• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.243-250
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• 2009

Objectives : The purposes of this study is to estimate the cost of cancer care after its diagnosis and to identify factors that can influence the cost of cancer care. Methods : The study subjects were patients with an initial diagnosis one of four selected tumors and had their first two-years of cancer care at a national cancer center. The data were obtained from medical records and patient surveys. We classified cancer care costs into medical and nonmedical costs, and each cost was analyzed for burden type, medical service, and cancer stage according to cancer types. Factors affecting cancer care costs for the initial phase included demographic variables, socioeconomic status and clinical variables. Results : Cancer care costs for the initial year following diagnosis were higher than the costs for the following successive year after diagnosis. Lung cancer (25,648,000 won) had higher costs than the other three cancer types. Of the total costs, patent burden was more than 50% and medical costs accounted for more than 60%. Inpatient costs accounted for more than 60% of the medical costs for stomach and liver cancer in the initial phase. Care for latestage cancer was more expensive than care for early-stage cancer. Nonmedical costs were estimated to be between 4,500,000 to 6,000,000 won with expenses for the caregiver being the highest. The factors affecting cancer care costs were treatment type and cancer stage. Conclusions : The cancer care costs after diagnosis are substantial and vary by cancer site, cancer stage and treatment type. It is useful for policy makers and researchers to identify tumor-specific medical and nonmedical costs. The effort to reduce cancer costs and early detection for cancer can reduce the burden to society and improve quality of life for the cancer patients.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2012

Low back pain is a common clinical condition with heterogeneous causes and challenges to manage. High prevalence and numerous assessments result in an enormous socioeconomic burden. Clinician must conduct efficient and stepwise evaluation process to rule out serious spinal pathology, neurologic involvement, and identify risk factors for chronicity. The process can be achieved through the focused history taking and physical examination. Certain factors related to serious spinal pathology include age (>50 years), trauma, unexplained fever, recent urinary or skin infection, unrelenting night or rest pain, unexplained weight loss, osteoporosis, immunosuppression, steroid use, and widespread neurological symptoms. In non-specific low back pain, diagnostic imaging and laboratory studies are often unnecessary and can disturb an appropriate management. For the management of acute low back pain, patient education and medication such as acetaminophen, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and muscle relaxants are recommended. For chronic low back pain, behavior therapy, back exercise, and spinal manipulation are beneficial. The evidence based approach could improve success rate of management, result in prevention of acute low back pain from being chronic intractable pain.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.4461-4484
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• 2013

Cancer registration provides a firm basis for cancer control efforts and research into changing patterns of incidence, mortality, survival and prevalence is of obvious importance. Most of the countries of Asia have already published relevant data although the level of coverage and accuracy do vary a great deal both between and within countries. The present review concerns the relevant literature for the period 2008-2013, focusing on the types of research conducted and the conclusions that can be drawn with regard to what should be done in the future to translate the information available into effective intervention efforts to reduce the burden of disease. A major emphasis has been on determining variation in incidence and mortality/survival on the basis of ethnicity and socioeconomic as well as geographical background, as well as trends over time, either for cancer in general or specific organ sites. In addition a small number of papers focused on methodological, quality and cancer control issues, very pertinent to the future development of cancer registry based research.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2006

Depressive disorder is one of well-known major public health problems in Korea. The socioeconomic burden of depression is growing bigger and bigger. Therefore, the Korean government decided to establish the clinical research center for depression for better care of patients with depression. One of the major task of the center is the development of Korean clinical practice guideline for depressive disorders. This guideline should reflect the clinical situation in Korea and meet Korean physicians' needs. In addition, it should be feasible and easy to use. We reviewed the present status of the guideline development in Korea and other countries, and introduces the scope, method, and goals of Korean clinical practice guideline for depression.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.8
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• pp.677-684
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• 2015

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most prevalent forms of joint disorder, associated with a tremendous socioeconomic burden worldwide. Various non-genetic and lifestyle-related factors such as aging and obesity have been recognized as major risk factors for OA, underscoring the potential role for epigenetic regulation in the pathogenesis of the disease. OA-associated epigenetic aberrations have been noted at the level of DNA methylation and histone modification in chondrocytes. These epigenetic regulations are implicated in driving an imbalance between the expression of catabolic and anabolic factors, leading eventually to osteoarthritic cartilage destruction. Cellular senescence and metabolic abnormalities driven by OA-associated risk factors appear to accompany epigenetic drifts in chondrocytes. Notably, molecular events associated with metabolic disorders influence epigenetic regulation in chondrocytes, supporting the notion that OA is a metabolic disease. Here, we review accumulating evidence supporting a role for epigenetics in the regulation of cartilage homeostasis and OA pathogenesis.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.76-80
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• 2021

Post-concussion syndrome (PCS) following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a major factor that contributes to the increased socioeconomic burden caused by TBI. Myelin loss has been implicated in the development of PCS following mTBI. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), a traditional imaging modality for the evaluation of axonal and myelin integrity in mTBI, has intrinsic limitations, including its lack of specificity and its time-consuming and labor-intensive post-processing analysis. More recently, various fast MR techniques based on multicomponent relaxometry (MCR), including QRAPMASTER, mcDESPOT, and MDME sequences, have been developed. These MCR-based sequences can provide myelin water fraction/myelin volume fraction, a quantitative parameter more specific to myelin, which might serve as a surrogate marker of myelin volume, in a clinically feasible time. In this review, we summarize the clinical application of the MCR-based fast MR techniques in mTBI patients.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.610-621
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• 2017

Medical cost for elderly is increasing with ageing society and putting more and more burden on both individuals and government. To find a solution to reduce medical cost among elderly and to propose implication/suggestion to central government and a local government, different degree of medical cost burden by type of household and factors that affect increased medical cost are investigated based on elderly in Suwon city in this article. According to the research result, 59.3% of respondents felt medical cost burdensome. Also, according to the multiple regression performed to understand factors that increases medical cost by type of household, subjectively felt health status was found to be a statistically significant factor commonly in three groups which are living household with adult child, living household with spouse only, living household alone. And the degree of medical cost was higher in living household with spouse only, more higher in living household alone. And socioeconomic status and health status, health status, and health status and private insurance, medical security system were found to be significantly related to medical cost burden to household type of the elderly.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.251-260
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• 2009

Objectives : To estimate the annual socioeconomic costs of stroke in Korea in 2005 from a societal perspective. Methods : We identified those 20 years or older who had at least one national health insurance (NHI) claims record with a primary or a secondary diagnosis of stroke (ICD-10 codes: I60-I69, G45) in 2005. Direct medical costs of the stroke were measured from the NHI claims records. Direct non-medical costs were estimated as transportation costs incurred when visiting the hospitals. Indirect costs were defined as patients and caregivers productivity loss associated with office visits or hospitalization. Also, the costs of productivity loss due to premature death from stroke were calculated. Results : A total of 882,143 stroke patients were identified with prevalence for treatment of stroke at 2.44%. The total cost for the treatment of stroke in the nation was estimated to be 3,737 billion Korean won (KRW) which included direct costs at 1,130 billion KRW and indirect costs at 2,606 billion KRW. The per-capita cost of stroke was 3 million KRW for men and 2 million KRW for women. The total national spending for hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke was 1,323 billion KRW and 1,553 billion KRW, respectively, which together consisted of 77.0% of the total cost for stroke. Costs per patient for hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke were estimated at 6 million KRW and 2 million KRW, respectively. Conclusions : Stroke is a leading public health problem in Korea in terms of the economic burden. The indirect costs were identified as the largest component of the overall cost.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.355-360
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to examine unmet dental care needs and related factors among adults in Korea. The study included a nationally representative sample of Koreans (Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2104). The dependent variable was unmet dental care need and the independent variables were socioeconomic status and oral health status. The chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were performed to identify the associations between explanatory variables and unmet dental care needs. The major causes of unmet dental care needs included economic burden, work life, and academic reasons; in addition, dental treatment was considered to have lower priority. The factors that had statistically significant relationships with unmet dental care needs were sex, age, self-rated oral health status, and difficulty in mastication. The findings of the study, suggest a need for lower dental insurance copayments in keeping with the policies and principles aimed at strengthening the national health insurance system. In addition, groups with limited access to dental services should be identified, and effective health care policies and services should be established for these individuals.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.49-64
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• 2012

With the burden of chronic diseases mounting among the population as a result of its aging, the importance of health examination is being stressed in order to identify and manage diseases in the early stage. Health examination in Korea is divided largely into periodic health examination provided as a national health screening program and individual physical checkups. The advantages of the former include little economic burden on the examined and those of the latter include the freedom of the individual to select various examination headings depending on the individual's characteristics and preferences. With both examinations now being expanded, empirical analyses from various standpoints are needed. This study proposes to analyze traits of the examined and non-examined as shown in the facts and figures of the 1st and 2nd Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA), thereby make the determinant factors clear leading to the acceptance of the examinations, and analyze the effects of the examinations upon maintaining or moving to healthy lifestyle. It was confirmed that demographic features such as gender and age, socioeconomic features such as the level of education, place of residence and household income, physical and mental state of health such as chronic disease and dementia, and daily living habits are significantly related with whether to accept physical examination. It is also confirmed that physical examination leads to non-smoking, regular physical exercises and regular dietary habits. It is suggested that, to enhance effects of health examinations, follow-up management programs making use of results of health examinations be further expanded, and the national health screening program be more actively put into operation for the bracket lying in the blind spot of the program.