• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.31 no.3 s.62
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• pp.564-578
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• 1998

Most extended care facilities have admitted both the healthy and unhealthy elderly, among which members' average caring demand vary. The Aged Welfare Law, however, currently provides no reasonable basis on the staffing policy for extended care facilities. It just reflects the admitted number of the elderly rather than differences in members' average caring demand among facilities. This study is designed to estimate the need for caring staff on the basis of the correlation between the individual health status measured by various tools including Activities of Daily Living and caring demand by actual service time for each one. The sample included all of the admitted elderly(187 persons) in 4 extended care facilities, two in Seoul and the other two in Kangwon-Do over the survey period October 5 through October 20, 1996. The survey process consisted of 3 stages. (1) The current staffing information was collected through self-completed written questionnaires left for head of official in each facility. (2) Six graduate students at School of Public Health interviewed all residents to collect information on their health status and sociodemographics. The response rate for the interview was relatively high(85%). (3) Information on direct and indirect caring time consumed for each residents came from self-completed written questionnaires given to nurses and helpers in each target facilities. Analysis of the data was made using Pearson's correlation and multiple regression technique through SAS program. Based on this procedure, the following was found. 1. No facility meet the staffing standard in the Aged Welfare Law completely. 2. It is actual service time that is most correlated with ADL(Activities of daily living). 3. When all of the elderly are divided by four groups based on the level of ADL, the mean values of needed caring time in each group are 15, 21, 36 and 88 minutes respectively. 4. There is no significant difference among facilities in distribution of elderly person by group. 5. No facility meets the estimated number of nurses and helpers which reflects health status of the admitted elderly. Therefore, it is required that severity of the admitted elderly be considered in establishing staffing standard for extended care facility.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.29 no.2 s.53
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• pp.311-329
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• 1996

This study was designed to compare the level of medical utilization between the urban and rural areas of Korea and to explain the differences between the two regions. Data from the National Health Interview Survey performed by the Korean Institute of Health & Social Affairs in 1992 were used for this study utilizing a sample size of 21,841 people. The level of medical utilization such as the number of physician visits and the number of hospital admissions was compared between the regions with ANOVA. Various determinants for medical use were also compared by univariate analysis. Statistical models which included enabling factors, predisposing factors, need factors and region were constructed for bivariate analysis in order to further elucidate the level of medical utilization. The results were as follows: 1. There was greater medical use, both in terms of physician visits and inpatient care in the rural areas in spite of insufficient health resources. The particular reasons for higher medical utilization in rural areas were attributed to a higher number of initial physician visits as well as a longer the length of stay per hospital admission. Therefore, indicators representing the degree of met need (utilization/need) showed no significant difference between rural and urban areas in spite of the fact that the medical need is larger in rural areas. 2. Use of public health facilities received a significant portion of physician visits in the rural area. The government's effort to enhance primary health care through health centers, health subcenters and the nurse practitioner's post in rural areas has contributed to the increase of access to medical care in the rural areas. 3. There were some differences in the socio-demographic characteristics between two regions ; There were more elderly people over the age of 65: unstable marital status, less education and lower incomes also characterized the rural areas. Therefore, among rural people, there were more predisposing factors for medical use. Additionaly, need factors such as poor self-reported health status and high morbidity level were also high in the rural area. 4. In contrast it was learned that, the supply of health resources was mostly concentrated in the urban areas except for public health facilities. Therefore, geographical access to medical care was lower in the rural area both in terms travel time and travel cost. 5. The coefficient of the region variable was insignificant in the regression model which controlled the supply factor only. However, utilization was significantly higher in urban areas if the model included predisposing factors and need factors in addition to the supply factor. The results were interpreted as rural people have greater medical needs.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.181-192
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• 2003

With emphasis on environmentally safe and sustainable and economically sound and oriented to consumer, this study intends to assess the consumer's cognition and attitudes for safe food distribution, to investigate the supplying system of the organic farm products, to survey the consumer and life cooperatives dealing with organic farm products, and to draw some implications toward environment- and consumer-oriented agriculture. Related literatures and available documents were reviewed to conceptualize the environmental-and consumer-oriented agriculture and consumer and life cooperatives, to grasp the nationwide status of such alternative agriculture and consumer cooperatives, and investigate the consumers' cognition and attitude. In order to investigate the consumers' needs for organic farm products and to grasp the active consumer and life cooperatives dealing with organic farm products, questionnaire method and non-structured interview were applied. The environment-and consumer-oriented agriculture refers hero to the farming system in which any farm food and other living products giving no harm to human and livestock health and catering the consumers' need. The consumer and life cooperatives is consumer's group buying and selling organic farm products organized in the cooperative system with which any consumer can be affiliated to buy organic farm products safely and reasonably.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.143-153
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• 2002

This study was performed to examine the want for home-visit health care of health center and health sub-center in rural olders and to provide the basic data to develop strategies for efficient and effective home-visit health care delivery of public health facilities. The questionnaire survey by interview was conducted to 355 olders whose ages were all over 65 years, residing at a rural community, Myun, Gyeongsangbuk- do. Among study population, 64.5% replied that their self-rated health status were 'poor', 14.1% had low ADL and 14.9% had low IADL. Among study population, 73.5% replied that they had health problem which were in need of medical personnel's care. The existence of health problem were significantly different according to sex, age, marital status, health security status, occupation, economic status, circumstances for medical care, self-rated health status, ADL, and IADL(p<0.05). Among olders with health problem which were in need of medical personnel's care, 19.5% wanted to receive the home-visit health care. The degree of want for home-visit health care was higher significantly in olders whose ages were 75-year old or more(p<0.05), jobless olders(p<0.01), the aged persons who were not in harmony with other family members, olders whose self-rated health status were 'poor' and olders with low IADL. The major reasons why they wanted to receive the home-visit health care services were 'they had no helpers when they were sick' (64.7%), 'long distance to the medical facilities from their residence'(23.5%). The medication service was the most need service among home-visit health care services. The reasons why they didn't want to receive the home-visit health care services were 'we could walk and move' (60.0%), 'we wanted to have a direct contact with doctor' (25.7%) in the order of high rate. In multiple logistic regression analysis, the degree of want for home-visit health care were higher significantly in olders who were not in harmony with other family members and olders whose self-rated health status were 'poor'(p<0.05).

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.22 no.2 s.26
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• pp.290-301
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• 1989

This is preliminary report on anthrax epidemic occurred in an island with about 100 residents. Since 1982 there had been sudden deaths among all kinds of domestic animals including cattle, dogs, ducks, chicken and goat but only a few among cats in an isolated island about three hours distance away by ferry boat from Mokpo city. From 1986 through 1988 nine human deaths and four patients occurred, which made the government intervene for investigation on June 25 1988. The epidemiological investigation consisted of interview survey and medical examination, medical record analysis, laboratory work to isolate the pathogens under the direction of hypothesis derived from the study and further confirmation of the pathogens by international institute. The summarized results are as followings: 1. According to the interview survey there were many deaths among domestic animals usually in cold and dry season such as January through March and September through November; 36 heads of cattle leaving one head, more than 40 hogs(all), hundreds of chicken leaving few alive, goats that had taken home from mountain and two or three cats out of around 40 had sudden deaths from 1982 till 1985, when the residents stopped to purchase and take them into the island anymore. Also there were eleven persons who had experienced the similar syndrome complex to those of admitted and expired patients and four of them revealed typical chest X-ray findings; from one of these four patients(Rho) B. anthracis is isolated. 2. Medical record on patients who had been admitted, showed common characteristics of the disease course. On admission they had either gastrointestinal or upper respiratory infection symptoms which invariably progressed to septicemic nature with pulmonary interstitial infiltration and mediastinal widening/bulging, and then to deadly acute respiratory distress syndrome. At the end stage chest X-ray revealed multiple bullous emphysema. One of another characteristics was oral ulceration with bleeding occurred in about 50% of the patients. Laboratory test results in common were leukocytosis with left shift and abnormal liver and kidney functions, particularly at the later stage of the illness. 3. Epidemiological characteristics was striking in that both mortality and incidence rates were high: the mortality rate was 8.7% average, male being three times higher than females but there was no distictive clustering by age group. The incidence rate for both sexes was 28.2% and there was no sex difference although a tendency of higher incidence among older ages was noticed. The highest mortality and incidence were observed in Won village where the first death of animal occurred and with the highest frequency among three villages of the island. 4. Among twelve bacilli species isolated from various specimens, two strains, one from patient and the other from soil where the recently died cow is hurried, were confirmed as B. anthracis by Pasteur Institute and CDC of USA(strain from soil). CDC reported that the strain did not produce capsule in bicarbonate media but reacted with the bacteriophage and one of five sera taken from the patients. Mode of transmission as well as incubation period of the agent has not been established yet, which needs further investigation in relation to the antigenic structure of the variant when it is confirmed.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.31
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• pp.22.1-22.7
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• 2016

Objectives This study analyzed the associations between mobile phone call frequency and duration with non-specific symptoms. Methods This study was conducted with a population group including 532 non-patient adults established by the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study. The pattern of phone call using a mobile phone was investigated through face-to-face interview. Structured methods applied to quantitatively assess health effects are Headache Impact Test-6 (HIT-6), Psychosocial Well-being Index-Short Form, Beck Depression Inventory, Korean-Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and 12-item Short Form Health Survey where a higher score represents a higher greater health effect. Results The average daily phone call frequency showed a significant correlation with the PSS score in female subjects. Increases in the average duration of one phone call were significantly correlated with increases in the severity of headaches in both sexes. The mean (standard deviation) HIT-6 score in the subgroup of subjects whose average duration of one phone call was five minutes or longer was 45.98 (8.15), as compared with 42.48 (7.20) in those whose average duration of one phone call was <5 minutes. The severity of headaches was divided into three levels according to the HIT-6 score (little or no impact/moderate impact/substantial or severe impact), and a logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the association between an increased phone call duration and the headache severity. When the average duration of one phone call was five minutes or longer, the odds ratio (ORs) and the 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the moderate impact group were 2.22 and 1.18 to 4.19, respectively. The OR and 95% CI for the substantial or severe impact group were 4.44 and 2.11 to 8.90, respectively. Conclusions Mobile phone call duration was not significantly associated with stress, sleep, cognitive function, or depression, but was associated with the severity of headaches.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.79-84
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to collect base-data for evaluation of primary school oral health program. The data was Obtained from 648 children of four primary schools in Gwangiu city, Gyeonggi-Do Korea, during 2 month (March to May, 2006). The survey was performed by a face-to-face interview questionnaire consisting of OIDP. We analyzed knowledge, attitude, action and DMFT, oral health knowledge, the state satisfaction, no dental treatment need according to being or not being of the score using SPSS 12.0. ODIP score measure was based on scoring method for OIDP. The results were as follows. 1. In knowledge, attitude, behavior of oral hygiene with regard to OIDP score, he group with OIDP score is higher than the group without that and in case of knowledge and behavior, the group with OIDP score has a significant difference from the group without (p < 0.05). 2. In case of the oral hygiene cognition, a situation satisfaction, a no dental treatment need based on OIDP score, the group without OIDP score has a desirable andsignificant difference from the group with OIDP score (p < 0.05). 3. In case of DMFT based on OIDP score, the group with has a higher DMFT than the group without and has an significant difference from the group without (p < 0.05).

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.164-171
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• 2014

Background: Safety of drugs has become a major issue in public healthcare. Spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reaction (ADR) is the cornerstone in management of drug safety. We aimed to investigate the awareness and knowledge of spontaneous ADR reporting in general public of Korea. Methods: A total of 1,500 study subjects aged 19-69 years were interviewed with a questionnaire for their awareness and knowledge related to spontaneous ADR reporting. Computer assisted telephone interview was performed from 27th February 2013 to 4th March 2013. Target population was selected with quota sampling, using age, sex, and residence area. Healthcare professionals such as physicians, pharmacists, and nurses were excluded. The survey questions included awareness of spontaneous ADR reporting, opinions on ways to activate ADR reporting, and sociodemographic characteristics. Results: Overall awareness of spontaneous ADR reporting system was 8.3% (${\pm}2.53%$) among general population of Korea. Major source from which people got the information regarding ADR reporting was television/radio (69.9%), followed by internet (19.3%), and poster/brochure (6.1%). Awareness level differed between age groups (p<0.0001) and education levels (p<0.0001). Upon learning about the ADR reporting system, 88.5% of study subjects agreed on the necessity of ADR reporting system, while 46.6% thought promotion through internet and mass media as an effective way to activate ADR reporting. Conclusion: The overall awareness of spontaneous ADR reporting should be enhanced in order to establish a firm national system for drug safety. Adequate promotions should be performed targeting lower awareness groups, as well as various publicity activities via effective channels for the general population.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.644-652
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship among life style, body composition and Bone Mineral Density (BMD) in community dwelling Korean adults. Methods: Data were collected from 140 adults who participated in a health check-up program at community health departments in D city, Choong-chung providence. Subjects' life style was assessed with a structured interview survey. Body composition analyses were performed by the bioimpedence method and BMD was measured by peripheral dual energy X-ray absorptionmetry. Results: Among the subjects, 39.3% showed normal BMD values, 50.7% were osteopenic and 10% were assessed as osteoporotic. BMD was significantly different by gender, age, education, economic status and BMI. Subjects who had three or more meals/day had higher BMD then who had less than three meals (t=-2.273, p=.026). BMD was not influenced by regular exercise, alcohol consumption, or smoking. In terms of body composition, there was a significant relationship between fat free mass and BMD (r=.172, p=.043). Conclusion: Implementing an osteoporosis prevention program would be warrented considering the significant proportion of osteopenic or osteoporotic subjects. Regular eating habit with three meals for adequate nutrition need to be emphasized to prevent further bone loss in this population. Among the body composition, fat free mass seem to be the mostly predicting factor for BMD.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.867-876
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• 2013

Metabolic syndrome has been known as a major factor of cardiovascular disease. Several metabolic disorders, particularly chronic disease is complex, and from individuals that appear in our country, the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome is increasing gradually. Therefore, this study, using a multi-factor dimensionality reduction method, checks the major single risk factor of metabolic syndrome and suggests a new diagnosis results of metabolic syndrome. Data of 3990 adults who responded to all the questionnaires of health interview are used from the database of the 5th Korea national health and nutrition examination survey conducted in 2010. As the result, the most dangerous single risk factor for metabolic syndrome was waist circumference and the most dangerous combination factors were waist circumference, triglyceride, and hypertension. This is the result of a new diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome. Especially, waist circumference, low HDL-cholesterol and hypertension were the most dangerous combination for male. In particular, the combination of waist circumference, triglyceride and diabetes was dangerous for obese people.