• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.53-66
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• 2012

Purpose : Emergency medical services in China are increase in demand by people and under the greater pressure than ever before. So it is, necessary to advance the pre-hospital system in order to promote the development of emergency medical services. Methods : This is based on China-related articles, books, journals, reports, statistical data and other literature. Results : First, pre-hospital emergency medical care with the introduction of specialist training program should be established. Second, to strengthen pre-hospital emergency services and to develop the EMS guidelines. Third, the "120" reporting systems unification and awareness activation. Fourth, the preparation of the EMS facilities equipment system. Fifth, the rapid transport system establishment to the selected medical institutions. Conclusion : It is necessary to strengthen the emergency medical personnel at the scene, rapid transport, rapid patient triage and to improve the survival rate of the patients.

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.228-249
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• 2018

In 2015, the population of elderly people in Thailand was 16% of the total population and is predicted to be over 20% by 2021 and nearly 28% by 2031. The increase of the elderly population in Thailand has also increased the proportion of dependent elderly people, and caring for them poses many challenges for both families and the government. This descriptive method research aimed to survey the health status of dependent older people in the rural community of Lampang province in northern Thailand. The participants consisted of 62 older people and 62 primary family caregivers from Hong Ha Health Promoting Hospital, Lampang, Thailand (totaling 124 people). The researchers assessed the health status of older people and their activities of daily living (ADL). In addition, researchers assessed the health status and stress of caregivers. All the participants were interviewed about their experiences with caregiving. The results showed that most of the older respondents were female with an average age of 78.15 years. Based on the ADL assessment, 50 of the 62 older persons were homebound while the rest were bedridden. The majority of older people had chronic or long-term conditions that required hospitalization from time to time. Their frequent health problems included oral disorders such as tooth decay or caries/gum disease/no teeth, reduced sight, psychological disorders, knee pain and risk of falling, low BMI, risk of malnutrition, and urinary leakage and incontinence (58.06%, 66.13%, 62.90%, 70.97%, 38.71%, 66.13%, and 37.10%, respectively). Usual care provided by the family members included personal hygiene care, food preparation and feeding, medication management, housekeeping and organizing necessary equipment, supply of needed equipment, prevention of falls, helping with travel for medical checkups and treatment, and providing companionship. Families experienced shortages of medical supplies, daily use equipment, lack of employment, inadequate income, and difficulty accessing health care services due to lack of transportation. Some caregivers experienced caregiving stress related to a lack of social interactions as well as routine caregiving activities. Families need different types of support in order to promote the well-being of older people and caregivers. This highlights the need for a community participation model for the care of older people in order to reflect sustainable long-term outcomes.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.642-652
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• 2010

This study examines the inconveniences and problems of established safety-equipment by investigating the actual conditions for elderly people who use welfare services such as wheel chairs provided by care institutions. Suggestions will be made on how to improve the function and convenience of use to suit the needs of the elderly and how to create beautiful wheel chair safety-wear. Medical treatment helpers for the elderly were surveyed about the wearing conditions of wheel chair safety equipment. The present wheel chair safety equipment was shown to be aesthetically unpleasant; in addition, feelings of restriction and unpleasantness were noted (concerning the wearing of the equipment). In addition, there was no feeling of fixed stability. The wheel chair safety-wear that has been designed reflects the inconveniences and problems of current wheel chair safety equipment in material, design, and patterns along with the results of those surveys. Both objective and subjective tests compared the manufactured safety-wear with current equipment. According to the results, the new safety-wear is superior than existing ones.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.506-514
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• 2015

During the progression of this study, we visited 17 medical institutions. These medical institutions underwent inspection for facility eligibility of national inpatient isolation units to care for patients. Seventeen consultation meetings were held to gather expert opinions, and conferences were held with the medical institutions and local levels of government. Based on these facts, we established a field application model of the criteria of safety-management and conducted a study on this method in order to create more scientific and systematic safety-management criteria including criteria regarding facilities maintenance and methods of equipment inspection. According to an analysis on the 17 medical institutions examined, facility eligibility of 17 national inpatient isolation units was found to be 78.3% on average. Through analysis of the present domestic and foreign conditions of medical institutions, we proposed improvements for when remodeling becomes necessary and established criteria for safety-management in national inpatient isolation units for the care of patients in accordance with the domestic healthcare system.

• The Korean Nurse
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.66-77
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• 1994

The purpose of this study was to develop a new nursing unit which can meet changing health care needs, enhance patients' satisfaction and nurses' job satisfaction, and finally guarantee quality nursing care with present manpower. For this, one medical unit was selected as a unit for quality care. And one medical unit which is similar in staffing and patients' characteristics was selected as a control unit. To assess present problems and identify the remedies to the problems a hospital-wide survey and a workshop were performed. According to the survey results, educational programs and improvement of the facilities and equipment supply system, managereal support for interdepartmental cooperation and intensification of bed-side nursing care were adopted as main principles for operating model unit, This model unit was operated for 3 months from Sep. 1, 1992 to Nov. 30, 1992. To evaluate the effectiveness of the model unit, derect/indirect nursing care hours, patients' satisfaction to nursing care, nurses' job satisfaction, and quality care index were measured. Direct/indirect nursing care hours were compared with that of the control unit, and patients' and nurses' satisfaction and quality care index were measured before and after operating model unit and compared with each other. The results of the study were as follows; 1. In the model unit mean direct nursing care hours per cach shift was 146.88 minutes and indirect nursing care hours was 354.72 minutes. The ratio of the direct nursing care hour to indirect nursing hour was 29.6 ; 70.4 and that of the control unit was 26.9 : 73.1. Direct nursing care hour in model unit was longer than that of the control unit. But, the difference was not significant. In subcategories of direct nursing care, the time spent in mobility and exercise, conservation of body temperature, hygiene, and communication and health education were longer than that of the con" trol unit. 2. Indirect nursing care hour in model unit was shorter than that of the control unit. But, the difference was not significant. In subcategories of indirect nursing care, the time spent in drug management and ward arrangement was shorter than that of the control unit. 3. Patients' satisfaction to nursing care was increased significantly after operating the model unit (T=-3.48, P=-0.002) and satisfaction to subcategories of physical comfort measure, psychological cate, and unit management components were significantly higher than before. 4. In the model unit, nurses' total job satisfaction was increased significantly after operating the model unit(Z=2.1004, P=.0357) and satisfaction to subcategory of satisfaction to administration was significantly higher than before (Z=-2.0732, P=.0382). 5. After operating the model unit, quality care index was increased from 89 to 93. With this results, it can be summarized that all the measures tried for quality care, such as educational programs, managereal support for interdepartmental cooperation, and improvement of the equipment and facility provision resulted in partial increase in direct nursing care hours, nurses satisfaction to their job and patients' satisfaction to nursing care. In can be postulated that managereal support and motivation without proper staff supplementation is not enough for increasing direct nursing care hours. And for the enhancement of the level in clinical nursing, and staff supplement must be considered sincerely and the measures for reducing indirect nursing care hours, such as computerization of nursing care activities, improvement of facilities and equipment and facilities supply system, must be instituted in addition.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.82 no.4
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• pp.319-327
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• 2019

Background: Radial probe endobronchial ultrasound (R-EBUS), is effective for tissue diagnosis of lung lesions. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of R-EBUS both a guide-sheath and fluoroscopy and identified factors associated with accurate diagnosis. The feasibility of molecular and genetic testing, using specimens obtained by R-EBUS, was also investigated. Methods: The study retrospectively reviewed 211 patients undergoing R-EBUS without a guide-sheath and fluoroscopy, June 2016-May 2017. After excluding 27 patients of which the target lesion was not reached, 184 were finally included. Multivariate logistic regression was used, to identify factors associated with accurate diagnosis. Results: Among 184 patients, R-EBUS-guided biopsy diagnosed malignancy in 109 patients (59%). The remaining 75 patients (41%) with non-malignant results underwent additional work-ups, and 34 were diagnosed with malignancy. Based on final diagnosis, diagnostic accuracy was 80% (136/170), and sensitivity and specificity for malignancy were 76% (109/143) and 100% (27/27), respectively. In multivariate analysis, peripheral location (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 3.925; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.203-12.811; p=0.023), and central position of the probe (aOR, 2.435; 95% CI, 1.424-7.013; p=0.035), were associated with accurate diagnosis of malignancy. Molecular and genetic analyses were successful, in all but one case, with inadequate specimens. Conclusion: R-EBUS-guided biopsy without equipment, is effective for tissue diagnosis. Peripheral location and central position of the radial probe, were crucial for accurate diagnosis. Performance of molecular and genetic testing, using samples obtained by R-EBUS, was satisfactory.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.23 no.4 s.32
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• pp.416-427
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• 1990

Unfortunately, we have poor knowledge of medical technology in North Korea. This study has thus attempted to identify the level and status of medical technology development through analyzing the contents of medical textbooks currently in use. This study has assumed that three factors are influencing the level and status of medical technology in a society ; the level of socio-economic development in general, the level of scientific technology revolution and health policy. Forty textbooks are collected for this purpose. The main findings are summarized as follows : 1) North Korea s strengths in that (1) its herb drugs, which are in a broad use, are cheaper, more safe and more attainable than bio-equivalent chemical ones, and (2) the development of its medical technology was carried out with emphasis on the practical and basic health needs. 2) North Korea has weaknesses in that (1) its medical diagnostic method largely depends on manual procedures, (2) the R & D investment in the development of chemical drugs, especially antibiotics, is very small, (3) the amount of medical equipments is in a absolute shortage, and (4) the medical technology is destitute of specialty, caused mainly by the overemphasis on Juche-Uihak or herb medicine. 3) Medical technology has two faces, positive and negative so that it cannot be successfully evaluated by one. It eventually acts a positive function for public health through developments of drug, equipment and new medical treatment method. But it is also true that it has negative effects such as the dehumanization of high cost medical technology, cost hike due to over-investments in expensive equipment and the absence of wholistic care from overspecialization. 4) We have to consider economic status and the social needs of medical care in order to evaluate the medical technology of a society. It is also the case with North Korea. A whole picture of the North Korean medical technology could be understood only if further comprehensive studies of medical technology are to be carried out for North Korea.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.65-84
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• 2012

Because of the rising healthcare costs, there is a growing need for developing efficiency indicators for medical resources use and measuring efficiency of healthcare providers and healthcare systems using them. In this study, we aimed to develop efficiency indicators for medical resources use by means of Delphi technique. We systematically reviewed the existing measures of medical resource use. Thirty nine indicators were selected as a candidates across the six domains: medical personnel, medical equipment, medical facilities, ethical management, resource efficiency, and drug use. To develop efficiency indicators with professional consensus, a 2-round Delphi survey was conducted among 29 professional experts. The following indicators were selected based on the Delphi survey results: adjusted number of the patient per day and level of the nurse number medical personnel in medical personnel domain; the number of the scan a professional physician and the quality of the scan in medical equipment domain; bed utilization rate in medical facility domain; drug price reported pharmaceutical price by medical institutions, medical fee billing transparency, and medical care appropriateness in ethical management domain; costliness index in resource efficiency domain; and utilization of high cost drug and items per prescription in drug use domain. The efficiency indicators could provide valid information about efficiency of healthcare providers and healthcare systems with respect to their resources use and facilitate policies to improve their efficiency.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.42
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• pp.25.1-25.13
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• 2020

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes serious acute respiratory diseases including pneumonia and bronchitis with approximately 2.3% fatality occurrence. Main body: This study argues the main concepts that need to be considered for the gradual reopening of dental offices include treatment planning approaches, fundamental elements needed to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus in dental healthcare settings, personal protection equipment (PPE) for dental health care providers, environmental measures, adjunctive measures, and rapid point of care tests in dental offices. Conclusion: This article seeks to provide an overview of existing scientific evidence to suggest a guideline for reopening dental offices.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.71-82
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• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to estimate incomes and costs of the medical clinics by using secondary data. Methodology: The medical incomes and costs were estimated from 405 clinics operated by sole practitioner providing out-patient services among all clinics subject to the Medical Cost Survey on National Health Insurance Patients in 2017, excluding dental clinics and oriental medical clinics. The incomes and costs of the medical clinics were reflected with incomes and costs of health insurance benefits and were calculated by types of medical services (i.e., basic care, surgery, general treatment, functional test, specimen test and imaging test). The costs were classified as follows: labor costs, equipment costs, material costs and overhead costs. Secondary data was used to estimate the incomes and costs of the medical clinics. For allocation bases for costs for each type of the medical service, the ratio of revenue from health insurance benefits by types of medical services was applied. However, labor costs were calculated with the activity ratio by types of medical services and occupations, using clinical expert panel data. Finding: The percentage of health insurance income for all medical income was 73.1%. The health insurance cost per clinic was 401,864 thousand won. Labor cost accounted for the largest portion of the health insurance income was 191,229 thousand won (47.6%), followed by management cost was 170,018 thousand won (42.3%), materials cost was 35,434 thousand won (8.8%), and equipment costs was 5,183 thousand won (1.3%). Practical Implications: This study suggests a method of estimating incomes and costs of medical clinic services by using secondary data. It could efficiently provide incomes and costs to assess an appropriate level of the health insurance fee to the clinics.