• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.501-512
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• 1999

The aim of this study was to utilize the 20 steps in the three phases from the book, 'Twenty steps for developing a Healthy Cities Project $2^{nd}$ Ed., 1995, WHO/EURO' to survey Healthy Cities to identify the similarities and differences by implementation rates and perceived significances among Healthy Cities worldwide. For this study, a self-administered questionnaire was developed based on the book. The questionnaires were delivered by air-mail and e-mail to 213 Healthy City coordinators or directors in 43 nations from Jan 13 to Feb 10, 1999. The responses were gathered up until March 31 from 40 Healthy Cities in 17 nations, mostly in the USA and in the European regions. The main results are as follows; Overall the perceived significances were higher for healthy cities with higher implementation rates and there were significant differences for 'set-up office', 'plans strategy', 'increase health awareness', 'mobilize intersectoral action', and 'secure healthy public policy'. 1. According to national health system, the implementation rate, perceived significance and implementation ability of the 20 steps were higher in the healthy cities with a comprehensive-type health system as compared to those with an entreprenetrial & permissive health system. Overall there were significant differences in the steps 'mobilize intersectoral action', and 'secure healthy public policy'. steps which were predominant in the healthy cities with a comprehensive-type health system. There was no concordance in the ranks of implementation rate and perceived significant score. 2. According to the length of implementation time, the perceived significance and implementation ability were higher in healthy cities with more than 6 years compared to those with less than 6 years, although implementation rate was the same. Overall there was a significant difference in 'secure healthy public policy' the step which was predominant in the healthy cities with more than 6 years of implementation. 3. According to population covered by the Healthy City Project, the implementation rate and implementation ability were higher in healthy cities with more than a population of 100 thousand. There was no significant difference in perceived significance, but there were differences in the following, 'find finances', 'set-up office'. 'mobilize intersectoral action' in the implementation rate and implementation ability. These three steps were predominant in the healthy cities with a population of more than 100 thousand. 4. The population covered by the Healthy City Project was the only effective factor influencing the total implementation ability of each healthy city, and it was higher for those cities with a population of more than 100 thousand. In Conclusion, the implementation rate, the perceived significance and the implementation ability were higher in cities with a comprehensive -type health system, with more than 6 years of healthy city experience and with a population of more than 100 thousand. To increase the reliability and the validity of the questionnaire and the results of this study arising from lack of sufficient data, repeated study needs to be considered with a more refined questionnaire delivered to more healthy cities worldwide.

• Journal of Korean Academic Society of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.179-188
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• 2020

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the relationship among emotional happiness, spiritual need, and healthy aging and to identify the factors affecting healthy aging in middle-aged and elderly population. Method: The participants were 100 middle-aged and elderly individuals. Data were collected using self-report questionnaires from March 9 to May 27, 2020. Collected data were analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 26.0 program. Results: There was a positive correlation between healthy aging and emotional happiness (r=.70, p<.001) and spiritual need (r=.52, p<.001). The factors influencing healthy aging were gender (β=.13, p=.026), subjective health status (β=.19, p=.002), emotional happiness (β=.60, p<.001), and spiritual need (β=.34, p<.001). These variables explained 67% of healthy aging. Conclusion: Healthy aging had a significant impact on women than on men when subjective health status was good and when emotional happiness and spiritual need were high. Healthy aging of the middle-aged and elderly population has confirmed the importance of physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Therefore, development and operation of programs that include various aspects of physical, emotional, and spiritual for healthy aging should be considered to confirm their effectiveness.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.63-68
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to estimate the population pharmacokinetics of clarithromycin in healthy adult Korean and to investigate the factors influencing the pharmacokinetics of clarithromycin. The population pharmacokinetic parameters of clarithromycin were calculated with the data from healthy adult Koreans. A total of 798 plasma concentrations obtained from 78 subjects after administration of a single oral dose of 250 mg or 500 mg were used for the modeling. The concentration-time data were fitted to a one-compartment open model assuming a first-order absorption and elimination with no lag time. The correlations between various factors [such as sex, age, height, weight, sect creatinine (Scr) and dose and pharmacokinetic parameters were estimated with stepwise linear recession analyses. The selected covariates were incorporated in the population model of NONMEM, and the importance of each covariate was investigated by means of backwards elimination. The apparent clearance (CL/F) was significantly correlated to Scr and sex, and the apparent volume of distribution (Vd/F) was significantly correlated to Scr and height in a nonlinear relationship. The population values of Ka was 1.8 h $r_{-1}$, CL/F was 37.71 L/hr, Vd/F was 200 L and t/ sub 1/2 / was 3.68 hrs for a male Korean with 170 m height and 1.0 mg/dL Scr.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.49-56
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• 2012

Methylphenidate is a widely used stimulant for treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In addition to core symptoms of attention and behavioral symptoms, methylphenidate is even effective for executive functions. However, abuse and misuse of stimulants, including methylphenidate, for the purpose of cognitive enhancement is an issue of concern worldwide. Some prejudices and misunderstandings against methylphenidate are popular ; however, little attention has been given to the neuropsychiatric evidence of methylphenidate for enhancement of cognitive function among healthy populations. In this article, our aim was to conduct a review of previous studies investigating the effect of methylphenidate in healthy populations. Findings from several recent studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of methylphenidate for enhancement of cognitive function in healthy populations. The mechanisms of cognitive enhancement are thought to be associated with motivation and the reward circuit in the brain. However, when considering the risk to benefit, an official discussion of the use of methylphenidate among healthy members of the population would be premature. Instead, investigation of epidemiological studies of the prevalence of misuse of stimulants among healthy members of the population, particularly adolescents and college students, is needed. In addition, based on achievements reported in previous studies, investigation of the effect of an approach using non-pharmacological enhancing motivation, which will in turn result in increased cognitive function would be helpful.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.378-391
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• 2018

Background: People who were born in different years, that is, different birth cohorts, grow in varying socio-historical and dynamic contexts, which result in differences in social dispositions and physical abilities. Methods: This study used age-period-cohort analysis method to establish explanatory models on healthcare expenditure in Korea reflecting birth cohort factor using intrinsic estimator. Based on these models, we tried to investigate the effects of ageing population on future healthcare expenditure through simulation by scenarios. Results: Coefficient of cohort effect was not as high as that of age effect, but greater than that of period effect. The cohort effect can be interpreted to show 'healthy ageing' phenomenon. Healthy ageing effect shows annual average decrease of -1.74% to 1.57% in healthcare expenditure. Controlling age, period, and birth cohort effects, pure demographic effect of population ageing due to increase in life expectancy shows annual average increase of 1.61%-1.80% in healthcare expenditure. Conclusion: First, since the influence of population factor itself on healthcare expenditure increase is not as big as expected. Second, 'healthy ageing effect' suggests that there is a need of paradigm shift to prevention centered-healthcare services. Third, forecasting of health expenditure needs to reflect social change factors by considering birth cohort effect.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.312-317
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• 2016

Objective: Midazolam is mainly metabolized by cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A. Inhibition or induction of CYP3A can affect the pharmacological activity of midazolam. The aims of this study were to develop a population pharmacokinetic (PK) model and evaluate the effect of CYP3A-mediated interactions among ketoconazole, rifampicin, and midazolam. Methods: Three-treatment, three-period, crossover study was conducted in 24 healthy male subjects. Each subject received 1 mg midazolam (control), 1 mg midazolam after pretreatment with 400 mg ketoconazole once daily for 4 days (CYP3A inhibition phase), and 2.5 mg midazolam after pretreatment with 600 mg rifampicin once daily for 10 days (CYP3A induction phase). The population PK analysis was performed using a nonlinear mixed effect model ($NONMEM^{(R)}$ 7.2) based on plasma midazolam concentrations. The PK model was developed, and the first-order conditional estimation with interaction was applied for the model run. A three-compartment model with first-order elimination described the PK. The influence of ketoconazole and rifampicin, CYP3A5 genotype, and demographic characteristics on PK parameters was examined. Goodness-of-fit (GOF) diagnostics and visual predictive checks, as well as bootstrap were used to evaluate the adequacy of the model fit and predictions. Results: Twenty-four subjects contributed to 900 midazolam concentrations. The final parameter estimates (% relative standard error, RSE) were as follows; clearance (CL), 31.8 L/h (6.0%); inter-compartmental clearance (Q) 2, 36.4 L/h (9.7%); Q3, 7.37 L/h (12.0%), volume of distribution (V) 1, 70.7 L (3.6%), V2, 32.9 L (8.8%); and V3, 44.4 L (6.7%). The midazolam CL decreased and increased to 32.5 and 199.9% in the inhibition and induction phases, respectively, compared to that in control phase. Conclusion: A PK model for midazolam co-treatment with ketoconazole and rifampicin was developed using data of healthy volunteers, and the subject's CYP3A status influenced the midazolam PK parameters. Therefore, a population PK model with enzyme-mediated drug interactions may be useful for quantitatively predicting PK alterations.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.52-56
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• 2013

Background Measuring grip and pinch strength is an important part of hand injury evaluation. Currently, there are no standardized values of normal grip and pinch strength among the Korean population, and lack of such data prevents objective evaluation of post-surgical recovery in strength. This study was designed to establish the normal values of grip and pinch strength among the healthy Korean population and to identify any dependent variables affecting grip and pinch strength. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out. The inclusion criterion was being a healthy Korean person without a previous history of hand trauma. The grip strength was measured using a Jamar dynamometer. Pulp and key pinch strength were measured with a hydraulic pinch gauge. Intra-individual and inter-individual variations in these variables were analyzed in a standardized statistical manner. Results There were a total of 336 healthy participants between 13 and 77 years of age. As would be expected in any given population, the mean grip and pinch strength was greater in the right hand than the left. Male participants (137) showed mean strengths greater than female participants (199) when adjusted for age. Among the male participants, anthropometric variables correlated positively with grip strength, but no such correlations were identifiable in female participants in a statistically significant way. Conclusions Objective measurements of hand strength are an important component of hand injury evaluation, and population-specific normative data are essential for clinical and research purposes. This study reports updated normative hand strengths of the South Korean population in the 21st century.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.252-258
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• 2005

Major approaches of Social epidemiology; 1)holistic, ecological approach, 2)population based approach, 3)development and life-course approach, 4)contextual multi-level approach, have stressed the importance of not only social context of health and illness, but also the population based strategy in the health interventions. Ultimately, it provides the conceptual guidelines and methodological tools to lead toward the healthy public policies; integrated efforts to improve condition which people live: secure, safe, adequate, and sustainable livelihoods, lifestyles, and environments, including housing, education, nutrition, information exchange, child care, transportation, and necessary community and personal social and health services.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.1247-1250
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• 2015

Background: Psoriasis, a common cutaneous disorder characterized by inflammation and abnormal epidermal proliferation with a prevalence of 2-3% in the general population, may be linked to certain types of cancer. Several studies have reported an association between interleukin 10 (IL-10) variant polymorphisms and inflammatory diseases such as psoriasis vulgaris although the results vary according to the population studied. No studies have been performed in the Saudi population. The present study concerned novel variants and other genetic polymorphisms of the promoter and exonic regions of the IL10 gene in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis and potential differences in genotype compared to a group of healthy volunteers. Materials and Methods: Patients with moderate to severe psoriasis and healthy controls with no personal or family history of psoriasis were selected from the central region of Saudi Arabia. Polymorphisms of the IL 10 gene of both groups were genotyped. Results: We observed two novel variants in 5'UTR region of the promoter precursor with higher prevalence of the genotype with both wild-type alleles in patients compared to the healthy control group. The differences at positions -377 and -150 were significantly associated with disease, both the variants conferred strong protection against psoriasis in Saudi patients. Conclusions: This observation provides further support for the importance of the part that IL10 plays in the pathophysiology of this disease. Confirmation of our findings in larger populations of different ethnicities would provide evidence for the role of IL-10 in psoriasis.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 2009

The exposure of human beings to toxic trace metals (Cu, Zn) continues to be an important public health issue and concern. This study was conducted to assess the exposure to trace metals (Cu, Zn) in the general Korean population by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and Atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). Serum samples were obtained from 40 healthy volunteers. Specimens were collected in special container and we applied sample processing to minimize contamination. We used ICP-MS and AAS to analyze simultaneously the concentration of metals including copper, zinc. Distribution of trace metal levels in the general healthy population showed lower values. The results in this study can provide background data for clinical studies associated with trace metal exposure in the korean population.