• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.155-165
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• 2022

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is not completely reversible and requires long-term management with appropriate treatment. This study aimed to analyze trends in treatment regimens and medication costs for COPD patients using a national claims database. Methods: We conducted this analysis using National Patient Sample data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service covering the period from 2015 to 2018. We have constructed a dataset comprising COPD disease classification codes J43.x and J44.x (based on KCD-7 code, J43.0 was excluded) and compiled a list of drugs fitting current guidelines. To identify trends, we calculated frequency, ratio, and compound annual growth rate (CAGR) using the numbers of prescriptions and patients. Results: The number of COPD patients was 7,260 in 2018, slightly decreased from 2015. Most of these COPD patients were aged 60 or older and included a high proportion of males (72.2%; 2018). The number of patients prescribed inhaled medications increased gradually from 2015 to 2018 (9,227 (47.1%); 2015, 9,285 (51.5%); 2018), while the number of patients prescribed systemic beta-agonists and Xanthines has decreased since 2015 (CAGR -14.7; systemic beta-agonist, -5.8; Xanthines). The per capita cost of medication has increased by 0.4% (KRW 206,667; 2018, KRW 204,278; 2015) annually during the study period. Conclusion: This study showed that treatment with inhaled medications had continuously increased in accord with changing guidelines, but oral medications were still widely used. It is necessary to emphasize the importance of inhaled medications in treating COPD to reduce additional economic burden through appropriate medication use.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.443-450
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• 2009

Objective : We estimated the number of Korean adults with back pain and evaluated population-based associated factors of back pain from a representative sample data from the Fourth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Methods : The number of Korean adults who experienced back pain (experienced patients), those who experienced back pain lasting for three or more months during the past year (chronic patients), and those who were currently suffering from back pain (current patients) were estimated by analyzing the data from the fourth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in 2007 using surveyfreq procedure of the SAS statistical package. Population-based odds ratios for being experienced, chronic, and current patient according to demographic (age and gender), socioeconomic (education and occupation), and lifestyle factors (smoking, drinking, and exercise) were estimated using surveylogistic procedure. Results : It was estimated that there were 5,554,256 (proportion, 15.4%; 95% CI, 4,809,466 - 6,299,046) experienced patients, 2,060,829 (5.7%; 1,557,413-2,564,246) chronic patients, and 3,084,188 (8.5%; 2,600,197 - 3,568,179) current patients among 36,107,225 Korean adults aged 20-89 years in 2007. Each of explanatory variables was significantly associated with at least one of the response variables for back pain. Conclusion : Based on our study results, further efforts to investigate epidemiology of back pain, to evaluate associated factors, and to improve treatment outcomes are needed.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.133-149
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• 2021

Objectives: To lay the foundation for future research into Korean Medicine treatment for Rotator Cuff repair surgery patients by analyzing Korean Medical and Western Medical service utilization and treatment duration. Methods: Data sampling was performed on 2015's HIRA patient data (confidence level of 97%) to analyze patients' Korean Medical and Western Medical service usage tendency. Sampled groups were divided into two groups: i) Patients who completed their treatment within five months after the rotator cuff surgery (termination group), ii) Patients who were treated for more than five months after the surgery (continuation group). Then the patients' Korean Medical and Western Medical service usage tendency was investigated and information of these patients are arranged. Results: Out of 1,453,486 patients who were gathered for sampling, 2,461 patients in total had gone through rotator cuff repair surgery. The termination group had 517 patients and the continuation group had 541 patients. The proportion of patients who visited a Korean Medicine clinic was lower in the termination group than the continuation group. Conclusion: The continuation group received more treatments (both in Western Medicine and Korean Medicine) and spent more on medical expenses compared to the termination group. Further research is highly recommended for more efficient Western Medicine and Korean Medicine treatments and reduced medical expenditure.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.21 no.1 s.33
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• pp.113-130
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• 1991

This study was undertaken to investigate soft tissue profile changes by orthodontic treatment in female patients. Traditional cephalometric appraisal yields data of dubious scientific value, the soft tissue profile forms were evaluated by finite element method. The subject was divided into three groups according to Angle's classification and each group was composed of 25 female patients averaged aged 12-14 years at the start of treatment. The changes in soft tissue form were evaluated by computing the degree of distortion in each triangle after treatment compared with the triangle before treatment. The conclusions were as follows; 1. The soft tissue profile forms were evaluated by finite element method and independent evaluation of each element by local changes was possible. 2. Maximum and minimum principal strains showed marked variability depending on the particular finite element and each group and Class II, III sample was greater than Class I sample. 3. Soft tissue size changes as a result of orthodontic treatment was not related to those of shape. 4. Soft tissue changes by orthodontic treatment were variable in individual patient, and were not related to Angle's classification.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.276-289
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• 2022

Objectives: Child and adolescent sleep is an important factor for brain and physical development. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the prevalence of sleep disorders and nonorganic sleep disorders in children and adolescents and determine the type of utilization of medical institutions. This study analyzed the prevalence and type of medical institutions in Korean children and adolescents with sleep disorders and nonorganic sleep disorders. Methods: This study used data recorded in the Health Insurance Review and Assessment-National Patient Sample (HIRA-NPS) database from 2010 to 2017. Details of medical institution type and patient's sex, age, and treatment type were extracted for patients younger than 20 years with sleep disorders and nonorganic sleep disorders. Results: Among 2,536,478 patients under age 20, we identified 3,772 patients with sleep disorders or nonorganic sleep disorders. From 2010 to 2017, the prevalence of sleep disorders in children and adolescents was 0.07% to 0.09%. The utilization rate of Korean medical institutions was 30.47%. The prevalence of nonorganic sleep disorders and the utilization rate of Korean medical institutions were 0.06% to 0.08% and 45.99%, respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence of sleep disorders and nonorganic sleep disorders in the under-20 population was 0.14% to 0.16%. More than 70% of patients with nonorganic sleep disorder who were younger than 9 years used Korean medical institutions.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.107-114
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• 2016

Background: Over the last few decades, because hospitals in South Korea also have undergone dramatic changes, Korean hospitals traditionally have provided specialized health care services in the health care market. Inner Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (IHI) measures hospital caseloads based on patient proportions, independent of patient volumes. However, IHI that rely solely on patient proportions might be problematic for larger hospitals that provide a high number of diagnosis categories, as the patient proportions in each category are naturally relatively smaller in such hospitals. Therefore, recently developed novel measure, category medical specialization (CMS) is based on patient volumes as well as patient proportions. Methods: We examine the distribution of hospital specialization score by hospital size and investigate association between each hospital specialization and length of stay per case and hospital cost per case using Korean National Health Insurance Service-cohort sample data from 2002 to 2013. Results: Our results show that IHI show a decreasing trend according to the number of beds and hospital type but CMS show an increasing trend according to the number of beds and hospital type. Further, inpatients admitted at hospitals with higher IHI and CMS had a shorter length of stay per case (IHI: B=-0.104, p<0.0001; CMS: B=-0.044, p=0.001) and inpatients admitted at hospitals with higher IHI and CMS had a shorter hospital cost per case (IHI: B=-0.110, p=0.002; CMS: B=-0.118, p=<0.0001). Conclusion: This study may help hospital policymakers and hospital administrators to understand the effects of hospital specialization strategy on hospital performance under recent changes in the Korean health care environment.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.66-95
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• 1999

This study was conducted to analyze the medical charges of the elderly dementia inpatients, to identity their characteristics, and there by to evaluate feasibility of the per diem payment system for the patients. Data on medical charges of the patients were collected from the National Federation of Medical Insurance and sample hospitals from October through December 1997. The data were analysed in order to find the characteristics and test hypotheses postulated. The results are summarized as follows; Firstly, there was no difference statistically in between disease groups and between the dementia inpatients belonging to each disease group. Secondly, the amount of the non-insurance medical charges of the elderly dementia inpatients is considerably high compared to the insurance medical charges paid by the patient, which implies that some measures are to be prepared by the Government. Finally, medical charges per inpatient day of the dementia patients are not different statiscally by sex, by age group, and by disease group. This result supports the feasibility of the per diem payment system for the elderly dementia inpatients.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.125-136
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• 2022

The costliness index (CI) is an index that is used in various ways to improve the quality of medical care and the management of appropriate treatment in medical institutions. However, the current calculation method for CI has a limitation in reflecting the actual medical cost of the patient unit because the outpatient and inpatient costs are evaluated separately. It is desirable to calculate the CI by integrating the medical cost into the episode unit. We developed an episode-based CI method using the episode classification system of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to the National Inpatient Sample data in Korea, which can integrate the admission and ambulatory care cost to episode unit. Additionally, we compared our new method with the previous method. In some episodes, the correlation between previous and episode-based CI was low, and the proportion of outpatient treatment costs in total cost and readmission rates are high. As a result of regression analysis, it is possible that the level of total medical costs of the patient unit in low volume medical institute and rural area has been underestimated. High proportion of outpatient treatment cost in total medical cost means that some medical institutions may have provided medical services in the ambulatory care that are ancillary to inpatient treatment. In addition, a high readmission rate indicates insufficient treatment service for inpatients, which means that previous CI may not accurately reflect actual patient-based treatment costs. Therefore, an integrated patient-unit classification system which can be used as a more effective CI indicator is needed.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.395-400
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• 2018

PURPOSE. This study tried to find the most significant factors predicting implant prognosis using machine learning methods. MATERIALS AND METHODS. The data used in this study was based on a systematic search of chart files at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital for one year. In this period, oral and maxillofacial surgeons inserted 667 implants in 198 patients after consultation with a prosthodontist. The traditional statistical methods were inappropriate in this study, which analyzed the data of a small sample size to find a factor affecting the prognosis. The machine learning methods were used in this study, since these methods have analyzing power for a small sample size and are able to find a new factor that has been unknown to have an effect on the result. A decision tree model and a support vector machine were used for the analysis. RESULTS. The results identified mesio-distal position of the inserted implant as the most significant factor determining its prognosis. Both of the machine learning methods, the decision tree model and support vector machine, yielded the similar results. CONCLUSION. Dental clinicians should be careful in locating implants in the patient's mouths, especially mesio-distally, to minimize the negative complications against implant survival.

• Asian Oncology Nursing
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.40-51
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between burden and burnout of the family care-givers for caring of terminal patients with cancer. A total of 99 convenience sample was recruited form hospitals. The data were collected by a direct interview with Questionnaire about family burden and burnout. The mean score of burnout of main care-givers was 2.98, and the mean score of burden was 3.03. The care-givers' burnout was significantly different by age, sex, job, duration of treatment, level of acceptance on the stage of death, and ability of daily living activities. The family care-givers' burden was significantly different by the jobs, complication of patients, level of acceptance on the stage of death, and ability of daily living activities. In conclusions, the burnout of family care-givers was highly and positively correlated with the burden.