• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.269-277
• /
• 2001

This study examined the health conditions of schoolteachers in terms of the prevalence rate and risk factors for liver disease. A cohort design was conducted for 21,319 teachers who were born from 1953 to 1957. The cohort was constructed for teachers who had no disease history such as liver disease, hypertension, cerebral vascular disease, heart disease, diabetes mellitus and cancer, and had 'normal' results from liver disease examinations in 1998. They were followed up from 1998 to 2000. SAS 6.12 was used for the data analysis. The results were as follows; (1) Prevalence rates of liver disease per 1,000 people in 1998 were 43.0. (2) The 2-year cumulative incidence of liver disease was 433/16,103(26.9/1000 persons). (3) Factors such as sex, age, school type(private or public), drinking, smoking, exercise, BMI, weight gain, fasting-blood sugar levels and total cholesterol levels were statistically significant. The significant risk factors of liver disease be identified from the multiple logistic regression analysis were age, sex(male), drinking, smoking, BMI, weight gain, fasting-blood sugar levels, and total cholesterol levels.

• Women's Health Nursing
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.191-201
• /
• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify relationships of periodontal disease and health related quality of life (HRQoL) in pregnant women. Methods: The participants in this study were 129 pregnant women. Data were collected using questionnaires of characteristics of the participants and subjective perception of periodontal disease and a dentist's assessment of periodontal disease. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and hierarchical multiple regression. Results: The physical QoL showed significant negative correlation with subjective perception of periodontal disease (r=-.21, p=.013). Mental QoL had significant negative correlations with subjective perception of periodontal disease (r=-.32, p<.001) and objective periodontal disease (r=-.34, p<.001). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that pregnant women who had a history of abortion and had higher subjective perception of periodontal disease tended to report lower levels of physical QoL. Pregnant women whose age are between 30-34 years and higher subjective perception and objective periodontal disease tended to report lower mental QoL. Conclusion: To improve HRQoL of pregnant women, nurses should pay attention on the status of periodontal disease. Careful assessment of oral healthy behaviors and proper intervention for oral health of pregnant women are needed to enhance HRQoL of pregnant women.

• Women's Health Nursing
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.29-36
• /
• 2006

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate postmenopausal women's risk factors and subjective symptoms of coronary artery disease, their knowledge about the risk factors and their performance of health behaviors. Method: The subjects were 285 women aged between 50~60 who had naturally reached menopause. We interviewed them using a questionnaire on the subjects' risk factors of coronary artery disease, their knowledge about the risk factors and their performance of preventive health behaviors. Collected data was analyzed through t-test, ANOVA & Duncan test. Results: Risk factors of coronary artery disease observed in the subjects were diabetes (10.9%), hypertension (22.8%) and hyperlipidemia (14.7%). Symptoms of coronary artery disease were experienced more by those who had diabetes, smoked, had a history of coronary artery disease, and thought that they might have coronary artery disease. With regard to the subjects' knowledge about the risk factors of coronary artery disease, the average score was 13.88 out of 20 points. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that postmenopausal women have several risk factors of coronary arterial disease but they did not have sufficient knowledge about the risk factors and did not manage the factors appropriately.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.2595-2598
• /
• 2013

Background: Prostate cancer is common in elderly men, especially in western countries, and incidences are rising in low-risk populations as well. In India, the age-standardized rates vary between registries. Under these circumstances we have estimated the survival of prostate cancer patients based on age, family history, diabetes, hypertension, tobacco habit, clinical extent of disease (risk group) and treatment received. Materials and Methods: The present retrospective study was carried out at the Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), Mumbai, India. During years 1999-2002, some 850 prostate cancer cases, including 371 new cases, treated in TMH were considered as eligible entrants for the study. Five-year survival rates using actuarial and loss-adjusted (LAR) method were estimated. Results: The patient population was distributed uniformly over the three age groups. A larger proportion of the patients were diagnosed at 'metastatic stage' and hormone treatment was most common. 20% patients had history of diabetes and 40% with hypertension. The 5-year overall survival rate was 64%. Survival was 55%, 74% and 52% for '<59 years','60-69 years' and '>70 years' respectively. Non-diabetic (70%), hypertensive (74%), with family history (80%) of cancer, with localized-disease (91%) and treated with surgery, either alone or in combination, (91%) had better survival. Conclusions: The present study showed that prostate cancer patients with localized disease at diagnosis experience a better outcome. Local treatment with either surgery or radiation achieves a reasonable outcome in prostate cancer patients. A detailed study will help in understanding the prognostic indicators for survival especially with the newer treatment technologies available now.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.495-508
• /
• 2014

Purpose: This study was conducted in order to evaluate the reliability, validity, sensitivity, and specificity of the Short Form of Bobath Memorial Hospital Fall Risk Assessment Scale (BMFRAS-SF). Methods: A validation study was conducted on 207 elderly patients aged over 65 who were admitted to Bobath Memorial Hospital. Fall risk scores of BMFRAS, composed of eight subscales (age, fall history, physical activity, consciousness level, communication, fall risk factors, underlying disease, and medications) were assessed from the electronic medical record. BMFRAS-SF was derived from eight subscales of the BMFRAS representing the significance between fallers and non-fallers (fall history, physical activity, fall risk factors, underlying disease, and medications). Internal consistency reliability and interrater reliability were assessed by Cronbach's alpha and kappa coefficient. Validity was assessed by Spearman correlation analysis, factor analysis. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive and negative predictive values, and a receiver-operating characteristic curve (ROC) were generated. Results: Fallers had significantly higher risk scores than non-fallers in fall history, physical activity, fall risk factors, underlying disease, and medication scales. The BMFRAS-SF demonstrated acceptable Cronbach's alpha (.706) and kappa coefficients of .95. The BMFRAS-SF subscales showed good convergent validity and construct validity. The BMFRAS-SF presented good sensitivity(86.7%), specificity(67.9%), positive predictive value(42.9%) and good negative predictive value(94.8%) at a cut-off score of 5. Areas under the ROC curves were .860 for the BMFRAS and .861 for the BMFRAS-SF. Conclusion: The BMFRAS-SF was proved to be reliable and valid. It could be used for time-saving assessment and evaluation of the high risks for falls in clinical practice settings.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.50 no.5
• /
• pp.294-302
• /
• 2017

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to investigate the agreement between medical history questionnaire data and claims data and to identify the factors that were associated with discrepancies between these data types. Methods: Data from self-reported questionnaires that assessed an individual's history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, stroke, heart disease, and pulmonary tuberculosis were collected from a general health screening database for 2014. Data for these diseases were collected from a healthcare utilization claims database between 2009 and 2014. Overall agreement, sensitivity, specificity, and kappa values were calculated. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with discrepancies and was adjusted for age, gender, insurance type, insurance contribution, residential area, and comorbidities. Results: Agreement was highest between questionnaire data and claims data based on primary codes up to 1 year before the completion of self-reported questionnaires and was lowest for claims data based on primary and secondary codes up to 5 years before the completion of self-reported questionnaires. When comparing data based on primary codes up to 1 year before the completion of selfreported questionnaires, the overall agreement, sensitivity, specificity, and kappa values ranged from 93.2 to 98.8%, 26.2 to 84.3%, 95.7 to 99.6%, and 0.09 to 0.78, respectively. Agreement was excellent for hypertension and diabetes, fair to good for stroke and heart disease, and poor for pulmonary tuberculosis and dyslipidemia. Women, younger individuals, and employed individuals were most likely to under-report disease. Conclusions: Detailed patient characteristics that had an impact on information bias were identified through the differing levels of agreement.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.161-175
• /
• 1996

There were many reports that elevations in the levels of active and latent collagenase in gingival crevicular fluid(GCF) have been correlated positively with periodontal disease activity. To provide a simple diagnostic approach for testing GCF collagenolytic activity, the detection limit of enzyme activity was compared using radiofibril assay(Sodek et.al.1981) and spectrophotometric collagenolytic assay(Nethery et al. 1986). The detection limits of both assay for standard bacterial enzyme were similar and the radiofibril assay showed a little (1/2) lower detection limit for tad pole collagenase. To evaluate the relationship between periodontal tissue destruction and the collagenolytic activity, GCF was collected, and latent and active enzyme activities were measured by a spectrophotometric collagenolytic assay. Twelve subjects showing progressive lesions were selected according to the presence of immediate tissue destruction, frequent abscess formation, and increasing need for tooth extraction, and the absence of underlying systemic disease and previous antibiotic medication history within 6 months. Comparisons were made between sites with either: 1) inflammation with a previous history of progressive loss of periodontal tissue and bone support(2l progressive sites): 2) previous history of bone loss and periodontal destruction but now clinically stable(12 comparably stable sites); or 3) no loss of periodontal tissue and bone support(11 control sites including 5 gingivitis sites and 6 healthy sites). Active collagenase activity was the highest in the progressive sites and decreased in the order of the gingivitis sites, the stable sites, and the healthy sites. The total enzyme activity was $2{\sim}3$ fold higher in the progressive sites and the gingivitis sites, compared to the stable and the healthy sites. The ratio of active to total collagenolytic activity was twice in the progressive sites. Analysis of active collagenase level(5mU) and the ratio of active to total collagenolytic activity(0.8) as a diagnositic test indicates that these measurements have the sensitivity of 0.81 and 0.86, the specificity of 0.70 and 0.65, and the overall agreement of 0.75 and 0.73, respectively. Thus, this method has significant merits as a diagnostic tool to determine wherher the site is in a state of remission or progression.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.178-184
• /
• 2013

Purpose: The clinical presentations of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) prior to diagnosis are so diverse or vague that many of them waste time before final diagnosis. This study was undertaken to know the medical history of the pediatric patients until the final diagnosis could be reached. Methods: The medical records of all pediatric patients who were diagnosed with IBD (Crohn's disease [CD] in 14 children, ulcerative colitis [UC] in 17) during the last 13 years were reviewed. We investigated the length of the diagnostic time lag, chief clinical presentation, and any useful laboratory predictor among the routinely performed examinations. Indeterminate colitis was not included. Results: The mean ages of children at the final diagnosis was similar in both diseases. As for the pre-clinical past history of bowel symptoms in CD patients, 5 were previously healthy, 9 had had 1-3 gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, weight loss, bloody stool, anemia and rectal prolapse. With UC, 9 were previously healthy, 8 had had 1-3 GI symptoms, bloody stool, anorexia. The average diagnostic time lag with CD was 3.36 months, and with UC 2.2 months. Body mass index (BMI) and the initial basic laboratory data (white blood cell, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, serum albumin, and serum total protein) were lower in CD, statistically significant only in BMI. Conclusion: IBD shows diverse clinical symptoms before its classical features, making the patients waste time until diagnosis. It is important to concern possibility of IBD even in the mildly sick children who do not show the characteristic symptoms of IBD.

• Journal of mucopolysaccharidosis and rare diseases
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.9-13
• /
• 2017

Tandem mass spectrometry and other new technologies for the multiplex and quantitative analysis of dried blood spots have emerged as powerful techniques for the early screening and assessment of newborns for lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs). Screening newborns for these diseases is important, since treatment options, including enzyme replacement therapy or hematopoietic transplantation, are available for some LSDs, such as infant-onset Pompe disease, Fabry disease, some types of mucopolysaccharidoses (MPSs), and Krabbe disease. For these diseases, early initiation of treatment, before symptoms worsen, often leads to better clinical outcomes. Several problems, however, are associated with newborn screening for LSDs, including the development of accurate test methods to reduce low false-positive rates and treatment guidelines for late-onset or mild disease variants, the high costs associated with multiplex assays, and ethical issues. In this review, we discuss the history, current status, and ethical problems associated with the newborn screening for LSDs, including MPSs.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.50 no.6
• /
• pp.411-414
• /
• 2017

Antimicrobial resistance and emerging infectious diseases, including avian influenza, Ebola virus disease, and Zika virus disease have significantly affected humankind in recent years. In the premodern era, no distinction was made between animal and human medicine. However, as medical science developed, the gap between human and animal science grew deeper. Cooperation among human, animal, and environmental sciences to combat emerging public health threats has become an important issue under the One Health Initiative. Herein, we presented the history of One Health, reviewed current public health threats, and suggested opportunities for the field of public health through better understanding of the One Health paradigm.