• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.428-432
• /
• 2015

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to research 'Daeri' drivers who work for drunken customers as a substitute driver. This was the first study in Korea to investigate assault and verbal abuse experienced while employed as a 'Daeri' driver. Methods: In this study, we conducted a survey to investigate people who work as 'Daeri' drivers. The survey was performed from September 1 to 7, 2014. The participants were 166 adult men and women who work as full-time 'Daeri' drivers. Results: Participants who experienced physical violence and assault from the customers to the point of disturbing safe driving in a year were 36.1% of total respondents. People who experienced verbal abuse to the point of disturbing safe driving in a year totaled 80.4% of respondents. In addition, there were also qualitative research results. Conclusions: Acts that impede safe driving are a danger to both passengers and drivers. By protecting the safety of 'Daeri' drivers, we will be able to protect the safety of citizens. Therefore, it is necessary to make an effort to protect 'Daeri' drivers from customer violence. Furthermore, it is also necessary to research policy to emplace a legal system that can protect 'Daeri' drivers.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.302-324
• /
• 2022

Objectives: The objective of this study is to investigate exposure to occupational carcinogens in the nationwide electronics industries and to establish a strategy for control of occupational carcinogens in South Korea. Methods: We evaluated occupational carcinogens as defined by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) using a nationwide work environment measurement database on the electronics industry in South Korea measured between 2013 and 2017 in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Results: The number of occupational carcinogens found in the electronics industry in South Korea were: 20 for IARC Group 1, 14 for Group 2A, and 30 for Group 2B. The occupational carcinogens (Group 1) most frequently exposed were strong-inorganic-acid mists containing sulfuric acid (sulfuric acid), welding fumes, mineral oils (untreated or mildly treated), nickel compounds, silica dust, crystalline substances in the form of quartz or cristobalite, formaldehyde, arsenic and inorganic arsenic compounds, chromium (VI) compounds, trichloroethylene, cadmium and cadmium compounds, vinyl chloride, ethylene oxide, wood dust, beryllium and beryllium compounds, 1,3 butadiene, benzene, and others. Among them, the carcinogens (Group 1) exceeding the acceptable standard were trichloroethylene, formaldehyde, and ethylene oxide. The working environment measurement system as regulated by Occupational Safety and Health Act is not properly assessed and managed for occupational carcinogens in South Korea. A component analysis for all materials used should be set up to practically reduce occupational carcinogens. A ban on the use of occupational carcinogens and the development of alternative materials are needed. The occupational carcinogens below the acceptable standards should be carefully examined and a new standard for exposure needs to be established. Conclusions: The Occupational Safety and Health Act should be improved to identify and monitor occupational carcinogens at work sites. A strategy for occupational safety and health systems should be provided to give direction to workers' needs and right to know.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.25-29
• /
• 2012

Objectives : This article reviews a solution preventing the illegal distribution of herbal medicine in common use for food and medicine and risks on public health by conducting safety management of food and medicine. Also, this article would like to contribute to improvement of public health treating diseases in compliance with accurate diagnosis and prescription of Oriental Medicine Doctor("OMD")'s. Methods : An approach in this research can be categorized into two : first, to examine the current administrative situation and problems of herbal medicine in common use for food and medicine based on policy documents of Ministry of Health and Welfare and Korea Food and Drug Adminstration("KFDA") and academic articles of the herbal medicine;second, to find reasonable administrative solutions to solve the problems. Solutions : A solution is to strengthen the management level of herbal medicine in common use for food and medicine by selecting 117 items as target items requiring concentrated management. In case herbal medicine is imported for food, KFDA strengthens the quality management level of herbal medicine by making use of inspection frequency at random, collecting and verifying herbal medicine on the market. However, KFDA decides to maintain current different quality specification system of food and medicine reflecting a civil complaint that quality specification of food and medicine should separately managed according to the purpose of use. Herbal medicine as medicine that is functioned as treating diseases and alleviating symptoms, unlike herbal medicine for food, can cure all kinds of diseases by recovering inner balance of human body, making use of other properties of herbal medicine. Medicine has its own properties. If a doctor uses properties of medicine appropriately, he cures diseases. If a doctor uses herbal medicine inappropriately. he may damage human body. Thus, whether side effects of medicine depend on a doctor who uses herbal medicine. Conclusions : All herbal medicine will be supplied into the market after strict safety control of manufacturers of herbal medicine according to the revised Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, beginning in April, 2012. Thus, people can take safer and more reliable herbal medicine through strengthening safety management of herbal medicine and improving quality and transparency in the distribution system. Herbal medicine should appropriately be prescribed by licensed OMD because herbal medicine is used to treat diseases and alleviate symptoms, unlike herbal medicine for food.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.25-35
• /
• 2015

Objectives: Health behaviors among young people group are strongly linked to healthy habit or life style in adulthood. This study performed to explore the essential components and effective strategies to develop the standardized program on healthy campus that could contribute to health status and sustainable health promotion among students, faculty, and staff in university health. Methods: To set up the priority and weighting of essential components and strategies on health promoting university, thirty one professionals who had majored in health promotion were selected for Delphi in Oct. 2011. Results: Barriers to success of the health promoting university were lack of interest and policies, incomplete process of health planning, absence of health-related personnel, and inadequate action plan. Essential components of healthy campus were raising fund, healthy policy, participation, human resource, and health promotion programs. Effective strategies were expanding of health promotion programs to improve lifestyle, improvement of campus environment, planning of healthy campus, development of infrastructure, and building up a healthy and safety campus. Conclusions: Health promoting university services support to achieve academic goal of student and helps to reduce absenteeism of university faculty and staff through the on-campus services that are accessible, student-focused, cost-effective, and high quality.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.95-113
• /
• 2016

Objectives : The purpose of this review is to introduce the recent advance in allergic rhinitis and to provide help in establishing strategy and selection of drugs for Korean medical treatment of allergic rhinitis. Methods : We searched articles about allergic rhinitis comprehensively in PubMed, CNKI, JStage, KISTI. And in order to reflect clinical situation, we also reviewed some profession's writing for practitioners. Results : This review discussed allergic rhinitis's epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis. We found many standardized clinical practice guideline have been published in this field. And some guideline reflected accumulation of medical evidence on interventions in Korean medicine. It suggested that acupuncture, herbal medicine, herbal patch are useful to prevention and alleviate allergic symptoms. But some interventions have heterogeneity due to each nation's medical background. Conclusions : Acupuncture therapy is now recommended world widely for treating allergic rhinitis. But other interventions of Korean medicine are not well recognized in the same manner. We need more research to identify mechanism and rigorous clinical trials to clarify efficacy and safety of Korean medicine intervention.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.15 no.sup1
• /
• pp.70-78
• /
• 2021

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The recent coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has brought to light issues regarding personal and environmental cleanliness. Individuals may have concerns about cleanliness at food service establishments when they consume food prepared at a restaurant. In Korea, a new restaurant hygienic certificate system was implemented in 2017. The effect of this new system has not been evaluated. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This study investigated consumers' perceptions of these new certificates using the protection motivation theory (PMT). An online survey was conducted to collect data and then exploratory factor analysis, analysis of variance, and multiple regression tests were run. RESULTS: The results of this study indicate that 3 different certificates had significant differences in threat (P < 0.001) and benefit (P < 0.001) perception. However, experience with a foodborne illness from a restaurant did not effect on the PMT variables. In addition, the 3-tier certificate did not motivate consumers to protect themselves against foodborne illnesses, while previous experiences of foodborne illness (P < 0.05), coping (P < 0.001), and benefits (P < 0.01) affected this protection motivation. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that consumers were not influenced by different certificate levels regarding their motivation to protect themselves from foodborne illnesses. Therefore, an improved plan should be initiated to clarify the meaning of these certificates. The results of this study can help the application and development of a new system for future adaptations.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.675-682
• /
• 2010

Groundwater is an essential drinking water source in Gyungbuk, South Korea. The primary source of nitrate in groundwater is from nitrogen fertilizers. Efficient management of a small drinking water plant requires a good understanding of its status such as the objective and the cognition of users. The objective of this study is to understand user situation and produce useful user-friendly policy based on user cognition. Most people who participated in this study, should take their groundwater from a good quality source. Even though they would like to have a good facility for getting safe water, they were reluctant to do it due to the cost used. It means that people who drink groundwater have no idea that health safety is affected by groundwater quality. The volume used depended upon personal activities such as agriculture and stockbreeding. We can easily find groundwater with nitrate that exceeds drinking water standards. Therefore, we have to carry out groundwater management with two categories ; 1) drinking water only and 2) others according to objectives in small drinking water systems.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.65-78
• /
• 2014

Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate promotional Internet health information on health functional foods with regard to labeling information, website structure, and overall quality. Methods : The websites of 15 producers of three health functional foods (Red ginseng, vitamin, aloe) were selected. Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) required labeling information was used to evaluate the integrity of basic information, and the structural properties of the websites were investigated. Moreover, DISCERN instrument was used to evaluate reliability and quality of information. Results : 1) Among MFDS required labeling information, seven items, including 'sell by date', and 'possible side effects' were not fully specified, and only 6.7% of Internet advertisements provided 'possible side effects'. 2) Each of 92.9% of these websites offered 'Introducation to websites and producers', and 'customer service', whereas only 64.3% and 42.9% of these websites offered 'FAQ about website utilization' and 'multilingual support', respectively. 3) The evaluation using DISCERN instrument showed the scores of $2.03{\pm}0.24$ in reliability, $1.87{\pm}0.28$ in quality, and $2.10{\pm}0.55$ in overall quality. Conclusions : Current promotional Internet health information on health functional foods has various weaknesses in terms of reliability and quality that need to be improved.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.66-76
• /
• 2015

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to develop a case review form for detecting adverse events through a medical records review in hospitalized patients in South Korea. Methods: To develop the case review form, several literatures were reviewed, first. Through the clinical expert meeting, screening criteria were selected and case review form was developed. Result: The Korean version of case review form consisted of the review form-1 for adverse event screening and form-2 for adverse event identification. The applied methodology for the case review form is determined according to the previous studies. For example, the method used in the first stage review is nurse review. Furthermore, the National Coordinating Council for Medication Errors Reporting and Prevention index is used to categorize disability, and a scale of 1 to 6 was used in the causation scores and preventability scores, respectively. Through the clinical expert meeting, a total of 41 screening criteria were selected. Conclusion: The Korean specific case review form was developed for detecting adverse events in hospitalized patients. The results from this study can be used in a large-scale study regarding the nationwide incidence of adverse events.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.43 no.3
• /
• pp.94-105
• /
• 2022

Objectives: This study investigated public opinion on the use of modern diagnostic medical devices by Korean Medicine doctors. Methods: A questionnaire looking into perceptions on the use of modern medical devices was developed. It was distributed by a third party and data was collected. Results were analyzed through frequency analysis, chi-square analysis (χ²-test), frequency and cross analysis using R program. The measurement variable in the study was the respondent's perspectives and expectations on the use of modern diagnostic medical devices by Korean Medicine doctors. The maximum significance level was 0.05. Results: There were a total of 3,000 responses and 80.8% of the respondents replied that there is a need for government-level discussion on endowing rights to Korean Medicine doctors as supervisors for safety management of radiation generating devices. Also, 83.3% of the respondents agreed the use of ultrasound imaging equipment in Korean Medicine clinics should be legalized. Conclusions: According to this study, respondents strongly support the use of modern diagnostic medical devices by Korean Medicine doctors. This is the first study to investigate public opinion in this area and it provides a significant insight into the public needs and desires for a wider scope of practice for Korean Medicine in the healthcare system.