• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.203-215
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• 2015

Objectives: This study was performed to investigate the relationship between the incidence of national notifiable infectious diseases (NNIDs) and meteorological factors, air pollution levels, and hospital resources in Korea. Methods: We collected and stored 660 000 pieces of publicly available data associated with infectious diseases from public data portals and the Diseases Web Statistics System of Korea. We analyzed correlations between the monthly incidence of these diseases and monthly average temperatures and monthly average relative humidity, as well as vaccination rates, number of hospitals, and number of hospital beds by district in Seoul. Results: Of the 34 NNIDs, malaria showed the most significant correlation with temperature (r=0.949, p<0.01) and concentration of nitrogen dioxide (r=-0.884, p<0.01). We also found a strong correlation between the incidence of NNIDs and the number of hospital beds in 25 districts in Seoul (r=0.606, p<0.01). In particular, Geumcheon-gu was found to have the lowest incidence rate of NNIDs and the highest number of hospital beds per patient. Conclusions: In this study, we conducted a correlational analysis of public data from Korean government portals that can be used as parameters to forecast the spread of outbreaks.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.398-405
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• 2023

Background: Starting from March 2020 until December 2021, different phases of Covid-19 pandemic have been identified in Italy, with several containing/lifting measures progressively enforced by the National government. In the present study, we investigate the change in occupational risk during the subsequent pandemic phases and we propose an estimate of the incidence of the cases by economic sector, based on the analysis of insurance claims for compensation for Covid-19. Methods: Covid-19 epidemiological data available for the general population and injury claims of workers covered by the Italian public insurance system in 2020-2021 were analyzed. Monthly Incidence Rate of Covid-19 compensation claims per 100,000 workers (MIRw) was calculated by the economic sector and compared with the same indicator for general population in different pandemic periods. Results: The distribution of Covid-19 MIRw by sector significantly changed during the pandemic related to both the strength of different waves and the mitigation/lifting strategies enforced. The level of occupational fraction was very high at the beginning phase of the pandemic, decreasing to 5% at the end of 2021. Healthcare and related services were continuously hit but the incidence was significantly decreasing in 2021 in all sectors, except for postal and courier activities in transportation and storage enterprises. Conclusion: The analysis of compensation claim data allowed to identify time trends for infection risk in different working sectors. The claim rates were highest for human health and social work activities but the distribution of risk among sectors was clearly influenced by the different stages of the pandemic.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.1019-1024
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• 2012

Background: Infections with human papillomavirus (HPV) are highly prevalent among sexually active young women in India. However, not much is known about the incidence of type-specific human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and their patterns of persistence, especially in the Indian context. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the rate of acquisition and persistence of HPV types in young women. Methods: Women residing in an urban slum in Delhi (n=1300) were followed for 24 months at 6 monthly intervals. Exfoliated cervical cells collected at each visit were tested for the presence of HPV DNA. Genotyping was performed using the reverse line blot assay. Results: The incidence rate for any HPV type was calculated to be 5 per 1000 women-months. Among high risk HPV types, HPV16 had the highest incidence rate followed by HPV59, HPV52 and HPV18, i.e., 3.0, 0.58, 0.41 and 0.35 women per 1000 women-months respectively. The persistence rate was higher for high-risk than low-risk HPV types. Among low-risk types, HPV42, HPV62, HPV84 and HPV89 were found to persist. Whereas almost all high risk types showed persistence, the highest rate was found in women with HPV types 16, 45, 67, 31, 51 and 59. The persistence rate for HPV16 infection was 45 per 1000 women-months. Conclusion: Incident HPV infections and high risk HPV type-specific persistence were found to be high in our study population of young married women. Understanding the patterns of HPV infection may help plan appropriate strategies for prevention programs including vaccination and screening.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.434-439
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• 2017

Incidence rates of diseases in kiwiberry orchards were investigated monthly from late June to late September in Gwangyang and Boseong in 2015 and 2016. The impact of postharvest fruit rot was investigated during ripening after harvest. Bacterial canker was only observed on one single tree in 2015, but black rot, powdery mildew, leaf spot and blight, and postharvest fruit rot diseases were problematic throughout the study period in both 2015 and 2016. Incidence rates of the diseases varied with kiwiberry cultivar, region and sampling time. Incidence rates of powdery mildew, leaf spot and blight diseases increased significantly during the late growing stages near fruit harvest, while black rot peaked in late August. Incidence rate of postharvest fruit rot on fruit without fruit stalks was less than half of fruit with fruit stalks, regardless of kiwiberry cultivars. Among the four cultivars, Mansu was relatively resistant to black rot and postharvest fruit rot diseases. In our knowledge, this is the first report of various potential pathogens of kiwiberry in Korea.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.85-95
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• 2002

This study was undertaken to obtain the incidence of dysmenorrhea and differance of dysmenorrhea according to the general characteristics, lifestyle, and menstrual pattern in women community college students. For the data collection, self-administered questionnaire survey was made from April 7, 1999 to April 14, 1999 among the 204 women community college students. The resultant data were processed by SAS program for frequency, proportion, and Chi-square test. The results of this study are as follows ; 1) Prevalence rate of dysmenorrhea was 81.9%. Among women who had dysmenorrhea, 42.6% of them had family history on dysmenorrhea, 47% of them experienced the dysmenorrhea 'monthly', 89.2% of them had experienced dysmenorrhea on the first-second day, 38.5% of them responded that the most painful region was 'low abdomen', 61.5% of them responded that they used 'analgesics' to soothe dysmenorrhea, 92.3% of them responded that they had analgesics without doctor's prescription, and 42.6% of them responded that they experienced digestive system related symptoms during menstrual period. 2) The incidence of dysmenorrhea was significantly different by ordering of sisters, blood type, and body shape. 3) The incidence of dysmenorrhea was no significantly different by life style. 4) The incidence of dysmenorrhea was no significantly different by menstrual pattern.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.121-129
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• 1993

This study was conducted to investigate the incidence and related factors of farming tool-machinery injuries developed in the Chonnam rural area in 1992. A total of 9,068 persons (4,571men and 4,497women)were selected in a stratified cluster sampling manner, and interviewed individually to complete a structured questionnaire covering farmer characteristics, duration of farm working, annual income, kind of farming tools and machinery, type of injuries and medical care. The results were as follows : 1. The incidence rate of farming tool-machinery injuries was 63 per 1,000 persons over all, 73 in males and 54 in females. The age standardized incidence rate was 69 per 1,000 persons over all, 83 in males and 65 in females. 2. The associated factors with farming tool-machinery injuries in univariate analysis were sex, age, duration of farming and monthly income. The occurrence of injuries was higher in men than in woman, and the higher in high-income group than in the low-income group. 3. More men than woman were involved in trunk injuries and treated at the large scale medical care units such as hospitals, and they paid much higher medical fees. 4. The complaint rates for each item of farmers' syndrome in the injured group were higher than those of the non injured group in 'shoulder stiffness', 'sleeplessness', 'dizziness', and 'gastric fullness'. 5. When multiple logistic regression was applied to farming tool-machinery injuries, the significant variables were farmer's syndrome, age, and duration of farming in both males and females.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.197-203
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• 1982

A study was carried out in order to obtain the status of student sickness and medical care in University Health Service, Ewha Womans University. This study was based on the clinical records of University Health Service and hospitals 'for student insurance pay claims during the year of 1981. And the findings from the study were as follows; 1. A total number of student patients cared at University Health Service in 1981 was 9,822 and the incidence rate of primary cared was 773 per 1,000 students. 2. A total number of student patients cared at hospitals was 393 and the incidence rate of secondary cared was 31 per 1,000 students and 5 student out of 31 per 1000 was cared under the haspitalization. 3. The evacuation rate of student patients from University Health Service to hospital was 393 out of 9,822 student primary cared or 4.0 percent. 4. The order of 5 major diseases of primary cared in University Health Service was respiratory system diseases (36.6%), Digestive system diseases (17.4%), Skin and subcutaneous tissue diseases (16.0%), Symptoms and undetermined diagnosis (13.7%) and Nerve and sensory organ diseases (12.0%) respectively. 5. The disease order of student patients(333) cared in hospitals as out-patients was Skin and subcutaneous tissue diseases (40.3%), Nervous and Sensory organ disease (19.2%), Digestive system diseases (10.8%) respectively. 6. The disease order of student patients (60) cared in hospitals as in-patients was Digestive system diseases (35.0%), Respiratory system diseases (13.3%), Nerve and sensory organ diseases (10.0%), Infectious and parasitic diseases (10.0%), and Symptom and Undetermined diagonsis (10.0%) respectively. 7. The evacuation rate of student patients in University Health Service to hospital was varied according to disease groups; the lowest rate was the diseases evacuated to Internal Medicine Department 1.5% or 75 out of 5,072 patient primary cared and the highest rate was Neuropsychiatry department 63.7% or 7 out of 11 patients. 8. The monthly distribution of student patients in University Health Service was the highest in September (17.9%) and April (15.5%) each semester. 9. The monthly number of student patients treated in hospitals was the range 20 to 40 in out patients and 2 to 9 in in-patients. 10. The hospital ill days per case were $4.3{\pm}5.0$ days in out-patients and $9.7{\pm}9.5$ days in in-patients.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.41-52
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• 2016

Objectives: Scrub typhus is one of the most prevalent vector-borne diseases. It is caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi, which is transmitted when people are bitten by infected chigger mites. This study aims at quantifying the association between the incidence of scrub typhus and meteorological factors in Jeollabuk-do Province over the period 2001-2015. Methods: Reported cases of scrub typhus were collected from the website of the Disease Web Statistical System supported by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). Simultaneous meteorological data, including temperature, rainfall, relative humidity, and sunshine duration were collected from the website of the National Climate Data Service System by the Korea Meteorological Administration. Correlation and regression analyses were applied to identify the association between the incidence of scrub typhus and meteorological factors. Results: The general epidemiological characteristics of scrub typhus in Jeollabuk-do Province were similar to those nationwide for sex, age, and geographical distribution. However, the annual incidence rate (i.e., cases per 100,000) of scrub typhus in Jeollabuk-do Province was approximately four times higher than all Korea's 0.9. The number of total cases was the highest proportion at 13.3% in Jeonbuk compared to other regions in Korea. The results of correlation analysis showed that there were significant correlations between annual cases of scrub typhus and monthly data for meteorological factors such as temperature and relative humidity in late spring and summer, especially in the case of temperature in May and June. The results of regression analysis showed that determining factors in the regression equation explaining the incidence of scrub typhus reached 46.2% and 43.5% in May and June. Using the regression equation, each 1oC rise in the monthly mean temperature in May or June may lead to an increase of 38 patients with scrub typhus compared to the annual mean of incidence cases in Jeollabuk-do Province. Conclusion: The result of our novel attempts provided rational evidence that meteorological factors are associated with the occurrence of scrub typhus in Jeollabuk-do. It should therefore be necessary to observe the trends and predict patterns of scrub typhus transmission in relation to global-scale climate change. Also, action is urgently needed in all areas, especially critical regions, toward taking steps to come up with preventive measures against scrub typhus transmission.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.62-70
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• 1992

This study was conducted on 334 cases of the acute drug intoxication visited to the emergency room of Gyungsang University Hospital for 3 years from January 1, 1988 to December 31,1990. The results were as follows: 1. The ratio of acute drug intoxicated patients to total patients of the emergency room was $1.9\%$. 2. Male was slightly more than female(1.14 : 1). The highest rate was shown in the age group of 30 years. 3. The monthly incidence was higher at the period from May to September. 4. The suicidal attempts ratio of the patients over 10 years old was $84.9\%$. 5. $74.9\%$ of total cases were intoxicated with pesticides. Among 270 cases who had committed suicide, 220 cases $(81.5\%)$ had ingested pesticides. 6. The fatality rate among cases of pesticides intoxication was $35.2\%$, among chemical intoxication $15.1\%$ and among medical drug intoxication $4.3\%$. 7. 13 cases$(3.9\%)$ of 334 cases showed the psychological problem on chart.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.155-166
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• 2009

Purpose: This study developed and evaluated a systematic intervention among medical ICU nurses for preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia (hereafter VAP). Methods: A VAP prevention program was proposed based on a literature review, revised to fit the target situation, and validated. It was composed of one-time interventions including education, pamphlets, hand cultures, and a quiz event, as well as repeated interventions such as posters, reminders, posting hand culture results, and performance feedback. A simulated control group pretest-posttest design was used to verify the effectiveness of the VAP control program. The incidence of VAP among ICU patients was measured both during 3 months before (n=80) and during 3 months after (n=75) intervention. Results: The VAP prevention program's effectiveness, with a pre-intervention VAP rate of 17.38 and post-intervention rate of 11.04 per 1,000 ventilator days, showed a clinical tendency to decrease, but the difference was not statistically significant (p=.750). Conclusion: A VAP prevention program of multiple interventions can be useful in decreasing the VAP rate. Given that the monthly decrease in the VAP rate was not considered statistically significant, long-term research needs to be done. Additionally, since this study targeted only nurses, it is suggested that future research targets other health care workers who can influence VAP rates.