• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.484-489
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• 1992

• 월간산업보건
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• s.60
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• pp.6-13
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• 1993

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.4815-4821
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• 2014

Background: This study aimed to examine the relationship between respiratory health of Malaysian adolescents with secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure and smoke-free legislation (SFL) implementation. Materials and Methods: A total of 898 students from 21 schools across comprehensive- and partial-SFL states were recruited. SHS exposures and respiratory symptoms were assessed via questionnaire. Prenatal and postnatal SHS exposure information was obtained from parental-completed questionnaire. Results: The prevalence of respiratory symptoms was: 11.9% ever wheeze, 5.6% current wheeze, 22.3% exercise-induced wheeze, 12.4% nocturnal cough, and 13.1% self-reported asthma. SHS exposure was most frequently reported in restaurants. Hierarchical logistic regression indicates living in a comprehensive-SFL state was not associated with a lower risk of reporting asthma symptoms. SHS exposure in public transport was linked to increased risk for wheeze (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) 16.6; 95%confidence interval (CI), 2.69-101.7) and current wheezing (AOR 24.6; 95%CI, 3.53-171.8). Conclusions: Adolescents continue to be exposed to SHS in a range of public venues in both comprehensive- and partial-SFL states. Respiratory symptoms are common among those reporting SHS exposure on public transportation. Non-compliance with SFL appears to be frequent in many venues across Malaysia and enforcement should be given priority in order to reduce exposure.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.374-380
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• 2012

Objectives: Stress is considered a causal factor in many diseases, allergic disease being one of them. The prevalence of allergic disease is increasing in Korea, but the relationship between allergic symptoms and stress is not empirically well known. We aimed to evaluate the relationship between allergy-related symptoms and stress in children and adolescents. Methods: We investigated 698 children and adolescents living in Gwangyang Bay, Korea, using a multi-stage cluster sampling method. Using the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood and the Psychosocial Well-being Index, these subjects were surveyed on allergy-related symptoms and psychosocial stressors in their lives, respectively. We used a multivariate logistic analysis for odds ratios for the complaint rate of allergic symptoms, after adjusting for age, gender, household income, body mass index, and residence. Results: After adjustments, lifetime rhinitis (odds ratio [OR], 1.024), rhinoconjunctivitis (OR, 1.090), diagnosis of itchy eczema (OR, 1.040), treatment of itchy eczema (OR, 1.049), 12-month allergic conjunctivitis (OR, 1.026), diagnosis of allergic conjunctivitis (OR, 1.031), and treatment of allergic conjunctivitis (OR, 1.034) were found to be significantly associated with stress. Conclusions: Our results support the notion that there is a relationship between stress and allergic symptoms in children and adolescents. Further research into any causal relationship between stress and allergies, as well as preventative public health plans for decreasing stress in children and adolescents are needed.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.69 no.4
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• pp.265-270
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• 2010

Background: Psychological factors are increasingly recognized for their influence on the course of asthma, on a worldwide basis. The aim of this study was to assess the presence of depression, anxiety, and asthma-related quality of life in patients with asthma and to evaluate their impact on severity and control of asthma. Methods: We assessed the severity of asthma by comparing patients' current medications to GINA guideline. The patients were classified into the controlled group (asthma patients with controlled disease) or into the uncontrolled group (asthma patients with uncontrolled disease), which included partly controlled and uncontrolled patients, again based on GINA guideline 2004. Patient-reported depressive symptoms, anxiety, and asthma-related quality of life were evaluated using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and Korean asthma quality of life (KAQLQ). Results: One hundred and twenty patients were enrolled (mean age, $55{\pm}1$ years; 65% women). Among the 120 patients, 14 (12%) patients were classified as having mild asthma, 88 (73%) as having moderate asthma, and 18 (15%) as having severe asthma. Eighty-one (67%) of the 120 patients were controlled. The asthma-related quality of life showed the difference according to severity of asthma (p=0.002). The prevalence of depression was lower (10% vs 26%, p=0.024) and the asthma-related quality of life was higher (59.951 (29~75) vs 35.103 (18~72), $p{\leq}0.001$) in the controlled group. Higher trait anxiety score and lower asthma-related quality of life were associated with depression (p<0.001, p=0.002, respectively). Conclusion: Psychological factors, such as anxiety and depression, are strongly associated with asthma control. Therefore, screening and management of depression is needed in patients with asthma.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.265-278
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• 2014

Microbes such as bacteria, fungi, archaea, protists, and viruses are ubiquitous and people are exposed to them continuously. Endotoxin is a component of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria and a potent proinflammaotry substance. When a person is exposed to environmental endotoxin, an innate immune response is initiated upon the initial recognition and this response produces various inflammatory mediators and recruits inflammatory cells to the exposed tissues. A purified chemical form of endotoxin is called lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and the lipid A portion of the molecule is a biologically active moiety. Exposure to endotoxin may result in various complex health effects depending on time, route, and dose of exposure, as well as host susceptibility. Gene-environment interactions play important roles in health effects of endotoxin exposure, e.g. development or aggravation of asthma. To accurately assess exposure to endotoxin in environmental or epidemiologic studies, methods of sampling, extraction, and analysis must be carefully selected since the selected methods may substantially affect analytical results and there is no internationally-agreed standard method to date. The lack of a standardized method hampers the establishment of exposure-response relationships. While an internationally-agreed health-based exposure limit does not exist, the Dutch Expert Committee on Occupational Safety recently recommended $90EU/m^3$ as a health-based occupational exposure limit. The current article reviews various scientific issues on how we measure environmental endotoxin and the health effects of endotoxin exposure.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.61-72
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• 2001

Objectives : To evaluate the hypothesis that increasing ambient levels of ozone or particulate matter are associated with increased emergency room visits for asthma and to quantify the strength of association, if any, between these. Methods : Daily counts of emergency room visits for asthma, air quality, and weather data were collected from hospitals with over 200 beds and from monitoring Stations in Seoul, Korea from 1994 through 1997. Daily counts of emergency mom visits for asthma attack were analyzed using a general additive Poisson model, with adjustment for the effects of secular trend, seasonal variation, Sunday and holiday, temperature, and humidly, according to levels of ozone and particulate matter. Results : The association between daily counts of emergency room visits for asthma attack and ozone levels was statistically significant in summer(from June to August), and the RR by unit inclement of 100 ppb ozone was 1.30(95% CI = $1.11\sim1.52$) without lag time. With restriction of the period from April to September in 1996, the RR was 1.37(95% CI = $1.06\sim1.76$), and from June to August in 1995, the RR was 1.62(95% CI = $1.12\sim2.35$). In the data for children$(5\sim14yr)$, the RR was 2.57(95% CI = $1.31\sim5.05$) with restriction of the period from April to September in 1997. There was no Significant association between TSP levels and asthma attacks, but a slight association was seen between PM10 levels and asthma attacks in a very restricted period. Conclusion : There was a statistically significant association between ambient levels of ozone and daily counts of emergency room visits for asthma attack. Therefore, we must make efforts to effectively minimize air pollution, in order to protect public health.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.478-490
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• 2017

Objectives: The association of air pollution levels and land-use types with changes in the prevalence of allergic diseases (allergic conjunctivitis, allergic rhinitis, asthma, and atopic dermatitis) was investigated for seven metropolitan cities in Korea Methods: Data on daily hospital visits and admissions (of those under 19 years old) for 2003-2012 were obtained from the National Health Insurance Cooperation. Meteorological data on daily mean temperature, humidity, and air pressure were obtained from the Korea Meteorological Administration. Daily mean or maximum concentration data for five pollutants ($PM_{10}$, $O_3$, $NO_2$, $SO_2$, and CO) as measured at air quality monitoring sites operated by the Ministry of Environment were used. We estimated excess risk and 95% confidence intervals for the increasing interquatile range (IQR) of each air pollutant using Generalized Additive Models (GAM) appropriate for time series analysis. Results: In this study, we observed a significant association between the IQR increases of air pollutants and the prevalence risk of allergic diseases (allergic conjunctivitis, allergic rhinitis, asthma, and atopic dermatitis) in all metropolitan cities after adjusting for temperature, humidity, and air pressure at sea level. Among the air pollutants, $NO_2$ and $PM_{10}$ were associated with the prevalence of asthma, and $O_3$ was associated with only allergic conjunctivitis in regression analysis. However, in GAM analysis considering land-use, $O_3$ and $SO_2$ were associated with allergic conjunctivitis, PM10, O3, NO2, and CO were associated with allergic rhinitis, and $PM_{10}$, $O_3$ and $NO_2$ were associated with asthma in industrial area. Conclusion: This study found a significant association between air pollution and the prevalence of allergic related diseases in industrial areas. More detailed research considering mixed traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) and conducting meta-analyses combining data of the all cities is required.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.23-24
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• 2003

Oxidative stress is the hallmark of various inflammatory lung diseases/disorders such as asthma, adult respiratory distress syndrome, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, pneumonia, lung transplantation, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis, lung cancer and various occupational diseases. (omitted)

• Proceedings of the Korea Inteligent Information System Society Conference
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• 2001.01a
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• pp.330-335
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• 2001

The occurrences of occupational illness and injury have been seriously underestimated in Korea. Surveillance systems for occupational diseases have recently emerged as important strategies for the control of occupational hazards and the implementation of intervention programs to protect workers. However, health service providers do not actively diagnose occupational diseases and are unwilling to report occupational diseases. With the rapid growth of Internet usage in Korea, the computer network has become the predominant means of communicating and sharing information. Therefore, we developed a web-based updated information and education network to assist the health services providers in reporting occupational diseases. Information systems for occupational disease surveillance were also designed to support occupational disease reporting. Commonly available database systems, such as web databases, are useful to manage occupational diseases data efficiently. Standardized case definitions and report guidelines were also established, which included cumulative trauma disorder, occupational asthma, occupational contact dermatitis, and occupational cancer. This system may provide the basis of an efficient and continuously updated source of educational information and provide specific information concerning the occurrence of occupational diseases in specific areas. Background information on occupational diseases obtained in this way will be invaluable for preventing hazards and enforcing occupational disease prevention programs. Moreover, our experiences in establishing these information systems will be of great use in other countries and settings.