• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.41-53
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• 2024

Objectives: We used the Korea Health Panel Annual Data 2019 to analyze factors related to visits to both Korean medicine and Western medicine (WM) outpatient clinics among patients with overweight and obesity. Methods: The inclusion criteria for this study are as follows: 1) adults over 18 years of age, 2) overweight or obese with a body mass index of 25.0 or more, 3) visited WM outpatient clinics at least once during 2019. Total 2,963 individuals were included in WM group or integrative medicine (IM) group. Using the Andersen healthcare utilization model, factors related to healthcare utilization of the participants were classified. Binomial logistic regression analysis was used to analyze factors associated with IM use. Results: Among the participants, 80.49% (n=2,385) were assigned to WM group and 19.51% (n=578) to IM group. As a result of the regression analysis, factors significantly related to the use of IM included the elderly over 65 years of age, sex (men), college or higher education level, residential area (Gwangju/Jeolla/Jeju), presence of cancer, and presence of musculoskeletal disease. The main diagnosis associated with both WM and IM use was most frequently musculoskeletal conditions. Also, IM group received WM treatment for musculoskeletal conditions more frequently compared to WM group. Conclusions: This study is the first to analyze healthcare utilization patterns among overweight or obese patients in Korea. The current findings suggest that the presence of musculoskeletal conditions, especially in this population, may be strongly associated with concurrent use of IM services.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.12 no.9
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• pp.265-274
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• 2014

We sought to derive an overall strategy for green business certification of medical institutions and to propose the improvement directions for green management evaluation systems through applying the criteria to medical institutions. A self-assessment survey was conducted at 44 targeted hospitals across the country, and the 2012 green management evaluation criteria for healthcare services were used as assessment tools. As a result, only 11 of the 44 hospitals were eligible for green business certification. By type, hospitals with more than 400 beds, hospitals in Seoul and the Gyeonggi area (${\geq}$ 400 beds) and private hospitals (${\geq}$ 400 beds) received relatively high scores. In an analysis of the mean score, only the difference between the hospitals with ${\geq}$ 400 beds and < 400 beds was statistically significant. When we analyzed the interviews of the hospitals with lower scores, it is important to change the awareness of executives and employees, to establish vision/strategy/objective, to promote relatively small-scale activities, and to establish long-term plans. To improve green management evaluation systems, it is necessary to reset the assessment area, to control scoring and weights, to create certification grades, and to adjust additional points.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.276-283
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• 2023

The Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute is currently evaluating spirometry tests used for worker health examinations by applying the 2005 American Thoracic Society (ATS) and European Respiratory Society (ERS) spirometric test standardization guide and reviewing the application of the 2019 ATS/ERS guide. To compare results obtained using the new evaluation criteria with previous results and determine whether it is appropriate to apply them to Korean workers' health examinations, we reviewed spirometry results from 325 special health examination institutions. Although evaluation criteria such as extrapolation volume, correction error, and forced inspiratory vital capacity were applied more strictly, institutions had higher reliability scores. Primarily because the acceptability and repeatability of forced expiratory volume in 1 second and forced vital capacity were judged separately, and thus, deduction width was reduced. The study shows that adopting the new evaluation criteria would reduce the possible use of inappropriate data, increase tester and doctor understanding of result selection and interpretation, increase result reliability, and reduce the testing burden.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.315-324
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• 2016

Underserved area is a region that has a lack of healthcare resources. In the context of Korea, however, there are not enough detailed criteria for underserved areas. In this study, we aimed to develop indicators for underserved area through Delphi technique. We systematically reviewed the existing measure of underserved area. Sixty indicators were extracted as candidates across four domains in secondary medical care. Four domains are demand, medical resource, quality of care, and health outcome. To develop indicator, two round Delphi survey was conducted among 15 professional experts such as professionals and public administrators. In conclusion, 2 final indicators (accessibility, medical utilization) was determined as an appropriate measure in order to designate underserved area for secondary medical services. Using our criteria from Delphi technique, 36 areas were found as underserved areas for the secondary medical care.

• Journal of Medicine and Life Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.90-95
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• 2019

The Korea Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention interpreted that recent outbreaks of scarlet fever in Korea since 2011 was resulted from the expansion of scarlet fever notification criteria. To suggest a relevant hypothesis regarding this emerging outbreak, a time series analysis(TSA) of scarlet fever incidence between 2002 and 2016 was conducted. The raw data was the nationwide insurance claims database administered by the Korean National Health Insurance Service. The inclusion criteria were children aged ≤14 years residing in Jeju Province, Korea who received any form of healthcare for scarlet fever from 2002 to 2016. The season was defined as winter (December, January, February; Q1), spring (March, April, May; Q2), summer (June, July, August; Q3), and autumn (September, October, November; Q4). There were seasonal variations with showing peak season on Q1 and Q3. And three phases as 2002 Q2~2005 Q2, 2005 Q2~2009 Q4, and 2010 Q1~2016 Q4 were found between 2002 and 2016. The results from TSA suggested that the recent outbreak of scarlet fever among children in Jeju Province might be a phenomenon from 'unknown birth-related environmental factors' changed after 2010.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.189-196
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• 2007

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the clinical significance of age and basal serum FSH in predicting the outcomes of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in patients with poor-ovarian response. Methods: From January 2000 to December 2004, 85 second IVF cycles of 85 poor-ovarian response patients under the age of 42 with a back-ground of the first IVF cycles at our infertility center and 5 or less oocytes were retrieved and their basal serum FSH levels of 15$\sim$25 mIU/ml were enrolled in this study. Exclusion criteria were patients with a male factor for the etiology of infertility and undergoing genetic diagnosis of embryo such as PGD. Flare-up protocol was used for ovarian stimulation in all cases. Results: When we stratified the study groups by patient's age, the younger age group (age<35, n=35) showed significantly higher implantation rate (19.0% versus 4.0%, p<0.05) and higher ongoing pregnancy rate (100% versus 14.3%, p<0.05) than the older age group (age$\geq$35, n=50). And then, when we stratified the study populations by basal serum FSH level, the lower FSH group (basal serum FSH<20 mIU/ml, n=58) showed significantly higher number of retrieved oocytes (4.6$\pm$0.7 versus 2.2$\pm$0.5, p<0.05) and lower cancellation rate (19.0% versus 55.6%, p<0.05) than higher FSH group (basal serum FSH$\geq$20 mIU/ml, n=27). Conclusions: In conclusion, it was suggested that the patient's age could predict the IVF outcomes in respect to its potency of pregnancy and ongoing pregnancy. Serum basal FSH levels could predict more accurately the ovarian response of cycle, but not clinical outcomes.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.24-41
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• 2012

Objectives: This study reviewed research trends concerning the prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use and to suggest future research directions appropriate to medical circumstances in Korea. Methods: We searched for surveys of CAM use in 8 databases including 6 Korean databases, Ovid MEDLINE, and the CINAHL electronic database. Three independent reviewers working in pairs screened titles and abstracts of articles for eligibility. Full text was retrieved in case of disagreement on the eligibility. The main analysis targets included survey researcher's affiliation, terminology used in the title, study subject, definition of CAM, classifications of CAM modalities, and the area assortment of CAM and traditional Korean medicine (TKM). Results: 92 articles were included for analysis. The major constituent of affiliation was doctors (53%). According to years, study subjects were diversified to a large range of diseases. Since 2003, terminology is absorbed to use CAM. But actually, the most commonly used definition in the research was comprehensive such as "not generally considered part of major medicine" (55.4%) and the most used classification of CAM was self-criteria (61.9%). As for area assortment of CAM and TKM, many therapies exist in a gray zone between CAM and TKM. Conclusions: Standardized definition and classification criteria about CAM fit to the Korean healthcare system have not yet developed. For traditional Korean medicine academia, more concern should be paid to establishing appropriate development of definitions and classification criteria.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.15-19
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• 2012

Occupant footfalls are often the most critical source of floor vibration on upper floors of buildings. Floor motions can degrade the performance of imaging equipment, disrupt sensitive research equipment, and cause discomfort for the occupants. It is essential that low-vibration environments be provided for functionality of sensitive spaces on floors above grade. This requires a sufficiently stiff and massive floor structure that effectively resists the forces exerted from user traffic. Over the past 25 years, generic vibration limits have been developed, which provide frequency dependent sensitivities for wide classes of equipment, and are used extensively in lab design for healthcare and research facilities. The same basis for these curves can be used to quantify acceptable limits of vibration for human comfort, depending on the intended occupancy of the space. When available, manufacturer's vibration criteria for sensitive equipment are expressed in units of acceleration, velocity or displacement and can be specified as zero-to-peak, peak-to-peak, or root-mean-square (rms) with varying frequency ranges and resolutions. Several approaches to prediction of floor vibrations are currently applied in practice. Each method is traceable to fundamental structural dynamics, differing only in the level of complexity assumed for the system response, and the required information for use as model inputs. Three commonly used models are described, as well as key features they possess that make them attractive to use for various applications. A case study is presented of a tall building which has fitness areas on two of the upper floors. The analysis predicted that the motions experienced would be within the given criteria, but showed that if the floor had been more flexible, the potential exists for a locked-in resonance response which could have been felt over large portions of the building.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.663-669
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• 2014

Background: With recent progress in health science administration, a huge amount of data has been collected from thousands of subjects. Statistical and computational techniques are very necessary to understand such data and to make valid scientific conclusions. The purpose of this paper was to develop a statistical probability model and to predict future survival times for male breast cancer patients who were diagnosed in the USA during 1973-2009. Materials and Methods: A random sample of 500 male patients was selected from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database. The survival times for the male patients were used to derive the statistical probability model. To measure the goodness of fit tests, the model building criterions: Akaike Information Criteria (AIC), Bayesian Information Criteria (BIC), and Deviance Information Criteria (DIC) were employed. A novel Bayesian method was used to derive the posterior density function for the parameters and the predictive inference for future survival times from the exponentiated Weibull model, assuming that the observed breast cancer survival data follow such type of model. The Markov chain Monte Carlo method was used to determine the inference for the parameters. Results: The summary results of certain demographic and socio-economic variables are reported. It was found that the exponentiated Weibull model fits the male survival data. Statistical inferences of the posterior parameters are presented. Mean predictive survival times, 95% predictive intervals, predictive skewness and kurtosis were obtained. Conclusions: The findings will hopefully be useful in treatment planning, healthcare resource allocation, and may motivate future research on breast cancer related survival issues.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.378-388
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• 2023

Background: With increasing interest in health in old age, aspects of oral aging are being considered. The Korean Academy of Geriatric Dentistry recently proposed the diagnostic criteria for oral frailty in older adults in Korea. This study aimed to conduct a cross-sectional survey of factors related to oral frailty among community-dwelling older adults and identify differences in oral frailty status according to age and sex. Methods: Among 217 older adults aged ≥60 years who visited a senior center in Wonju, 206 completed all tests for oral frailty. Among them, data from those with a Korean Version of the Modified Barthel Index score ≥90 were used in the final analysis. After evaluating oral frailty diagnostic factors such as chewing ability, occlusal force, tongue pressure, oral dryness, oral cleanliness, and swallowing function, oral hypofunction was determined according to the oral frailty diagnostic criteria. Subsequently, the evaluation results were compared based on sex and age. Results: Significant differences in chewing ability, maximum occlusal pressure, and maximum tongue pressure were observed between sexes. However, these differences did not affect oral frailty diagnosis. All diagnostic factors of oral frailty, except for the risk of oral dryness and swallowing dysfunction, showed significant differences with age. However, no significant difference was observed in the prevalence of oral frailty. Additionally, this study found no relationship between sex and oral frailty factors using the oral frailty diagnostic criteria. However, it also found that age plays a significant role as an oral frailty diagnostic indicator, in addition to oral dryness and swallowing function. Conclusion: Sex and age did not affect oral frailty diagnosis. However, patients' chewing ability, occlusal force, and tongue pressure were affected by sex and age. Therefore, sex and age should be considered when diagnosing and intervening in oral frailty in the future.