• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.69-80
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• 2023

Purpose: Suicide ranks among the top causes of death among youth in South Korea. This study aimed to identify the characteristics of suicidal individuals treated at emergency departments between 2011 and 2020. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted using data from January 2011 to December 2020 in the Injury Surveillance Cohort, a prospective registry. Patients' sex, age, mortality, methods of self-harm, and previous suicide attempts were analyzed. The methods of self-harm were categorized into falls, asphyxiation, blunt injuries, penetrating injuries, poisoning, and others. Sub-groups with and without poisoning were compared. Results: The proportion of self-harm/suicide attempts increased from 2.3% (2011) to 5.0% (2020). The mortality rate decreased from 10.8% (2011) to 6.3% (2020). Poisoning was the most common method (61.7%). Mortality rates ranged from 42.0% for asphyxiation to 0.2% for blunt injuries. Individuals in their 20s showed a marked increase in suicide/self-harm attempts, especially in the last three years. A large proportion of decedents in their 70s or older (52.6%) used poisoning as a method of suicide. The percentage of individuals with two or more previous attempts rose from 7.1% (2011) to 19.7% (2020). The death rates by poisoning decreased from 7.7% (2011) to 2.5% (2020). Conclusion: Our findings underscore the urgent need for targeted interventions and suicide prevention policies. Managing and reducing suicide and self-harm in emergency settings will require a focus on poisoning, the 10-29 age group, and the elderly. This paper will be valuable for future policies aiming to reduce the societal burden of suicide and self-harm.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2024

In order to improve the effectiveness of carbon neutrality in Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, this study identifies the current state of social environmental education through literature research, excluding school environmental education being implemented in elementary, middle, and high schools in the province, and identifies shortcomings or problems. The purpose is to establish a plan to systematically and integratedly operate social environmental education, and the derived plan can be used as a guide to change environmental awareness and induce eco-friendly behavior to improve the effectiveness of carbon neutrality. As a result of the study, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province established a consultative body with environmental education institutions, organizations and expert groups operating dispersed throughout the province through the substantial operation and support of the environmental education center currently being entrusted, to identify the current status and develop content necessary for establishing environmental education policies, establishing a platform to enable information sharing, role division, regular communication, empathy, and policy feedback, and on-site environmental education centered on the field to stimulate emotions and personalize environmental problems so that environmental problems can be properly recognized. Emphasizing the necessity.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.15-26
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• 2024

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between electronic cigarette use and mental health factors such as stress, suicidal thinking, and generalized anxiety disorder among Korean adolescents. Methods: Based on the 19^th (2023) Youth Health Behavior Survey, cross-analysis(Rao-Scott χ2 test) and complex design logistic regression analysis were conducted to identify e-cigarette use and mental health factors. Results: Lifetime use experience with electronic cigarettes (OR:1.218) and current use of electronic cigarettes (OR:1.266) for male adolescents and lifetime use experience of electronic cigarettes(OR:1.587 ) for female adolescents were influential factors on stress. Lifetime experience with e-cigarettes (OR:1.866) and current use of e-cigarettes (OR:1.651) for male adolescents and lifetime experience with e-cigarettes (OR:2.375) and current use of e-cigarettes (OR:1.841) for female adolescents were influential factors on suicidal thinking. Lifetime experience with e-cigarettes (OR:1.307) among male adolescents and lifetime experience with e-cigarettes (OR:1.616) among female adolescents were influencing factors for generalized anxiety disorder. Conclusion: Because there is a significant relationship between adolescent e-cigarette use and mental health, e-cigarette prevention education is needed early in adolescence.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.45-50
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• 2003

In order to develop the program of oral hygiene education for elementary school senior-students, a questionnaire survey of elementary fourth, fifth and sixth students who are under continual control program of oral hygiene. (1) For tooth brushing time, after dinner is more than before. 73.7% of respondents brushed the teeth twice or more a day. (2) 62.1% of respondents took the cariogenic food twice or more a day. (3) 90.1% of respondents had visited a dental clinic. (4) Concerning fear for dental treatment, only 14.4% had a feeling of fear. (5) Regarding the experience with a preventive treatment, 39.7% had an experience with pit and fissure sealing, and 24.2% had an experience with the application of fluorides. (6) 46.2% of respondents had a preference for the fluoride mouth rinsing program, and 38.4% wanted that program to keep going on. As to the reason to favor the fluoride mouth rinsing program, 38.2% preferred it because of prevention of dental caries, and 43.0%, the largest percentage, didn't favor it because they found it too much trouble to do. (7) Comparing with the research result in 2000, we proved positively the educational effect of brushing frequency, positive understanding and preference to water school fluoridation program, and got the negative data of experience of visiting to oral clinic and preventive treatment.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.397-405
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• 2001

The vision disturbances of school- age children has been recognized as and important school health problem. As the visual disturbances of the school-age children is recognized as the nation's health problem. the importance of the development of educational program for visual health should be emphasized. Recently, eyeball movement and other visual health management method has been introduced for prevention or recovery of decrease in visual acuity. But, the effect of eyeball movement was not confirmed yet. And, the controversy around the treatment effect is continued. The decrease of visual acuity is one of the important school health problem as well as it causes discomfort in daily life of the students. So, it should be considered as an important subject for school health and there is a need to develop an effective intervention program for visual health. The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate the program with the recognition of the need of the intervention for visual health. The visual health promotion program was developed by the researcher and the program was initiated by the school. Nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was applied for study which examined the effect of the visual health promotion program. The subjects were 742 children (experimental group: 398; control group: 344). The experiment was composed of health education and eyeball movement. Health education was provided 5 times to the children in the class room. Children of experimental group exercised eyeball movement in the class, watching video for 10 minutes two times a day. The exercise was continued for 10 weeks. The result of the study were as follows. 1) change of visual acuity Before the intervention, mean of the visual acuity was .86 for the experimental group and .91 for control group. After the intervention, mean of visual acuity was .95 for the experimental group and. 90 for the control group. There was no significant difference in the change of visual acuity between experimental and control group. 2) change of refraction. In the experimental group, 327 eyes (41.08%) were normal vision and 469 eyes (58.98%) were eyes of refraction errors, 38.82 % of the total eyes were myopia. There was no significant change in the refraction in the children with myopia after the intervention. 3) Awareness of visual acuity, change of knowledge, behavior. and attitude (1) After the intervention, there was a significant difference in the awareness of visual acuity (experimental group: 70.10%. control group: 50.97%, p<.01). (2) After the intervention, there was a significant knowledge increase in the experimental group (pp<.01). (3) There was no significant difference in the visual health behavior after the intervention. (4) There was a significant positive change in the attitude related to visual health in the experimental group ( pp<.05). 4) There was a significant positive change in the subjective discomfort of the students. But, there was no significant change in the objective eye symptom after the intervention. Even though there was no effect in the visual acuity and the change of the refraction. subjective visual health as well as the attitude and knowledge' of the children and parents toward visual health was improved significantly. Also, there was an increase in the intention of change and the awareness for the visual health management. It is suggested that various educational strategies for visual health promotion should be developed and examined for the visual health promotion of the students.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.513-520
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to examine elderly people's oral health behaviors and education needs. The subjects in this study were 195 senior citizens who were users of senior cultural centers and senior welfare agencies in Seoul and Incheon. After a survey was conducted, the collected data were analyzed by the statistical package SPSSWIN 19.0. The findings of the study were as follows: 1. Gender, academic credential and monthly mean income were identified as the general characteristics to impact on their oral health attitude. 2. The senior citizens who ever received oral health education had a better knowledge(p<0.05) and took a better attitude(p<0.01). 3. As for a time for toothbrushing, many brushed their teeth after breakfast(74.9%) and dinner(71.8%). Utilized Oral hygiene devices were interdental brushes(21.5%), dental floss(13.8%). As many as 62.5% felt they had a dry mouth, and the most prevalent way for them to cope with it was drinking water often(68.2%). 79.5% didn't get their teeth cleaned on a regular scaling. 4. The rate of regular scaling was higher in the elderly groups that ever received oral health education and whose knowledge scores was above the average(p<0.05). 5. In relation to the necessity of oral health education, 87.2% felt the need for that, and as many as 79.0% intended to receive that education. Their favorite period of education was 6months(41.0%), and the greatest group hoped to receive that education for an hour(55.4%). The largest group wanted to learn about prevention of oral diseases, followed by toothbrushing, denture management, dry mouth. Given the findings of the study, senior welfare centers and senior cultural centers should offer oral health education programs as part of lifelong education to provide systematic and prolonged education for the elderly to improve their oral health care to promote their oral health.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.87-100
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• 2011

Objectives: This study aimed to identify factors associated with smoking relapse. Methods: The study sample was recruited among subjects who were enrolled in the smoking cessation clinic of a public health center and had succeeded in quitting smoking for at least six months. A total of 159 male subjects were followed via mail survey one year later. The independent variables in the analyses were socio-demographic characteristics, smoking history and behavior, receipt of smoking cessation aids, health behaviors and components of the health belief model (HBM). The dependent variable was smoking relapse assessed one year after quitting. Ordered logit regressions were used to identify factors associated with smoking relapse. Results: The relapse rate of the ex-smokers in our sample was 25.8%, and the occasional smoking rate was 17.0%. Univariate analyses revealed that only factors related to the HBM, such as perceived susceptibility to diseases (p<0.01), perceived severity of diseases (p<0.01), perceived health benefits of not smoking (p<0.01), perceived barriers to quitting smoking due to increasing stress and difficulty in social life (p<0.01), and self-efficacy (p<0.01) were associated with the likelihood of relapse for ex-smokers. Ordered logit analyses yielded two significant factors affecting the likelihood of relapse, the perceived barriers to quitting smoking and self-efficacy. Conclusions: Our results indicate that higher levels of barriers to quitting smoking and lower levels of self-efficacy were significantly related to risk of smoking relapse. These findings may be useful for identifying those at highest risk for relapse and choosing the optimal strategies for prevention of relapse for ex-smokers.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.228-241
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• 2018

Purpose: The health risk of women increases after menopause. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a public health center-based nutrition education program for hypertension in women older than 50 years of age. Methods: The program included 8-week nutrition education and 8-week follow-up with keeping a health diary and nutrition counseling. The program was evaluated three times: before and after the nutrition education, and after the follow-up. The subjects were classified into hypertensives (n = 44) or normotensives (n = 71). Results: The rate of taking antihypertensive drugs in the hypertensive group was 86.4%. The systolic blood pressure decreased in the hypertensive and normotensive groups after nutrition education (p < 0.05). The body weight (p < 0.001), BMI (p < 0.001), waist circumference (p < 0.001), and percent body fat (p < 0.01) were also decreased after nutrition education in both groups. The hypertensive group showed an increase in HDL-cholesterol level (p < 0.001) and decreases in triglycerides (p < 0.01) and LDL-cholesterol (p < 0.05) levels after completion of the program. The normotensive group also displayed significant changes in HDL-cholesterol (p < 0.001) and triglycerides (p < 0.01). The dietary habits and nutrition knowledge on sodium and hypertension were improved in both groups (p < 0.001). The total score of dietary behavior related to the sodium intake was improved in the normotensive group (p < 0.001). The total score of the high sodium dish frequency questionnaire decreased in both groups after nutrition education and completion of the program compared to that before the program. Decreases in the consumption frequencies of noodles, pot stews and stews, Kimchi, and beverages were significant. The total self-efficacy score was increased in both groups by the program (p < 0.001). In particular, the hypertensive group showed improvement in all items. Conclusion: This public health center-based nutrition education program may contribute to the prevention and management of hypertension and chronic diseases in women over 50 years of age.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.86-92
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• 2015

Objectives : The aim of this study was to investigate the gender differences of direct aggression and relational aggression in Korean elementary and middle school students. Methods : Parents of 946 elementary school students(age $9.54{\pm}1.72$ years, 485 boys, 461 girls) completed the Child Behavior Checklist(CBCL). Six-hundred-and-three middle school students(age $13.98{\pm}0.93$ years, 301 boys, 302 girls) completed the Youth Self-Report(YSR). Independent t-test, chi-square test, and Fisher's exact test were used. Results : Boys had significantly higher direct aggression scores than girls in elementary school students(p<0.001). There was no significance gender difference of relational aggression in elementary school students(p=0.235). In middle school students, boys had significantly higher direct aggression than girls(p=0.017), and girls had significantly higher relational aggression compared to the boys(p<0.001). Conclusions : Our results suggest the presence of gender differences in manifestation of aggression subtypes in Korean elementary and middle school students. These gender differences should be taken into account in prevention and intervention approaches of aggression in children and adolescents.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.327-339
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• 2018

This study aimed to provide basic data for establishing the clinical basis for dental hygienist-led dental hygiene process of care by identifying multiple risk factors for self-support program participants in Gangneung city; we also compared oral health status and behavioral changes through customized oral health care. Four dental hygienists who were evaluated for degree of conformity provided dental hygiene process of care to eight self-support program participants who were selected as having an oral health risk among people in the self-support center. The clinical indicators measured during dental hygiene assessment and evaluation and behavioral changes due to dental hygiene intervention were compared and analyzed. With respect to clinical indicators, at the time of probe, the retention rate of patients with gingival bleeding decreased from 61.4% to 14.7% after intervention (p=0.004). Furthermore, the retention rate of patients with a periodontal pocket >4 mm decreased from 15.6% to 5.8% (p=0.001). The average modified O'Leary index of the patients improved from 23 to 40 (p=0.002). Previously, all eight subjects used the vertical or horizontal method of brushing; after dental hygiene care interventions regarding method and frequency of toothbrushing, use of oral care products, and individual interventions, they started using the rolling or Bass method of toothbrushing. Four of eight subjects reported using interdental toothbrushes after intervention. As a result of applying the change model to the transtheoretical behavior change of the subject, the result of strengthening the health behavior was confirmed. For promotion of oral health by the prevention-centered incremental oral health care system, dental hygienist-led dental hygiene management and maintenance is essential. It is thought that continuous research, such as for feasibility evaluation, cost benefit analysis, and preparation of legal systems, is needed to establish and activate dental hygiene management.