• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.90-96
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• 2020

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that is the second most common disorder after Alzheimer's disease. PD includes both "motor" and "non-motor" symptoms, one of which is pain. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of pain in patients with PD. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 250 patients diagnosed with PD, 70% of which had mild to moderate PD (stages 2/3 of Hoehn and Yahr scale). The average age was 67.4 years, and the average duration since PD diagnosis was 7.1 years. Relevant data collected from PD patients were obtained from their personal medical history. Results: The prevalence of pain was found to be high (82%), with most patients (79.2%) relating their pain to PD. Disease duration was correlated with the frequency of intense pain (R: 0.393; P < 0.05). PD pain is most frequently perceived as an electrical current (64%), and two pain varieties were most prevalent (2.60 ± 0.63). Our findings confirm links between pain, its evolution over time, its multi-modal character, the wide variety of symptoms of PD, and the female sex. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that the pain felt by PD patients is mainly felt as an electrical current, which contrasts with other studies where the pain is described as burning and itching. Our classification is innovative because it is based on anatomy, whereas those of other authors were based on syndromes.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.259-266
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• 2012

Objectives: This study aims to determine the risk factors predicting rehospitalization by comparing three models and selecting the most successful model. Methods: In order to predict the risk of rehospitalization within 28 days after discharge, 11 951 inpatients were recruited into this study between January and December 2009. Predictive models were constructed with three methods, logistic regression analysis, a decision tree, and a neural network, and the models were compared and evaluated in light of their misclassification rate, root asymptotic standard error, lift chart, and receiver operating characteristic curve. Results: The decision tree was selected as the final model. The risk of rehospitalization was higher when the length of stay (LOS) was less than 2 days, route of admission was through the out-patient department (OPD), medical department was in internal medicine, 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases code was neoplasm, LOS was relatively shorter, and the frequency of OPD visit was greater. Conclusions: When a patient is to be discharged within 2 days, the appropriateness of discharge should be considered, with special concern of undiscovered complications and co-morbidities. In particular, if the patient is admitted through the OPD, any suspected disease should be appropriately examined and prompt outcomes of tests should be secured. Moreover, for patients of internal medicine practitioners, co-morbidity and complications caused by chronic illness should be given greater attention.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.105-114
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• 2021

A 38-year-old Korean man without any other history was diagnosed with myelopathy due to a spinal dural arteriovenous fistula. Following embolization and high-dose steroid therapy, the patient was treated with complex Korean medical therapies including acupuncture, pharmacopuncture, electro-acupuncture, Chuna manual therapy, herbal medicine, and cupping therapy in addition to conventional treatment. To assess the patient's improvement, international standard for neurological classification of spinal cord injury, Korean version of modified Barthel index, functional independence measure, spinal cord independence measure III, walking index for spinal cord injury II, modified Ashworth scale were used. After treatment, the muscle strength and sensory function of the lower extremities were improved, and the spasticity was reduced, resulting in a rapid improvement in performance of daily activities. These results suggest that complex Korean medical therapies may be effective for myelopathy, and further clinical studies are needed to clarify their effects.

• Journal of Korea Game Society
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.99-110
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• 2021

WHO passed the ICD-11 amendment in 2019, which included gaming disorder, and there are confronted opinions whether this should be listed in the revision of the KCD in Korea. This study explains the consent and opposition to the listing of gaming disorder, and then investigates the effect of the listing of gaming disorder and the adoption of gaming addiction tax. The results of this study find that the listing of gaming disorder and the adoption of gaming addiction tax could negatively affect the investment value and the global national competitiveness of the Korean game industry.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.333-346
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• 2014

Purpose: This study was conducted in order to identify factors that influence depression for low-income elderly who live at home from the International Classification of Functioning model (ICF). Methods: The subjects were 205 elderly people living at home in two public health centers located in metropolitan cities. Subjects were divided according to their depression scores, which were measured using the GDS-short form, including normal, risk, and depression groups. Each variable was consistent with factors of the ICF model, including health condition, individual factors, environmental factors, body function, activities, and participation. Data were collected using structured questionnaires. ANOVA, $x^2$, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and Multinomial logistic regression with IBM SPSS 21.0 were used for analysis of the data. Results: Statistically significant differences were observed among normal, risk, and depression groups regarding personal factors. Gender, education level, numbers of diseases, perceived health, life satisfaction, and social support were identified as the variables that had a significant impact on depression of low-income elderly living at home. Conclusion: Results of this study indicate that there is a need for construction and implementation of strategies that strengthen life satisfaction and social support in order to lower depression of low-income elderly.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.37-52
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• 2010

This study is aimed at proposing the national policy for medical device control system in Korea as deeply analysed the present status of the system. On 1979, Korean government had started to inspect 24 kinds of the medical devices such as X-ray diagnostic equipments, medical sterilizer and etc. mostly imported from advanced countries which USA, Germany and Japan for the first time according to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law. However medical devices were becoming consideration as an important partner of diagnosis, curing and alleviation of diseases by medical doctors and also much important keeping the health at home. Furthermore medical devices industry can be designated as a national growth engine industry. So it is necessary not only to harmonize to international standards but also the harmonization of the system including pre-market application and post-market surveillance, is strongly needed by the Korea Food and Drugs Administration(KFDA).

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.19-30
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• 2021

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is one of common chronic diseases leading to severe health complications that may cause death. The disease influences individuals, community, and the government due to the continuous monitoring, lifelong commitment, and the cost of treatment. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers Saudi Arabia as one of the top 10 countries in diabetes prevalence across the world. Since most of the medical services are provided by the government, the cost of the treatment in terms of hospitals and clinical visits and lab tests represents a real burden due to the large scale of the disease. The ability to predict the diabetic status of a patient without the laboratory tests by performing screening based on some personal features can lessen the health and economic burden caused by diabetes alone. The goal of this paper is to investigate the prediction of diabetic and prediabetic patients by considering factors other than the laboratory tests, as required by physicians in general. With the data obtained from local hospitals, medical records were processed to obtain a dataset that classified patients into three classes: diabetic, prediabetic, and non-diabetic. After applying three machine learning algorithms, we established good performance for accuracy, precision, and recall of the models on the dataset. Further analysis was performed on the data to identify important non-laboratory variables related to the patients for diabetes classification. The importance of five variables (gender, physical activity level, hypertension, BMI, and age) from the person's basic health data were investigated to find their contribution to the state of a patient being diabetic, prediabetic or normal. Our analysis presented great agreement with the risk factors of diabetes and prediabetes stated by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and other health institutions worldwide. We conclude that by performing class-specific analysis of the disease, important factors specific to Saudi population can be identified, whose management can result in controlling the disease. We also provide some recommendations learnt from this research.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.63 no.1
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• pp.108-118
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• 2020

Objective : This study aimed to determine the incidence and analyze trends of the herniated lumbar disc (HLD) based on a national database in the Republic of Korea (ROK) from January 2008 to December 2016. Methods : This study was a retrospective analysis of data obtained from the national health-claim database provided by the National Health Insurance Service for 2008-2016 using the International Classification of Diseases. The crude incidence and age-standardized incidence of HLD were calculated, and additional analysis was conducted according to age and sex. Changes in trends in treatment methods and some treatments were analyzed using the Korean Classification of Diseases procedure codes. Results : The number of patients diagnosed with HLD was 472245 in 2008 and increased to 537577 in 2012; however, it decreased to 478697 in 2016. The pattern of crude incidence and the standardized incidence were also similar. Overall, the incidence of HLD increased annually for the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 70s until 2012 and then decreased. However, the incidence of HLD for the 80s continued to increase. The crude incidence of HLD in female patients exceeded that of male patients in their middle age (30s or 40s) and was 1.5-1.6 times higher than in male patients in their 60s. The total number of open discectomy (OD) increased from 71598 in 2008 to 93942 in 2012 and then decreased to 85846 in 2016. The rate of younger patients (the 20s, 30s, and 40s) who underwent OD was decreased, and the rate of younger patients who underwent percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy was increased. However, the rate of older patients (the 70s and 80s) who underwent OD was continuously increased. Conclusion : This nationwide data on HLD from 2008 to 2016 in the ROK demonstrated that the crude incidence and the standardized incidence increased until 2012 and then decreased. The annual crude incidence was different according to age and sex. These findings may be considered when deciding future health policy, especially in countries with a similar national health insurance system (or with plans to adopt).

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.68 no.2
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• pp.67-73
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• 2010

Background: In previous study, most patients with bronchial anthracofibrosis (BAF) were non-miners, and non-occupational old aged females. However, the clinical significance of BAF in patients with coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) is unknown. Methods: Among patients with CWP who transferred to our hospital for an evaluation of associated pulmonary diseases, 32 patients who had undergone a bronchofibroscopy (BFS) and chest computed tomography (CT) examination were evaluated for the association of the BAF using a retrospective chart review. Results: Nine of the 32 CWP patients (28%) were complicated with BAF. Four of the 16 simple CWP patients (25%) were complicated with BAF. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO) classification by profusion, 2 out of 3 patients in category 1, 1 out of 8 patients in category 2 and 1 out of 3 patients in category 3 were complicated with BAF. Five out of 16 complicated CWP patients were complicated with BAF. Three out of 7 patients in type A and 2 out of 5 patients in type C were complicated with BAF. CWP patients with BAF had significantly greater multiple bronchial thickening and multiple mediastinal or hilar lymph node enlargement than the CWP patients without BAF. There was no difference in the other clinical features between the CWP patients with BAF and those without BAF. Conclusion: Many CWP patients were complicated with BAF. The occurrence of BAF was not associated with the severity of CWP progression. Therefore, a careful evaluation of the airway with a bronchoscopy examination and chest CT is warranted for BAF complicated CWP patients who present with respiratory symptoms and signs, even ILO class category 1 simple CWP patients.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.24-30
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• 2017

Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate the frequency and clinical characteristics of anaphylaxis patients who are registered inaccurately with other disease codes. Methods: Study subjects presenting at the emergency department (ED) were retrospectively collected using disease codes to search for anaphylaxis patients in a previous studies. The study group was divided into an accurate and inaccurate group according to whether disease codes were accurately registered as anaphylaxis codes. Results: Among 266 anaphylaxis patients, 144 patients (54%) received inaccurate codes. Cancer was the most common comorbidity, and the radio-contrast media was the most common cause of anaphylaxis in the accurate group. Cutaneous and respiratory symptoms manifested more frequently in the inaccurate group, while cardiovascular and neurological symptoms were more frequent in the accurate group. Blood pressure was lower, and shock and non-alert consciousness were more common in the accurate group. Administration of intravenous fluid and epinephrine use were more frequent in the accurate group. Anaphylaxis patients with a history of cancer, shock, and epinephrine use were more likely to be registered as anaphylaxis codes accurately, but patients with respiratory symptoms were more likely to be registered with other disease codes. Conclusion: In cases of anaphylaxis, the frequency of inaccurately registered disease codes was higher than that of accurately registered codes. Anaphylaxis patients who were not treated with epinephrine at the ED who did not have a history of cancer, but had respiratory symptoms were at increased risk of being registered with disease codes other than anaphylaxis codes.