• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.289-295
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• 2021

Workplace violence (WPV) is an increasing cause of concern around the globe, and healthcare organizations are no exception. Nurses may be subject to all kinds of workplace violence due to their frontline position in healthcare settings. The purpose of this systematic review is to identify and consider different interventions that aim to decrease the magnitude/prevalence of workplace violence against nurses. The standard method by Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA, 2009) has been used to collect data and assess methodological quality. Altogether, twenty-six studies are included in the review. The intervention procedures they report on can be grouped into three categories: stand-alone trainings designed to educate nurses; more structured education programs, which are broader in scope and often include opportunities to practice skills learned during the program; multicomponent interventions, which often include organizational changes, such as the introduction of workplace violence reporting systems, in addition to workplace violence training for nurses. By comparing the findings, a clear picture emerges; while standalone training and structured education programs can have a positive impact, the impact is unfortunately limited. In order to effectively combat workplace violence against nurses, healthcare organizations must implement multicomponent interventions, ideally involving all stakeholders.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.80-83
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• 2017

The proportion of people who reported unmet healthcare needs is an important indicator to measure the access problem in healthcare service. To examine current status and trends of unmet needs in Korea, we used data from four sources: the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHNES, '2007-2015); the Community Health Survey (CHS '2008-2015); the Korea Health Panel Survey (KHP '2011-2013); the Korean Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS '2006-2015). The proportion of individual reporting unmet healthcare needs as of 2015 was 12.6% (KNHNES), 11.7% (CHS), and 16.3% (KHP, as of 2013). Annual percent change which characterizes trend for follow-up period was -9.4%, -3.4%, and 7.6%, respectively. The proportion of individual reporting unmet healthcare needs due to cost was 2.8% (KNHNES), 1.7% (CHS), and 4.6% (KHP). The proportion of household reporting unmet healthcare needs due to cost was 1.2% (KOWEPS). Annual percent change was -9.0%, -14.9%, 9.4%, and -18.2%, respectively. Low income population reported about 5 times more unmet needs than high income population. Therefore for decreasing the unmet healthcare needs, strategies focusing on low income population were needed.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.82-85
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• 2019

Unmet healthcare needs are being used as an important indicator of the accessibility of healthcare services worldwide. To examine current status and trends of unmet needs in Korea, we used data from four sources: the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES, 2007-2017); the Community Health Survey (CHS 2008-2017); the Korea Health Panel Survey (KHP 2011-2015); and the Korean Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS 2006-2017). The proportion of individual reporting unmet healthcare needs as of 2017 was 8.8% (KNHANES), 10.6% (CHS), and 12.4% (KHP as of 2015). The proportion of households reporting unmet healthcare needs due to cost was 0.5% (KOWEPS). Annual percentage change was -19.2%, -13.3%, -5.8%, and -13.3% respectively. Low income populations had more unmet healthcare needs than high income populations. However, unlike the last two studies, the main reason for unmet medical reasons was that there was no time regardless of income level.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.91-94
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• 2018

Unmet healthcare needs do not end with the phenomenon itself, but lead to possibilities of increased severity of illness. Missed opportunities for treatment at the right timing increase possibilities of complications, and affect prognosis of disease. To examine current status and trends of unmet needs in Korea, we used data from four sources: the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHNES, '2007-2016); the Community Health Survey (CHS '2008-2016); the Korea Health Panel Survey (KHP '2011-2014); and the Korean Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS '2006-2016). The proportion of individual reporting unmet healthcare needs as of 2016 was 8.8% (KNHNES), 11.5% (CHS), and 12.8% (KHP, as of 2014). Annual percentage change which characterizes trend for the follow-up period was -9.9%, -3.1%, and -1.3%, respectively. The proportion of individuals reporting unmet healthcare needs due to cost was 1.8% (KNHNES), 1.5% (CHS), and 3.0% (KHP). The proportion of households reporting unmet healthcare needs due to cost was 1.0% (KOWEPS). Annual percentage change was -10.0%, -15.2%, -5.4%, and -17.5%, respectively. Low income populations had more unmet healthcare needs than high income populations. Therefore, in order to improve unmet healthcare needs, it is necessary to focus on low income populations.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.225-231
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• 2021

Unmet healthcare is an important indicator to measure accessibility of healthcare services. To examine the latest status of unmet healthcare needs in South Korea, the four different data which is composed of nationally representative sample of South Korean population were used; the Korea Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNAHANES, 2007-2019), the Community Health Survey (CHS, 2008-2019), the Korea Health Panel Survey (KHP, 2011-2017), and the Korean Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS, 2006-2019). The proportion of individuals reporting unmet healthcare needs were 5.8% (KNHANES), 5.3% (CHS), and 11.6% (KHP). Annual percentage change (APC) which identifies trend for the follow-up period was -9.5%, -8.0%, and -6.5%, respectively. The proportion of individuals reporting unmet healthcare needs due to cost were 1.1% (KNAHANES), 0.7% (CHS), 2.4% (KHP), and 0.4% (KOWEPS). The APC was -10.5%, -14.2%, -12.2%, and -19.6%, respectively. Compared to last year, the rate of unmet healthcare needs has declined in general. However, the low-income and the elderly population were reporting the highest rate of unmet health care needs, and the disparity between lowest and highest groups were remained. These results suggest that adequate benefit coverage is needed for low-income and elderly population.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.95-104
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• 2023

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the trends and characteristics of infection-related patient safety incident reporting before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Korea, and to provide basic data for preventing infection-related patient safety incidents and improving their management. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of secondary national data (Patient Safety Reporting Data) was conducted. In total, 517 infection-related patient safety incidents reported from 2018 to 2021 were analyzed. Changes in the number of reports before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and differences in variables related to infection-related patient safety incidents were analyzed using the chi-square test and independent t-test in SPSS 29.0. Results: This study found that infection-related patient safety incidents decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to before the pandemic. Furthermore, incident-related characteristics, such as the type of healthcare organization, severity of harm, and post-incident actions, changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: The many changes in the infection control system and practices during the COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to a decrease in the reporting of infection-related patient safety incidents. It is hoped that longitudinal studies on patient safety incidents related to the pandemic and analytical studies on factors influencing patient safety incidents will continue to be conducted to prevent and improve patient safety incidents.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.237-243
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• 2022

Unmet healthcare is an important indicator to measure accessibility of healthcare services. To examine the latest status of unmet healthcare needs in South Korea, four different data which is composed of nationally representative sample of South Korean population were used; the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES, 2007-2020), the Community Health Survey (CHS, 2008-2020), the Korea Health Panel Survey (KHP, 2011-2018), and the Korean Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS, 2006-2020). The proportion of individuals reporting unmet healthcare needs were 6.4% (KNHANES), 5.4% (CHS), and 12.2% (KHP). Annual percentage change (APC) which identifies trend for the follow-up period was -9.9%, -9.1%, and -5.5%, respectively. The proportion of individuals reporting unmet healthcare needs due to cost were 1.0% (KNHANES), 0.4% (CHS), 2.2% (KHP), and 0.4% (KOWEPS). The APC was -11.3%, -17.0%, -12.2%, and -21.2%, respectively. Overall, the low-income and the elderly population reported a higher rate of unmet health care needs. Although the overall experience rate of unmet medical care due to cost decreased over the past decade, the disparity between the lowest and highest income groups still remained in 2020. Disparity between income levels and age groups is a challenge to address in healthcare system, and these results suggest the need for adequate health coverage for the low-income and the elderly populations.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.120-125
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• 2020

Unmet healthcare needs lead to increased disease severity, increased likelihood of complications, and worse disease prognosis. To examine the latest status of unmet healthcare needs in South Korea, the four different data configured with nationally representative sample of South Korean population were used: the Korea Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNAHANES, 2007-2018), the Community Health Survey (CHS, 2008-2018), the Korea Health Panel Survey (KHP, 2011-2016), and the Korean Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS, 2006-2018). The proportion of individuals reporting unmet healthcare needs were 7.8% (KNHANES, 2018), 8.8% (CHS), and 10.8% (KHP, 2016). Annual percentage change which characterizes trend for the follow-up period was -9.1%, -3.2%, and -6.8%, respectively. The proportion of individuals reporting unmet healthcare needs due to cost were 1.2% (KNAHANES, 2018), 1.2% (CHS, 2018), 2.5% (KHP, 2016), and 0.5% (KOWEPS, 2018). Annual percentage change which characterizes trend for the follow-up period was -10.3%, -12.0%, -11.3%, and -18.8, respectively. The low-income population and the elderly population were vulnerable groups reporting the highest rate of unmet health care needs. The rate of unmet healthcare needs has been declining since the past decade, still, the disparity between different income groups and age groups suggests that there are many challenges to address.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.427-450
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• 2012

Objectives : This study examined the factors influencing variation by local areas of antibiotics prescription rate in upper respiratory infections (URI) according to the public reporting. Methods : We used the National Health Insurance Claims Data which the clinics claimed for URI (Korean Standard Classification of Disease, J00 ~ J06) in ambulatory care. The period of analysis was from the first quarter (from January to March) of 2005 to the first quarter of 2007. The number of samples was total 242 local areas that included all clinics (N = 7,942), which prescribed antibiotics for URI in ambulatory care. Results : None of the demographic and socioeconomic characteristic indicators was statistically significant. Among the provider factors, An increase in number of doctors and the average annual antibiotics prescription rate (from 2003 to 2004) for URI by local area were significantly related to an increase of antibiotics prescription rate according to the public reporting. And an increase in number of pediatric clinics, the proportion of clinics less than 5 years since has opened and the average annual fluctuation of antibiotics prescription rate (from 2003 to 2005) were significantly related to a decrease in antibiotics prescription rate by local area according to the disclosure of information. Conclusions : According to the public reporting, the antibiotics prescription rate in clinics had decreased sharply. However, the reduction of antibiotic prescription rate varied in different local areas. The factors influencing variation by local areas in antibiotics prescription rate can be used for establishing effective strategies to reduce variation by region in antibiotics prescription rate.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.107-113
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• 2023

Unmet healthcare is an important indicator for measuring accessibility of healthcare services. We analyzed the following four data from a nationally representative sample of South Korean population: Korea Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES, 2007-2021), Community Health Survey (CHS, 2008-2021), Korea Health Panel Survey (KHP, 2011-2019), and Korean Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS, 2006-2021). The proportion of individuals reporting unmet healthcare needs were 6.0% (KNHANES), 5.1% (CHS), and 13.1% (KHP). Annual percentage change (APC) which identifies trend for the follow-up period was -9.4%, -9.4%, and -5.3%, respectively. The proportion of individuals reporting unmet healthcare needs due to cost were 1.2% (KNAHANES), 0.5% (CHS), 2.7% (KHP), and 0.4% (KOWEPS). The APC was -10.4%, -16.1%, -11.5%, and -19.1%, respectively. Compared to the previous year, the rate of unmet healthcare needs decreased slightly, but the rate of unmet health care needs due to cost tended to increase. Overall, higher rates of unmet healthcare needs were reported in the low-income and the elderly population. Although it was confirmed through the APC that the rate of unmet healthcare experience has decreased over the past decade, it can be seen that there is still a disparity by income level and age. These results suggest the need for an appropriate health benefit coverage policy for the low-income and the elderly.