• Health Policy and Management
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.29-57
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• 2001

Since the inauguration of the medical insurance system in 1977, the increasing medical expenses which can be menace to tile finance of the medical insurance system, have become major concern in the medical insurance field In Korea. This study focuses on the determinants of the medical expenses in the health insurance in Korea and analyzes the impact of these factors on the increase in the medical expenses. The empirical work is done using the pooled cross-section and time-series data of the medical insurance for the self-employeds and the industrial workers from the year 1995 to 1997. The result of this study shows that the main determinants of the medical expenses in the health insurance are the ratio of the population of the aged to the total population, the frequency of the utilization, number of doctors per capita and the regime changes. Although the increasing trend in the medical expenses seems to be unavoidable, we probably need to add some efficiency to the medical expenses by suppressing the supply and the utilization of the unnecessary medical services. The fee-for-service reimbursement system of today can't suppress the supply of the unnecessary medical services effectively. So we need to convert the present fee-for-service system into DRG's which is known to reduce the medical costs. The increase in the medical expenses comes from a lot of factors. Therefore, we should develop more systematic and comprehensive measures to control the soaring medical expenses in consideration of the various factors such as demand, supply, and the organizational side of the medical system.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.491-498
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• 2011

Purpose: Recently as couples have only one or two children, they concern about their children's optimal health. Furthermore, as the basic principles of Korean traditional prenatal education (Taegyo) are supported by scientific evidence, and as increasing numbers of pregnant women are recognizing Taegyo refresh, the practice of Taegyo is growing. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors associated with the practice of Taegyo among pregnant Korean women. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, survey study of 228 pregnant women recruited at a health center in South Korea using a convenience sampling method. The instruments included the perception of Taegyo scale, the spouse's support scale, the self-confidence for infant care scale, and the practice of Taegyo scale. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analyses. Results: The results of the stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that the following factors accounted for 26.5% of the variance in the practice of Taegyo: the perception of Taegyo, family income. Conclusion: Consequently, this result showed that the pregnant women were influenced by family income, spouses' support as requisite factors, and also they developed the level of self-confidence for infant care and the perception of Taegyo as self-care agency for the practice of Taegyo. The present study findings will add to the accumulated knowledge of health care professionals about the cultural factors involved in the practice of Taegyo and the traditional cultural beliefs and culture-specific health promoting behaviors of ethnic minority pregnant women to provide culturally competent care for them.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.169-174
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• 2014

We have been examining the issue of healthcare workers' exposure to antineoplastic drugs for nearly a decade and have observed that there appears to be more publications on the subject matter originating from Europe than from North America. The concern is that findings from Europe may not be generalizable to North America because of differences in handling practices, regulatory requirements, and training. Our objective was to perform a literature review to confirm our observation and, in turn, identify gaps in knowledge that warrants addressing in North America. Using select keywords, we searched for publications in PubMed and Web of Science. All papers were initially classified according to the originating continent and then categorized into one or more subject categories (analytical methods, biological monitoring, occupational exposure, surface contamination, and probability of risk/exposure). Our review identified 16 papers originating from North America and 55 papers from Europe with surface contamination being the subject matter most often studied overall. Based on our results, we are of the opinion that North American researchers need to further conduct dermal and/or urinary drug contamination studies as well as assess the exposure risk faced by healthcare workers who handle antineoplastic drugs. Trends in exposure levels should also be explored.

• International Journal of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.92-103
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• 2021

With the continuous acceleration of economic and social development, people gradually pay attention to their health, improve their living environment, diet, strengthen exercise, and even conduct regular health examination, to ensure that they always understand the health status. Even so, people still face many health problems, and the number of chronic diseases is increasing. Recently, COVID-19 has also reminded people that public health problems are also facing severe challenges. With the development of artificial intelligence equipment and technology, medical diagnosis expert systems based on big data have become a topic of concern to many researchers. At present, there are many algorithms that can help computers initially diagnose diseases for patients, but they want to improve the accuracy of diagnosis. And taking into account the pathology that varies from person to person, the health diagnosis expert system urgently needs a new algorithm to improve accuracy. Through the understanding of classic algorithms, this paper has optimized it, and finally proved through experiments that the combined classification algorithm improved by latent factors can meet the needs of medical intelligent diagnosis.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.4-22
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• 1989

This study aims to explore the relationship between housewives' health KAP level and the physical health of families. The data used in this study are obtained from the Last Evaluation Program of the National Note for Health surveyed in July, 1989. The respondents for this study are 770 housewives residing in Chunan and Buan. The reason why this study focus on KAP level of housewives is to find out whether a housewife as a emotional supporter contributes to the physical health of her families. A housewife gives her families emotional satisfaction insteade of economic satisfaction. So she has the most interest in family health among the members of her family. Therefore, housewife's KAP level will influence her family health. The independent variables chosen for the analysis are the general characteristic variables and KAP level. And the dependent variable is the physical health of families which excluded psychosocial one. This level of family health includes weight for family health and seriouseness of disease. The result of this study was summarized as follows. (1) KAP level was significantly correlated with variables which have mainly the socioeconomic characteristics. The variables were: area of residence, education level occupation, self assessment on wealth, and exposure to mass communication. (2) In the analysis of relationship between the general characteristic variables and family health, family health was significantly correlated with almost all variables. The variables were: Presence of the aged, Health status, Experience in disease, Self assessment on health, No. of families, Occupation, Education level, Self assessment on wealth, Concern on health, and Exposure to mass communication. (3) In the analysis of relationship between family health and KAP level, family health was not significantly correlated with KAP level but. (4) Also in the stepwise regression analysis, the general variables account for about 32.1 percent of the variance in the dependent variable, family health. The variable with the greatest explanatory power was presence of the aged. On the contrary, KAP level explain about 0.4 percent of the variance in the dependent variable. In sum, the study shows that housewives' health KAP level has relatively weak relationship with the physical health of families

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.256-264
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• 2016

Equity-focused public health policy has solid theoretical and practical basis, in addition to ethical one. In the Republic of Korea (hereafter Korea), however, equity in health has not had a high priority in policy goals, regardless of policy areas and particular actors or approaches. Equitable health has been only a minor concern in most public health issues and their decision-making. Generic public health policies are needed to reduce inequity in health, but the importance of a firm basis for sound policy-making cannot be overemphasized. Health equity should be 'mainstreamed' in all public health policies. Potential approaches include intersectoral collaboration, health impact assessment, and 'Health in All Policies.' Public policy agendas for equitable health cannot be formulated without measurement and recognition of the problem. Korea is still suffering from the lack of reliable information on the current status of health inequity, resulting in a relatively weak awareness of the problem among both the general public and policy-makers. More information is needed to increase recognition and awareness that will increase intervention and actions. The absence of decision-making and actions should not be justified even by the lack of information on determinants and pathways of health inequities. Generic plausible solutions can often work in the real world according to political and social commitment. I have discussed several aspects of public health policy from the perspective of health equity, focusing on current status and plausible explanation. Policy process, agenda setting in particular, is highlighted and theories and concepts are presented along with analysis and description of current situation.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.473-481
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• 2005

Objectives : We wanted to identify those factors associated with stomach, colon, breast and cervix cancer screening. Methods : A population-based telephone survey was conducted for 2 weeks (the 9th-23th of July, 2004) by trained interviewers with using a questionnaire. 2,598 respondents (females aged 30 years or over, and the males aged 40 years or over) were selected by random-digit dialing that was based on the 2000 Population and Housing Census. The data on socio-demographic, health behavior and enabling factors were collected. 2,571 respondents were included in analysis. The cancer screening rate was classified into 2 categories : the life time screening rate and the screening rate with recommendations. Results : For the 2,571 respondent s, the life time screening rate was as follows: 52.0% (Stomach), 25.3% (Colon), 55.9% (Breast) and 76.8% (Cervix). The screening rate with recommendation was as follows : 3 9.2% (Stomach), 20.6% (Colon), 42.5% (Breast) and 58.3% (Cervix). On a multiple logistic regression analysis of the life time screening, statistically significant relationships were observed for the screening intention, the health exam, the disease history, the age of the patients and the cancer screening rates. On a multiple logistic regression analysis of the screening with recommendation, statistically significant relationships were observed for the screening intention, the health exam, the age of the patients, the concern about the risk of cancer, the voluntary health insurance for cancer and the cancer screening rates. Conclusions : The results of this study suggest that the cancer screening intention, the health exam and the age of the patients are the most important factors to participate in life time cancer screening and also screening with recommendations. A positive association was also observed for the concern about the risk of cancer, the voluntary health insurance for cancer. It is hoped that this study will be a base line data for suggesting the representative cancer screening rate in Korea.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.548-555
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• 2018

Objectives: We conducted ecological risk assessment for cadmium, a heavy metal and carcinogen, to identify safety standards by environmental media and to determine its impact on ecosystems by estimating and evaluating exposure levels. Methods: Species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) were generated using ECOTOX DB. A hazardous concentration of 5% (HC5) protective of most species (95%) in the environment was estimated. Using this estimate, predicted no effect concentrations (PNECs) were calculated for aquatic organisms. Based on the calculated PNECs for aquatic organisms, PNEC values for soil and sediment were calculated using the partition coefficient. Predicted exposure concentrations (PECs) were also calculated from environmental monitoring data with hazard quotients (HQs) calculated using PNECs for environmental media. Results: Chronic toxicity data were categorized into four groups and 11 species. In species sensitivity distribution (SSD) analysis, HC5 was $0.340{\mu}g/L$. Based on this value, the PNEC value for aquatic organisms was calculated as $0.113{\mu}g/L$. PNEC values for soil and sediments using a partition coefficient were calculated as 15.02 mg/kg and 90.61 mg/kg, respectively. In an analysis of environmental monitoring data, PEC values were calculated as $0.017{\mu}g/L$ for water, 1.01 mg/kg for soil, and 0.521 mg/kg for sediment. Conclusions: HQs were 0.150, 0.067 and 0.006 for water, soil and sediment, respectively. HQs of secondary toxicity were 0.365 for birds and 0.024 for mammals. In principle, it is judged that an HQ above 1 indicates a high level of risk concern while an HQ less than 1 indicates an extremely low level of risk concern. Therefore, with HQs of cadmium in the environment being <1, its risk levels can be considered low for each media.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.225-237
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• 1997

This study was conducted to the cognition and attitude for internal and external organizational behavior of health centers staff. An analytical model employed in this study was developed by modifying 'organizational behavior model'. Data was collected a mail survey of officers at health center, including 66 directors and 1,768 staffs of the health centers in southern region. The major findings are as follows : Among directors of the health centers 47% of them stated that legislators and chief executive officer(CEO) of local governments are highly concerned about the public health program. However only 15.2% of health center directors reported that legislators and CEO put public health high priority. For leadership type of directors 39.0% of them was classified as controller, 30.3% as participant, 22.7% entertaining and 7.6% comprehending. Regarding sociopsychological characteristics of the health center staffs, about a quarter of them had high degree of group cohesion, while 10.7% had low degree. Those staffs who are older, high educational level, or working in the rural health centers showed higher degree of cohesion than those who are young, low educational level, or working in urban health center. A third of them were less likely to be satisfied by what they are doing at the health centers. The higher educational level, the likely to be satisfied by what they are doing at the health centers. The higher educational level, the more satisfied with their job. Considering these results, policy implication was discussed and suggested. It is suggested that educational efforts be made to improve leadership of the health center directors and concern with public health program by the CEOs and legislators of local governments.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.72-82
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• 1995

The purpose of this study was to review health and adjustment issues of Korean students in the context of international students' health in the United States. The number of international students studying in the United States has increased. In addition, more and more Koreans come to the United States for education. Korean students formed the fifth largest international group found on American campuses. As more and more international students study on American campuses, their health needs and problems became a concern to health professionals. Most health problems international students experience are stress related and psychosomatic. These students also have difficulties in using health care services. International students face barriers to obtaining health care because of differences in language and differences in cultural beliefs toward health. Korea manifests an eastern culture which is quite different from the western culture, so many Korean students studying in the United States experience difficulties in adjustment and using health care services. The study on the needs of Korean students in the U.S. reviewed in this research was a survey of 105 Korean students at the Pennsylvania State University, 1990. Korean students' health problems included stress, colds, fatigue, and headaches. Homesickness, financial problems, and academic problems were also important problems the Korean students faced. Korean students usually did not participate in any activities with Americans as much as with Koreans. Most Korean students did not participated in any health education workshops held on campus. This may be because the students had not participated previously in health education workshops conducted on campuses in Korea. Korean student's confidence with the English language appeared to be an important variable in using or not using the university health services. University health professionals in the United States need to develop better information system for international students so that they may better use the health services provided on campus. Also, university health professionals working on campuses in Korea need to put more attention on health of college students and provide on-campus health education workshops which meet the student's needs.