• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.253-264
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• 2024

Purpose: This study investigated the association between dietary quality and the prevalence of periodontitis in older Korean adults (≥60 years of age) using data from the seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES VII, 2016-2018). Methods: Among the 16,489 KNHANES participants from 2016-2018, those aged ≥60 years were selected as the eligible population. After applying our exclusion criteria, 3,527 participants were included in the final study population. Periodontal status was measured using the Community Periodontal Index (CPI). To determine the association between dietary quality and the prevalence of periodontitis, analysis of variance, the chi-square (χ²) test, and logistic regression analysis were performed. Results: The population was divided into quartile groups and stratified by sex. The percentage of men and women with periodontitis was 54.34% and 42.74%, respectively. The quartile with higher Korean Healthy Eating Index scores had a lower percentage of people with periodontitis in both sexes. For men, only vegetable intake showed a significant difference between sub-groups with or without periodontitis, whereas, for women, the intake of fruits, milk, sweets, carbohydrates, and fats showed significant differences. There was a strong positive association between vegetable intake and periodontitis in men in the 3 models used in this study; model 3 had an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 1.367 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.091-1.712). In women, a strong positive association with periodontitis was shown for sweets in all 3 models, with an aOR of 1.477 in model 3 (95% CI, 1.125-1.939). Conclusions: Dietary quality was inversely associated with the prevalence of periodontitis in Korean adults aged ≥60 years. Further comprehensive studies are needed to help establish nutrition and health policies for older adults in Korea.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.161-176
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• 2024

Purpose: Peri-implant mucositis (PIM) and peri-implantitis (PI) are multicausal conditions with several risk factors contributing to their pathogenesis. In this study, we retrospectively investigated risk variables potentially associated with these peri-implant diseases (PIDs) over a follow-up period of 1 to 18 years. Methods: The study sample consisted of 379 implants placed in 155 patients. Single-visit clinical and radiographic evaluations were employed to determine the presence or absence of PIDs. Parameters related to the patient, site, surgery, implant, and prosthetic restoration were documented. The relationships between risk variables and the occurrence of PIDs were individually examined and adjusted for confounders using multivariate binary logistic regression models. Results: The prevalence rates of PIM and PI were 28.4% and 36.8% at the patient level and 33.5% and 24.5% at the implant level, respectively. Poor oral hygiene, active gingivitis/periodontitis, preoperative alveolar ridge deficiency, early or delayed implant placement, implant length of 11.0 mm or less, and poor restoration quality were strong and independent risk indicators for both PIDs. Furthermore, a follow-up period of more than 5 years and a loading time of more than 4 years were important indicators for PI. Simultaneously, age and smoking status acted as modifiers of the effect of mesiodistal (MD) and buccolingual (BL) widths of restoration on PI. Conclusions: In this study population, oral hygiene, periodontal status, preoperative alveolar ridge status, implant placement protocol, implant length, and the quality of coronal restoration appear to be robust risk indicators for both PIM and PI. Additionally, the length of follow-up and functional loading time are robust indicators of PI. Furthermore, the potential modifying relationships of age and smoking status with the MD and BL widths of restoration may be crucial for the development of PI.

• Journal of the Health Care and Life Science
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.335-343
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to identify communication ability, self-esteem and academic achievement according to Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality type in nursing students. This study was a cross sectional survey and the data was collected from 123 nursing students by means of self-reported questionnaires from June 7 to 18, 2021. ISFJ type was the most common with 13.8% in MBTI personality type. There were significant differences in communication ability, self-esteem and academic achievement by MBTI attitude. The communication ability of nursing students showed a positive correlation with self-esteem and academic achievement.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.31.1-31.11
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• 2024

Objectives: The present study investigated the prevalence of mechanical allodynia (MA) in healthy teeth adjacent and contralateral to endodontically diseased teeth. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 114 patients with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis and apical periodontitis in permanent mandibular first molars who possessed healthy teeth adjacent and contralateral to the endodontically diseased tooth. The mechanical sensitivity of the teeth was determined by percussion testing. The presence or absence of pain on percussion in the teeth adjacent and contralateral to the endodontically diseased tooth and the tooth distal to the contralateral symmetrical tooth was recorded according to coding criteria. The prevalence of MA was computed as a percentage, and binary logistic regression analysis was done. The Fisher exact test and Mann-Whitney U test were used for binary and ordinal data. Results: Age and sex did not influence the prevalence of MA. An increased prevalence of MA was found in patients with higher levels of spontaneous pain (p < 0.001). The prevalence of allodynia was 57% in teeth adjacent to endodontically diseased teeth and 10.5% in teeth contralateral to endodontically diseased teeth. In addition, on the ipsilateral side, there were more painful sensations distal to the diseased tooth than mesially. Conclusions: Despite being disease-free, teeth adjacent and contralateral to endodontically diseased teeth exhibited pain on percussion. There was a direct association between the severity of the patient's pain and the presence of MA.

• The Korean journal of internal medicine
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.668-679
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• 2024

Background/Aims: This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate biologics treatment disparities in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients based on socioeconomic status (SES). Methods: Data from the KOrean Observational Study Network for Arthritis (KORONA) database were analyzed to assess various factors associated with SES, health behaviors, and biologics use. Logistic regression and structured equation modeling (SEM) were utilized for data analysis. Results: Among 5,077 RA patients included, 393 (7.7%) patients were identified as biologics users. Within the entire cohort, 31.8% of the participants were in the low-income and low-education groups, and 39.3% of the participants were in the high-income and high-education groups. Despite the patients with low income or low education experienced higher disease activity at diagnosis, had more comorbidities, exhibited higher medication compliance, underwent more check-ups, and had more hospital admissions than their counterparts, the odds of patients with low-income receiving biologics were 34% lower (adjusted odds ratio = 0.76, 95% confidence interval: 0.60-0.96, p = 0.021) after adjustment for demographics and comorbidities. SEM and pathway analyses confirmed the negative impact of low SES on biologics use. Conclusions: The findings suggest that SES plays a significant role in biologics use among RA patients, indicating potential healthcare inefficiencies for low SES patients. Moreover, adverse healthcare habits negatively affect biologics use in RA patients. The study highlights the importance of considering socioeconomic factors while discussing biologics use and promoting equitable access to biologics for optimal RA management.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.292-299
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• 2024

Background: The aim of this research is to analyze the transformation of workers perceptions of the safety climate in an oil and gas company in Indonesia when they experience a change in ownership from a multinational to a national company. Methods: This cross-sectional study used questionnaires distributed offline and online in three periods of ownership of Company X. Data analysis was carried out descriptively by comparing workers perception scores regarding the safety climate at Company X when managed by the multinational holder, transition period, and national holder. Results: Workers perceptions of the safety climate in Company X when it experienced a change in ownership from a multinational company to a national company has a trend of decreasing scores (from 8.07 to 7.48). Overall, a decreasing trend in scores occurred in several sub-variables of safety climate, namely management commitment (8.33 to 7.56), communication (8.10 to 7.64), safety priority (8.55 to 7.68), personal appreciation of risk (8.25 to 5.48), involvement (7.50 to 7.36), and personal priority and need for safety (8.25 to 5.48). Conclusions: Ownership changes cause a trend of decrease in employee perceptions of the safety climate at Company X. Company's priority on safety related to production target factors is decreasing due to the change of ownership. On the other hand, the national period had a higher score in supportive environments and work environments, compared to the multinational period.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.352-359
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• 2024

Background: Organizational downsizing may be significantly linked to depressive symptoms, yet research on this impact in Asian contexts is limited. This study investigates the association between downsizing during the COVID-19 pandemic and depressive symptoms across diverse employment statuses. Methods: This study used the data from 6th Korean Working Conditions Survey. Depressive symptoms were measured using WHO-5 well-being index with a cut-off of 50. Downsizing was defined as decrease in the number of employees during last three years. Multivariable logistic regression adjusted for socio-demographic and occupational factors was used to estimate the adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for depressive symptoms associated with downsizing, including subgroup analyses. Results: Among 26,247 Korean workers (mean age: 43.4, men: 47.5%), the prevalence of depressive symptoms was 29.5% (n = 7,751), and the proportion of downsizing was 15.2% (n = 3,978). The prevalence of depressive symptoms was significantly higher among the downsizing group (36.7%, n = 1,460) than among the no-downsizing group (28.3%, n = 6,291). The result of logistic regression revealed a significant association between downsizing and depressive symptoms (adjusted OR [95% CI]: 1.39 [1.29-1.50]), particularly pronounced among high socioeconomic status workers. Conclusion: This study underscores the significant association between depressive symptoms and organizational downsizing, especially high vulnerability of socioeconomically advantaged and stable workers. These findings highlight the necessity for targeted mental health support and further longitudinal research to clarify the relationship between employment changes and mental health within the Korean workforce.

• Endocrinology and Metabolism
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.333-343
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• 2022

Background Homocysteine has been drawing attention with a closed linkage with skeletal muscle. However, the association of hyperhomocysteinemia with decreased skeletal muscle mass remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the association of hyperhomocysteinemia with low skeletal muscle mass (LMM) in asymptomatic adults. Methods This was a cross-sectional study of 114,583 community-dwelling adults without cancer, stroke, or cardiovascular diseases who underwent measurements of plasma homocysteine and body composition analysis from 2012 to 2018. Hyperhomocysteinemia was defined as >15 µmol/L. Skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) was calculated based on appendicular muscle mass (kg)/height (m)². Participants were classified into three groups based on SMI: "normal," "mildly low," and "severely low." Results The prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia was the highest in subjects with severely LMM (12.9%), followed by those with mildly LMM (9.8%), and those with normal muscle mass (8.5%) (P for trend <0.001). In a multivariable logistic regression model, hyperhomocysteinemia was significantly associated with having a mildly LMM (odds ratio [OR], 1.305; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.224 to 1.392) and severely LMM (OR, 1.958; 95% CI, 1.667 to 2.286), respectively. One unit increment of log-transformed homocysteine was associated with 1.360 and 2.169 times higher risk of having mildly LMM and severely LMM, respectively. Conclusion We demonstrated that elevated homocysteine has an independent association with LMM in asymptomatic adults, supporting that hyperhomocysteinemia itself can be a risk for decline in skeletal musculature.

• Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.133-140
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• 2022

Purpose: Adult vaccination, which is among the duties of family physicians, is an important issue that reduces morbidity and mortality. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of adults about adult vaccines. Materials and Methods: This study is a descriptive, cross-sectional research; which was performed by a questionnaire including sociodemographic data and questions about adult vaccination to the patients and their relatives who applied to Şişli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital Family Medicine Polyclinics for any reason. Mean, standard deviation and chi-square tests were used for the analysis; p<0.05 was considered significant. Results: The study included 182 people, 93 of them were women (51.1%) and 89 (48.9%) were men. The mean age was 32.9±12.8 years; most of them (n=144, 79.1%) were high educated and 38.5% were married. The most known vaccine was tetanus (n=154, 84.6%), the least known was zona vaccine (n=30, 16.5%). Health care professionals and television (n=60, 33%) were the most information sources about vaccines (n=78, 42.9%). Vaccination was mostly (26.9%) recommended by family physicians 144 (79.1%). The students had more knowledge about human papilloma virus (HPV), zoster, and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines (p≤0.05), and mostly the information was got from internet and school (p≤0.05). As education status increased, knowledge about tetanus, hepatitis A, pneumonia, and HPV vaccines increased significantly, whereas only tetanus vaccination was performed in practice (p≤0.05). As the income increased, knowledge about pneumonia and HPV vaccines increased, but vaccination was not performed as expected. Conclusion: Age, occupation, education, and income level are directly related to knowledge and attitudes about adult vaccination. Adult vaccines are still not known and performed enough in Turkey. It is important to encourage and increase the number of trainings via media on this subject.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.1-8
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• 2024

Macular degeneration is a disease that damages the macula, the center of the retina, and is one of the three major eye diseases along with glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. The optic nerve and most of the photoreceptor cells are located here, and since this is where images of objects are formed, it is the most important area for vision. The main symptom of macular degeneration is the inability to clearly distinguish the shape of objects or the inability to distinguish colors and light and dark. It is also a serious eye disease that causes black spots in the center of the field of vision. However, it is difficult to distinguish it from the form of vision loss due to presbyopia, so early diagnosis is often missed. The most common treatment for macular degeneration is antibody injection therapy. This treatment requires regular injections once every 1-2 months. When receiving antibody injection therapy, the fear of having to inject directly into the eye and the cost of long-term repeated procedures are a great burden to patients. To overcome these problems, special sustained-release formulations using drug delivery systems are being developed. Since the release speed and release time of the drug can be controlled, the number of times the drug is administered can be drastically reduced. However, the implant (Ø 0.46×6.0mm), which is a sustained-release agent, is manufactured by mixing biodegradable resin (PLGA) and therapeutic agent in a ratio of 4:6, so it is very brittle and there is a high risk of implant damage during handling. In order to safely insert the implant into the eye, a transport device that can be driven with controlled force is required. Therefore, in this study, the lever operating force was measured and analyzed to determine the influence of factors according to the cross-sectional thickness and shape of the linkage produced through injection molding as well as the post-process.