• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.1-9
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• 1993

Since most people spend a large majority of their time indoors (at least in the industrialized countries), indoor air may affect human health more than outdoor air. This study was carried out to characterize the reference and equivalent methods against the low volume method which was promulgated by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. The Laser and Piezo air sampler offer the advantage of real time data and low labor costs. The arithmetic mean concentrations were found to be 102.9% (Laser-2 min method) and 65.9% (Piezo method) against low volume method (100%). The statistical analysis procedure for this comparision is linear regression. The linear regression line of low volume method had slopes of 0.5487 and 0.9697 and Y intercepts of 0.0266 and 0.0110 $\mu$g/m$^3$ about Laser (2 min) and (24 h) method respectively. And the correlation coefficients were 0.7271 and 0.9433.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.240-249
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• 2018

Purpose: This study was to identify the attributes, antecedents, their consequences, and empirical indicators of rehabilitation motivation in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Methods: Walker and Avant's method was used to analyze the concept. Articles published after 1990 were searched in Medline, CINAHL, NSDL, and RISS databases using "rehabilitation", "motivation" and their combination as keywords. Results: The attributes of rehabilitation motivation are: 1) certitude and trust toward rehabilitation treatment; 2) confidence in the rehabilitation process; 3) efforts and commitments to achieve health goals; 4) psychological needs to act toward health recovery. Its antecedents include: 1) rights of self-determination; 2) goal setting and goal-oriented attitude; 3) personal needs; 4) getting rewards; 5) social and family support; 6) professional behavior of healthcare providers; and 7) least risks or costs for actions taken. Conclusion: The study results could be used as a conceptual framework for developing tools to measure the motivation of rheumatoid arthritis patients.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.1045-1054
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• 2000

As cost pressures have escalated, policy makers, politicians, health care providers and families have tried to devise ways to reduce health care costs. While originally developed to enhance patient control and to provide better care at the end of life, hospice care has recently received significant attention as a mean of reducing health care costs. As a program providing care for patients who are dying at their homes, hospice has expanded slowly since the opening of the first hospice in Korea in 1963. Therefore, a variety of services that responds to the needs and concerns of many dying people and their families is limited The purpose of this study was to determine the potential cost savings at the end of life among patients who used home hospice compared with the patients who received institutional care in Korea. This study used a retrospective, descriptive design. The sample for this study included 46 patients who died of lung cancer: 25 patients who received home hospice care and 21 patients who received institutional care. Data on patient characteristics, kinds and frequencies of provided treatment and nursing services, and hospice and hospital charges during the last month before death were collected. Cost of care was measured by the average cost per patient per day in the last month of life. The results of the study indicated that there were significant differences in average cost of care between home hospice sample and institutional care sample (t=9.956, p<.001; home hospice sample: M=18,102 won, institutional care sample: M=317,578 won). The cost of the home hospice sample was approximately 6% of the cost of institutional care. The majority of the home hospice nursing services were education (35.7%) and supportive counseling (25.2%), followed by medication management (13.6%), assessment (12.1%), basic nursing (7.2%), treatment (5.5%) and others. In institutional care sample, basic nursing and treatment were more emphasized than education or supportive counseling among the nursing services provided. The results of this study showed the potential for hospice to reduce costs and implications for policymakers and clinicians to incorporate hospice program into the formal health care delivery system in Korea.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.31 no.3 s.62
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• pp.460-470
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• 1998

By expanding health insurance, customers will carry a smaller burden of medical costs. As a result, the number of visits to a physician increase and this result in the improvement of medical accessibility. But medical care utilization may be changed not only by insurance status but also by socio-demographic factor, economic status and other factors. The question thus remains, at which level of accessibility and what price of medical care service in health insurance will the customer and the medical care service be satisfied. The price of medical care service ls comprised of the customer's out-of-pocket money and the costs not covered by health insurance. If the price of medical care services in health insurance are appropriate, medical care utilization should not differ because of the difference in income status or the acuteness of illness. But If the price is not adequate, low income groups will receive relatively low medical care utilization, particularly in the case of chronic disease. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the differences in medical care utilization among the various income groups and those with varying acuteness of illness. The major hypotheses to test in this study are : (i) whether there are differences in medical care utilization among different income groups exist, (ii) whether differences in medical care utilization among different income groups exist with the hospital type. (iii) whether differences in medical care utilization among different income groups exist with the acuteness of illness and with age. The data was collected from the JongRo District Health Insurance Society in Seoul. A total of 118,336 persons were selected as the final sample for this study. The major findings of this study were as follows; 1. The volume of ambulatory utilization among users was statistically significant by income level. 2. Among different income groups, the volume of ambulatory utilization was statistically significant by the acuteness of illness. 3. Higher income groups with chronic diseases had a greater volume of ambulatory utilization than other groups.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.18-25
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• 2004

The purpose of this article is twofold: 1) to provide nutrition professionals with the history of how the concept of sustainable diets was introduced to the nutrition profession and 2) to describe how different sustainable agricultural practices offer potential for improving human nutrition and health. The idea of connecting sustainable agriculture With the promotion of human nutrition and health is not new. It is a concept that was introduced to the nutrition profession more than 20 years ago. To foster healthful, sustainable diets, consumers need to choose more whole foods. From the standpoint of nutrition and health, whole foods are naturally higher in fiber and lower in fat, sodium, sugar and additives compared to highly processed foods. From the standpoint of agricultural sustainability, whole foods bypass the high-energy costs of food processing and transportation. Organic farming systems offer potential benefits to human health through reducing farmers' exposure to pesticides and by increasing the total phenolic content in selected food crops. Participation in farmers' market nutrition programs and gardening has been associated with increased fruit and vegetable intake. Gardening may also be a way to increase access to fresh produce in low-income populations that do not have access to nutritious food outlets and to increase physical activity. Further research is needed to assess the human nutrition and health benefits of other types of sustainable agriculture strategies and to investigate the links among different agricultural practices with nutrient and total phenolic content in a wider variety of important food crops.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.11-17
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• 2015

Purpose: This study was to ascertain whether there are differences in health care utilization and expenditure for Type I Medical Aid Beneficiaries before and after applying Copayment. Methods: This study was one-group pretest posttest design study using secondary data analysis. Data for pretest group were collected from claims data of the Korea National Health Insurance Corporation and data for posttest group were collected through door to-door interviews using a structured questionnaire. A total of 1,364 subjects were sampled systematically from medical aid beneficiaries who had applied for copayment during the period from December 12, 2007 to September 25, 2008. Results: There was no negative effect of copayment on accessibility to medical services, medication adherence (p=.94), and quality of life (p=.25). Some of the subjects' health behaviors even increased preferably after applying for copayment including flu prevention (p<.001), health care examination (p=.035), and cancer screening (p=.002). However, significant suppressive effects of copayment were found on outpatient hospital visiting days (p<.001) and outpatient medical expenditure (p<.001). Conclusion: Copayment does not seem to be a great influencing factor on beneficiaries' accessibility to medical services and their health behavior even though it has suppressive effects on outpatients' use of health care.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.136-146
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• 2009

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of copayments for doctor visits and prescription drugs on health services utilization in the Type I Medicaid beneficiaries in Korea. Method: This study examined data from the 2007 survey on Health Services Use and Health Status of Medicaid Beneficiaries performed by the Ministry for Health Welfare and Family Affairs. To analyze these sample survey data, the SURVEYFREQ, SURVEYMEANS, and SURVEYREG procedures which incorporate the sample design into the analyses were used. Results: Findings of this study indicate that copayments for doctor visits and prescription drugs of Medicaid Type I beneficiaries have cut overall medical costs. However, although results should be interpreted very carefully because of the relatively low $R^2$, copayments have cut more health services utilization of people who need more health services because of their complex diseases and disability. In addition, besides copayment, several factors are affecting differences in health services utilization before and after copayments implementation. Conclusion: These results highlight the need to examine the effects of copayments more thoroughly according to the kinds of disease, the severity of disease, and the level of copayment.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.497-502
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• 2017

Estimation of accident cost is a sound and great safety indicator on determining accurate occupational safety and health prevention. Just like in Korea, Heinrich ratio analysis of (1:4) between direct and indirect costs has been become widely used in safety management because of its simplicity. In this study four major categories of uninsured (indirect) cost items and 18 sub-categories of uninsured (indirect) cost items were identified. To determine and validate the importance and necessity of the results of a literature review an expert or professional surveyed had been analyses using the SPSS 18.0, where in the participants whose expertize is in the field of compensation and safety. Based on the results of survey all participants all uninsured (indirect) cost items classified was important and necessary when accidents occurred. Despite recognition of expert on the classification of uninsured (indirect) cost items, it is quite difficult to make generalization for all kind of costs in occupational accident case due to different nature of business for each industry.

• Journal of Information Technology and Architecture
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.379-386
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• 2013

This study is about the suggestion of reduction method for social insurance cost of startup SMEs based on the study abroad. We suggest several methods (direct and indirect support, exemption, deferment or loan) based on the pros and cons, government's financial situation, the ease of implementation and effectiveness of mitigation methods, creating conditions for the implementation of social insurance mitigation.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.354-368
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• 1999

This research aims to compare between regression and neural network in terms of the predictive ability of the overhead costs in hospitals. For this purpose, this research uses the number of out-patients and complex medical treatments as explaining variables. Thirty-one hospitals were used for the empirical test The test result shows that the regression model has a more predictive ability than the neural network.