• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.69-87
• /
• 2014

Objectives: We analyzed retrospective clinical data of Korean medical institutes for infertility care and investigated current status and outcome of the Korean medical treatment of infertility as a part of foundational research for verifying validity of constructing national support system and developing appropriate policy on Korean medical treatment of infertility. Methods: We investigated data uploaded on the homepage of The Society of Korean Medicine for Subfertility (http://www.okinfertility.org) by Korean medical institutes for infertility care to get informations such as patients' age, body height, weight, methods of Korean medical treatment, cost and duration of treatment, success or failure of pregnancy and result of treatment. Results: The average age of patients was $33.1{\pm}3.8$ and the average body height was $161.2{\pm}5.3cm$ and the average body weight was $55.2{\pm}8.5kg$. The method of Korean medical treatment was Herbal medicine (97.5%), acupuncture (80.4%), moxibustion (57.7%), cupping (32.7%). The average cost of treatment was $1,160,625{\pm}882,499$ won, and the average medical cost per visit was $357,845{\pm}241,602$ won. The average duration of treatment was $11.26{\pm}10.58$ weeks, and the average number of visits per patient was $4.78{\pm}6.10$ times. The average duration of treatment was the longest in the group of infertile patients with the highest average medical cost per visit. The average pregnancy success rate was 30.9% overall, and that of the group of infertile patients was 25.8%. Conclusions: When we develop the standard project model with expectation for about 25% success rate of pregnancy and delivery in the group of patients who have idiopathic and ovulatory factors, it is desirable to perform acupuncture and moxibustion treatment 1-2 times a week with herbal medicine. The treatment period is set to at least 12 weeks. Average treatment fee maybe calculated by converting the averaged treatment cost of clinic's one month worth of daily treatment fee and medical hospital's ten day treatment fee into weekly treatment cost.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.42 no.3
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2021

Objectives: A critical pathway defines the optimal care process, sequencing and timing of intervention by multi-disciplinary health care teams for a particular diagnosis and procedure. It plays an important role as a cost-effective health care delivery system and a tool for quality control of medical and dental services by means of standardizing medical practices. The aim of this study is to investigate the satisfaction of patients and medical staff after implementation of a critical pathway for Korean medical treatment of lumbar disc herniation in integrative medical. Methods and Results: The pre-critical pathway group included 3 patients who underwent the implementation procedure from October 2020. All three patients have successfully been applied critical pathways during inpatient and outpatient treatment. Additionally, medical staff members were satisfied with the usefulness of the critical pathway. Conclusions: The implementation of critical pathway for the Korean medical treatment with lumbar disc herniation in integrative medical hospital can appraise possible applicability in actual clinical field.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.43-56
• /
• 2019

Purpose: Importance of patient satisfaction related to patient-centeredness has been emphasized, and it is known to have effect on various health outcomes including health resource utilization. However, the effect of patient satisfaction has been discussed mostly in terms of hospital marketing in Korea. This study aims to examine the effect of patient satisfaction in patient-physician communication on healthcare utilization in a nationally representative adult population of South Korea. Method: Patient satisfaction with physician communication is assessed using 4 items in the 2011 Korea Health Panel Survey. Generalized linear regression analysis is conducted using 9,325 adults' healthcare utilization in 2012. Findings: Adjusting for the socio-demographic, economic factors, individual health status, health behaviors and healthcare utilization in 2011, more satisfied individuals, more likely to utilize the outpatient service, especially in clinical setting. Practical Implications: The study findings suggests that in context of South Korea healthcare system such as insufficient medical consultation time and the absence of health delivery system, patient satisfaction as a subjective healthcare quality indicator would have effect on the individual's outpatient visit. This study contributes to stimulate patient satisfaction research and discussion in South Korea to further explore its relationship with potential and various health related outcomes. Further implications of the study are discussed.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Sensory Integration
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.57-64
• /
• 2006

Objective : The purpose of this paper was to suggest a model of the home-visiting occupational therapy for the child with sensory integrative dysfunction through parent's satisfaction of volunteer activity to home-visiting occupational therapy. Method : A questionnaire survey were conducted to investigate the satisfaction on after of volunteer activity to home-visiting occupational therapy for the child with sensory integrative dysfunction. The 12 parents agreed on this service that students of department of occupational therapy visited at home 2 or 3times during the 16weeks. Results : Parents responded that satisfaction was seen orderly agreed(66%), very agreed (34%) in the convenient portion of service process, orderly agreed(50%), very agreed(42%), moderate agreed(8%) in the therapeutic technique and professionalism, very agreed(58%), agreed(42%) in the portion of general satisfaction. Correlation was not between satisfaction of convenient portion and related questions, but in the student attitude and the therapeutic technique, professionalism and related question was related to all question except a family treatment access method portion. Conclusions : It will be able to present the model of the home-visiting service in various occupational therapy field above the results and home-visiting occupational therapy service system must be introduced with the hygienic medical treatment delivery system through the deepening research.

• KSBB Journal
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.116-122
• /
• 2010

Fermented materials have been used for long time around the world and have been researched according to the excellent effect in the part of medical and food industry. However, when such materials are applied on skin, because of the skin barrier, the most effective ingredients are poorly absorbed. The absorption of the skin is exceedingly limited and the method of increasing skin absorption needs special procedures. The micro-needle therapy is a method used to improve the absorption of drug (solution) in the skin which is called "natural skin rejuvenation therapy". This therapy uses micro-needle which is equipped with very thin, delicate needles smaller than a 0.07 mm thick hair. During this therapy, the micro-needle makes small holes and helps absorb the solution into the skin. This is a very excellent therapy in skin absorption. It can be used in wide regions of the skin without any side effects and no recovery time. In 2007, the micro-needle is permitted to personal care. However, the solutions have not yet been developed professionally, and such skill is needed.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.188-192
• /
• 2012

Palliative medicine has shown demonstrated benefit for patients with serious illness, their families, and hospital systems. As such, the demand for palliative care services is growing at a fast pace, and health care facilities frequently struggle to develop and implement effective and sustainable methods of providing this care. As with any new system, challenges and barriers naturally exist to instituting palliative care. Undertaking careful assessment, planning, and resource allocation can provide the greatest likelihood of success when developing these novel yet much needed models of care. This summary paper offers a qualitative overview of the potential benefits and the rationale to implement robust palliative care systems. We briefly review the history of palliative medicine in the broadest sense and address several seminal works from the US palliative care literature. Core practices to establish and advance palliative medicine are suggested. Commentary is provided on some of the particular barriers to palliative system development that may need to be addressed in the context of Korean medical culture. Collectively, we hope this overview can contribute to a framework within which such research and development can occur, leading to increasingly effective and sustainable palliative medicine in Korea.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.365-371
• /
• 2006

Bee Venom aqua-acupuncture (BVA) simultaneously exerts pharmacological effects of biologically active compounds, existed in the whole bee venom, and medicinal effect of the stimulation of acupuncture points. BVA has been considered as a promising therapeutic method for treating various chronic diseases, mainly accompanying severe pain and inflammation. As a painless injection device, jet injectors have been commercially marketed for various clinical applications including insulin injection and vaccination. Among them, a pressure-driven jet injector system could be used for intradermal delivery of a variety of drugs. The aim of this study was to investigate the analgesic effects of the BVA using a needle-free injector (Biojector $2000^{\circledR}$, Bioject Inc., OR, USA), compared to the conventional BV aqua-acupuncture using a typical syringe. Adult Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with bee venom $(0.08mg/kg,\;50{\mu}l)$ using Biojector $2000^{\circledR}$ (BVA-B) or a syringe (BVA-5) into the Zusanli (ST36) acupoint, 30 minutes before plantar injection of 2% formalin. It was found that BVA-B-, or BVA-5-treated rats, compared to controls, exhibited significantly less licking behavior during the late phase in the rat formalin test, when compared to controls. During early phase, however, those effects were not significant but substantial. The analgesic effect of BVA-B was also compatible with that of the conventional BVA-5. In the immunohistochemical studies, BVA-B significantly suppressed the expression of formalin-evoked c-fos, a biomarker of neuronal activity, in the lumbar dorsal horn of the spinal cord. These results indicated that BVA-B waseffective in the modulation of pain in the rat formalin test, compared to BVA-5. Taken together, the needle-free jet injector system could be substituted for the conventional aqua- acupuncture with the advantage of little pain.

• Journal of Radiopharmaceuticals and Molecular Probes
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.9-16
• /
• 2023

Liposomes as drug delivery system have proved useful carrier for various disease, including cancer. In addition, perfluorocarbon cored microbubbles are utilized in conjunction with high-intensity focused-ultrasound (HIFU) to enable simultaneous diagnosis and treatment. However, microbubbles generally exhibit lower drug loading efficiency, so the need for the development of a novel liposome-based drug delivery material that can efficiently load and deliver drugs to targeted areas via HIFU. This study aims to develop a liposome-based drug delivery material by introducing a substance that can burst liposomes using ultrasound energy and confirm the ability to target tumors using PET imaging. Liposomes (Lipo-DOX, Lipo-DOX-Au, Lipo-DOX-Au-RGD) were synthesized with gold nanoparticles using an avidin-biotin bond, and doxorubicin was mounted inside by pH gradient method. The size distribution was measured by DLS, and encapsulation efficiency of doxorubicin was analyzed by UV-vis spectrometer. The target specificity and cytotoxicity of liposomes were assessed in vitro by glioblastoma U87mg cells to HIFU treatment and analyzed using CCK-8 assay, and fluorescence microscopy at 6-hour intervals for up to 24 hours. For the in vivo study, U87mg model mouse were injected intravenously with 1.48 MBq of ⁶⁴Cu-labeled Lipo-DOX-Au and Lipo-DOX-Au-RGD, and PET images were taken at 0, 2, 4, 8, and 24 hours. As a result, the size of liposomes was 108.3 ± 5.0 nm at Lipo-DOX-Au and 94.1 ± 12.2 nm at Lipo-DOX-Au-RGD, and it was observed that doxorubicin was mounted inside the liposome up to 52%. After 6 hours of HIFU treatment, the viability of U87mg cells treated with Lipo-DOX-Au decreased by around 20% compared to Lipo-DOX, and Lipo-DOX-Au-RGD had a higher uptake rate than Lipo-DOX. In vivo study using PET images, it was confirmed that ⁶⁴Cu-Lipo-DOX-Au-RGD was taken up into the tumor immediately after injection and maintained for up to 4 hours. In this study, drugs released from liposomes-gold nanoparticles via ultrasound and RGD targeting were confirmed by non-invasive imaging. In cell-level experiments, HIFU treatment of gold nanoparticle-coupled liposomes significantly decreased tumor survival, while RGD-liposomes exhibited high tumor targeting and rapid release in vivo imaging. It is expected that the combination of these models with ultrasound is served as an effective drug delivery material with therapeutic outcomes.

• Fire Science and Engineering
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.152-158
• /
• 2019

This study examined the socio-economic and clinical characteristics associated with the use of ambulance services among pregnant, childbearing, and postpartum women based on data from the 2008-2016 Korea Health Panel. The analysis revealed that among the pregnant, childbearing, and postpartum women, the proportion using all ambulance services was 18.9% whereas 12.0% used private and 119 ambulances. Moreover, among those using ambulance services, delivery was the most common reason (38.7%) followed by complications of labor and delivery (20.0%) and pregnancy with abortive outcome (17.3%). There were statistically significant differences between the users and non-users of ambulance services in terms of the average annual household income, emergency arrival time, and delayed arrival at the emergency room. As childbirth becomes more complicated due to low fertility and elderly mothers, the expansion and improvement of ambulance services as a social safety net for pregnant, childbearing, and postpartum women will become increasingly important.

• Women's Health Nursing
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.265-276
• /
• 1999

Female nurses in Korea have historically experienced discrimination on the basis of their gender as part of the traditional society views on woman and as a result of the male dominated hospital environments. This discrimination may interfere with the ability of female nurses to promote the health of their patients. To better understand this bias, we collected and analyzed 16 cases of alleged sexual discrimination reported by female nurses with more than 5 years work experience. The cases were classified into 10 subjects and further into 4 categories: personnel administration, daily working environment, female gender bias, and health care delivery. There were 7 cases (11.3%) of unjust personnel changes consisting of demotion(1), termination(4), and reallocation of position(3). Twenty three (37.1%) of cases related to problems in the daily workplace including biases in communication between female nurses and male physicians(12), daily work(8), and responsibility for adverse outcomes(3). We noted 17 cases (27.4%) of female gender bias as reported by female nurses(7), female physicians(7), and female patients(3). Lastly, there were 15 (24.3%) cases of problems with health care delivery due to sexual discrimination, including enrollment in the health care system(4),and decisions regarding medical care(4). These results suggest that sexual discrimination towards women is pervasive in the Korea hospitals, not only towards female nurses but also towards female physicians and patients. More discriminatory practices in a timely fashion such that better nursing care can be provided to patients and their families.