• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.39-50
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• 2023

This study analyzed the effect of workers' socio-psychological burden factors on musculoskeletal disorders. A survey was conducted targeting office and field workers in the Seoul metropolitan area. Analysis was performed using the results of 357 surveys out of 400 surveys. The analysis results were derived as follows. First, the socio-psychological burden factor did not show statistically significant results for musculoskeletal disorders. Second, it was found that job stress factors also had a positive effect on musculoskeletal disorders. Third, social psychological burden factors were found to be more positive than office workers than field workers. Fourth, there was a statistically significant correlation between job stress and musculoskeletal disease risk scores. From the above results, job stress factors affect musculoskeletal disease risk factors (work frequency, pain level, and duration) and the increase in musculoskeletal disorders and the number of accidents.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.45-56
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to determine the association between depressive symptoms and psychological stress, and to investigate the factors affecting depressive symptoms among male high school students. The study subjects were 573 male students surveyed from a self-administered questionnaire in October 2015. As a result, the distribution of psychosocial stress of surveyed students was 14.8% of health group, 71.9% of latent stress group, 13.3% of high-risk stress group. Depressed level of 71.4% of the distribution is normal group, mild depression group 25.30%, moderate depression group 3.0%, 0.3% was severely depressed group. The factors influencing the students' depressed levels were subjective health status, whether breakfast, sleep hour per day, academic achievement, worries, satisfaction with school life, perceived family income and psychosocial stress has been selected. In particular, the stress is related to the high depression. Therefore, it is considered that stress management is necessary in order to reduce the students' depression.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.259-267
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• 2016

Work-related musculoskeletal injuries and disorders (WMSD) are a significant issue in the health care sector. Allied Health professionals (AHP) in this sector are exposed to physical and psychosocial factors associated with increased risk of developing a WMSD. Clarification of relevant hazard and risk factors for AHP is needed to improve understanding and inform WMSD risk management. A systematic analysis of the literature was undertaken to determine prevalence and risk factors for WMSD in AHP. Databases of Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL (EBSCO), EMBASE and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were reviewed. This quality of articles was low. Outcome measures were varied, with prevalence rates of WMSD reported from 28% to 96% over a one-year time period. The lower back was the most commonly affected body part. Relevant factors identified with the development of WMSD included inexperience in the role and area of employment. Future research needs to focus on undertaking high quality prospective studies to determine the factors associated with WMSD development in AHP.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.86 no.2
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• pp.102-110
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• 2023

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a major health burden worldwide, with over 600 million confirmed cases and 6 million deaths by 15 December 2022. Although the acute phase of COVID-19 management has been established, the long-term clinical course and complications due to the relatively short outbreak is yet to be assessed. The current COVID-19 pandemic is causing significant morbidity and mortality around the world. Interestingly, epidemiological studies have shown that fatality rates vary considerably across different countries, and men and elderly patients are at higher risk of developing severe diseases. There is increasing evidence that COVID-19 infection causes neurological deficits in a substantial proportion to patients suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome. Furthermore, lack of physical activity and smoking are associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) susceptibility. We should therefore explore why lack of physical activity, smoking, etc causing a population more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and mechanism involved. Thus, in this review article, we summarize epidemiological evidence related to risk factors and lifestyle that affect COVID-19 severity and the mechanism involved. These risk factors or lifestyle interventions include smoking, cardiovascular health, obesity, exercise, environmental pollution, psychosocial social stress, and diet.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.138-152
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• 2005

Purposes: The purposes of this study are to investigate the definition, components, prevalence, and associated factors of metabolic syndrome and suggest the management strategies for workers. Method: This study was conducted by literature review. Results: Metabolic syndrome by the NCEP-ATP III is the clustering of three or more of five conditions: abdominal obesity, high triglycerides, low levels of HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, and high glucose(blood sugar). The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome by modified NCEP-ATP III in South Korean workers was about 20 to 25%. Metabolic syndrome is caused by many associated factors, namely, age, family history, socioeconomic status, job strain, shift work, psychosocial distress, bad health behaviprs and so on. Conclusions: To prevent metabolic syndrome at worksites, multifactorial risk factor assessments and preventive approaches are required. Socioeconomic factors such as education, working status should be nationally importantly considered for the health inequality of workers. Occupational health nurse, at first, can start weight control, smoking cessation program. stress management, the improvement of work environment. Next stage, early diagnosis and treatment for metabolic risk group can be performed.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.155-173
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• 2018

Chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) is an unwanted adverse event in any operation. It leads to functional limitations and psychological trauma for patients, and leaves the operative team with feelings of failure and humiliation. Therefore, it is crucial that preventive strategies for CPSP are considered in high-risk operations. Various techniques have been implemented to reduce the risk with variable success. Identifying the risk factors for each patient and applying a timely preventive strategy may help patients avoid the distress of chronic pain. The preventive strategies include modification of the surgical technique, good pain control throughout the perioperative period, and preoperative psychological intervention focusing on the psychosocial and cognitive risk factors. Appropriate management of CPSP patients is also necessary to reduce their suffering. CPSP usually has a neuropathic pain component; therefore, the current recommendations are based on data on chronic neuropathic pain. Hence, voltage-dependent calcium channel antagonists, antidepressants, topical lidocaine and topical capsaicin are the main pharmacological treatments. Paracetamol, NSAIDs and weak opioids can be used according to symptom severity, but strong opioids should be used with great caution and are not recommended. Other drugs that may be helpful are ketamine, clonidine, and intravenous lidocaine infusion. For patients with failed pharmacological treatment, consideration should be given to pain interventions; examples include transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, botulinum toxin injections, pulsed radiofrequency, nerve blocks, nerve ablation, neuromodulation and surgical management. Physical therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy and lifestyle modifications are also useful for relieving the pain and distress experienced by CPSP patients.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.12-20
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• 2021

The mean age at menarche (AAM) of Korean females has been rapidly decreasing over the last 50 years; currently, the prevalence of early menarche (<12 years) is 22.3%. Female adolescents who experience early menarche are known to be at greater risk of psychosocial and behavioral problems along with several physical health problems such as menstrual problems. They also tend to achieve a shorter final height and develop obesity. Population-based Korean studies have shown a strong association between early menarche and the risk of obesity, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, diabetes, breast cancer, and cardiovascular disease in adulthood. Although the exact mechanism of how early menarche causes cardiometabolic derangement in later adulthood is unknown, childhood obesity and insulin resistance might be major contributors. Recent studies demonstrated that an excessive consumption of fructose might underlie the development of obesity and insulin resistance along with an earlier AAM. A positive association was observed between sugar-sweetened beverages (a major source of fructose) intake and obesity, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, and cardiometabolic risk in Korean females. In pediatrics, establishing risk factors is important in preventing disease in later life. In this regard, early menarche is a simple and good marker for the management of cardiometabolic diseases in adulthood. Decreasing one's fructose intake might prevent early menarche as well as the development of obesity, insulin resistance, and cardiometabolic diseases.

• International Journal of Heart Failure
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.107-116
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• 2024

Frailty is highly prevalent among patients with heart failure (HF) and independently predicts adverse outcomes. However, optimal frailty definitions, assessments, and management in HF remain unclear. Frailty is common in HF, affecting up to 80% of patients depending on population characteristics. Even pre-frailty doubles mortality risk versus robust patients. Frailty worsens HF prognosis through systemic inflammation, neurohormonal changes, sarcopenia, and micronutrient deficiency. Simple screening tools like gait speed and grip strength predict outcomes but lack HF-specificity. Comprehensive geriatric assessment is ideal but not always feasible. Exercise, nutrition, poly-pharmacy management, and multidisciplinary care models can help stablize frailty components and improve patient-centred outcomes. Frailty frequently coexists with and exacerbates HF. Routine frailty screening should guide supportive interventions to optimize physical, cognitive, and psychosocial health. Further research on HF-specific frailty assessment tools and interventions is warranted to reduce this dual burden.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.358-367
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• 1998

The study purpose was to investigate psychosocial factors related to smoking among adolescent boys. The Theory of Planned Behavior provide the basis for the study. Twenty-five attitudinal beliefs, 9 normative beliefs and 20control beliefs were identified through questionnaire development. The data were analyzed using t-test and χ2-test. Thirty-three percent of 300 students were smokers. Most of the beliefs examined were significantly different between smokers(n=92) and nonsmokers(n=92). With respect to attitudinal beliefs, smokers responded less negatively on the items of bad health effects of smoking such as sore throat, headache, chest pain, risk of cancer and bad blood circulation(p<0.001), and decreased physical strength(p<0.05). Smokers believed less negatively on the items that smoking leads to bothering others, bad breath, yellow teeth and making them spend money(p<0.001). In contrast, smokers felt more positively on smoking as a means of stress management, relaxing, helping digestion(P<0.001). Smokers felt less pressure for not smoking from significant others. Especially mother, siblings, friends, girl friends, seniors of school were important sources of influence regarding subject's smoking. Smokers felt less confident in controlling the urge to smoke in several situations including; when they were with friends or asked to smoke by friends; after the meal, or drinking; when they were bored or stressed, upset, and when they felt unstable(p<0.001). Smokers also scored lower on specific skills to quit or control the urge to smoke as well as overall perceived control, compared to nonsmokers(p<0.001). These results suggest that interventions for adolescents incorporate diverse strategies to increase the perceived control over smoking in specific situations as well as overall perceived control, to help them realize and modify attitudinal beliefs, and to elicit support from significant others for not smoking. (Korean J Community Nutrition 3(3) : 358∼367,1998)

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.79-85
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• 2009

In this study, the effects of psychosocial stress (box color and precision demand) on muscle activity were evaluated in laboratory setting. Eight subjects performed sagittally symmetric lifting tasks. Box color (yellow, black), precision demand (yes, no), and box weight (5%MVC, 10%MVC, 15 %MVC) were varied and surface EMG signals from seven muscles(medial deltoid right, biceps brachii right, lateral triceps right, latissimus dorsi right, erector spinae right, external oblique right, internal oblique right) were recorded. EMG signals were band-pass filtered($10{\sim}400\;Hz$), rectified, RMS smoothed and normalized (NEMG). Analysis of variance tests were conducted on the total NEMG (TNEMG: the sum of the seven muscles' NEMGs) and on the individual muscle's NEMGs. Box color had no effect on the TNEMG and on the seven muscles activities(p>0.05). When precision demand was required at the end point of lifts, the mean NEMG showed higher values than no precision demand conditions: TNEMG (14% increase) and medial deltoid(40% increase), biceps brachii(10% increase), lateral triceps(26% increase), latissimus dorsi(25% increase) muscles. Those increases showed more conspicuous as the box weight increased in the muscles of medial deltoid, lateral triceps, and latissimus dorsi.