• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.213-220
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• 2021

As the coronavirus disease(COVID-19) pandemic is declared and the number of confirmed cases and deaths increases in countries around the world, the world is gripped with fear. Therefore, in this study, psychological factors of infection prevention behaviors of firefighters and maritime police officers were analyzed based on the Health Belief Model. Although there was no significant difference in the COVID-19 prevention behaviors between the two groups, there was a significant positive correlation between the perceived disease infection possibility, perceived severity, and perceived benefits in the general characteristics and the COVID-19 prevention behaviors. There was no significant difference with perceived obstacles. This study is of great significance in that it is the first analysis of firefighters and maritime police officers as a health belief model, and can be used as basic data for the implementation of new infectious disease prevention actions.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.197-204
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• 2007

Objectives : This study was conducted to evaluate the public's awareness of the importance of hand washing and to compare perceptions on the habit of hand washing with actual hand washing behavior. Methods : Data were collected by observing 2,800 participants washing their hands after using public restrooms in seven cities nationwide and by surveying 1,000 respondents (age > 14 years) through telephone interviews using a structured questionnaire. Results : Although 94% of the survey respondents claimed to mostly or always wash their hands after using public restrooms, only 63.4% of the observed participants did wash their hands after using public restrooms. Significant factors related to increased adherence to hand washing were female gender, approximate ages of 20 to 39 years by their appearance, and the presence of other people from the observation. About 79% of the survey respondents always washed their hands after using bathrooms at home, 73% washed their hands before handling food, and 67% washed their hands upon returning to their home. However, 93.2% and 86.3% of the survey respondents did not wash their hands after coughing or sneezing and after handling money, respectively. Although most of the survey respondents (77.6%) were aware that hand washing is helpful in preventing communicable diseases, 39.6% of the survey respondents did not do so because they were 'not accustomed' to washing their hands and 30.2% thought that washing their hands is 'annoying'. Conclusions : This is the first comprehensive report on hand washing behavior and awareness of the general population in Korea. The result of this study in terms of individual behavior and awareness of hand washing are comparable with similar studies conducted in other countries. However adherence to hand washing is still low and needs to be increased. The results of this study can be used as a baseline in setting up strategies and activities to promote adherence to hand washing.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.568-577
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• 2022

Objectives: Many studies have shown that social distancing, as a non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) that is one of the various measures against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is an effective preventive measure to suppress the spread of infectious diseases. This study explored the relationships between traditional health-related behaviors in Korea and social distancing practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Data were obtained from the 2020 Community Health Survey conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (n=98 149). The dependent variable was the degree of social distancing practice to cope with the COVID-19 epidemic. Independent variables included health-risk behaviors and health-promoting behaviors. The moderators were vaccination and unmet medical needs. Predictors affecting the practice of social distancing were identified through hierarchical multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: Smokers (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.924) and frequent drinkers (aOR, 0.933) were more likely not to practice social distancing. A greater degree of physical activity was associated with a higher likelihood of practicing social distancing (aOR, 1.029). People who were vaccinated against influenza were more likely to practice social distancing than those who were not (aOR, 1.150). However, people with unmet medical needs were less likely to practice social distancing than those who did not experience unmet medical needs (aOR, 0.757). Conclusions: Social distancing practices were related to traditional health behaviors such as smoking, drinking, and physical activity. Their patterns showed a clustering effect of health inequality. Therefore, when establishing a strategy to strengthen social distancing, a strategy to protect the vulnerable should be considered concomitantly.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.301-308
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• 2021

Objectives: Despite its advantages, it is not yet common practice in Korea for researchers to investigate disease associations using spatio-temporal analyses. In this study, we aimed to review health-related epidemiological research using spatio-temporal analyses and to observe methodological trends. Methods: Health-related studies that applied spatial or spatio-temporal methods were identified using 2 international databases (PubMed and Embase) and 4 Korean academic databases (KoreaMed, NDSL, DBpia, and RISS). Two reviewers extracted data to review the included studies. A search for relevant keywords yielded 5919 studies. Results: Of the studies that were initially found, 150 were ultimately included based on the eligibility criteria. In terms of the research topic, 5 categories with 11 subcategories were identified: chronic diseases (n=31, 20.7%), infectious diseases (n=27, 18.0%), health-related topics (including service utilization, equity, and behavior) (n=47, 31.3%), mental health (n=15, 10.0%), and cancer (n=7, 4.7%). Compared to the period between 2000 and 2010, more studies published between 2011 and 2020 were found to use 2 or more spatial analysis techniques (35.6% of included studies), and the number of studies on mapping increased 6-fold. Conclusions: Further spatio-temporal analysis-related studies with point data are needed to provide insights and evidence to support policy decision-making for the prevention and control of infectious and chronic diseases using advances in spatial techniques.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.334-344
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• 2018

This study was conducted to identify the relationship between knowledge, attitude, and compliance regarding infection preventive behaviors among long-term care hospital staff during a Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) epidemic. The subjects were 211 staff members of a long-term care hospital in J province evaluated using a structured survey. Data were collected between June 15 and July 15, 2015 and analyzed using SPSS/WIN 24.0 based on an independent t-test, ANOVA, and Welch test, while post-hoc tests were conducted using the Scheffe test and the Grames-Hawell test. The MERS knowledge score of the staff at the long-term care hospital was high for nurses and nurse aids, who had experienced infection management when they received influenza vaccine in the previous year and were provided with easy access to hand sanitizers. Attitude towards MERS was more positive for nurses than nurse aids and caregivers. The degree of execution of infection preventive behaviors in terms of daily activity was high when influenza shots were received in the prior year; in terms of caring for patients, it was high when influenza shots were received in the previous year and they had easy access to hand sanitizers. The relationship between knowledge, attitude, and infection preventive behavior regarding MERS was such that high knowledge and positive attitude led to a higher degree of execution of infection preventive behavior. Therefore, during periods of high prevalence of newly infectious diseases such as MERS, it is important for the long-term care hospitals to conduct infection management education including the characteristics of the MERS disease, its transmission, and its prevention to enhance knowledge regarding MERS and induce positive change in attitude to improve the level of infection preventive behaviors.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.236-244
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• 2020

Objectives: Although the World Health Organization (WHO) initiative "My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene" has been lauded as effective in preventing hospital-associated infections, little is known about healthcare workers (HCWs)' hand hygiene behavior. In this study, we sought to assess knowledge and attitudes towards the concepts in this initiative, as well as associated factors, among Vietnamese HCWs at a general hospital. Methods: A structured questionnaire was administered to HCWs at a central Vietnamese general hospital in 2015. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with HCWs' knowledge and attitudes towards hand hygiene. Results: Of 120 respondents, 65.8% and 67.5% demonstrated appropriate knowledge and a positive attitude, respectively, regarding all 5 hand hygiene moments. Logistic regression indicated better knowledge of hand hygiene in workers who were over 30 years old, who were direct HCWs (rather than managers), who had frequent access to clinical information, and who received their clinical information from training. Those who worked in infectious and tropical disease wards, who had frequent access to clinical information, and who received information from training were more likely to have a positive attitude towards hand hygiene than their counterparts. Conclusions: Although many Vietnamese HCWs displayed moderate knowledge and positive attitudes towards the WHO hand hygiene guidelines, a key gap remained. Regular education and training programs are needed to increase knowledge and to improve attitudes and practices towards hand hygiene. Furthermore, a combination of multimodal strategies and locally-adapted interventions is needed for sustainable hand hygiene adherence.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.10 no.8
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• pp.87-98
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• 2020

This study was conducted to identify anxiety, knowledge, possibility of infection, possibility of prevention and performance level for infection prevention among the general public according to the spread of COVID-19. Data were collected from 208 adults in their 20s and 50s from April 6th to 10th in 2020 using questionnaire. Characteristics relative to variables were measured, and analyzed using SPSS 23.0 program for technical statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and correlation. The anxiety level differed according to gender, age, marital status, and live-in partner. The Knowledge score was significantly different according to age and marital status. Possibility of infection was significantly different according to age and residential area. Performance level for infection prevention was significantly different according to gender, age, marital status, and live-in partner. However, preventive possibility was not significantly different regardless of characteristics. These findings may have implications for establishing policies that work well in preventing infectious disease. It is necessary to conduct further research comparing responses of subjects by the stages of infectious disease outbreaks. Further extended studies that include more regions and larger sample sizes are required.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.217-224
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• 2015

OBJECTIVES Handwashing rate of Korean people was lower than the rates of people in developed countries. The purpose of this study was to investigate handwashing rate, the factors influence people's handwashing behaviors during use of public restroom. METHODS This study used the data of '2013 Korea National Handwashing Survey'. The survey was done through direct observation on the user of subway and train station restroom from September 10 to 12, 2013. RESULTS Factors influencing handwashing with soap were administrative region(OR 0.490-2.255), purpose of toilet use(urination 1.000, defecation 2.505), drying method after handwashing(OR 0.497-3.107). CONCLUSIONS The results of this study will provide the evidence data of national handwashing promotion activities for preventing and controlling communicable diseases.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.83-91
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• 2010

In accordance with the analysis results on the questionnaires, in the awareness of employees on a public health center, the answer "I can make every endeavor for the success of public health center organization" showed the highest score as $4.07{\pm}0.75$. The awareness on the organization where a subject was included was higher than the average out of a 7 points. It showed the subjects were sincere to the missions and duties of the organizations where they were included. For the awareness on the work environment, the subjects who considered that their workplace was comfortable were higher than the average. The duties which the subjects recognized as the necessary duties among health businesses include health behavior improvement project, disease control project, customized visiting health care project, maternal and child health care, family health care and infectious disease control project. The duties which were considered as unnecessary among health care projects were general care functions, administrative businesses including issuance of certificates and various kinds of civil application processing. The projects which were considered to be reinforced or implemented in the future were health care project for the old, patients registration and care project including hypertension and diabetes and health promotion project in that order.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.87-97
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• 1997

The purpose of this study is to examine the importance of family environment for middle school student's health behavior. In order to do this we collected data through the questioning of 543 male students and 512 female students in 4 Pusan middle schools. The results of this study are summarized as follows. The score on their family cohesion and adaptability was 57.8, 43.5 on the average for male students and 59.8, 44.8 in female students. The score on their family adaptability and cohesion was higher in fema1e students than male students. The score of their Breslow health behavior was 4.20 from a total of 7.00, the total score of health behavior was 131.4 from a total of 176.0 scores. The students had a 43.9 out of 60.0 in personal hygiene and daily habits, 32.8 out of 40.0 for infectious disease preventive behavior, 30.2 out of 40.0 in accident prevention, 24.5 out of 36.0 in mental health. In the cases of males, the score for Breslow health behavior was higher the lower the school grade, the younger the parents, the higher the educational level of parents, the more comfortable the family, and the higher the economic state. There was a statistically significant difference with regard to family cohesion and adaptability. In the cases of females, The total score for health behavior was higher. However, the difference was not significant in other fields. With the multiple regression analysis, the health behavior of middle school student was associated significantly with sex (female students), grade, family cohesion, and adaptability. In Breslow health behavior, scale sex (male students), father's age, family cohesion and the harmony of parents were significant variables. From the results of this study, a good family environment fur middle school students is very important.