• Health Policy and Management
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.3-18
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• 2023

Background: A chronic disease management program including patient education, recall and remind service, and reduction of out-of-pocket payment was implemented in Korea through a chronic care model. This study aimed to assess the effect of a community-based intervention program for improving medication adherence of patients with diabetes mellitus in rural areas of Korea. Methods: We applied a non-equivalent control group design using Korean National Health Insurance Big Data. Hongcheon County has been continuously adopting this program since 2012 as an intervention region. Hoengseong County did not adopt such program. It was used as a control region. Subjects were a cohort of patients with diabetes mellitus aged more than 65 years but less than 85 years among residents for 11 years from 2010 to 2020. After 1:1 matching, there were 368 subjects in the intervention region and 368 in the control region. Indirect indicators were analyzed using the difference-in-difference regression according to Andersen's medical use model. Results: The increasing percent point of diabetic patients who continuously received insurance benefits for more than 240 days from 2010 to 2014 and from 2010 to 2020 were 2.6%p and 2.7%p in the intervention region and 3.0%p and 3.9%p in the control region, respectively. The number of dispensations per prescription of diabetic patient in the intervention region increased by approximately 4.61% by month compared to that in the control region. Conclusion: The intervention program encouraged older people with diabetes mellitus to receive continuous care for overcoming the rule of halves in the community. More research is needed to determine whether further improvement in the continuity of comprehensive care can prevent the progression of cardiovascular diseases.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.163-178
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• 2024

Purpose : This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an integrative medical service model applied to breast cancer patients and their caregivers, exploring its feasibility and challenges within the context of South Korean healthcare system. Methods : A case study approach was chosen to assess the integrative medical service model's efficacy, involving one breast cancer patient and her primary caregiver from W University Hospital. The patient had completed reconstructive surgery and chemotherapy and was undergoing radiotherapy. The model included standard treatments alongside psychological counseling, aromatherapy, axillary rehabilitation exercise, make-up program, art therapy, laughter therapy, horticultural therapy, and yoga programs, and meditation programs delivered over eight weeks. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through surveys, psychological tests, and feedback assessments. Results : The integrative medical service model demonstrated notable improvements in the quality of life for both breast cancer patients and their caregivers. Participants reported enhanced emotional well-being, reduced stress levels, and improved coping mechanisms throughout the treatment journey. Qualitative feedback highlighted the positive impact of holistic interventions in alleviating psychological distress and fostering resilience. Quantitative data corroborated these findings, showing statistically significant improvements in various psychosocial parameters assessed. Conclusions : Our findings underscore the benefits of integrative medical service model with standard medical treatments in the care of breast cancer patients and their caregivers. The holistic approach not only addresses physical symptoms but also enhances overall well-being and quality of life. However, the implementation of such models faces challenges within the South Korean healthcare system, including fragmented service networks and financial constraints. Addressing these structural barriers is crucial for the widespread adoption and sustainability of integrative care models in oncology practice. Future research should focus on larger-scale studies to further validate these findings and inform policy decisions aimed at optimizing cancer care delivery.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.122-135
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• 1998

This study was carried out to understand the nursing needs of postpartum women during the postpartum period. The goal of study was to obtain data needed to develop maternal education programs and to improve the nursing quality for postpartum women. A cross-sectional survey design was employed in this study. The subjects were 101 postpartum women who had delivery at 2 general hospitals in Chung-Buk. Korea. Data were collected from Sep. 29 to Nov. 28. 1997 by means of a structured questionnaire. The instrument used for this study was the one which was consisted of revised Maternal Concerns Questionnaire (MCQ) developed by Bull (1979). The data were analyzed through the SPSS/PC+ program by use of frequency, t-test and ANOVA. The results of the study were as follows; 1) The mean score of concerns about 'self' was 2.98 for primipara and 2.80 for multipara but was not statistically significant difference. Among the items of concerns 'for self', 'Being good mothers' was the highest (primipara 3.93. multipara 3.75). 2) The mean score of concerns about 'baby' was 3.64 for primipara and 3.53 for multipara but was not statistically significant difference. Among the items of concerns 'for baby', 'Normal growth and development' was the highest (primipara 3.91. multipara 3.90). 3) The mean score of concerns about 'husband' was 3.33 for primipara and 3.06 for multipara and was statistically significant difference (t=2.11. p=0.03). Among the items of concerns 'for husband', 'Husband being a good father' was the highest (primipara 3.87, multipara 3.77). 4) The mean score of concerns about 'family' was 2.65 for primipara and 2.80 for multipara but was not statistically significant. Among the items of concerns 'for family', 'Change in the family's lifestyle' was the highest(primipara 3.01, multipara 2.93, t=-1.99, p=0.04). 5) The mean score of concerns about 'community' was 2.48 for primipara and 2.42 for multipara but was not statistically significant. Among the items of concerns 'for community'. 'Getting to health care facilities' was the highest (primipara 2.48, multipara 2.42). 6) On considering the relationship between the postpartum women's nursing needs and their general characteristics, 'regularly antenatal care' was statistically significant (t=2.29. p=0.02). In conclusion, recognition of maternal concerns can be used by nurses to identify nursing diagnoses and to develop care plans that reflect the patient's priorities.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.114-121
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• 2011

Introduction: The aim of this study was to demonstrate that the simulation surgery on rapid prototype (RP) model, which is based on the 3-dimensional computed tomography (3D CT) data taken before surgery, has the same accuracy as traditional orthograthic surgery with an intermediate splint, using an optoelectronic tracking navigation system. Materials and Methods: Simulation surgery with the same treatment plan as the Le Fort I osteotomy on the patient was done on a RP model based on the 3D CT data of 12 patients who had undergone a Le Fort I osteotomy in the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery, Seoul National University Dental Hospital. The 12 distances between 4 points on the skull, such as both infraorbital foramen and both supraorbital foramen, and 3 points on maxilla, such as the contact point of both maxillary central incisors and mesiobuccal cuspal tip of both maxillary first molars, were tracked using an optoelectronic tracking navigation system. The distances before surgery were compared to evaluate the accuracy of the RP model and the distance changes of 3D CT image after surgery were compared with those of the RP model after simulation surgery. Results: A paired t-test revealed a significant difference between the distances in the 3D CT image and RP model before surgery.(P<0.0001) On the other hand, Pearson's correlation coefficient, 0.995, revealed a significant positive correlation between the distances.(P<0.0001) There was a significant difference between the change in the distance of the 3D CT image and RP model in before and after surgery.(P<0.05) The Pearson's correlation coefficient was 0.13844, indicating positive correlation.(P<0.1) Conclusion: Theses results suggest that the simulation surgery of a Le Fort I osteotomy using an optoelectronic tracking navigation system I s relatively accurate in comparing the pre-, and post-operative 3D CT data. Furthermore, the application of an optoelectronic tracking navigation system may be a predictable and efficient method in Le Fort I orthognathic surgery.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.175-181
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• 2002

Background: S100A6 is a calcium-binding protein overexpressed in several tumor cell lines including melanoma with high metastatic activity and involved in various cellular processes such as cell division and differentiation. To detect S100A6 protein in patient' samples (ex, blood or tissue), it is essential to produce a monoclonal antibody specific to the protein. Methods: First, cDNA coding for ORF region of human S100A6 gene was amplified and cloned into the expression vector for GST fusion protein. We have produced recombinant S100A6 protein and subsequently, monoclonal antibodies to the protein. The specificity of anti-S100A6 monoclonal antibody was confirmed using recombinant S100A recombinant proteins of other S100A family (GST-S100A1, GST-S100A2 and GST-S100A4) and the cell lysates of several human cell lines. Also, to identify the specific recognition site of the monoclonal antibody, we have performed the immunoblot analysis with serially deleted S100A6 recombinant proteins. Results: GST-S100A6 recombinant protein was induced and purified. And then S100A6 protein excluding GST protein was obtained and monoclonal antibody to the protein was produced. Monoclonal antibody (K02C12-1; patent number, 330311) has no cross-reaction to several other S100 family proteins. It appears that anti-S100A6 monoclonal antibody reacts with the region containing the amino acid sequence from 46 to 61 of S100A6 protein. Conclusion: These data suggest that anti-S100A6 monoclonal antibody produced can be very useful in development of diagnostic system for S100A6 protein.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.97-103
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• 2009

The status and the property of a tongue are the important indicators to diagnose one's health like physiological and clinicopathological changes of inner organs. However, the tongue diagnosis is affected by examination circumstances like a light source, patient's posture, and doctor's condition. To develop an automatic tongue diagnosis system for an objective and standardized diagnosis, classifying tongue coating is inevitable but difficult since the features like color and texture of the tongue coatings and substance have little difference, especially in the neighborhood on the tongue surface. The proposed method has two procedures; the first is to acquire the color table to classify tongue coatings and substance by automatically separating coating regions marked by oriental medical doctors, decomposing the color components of the region into hue, saturation and brightness and obtaining the 2nd order discriminant with statistical data of hue and saturation corresponding to each kind of tongue coatings, and the other is to apply the tongue region in an input image to the color table, resulting in separating the regions of tongue coatings and classifying them automatically. As a result, kinds of tongue coatings and substance were segmented from a face image corresponding to regions marked by oriental medical doctors and the color table for classification took hue and saturation values as inputs and produced the classification of the values into white coating, yellow coating and substance in a digital tongue diagnosis system. The coating regions classified by the proposed method were almost the same to the marked regions. The exactness of classification was 83%, which is the degree of correspondence between what Oriental medical doctors diagnosed and what the proposed method classified. Since the classified regions provide effective information, the proposed method can be used to make an objective and standardized diagnosis and applied to an ubiquitous healthcare system. Therefore, the method will be able to be widely used in Oriental medicine.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.44-58
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• 2013

Objectives: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and has rapidly increasing rate annually. At present, western cancer therapies by surgery, radiation, and anticancer drug have not been fully effective. So many interests are given to herbal medicine on cancer treatment recently. This study was designed to investigate the effects of Curcuma longa L. (CL) on MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells and DMBA-induced breast cancer in rats. Methods: In this experiment, MDA-MB-231 cells were cultured in cell culture plates. 0.0625, 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0 mg/ml of CL extract were tested for their anti-proliferative effects on MDA-MB-231 cells by MMT assay. And we induced breast cancer in rats. The changes in tumor's weight, and the effects on proliferations of splenocyte and thymocyte were investigated. Results: CL showed anti-proliferative effects on MDA-MB-231 cells in proportion to concentration of the CL. DMBA-induced breast cancer in rats, tumor's weight of the rat was not statistically significant, but showed a tendency to be reduced in the groups treated with CL. Proliferation rate of the rat's splenocyte and thymocyte increased in proportion to CL. In breast cancer tissue, expression of ER-${\alpha}$ was weakened proportionately to the concentration of the CL. Conclusions: These data suggest that CL can prevent the proliferation of breast cancer, then CL is useful to treat patient with breast cancer.

• The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.91-99
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the frequency and status of mentally ill patients who registered in a community health center (CHC) but they could not be accessed. Methods: A total of 233 mentally ill individuals who were registered to a CHC in B Metropolitan City participated in this survey. Data were collected from December 1 to 31, 2010 and analyzed. Results: There were 140 (60.1%) community dwelling mentally ill patients who had been registered to that CHC but were not accessible. The major reasons of this inaccessibility were patients' rejection to be accessed (27.1%) and the wrong or missing address in hospital's discharge note (22.9%). The nursing problems of the subjects were rejection of medication (93.4%); poor personal hygiene (85.8%); violence including harassment of family member(s), assault, property destruction, threat with weapon (38.7%); and so on. Among 159 cases of referrals and requests for help immediate action with patient's compliance were only 8.8%. Conclusion: The findings show that mentally ill patients who had registered to the CHC but were not able to be accessed failed to be managed properly. This would become risk factors of social problems which threat to the community as well as individuals. Thus, we need to prepare programs for this population to make them take medicine at a minimum.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.53-64
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• 1998

This study was performed to investigate the cost of nutrition counseling service at present and to suggest the guideline for the payment. Data were collected using questionnaires and the cost of counseling was expected by analyzing the time consumed and needed for nutrition counseling. The results were as follows; In the case of diabetes, mean time of nutrition counseling was 69.7$\pm$35.3min/case, but the dietitian asked 82.7$\pm$44.6min/case for counseling and in the cases of renal diseases, mean time of counseling was 64.3$\pm$24.1min/case and the time asked was 84.8$\pm$34.5min/case (P<001) It was found that time was not enough to educate or counsel the clients. The cost of counseling was not counted in 20.3% of the respondants and the mean nutrition counseling fee was 5,460.6$\pm$3,547.7won/case in in-patient. The group education fee was 6,168$\pm$2,813won/case. The estimations of the cost for nutrition counseling services using labor cost were 18,463.5won in case of diabetes and 18,463.5won/case for patients of renal disease and in group education 8,111.5won and 7,404.3won respectively.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.143-151
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of illustrated children's book in providing information about tonsillectomy to improve post tonsillectomy pain control and compliance to treatment for preschoolers. Methods: The design of the study was a quasi-experimental, post-test only design. Subjects were preschoolers aged between 3 and 7 years old who were admitted to a hospital for tonsillectomy. A group of 25 children were assigned to an experimental group, and another 25 were assigned to a control group. The data were analysed using SPSS 12.0 program. The homogeneity between two groups was examined using $x^2-test$. The hypotheses testing was conducted using t-test. Results: The experimental group had lower pain score than control group at 8 hour after tonsillectomy (p<.05). Pain score was also lower in the experimental group after 24 hour after the surgery (p<.05). The experimental group had higher pain questionnaire score than control group at 8 hours after surgery, however the difference was not significant. The experimental group showed better compliance to treatment than the control group (p<.05). Conclusion: Providing illustrated children's book for the purpose of providing information about tonsillectomy was effective intervention for the control of post tonsillectomy pain and improvement of compliance to treatment for preschoolers. Illustrated children's book could be applied as a nursing intervention to relieve post tonsillectomy pain and improve compliance to treatment for preschoolers.