• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.15-24
• /
• 2015

The soil ecosystem is a complex system performing particularly complicated and varied functions, such as providing a habitat for organisms, acting as a medium for plant cultivation and growth, and functioning as a buffer against external materials in the environment. To assess whether these important functions of the soil ecosystem are executed appropriately, the concept of soil ecosystem health has been introduced, which is defined as the ability to perform the specific functions of the soil ecosystem. Understanding soil properties and soil indicators related to soil functions is essential to assess the soil health. In this study, systems, the indicators, and evaluation factors for assessing soil ecosystem health employed in a number of countries were investigated and discussed. In particular, it is necessary to introduce a technique for the evaluation of soil ecosystem health in Korea and to develop techniques and indicators appropriate to the soil ecosystem and status in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.133-140
• /
• 2005

Purpose： This study estimated the prevalence of smoking among male and female school employees. This study also correlated key indicators of health with the number of cigarettes consumed per day by the male smokers. The indicators of health included health behavior, blood pressure (mmHg), BMI (kg/m2), diabetes, total cholesterol, GOT, GPT and GTP. Methods： Subjects included 2,640 male and 2,747 female employees working at elementary, middle, and high schools who received a physical check-up at the Seoul School Health Center in 2002. Data was obtained from the physical examinations, questionnaires, and laboratory results. Results： 39.7% of males and 0.4% of females were current smokers. 60% of the male smokers consumed between 10 and 19 cigarettes per day, and39.6% of male smokers had been smoking between 10 and 19 years. Smokers who consumed more than one pack per day had a relatively higher BMI than the non-smokers (24.7 24.1, respectively). However, smokers had lower blood pressure than non-smokers. The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure of current-smokers were 128.2 and 82.8, respectively, while the values among non-smokers were 129 and 84.5, respectively. The proportion of current smokers with severe obesity (over BMI 30) was 5.0%. This was considerably higher than the 1.3% of severely obese non-smokers. Current-smokers also had mean and abnormal rate of fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, GOT, GPT, and GTP that were higherthan those of non-smokers. The frequency of red meat consumption, alcohol use, perceived incidents of stress were alsomore frequent in current-smokers than in non-smokers. Exercise frequency was also lower among smokers. In multiple regression after adjusting all possible confounding factors including age, BMI, diet, and drink, the parameter value of fasting blood glucose, cholesterol, GOT, GPT, and GTP increased relative to the level of cigarette consumption. Conclusion： Among school employees, health behavior, and general health status including BMI, total cholesterol, GOT, GPT, GTP, and fasting blood glucose were worse in smokers than in non-smoker.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.75-83
• /
• 2018

Purpose: To provide effective palliative care, it is important to predict not only patients' life expectancy but their discharge status at a time of inpatient admission to a hospice care facility. This study was aimed to identify meaningful life expectancy indicators that can be used to predict patients' discharge status on admission to the facility. Methods: Among 568 patients who were admitted to the hospice ward of P hospital from April 1, 2016 through December 31, 2017, 377 terminal cancer patients were selected. This retrospective cohort study was performed by using performance status, symptoms and signs, socioeconomic status, laboratory findings on admission. Results: Alive discharge was associated with a good performance status that was measured with the Karnofsky and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) scales and the Global health and Mental status. Less anorexia, dyspnea, dysphagia and fatigue were also associated with symptoms and signs. Associated laboratory findings were close to normal Complete Blood Cell (CBC) count, Liver Function Test (LFT) and Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS), ECOG, Global health, Mental status, anorexia, dyspnea, dysphagia, fatigue, CBC, LFT, BUN are meaningful indicators when predicting discharge status for inpatients. Further investigation is warranted.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.391-400
• /
• 2005

Objective : This study examined the socioeconomic differentials for the health and health related behaviors among South Korean middle school students. Methods : A nationwide cross-sectional interview survey of 3,449 middle school second-grade students and their parents was conducted using a stratified multi-stage cluster sampling method. The response rate was 93.3%. The socioeconomic position indicators were based on self-reported information from the students and their parents: parental education, father's occupational class, monthly family income, out-of-pocket expenditure for education, housing ownership, educational expectations, educational performance and the perceived economic hardships. The outcome variables that were measured were also based on the self-reported information from the students. The health measures included self-rated health conditions, psychological or mental problems, the feelings of loneliness at school, the overall satisfaction of life and the perceived level of stress. The health related behaviors included were smoking, alcohol drinking, sexual intercourse, violence, bullying and verbal and physical abuse by parents. Results : Socioeconomic differences for the health and health related behaviors were found among the eighth grade boys and girls of South Korea. However, the pattern varied with gender, the socioeconomic position indicators and the outcome measures. The prevalence rates of the overall dissatisfaction with life for both genders differed according to most of the eight socioeconomic position indicators. All the health measures were significantly different according to the perceived economic hardship. However, the socioeconomic differences in the self-rated health conditions and the psychosocial or mental problems were not clear. The students having higher socioeconomic position tended to be a perpetrator of bullying while those students with lower socioeconomic position were more likely to be a victim. Conclusions : The perceived economic hardships predicted the health status among the eighth graders of South Korea. The overall satisfaction of life was associated with the socioeconomic position indicators. Further research efforts are needed to explore the mechanisms on how and why the socioeconomic position affects the health and health related behaviors in this age group.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.319-326
• /
• 2007

Coastal marine ecosystems continue to suffer unrelenting pressures from human population growth, increased development, and climate change. Moreover, these systems' capacity for self-repair is declining with such increases in anthropogenic production of various pollutants. What is the present health status or condition of the coastal ecosystem? If our coastal areas are unhealthy, which conditions are considered serious? To answer such questions, the United States, Canada, and Australia are currently assessing coastal ecosystem health using systematic monitoring programs as well as identifying and implementing management plans to improve the health of degraded coastal ecosystems. To evaluate marine environments, Korea is currently using a limited number of factors to estimate water quality. In fact, we are ill-prepared for assessing coastal ecosystem health because no biologically specific criteria are in place to measure the responses to various pollutants. We should select ecosystem-specific indicators from physicochemical stressors and evaluate the subsequent biological responses within each ecosystem. Furthermore, a set of practical indicators should be generated by considering the characteristics and uses of a local coastal area and the key issues at hand. The values of indicators should be presented as indices that allow understanding by the general public as well as by practitioners, policy makers, environmental managers and other stakeholders.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.42 no.5
• /
• pp.275-282
• /
• 2009

Objectives : This study aimed to verify the association between wealth or income level and health status after adjusting for other socio-economic position (SEP) indicators among Korean adults aged 45 and over. Methods : Data were obtained from the 1st wave of Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (households: 6,171, persons: 10,254). We used self-rated health status and activities of daily living (ADLs) as dependent variables. Explanatory variables included both net wealth measured by savings, immovables, the other valuated assets and total income including pay, transfer, property and so on. Binary logistic regression was conducted to examine the relationships. Also, in order to determine the relative health inequality across economic groups, we estimated the relative index of inequality (RII). Results : The inequality of health status was evident among various wealth and income groups. The wealthiest group (5th quintile) was much healthier than the poorest group, and this differential increased with age. Likewise, higher income was associated with better health status among the elderly. However, these effects, as measured by the odds ratio and RII, showed that wealth was more important in determining health status of elderly people. Conclusions : This study suggests that economic capability plays a significant role in determining the health status and other health-related problems among the elderly. Particularly, our results show that health status of the aged is related more closely to the individual s wealth than income.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.22-34
• /
• 2020

Objectives: Based on the concept of environmental justice, we developed an evaluation model for setting and adopting the direction of environmental health policy using environmental health indicators and statistics from the local governments of Seoul, including environmentally susceptible populations. Methods: We selected a total of 20 variables based on data officially released from national and local governments. After the classification of these variables into the five components of environmental pressure, environmental status, environmental disease, sensitive population, and socioeconomic status, a basic model was constructed to calculate the relative scores of the local governments. Results: The cumulative impact scores for assessment of environmental health status were similar to those of the environmental pressure and status components. The highest five cumulative impact scores fell between 114 and 147. Local government A reported the highest scores and had high environmental pressure, environmental status and socioeconomic status. In addition, the evaluation of the other four local governments indicated that they exhibited above average scores for environmental pressure and environmental status, two did so for environmental disease, and four for sensitive population. Conclusion: We constructed a model to evaluate the environmental health status of the local governments of Seoul based on cumulative impact scores under the concept of environmental justice. As an approach for studying environmentally vulnerable areas through relative ranking, this model was feasible for policy-setting. In addition, this approach would be an analytically useful tool for decision-makers.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
• /
• v.17 no.5
• /
• pp.454-461
• /
• 2017

The purpose of this study was to confirm the relevance of dental health capacity and pulmonary function status. The subjects of this study were adults aged 40 years and older, who participated in pulmonary function and oral examinations. The data used for this study were raw data from the sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013~2015). Statistical analysis was performed by analysis of complex sample survey data. The results were as follows: First, restrictive and obstructive patterns were more prevalent among males than females. They were even worse in older subjects. Approximately 67% of smokers had obstructive pattern. Second, there was a relevance between dental health capacity and pulmonary function status. The functioning teeth index, number of present teeth, and number of sound teeth (ST), which are indicators of dental health, declined with decreased pulmonary function. The number of missing teeth (MT) increased as the pulmonary function deteriorated (p<0.05). Third, the relevance between dental health capacity and pulmonary function status after stratifying the life-long smoking experience was statistically significant in the tissue health (T-health) index and ST among non-smokers. The relevance between dental health capacity and pulmonary function status after stratifying the life-long smoking experience was statistically significant (p<0.05) for the T-health index, ST, and MT among smokers. However, there was no relevance between dental health capacity and pulmonary function status after stratifying the life-long smoking experience and adjusting confounding variables. In conclusion, there was a relevance between dental health capacity and pulmonary function status after confounding variables were adjusted. However, there was no relevance between dental health capacity and pulmonary function status after stratifying the life-long smoking experience and adjusting confounding variables.

• Women's Health Nursing
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.486-498
• /
• 2001

The purpose of this study was to identify transition conditions, health behavior and indicators of healthy transitions among middle-aged women based on Schumacher & Meleis(1994) transition model for developing intervention program for their health promotion. A convenience sample of 221 women aged 40-60 was obtained in Jung-Gu, Seoul and they were asked to complete the questionnaires, which consisted of modified health-promoting lifestyle profile(HPLP), knowledge of menopause, physical well-being, emotional well-being, modified women's role integration protocol (WRIP), Beck's Depression Inventory(BDI), and indicators of healthy transition with subcategories such as subjective well-being, role mastery and well-being of interrelationship. The results were as follows: 1. Women had a mean age of 47.53 years. More than half(53.39%) of the women had jobs and 88.69 % had their spouses, Of 221 women, 51.13 % were premenopausal, 19.91% were perimenopausal, and 28.96% were postmenopausal. 2. Women scored lower on health responsibility and exercise than on self actualization, nutrition and interpersonal support among subcategories of health behavior measured the modified HPLP. Only 11.98% of respondents had breast-self examination and 42.66% had pap smear for screening cancer. 3. In transition conditions, women had poor knowledge about menopause and median level of physical well-being, emotional well-being and stress. 15.45% of the women had clinical depression. 4. As for the outcome index of the transition model, the mean of indicators of healthy transition was 3.69(possible range 1-5). 5. The levels of education and economic and the menstrual status were significantly related to physical well-being, depression and stress in the categories of transition conditions. The total score of health behavior correlated negatively with depression. The total score of indicators of healthy transition correlated with physical well-being, emotional well-being, stress, and depression in the categories of transition conditions. In conclusion, these findings suggested a profile of fragile middle-aged women and contributed to developing the community-based intervention program for health promotion.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.94-105
• /
• 2022

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between socioeconomic status and chewing discomfort and identify the role of food insecurity in the association's causal pathway in a representative sample of Korean elders. MATERIALS/METHODS: We conducted cross-sectional analyses of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013-2015) data for elders aged ≥ 65 years. Socioeconomic status indicators used included household income and education level. Chewing discomfort was assessed according to the self-reported presence of chewing problems. Food security was surveyed using a questionnaire based on the US Household Food Security Survey Module. RESULTS: The odds ratios of chewing discomfort in the 1st and 2nd income quartiles were 1.55 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15-2.10) and 1.40 (95% CI, 1.03-1.90), respectively, compared to participants in the highest income quartile. Participants with the lowest education level were 1.89 (95% CI, 1.30-2.75) times more likely to have chewing discomfort than those without chewing discomfort. After including food security in the final model, the logistic coefficients were attenuated in the income and education quartiles. CONCLUSIONS: Low socioeconomic status was associated with chewing discomfort. In addition, the results confirm that food insecurity can mediate the association between socioeconomic inequalities and chewing discomfort among the elderly.