• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.86 no.3
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• pp.216-225
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• 2023

Background: Tuberculosis (TB)-related stigma has been well-documented. Since the emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), different organizations have been alerted to the fact that stigma could arise again. Due to stigma's negative effects, this qualitative study aimed to explore the stigma felt by patients by evaluating the following: COVID-19 stigma and its temporal progression through the pandemic; stigma perceived by different patients with TB before and during COVID-19 pandemic; and difference perceived by individuals who contracted both diseases. Methods: A semi-structured interview was developed according to the available literature on the theme. It was performed individually in 2022 upon receiving signed informed consent. Participants were recruited with a purposive sampling approach by searching medical records. Those who currently or previously had pulmonary TB and/or COVID-19 were included. Data were subjected to thematic analysis. Results: Nine patients were interviewed, including six (66.7%) females. The median age of patients was 51±14.7 years. Four participants (44.4%) had completed high school and four (44.4%) were never smokers. Three had both TB and COVID-19. Four only had TB and two only had COVID-19. Interviews identified eight main themes: knowledge and beliefs, with several misconceptions identified; attitudes towards the disease, varying from social support to exclusion; knowledge and education, assumed as of extreme importance; internalized stigma, with self-rejection; experienced stigma, with discrimination episodes; anticipated stigma, modifying actions for avoiding stigma; perceived stigma, with judgment by others prevailed; and temporal evolution of stigma. Conclusion: Individuals expressed strong stigma for both diseases. De-stigmatization of respiratory infectious diseases is crucial for limiting stigma's negative impact.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.15
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• pp.6205-6210
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• 2014

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate Iranian cancer patient perceptions of their prognosis, factors that influence perceptions of prognosis and the effect this has on patient level of hope. Materials and Methods: Iranian cancer patients (n=200) completed self-report measures of their perceptions of their prognosis and level of hope, in order to assess the relationship between the two and identify factors predictive of perceptions by multiple linear regression analysis. Results: Cancer patients perceived of their prognosis positively (mean 11.4 out of 15), believed their disease to be curable, and reported high levels of hope (mean 40.4 out of 48.0). Multiple linear regression analyses demonstrated that participants who were younger, perceived they had greater family support, and had higher levels of hope reported more positive perceptions of their cancer prognosis. Conclusions: Positive perceptions of prognosis and its positive correlation with hope in Iranian cancer patients highlights the importance of cultural issues in the disclosure of cancer related information.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.899-910
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• 2017

Objectives: This study was conducted to identify the rates of perceived stress of elderly people over 65 years old and to confirm the influence of stress on general health and oral health status. Methods: Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey for 2014, 1,472 people over 65 years of age were selected as final subjects. Stress was used as an independent variable and dependent variables were included physical health (perceived health status), mental health (depression), and oral health (perceived oral health status). The following confounding variables were adjusted for the current study: demographic characteristics (gender, age, education level, house income) and health - related characteristics (drinking, smoking, exercise, frequency of tooth brushing, using oral care product, dental exam, comorbidity, restrict activity). Complex sampling analysis was applied and logistic regression was performed to determine the effects of stress on physical health, mental health and oral health status. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% Confidence Interval, 95% CI) were calculated. Results: Logistic regression indicated that stress was significantly associated with low physical health (OR=2.18, 95%CI: 1.49-3.20), low mental health (OR=8.68, 95%CI: 4.98-15.11), low oral health (OR=1.53, 95%CI: 1.06-2.21) after adjusting for confounding variables. Conclusions: The perceived stress of the elderly was found to be related to the general health and oral health status. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate stress as a predictor of health risk for the health promotion of the elderly on multidisciplinary assessment and continuous evaluation. In addition, health support policies should be provided to achieve good health status for elderly.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.9767-9771
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• 2014

Background: Social support is an important factor in psycho-social well-being of cancer survivors. There is little information about level of social support and its predictors among cancer survivors in Iran or other Middle Eastern countries. The aims of present study were to determine the social support and its prediction factors among Iranian cancer survivors. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-correlational study 187 cancer patients in one educational center and one private oncology office in northwest of Iran participated using a convenient sampling method. The data collection tool consisted of a researcher-prepared checklist and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support Assessment (MSPSS). Data analysis was performed using SPSS statistical software with descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analysis. Results: The total score of MSPSS was 68 from a possible score between 7 and 84. Participants believed that they received a high level of support from their family members and significant others. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that single and depressed cancer survivors and participants with lower levels of physical activity believed that they received lower levels of social support. Conclusions: Iranian cancer survivors receive high levels of social support and family members are the most important source of this support. In planning any supportive care program for Iranian cancer survivors this strength should be considered. Especially, single and depressed and patients with lower levels of physical activity need more attention.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.93-105
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• 2010

Enterprise Architecture has become a key tool for transforming business process, data, IT and application resources. The "Efficient Adaptation and Management of Information System Act" was established to support the planning and development of the information system in order for the public sector to adopt Information Technology Architecture (EA) into its organization through the act. Until now, the study of EA has been mainly focused on concepts, methodologies and success factors for the implementation of EA. User involvement, which is one of the critical factors in adopting information systems, has been rarely studied in the field of EA research. The purpose of this study is to identify the effects of user characteristics on user involvement in EA implementation. After discussing intrinsic motivators and situational motivators as predictors of user involvement, a research model were developed and tested using survey data. The results showed that among intrinsic motivators, perceived competence had a strong positive effect on user involvement. Some implications were discussed for implementing and utilizing EA for public agencies.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.11 no.10
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• pp.369-376
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• 2020

This study was to investigate the predictors of suicidal thoughts in the subjects who received the support for depression drug costs at a local public health center. The subjects were 156 depressed patients aged 18 and over. Data analysis was conducted by descriptive statistics, χ²-test, t-test and logistic regression analysis. The results of the analysis showed that the suicidal thoughts rate of the subjects was 25%, and the subjects showed significant differences in suicidal thoughts as the duration of antidepressant use was longer (t=-2.19, p<.05), the perceived physical health(t=3.03, p<.01) and the perceived mental health (t=5.21, p<.001) were lower, and the depression(x²=41.11, p<.001) were higher. The predictors of suicidal thoughts were perceived mental health(OR=0.97, p<.05) and depression(OR=8.44, p<.001). The regression equation of this study explained 42.4% of the suicidal thoughts of the subjects. Continued assessment and convergent mental health promotion programs are required for depression patients living in the community.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.127-139
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• 2017

In recent 10 years the attention to social entrepreneurship has raised increasing among scholars, public sector, and community development. However less research has been conducted on how social entrepreneurship intention create a social enterprise and what factors can be affected to the social entrepreneurial intentions. This paper aims at contributing to identify the antecedents of entrepreneurial behavior and intentions. Especially, we have had a strong interests in compassion factors which haven't been used as important variables to encourage for people to do social entrepreneurial activities. Also, we try to find the moral obligation and perceived social support as antecedents of social entrepreneurial intentions. Finding show that compassion and moral obligation affect to the social entrepreneurial intention. Especially this study identify the external factor of society with the variable, perceived social support. Once individuals recognize that the infrastructure and societal positive mood on social entrepreneurship is friendly to social entrepreneurship, people have a tendency to try to do some social entrepreneurial activities. Only few empirical studies exist in this research domain. A study of more than 271 Korean college students has studied which personal traits predict certain characteristics of social entrepreneurs (such as having social vision or looking for social innovational opportunities). In addition to those antecedents, students experience is the critical factor that enabled continued expansion of the social entrepreneurial activities. The results of this research show how we can nurture social entrepreneurs and how we can develop the social environment to promote social entrepreneurship.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.3 s.71
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• pp.1-12
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• 2007

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of health promotion programmes using traditional Korean medicine among public health centre staff in charge of running such programmes. To do so, we examined and analysed the current situation of implementing the programmes in the public health centre. Methods : A survey was designed to collect information on perception of the health promotion programmes using traditional Korean medicine by public health centre staff in charge of running such programmes. The survey, using a structured questionnaire designed for this study, was conducted on 161 public health centre staff attending an annual meeting to presenting the results of activity evaluation related to public health programmes using traditional Korean medicine in public health centres. The participants were asked about the most successful programme, the benefits of the programmes, the positive aspects of the programmes, the most desirable outcomes of the programmes and so on. The data were analysed using SPSS system 12.0 for Windows. Results : Of the 161 questionnaires, 121 were analysed. The main findings of this research were as follows. Of the health promotion programmes using traditional Korean medicine implemented in public health centres, qigong and stroke preventive health promotion programmes were perceived as the most successful. The major benefits of the programmes were having merit for health promotion and expecting a positive performance outcome. The major positive aspects of the programmes for health promotion were cultivating community citizen's support and showing consistency between the philosophy of the programmes and the direction of existing health promotion programmes. The most desirable outcomes of the programmes were spreading community understanding of the programme and establishing an effective and unique health promotion model for implementing the programme. Two major causes of implementation difficulties were lack of material resources such as manpower, facility, and equipment, and methods of performance evaluation. One of the most urgent needs for activating the implementation of programmes was continuing financial and technical support from the central government. Conclusions : To promote the role of traditional Korean medicine in the public health sector in order to integrate traditional medicine into the public health system, government should develop some measures for solving the identified causes of implementation difficulties and coping with the most urgent needs for activating the implementation of programmes.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.97-115
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• 2008

Introduction The e-government is concerned with using Internet and Web technologies to exchange information and services with citizens, businesses and other related organizations, and it centers on three functions, namely informational, interactive, and transactional [UN, 2001]. Many developed countries like the U.S. have been actively involved in e-government projects, since they enable both more effective public services for citizens and more efficient internal operations. Korea is among these leading countries that are planning to leverage computer and communication technologies to provide for integration of work processes and information as well as convenient access to information and services. For this reason, evaluating e-government projects is becoming a crucial issue for both researchers and policy-makers. However, most research to date has primarily focused on a model of success of an e-government system designed for citizens, overlooking internal systems specifically created for employees working in a public organization. This paper is intended to propose a model to measure the success of a Web-based information system designed for use by internal users at Chungwadae, the executive branch of Korea's central government. The paper is also aimed at applying the model to the assessment of the present system being used at Chungwadae in comparison with the preceding system. Evaluating an e-Government System The most widely cited model of information systems success today is that of DeLone and McLean[1992, 2003, 2004]. The original model states that the success of an information system can be measured using six dimensions, including system quality, information quality, use, user satisfaction, individual impact, and organizational impact. Although the ultimate success of an information system may be reflected in the impact that the system has upon individuals as well as an organization, aspects of using the system such as system use and user satisfaction can play an important role in determining the system success, because the system would be a sheer failure if users don't like and use the system. As a response to criticisms given by numerous researchers, the authors adapted their model to fit the emerging Web-based environment. The revised model[DeLone and McLean, 2003] they offered included an additional quality dimension, namely service quality, and combined individual and organizational impacts into net benefits which can also influence user satisfaction. The e-government system success model can be built around this updated model. Our model incorporates information quality, system quality, and service quality as in the DeLone and McLean model. However, the 'system use' dimension has been replaced by perceived usefulness, as suggested by Seddon[1998]. In addition, because the e-government systems that this paper focuses on are internal public systems used in government agencies, the 'net benefits' dimension has been replaced by perceived work efficiency. Based on the proposed model, a total of nine hypotheses have been formulated which we tested using an empirical analysis. Methods A questionnaire form has been created with items that are designed to examine the relationships among the variables in the model. The questionnaire has been handed over, in person, to 65 members of Chungwadae staff who are now actively using the E-Support System, the present information system created to support internal work at Chungwadae. We made arrangements to meet with each individual who agreed to participate in our survey, and helped to fill out the survey form with explanations. Of the 65 copies that were delivered, only 33 were returned, and 30 responses of these have been adopted for our analysis, since three were not valid. The extremely small sample size was due to the limited number of staff members who had adequate experience required of this study. Results We gathered data from the questionnaire survey and analyzed them using a regression analysis to test the hypotheses. As shown in the table below, the results indicated that all three dimensions of an information system’s quality are positively related to user satisfaction. However, information quality and system quality were found to be positively related to perceived usefulness, while service quality was not. In addition, perceived usefulness is not positively related to user satisfaction, implying that a user may find a system useful, but may not be satisfied with it. Finally, user satisfaction and perceived usefulness both are positively related to perceived work efficiency. This suggests that workers' positive experience with the system is important to guarantee favorable work efficiency. Conclusions We conclude that the proposed model proved useful in measuring the success of an internal information system used by a government agency. To demonstrate the applicability and usefulness of the model in the paper, we applied the model to the assessment of the present internal system used at Chungwadae in comparison with the preceding system. The results showed that the present system outperforms the preceding one in a statistically significant way. Future research will have to focus on applying the model to Korea's governmental agencies other than Chungwadae and examine whether it proves applicable in different types of governmental organizations.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.486-496
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• 2018

Customer incivility is an important stress factor employees performing service tasks, and this is equally true for employees who perform civil affairs services. The purpose of this study is to investigate the negative effects of adverse customer behavior and ways to reduce it. This study adopts the Conservation of Resource (COR) theory in order to examine customer incivility. This study predicts that customer incivility will negative emotions and eventually lead to emotional exhaustion in employees. We also predict that social support (organizational support, supervisor support, coworker support) perceived by employees would moderate the relationship between customer incivility and negative emotions. This study is based on 481 questionnaires collected from public officials. The results are as follows: First, customer incivility causes negative emotions. Second, negative emotions mediate the relationship between customer incivility and emotional exhaustion. Third, the relationship between customer incivility and negative emotions showed moderating effects on the perception of organizational support which is one of three types of social support. Based on the results of this study, implications, limitations, and future direction of research are suggested.