• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.36-44
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• 2007

Objectives : There have been few studies examining the differences in health care utilization across social classes during the last year of life. Therefore, in this study we analyzed the quantitative and qualitative differences in health care utilization among cancer patients across educational classes in their last year of life, and derived from it implications for policy. Methods : To evaluate health care utilization by cancer patients in the last year of life, Death certificate data from 2004 were merged with National Health Insurance data (n=60,088). In order to use educational level as a social class index, we selected the individuals aged 40 and over as study subjects (n=57,484). We analyzed the differences in the medical expenditures, admission days, and rates of admission experience across educational classes descriptively. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between medical expenditures and independent variables such as sex, age, education class, site of death and type of cancer. Results : The upper educational class spent much more on medical expenditures in the last one year of life, particularly during the last month of life, than the lower educational class did. The ratio of monthly medical expenditures per capita between the college class and no education class was 2.5 in the last 6-12 months of life, but the ratio was 1.6 in the last 1 month. Also, the lower the educational class, the higher the proportion of medical expenditures during the last one month of life, compared to total medical expenditures in the last one year of life. The college educational class had a much higher rate of admission experiences in tertiary hospitals within Seoul than the other education classes did. Conclusions : This study shows that the lower educational classes had qualitative and quantitative disadvantages in utilizing health care services for cancer in the last year of life.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.544-557
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• 2002

This study was performed to evaluate the quality of nutrient intakes of the hemodialysis patients (26 men and 23 women) according to the socioeconomic status by 3-day dietary recall in Daejeon city and Chungnam area, Korea. Mean age of the subjects was 50.7 yrs and BMI was 22.0 $\pm$ 0.4 kg/$m^2$. Education level was divided into two groups ($\leq$ 9 years： LE group, 9 years： HE group), and monthly family income level was divided into three groups (< 500,000 won: LI group, 500,000-1,499,999 won: MI group, $\geq$ 1,500,000 won : HI group). The data were analyzed by Student t-test and Oneway ANOVA using SPSS 9.0 version at p < 0.05 level. Intakes of energy, carbohydrates, cholesterol, potassium, thiamin and riboflavin were significantly higher in HE group than in LE group (p < 0.05). Intakes of all the nutrients except protein and phosphorus were less than Korean RDA, and INQs (Index of Nutritional Quality) of most nutrients were lower than 1.0 but cholesterol, phosphorus. thiamin and niacin being over 1.0 in HE group. MAR (Mean adequacy ratio) of all the nutrients (e.g., energy, protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin A, vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin and niacin) was significantly higher in HE group (0.61 $\pm$ 0.04) than in LE group (0.48 $\pm$ 0.03) at p = 0.036. Intakes of energy, protein (total, animal and plant), fat, cholesterol, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin A, thiamin and riboflavin were also significantly higher in HI group than in LI and MI group (p < 0.05). Daily intakes of most nutrients were less than Korean RDA except protein ed phosphorus in HI poop, and INQs of thiamin, niacin and phosphorus were higher than 1.0, while those of calcium, iron, vitamin A and riboflavin were lower than 1.0. MAR of energy and 9 nutrients was significantly higher in HI group (0.70 $\pm$ 0.04) than in LI group (0. 56 0.04) and MI poop (0.47 $\pm$ 0.03) at p = 0.000. In conclusion, quality of nutrient intakes, especially energy and protein, was significantly influenced by socioeconomic status such as education and monthly income (p < 0.05). This result suggests that it would be very helpful to develop nutritional education programs considering hemodialysis patients' education levels, and to improve public supports (e.g., medical insurance system, low-rate lease system of dialysis equipments, etc.) focusing on the patients' family income levels f3r their better nutrition and health.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.165-170
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• 2009

Objectives : We evaluated the risk of fracture associated with hypotension-related adverse drug reaction caused by taking alpha blockers to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Methods : We used the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database from January 1st 2005 to June 30th 2006 for this study. The male patients with BPH and who had a prescription for alpha blockers following any fractures were defined as the cases. We set the 20 day long hazard period prior to the index date and the four control periods whose lengths were same with hazard period. After 1:4 matching of the hazard and control periods, conditional logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratios for the risk of fractures as related to the alpha blocker exposure. Results : Doxazosin and tamsulosin showed the increased risk of fractures, whereas terazosin did not. After stratification using the defined daily doses, a protective effect was shown for the patients who took terazosin at the doses lower than 0.4 DDD and the hazardous effect at the doses higher than or equal to 0.4 DDD. There was no significant difference for the risk of patients taking tamsulosin at the doses higher than 1.0 DDD but there was a statistically significant increase in the risk at the doses higher than or equal to 1.0 DDD. Conclusions : Alpha blockers for BPH may increase the risk of fracture in elderly patients who have comorbidities and take the concomitant medications. Alpha blockers need to be prescribed with caution, although some have high prostate specificity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.479-487
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• 1995

The purposes of this study were to: 1) measure the levels of job satisfaction with five facets of a job: the work itself, promotion, pay, supervision and co-workers, 2) investigate the degree of job characteristics inventory which employees perceived, 3) investigate relationships between job characteristics and job satisfaction levels of the employees in hospital foodservice, 4) measure the levels of organizational commitment and investigate its relationships between job satisfaction and job characteristics, 5) investigate the relationships between job performance and job satisfaction, job characteristics of the employees in hospital foodservice. The questionnaire was developed based on modifying Job Descriptive Index developed by Smith, Kendall, Hulin and Job Characteristics Inventory developed by Sims, Szilagyi, Keller and Affective commitment Scale developed by Meyer and Allen. Subjects consisted of 76 employees in hospital foodservice. Data were analyzed for frequency, means, ANOVA, Duncan multiple range test, and pearson correlation using SAS PC Package. The results of this study were as follows. 1) Most of the respondents were 41 years up(39.5%) and married (92%). High school graduates were 59.2%. 10 years working experienced employees were 35%. 2) A majority of the respondents(44.7%) ranked work itself as the most important aspect. 3) They were the most satisfied with co-workers. 4) Satisfaction with work itself, wage, and supervision were found significantly related to age(p<0.05). 5) Task identify was the most prevalent job characteristics and then task identity. 6) Satisfaction with co-workers were found significantly related to job variety(p<0.05). Satisfaction with supervision and promotion were found significantly related to friendship(p<0.05). 7) Job satisfaction have not correlation with job performance. Satisfaction with supervision, co-workers were positively correlated with organizational commitment(p<0.01). 8) Job characteristics of dealing with others were positively correlated with job performance (p<0.05). Job characteristics of variety, autonomy, task identity were positively correlated with organizational commitment(p<0.05, p<0.01).

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.215-225
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• 2015

This study was conducted to develop a severity-adjusted LOS(Length of Stay) model for knee replacement patients and identify factors that can influence the LOS by using the Korean National Hospital Discharge in-depth Injury Survey data. The comorbidity scoring systems and data-mining methods were used to design a severity-adjusted LOS model which covered 4,102 knee replacement patients. In this study, a decision tree model using CCS comorbidity scoring index was chosen for the final model that produced superior results. Factors such as presence of arthritis, patient sex and admission route etc. influenced patient length of stay. And there was a statistically significant difference between real LOS and adjusted LOS resulted from health-insurance type, bed size, and hospital location. Therefore the policy alternative on excessive medical utilization is needed to reduce variation in length of hospital stay in patients who undergo knee replacement.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.78 no.4
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• pp.326-335
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• 2015

Background: Asian dust is known to have harmful effects on the respiratory system. Respiratory conditions are also influenced by environmental conditions regardless of the presence of pollutants. The same pollutant can have different effects on the airway when the air is dry compared with when it is humid. We investigated hospital visits for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma in relation to the environmental conditions. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study using the Korean National Health Insurance Service claims database of patients who visited hospitals in Chuncheon between January 2006 and April 2012. Asian dust, haze, mist, and fog days were determined using reports from the Korea Meteorological Administration. Hospital visits for asthma or COPD on the index days were compared with the comparison days. We used two-way case-crossover techniques with one to two matching. Results: The mean hospital visits for asthma and COPD were $59.37{\pm}34.01$ and $10.04{\pm}6.18$ per day, respectively. Hospital visits for asthma significantly increased at lag0 and lag1 for Asian dust (relative risk [RR], 1.10; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.19; p<0.05) and haze (RR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.06-1.22; p<0.05), but were significantly lower on misty (RR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.80-0.99; p<0.05) and foggy (RR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.84-0.93; p<0.05) days than on control days. The hospital visits for COPD also significantly increased on days with Asian dust (RR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.05-1.59; p<0.05), and were significantly lower at lag4 for foggy days, compared with days without fog (RR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.75-0.97; p<0.05). Conclusion: Asian dust showed an association with airway diseases and had effects for several days after the exposure. In contrast to Asian dust, mist and fog, which occur in humid air conditions, showed the opposite effects on airway diseases, after adjusting to the pollutants. It would require more research to investigate the effects of various air conditions on airway diseases.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.33-49
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• 2017

Background: Health care utilizations and costs of the patients with degenerative lumbar spine disease in Korea increased dramatically. We analyzed whether hospital market competition is associated with charges and length of stay for patients with degenerative lumbar spine disease. Methods: We used Medical claims data of 2002 and 2010 from the nationwide representative sample of National Health Insurance Service of Korea. The study subjects were inpatients with degenerative lumbar spine disease (N=24,768) in 2002 and 2010. We employed a multilevel linear mixed model that included patient- and hospital-level variables in hierarchical data. Results: Higher hospital competition was associated with lower charges (${\beta}=57.5$, p<.0001 in 2002; ${\beta}=353.7$, p<.0001 in 2010) and shorter length of stay (${\beta}=0.3$, p<.0001 in 2002; ${\beta}=0.9$, p<.0001 in 2010) in both 2002 and 2010. Compared to 2002, the magnitude of such association became greater in 2010. However, subgroup analyses show that the influence of competition on charges and length of stay differed by hospital size. Conclusions: This study showed that hospital market structure (e.g., hospital competition) affects hospital efficiency (i.e., hospital charges and length of stay). It is necessary to continue to monitor how changing market structure influences hospital outcomes, including more detailed outcomes such as patient satisfaction.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.119-134
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• 2010

Objectives & Method：Based on the statistic from January 2008 to December 2008 include 66-year-old 375 people (159 men, 216 women) who got examined in National Health Insurance Corporation, this study set a goal to establish a new health index by analyzing the relation between the cardio-cerebra vascular disease and risk factor such as obesity, smoking, exercise, alcohol consumption, blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol. Results：1) Examine results, health status according to gender；People who are diagnosed as abnormal health status have higher risk for both men and women. As for the detailed diseases, high blood pressure was highest followed by hyperlipidemia and obesity. In case of the women, 96.3% in bone mineral density was highest. 2) Correlation of disease and health risk factors based on gender；Correlation of disease according to gender in the obesity(p<0.001), lipid abnormalities(p<0.001), kidney diseases(p<0.001), chest diseases(p<0.05), osteoporosis(p<0.001) showed a statistically significant difference. The analysis showed that the men have more obesity and lipid abnormalities as well as thoracic disease than the women, but the women have more kidney disease than the men. As for the osteoporosis examine which is conducted only for the women, most of the women were abnormal even though it cannot compare the result according to gender. Obesity(p<0.001), alcohol(p<0.001), smoking(p<0.001) and LDLcholesterol(p<0.001) showed statistical correlation between gender and health risk factor. And only high blood pressure(p<0.001) showed a statistical correlation between gender and risk of cardio-cerebra vascular disease. 3) Risk of cardio-cerebra vascular disease related to health risk factor characteristic；Obesity assessment(p<0.001), alcohol(p<0.05), smoking(p<0.05), blood pressure(p<0.001), glucose(p<0.001) showed correlation between health risk factor and stroke. Drinking(p<0.001), smoking(p<0.05), exercise(p<0.001), blood pressure(p<0.001), LDL cholesterol(p<0.001) showed health risk factor and myocardial infarction. Obesity assessment(p<0.001), smoking(p<0.05), blood pressure(p<0.001), glucose(p<0.001) and showed correlation between health risk factor and diabetes. Obesity assessment(p<0.001), blood pressure(p<0.001) showed correlation between health risk factor and high blood pressure. Conclusion：Therefore, we have to take one step farther after the health examination. In order to prevent and reduce the risk of disease, people have to understand their health status exactly first, and correct their habit with recognizing the amount of risk related to cardio-cerebra vascular disease.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.119-130
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• 2016

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of individual patient behavior regarding health and medical care level on doctor's diagnoses of hypertension. A X2-test was used to compare therapeutic compliance in individual characteristics and two-stage multilevel logistic regression to identify community variance of the related index of high blood pressure therapeutic compliance using data from 229,229 adults over the age of 19 in a community health survey conducted in 2010. The experience rate of doctors' diagnoses of hypertension was higher for people of older age, higher level of education, higher BMI, and among heavy drinkers (no recipients of basic living). Furthermore, there was a higher rate for those visiting health and medical institutions, having more frequent checks of blood pressure in a month, having a higher stress level, and having depression. Among paid workers, the ratio was lower for employers and owner/operators with more daily exercise (such as walking), infrequent smokers, and private health insurance holders. Doctor's diagnoses of hypertension was affected by individual health behavior and health and medical care level. Further studies employing multilevel analyses considering regional level data should be conducted in the future.

• Kidney Research and Clinical Practice
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.48-57
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• 2017

Background: Hepatic steatosis measured with controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) using transient elastography predicts metabolic syndrome in the general population. We investigated whether CAP predicted metabolic syndrome in chronic kidney disease patients. Methods: CAP was measured with transient elastography in 465 predialysis chronic kidney disease patients (mean age, 57.5 years). Results: The median CAP value was 239 (202-274) dB/m. In 195 (41.9%) patients with metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus was more prevalent (105 [53.8%] vs. 71 [26.3%], P < 0.001), with significantly increased urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (184 [38-706] vs. 56 [16-408] mg/g Cr, P = 0.003), high sensitivity C-reactive protein levels (5.4 [1.4-28.2] vs. 1.7 [0.6-9.9] mg/L, P < 0.001), and CAP (248 [210-302] vs. 226 [196-259] dB/m, P < 0.001). In multiple linear regression analysis, CAP was independently related to body mass index (${\beta}=0.742$, P < 0.001), triglyceride levels (${\beta}=2.034$, P < 0.001), estimated glomerular filtration rate (${\beta}=0.316$, P = 0.001), serum albumin (${\beta}=1.386$, P < 0.001), alanine aminotransferase (${\beta}=0.064$, P = 0.029), and total bilirubin (${\beta}=-0.881$, P = 0.009). In multiple logistic regression analysis, increased CAP was independently associated with increased metabolic syndrome risk (per 10 dB/m increase; odds ratio, 1.093; 95% confidence interval, 1.009-1.183; P = 0.029) even after adjusting for multiple confounding factors. Conclusion: Increased CAP measured with transient elastography significantly correlated with and could predict increased metabolic syndrome risk in chronic kidney disease patients.