• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.134-143
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• 2020

This study investigated the status of infectious disease inpatients at long-term care hospitals in Korea. A descriptive study was conducted on patients with 14 infectious diseases at 798 long-term care hospitals during 2016-2017. The number of infected patients, total admission days, and total medical expenses were higher in 2017 than in 2016. The most common infectious diseases were enterocolitis due to Clostridium difficile, influenza, and scabies. The number of hospitals with patients who had enterocolitis due to C. difficile and resistance to carbapenem was higher in 2017 than in 2016. Hospitals with 150-299 beds had higher numbers of infectious disease patients than those with under 150 or over 300 beds. Therefore, intensive efforts are needed to control the most common diseases at long-term care hospitals, such as enterocolitis due to C. difficile, influenza, and scabies. It is recommended to apply relevant guidelines related to infection control management as well as implement educational programs. It will also be necessary to develop applicable infection monitoring standards and support the facilities and health workforce of long-term care hospitals under 300 beds through an effective infection surveillance system.

• Proceedings of the KAIS Fall Conference
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• 2009.12a
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• pp.501-504
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• 2009

Sympathetic skin response (SSR) is defined as a minute change of skin potential after electrical stimulation. This test measures the change in voltage that originates from the surface of the skin and is attributed to sudomotor activity. The aim of this study was to define the criteria for validation of the responses. 40 normal subjects (20-73 years of age) with non-sympathetic dysfunction were tested and SSR was generated form all subjects. SSR latency was 1331.22${\pm}$177.51ms in the right palm, 1331.74${\pm}$156.42ms in the left palm, 1851.79${\pm}$220.99ms in the right sole, and 1874.10${\pm}$215.01ms in the left sole. And SSR amplitude was 595.83${\pm}$221.16${\mu}$V in the right palm, 605.33${\pm}$226.45${\mu}$V in the left palm, 291.76${\pm}$133.36${\mu}$V in the right sole, and 288.77${\pm}$129.70${\mu}$ V in the left sole. SSR latency and amplitude had no significantly difference between the right and the left side. SSR latency was consistently shorter (p<0.001) and SSR amplitude higher (p<0.001) in feet than in hands. SSR waveforms were P-type (32 subjects, 75%) and N-type (8 subjects, 25%), respectively. The SSR latency and amplitude in palms/soles were closely correlated with age (p<0.05) and height (p<0.05). The SSR test is one of methods assessing impairment of sympathetic fibers in peripheral neuropathy as well as a disorder of sympathetic system in other diseases and so our results from normal healthy subjects can be used as clinical criteria for SSR test.

• 한국노년학
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.109-126
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• 2005

Recently it has been encouraged in developed countries that labor force participation of the elderly is one of the means to cut down the cost of social welfare for them. However, empirical studies have rarely explored how work in later life contributes to national economy. Especially, even though 56.6 percent of elderly workers aged 65 and older engaged in agriculture and forestry in Korea, their contribution has been socio-economically overlooked. This study aims at examining the effect of farming labor in later life on social welfare expenditure. For this purpose, social welfare expenditure was defined as social benefits provided for the elderly by the social security in public sector and measured as transportation allowance, pension, livelihood aid, medical aid, and health insurance in 2003. Data were obtained from National Health Insurance Cooperation and 37 town/village offices and analyzed by 3 age groups; 65~74, 75~84, and 85 and over using SPSS/PC windows program. Results showed that both livelihood and medical support in all age groups were expended more to non-farm than to farm workers. The amount differences per person between them were 113,959~361,132 won in livelihood support and 15,644~51,418 won in medical support. Also, participation in farming influence reduction of livelihood expenditure for the group 65~74 and 75~84 and that of medical expenditure only for the group 65~74. Based on these results, it was estimated the amount of social welfare expenditure reduced by farming labor in later life. The limit of this study and the policy implications of the results are discussed.

• 한국노년학
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.985-998
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• 2011

This study was conducted to understand current management status of 'day and night care' facilities and to explore the related factors with rates of operation of them. The nationwide mailing survey was conducted with structured questionnaires from July, 14, 2010 to July, 28, 2010. The subjects were 277 facilities (response rate 24.5%). Regarding the types of operating, 79.1% of faculties was run by cooperation, and 17.8% and 3.6% for individuals and national/public institutes respectively. The average of operation rate was 70.15%. National/public institutes showed higher in the rate of operation(79.08%) than 72.49% of cooperations and 57.78% of individuals. The number of manpower was not nearly different by the types of operating bodies, but the number of nurse was significantly different among them. The national/public institutions had 1.07 nurses while individual institutions have only 0.08. We found that facilities run by national/public institutes and founded before 2008 years showed higher rate of operation. In case of providing regular monitoring and evaluation services, and music program for patients showed higher rate of operation. In addition, the number of managers, social workers, and nurses increase the rate of operation. We suggest that quality management and monitoring program for the facilities which run by individuals or established after 2008 years would be developed. We also call for development of programs for facilitating utilization of 'day and night care' facilities such as expanding the family support.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.478-490
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• 2017

Objectives: The association of air pollution levels and land-use types with changes in the prevalence of allergic diseases (allergic conjunctivitis, allergic rhinitis, asthma, and atopic dermatitis) was investigated for seven metropolitan cities in Korea Methods: Data on daily hospital visits and admissions (of those under 19 years old) for 2003-2012 were obtained from the National Health Insurance Cooperation. Meteorological data on daily mean temperature, humidity, and air pressure were obtained from the Korea Meteorological Administration. Daily mean or maximum concentration data for five pollutants ($PM_{10}$, $O_3$, $NO_2$, $SO_2$, and CO) as measured at air quality monitoring sites operated by the Ministry of Environment were used. We estimated excess risk and 95% confidence intervals for the increasing interquatile range (IQR) of each air pollutant using Generalized Additive Models (GAM) appropriate for time series analysis. Results: In this study, we observed a significant association between the IQR increases of air pollutants and the prevalence risk of allergic diseases (allergic conjunctivitis, allergic rhinitis, asthma, and atopic dermatitis) in all metropolitan cities after adjusting for temperature, humidity, and air pressure at sea level. Among the air pollutants, $NO_2$ and $PM_{10}$ were associated with the prevalence of asthma, and $O_3$ was associated with only allergic conjunctivitis in regression analysis. However, in GAM analysis considering land-use, $O_3$ and $SO_2$ were associated with allergic conjunctivitis, PM10, O3, NO2, and CO were associated with allergic rhinitis, and $PM_{10}$, $O_3$ and $NO_2$ were associated with asthma in industrial area. Conclusion: This study found a significant association between air pollution and the prevalence of allergic related diseases in industrial areas. More detailed research considering mixed traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) and conducting meta-analyses combining data of the all cities is required.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.11 no.9
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• pp.3336-3340
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• 2010

This study has been carried out against hospitals with less than 100 beds, which were excluded from the previous study on the discharged patients from January 1 to December 31, 2007. To analyze the discharged patients, the general characteristics of discharged patients, means of payment for medical costs, type of disease and surgery and current status of the use of medical services have been investigated based on the medical records. During the year of 2007, the number of discharged patients from the hospitals with less than 100 beds reached 4,697,095 (9.7% of total population). In other words, 9,693 people were discharged from a hospital per 100,000 populations with 9.8 days in terms of annual mean length of hospitalization. The number of patients who returned home after hospitalization reached 4,538,861 (male: 1,784,041, female: 2,754,821) while 119,378 patients were evacuated to other hospitals. Among them, 8,970 patients were returned back to the original hospital. Based on the results of this study, they could be used in could be used in planning a project which is aimed to reduce public health costs by investigating high-risk groups with particular injuries and preventing damage. In addition, the injury monitoring data which are continuously collected could be useful in monitoring and evaluating the efficiency of an injury prevention program.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.184-190
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• 2010

Clinical cases of pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) have been reported during the recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) therapy for the anemia patients. PRCA is a rare hematological disorder leading to a severe anemia due to an almost complete stop of red blood cell production. Antibody (Ab)-associated PRCA is caused by the EPO-neutralizing Abs that eliminate the biological activity of EPO. In order to detect anti-EPO Abs in human sera, we performed conventional ELISA, directly coated bridging ELISA, and streptavidin coated bridging ELISA, and compared their sensitivity and specificity. Some false positive results were obtained in the conventional ELISA. One positive sample was detected successfully by streptavidin coated bridging ELISA, which was not appeared in the directly coated bridging ELISA. In conclusion, streptavidin coated bridging ELISA was substantially sensitive and specific format and one out of sixty-eight serum samples was proved to be anti-EPO positive.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.149-156
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• 2001

Objective : To elucidate risk factors for coronary heart diseases among Korean males. Methods : A nested case control study was conducted among a Korea Medical Insurance Cooperation(KMIC) cohort composed of 108,802 males. The eases included 246 male patients who were admitted to hospital due to coronary heart diseases from 1993 to 1997 (120-25 by ICD) and whose diagnosis was confirmed by the protocol by WHO MONICA Project(1994). The control group was composed of 483 patients selected by frequency matching considering age and resident area from an inpatient care group without coronary heart disease during the same period. For study cases and the controls, the results of a health check-up in 1990 and a questionnaire on life style in 1992 were received through the KMIC. Some additional information was collected by telephone interviews during October 1999. Results : Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the odds ratio(OR) of coronary heart diseases among past smokers and current smokers as compared to non-smokers were 1.94(95% CI : 1.14-3.31) and 2.20(55% CI : 1.35-3.59), respectively. The OR among persons who drank 4 cups or more of caffeinated beverages such as coffee or tea daily as compared to persons who drank one cup for 2-3 days was 2.50(95% CI : 1.07-6.12). The OR among persons with high normal BP and stage 3 hypertension against normotension were 2.51 (95% CI : 1.44-4.37) and 5.08(95% CI : 2.38-10.84). The OR among persons whose blood cholesterol were 240 mg/dL or mere against lower than 200mg/dL was 2.24(95% CI : 1.43-3.49). Conclusion : Smoking, drinking of excessive caffeinated beverages, hypertension and high blood cholesterol were proven to be significant risk factors for coronary heart diseases among Korean males.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.34-61
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• 1998

A study on cooperative medical treatment system between oriental and western medical practitioners was conducted from March through August 1997 in order to determine a productive model of cooperation of two medical parts for treatment of patients. Questionnaires were distributed to 195 medical doctors(M.D.) and 195 doctors of oriental medicine(O.M.D.) working in clinics and hospitals in six major cities. Statistical analysis tools used for this study were frequency, t-test and multiple regression by using SPSS/P.C package. The results are summarized as follows: 1. The respondents were composed of male docotors(78%) and female doctors(22%) and 68.2% of M.D. and 97% of O.M.D. were interested in the other medical part. The doctors of both disciplines had some limitation on treatment of patients but they were reluctant to refer their patients to other doctors in different discipline. 2. M.D assumed that oriental medicine was more effective for chronic diseases, and O.M.D. thought that western medicine was more effective for acute diseases. 92.3% of O.M.D.s responded that even though they do not utilize western medical technology for diagnosis, they believed the results of diagnoses by western medical technology. 3. 60.5% of O.M. and 93.3% of O.M.D. said that cooperative medical treatment system could be necessary for patients and it would be effective for control of diseases and 69% of western medical doctors and 99% of oriental medical doctors agreed that oriental medical practice would be more effective for cerebellar vascular accidents than other diseases. 77.4% of western medical doctors and 92.3% of oriental medical doctors responded that the students of two different disciplines have to be taught on the other disciplines. 82.6% of western medical doctors and 83.3% oriental medical doctors agreed that it would be necessary to have collaborative research between scientists in two disciplines. 81.5% of M.D.s and 93.3% of O.M.D.s believed that they had prejudice and distrust on other discipline 4.90% of the doctors were not satisfied with the government medical policies on health insurance, legal matters, and health delivery system. 5. 75.4% of M.D.s and 50.2% of O.M.D.s said that two medical disciplines should be integrated, but they were skeptical on that. 75.3% of M.D.s thought that western hospitals should employ O.M.D.s Finally this study recommended that western medical students study oriental medicine and the vice versa, and M.D.s and O.M.D.s should have seminars and workshops to exchange knowledge, and experiences. It is also recommended that medical laws be revised to allow medical doctors refer the patients whom they can not handle to oriental medical doctors and the vice versa.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.384-389
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• 2017

This study was conducted to investigate the patient and hospital characteristics that affect receiving and non-receiving blood transfusion for hepatoma embolization. We analyzed data describing 757 patients of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service's 2011 claims sample data. Chi-squared and logistic regression analysis was performed using STATA 12.0. Logistic regression analysis revealed that anemia (Odds ratio (OR)=9.544, 95% confidence interval (CI)=3.362-27.097), female (OR=2.186, Cl=l.240-3.854), age 65-74 (OR=0.506, CI=0.269-0.952), 1000 over bed (OR=0.053, CI=0.018-0.151), out-department (OR=0.211, CI=0.081-0.551), and 700-999 bed (OR=0.105, CI=0.036-0.304) were significant predictors of blood transfusion in tertiary hospitals. Additionally, anemia (OR=69.681, CI=8.545-568.246) and aged 75 or over (OR=0.112, CI=0.025-0.506) were significant predictors of blood transfusion in general hospitals. This research would expected to cost effective and preliminary data of blood transfusion quality.