• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.351-359
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• 2019

Neurocognitive testing commonly uses the MMSE (Mini-Mental State Examination) to evaluate the overall cognitive function of patients at outpatient clinics, but the MMSE has recently been extensively used in the SNSB II (Seoul Neuropsychological Screening Battery II) for making diagnoses. We retrospectively investigated the results of routine neurocognitive tests and the results of the blood tests of 120 elderly patients who had been referred to a South Central Medical Center from 2017 to 2018 and who had been examined at a public health center. These subjects' space-time capability was high on the sub-region of the global deterioration scale (GDS). GDS showed a significant increase as the Na decreased on the electrolyte analysis. The subjects' concentration, their language-based orientation for space and time, their memory, and their scores for the frontal lobe function on GDS showed statistically significant reductions (P<0.001) For the normal and abnormal groups according to the ALT and creatinine levels, the frontal/execute function areas showed statistically significant differences (P<0.001) as well as negative correlation between GDS and ALT (P<0.01). In conclusion, this study provides basic information to develop test items that are important for patient screening and diagnosis, and several routine blood chemistry factors provide basic information for diagnosing and assessing the status and progress of cognitively impaired patients.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.10 no.8
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• pp.83-95
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to comprehensively investigate predictive factors influencing on geriatric depression of the elderly by applying the Andersen's Behavioral Model of Health Service Use,. The research data was focused on the final analysis of 3,585 elderly population aged 65 or older among 21,724 participants in the 6th (2013-2015) Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Hierarchical logistic regression analysis was conducted to multivariate analysis method of the variables for possible depression by the Andersen's Behavioral Model of Health Service Use. As a result of hierarchical regression analysis, there was a negative correlation of 0.49 times(0.31-0.78) for males. In addition, there was a positive correlation of pain 1.56 times(1.05-2.31), stress 0.55 times(1.10-2.19), walking exercise 1.44 times(1.03-2.00) and outpatient use 1.48 times(1.10-1.98). Therefore, differentiated support according to the gender of the community residents is necessary, and stress intervention or additional support for exercise is required.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.272-280
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• 2019

This descriptive research study investigated the relationships between different degrees of family support, ego-resilience and employment volition of patients suffering from alcohol use disorder, and we identified the factors that had an influence on employment volition. This study used the survey research technique and structured questionnaires. The data was collected from 128 males (aged 20 years or older) and who had been diagnosed with alcohol use disorder. They had also undergone either inpatient hospital care or outpatient treatment. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. The results of the study showed that family support had a value of 4.30, an ego resilience had a value of 2.37 and the employment volition had a value of 4.06. The results of the multiple regression analysis showed that there was statistically significant positive correlation between employment volition and ego resilience (${\beta}=-.314$, p<.01) and age (${\beta}=-.253$, p<.01), and the total explanatory power of these 2 factors was 16.3%. According to the results of this study, age-based approaches are needed to improve the employment volition of patients with alcohol use disorder. Additionally, the results of this study suggest that an ego resilience enhancement program be developed and implemented to help these patients.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.333-340
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• 2021

Although gag reflex is an essential function and a useful physiological defense mechanism, it can become an obstacle in a dental treatment. In this case, a questionnaire was designed and used in consultations to objectify the factors associated with gag reflex. Based on the questionnaire, various treatment protocols were planned, such as behavioral control, which is a systematic desensitization that adapts by placing dental instruments in the oral cavity, and habit control to eliminate vomiting habits after drinking. Except for the placement of the implant fixture under general anesthesia, all restoration procedures were performed in the outpatient clinic in the same manner as the conventional implant fixed prosthetic restoration. The systematic desensitization and behavior technique were repeated until the patient was able to endure discomfort and relieve gag reflex in dental treatment. The patient was successfully received the implant-fixed prosthetic restoration in the partial edentulous region.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.412-419
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• 2021

This study presents the case of a 73-year-old Korean male with dysphagia caused by achalasia and aimed to assess the effectiveness of Korean medical treatment. The outpatient was treated with acupuncture, electroacupuncture, and herbal medicine (Bunsimgieum-gami, Gyejigayonggolmolyeo-tang, Bangpungtongsung-san) for about 6 months. We evaluated the patient's symptoms whenever he visited the clinic. The patient improved significantly after Korean medical treatment. In particular, dysphagia disappeared after herbal medicine treatment. This case report suggests that Korean medical treatment could be effective in treating achalasia. Further studies are needed.

• Journal of the Health Care and Life Science
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.155-163
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to examine the current status of the Injury based on the 7th National Data on the National Health and Nutrition Survey, identify the relationship between general characteristics, safety awareness, health status, injury, and identify the factors that affect the occurrence of injury. The subjects were selected for the final analysis of 1,608data. For the analysis, frequency analysis, cross analysis, and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed. the results of the study show that in the young-old elderly, gender(woman), marital status(separated of divorced), lower the awareness of safety, body discomfort, sickness, and in-outpatient, Annual unmet medical service experienced are higher the occurrence of injury. Therefore, as a prevention education that lowers the incidence of injury. selective education is required for the Young-old and Old-old elderly, and legal penalties for drunk driving on various means of transportation and an integrated approach to strengthening and education is required.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.539-547
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• 2021

This study was conducted to identify the effects of knowledge of Advance Directives (AD) and the patient's perception of a peaceful death on their attitude toward the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment and to provide basic data for the development of a nursing intervention program for activating self-determination in the withdrawal of life-sustaining support of patients. The subjects were 167 adult cancer patients who received outpatient or inpatient treatment, from September 15, 2019, to March 30, 2020. The data was analyzed by mean, standard deviation, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple regression by using SPSS 21.0. From the results, it was observed that the knowledge of AD was 8.87±2.46 out of 12, perception of a peaceful death was 2.87±0.42 out of 4, and attitude toward withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment was 3.46±0.49 out of 5. There was a positive correlation between knowledge of AD, perception of a peaceful death, and their attitude toward withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment. The influencing variables were the knowledge of AD, perception of a peaceful death, discussion with family on withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment, and explanation power was 16.0% (F=10.355, p<.001). Therefore, it is necessary to develop a program that would improve the perception of a peaceful death, increase the knowledge of AD to improve the patients' attitude toward the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment. An intervention to assist a discussion between the patients and their families in advance would also be useful.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.314-323
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to analyze the status of medical service use of foreigners living in Korea by their nationality and types of national health insurance. As of 2018, 1,058,886 people were extracted from the qualification DB, excluding people whose insurance premium is missing. The data analysis showed that nearly 78% of foreigners with national health insurance used medical services and the countries with the largest number of users were China, Vietnam, and the United States. The total cost of treatment per capita was highest in the United States regardless of hospitalization and outpatient. The number of medical treatments per person, and the medical expenses of outpatients & inpatients services were highest among the regionally-insured and the length of stay per person was highest among the workers' dependents. Lastly, it was found that Chinese and regionally-insured received much more benefits than other groups compared to the premium they pay. After July 2019, foreign nationals residing in Korea for six months or longer are obligated to enroll in the national health insurance program. Since the latest data was in 2018, the result did not properly reflect the current situation, but it is meaningful that it made basic data for future comparative analysis.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.460-466
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• 2020

Background: The purpose of this study is to analyze whether there is a change in patterns of medical use among those likely to be converted their health insurance qualifications when the family support rule is alleviated. There is no empirical analysis that converting health insurance qualification will affect the increase in medical use. Methods: For analysis, data were extracted from the national health insurance eligibility and medical care database. To identify analysis targets similar to that of medical aids' characteristics among health insurance coverage, we compared income, property level, and medical use patterns through basic statistical analysis and used a difference-in-difference (DID) analysis to estimate the net effect of changes in medical use following the change of qualifications. Results: The main results are as follows. The results show that those who are under the 5% income group (1st income group) of health insurance coverage are the most similar to the medical aids group. DID analysis shows that changes in the medical use of people who maintain their national insurance qualification and who are not. As a results, the number of hospitalized days of converting group was reduced by 3.5 days while outpatient days were increased by 1.8 days. Conclusion: As a result, there was not much difference in the patterns of medical use for the under 5% income group who are likely to be eligible for expanded medical aids when the family support rule is alleviated. In addition, more than 30% of them are in arrears with their health insurance premiums, causing inconvenience in using medical services. These findings suggest the need of abolishing the criteria obligated to support family, and great efforts should be made to contribute to non-paid poor and remove their medical blind spot.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.94-106
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• 2022

Background: The efforts to build more "people centered," "patient centered" health system has been emerging all over the world. Aligning with it, the Korean government is conducing the survey called "Medical Service Experience Survey (MSES)." There are critics, however, that MSES is not scrutinizing the medical experiences of patients in various healthcare settings. For this reason, this study aims to perform an empirical analysis of the differences in answers of patients responding to various healthcare settings. Methods: There are two steps in this study. First, explanatory analysis is conducted to compare the tendency of statistical concentration on questionnaires by divided healthcare settings. Second, confirmative analysis is carried out to evaluate the construct validity, reliability, and discriminant validity of the questionnaire in each healthcare setting. The raw data of MSES, which was conducted in 2020 by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Korea and the Korean Institute for Health and Social Affairs is used. Results: As a result of exploratory factor analysis for all outpatients, the items were classified into four factors statistically: "doctor experience," "nurse experience," "outpatient service experience," and "patient satisfaction." It was confirmed that the reliability of all factors extracted was secured. However, for patients who visited hospitals, questionnaires related to personal privacy, such as "experiences on medical staffs considering physical exposure" or "experiences related to personal information exposure," were answered in conjunction with items of "nurse experience." Besides, patients responded that administrative elements of medical services, such as "experiences of comfort in medical institutions" and "experiences of satisfactory administrative services," were related to the items of "nurse experience." The answers of patients who visited traditional medical hospitals and clinics about "doctor experience" and "nurse experience" were not discerned statistically, and the answers to "doctor experience," "nurse experience," and "medical institution experience" were entangled with the responses of patients who visited dental hospitals and clinics. On the other hand, as a result of the confirmatory factor analysis, it was found that the inquiries of MSES generally had intensive validity. Conclusion: The collection of objective and scientific data is the prominent component to enlighten the patient-centered healthcare system alongside with change of the worldwide paradigm of measuring the healthcare system performance as follows the transition of perspective of health care from provider-centered to patient-centered. This study empirically shows that the patient experience can vary as the healthcare settings. Furthermore, to make an advance in measuring the experience of patients with medical services, this article proposes the deliberate consideration of the different kinds of healthcare settings and articulate design of the survey.