• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.221-227
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• 2019

Background Gynecomastia is a common condition that can cause severe emotional and physical distress in both young and older men. Patients in whom symptomatic recalcitrant gynecomastia persists for a long time are potential candidates for surgery. Methods From January 2014 to January 2016, 15 patients underwent correction of gynecomastia through a single 3-mm incision at our institution. Only patients with true gynecomastia underwent surgery with this new technique. Through the small incision, sharp dissection was performed in a clockwise and counterclockwise direction describing two half-circles. Health-related quality of life and aesthetic outcomes were evaluated using a modified version of the Breast Evaluation Questionnaire (BEQ). Results The patients' average age was 23.5 years (range, 18-28 years), and their average body mass index was $23.2kg/m^2$ (range, $19.2-25.3kg/m^2$). One case was unilateral and 14 cases were bilateral. The weight of glandular tissue resected from each breast ranged from 80 to 170 g. No excess skin was excised. Bleeding was minimal. The mean operating time was 25 minutes (range, 21-40 minutes). No complications were recorded. All lesions were histologically benign. The patients' average score was 3.5 (on a 5-point Likert scale) in all domains of the BEQ for themselves and their partners. Conclusions In this study, we demonstrated the safety and reliability of a new technique that allows mastectomy through an imperceptible 3-mm incision. We obtained high patient satisfaction scores using our surgical technique, and patients reported considerable improvement in their social, physical, and psychological well-being after surgery.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.145-152
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• 2021

Background: The Life-Sustaining Treatment Decision-Making Act has allowed anyone aged 19 or older to sign an Advance Directive not to receive life-sustaining treatment when they are in the 'death process'. Recently, the Korean Pharmaceutical Association announced to raise awareness of the Advance Directive to the general public through community pharmacies across the country. This study aimed to investigate the public's willingness to accept pharmacist's consultation regarding the Advance Directive and to present future directions to pharmacists Methods: This cross-sectional questionnaire study using 16-items was conducted in adults, Study subjects were recruited by convenience sampling method during August 5-15, 2020. Results: Of 460 respondents, 51.7% were younger than 30-year-old and 58.7% were not in the healthcare field in terms of job or major. 60.2% knew about the Advance Directive and 81.7% agreed the necessity to sign when healthy. 50.0% had the willingness to consult with pharmacists on the Advance Directive for well-dying and 80.4% preferred verbal explanation together with written information. Simple linear regression analysis results showed a significant relationship between trust in pharmacists or satisfaction with pharmacist's communication and willingness to use pharmacist' consultation on the Advance Directive (1-point increases in values measured on a five-point scale are associated with 0.464 and 0.486 increases, respectively.) Conclusion: This study suggests that pharmacists need to improve the public's trust and communication capability to satisfy with public's demands on well-dying service.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.53-67
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• 2009

For the last decades, service quality has been studied as one of the most important tools for a service company to compete with the other companies. Based on these past researches, it has been agreed that the service quality is a basic and powerful tool to create the competitive advantage. Due to similar reason, many service marketing practitioners have been also focused on the service quality to retain the existing consumers and collect the new consumers. However, service quality is subjectively perceived by individual consumers. Consumer evaluation of service quality can be different from each other. Especially consumers with one life-style may evaluate the service quality differently from the consumers with the other life-styles. Therefore we need to know whether there are differences in service quality perception on the categories of life-style. Life-style refers to a distinctive mode of living in its aggregate and broadest sense. It embodies the patterns that were developed and emerged from the dynamics of living in a society. Since the concept of life-style and its relationship to marketing was introduced in 1963 by William Lazer, methods of measuring the life-style and their application have been developed. Life-style has been usually used to segment the marketplace because it offers marketers a unique and important view of the market. When Life-style is combined with clustering methods, life-style segmentation can generate identifiable whole persons rather than isolated fragment. Life-style segmentation begins with people instead of products and classifies them into different life-style types, each characterized by a unique style of living based on a wide range of activities, interests, and opinions(Plummer, 1974). In this study we applies the life-style segmentation based on the AIO(Activities, Interests, and Opinions) to the consumers of the large discount stores. In Korea, the large discount store market has entered into maturity stage so that the market differentiation strategy is becoming a more critical issue to the marketing practitioners. One of the most important tools to differentiate from the competitors in large discount store market is continuously to provide service of better quality than competitors. This study tries to find answers about the following questions: 1) How can we categorize the consumer life-styles in the large discount store? 2) What are the characteristics of the categorized groups? 3) Are there any differences in service quality perception among the consumers with different life-styles 4) Are there any differences in consumer behavior among them in the large discount store? For the purpose, we collected survey data from consumers and analyzed the data with the SPSS package where we had $X^2$-test, factor analysis, ANOVA, MANOVA, and cluster analysis. The survey was made during one month in the April of 2008. Among the collected 306 copies of questionnaires, 281 copies were chosen as the effective samples for empirical analysis except 25 copies with wrong responses. To identify the life-style patterns, we used the measures employed by Kim and Kwon(1999), where 44 items on a seven-point scale were used to measure factors of the life-style patterns. The Principal Component Method was used for factor extraction, and the VARIMAX orthogonal factor rotation was employed. The 7 items showing low factor loading were eliminated. The results of the factor analysis suggested that nine factors of the life-style patterns were identified as follows: 1) the equality-of-sexes and pursuit-of-independence tendency 2) self-management tendency 3) sociable tendency 4) self-display tendency 5) degree of a dilettante life 6) pursuit-of-information tendency 7) bargain hunter tendency 8) TV preference tendency 9) pursuit-of-leisure tendency. Next, after the K-means cluster analysis was performed with nine factors of the life-style patterns, the life-styles of the respondents were classified into four groups which are named as the 'progressive practicality-oriented group', 'positive success-oriented group', 'sociable ostentation-oriented group', 'stable conservation-oriented group'. The analysis results for usage behavior between the market segments showed statistically significant differences in the frequency of usage, duration time in the store, consumer satisfaction, and loyalty. Also, we tried to investigate whether the large discount store consumers differently perceive the quality of service based upon the types of life-style. To measure the service quality of large discount store, we adapted several measurement models measuring the service quality such as SERVPERF, BCP, R-SERVPERF, R-BCP. MANOVA and One-Way ANOVA were performed to confirm the difference in service quality perception based on the market segments. The results have also shown significant differences between life-style types in service quality perception. These findings show that the large discount store marketers should consider consumer life-style as one of the most important market segments for marketing and understand the difference in service quality perception between life-style types. Our findings give important implications to marketers of large discount stores as well as life-style researchers. First, this study showed there were significant differences in consumer's service quality perception and usage behavior between the types of life-style. It provides evidence that the life-style approach can be a important basis in segmenting the large discount store market and will make consumers perceive the service quality high. Second, most previous researches on service quality have been in aggregate level. However, our results imply that the future research on service quality have to focus on segment level.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2019

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture treatment for recovery of patients with vertebral compression fracture(VCF). Methods : We searched ten English and Chinese and seven Korean database up to April 2018. Randomised controlled trials(RCTs), quasi-RCTs, non-radomised Controlled Trials(CCTs) were eligible. Quasi-RCTs and CCTs were assessed only for safety assessment. Pain and adverse events were primary outcome of this review. Quality of life, dysfunction, patient satisfaction, incidence of new vertebral compression fracture were regarded as secondary outcomes. The risk of bias was assessed by two independent authors using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Level of evidence was tabulated using the GRADE methods. Results : Of 1656 screened, 15 RCTs, 1 quasi-RCT and 3 CCTs were included. Number of participants per study ranged from 45 to 135. Most of the studies had unclear or high risk of bias and considerable heterogeneity in terms of type of intervention, comparison and time-points for outcome measurement. Compared to usual care alone, acupuncture combined with usual care showed short-term favorable results for pain relief in patients with VCF(5 studies, n=252, MD -1.05 point on a 0 to 10 point scale, 95% CI -1.45 to -0.65, $I^2=74%$). Four studies reported mild and temporary adverse events, and no serious adverse events were reported. One study descriptively reported that acupuncture was effective for improving quality of life without providing numerical outcomes. There were no reports of patient satisfaction and incidence of new VCF. Conclusions : Level of evidence is very low for the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for pain, harms and other clinical outcomes in patients with VCF. Included studies suffered from incomplete reporting, high or unclear risk of bias and substantial heterogeneity between studies. Future high-quality RCTs are needed to assess whether acupuncture is beneficial for recovery of patients with VCF.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.115-121
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• 2019

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate prevalence of psychiatric symptoms and determine predictors of emotional distress of military hospital surgical patients. Methods : This study examined 104 orthopedic patients admitted to the Armed Forces Military Hospital September-November 2018. For the study, every subject completed self-assessment inventories regarding depressive and anxiety symptoms (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), sleep problems (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), problematic alcohol and tobacco use (Cut off, Annoyed, Guilty, Eye-opener screening), and psychiatric history. We performed the Student's t-test and the chi-square test for the collected data to investigate the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms, including emotional distress. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the risk factors related to emotional distress of hospitalized military personnel. Results : There were no significant differences in socio-demographic and psychiatric symptoms between soldiers and officers. The prevalence of depressive and/or anxiety symptoms (emotional distress) was 21.2% (n=21). In the logistic regression analysis, psychiatric history [Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR)=18.99 ; 95% Confidence Interval (CI)=1.42-253.57 ; p=0.026] and low military life satisfaction (AOR=15.67; 95% CI=1.46-168.11 ; p=0.023) correlated with emotional distress. Conclusion : Soldiers admitted to the military hospital showed similar prevalence of emotional distress as those at general hospitals. Considering military circumstances, it is necessary to detect and intervene regarding soldiers with a psychiatric history and low military life satisfaction to promote mental health at military hospitals.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.651-660
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of task-oriented circuit training(: TOCT) on upper extremity function and quality of life in chronic stroke patients. 20 stroke patients were randomized and divided into 2 groups: a preservation therapy group and TOCT group. The intervention sessions were given five times a week for four weeks. The Stroke Impact Scale(: SIS), EuroQual-5Domains(: EQ-5D), Fugl-Myer Assessment(: FMA), Motor Activity Log(: MAL), Canadian Occupational Performance Measure(: COPM) were used to measure the upper extremity function and the quality of life. In results, Two groups improved in upper extremity function after the intervention(p<.05). The EQ-5D scores of TOCT group were a significantly higher than preservation group(p<.05). The Ironing, Folding towels, Hang out towels on drying rack in COPM scores in both of performance and satisfaction have improved more than preservation group(p<.05). In conclusion, the TOCT has significant helpful effect to chronic stroke patients. These findings can be used to chronic stroke patient as an intervention for upper extremity function and quality of life.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.531-550
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• 2023

Purpose: The unique nature of life-and-death healthcare services sets them apart from other service industries. While many studies exist on the relationship between healthcare services and customer satisfaction, most of them focus on mildly ill patients, ignoring the differences between critically ill and non-seriously ill patients. This study discusses the actual quality of healthcare services for patients who are facing life-threatening illnesses and are on life support, as well as their right to protection and dignity. Methods: The survey conducted to 149 patients with the four major illnesses: cancer, heart disease, brain disease and rare and incurable disease, those who have experiences with senior general hospitals. Results: The basic statistics of this study are adequate to represent the four major critical illnesses, and the reliability and validity of this study's hypotheses, which were measured by multiple items, were analyzed, and the internal consistency was judged to be high. In addition, it was found that the convergent validity was good and the discriminant validity was also secured. When examining the goodness of fit of the hypotheses, the SRMR, which is the standardized root mean square of residuals that measures the difference between the covariance matrix of the data variables and the theoretical covariance matrix structure of the model, met the optimal criteria. Conclusion: The academic implications of this study are differentiated from other studies by moving away from evaluating the quality of healthcare services for mildly ill patients and focusing on the rights and dignity of patients with life-threatening illnesses in four senior general hospitals. In terms of academic implications, this study enriches the depth of related studies by demonstrating the right to protection and dignity as a factor of patient-centeredness based on physical environment quality, interaction quality, and outcome quality, which are presented as sub-factors of healthcare quality. We found that the three quality factors classified by Brady and Cronin (2001) are optimized for healthcare quality assessment and management, and that the results of patients' interaction quality assessment can be used to provide a comprehensive quality rating for hospitals. Health and human rights are inextricably linked, so assessing the degree to which rights and dignity are protected can be a superior and more comprehensive measurement tool than traditional health level measures for healthcare organizations. Practical implications: Improving the quality of the physical environment and the quality of outcomes is an important challenge for hospital managers who attract patients with life and death conditions, but given the scale and economics of time, money, and human inputs, improving the quality of interactions and defining them as performance indicators in hospital quality management is an efficient way to create maximum value in the short term.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.71-85
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• 2003

Objectives: The present study was directed at revealing the influence of various life styles on the subjective well-being and depressive states, and their related factors among the elderly. Methods: The interviews were given to 454 elderly people aged over 65 (197 male and 257 female) in rural areas of Chungnam Province during the 3-month period from July 1st to Sep. 30th, 2002. The interview contents for the elderly included social demographic characteristics, activities of daily living(ADL) whether independent of others or not, subjective well-being, Zung's self-rating depression scale(SDS), etc. Results: The male elderly showed significantly higher scores in subjective well-being than the female, and with regard to Zung's depression scores, they were significantly higher in the female than the male elderly. Based on the correlation between scores of subjective well-being and its related factors, there was a significant, positive correlation in both sexes with whether or not participation in the social gatherings and the degree of satisfaction with subjective health status. The factors shown to be negatively correlated with depression scores in both sexes were whether or not participation in the social gatherings, the degree of satisfaction with the subjective health status, economic conditions, and ADL scores. The factors influencing on the subjective well-being included depressive states, eating habits, dwelling states, ADL scores, and physical activity. Those influencing on the depressive states were the degree of satisfaction with the subjective health status, physical activity, sexes, smoking, ADL scores, economic conditions, eating habits and whether or not participation in the social gatherings. Conclusions: Consequently, the subjective well-being as well as physical activity and economic conditions were shown to be the important factors for the healthy elderly life.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.1-10
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• 2009

Wooded areas that are a part of school campuses are one type of urban forest. Most schools located in an urban environment make an excellent setting for a forest in terms of location and area. These kinds of wooded spaces also make the city greener and healthier. As a place where students spend a great deal of time, schools can also be a venue for environmental education. The creation of wooded areas in schools currently has focused on the end result only; by ignoring student needs and participation, these areas have not had a significant influence on student environmental education. Previous studies based on questionnaire survey are significant in that they have quantified subjective qualitative data via Likert Scale. There has been, however, a problem in quantifying the more ambiguous subjective data. Therefore, this paper has attempted to investigate those factors that have an influence on student satisfaction with the wooded areas of their school campus using Fuzzy Theory with elementary school students in Gyeongsangbuk-do. A change was observed in terms of the ranking of arithmetic mean values of 'school peculiarity' and 'emotion evolution' and center of gravity, which has adopted Fuzzy Theory, proving that Fuzzy Theory could rationally objectify qualitative data such as human thoughts. In terms of the influential factors on the satisfaction with school forests(regression coefficient), 'school uniqueness(0.159)' was the highest, followed by 'many trees(0.142),' 'importance of nature(0.136)' and 'emotion evolution(0.130).' This paper may therefore be useful as basic data for objective questionnaire surveys and the development of school forests.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.51-61
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• 2010

According as the quality of life is improved along with economic growth, in the road plan and design sector also, it is now progressed that function oriented design is changed into the landscape oriented design that considers eyesight and emotion, which are psychological properties of users. Accordingly this study tries to come up with reasonable and objective methods to extract various emotional adjectives, which were found by the survey, while minimizing difference among characteristics of emotion and cognition of individuals. First, given semantic differential, based on various emotional adjectives that were found through the survey with the scale up to five points, the author extracted representative emotional adjectives through an element analysis, which is a conventional method of the previous research, and through an identification analysis which is suggested by this study, and then established model I of Quantification. And by using the established quantification model, the author presumed satisfaction degree, and through verifying pair wise comparison with actual satisfaction degree, the author found the results from identification and correlation analysis methods are most similar to actual satisfaction degree. As a result, the author could check the above emotional and correlation analyses were appropriate methods for comprehending which emotional elements are applicable when a continuous road landscape is designed by identification and correlation analyses.