• Title/Summary/Keyword: consumer health

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Public Perception and Routes of Acquiring Information on Drug Safety (소비자의 의약품안전성 인식정도 및 관련정보 획득경로)

  • Ji, Eun-Hee;Kim, Su-Kyeong;Oh, Jung-Mi;Lee, Suk-Hyang
    • Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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    • v.21 no.4
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    • pp.311-318
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    • 2011
  • Misinformation and inappropriate use of medication has become one of the most pressing concerns in drug safety. The purpose of this study was to survey public perception on drug safety as well as the channels most relied upon providing such information. The survey was performed for patients or their families visiting pharmacies in a local city in Korea. Analysis was performed from 367 respondents to the survey. The contents of this survey revealed that consumers were aware of the fact that medications should not be taken at any higher dosage or more often than directed by their prescriptions. The survey revealed a general awareness that symptoms might not be relieved immediately by their medications. However, the perception that there could be adverse drug reaction (ADR) at therapeutic dose was low except among the young or highly educated members. Respondents recognized that skin rashes were the most whereas drowsiness was the least common ADR symptom. There was a high awareness of drug-food or drug-drug interactions except in the case of certain nutraceuticals. Doctors and pharmacists were ranked as the most reliable resources to the consumer for providing drug related information. However, public relations or education programs were in need since there were still not negligible numbers of consumers depending on personal experience rather than health professionals.

Actual Wearing Conditions and Attitude: An Initial Report on an Outdoor Wearing Survey for Man and Woman in their 30s to 50s (30~50대 남녀의 아웃도어 웨어 착용실태 및 인식조사(제 1보))

  • Paek, Kyung Ja;Hwang, Young Mi;Lee, Jeong Ran
    • Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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    • v.15 no.5
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    • pp.787-796
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    • 2013
  • This study is an initial report of actual wearing conditions and attitude based on a survey of wearing outdoor wear for men and women in their 30s to 50s who enjoy daily leisure sport activities. Most middle-aged men and women who enjoy outdoor activities were interested in new trends and clothing styles. The greatest area of interest was health(42.9%), followed by leisure and sports(38.4%); in addition, hiking(40.2%) was the most popular outdoor activity. The majority of subjects participated in outdoor activities for over 5 years(34.4%). The highest frequency of outdoor activities was conducted once or twice a month, and it took one to three hours for each activity. Nearly half of the respondents( 47.7%) answered that the goal of outdoor activities was to maintain their health. Subjects in their 40s and 50s were more equipped in their outdoor activities and in their 50s made ongoing investments despite costs. When wearing clothing, the subjects placed a priority on design(in the case of subjects in their 30s) and comfort(for subjects in their 40s and 50s). This survey shows that the subjects emphasized access to outdoor wear and equipment. In all age groups, the biggest complaint about outdoor wear was price; in addition, they were unsatisfied with the length and the sleeves of outdoor jackets. Outdoor wear will draw a positive attention for its practical use of clothing if it is developed according to consumer demands based on functionality for outdoor activities and convenience in daily life.

Relationship between Hospital Use Satisfaction and Medical Service Provision Process (입원환자들의 병원이용 만족도와 의료서비스 제공과정 간의 관계)

  • Ha, Au-Hyun;Park, Ki-Hyeok
    • Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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    • v.10 no.1
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    • pp.235-242
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    • 2020
  • This study aims to provide direction for improvement of the hospital's management environment for customer satisfaction management, which is ultimately consumer-oriented in practice. this study was analyzed the relationship between hospital use satisfaction relative to expected level and medical service provision process for inpatients. The study method collected data from September 10 to September 30, 2018 for patients with inpatient care at hospitals and general hospitals under 300 beds, and conducted a t-test, ANOVA, and logistic regression. According to the analysis, hospital brands were the most frequently chosen reason for hospitalization, followed by doctor brands. The satisfaction level of the inpatient medical service provision process showed no statistical differences depending on the general characteristics. It has been confirmed that the hospital's satisfaction level relative to the expected level of inpatients has a causal relationship that significantly affects the hospitalized procedure the course of the provision of medical services.

Privacy Protection Scheme of Healthcare Patients using Hierarchical Multiple Property (계층적 다중 속성을 이용한 헬스케어 환자의 프라이버시 보호 기법)

  • Shin, Seung-Soo
    • Journal of Digital Convergence
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    • v.13 no.1
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    • pp.275-281
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    • 2015
  • The recent health care is growing rapidly want to receive offers users a variety of medical services, can be exploited easily exposed to a third party information on the role of the patient's hospital staff (doctors, nurses, pharmacists, etc.) depending on the patient clearly may have to be classified. In this paper, in order to ensure safe use by third parties in the health care environment, classify the attributes of patient information and patient privacy protection technique using hierarchical multi-property rights proposed to classify information according to the role of patient hospital officials The. Hospital patients and to prevent the proposed method is represented by a mathematical model, the information (the data consumer, time, sensor, an object, duty, and the delegation circumstances, and so on) the privacy attribute of a patient from being exploited illegally patient information from a third party the prevention of the leakage of the privacy information of the patient in synchronization with the attribute information between the parties.

Information Sources and Knowledge on Infant Vaccination according to Online Communities (온라인 커뮤니티에 따른 영.유아 예방접종에 대한 정보습득 경로 및 지식수준 비교)

  • Choi, In-Young;Chung, Mi-Eun;Choy, Soon;Kim, Suk-Il
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.40 no.4
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    • pp.291-296
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    • 2007
  • Objectives : To explore the information sources and knowledge on infant vaccinations of pro-vaccination community members and anti-vaccination community members on the internet. Methods : An online survey of 245 parents from three pro-vaccination communities and 92 parents from one anti-vaccination community was conducted from June 7 to June 23, 2006. Results : Parents from pro-vaccination communities usually gained the information regarding vaccination efficacy and risk mainly from healthcare providers (49.8%) and mass media (47.7%). Pro-vaccination community members considered healthcare providers as the most credible sources of information on vaccination, whereas the anti-vaccination community members usually gained their information regarding vaccine efficiency and risk from Internet child-care cafes and online vaccination communities. Parents of the anti-vaccination community considered the internet as the most credible information source (77.6% for efficacy, 94.8% for risk). In addition, the major reason why anti-vaccination community members didn't vaccinate and, will not vaccinate, was concern about possible side effects of the vaccine. The knowledge level on infant vaccination, education and economic status was higher in the anti-vaccination community. Conclusions : On-line communities concerned with vaccination are getting popular. The influence of anti-vaccination parents on the Internet is expected to be high. The government and healthcare providers need to increase their efforts to improve the credibility of information about vaccination. Our findings suggest that online communication regarding vaccinations needs to be considered as a means to increase vaccination rates.

A Study of an effective centralization of medical supply system. In Y University Medical Center (Y의료원의 물류 공급체계 중앙화 관리에 대한 연구)

  • Kwon, Soon-Chang;Kim, Young-Soo
    • Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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    • v.4 no.1
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    • pp.1-20
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    • 1999
  • Since the late 1980s, there have been radical changes in the managerial environment of Y University Medical Center(YUMC). Externally, the competition among hospitals has intensified due to the establishment of universal health insurance in 1939 and the entrance of large enterprises into the health care industry in the early 1990s. In addition, government regulation of medical institution is becoming stricter. Also, consumer groups have continued to demand the respect for patient rights and improvement of the quality of medical services. Internally, the financial condition of YUMC has worsened, not only because weak control and poor mediation in its large-scale structure have made its operation inefficient, but also because the rates of increase in the prices of goods and labor have grown faster than any increases in revenues. This study on materials management at YUMC presents a way for YUMC to reduce costs and increase its productivity, thereby overcoming its financial difficulties and dealing with external pressures. This study utilized the case studies of the materials purchasing and medical supply management in the United States and the comparative analysis of management to suggest short-term and long-term alternatives for innovation in YUMC. The goals of the short-term alternatives for innovation are to centralize the purchasing and supply departments and to simplify the decision-making processes. Through these attempts, it is estimated that YUMC's costs could be reduced by $600,000 per year. In the long-term, it is necessary to consider introducing a Supply Processing Distribution(SPD) system and setting up a centralized electronic system for supply and inventory management, although it is difficult to estimate the effect of cost-cutting because of the lack of analysis data. Thus, YUMC should thoroughly analyze initial investment costs and economical efficiency generated from long-term alternatives.

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Cost-benefit Analysis of Mandatory Prescription in Korea (의약분업의 비용-편익 분석)

  • Kim, Han-Joong;Park, Eun-Cheol;Kang, Hye-Young;Jee, Young-Keon
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.33 no.4
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    • pp.484-494
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    • 2000
  • Objective : To evaluate the relative benefits and the costs associated with the introduction of the new pharmaceutical provision called 'Mandatory Prescription System' which separates the role of physicians from that of pharmacists with respect to the prescription and dispensation of from the perspective of consumers (i.e., patients). Methods : The costs of the system were measured by considering both direct and indirect costs. Direct costs included additional payments for ambulatory care and dispensing fees that occurred under the new system. indirect costs consisted of transportation expenses and costs related to time spent for physician consultation, waiting for the prescriptions to be filled, and extra traveling. Benefits identified in this study were the reduction of drug misuse and overuse, and the overall decrease in drug consumption among the Korean population. Sensitivity analysis was peformed for the inclusion of benefits for outpatients of hospitals, price elasticity, and increased fees for established patients. Results : The net benefit was estimated to be about minus 1,862 billion won and the benefit-cost ratio was 0.478. This indicates that the costs of 'Mandatory Prescription' outweigh its benefits, relative to the previous system. The sensitivity analysis results for all the variables considered in this study consistently showed the benefit-cost ratio to be less than 1. Conclusion : The results of this study suggest that implementing Mandatory Prescription System in Korea might be inefficient from the consumer's perspective. The results of this study do not coincide with the results of previous studies, presumably because of the differences in study design and in which items of costs and benefits were considered.

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Systematic Development and Effect Estimation of the Functional Insoles for Seniors (시니어전용 기능성 깔창의 체계적인 개발 및 효과분석)

  • Kim, Yong-Deok;Lee, Dong-Hyung
    • Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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    • v.38 no.4
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    • pp.184-192
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    • 2015
  • Korea has already entered into an aging society. In recent decades, the health problems for seniors has received considerable interest. We often see the elderly who have been struggled from discomfort or illness of the foot. Those foot related problems mainly cause from the use of improper shoes. Recently, shoe makers sell the shoes for seniors, so called comfort shoes, but the shoes are too expensive for seniors to buy easily. In this paper, we develop cheap insoles for seniors as an alternative of the comfort shoes and suggest the systematic process for the insoles development. This systematic process is as follows: 1) Survey the literature about the market of insole, 2) Investigate the standard size of body and foot for the seniors in Korea, 3) Analyze the customer needs by survey, 4) Study the walking pattern by experiments, and 5) Develop the novel insole for the seniors to relieve the inconveniences related with foot. From the newly developed insoles, the company B gains the sales increasing effect approximately 30% over through the increase in consumer satisfaction and company reputation and secures for intellectual property rights. Using the database from Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, the reliability of developing technology of the functional insole has been obtained. The seniors are also enable to choose an alternative of comfort shoes for foot health. In the future, the insoles developed from this study have wide applications in the medical, cosmetic fields, and leisure sports fields. Accordingly, it seems to require more systematic studies utilizing Walk Analyzer and Foot Pressure Meter.

Risk Assessment of Triclosan, a Cosmetic Preservative

  • Lee, Jung Dae;Lee, Joo Young;Kwack, Seung Jun;Shin, Chan Young;Jang, Hyun-Jun;Kim, Hyang Yeon;Kim, Min Kook;Seo, Dong-Wan;Lee, Byung-Mu;Kim, Kyu-Bong
    • Toxicological Research
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    • v.35 no.2
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    • pp.137-154
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    • 2019
  • Triclosan (TCS) is an antimicrobial compound used in consumer products. The purpose of current study was to examine toxicology and risk assessment of TCS based on available data. Acute toxicities of oral, transdermal and inhalation routes were low, and phototoxicity and neurotoxicity were not observed. Topical treatment of TCS to animal caused mild irritation. TCS did not induce reproductive and developmental toxicity in rodents. In addition, genotoxicity was not considered based on in vitro and in vivo tests of TCS. It is not classified as a carcinogen in international authorities such as International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). No-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) was determined 12 mg/kg bw/day for TCS, based on haematoxicity and reduction of absolute and relative spleen weights in a 104-week oral toxicity study in rats. Percutaneous absorption rate was set as 14%, which was human skin absorption study reported by National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) (2009). The systemic exposure dosage (SED) of TCS has been derived by two scenarios depending on the cosmetics usage of Koreans. The first scenario is the combined use of representative cosmetics and oral care products. The second scenario is the combined use of rinse-off products of cleansing, deodorants, coloring products, and oral care products. SEDs have been calculated as 0.14337 mg/kg bw/day for the first scenario and 0.04733 mg/kg bw/day for the second scenario. As a result, margin of safety (MOS) for the first and second scenarios was estimated to 84 and 253.5, respectively. Based on these results, exposure of TCS contained in rinse-off products, deodorants, and coloring products would not pose a significant health risk when it is used up to 0.3%.

Effect of eco-friendly clothing knowledge and consciousness on ecological clothing consumption behavior (친환경 의류지식과 의식이 친환경 의류소비에 미치는 영향)

  • Kwon, Kyung-Sook;Lee, Kyu-Hye
    • The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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    • v.26 no.6
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    • pp.982-993
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    • 2018
  • Consumers' interests in the environment have been growing; hence, their consciousness about the environment has changed and affected their clothing shopping behavior. Prior study indicated attitude-behavior inconsistency in eco-friendly consumer behavior. It was because consumers' consciousness or attitude was often measured at an abstract level, not at a product specific level. This study investigated eco-friendly clothing knowledge, eco-friendly clothing consciousness, and ecological clothing consumption behavior. The effects of consumers' level of clothing involvement and subjective norms in this process were also investigated. For the empirical research, a questionnaire was developed, and responses from 480 women in their 20s to 50s were statistically analyzed. Results indicated that interest and fashion consciousness dimensions of clothing involvement had a significant influence on eco-friendly clothing knowledge, which thereby significantly influenced the three factors of eco-friendly clothing consciousness: social responsibility, health orientation, and clothing resource-saving consciousness. Such factors had different roles in the clothing consumption process. Social responsibility had a significant influence on the entire process of clothing consumption: shopping, purchasing, using, and disposing behaviors. Health orientation consciousness had a significant influence on shopping and purchasing behaviors, whereas resource-saving consciousness had a significant impact only on shopping behavior. Subjective norms were significantly correlated with all aspects of the clothing consumption process. Influence on disposing behavior was relatively weaker than other aspects of clothing consumption behavior.