• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.73-92
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• 2020

Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine occupational safety accidents of child care teacher and to suggest preventive measure in occupational safety health and safety for child-care teacher. Methods: We investigated laws, policy, and previous studies related occupational safety and health for child care teacher. Especially, we reviewed the legal definition of child-care teacher to identify whether Occupational Safety and Health acts cover child-care teacher. Also cross tabulation and a qualitative analysis were conducted for occupational accidents in child care centers from 2013-2018. Results: Safety and health related policies to protect child care centers have been carried out by child care Center Safety and Insurance Association and the Child Care Support Center, but it has mainly been functioned to protect children excluding child care teacher. The most occupational accidents occur in worker aged 40s. The most type of occupational accident were falling down on the floor and surface. Also we could find that there is a high risk of falls, and musculoskeletal disorders through qualitative analysis on occupational accidents cases of child-care teacher. Conclusion/Implications: We suggest to improve the system for protecting child care workers including strengthening occupational safety and health education for child care workers, expanding coverage of national project to prevent occupational accidents.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.4641-4650
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• 2015

This study aims to further strengthen the medical expertise to offer specialized medical care specialization strategies to gain a competitive edge through the customer segmentation of the Regional Public Hospital. Investigation period was selected to study the inpatients 26,658 people January to December 2013. The method of analysis are Cluster analysis and Decision Tree Analysis. In conclusion, female, age over 60, and diseases in musculoskeletal system and connective tissue were commonly selected as identifiers of the target market of Regional Public Hospital. Customers in this target market are loyal to specialized medical service and keeping continuous relationship with these customers through communication and monitoring of results of provided medical service would be important because the effect of word of mouth propagated to other group of customers having equivalent scale of consumption is expected. And the concentration of the scope of medical service of Regional Public Hospital and the collaboration and mutual reliance of medical service under the strategic alliance with other institutions and private hospitals are also needed.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.331-339
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• 2016

Background: Occupational risk management is known as a catalyst in generating superior returns for all stakeholders on a sustainable basis. A number of companies in Ghana implemented health and safety measures adopted from international companies to ensure the safety of their employees. However, there exist great threats to employees' safety in these companies. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the level of compliance of Occupational Health and Safety management systems and standards set by international and local legislation in power producing companies in Ghana. Methods: The methodology is conducted by administering questionnaires and in-depth interviews as measuring instruments. A random sampling technique was applied to 60 respondents; only 50 respondents returned their responses. The questionnaire was developed from a literature review and contained questions and items relevant to the initial research problem. A factor analysis was also carried out to investigate the influence of some variables on safety in general. Results: Results showed that the significant factors that influence the safety of employees at the hydroelectric power plant stations are: lack of training and supervision, non-observance of safe work procedures, lack of management commitment, and lack of periodical check on machine operations. The study pointed out the safety loopholes and therefore helped improve the health and safety measures of employees in the selected company by providing effective recommendations. Conclusion: The implementation of the proposed recommendations in this paper, would lead to the prevention of work-related injuries and illnesses of employees as well as property damage and incidents in hydroelectric power plants. The recommendations may equally be considered as benchmark for the Safety and Health Management System with international standards.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.217-227
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) exercises on the neck disability index and deep neck flexor endurance of acute whiplash injury patients and to provide basic data for PNF exercises for musculoskeletal system disorder patients. Methods: Twenty acute whiplash injury patients were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n=10) and were treated with PNF exercises whereas a control group (n=10) underwent general exercises. Each session lasted 15 minutes and was performed five times a week for two weeks. The degree of pain was assessed using a visual analogue scale (VAS) and the degree of neck disability was measured by the neck disability index (NDI). Craniocervical flexor endurance (CCFE) tests were conducted to measure deep neck flexor endurance. Results: In terms of the intragroup changes in VAS, NDI, and CCFE, there were significant decreases in both the experimental and the control groups. After intervention, there were significant differences between the experimental group and the control group in terms of intergroup changes in VAS, NDI and CCFE. Conclusion: Although the exercises that are generally applied to acute whiplash injury patients are effective on the whole, PNF exercises are considered to be beneficial, given the improvements in the neck disability index and deep neck flexor endurance.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.291-297
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• 2018

The purpose of pilot clinical trial is to evaluate the efiicacy and safety of Needle-Embedding acupuncture therapy on TEWL(Transepidermal Water Loss) and Skin hydration. A total of 24 human who visited Dongshin Oriental Medical Center from December 1st, 2016 to July 31st, 2017 were included in the pilot clinical trial. Needle-Embedding acupuncture therapy performed at Gokji(LI11). We observed change of TEWL(Transepidermal Water Loss), Skin hydration before and after Needle-Embedding acupuncture therapy. In the primary endpoint, index of TEWL showed a statistically insignificant decline ($8.5{\pm}2.12{\rightarrow}7.8{\pm}1.53g/h/m^2$). Index of skin hydration showed a statistically significant result ($38.2{\pm}6.77{\rightarrow}36.8{\pm}6.64$). To evaluate the safety, Adverse events and Vital sign check were conducted and there were no problem. And when the physical response, self-awareness, skin system, musculoskeletal pain, and other abnormal responses were assessed 60 minutes and 24 hours and 7 days after Needle-Embedding acupuncture therapy at Gokji(LI11) for stability assessment, Adverse events disappeared during a pilot clinical trial. According to the above pilot clinical trial, it is suggested Needle-Embedding acupuncture therapy were effective for Skin moisturizing and safe.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.77-90
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• 2015

Objective : The purpose of this study is to discuss the role and ways to improve the position and rights of Korean Medicine Doctors (KMDs) working at long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) through survey analysis. Method : (1) The legal and institutional position of KMDs is studied using current law and related papers. (2) The online survey was conducted through KMD community websites, targeted at KMDs working at LTCHs. Results : (1) Whereas there is perceived added benefit for the eight specializations for a specialist of Western medicine at LTCHs, in the case of a specialist of Korean Medicine, their value is not institutionally recognized at all. (2) A Western inpatient's medical fee is more than a Korean inpatient's medical fee, and the individual fee for the same medical treatment is also higher in Western hospitalization. So, Korean medical hospitalization actually cannot be made. Because of that, Korean Medicine Doctors find it difficult to be primary care physicians. (3) Musculoskeletal diseases and the aftereffects of cerebrovascular diseases were the most common chief complaints addressed in Korean medical consultations. Conclusion : This study shows that KMDs working at LTCHs have suffered many kinds of inequality. That is because of the limited medical scope of the current medical system and real constraints from the gap in Korean-Western medical fees by the National Health Insurance Corporation. Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate these variations along with revising the statute with continuous research.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.121-131
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• 2002

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the physical load by identifying harmfully working postures and to develop recommendations for improving the existing situation with nurses in ICU, thereby to provide the basis for development of work-related musculoskeletal preventive program. Method: Various types of tasks were recorded with a video camera to chart and analyze different postures by OWAS(Ovako Working Posture Analysing System). Collected data showed that poor postures were adopted, not only for lifting or repositoning a patient, but also for other tasks. Data Analysis: The performed activities were then divided into Nursing Intervention Classification. Altogether 128 postures were selected for analysis. Then they were classified into different OAC (OWAS Action Categories). From all the observation, unhealthy postures, for which corrective measures had to be considered immediately (i.e., 75% classified as OACII+III+IV) were found. Collected data were analyzed in terms of percentage, 2-tail Mann-Whitney U test. Result: Poor postures mainly occur during 'positioning the patient' and 'airway suctioning' in NIC. No difference was found (p=0.060) between the percentage of harmful posture adopted during the patient handling tasks and non-patient handling tasks. Conclusion: This study shows, that in the nursing profession with ICU not only occur during patient handling, but also during other activities. The OWAS method was useful in determining the physical load by locating potential activities due to harmfully working postures, providing a detailed description with analysis, and suggesting successful means to reduce postural load.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.43-49
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• 2008

The objective of this study was to compare the differences on the activity and power of the wrist flexors and extensors in subjects before the use of a wrist extension splint, after nighttime wearing of the splint, and after daytime wearing of the splint. Ten healthy male and ten healthy female students (mean: $22.4{\pm}1.2$ years old) volunteered to wear custom-made wrist splints either during the night or during the day, The hand force of the wrist flexor and extensor, and grip force were measured by PowerTrack II and Dynatron, respectively. At the same time, the activities of the wrist flexor and extensor were recorded by' surface electromyography. The maximal hand force and motor unit recruitment of the flexor carpi ulnatis (FCU) increased significantly (p<.05) when tile subjects wore the wrist splints during the daytime, but the maximal hand power of the FCU decreased with nighttime use of the splints. The maximal hand power and motor unit recruitment of the extensor carpi radialis (ECR) and the ECR/FCU ratio decreased both during nighttime and daytime use. The decrement of the ECR/FCU ratio was significant (p<.05). Wearing a wrist extension splint during nighttime led to the maintenance of a lengthened position of the wrist flexor, resulting in the wrist flexor becoming weak. Wearing a wrist extension splint during the day induced the wrist flexors to be greater. In healthy people, the imbalance between the wrist flexors and extensors may be caused by the use of a wrist extension splint. This study indicates that therapists have to consider whether a splint will be effective, as well as the wearing time, when prescribing splints to people with problems of the musculoskeletal system.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.165-175
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• 2012

The government, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology(MEST) presented a new policy that standardizes digital textbooks as a method to accept the change of education paradigm in 2006. Since 2007, MEST has begun to provide digital textbooks for some elementary schools. MEST proposes to change digital textbooks as a standard in elementary, middle, and high schools in the future. However, the use of digital textbooks has led to concern about the health of students. The purpose of this study was to identify health-adverse effects of the use of digital textbooks on the health of students. Literature reviews regarding digital textbooks including national and international literature were conducted. The literature reviews found the key physical and psychological factors to be considered in using digital textbooks. The physical factors were symptoms and signs associated with eye, musculoskeletal system, general health, and skin. The mental factors were 'burn out of study' and 'stress due to study'.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.11
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• pp.1105-1110
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• 2012

The spine is one of the most important skeletal joints, and it strongly affects the health of the musculoskeletal system. A normal spine has an S-shape, and it is very important to maintain this shape. Recently, spinal diseases such as low back pain have increased rapidly, especially among the elderly. Some of these diseases are caused by congenital spinal disorders and sporting and accident injuries as well as by bad postures. Improper spinal postures could generate excessive disc pressure, which is related to degeneration and pain. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the three-dimensional kinematic parameters of the thoraco-lumbar joint in several bad postures using a motion capture analysis technique. Different bad postures created a significant amount of flexion/extension, side bending, and axial rotation angle compared with neutral postures. Further study is necessary to investigate the disc pressure and ligament force due to the increase in joint rotation from the bad postures.