• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.62 no.5
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• pp.365-373
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• 2007

Background: Smoking is one of the most important leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Smoking habit is recognized as nicotine dependence, which consists of physical and psychosocial dependence. To evaluate social nicotine dependence, the Kano Test for Social Nicotine Dependence (KTSND) working group developed a new questionnaire, which consists of 10 questions with a total score of 30 in Japan. We examined the social nicotine dependence among healthy adults using the new KTSND questionnaire and evaluated validity of the KTSND questionnaire in Korea. Method: We applied Korean KTSND questionnaire version 2 to employees of hospital, university students and people for medical examination and promotion test. Complete data obtained from the 741 responders were analyzed. Result: The mean age of responders was 31.8 years. Among them, males were 57.8%. Current smokers, ex-smokers, and non-smokers were 13.8%, 12.8%, and 73.4% respectively. According to smoking status, the total KTSND scores of current smokers were significantly higher than those of ex-smokers, and of non-smokers ($17.1{\pm}5.4$ versus $14.3{\pm}5.5$, and $12.3{\pm}5.5$, $p{\leq}0.001$). The total KTSND scores of males were higher than those of females, suggesting that males have a propensity for depending nicotine socially much more than females ($14.3{\pm}5.7$ and $11.7{\pm}5.4$ respectively, p<0.001). Eight of ten questions produced significantly different scores among three different smoking groups. When current smokers were sub-classified by heavy smoking index (HSI) that represented physical nicotine dependence, we did not find a significant difference of KTSND score between low HSI group (<4) and high HSI group (${\geq}4$), This finding suggested that the psychosocial dependence might play a different role from physical nicotine dependence in smoking. Most of the non-smokers (62.5%) had an experience of harmful passive smoking especially in public place. Conclusion: Our study suggested that the KTSND questionnaire could be a useful method to evaluate psychosocial aspects of smoking.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.486-490
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• 1998

The present study examined the follicular populations prior to and during superovulation and investigated their relationship with superovulatory response in crossbred cattle. Eleven animals were administered i.m. 8 doses of Folltropin of 2.5 ml each (1.75 mg/ml) spread over 4 days beginning on Day 10 of oestrous cycle, and 30 and 20 mg Lutalyse was given alongwith the 5th and 6th injections of Folltropin, respectively, to induce luteolysis. The animals were artificially inseminated 48, 60 and 72 h after the first Lutalyse injection. The number of corpora lutea (CL) was recorded by palpation per rectum and embryos were recovered non-surgically on Day 6 (Day 0 day of superoestrus). The ovarian follicular population was examined by transrectal Ultrasonography 15 h prior to and 52 h after the first FSH injection, and then on the day of superoestrus and the day of flushing. The follicles were classfied on the basis of diameter as small (3-5 mm), medium (6-9 mm) and large (${\geq}10mm$). The total number of follicles increased significantly (p < 0.01) from $2.45{\pm}0.35$, 15 h prior to the first FSH injection to $8.09{\pm}1.12$, 52 h after the first FSH injection and then further to $13.27{\pm}1.89 $ on the day of superoestrus. A positive correlation was observed between the number of small follicles 15 h prior to the first FSH injection (r = 0.60, p < 0.05), the number of large follicles 52 h after the first FSH injection (r=0.59, p < 0.05) and the number of CL. The follicular population prior to and during superovulation was, however, not significantly different between high (> 6 CL) and low responders (${\leq}6CL$). The present study suggests that the follicular populations undergo dynamic changes during superovulation and that follicular populations prior to superovulation have a limited application as an indicator of the superovulatory response.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.53-68
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• 2011

Objectives : This study was conducted to investigate status of electroacupuncture(EA) stimulation and adverse effects as a basic information of EA clinical treatment. Methods : The survey was carried twice by e-mail and online service against the traditional Korean medicine doctors registered in the Association of Korea Oriental Medicine. Results : Seventy-eight percent of 284 responders used the EA. The EA was the most widely used for the stimulation of the meridian-muscle on musculo-skeletal pain. In terms of methodological procedure, doctors mainly apply acupuncture with the needle of 2 or 3 pairs of 0.25mm diameter to the depth of 10-50mm for 15 minutes. Respondents used mainly at the frequency of 10Hz and the automatic setting at the intensity of around 3-4 grade. The adverse effects were investigated less then 3% in the 45.9% respondents and non in the 40.5%. The most priority content for better EA treatment was "development of the effective stimulation program". Conclusion : In the result of survey, the frequency of practical use of EA was very high but the applied disease was concentrated in the pain. Hereafter, if the clinical study for safety and effectiveness is secured and more convenient EA tool is developed, the clinical application of the EA is likely to be more expanded.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.47-61
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• 2005

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between consumption of sweet drinks and foods with accompanying oral hygiene health behaviors, and their condition of oral hygiene rural residents who are expected to have relatively poor oral hygiene compared to their urban counterparts. Methods: The 384 subjects, who are aged over 40 and have taken dental examination by dentists in health branches in 6 Myouns, Kongju city, Chungchongnamdo Province during the period between June 1st through 31st, 2004, were asked about dental health behaviors and subjective symptoms using questionnaires. Results and Conclusions: Based on dental health behavior according to sweet beverage and food, the dental health behavior was desirable in both sexes for 'almost daily drink' concerning sweet beverages and 'almost never eat' concerning sweet food, with no statistical significance. As for oral conditions, the groups who responded to 'almost daily drink/eat' for sweet beverages and food had the highest rate of non-treated teeth, lost teeth, DMFT and CPITN, with no statistical significance. Multiple logistic regression analysis with the consumption frequency of sweet foods as explanatory variables and 5 factors of oral conditions as dependent variables, revealed that there was no statistical significance in the oral conditions according to the consumption frequency of sweet drinks while, as for sweet drinks, there was a significant difference to the group who answered as 'occasional gum bleeding' in the case of 'almost daily eat.' responders(OR= 2.33, 95% CI=1.42-3.81, p<0.05).

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.98-106
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• 2005

Objectives:Donepezil is a widely used drug for the treatment of patients with Alzheimer's disease(AD). The aim of the present study was to clarify the efficacy and the characteristics of responders to donepezil. Methods:Patients with probable AD(n=80;75.7 years) and small vessel dementia(SVD)(n=18;77.8 years) who received donepezil were retrospectively analyzed using Alzheimer's registry, and three questions were asked:1) Does donepezil therapy improves cognitive symptoms in patients with dementia? 2) If donepezil improves cognitive symptoms, which items of the K-MMSE are improved? 3) What are the characteristics of responder to donepezil medication? Results:1) After donepezil medication, cognitive function measured by the K-MMSE was significantly improved in both types of dementia(AD and SVD), However, statistical differences were not found between these groups. 2) In a clinical trial of donepezil, the patients performed better than before mediation on K-MMSE items assessing orientation, recall, construction, concentration, calculation. 3) In AD, the K-MMSE score before medication was closely related with response of donepezil. Conclusion:This study suggests that donepezil improves various cognitive functions in both types of dementia, and the responsive group had significantly lower K-MMSE scores than the non-responsive group before medication.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.49 no.sup1
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• pp.44-52
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• 2016

Background: This study investigates the perception of the general public regarding the concentration to metropolitan, hospitals of cardiac and cerebrovascular surgeries, and the perceived public need for government policies to resolve this issue. Methods: A total of 800 participants were recruited for our telephone interview survey. Quota sampling was performed, adjusting for age and sex, to select by various geographic regions. Sampling with random digit dialing was performed; we called the randomly generated telephone numbers and made three attempts for non-responders before moving on to a different telephone number. Results: Our sample population was 818 participants, 401 men (49.0%) and 417 women (51.0%). Our data showed that 85.5% of participants thought that cardiac surgery and neurosurgery patients are concentrated in large hospitals in Seoul. The principle reason for regional patients to want to receive surgery at major hospitals in Seoul was because of poor medical standards associated with regional hospitals (87.7%). We found that a vast majority of participants (97.5%) felt that government policies are needed to even out the clustering of cardiac surgery and neurosurgery patients, and that this clustering may be alleviated if policies that can specifically enhance the quality and the capacity of regional hospitals to carry out surgeries are adopted (98.3%). Conclusion: Government policy making must reflect public desiderata, and we suggest that these public health needs may be partially resolved through government-designated cardiac and neurosurgery specialist hospitals in regional areas.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.800-809
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• 2008

Objective : Although chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrcme(CP/CPPS) is a common disease, there is no consensus on the etiology or pathology and treatment. This was a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial, investigating the therapeutic effects of the traditional Korean medicine, Bosingunyang-tang(BSGYT). Method : Participants who met US National Institutes of Health (NIH) consensus criteria for CP/CPPS were entered after applying inclusion/exclusion criteria. They were randomized to the BSGYT or placebo group. and treated three times a day for 6 weeks. NIH-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) was used to estimate the clinical symptoms of CP/CPPS. Prostaglandin E2 and ${\beta}$-endorphin in prostatic fluid, collected by 2-glass pre-massage and post-massage test, were analyzed as factors associated with pain and inflammation. Result : The mean decrease in NIH-CPSI total score of the BSGYT group was 11.0 points, which is 5.7 points more than the placebo group. (Mann Whitney test P=0.038) Also the BSGYT group showed three times higher response rate than the placebo group in NIH-CPSI pain subscale score. (Fisher's exact test P=0.027) In those responders, prostaglandin E2 decreased significantly. (Wilcoxon's signed-ranks test P=0.037). No specific side effects were observed. Conclusion : After a 6-week treatment period, BSGYT improved clinical symptoms of CP/CPPS patients by decreasing PGE2 level in prostatic fluid.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 1997

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bony malignancy and its survivorship has been progressed markedly through refined chemotherapy and surgery. But still there are many non-responders and analysis of prognostic factors may be helpful for them. Two hundred and sixty-six patients were enlisted between Mar, 1985 and Sep. 1994. Among them our inclusion criteria were: 1)primary, nonmetastatic classical osteosarcoma 2)extremity in location 3)no prior treatment at other institute and completed neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery according to our protocol. One hundred and eleven cases were eligible. Analyzed factors were:age, sex, location, tumor size, and pathologic response. Statistical methods were log-rank test for univariate and Cox's test for multivariate analysis. Male to female ratio was 69:42 with an average age of 17.2 years. Locations of tumor were distal femur 59, proximal tibia 29, and proximal humerus 8. Tumor size were measured by its maximal diameter and 48 cases were above 10cm and 47 cases were below 10cm. For pathologic response, 57 cases showed more than 90% and 54 cases were less than that. Limb salvage procedure was 101 cases and amputation was 10 cases and their local recurrence rate were 3.6%. Average follow-up period was 24(9-78.2) months and their final status was CDF 86, AWD 8, NED 5, and DOD 12 cases. In univariate study: type of operation(p=0.005), tumor size(p=0.005), and pathologic response(p=0.02) were significant variables. Pathologic response(p=0.03) and type of operation(p=0.01) were meaningful prognostic factors on multivariate analysis. But the latter result was interpreted as a bias, so pathologic response remained as a sole meaningful prognostic factor. More aggressive chemotherapy will be needed to improve the survival.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.379-384
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• 2016

Objective : Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) for acute intracranial internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusion is often complicated by difficult revascularization and non-involved territory embolization possibly related with larger clot-burden. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of proximal aspiration thrombectomy (PAT) using a balloon-tipped guide catheter for clot-burden reduction in such cases with period-to-period analysis (period 1 : standard MT without PAT; period 2 : PAT first, then standard MT for the remaining occlusion). Methods : Eighty-six patients who underwent MT for acute intracranial ICA occlusion were included in this analysis from the prospectively maintained stroke registry (33 patients in period 1 and 53 in period 2). In period 2, 'responder' was defined as a case where some amount of clot was retrieved by PAT and the following angiography showed partial or full recanalization. Results : Fifteen of fifty-three patients in period 2 (28.3%) were 'responders' to PAT. There was a significantly higher incidence of atrial fibrillation in the 'responder' subgroup. Period 2 showed a significantly shorter puncture-to-reperfusion time (94.5 minutes vs. 56.0 minutes; p=0.002), a significantly higher Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction of 2b-3 reperfusion (45.5% vs. 73.6%; p=0.009), but only a trend for better 3-month favorable outcome (mRS 0-2; 36.4% vs. 54.7%; p=0.097). There was no increase in the incidence of procedure-related complications or intracranial hemorrhage in period 2. Conclusion : A strategy of PAT before standard MT may result in shorter puncture-to-reperfusion time and better angiographic outcome than a strategy of standard MT for acute intracranial ICA occlusion.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.75-90
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• 2016

Objectives: This study measures the level of cognition of employee's patient safety culture and evaluates the current level through comparing the results to external levels. Ultimately it is performed to construct a strategic improvement plan through the basic database for patient's safety culture. Methods: A questionnaire survey of self reporting type was carried out using structured questionnaire of the patient's safety culture for employees currently employed in a hospital. Total responders was 1,129 and a response rate was 54.6%. The survey results were calculated with a percent positive response, and the current level was evaluated by comparing with the survey results of a hospital (2009 and 2014) and the survey result of The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality(2014). Results: Sub-dimension of high percent positive response for each area were 'teamwork within hospital units' (80%), 'feedback & communication about error' (73%) and 'supervisor/manager expectations & actions promoting safety' (67%). Meanwhile, 'teamwork across hospital units' (31%), 'hospital management support for patient safety' (29%), 'staffing' (27%) and 'non-punitive response to error' (17%) were relatively low percent positive response. Compared to the survey results of AHRQ (2014) for each area, 'teamwork within hospital units' (80%), 'feedback & communication about error' (73%), 'frequency of event reporting' (66%) were at the top 50% percentile level and the remaining sub-dimensions showed a very low level in the lower 10% percentile area. Conclusion: In order to establish a system for patient safety culture within the hospital and evaluate the effect on this, it is necessary to periodically evaluate the patient's safety culture and establish regulations on hospital safety culture to comply with this.