• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.325-329
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• 2005

Objectives : This study was performed to assess the association between high sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hsCRP) and hypertension. Methods : We evaluated the relationship between hsCRP with hypertension and other cardiovascular risk factors, using a cross-sectional survey of 202 people over the age of 50, living in a rural area. A logistic regression analysis was used to study the association between hsCRP and hypertension. The hsCRP levels were divided in quartiles, and the odds ratios (OR), with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), calculated, using the lowest quartile as a reference. Results : The subjects consisted of 37.1% men and 62.9% women, with a mean (SD) hsCRP level of $1.9({\pm}3.0mg/{\ell})$ . The overall prevalence of hypertension was 61.4%. The prevalence of hypertension according to the hsCRP quartile was not statistically significant. After adjustment for confounding variables, the prevalence of hypertension according to the subjects in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th hsCRP quartiles were 1.418 (95% CI=0.554-3.628), 1.124 (95% CI=0.392-3.214) and 0.892 (95% CI=0.312-2.547) times higher, respectively, compared to those in the 1st quartile. Conclusions : The results showed that the level of hsCRP was not a risk factor for hypertension among adults aged over 50 years, living in a rural area. A further study should be performed to find the association between hsCRP and hypertension.

• Journal of Korean Traditional Oncology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2019

Objectives : We investigated whether a single center nutrition screening tool (Kyunghee Neo Nutrition Risk Screening, KNNRS) can predict survival in patients with metastatic cancer. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed data of inpatients with metastatic cancer from April 2016 to August 2019. Data on demographic and clinical parameters were collected from electronic medical records, and overall survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Stepwise Cox regression analysis was used to determine factors associated with survival. Patients with a KNNRS score of 0 to 3 were classified as "no-risk", 4 to 10 as "low-risk", and 11 to 20 as "high-risk". Results : Total 105 patients were included in the study. According to nutritional screening at baseline, 25 patients (23.8%, median age 57.0) were classified as ""no risk"" group; 80 patients (76.2%, median age 68.5) as "low risk" group; No patients as "high risk" group. Predictors of survival were Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status score of 3 or 4 (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.93; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.21-3.10), hemoglobin less than 10 g/dL (HR = 1.97; 95% CI = 1.25-3.10) and C-reactive protein more than 1.0 mg/dL (HR = 1.95; 95% CI = 1.21-3.13). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed significant differences in the survival between KNNRS groups: ""no risk"" group: 6.1 ± 1.4 months (95% CI = 3.37-8.83); ""low risk"" group: 3.4 ± 0.9 months (95% CI = 1.5-5.37). Conclusions : Nutritional status according to KNNRS wasn't significant predictor of survival for patients with metastatic cancer. Improvement of KNNRS score thresholds is needed.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.234-245
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• 2009

Nutritional assessment for the elderly can identify health status and morbidity. However, development of Nutritional Risk Index (NRI) remains limited for elderly because of difficulties in understanding physiological mechanism of elderly. This study was performed to analyze and develop Nutritional Risk Index for Korean elderly Women (Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index, GNRI). Based on literature review, factors for NRI were identified and indices were assessed by a cross-sectional survey. The survey involved Korean elderly women (${\geq}$60, n = 94) in Gwangju area, and sociodemographics, lifestyle characteristics, health conditions, dietary intakes based on 24h- recall, anthropometric measures (wt, ht, BMI, waist, hip, WHR, body protein, body fat, abdominal fat, and triceps skinfold thickness), and clinical biochemistry parameters (systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride, total protein, albumin, prealbumin, hemoglobin, hematocrit, fasting blood glucose, HbAlc, ferritin, Zn, Ca, Na, K, Vit E, Vit $B_{12}$, folate, C-reactive protein) were examined relation to nutritional risk index. Based on literature review and data analyses, three NRIs were categorized (NRI I, NRI II, NRI III) and used for further analysis. NRI I was related to having metabolic syndrome, NRI II was related to serum albumin and body weight, and NRI III was related to food habit and health concerns. Abdominal fat (%) of elderly was correlated with each NRIs. NRI II was correlated with nutritional deficiency and higher tendency of inflammatory response, and NRI III was correlated with nutritional status which tend to be lower on aging (protein, folate, Vit $B_{12}$). NRI can serve as a useful tools in assessing health risk and nutritional status. Some modification of items in NRI and validity study are need to apply to Korean elderly.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.139-145
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• 2016

With the development in field of industry and medicine, new machines and techniques are being launched. Moreover, the complexity of the techniques is associated to an increasing risk of incident. Especially, a small error in radiotherapy can lead to a serious patient-related incident, risk management is necessary in radiotherapy in order to reduce the risk of incident. However, in field of radiotherapy, there are no legally binding clauses for risk management and there is an absence of risk management systems at an institutional level. Therefore, we analyzed institutional status of risk management, reporting & classification systems, and risk assessment & analysis in 31 countries. For risk management and reporting systems, 65% of countries investigated had legislation or regulations; however, only 35% of countries used classification systems. It was found that 43% more countries had legislation for risk management in healthcare than those for radiotherapy; 19% more countries had reporting systems for healthcare than those for radiotherapy. For classification systems, 60% more countries had legislation, recommendation, and guidelines in the field of radiotherapy than those for healthcare. Recently, international institutes have published several reports for risk management and patient safety in radiotherapy, owing to which, countries adopting risk management for radiotherapy will gradually increase. Before adopting risk management in Korea, we should precisely understand the procedures and functions of risk management, in order to increase efficiency of risk management because classification & reporting system and risk assessment & analysis are connected organically, and institutional management is needed for high quality of risk management in Korea.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.81-94
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• 2020

Purpose: Duodenal stump leakage (DSL) is a potentially fatal complication that can occur after gastrectomy, but its underlying risk factors are unclear. This study aimed to investigate the risk factors and management of DSL after laparoscopic radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer (GC). Materials and Methods: Relevant data were collected from several prospective databases to retrospectively analyze the data of GC patients who underwent Billroth II (B-II) or Rouxen-Y (R-Y) reconstruction after laparoscopic gastrectomy from 2 institutions (Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, and HwaMei Hospital, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences). The DSL risk factors were analyzed using univariate and multivariate analysis regression. Results: A total of 810 patients were eligible for our analysis (426 with R-Y, 384 with B-II with Braun). Eleven patients had DSL (1.36%). Body mass index (BMI), elevated preoperative C-reactive protein (CRP) level, and unreinforced duodenal stump were the independent risk factors for DSL. DSL was diagnosed in 2-12 days, with a median of 8 days. Seven patients received conservative treatment, 3 patients received puncture treatment, and only 1 patient required reoperation. All patients recovered successfully after treatment. Conclusions: The risk factors of DSL were BMI ≥24 kg/㎡, elevated preoperative CRP level, and unreinforced duodenal stump. Nonsurgical treatments for DSL are preferred.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.201-207
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• 2021

The 2019 coronavirus outbreak poses a threat to scientific, societal, financial, and health resources. The complex pathogenesis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus centers on the unpredictable clinical progression of the disease, which may evolve abruptly and result in critical and life-threatening clinical complications. Effective clinical laboratory biomarkers that can classify patients according to risk are essential for ensuring timely treatment, and an analysis of recently published studies found cytokine storm and coagulation disorders were leading factors of severe COVID-19 complications. The following inflammatory, biochemical, and hematology biomarkers markers have been identified in COVID-19 patients; neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, c-reactive protein, procalcitonin, urea, liver enzymes, lactate dehydrogenase, serum amyloid A, cytokines, d-dimer, fibrinogen, ferritin, troponin, creatinine kinase, and lymphocyte, leukocyte, and platelet counts. These factors are predictors of disease severity and some are involved in the pathogenesis of COVID-19. CRP is an acute-phase, non-specific serological biomarker of inflammation and infection and is related to disease severities and outcomes. In the present study, CRP levels were found to rise dramatically among COVID-19 patients, and our findings suggest CRP could be utilized clinically to predict COVID-19 prognosis and severity even before disease progression and the manifestation of clinical symptoms.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.41
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• pp.49.1-49.8
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• 2019

Background: The purpose of this study was to review the clinical features of oromaxillofacial infections in patients presenting to a hospital emergency ward, to identify the key factors affecting the requirement for hospitalization, and the potential risk factors predisposing to a prolonged length of hospital stay. Methods: A retrospective medical record review of the 598 patients treated for oromaxillofacial infection from 2013 to 2017 at the oral and maxillofacial surgery department, Yangsan Pusan National University Hospital, was conducted. The following information was collected from each patient: sex, age, past medical history, site of infection, etiology, admission or outpatient care, level of C-reactive protein (mg/dL), fascial spaces involved, treatment method, and duration of hospitalization. Chi-squared tests were used to identify risk factors, which were further analyzed using multivariable logistic regression. Results: A total of 606 patients were eligible for inclusion in the study, of which eight were excluded due to having incomplete charts; thus, 598 patients were included: 55% were male, mean patient age was 47.1 ± 19.9 years, and 12.9% of patients were diabetic. Furthermore, 71.2% of patients had infection originating in the mandible; the most common tooth of origin was lower posterior, and 29.8% of patients were hospitalized. Risk factors for hospital admission were elderly patients with concurrent disease, elevated C-reactive protein level, and multiple-space infection in the oromaxillofacial area. The duration of hospitalization was correlated with both diabetes and age. Conclusions: The requirement for hospital admission is determined by the severity of the infection; even severe infections, once treated with appropriate surgery, have no relation to the length of hospital stay. The important risk factors for increased duration of hospitalization are diabetes mellitus and older age. The understanding of risk factors associated with a prolonged hospital stay during the treatment of oromaxillofacial infection will aid in treatment planning as well as highlight the importance of adequate diabetes control in patients at risk of such infection.

• Journal of Medicine and Life Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.32-37
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• 2023

The demand for total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is rapidly increasing worldwide. The most common indication for TKA is osteoarthritis (OA); however, some patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) also undergo TKA. This study aimed to investigate the effects of RA on TKA. Our findings revealed that patients with RA underwent TKA at a younger age than did patients with OA. However, contrary to the findings of pre-21st century studies, the average age of TKA among patients with RA was not significantly different from that of patients with OA. Additionally, patients with RA had a 1.5-fold higher risk of undergoing TKA. Although not statistically significant, patients with RA had a higher revision TKA rate, a shorter time until revision TKA, and underwent more revision TKAs due to infections than did patients with OA. An analysis of factors that affect revision TKA revealed that the risk of revision increased if the erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein levels were increased at the time of TKA. This study showed that patients with RA have a slightly higher risk of undergoing TKA than did patients with OA. Furthermore, the presence of inflammation at the time of TKA increases the risk of revision; therefore, inflammation should be adequately controlled before performing TKA.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.5-11
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• 2014

In this study, chemical analysis and ecotoxicity tests of leachate from disposal site for foot-and-mouth disease carcasses (FMD leachate) were conducted to collect fundamental data that will be used to develop environmental risk assessment tools for FMD leachate. For chemical analysis, concentration of $Cl^-$, $NH{_4}{^+}-N$, Korea standard method indicators for detection of leachate released from animal carcasses burial site into groundwater and NRN (Ninhydrin-Reactive Nitrogens), a newly suggested screening test indicator to detect groundwater contamination by FMD leachate, were assessed. For ecotoxicity tests, luminescent bacteria (V. fischeri), micro-algae (P. subcapitata) and water flea (D. magna) were selected as test species. Correlation analysis between the concentration of $Cl^-$, $NH{_4}{^+}-N$, NRN and the toxicity to V. fischeri was performed to identify the better indicators to monitor FMD leachate contamination. From regression analysis, the concentration of the indicators in FMD leachate contaminated sample that induced halfmaximal toxic effect to V. fischeri was evaluated. Results obtained from this study can be applied to assess the risk by FMD leachate and to establish the guideline to manage risk in relation to FMD leachate.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.68-79
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• 2021

Department of Defense, Republic of Korea has put in significant efforts towards safety over the years by developing defense safety management systems, such as establishing safety management organizations and enacting laws and regulations. Therefore, the number of casualties due to military activities has been reduced dramatically. However, many errors and problems are present in the safety management system (SMS) owing to a lack of proper SMS. That brings inefficiency and discontinuity in SMS. Hence, typical phenomena such as lack of safety management professionals and reactive safety management activities have not been properly corrected. This study reviews various academic papers on the SMS and research reports of major foreign institutions to redefine the concept and components of the defense safety management system to ultimately suggest improvement in the R.O.K defense safety management system. Additionally, the safety management system of the U.S. and British forces, considered to be the leading safety management system, were analyzed and compared to R.O.K defense SMS to derive their implications.