• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.12-21
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• 2011

The objective of this study is to review retrospective exposure assessment methods used in wafer fabrication operations to determine whether adverse health effects including mortality or cancer incidence are related to employment in particular work activities and to recommend an appropriate approach for retrospective exposure assessment methods for epidemiological study. The goal of retrospective exposure assessment for such studies is to assign each study subject to a workgroup in such a way that differences in exposure within the workgroups are minimized, as well as to maximize the contrasts in exposure between workgroups. To reduce the misclassification of exposure and to determine if adverse health effects including mortality or cancer incidence are related to particular work activities of wafer fabrication workers, a minimum requirement of work history information on the wafer manufacturing eras, job and department at which they were exposed should be assessed. Retrospective assessment of the task that semiconductor workers performed should be conducted to determine not only the effect of a particular job on the development of adverse health effects including mortality or cancer incidence, but also to adjust for the healthy worker effect. In order to identify specific hazardous agents that may cause adverse health effects, past exposure to a specific agent or agent matrices should also be assessed.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.19 no.4 s.54
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• pp.34-47
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• 2004

Although Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) in Korea has been improved markedly over the past two decades, by enlarging the range of projects for assessment, instituting pub lic participation and environmental monitoring, and similar measures, it remains deficient in its coverage of human health in Environmental Impact Statements(EISs). Health Impact Assessment(HIA) can supply the necessary correctives. HIA is a combination of procedures, methods and tools by which a policy, programme, projects or legislative procedure may be judged for its potential effects on the health of a population, and the distribution of these effects within it. The principle of health protection is, however, established as a primary concern in EIA processes, in practice health is scarcely mentioned or the discussion is limited to a description of effects through the biophysical environment. The whole range of possible effects on health, including those mediated by socio-economic factors is often ignored, and no effective mechanism are in place to successfully incorporating health criteria and expertise into environmental, assessment(EA) that include ElA, SEA. These are foremost among the current issues facing EIA in Korea.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.109-124
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• 2009

Background: This study aimed to examine whether cases of punishing false claimants threat general physicians to check their medical cost claims with care to avoid being suspected, and identify empirically general deterrence effects of the on-site investigation system in the Korean National Health Insurance. Methods: 800 clinics were selected among a total of 15,443 clinics that had no experience of on-site investigation until June 2007 using a stratified proportional systematic sampling method. We conducted logistic multiple regression to examine the association between factors related to provider's perception of on-site investigation and high level of perceived deterrence referring to fear of punishment after adjusting provider's service experiences and general characteristics. Results: The probability of high perceived deterrence was higher 1.7 times (CI: 1.13-2.56), 2.73 times (CI: 1.68-4.45) each among clinics exchanging the information once or more per year or once or more for 2-3 months than among clinics no exchanging the information about on-site investigation. Also, the probability of high perceived deterrence was higher 2.27 times (CI: 1.28-4.45) among clinics that knows more than 3 health care institutions having experienced an on-site investigation than among clinics knowing no case. Conclusion: A clinic knowing more punishment cases by onsite investigation and exchanging more frequently information about on-site investigation is likely to present high perceived deterrence. This result will provide important information to enlarge preventive effects of on-site investigation on fraud and abuse claims.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.932-947
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• 2000

The purpose of this study was to suggest directions for developing a Health Promotion Program for the elderly in Korea for the future. For this, twenty previously developed & implemented health promotion programs were reviewed and analyzed in terms of target population of the program, components of the program, measurement variables for effects of program, the effects of the program. The results were as follows. 1. Most of the target populations were older adults living independently in the community. 2. Components of the program were health education, health assessment and counseling and exercise program. - Health education was done in most of programs. The topics of health education that were often included in the programs were life style changes, medical knowledge, independent living, the concept of health promotion and changes related to aging. - In health assessment and counseling, health professionals discovered their health problems through health assessment or health risk appraisal. Then they developed health recommendations on each health problem and encouraged the elderly to implement the recommendations. 3. Variables measuring the direct effects of the program were health behavior, knowledge, attitude, skill, use of medical/health reference book. Variables measuring the indirect effects, biometric outcome, health status, functional status, medical service utilization, medical cost and wellbeing. 4. The analysis showed that health education was effective for changing health behaviors, improving knowledge, skill and attitude in the elderly. Those results were suggested to be used as guidelines for developing a health promotion program for the elderly in Korea for the future.

• The Journal of Health Technology Assessment
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.95-99
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• 2018

As technologies develop, the digital health sector is gradually expanding. Internationally, the global summit for Digital Health named Global Digital Health Partnership (GDHP) was launched in 2018. Many countries are participating in GDHP and share their policy experiences on digital health and find the ways to cooperate with participating countries (13 countries, including South Korea, and Hong Kong). This article reviewed the international trends in digital health policy environment and evidence assessment focusing on GDHP activities, and derived implications for health technology assessment of digital health. Consequently, to assess the intervention effects of digital health is very complex and the assessment should be considered multidimensional aspects (social, clinical, and technical). In addition the patient experience should be assessed qualitatively. Health technology assessment (HTA) should assess the effect of digital health policies to changes in health care systems resulting from the application of advanced technologies related to the 4th Industrial Revolution. Digital health is also related to new HTA, HTA of existing technologies, and R&D on the promising health technology. Therefore, it is necessary to review the trends of the technology's management policy consistently through the HTA of digital health.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.259-268
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of the action learning approach on the self-confidence and knowledge of health assessment, critical thinking ability and class satisfaction in students taking health assessment courses. Methods: This non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest study enrolled 127 nursing students as participants, with 64 and 63 in the experimental and control group, respectively. These two groups attended 33 hours (2 or 4 hours per week for 11 weeks) of action learning and traditional classes, respectively. Differences in the dependent variables between the two groups were compared before and after the intervention using independent t-test. Results: The action learning group reported significantly greater self-confidence in health assessment (t=5.10, p<.001) and critical thinking ability (t=2.23, p=.027) than the control group. There was no significant difference in knowledge of health assessment or class satisfaction between two groups (p>.05). Conclusion: These findings indicate that action learning is an effective intervention for enhancing self-confidence and critical thinking ability in nursing education.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.347-355
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• 2002

As concerns on the effects of soil contamination on human health have grown, more efforts have been made to quantify the effects. One of such efforts is the development of risk assessment methodology. The fundamental objectives of this approach is to investigate the alternative options that reduce the risk of hazardous chemicals results from environmental pollution, which will eventually lead to an accomplishment of removement of identified toxicants in polluted environment. The U.S. EPA Risk Assessment guidance for the superfund (RAGS) provides a methods for assessing the health risk of contaminated soils and determining the preliminary remediation goals (PRGs). Using this approach, we assessed the health risk and preliminary remediation goals of petroleum contaminated site in Kyounggi province.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.239-248
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• 2009

The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science in the United States concluded in its 2004 report that excessive indoor dampness is a public health hazard and that its prevention should be a public health goal. Water damage in buildings, such as leaks from roofs, walls, or windows, may increase indoor moisture levels. Excessive dampness may promote microbial proliferation in indoor environments, increase occupants' exposure to microbial agents, and eventually produce adverse health effects in building occupants. Epidemiological studies to demonstrate the causal association between exposure to indoor microbial agents and health effects require reliable exposure assessment tools. In this review, I discuss various sampling and analytical methods to assess human exposure to biological agents in indoor environments, their strengths and weaknesses, and recent trends in research and practice in the USA.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.228-236
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• 2001

Objectives : To propose a feasible, valid and appropriate study designs and epidemiologic methods for evaluating the adverse health effects of Agent Orange-chemical defoliants used in Vietnam- in Korea. Methods : A literature study was peformed on Agent Orange, herbicides, pesticides and dioxins. The study subjects, study design, exposure assessment and health outcomes assessment were examined in each study. The potential data sources for the study subjects, study design, exposure assessment and health outcomes assessment in Korea were investigated. Results and Conclusion : In earlier Korean studies, research subjects for studying the effects of Agent Orange were identified from the patients or persons who claimed to have Agent Orange-related diseases due to the difficulties in identifying the entire population of Vietnam veterans in Korea. In this study, an attempt was made to identify the total number of Vietnam veterans in Korea. As a result, the addresses of 20,000 Vietnam veterans were obtained. It is proposed that a retrospective cohort design on a sample of the total number of Vietnam veterans is a feasible and appropriate study design. Self report questionnaires and military records were proposed to assess the exposure level. It is believed that measuring the plasma or tissue TCDD should be used only for a validation study assessing the level of exposure. For the health outcomes assessment, it is possible to obtain the mortality, cancer frequency, physical examination, screening and medical insurance record data.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.131-137
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• 2022

Public interest has been increasing the focus on the management of exposure to pollutants and the related health effects. This study reviewed exposure assessment methodologies and addressed future directions. Exposure can be assessed by direct (exposure monitoring) or indirect approaches (exposure modelling). Exposure modelling is a cost-effective tool to assess exposure among individuals, but direct personal monitoring provides more accurate exposure data. There are several population exposure models: stochastic human exposure and dose simulation (SHEDS), air pollutants exposure (APEX), and air pollution exposure distributions within adult urban population in Europe (EXPOLIS). A South Korean population exposure model is needed since the resolution of ambient concentrations and time-activity patterns are country specific. Population exposure models could be useful to find the association between exposure to pollutants and adverse health effects in epidemiologic studies. With the advancement of sensor technology and the internet of things (IoT), exposure assessment could be applied in a real-time surveillance system. In the future, environmental health services will be useful to protect and promote human health from exposure to pollutants.