative risk factors of reinfection were significantly higher for males, over 40-year-old age, or working as fishermen or farmers, and eating uncooked fish within the preceding year. A significant difference resulting from a health education program was observed in the third year. Therefore, health education and sustainable surveillance for opisthorchiasis should be maintained to decrease the risk of reinfection.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.54-63
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• 1990

This study aims to find out the prevalence of smoking, and to analyze the effect of smoking for health status, and then to emphasize the necessity of stop smoking. The data used in this study are obtained from periodic health care programe at Health Care Center in a suburban hospital, and selected 435 males who have occupation. The independent varibles chosen for the analysis are general charactersitic variables and smoking habit. The dependent variables are designed to cover the health status of individual cases, and include blood pressure, blood cholesterol level with HDL-cholesterol and blood triglyceride level, recent symptoms and recently being managed diseases. The result of this study are summarized as follows. 1) Percentage of smoker by the age groups is highest in 4th decade, being 71.1%. The second and third ranks are 6th and 7th decades, being 53.5% and 44.4%, respectively. 2) In the view of socio-economic levels, smoking rate is higher in the groups who live at rural area and whoes occupation is labor or merchant. Smoking rate is significantly higher in the heavy drinking group. 3) Among the atherosclerotic risk factors, which include hypertension, HDL-cholesterol by total cholesterol ratio lower than 0.2 and triglyceride level higher than 200gm/dl, hypertension was not statistically associated with smoking, but others revealed statistically high association with smoking. 4) The groups who have the symptoms of severe fatigue, gastrointestinal symptoms, pulmonary symptoms, palpitation and chest tightness havepositive association with smoking. 5) The groups who have hypertension with cardiovascular diseases and gastrointestinal diseases showed highly significant association with non-smoking. 6) In relation of the smoking habit to the atherosclerotic risk factor index, smokers have more atherosclerotic risk factors, but that is not statistically significant. 7) In relation of the smoking habit to the recent symptom index, smokers have more symptoms than non-smokers with statistical significance. In conclusion, smokers have worse health status than non-smokers especially in the atherosclerotic risk factors such as hypertension or abnormal blood lipid status and have more symptoms such as severe fatigue, gastrointestinal symptoms, pulmonary symptoms, palpitation and chest tightness. And the campaingn against smoking should direct for the male in 4th decade because they have highest smoking rate.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.867-876
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• 2013

Metabolic syndrome has been known as a major factor of cardiovascular disease. Several metabolic disorders, particularly chronic disease is complex, and from individuals that appear in our country, the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome is increasing gradually. Therefore, this study, using a multi-factor dimensionality reduction method, checks the major single risk factor of metabolic syndrome and suggests a new diagnosis results of metabolic syndrome. Data of 3990 adults who responded to all the questionnaires of health interview are used from the database of the 5th Korea national health and nutrition examination survey conducted in 2010. As the result, the most dangerous single risk factor for metabolic syndrome was waist circumference and the most dangerous combination factors were waist circumference, triglyceride, and hypertension. This is the result of a new diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome. Especially, waist circumference, low HDL-cholesterol and hypertension were the most dangerous combination for male. In particular, the combination of waist circumference, triglyceride and diabetes was dangerous for obese people.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.136-143
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• 2014

The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study has been instrumental in guiding global health policy development since the early 1990s. The GBD 2010 project provided rich information about the key causes of mortality, disability-adjusted life years, and their associated risk factors in Japan and provided a unique opportunity to incorporate these data into health planning. As part of the latest update of this project, GBD 2013, the Japanese GBD collaborators plan to update and refine the available burden of disease data by incorporating sub-national estimates of the burden of disease at the prefectural level. These estimates will provide health planners and policy makers at both the national and prefectural level with new, more refined tools to adapt local public health initiatives to meet the health needs of local populations. Moreover, they will enable the Japanese health system to better respond to the unique challenges in their rapidly aging population and as a complex combination of non-communicable disease risk factors begin to dominate the policy agenda. Regional collaborations will enable nations to learn from the experiences of other nations that may be at different stages of the epidemiological transition and have different exposure profiles and associated health effects. Such analyses and improvements in the data collection systems will further improve the health of the Japanese, maintain Japan's excellent record of health equity, and provide a better understanding of the direction of health policy in the region.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.99-105
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• 2012

Dyslipidemia, mainly characterized by high triglyceride (TG) and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels, is an important etiological factor in the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Considering the relationship between childhood obesity and CVD risk, it would be worthwhile to evaluate whether previously identified lipid-related variants in adult subjects are associated with lipid variations in a childhood obesity study (n = 482). In an association analysis for 16 genome-wide association study (GWAS)-based candidate loci, we confirmed significant associations of a genetic predisposition to lipoprotein concentrations in a childhood obesity study. Having two loci (rs10503669 at LPL and rs16940212 at LIPC) that showed the strongest association with blood levels of TG and HDL-C, we calculated a genetic risk score (GRS), representing the sum of the risk alleles. It has been observed that increasing GRS is significantly associated with decreased HDL-C (effect size, $-1.13{\pm}0.07$) compared to single nucleotide polymorphism combinations without two risk variants. In addition, a positive correlation was observed between allelic dosage score and risk allele (rs10503669 at LPL) on high TG levels (effect size, $10.89{\pm}0.84$). These two loci yielded consistent associations in our previous meta-analysis. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that the genetic architecture of circulating lipid levels (TG and HDL-C) overlap to a large extent in childhood as well as in adulthood. Post-GWAS functional characterization of these variants is further required to elucidate their pathophysiological roles and biological mechanisms.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.499-505
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• 2022

Despite advances in medicine and preventive strategies, fewer than 1 in 5 people with hypertension have the problem under control. This could partly be due to gaps in fully elucidating the etiology of hypertension. Genetics and conventional lifestyle risk factors, such as the lack of exercise, unhealthy diet, excess salt intake, and alcohol consumption, do not fully explain the pathogenesis of hypertension. Thus, it is necessary to revisit other suggested risk factors that have not been paid due attention. One such factor is psychosocial stress. This paper explores the evidence for the association of psychosocial stressors with hypertension and shows that robust evidence supports the role of a chronic stressful environment at work or in marriage, low socioeconomic status, lack of social support, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, childhood psychological trauma, and racial discrimination in the development or progression of hypertension. Furthermore, the potential pathophysiological mechanisms that link psychosocial stress to hypertension are explained to address the ambiguity in this area and set the stage for further research.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.33-43
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• 2009

Purpose: This study was done to develop a pregnancy nutrition knowledge scale and to examine the relationships between pregnancy nutrition knowledge and eating habits in pregnant women. Methods: With convenient sampling, 189 pregnant women who used community health centers for their ante-natal care were recruited. Data were collected using a self administered questionnaire including items on pregnancy nutrition knowledge (18 items) developed by researcher and items on eating habits (14 items). Cronbach's alpha and exploratory factor analysis were examined to test reliability and construct validity of the scale. Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to identify the relationship between pregnancy nutrition knowledge and eating habits. Results: Cronbach's alpha of 18 items was .80. In factor analysis using principal components, 6 factors explained 65% of the total variance. The level of pregnancy nutrition knowledge was not sufficient but correlations between pregnancy nutrition knowledge and some of eating habits were significant. Specifically, pregnancy nutrition knowledge was positively correlated with good eating habits and negatively with bad eating habits. Conclusion: The pregnancy nutrition knowledge scale developed in this study is acceptable for nutrition education led by nurses. Pregnancy nutrition knowledge and eating habits are considered as major variables for ante-natal nutrition education. In future studies, explorations are needed on dietary intake and physiological indices in pregnant women, comparison of women at risk with those not at risk, and development of nutritional education programs for pregnant women.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.65 no.3
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• pp.131-135
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• 2022

Purpose: There is inconsistent evidence about the association between fetal nuchal cord and the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We performed a meta-analysis to investigate whether fetal nuchal cord is associated with an increased risk of ASD in offspring. Methods: Three main English databases were searched until January 2021. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess study quality. Study heterogeneity was determined using the I 2 statistic, while publication bias was assessed using Begg and Egger tests. Results are presented as odds ratios (ORs) and relative ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CI) and were determined by a random-effects model. Results: Five articles (1 cohort, 4 case-control; 3,088 total children) were included in the present meta-analysis. Fetal nuchal cord was not a risk factor for ASD (OR, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.66-1.57). There was homogeneity among studies that reported a risk of ASD (I²=0.0%). Conclusion: Our results showed that fetal nuchal cord is not a risk factor for ASD. Future large cohort studies should confirm this finding.