• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.374-378
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• 2019

After the announcement of Moon Jae-in Government's plan (Moon's Care) for Benefit Expansion in National Health Insurance in August 2017, it is necessary to monitor the effects of the policy, especially household out-of-pocket payments (OOP). This paper aims to observe the current status and trend of OOP in Korea. Current health expenditure (CHE) was 144.4 trillion won in 2018, which accounts for 8.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) increased 9.7% from the previous year. Although GDP's share of CHE has been close to the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, the public fund's share was 59.8% of the total in 2018, which was lower than the OECD average of 73.5%. OOP's share was 32.9% in 2018, which decreased from 37.4% in 2008. The share of OOP of non-covered services was 20.0% in 2018, which decreased from 22.9% in 2008. The share of cost-sharing with third-party payers was 12.9% in 2018, which decreased from 14.5% in 2008. The OOP of non-covered services was significantly decreased in hospital and inpatient curative care, but the OOP of non-covered services was significantly increased in the medical clinic. The effect of Moon's Care was not showed in OOP through the results of 2017 and 2018, but further monitoring is needed because the Moon's Care is progressing and the observational period is short.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.473-478
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• 2023

The construction business has a high accident rate among all the industries, and it accounts for 68% of the total accident rate for the small and medium-sized construction sites where a safety manager is not appointed,. Thus, through effective safety management and education of the construction sites, the accident rate can be significantly reduced. This study proposed a plan to improve the system suitable for small and medium-sized construction sites by integration with the basic safety & health education system. Through previous research and survey, the improvement points of special safety & health education at small and medium-sized construction sites, and the preference for integration with basic safety & health education were analyzed.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.533-542
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• 2022

The total energy expenditure (TEE) consists of the basal energy expenditure (BEE), physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) and the thermic effect of food. The PAEE accounts for a significant portion of the TEE and can be changed according to individual efforts, and the difference between individuals of PAEE is large. Even for the same physical activity, there is a difference in energy expenditure between adults and children. Therefore, a physical activity classification table for youth is needed to classify the physical activity recorded in the physical activity diary prepared to evaluate children's energy expenditure. It is also necessary to calculate the physical activity level required to set the estimated energy requirement in the Dietary Reference Intakes for children and adolescents in Korea. This paper reports a physical activity classification table for Korean youth using the 2017 Youth Compendium of Physical Activities in the United States. This physical activity classification table includes 110 specific activities classified into 14 major categories by four age groups (6-9, 10-12, 13-15, and 16-18 years old) and their metabolic equivalent values. Of these, 87 physical activities were selected from the 2017 Youth Compendium reported in the United States. Nine physical activities such as washing and going to the bathroom, which are daily activities of children and adolescents not included among them, were selected from the another list (2008) of physical activities in America. The remaining 15 physical activities were selected from the research results, which measured the energy expenditure of Korean children and adolescents. Activity categories were divided into 4 areas: daily activity (A), movement (B), school work (C), exercise and sports (D). This physical activity classification table will help standardize the interpretation and scoring process of physical activity of youth in related studies and community health surveys.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.9-22
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• 2008

This work has been conducted as a part to set up the regulations and the scientific evaluation systems for the functional dairy products with health claims in Korea. Toward this end, current regulations, requirements, and all kinds of provisions related to the functional dairy products overseas were taken into accounts and feasible recommendations of new initiatives on the current regulations as well. By doing so, not only protecting hopefully the innocent consumers from the false labeling statements and fake advertisements, but also eventually to revitalize the stagnated domestic dairy industries. Currently, functional daily products are simply regarded as "Dietary Supplements" in the United States, and subjected to the regulations under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, established m 1994. Manufacturers and sales distributors should notify their products to the FDA, which is in charge of the dietary supplements on nutrition and labeling, in advance when they start marketing a new dietary ingredient or any foods containing it in the States. For EU countries, there exists keen interests about the functional food products between the member countries of the European Union even though the products are categorized into "Food Supplements" similar to those in the United States. Therefore, they maintain a cautious attitude in applying the health claims to the functional food products. On the other hand, under the Japanese health food system, functional foods are qualified to the functional health foods in terms of legal status as long as any traditional foods can meet the legal standards in its effectiveness, safety as well as quality, along with significant scientific evidences related to the products, thus categorized into "Foods for Specified Health Uses and "Foods with Nutrient Function Claims". Through this study, we may have some expectations and potential utilizations as follows: Legal regulations of dietary supplements especially for the dairy products will be implemented by the outcomes of this research and proposed a tentative amendment of functional ingredients for the sake of consumer protection from the false advertisements and overstatement labeling. Current regulations on the animal foods processing and advertisements will be amended and supplemented in order to revitalize the current downturn dairy sales and to harmonize the international Codex recommendations. The results obtained from this study will make the consumers a wise selection of the dairy products with health claims and be utilized for consumer education and advertisement of the functional products as well.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.142-149
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• 2014

Korea conducts a national health screening program to improve and check-up on public health and in recent years, the screening usage has been increased. Given the increased screening usage for radiographic exams, this study predicts the frequency of using radiographic exams and the exposure dose. This study estimates the usage of radiographic exams by isolating radiographic exams from the 2011 analysis of the national health insurance corporation, and estimates the public exposure dose by applying each procedure's dose table from UNSCEAR 2008. As a result of the analysis, in the 2011 National Health Screening, the average exposure dose per person is assumed to be 0.57 mSv, and depending on the type of screening program from the radiographic exam, an examinee could be exposed to between 0.2 mSv and 11.081 mSv. The frequency of using radiographic exposure was found to be 16,005,914 and the exposure dose was 6,311.76 person-Sv. The most frequent exam is the Chest X-ray, which was performed 1,070,567 (69.17%), and the UGI has the highest exposure dose at 5,217.94 person-Sv (82.67%). The outcome is categorized based on gender and age, excluding those under 39 years old. In all age groups, the screening usage and exposure dose are higher in females than in males. In particular, females between 50 and 54 years old have the highest screening usage (1,674,787, 10.5%) and exposure dose (701.59 person-Sv, 11.1%). As UGI accounts for 82.76% of procedures, except when done for medical purposes, if the government supports a voluntary UGI exam (which includes the UGI exam in the National Screening Program) or abolishes it completely, as seen overseas, the cost-effectiveness and validity of the UGI exam, as well as the exposure dose from the National Screening Program will all decrease significantly.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.269-276
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• 2015

This study investigated the influence of characteristics of natural organic matter (NOM) on the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs), and proposed the control strategies of DBPs formation in a drinking water treatment plant using lake water in Gyeongsangbuk-do. The fluorescence excitation-emission matrix analysis results revealed that the origins of NOM in raw waters to the plant were a mixture of terrestrial and microbial sources. Molecular size distributions and removals of NOM fractions were evaluated with a liquid chromatography-organic carbon detector (LC-OCD) analysis. Humic substances and low molecular weight organics were dominant fractions of NOM in the raw water. High molecular weight organics were relatively easier to remove through coagulation/precipitation than low molecular weight organics. The concentrations of DBPs formed by pre-chlorination increased through the treatment processes in regular sequence due to longer reaction time. Chloroform (74%) accounts for the largest part of trihalomethanes, followed by bromodichloromethane (22%) and dibromochloromethane (4%). Dichloroacetic acid (50%) and trichloroacetic acid (48%) were dominant species of haloacetic acids, and brominated species such as dibromoacetic acid (2%) were minimal or none. Dichloroacetonitrile (60%) accounts for the largest part of haloacetonitriles, followed by bromochloroacetonitrile (30%) and dibromoacetonitrile (10%). The formation of DBPs were reduced by 16~44% as dosages of pre-chlorine decreased. Dosages of pre-chlorine was more contributing to DBPs formation than variations of dissolved organic contents or water temperature.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.493-499
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• 2022

Background: The purpose of this study is to construct a job-exposure matrix for lead that accounts for industry and work processes within industries using a nationwide exposure database. Methods: We used the work environment measurement data (WEMD) of lead monitored nationwide from 2015 to 2016. Industrial hygienists standardized the work process codes in the database to 37 standard process and extracted key index words for each process. A total of 37 standardized process codes were allocated to each measurement based on an automated key word search based on the degree of agreement between the measurement information and the standard process index. Summary statistics, including the arithmetic mean, geometric mean, and 95th percentile level (X95), was calculated according to industry, process, and industry process. Using statistical parameters of contrast and precision, we compared the similarity of exposure groups by industry, process, and industry process. Results: The exposure intensity of lead was estimated for 583 exposure groups combined with 128 industry and 35 process. The X95 value of the "casting" process of the "manufacture of basic precious and non-ferrous metals" industry was 53.29 ㎍/m³, exceeding the occupational exposure limit of 50 ㎍/m³. Regardless of the limitation of the minimum number of samples in the exposure group, higher contrast was observed when the exposure groups were by industry process than by industry or process. Conclusion: We evaluated the exposure intensities of lead by combination of industry and process. The results will be helpful in determining more accurate information regarding exposure in lead-related epidemiological studies.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.79-85
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• 2018

The government and of the Safety and Health Corporation have continuously carried out safety activities such as supervision, inspection, technical guidance and financial support in order to reduce accidents on the construction site. However, the number of disasters on the construction site is increasing every year, Which accounts for more than 80% of the total number of casualties. It is necessary to investigate the implementation status of safety and health management in the field of small-size construction site, and to provide the appropriate technical guidance plan to the relevant work places. Also, it is necessary to reduce the disaster at the small-size construction site, The purpose of this study is Improvement Plan to Enhancing the Effectiveness of Technical Guidance Project for Safety Control of Small Construction Site.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.21-37
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• 2021

Objectives : Allergic rhinitis(AR) is a common chronic disease that accounts for 10-40% of the world's population. This study aims to analyze the status of claims, prevalence, and medical utilization of allergic rhinitis patients using representative patients sample data. Methods : This study used the National Patients Sample(HIRA-NPS) of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service for 7 years(2010-2016). And we defined AR patients as all statements including J30 or a subcategory of J30 as the main disease, using the Korean Standard Classification of Diseases(KCD-7). The trend of AR patients by year was divided into Western medicine(WM) and Korean medicine(KM), and analyzed by subgroup analysis such as inpatient/outpatient, gender, age, insurance type, and care institution. Results : Patients with AR were mainly claimed for first sub diagnosis in WM and major diagnosis in KM, and the number of claims increased about 1.3 times and 1.4 times compared to 2010 in WM and KM, respectively. In addition, the total annual medical expenses in 2016 increased 1.3 times and 1.7 times compared to 2010, respectively. Conclusions : Both WM and KM are showing a steadily increasing trend in medical use due to allergic rhinitis. Further research is needed by considering genetic and environmental factors and individual characteristics, and linking with additional data.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.57 no.5
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• pp.480-489
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• 2024

Objectives: Excess deaths, an indicator that compares total mortality rates before and during a pandemic, offer a comprehensive view of the pandemic's impact. However, discrepancies may arise from variations in estimating expected deaths. This study aims to compare excess deaths in Korea during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic using 3 methods and to analyze patterns using the most appropriate method. Methods: Expected deaths from 2020 to 2022 were estimated using mortality data from 2015-2019 as reference years. This estimation employed 3 approaches: (1) simple average, (2) age-adjusted average, and (3) age-adjusted linear regression. Excess deaths by age, gender, and cause of death were also presented. Results: The number of excess deaths varied depending on the estimation method used, reaching its highest point with the simple average and its lowest with the age-adjusted average. Age-adjusted linear regression, which accounts for both the aging population and declining mortality rates, was considered most appropriate. Using this model, excess deaths were estimated at 0.3% for 2020, 4.0% for 2021, and 20.7% for 2022. Excess deaths surged among individuals in their 20s throughout the pandemic, largely attributed to a rise in self-harm and suicide. Additionally, the results indicated sharp increases in deaths associated with "endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases" and "symptoms, signs, and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified." Conclusions: Substantial variations in excess deaths were evident based on estimation method, with a notable increase in 2022. The heightened excess deaths among young adults and specific causes underscore key considerations for future pandemic responses.