• Health Policy and Management
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.138-162
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• 2004

This study was performed to investigate small area variation in rates of three common surgeries in general surgery department across 156 small areas. Three surgery rates were analyzed; Anal and/or stomal procedures, inguinal and/or femoral hernia procedures, appendectomy. Methods: We used health insurance claims data and the number of patients were 13,845, 2,154 and 7,151 persons respectively. Surgery rates were directly standardized with age and sex and logistic regression was used to analyze surgery rates. Results: Mapping of the surgery rates, there was small area variation in anal and/or stomal procedures. The clinic which was located in more competitive market and chose DRG payment system tends to do more anal and/or stomal procedures. There was no factor except DRG bed rates had effect on rate of inguinal and/or femoral hernia procedures. Conclusions: Findings of this study will contribute to developing investigation method on small area variation and policy to reduce the variation such as developing evidence based medical practice guideline.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.29 no.2 s.53
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• pp.385-395
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• 1996

This study intends to examine the behavioral pattern and small area variations of health service utilization within Wonju city. We selected three small areas in Wonju city as the study site: Haksung-dong(central area of the city), Moonmak-myun (industrial area which is located 25km away from the center of the city), and Gure-myun (agricultural area which is located 32km away from the center). The data were collected by administering questionnaire interviews with 526 people in three areas. The questionnaire include the items on health service utilization behaviors, sociodemographic characteristics, health status, and perceptions. The statistical methods used for the analysis were ANOVA and hierarchical logistic regression. From the analysis, it was found that there was a variation of health service utilization by areas. Compared to those of other areas, the respondents from agricultural area showed a high probability of using health services. When respondents' personal characteristics were taken into account, the effect of dummy variables representing areas disappeared. Instead, the perceived health status became the prime factor of health service utilization. This result showed that the small area variations of health service utilization is due to the demand factor rather than the supply factor.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.27 no.3 s.47
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• pp.609-626
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• 1994

This study was conducted to investigate whether variations in hospital services utilization across small geographic areas in Korea existed, and if so, what factors are responsible for the variation. The claims data of the fiscal year 1992 obtained from the regional health insurance societies were used for the study. Main findings of the research can be summarized as follows: 1 Extremal Quotients (EQ) of hospital expenditure per capita and hospital days per capita were 2.69 and 2.73, and Coefficient of Variation (CV) were 0.14, both, respectively. The EQ and the CV of admission rate were also 2.71, 0.15. The EQ and the CV of expenditure per admission were 1.73, 0.10 and those of hospital days per admission were 1.29, 0.06. All these statistics were statistically significant and this result provides strong evidence for the existence of small area variations. 2. Comparing patterns of variation among areas, the area which showed higher utilization amounts is Chansungp'o. Koje area, whereas the areas which showed lower utilization amounts are Yongju, Changhung, Miryang, Mokp'o, Koch'ang area. 3. Multivariate analytic methods were used to examine factors related to the variation across areas. In terms of the health resource availability variables, beds per capita or physicians per capita were positively associated with all utilization indices. As for the health service market structure variables, the proportion of health care institutions operating for less than f years was positively related to the expenditure per capita, hospital days per capita and expenditure per admission. In addition the proportion of the private health care institutions also had a negative relationship with total utilization amount and admission rate and the proportion of physicians under age 40 was negatively associated with expenditure per capita and expenditure per admission. With regard to the socio-demographic characteristics, proportion of medicaid population was positively related to hospital days per capita, and percentage of paved road was positively related to hospital days per admission. As a conclusion, wide variations existed across small areas in Korea and supply factors were found to be important in explaining the variation.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.49-76
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• 1994

Small area variations in health care utilization have long been studied as an important issue related to boto cost containment and quality assurance. This study was conducted to investigate if variations in hospital services across small geographic areas in Korea existed. The claims data of the fiscal year 1992 obtained from the regional health insurance societies were used for the study. Main findings of the research can be summarized as follows : 1. Extremal Quotients(EQ) of hospital expenditure per capita and hospital days per capita varied among diagnosis types. The EQ ranged from 2.05(cataract) to 41.67(pneumonia) in hospital expenditure per capita and from 1.86(cataract) to 45.89(pneumonia) in hospital days per capita. The diagnosis groups which showed high variation were pneumonia, cephalo-pelvic disproportion, gastritis and duodenitis, fracture of rib, and acute bronchitis. Those which showed low variation were acute appendicitis and cataract. 2. The EQ level of admission rate was different in terms of diagnosis types, ranging from 2.57(catarct) to 44.45(pneumonia). The variations were high in medical disorders such as pneumonia, oephalo-pelvic disproportion, gastritis and duodenitis and acute bronchitis, while relatively low in surgical conditions such as acute appendicitis and cataract. 3. As an indicator of service intensity, the EQ of expenditure per admission ranged from 1.67(acute appendicitis) to 31.27(essential hypertension). The diagnoses which had high variation were essential hypertension, gastric ulcer, whereas those which had low variation were cephalopelvic disproportion and acute appendicitis. With regard to hospital days per admission, the EQ ranged from 1.55(acute appendicitis) to 28.13(gastric ulcer) by diagnosis types. The diagnosis groups with showed high variation were gastric ulcer, essential hypertension, and acute bronchitis, whereas those with low variation were cephalo-pelvic disproportion, intervertebral disc disorders, and acute appendicitis. Both the expenditure and hospital days per admission showed lewwer variations than the expenditure per capita, hospital days per capita and admission rate. 4. Comparing patterns of variation in utilization indices, diagnoses such as essential hypertension, gastric ulcer, fracture of rib showed higher variations in expenditure per admission than in admission rates, whereas diagnoses such as pneumonia, cephalo-pelvic disproportion and gastric ulcer showed higher variations in admission rate than expenditure per admission. These findings suggest that wide variations existed in several diagnoses groups across small areas in Korea. Further research should be performed to investigate factors related to small area variations including provider behavior.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.713-720
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• 2013

The objectives of this study are to identify whether the small area variation also exists in the oriental medicine and, if it exists, what causes, to expand our boundary of research interests on the small area variation observed at the western medicine toward the oriental medicine as one of the fundamental research foundations and to provide any fundamental findings from this study results to the healthcare politicians to promote consumer's rational behaviors for the use of healthcare. This study analyzed the health insurance claim data (2010, 2011) which were the patients of western medicine and the outpatients of the oriental medicine with the top 10 most frequent diseases and looked into the variation of healthcare utilization among the areas after grouping resident area into an 86-area category. The study result shows that the small area variation was also observed at the part of the oriental medicine in which the characteristics of patients critically affect the healthcare expenditure per visit day rather than those of providers and the characteristics of both patients and providers equally affect the healthcare expenditure per patient. Therefore, this study suggests that government set up healthcare policies on the standardization of oriental medicine to prevent its over-utilization and unmet need, enforcing the roles of oriental medicine in the markets, enhancing the appropriate health care utilization, and expanding provision and sharing the health care information to reduce unnecessary health care utilization.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.80-87
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• 1999

Objectives. The Study of Small Area Variation(SAV) is most interesting issue in the health care researches. Most studies of SAV have been concluded the existences of variation on the basis of the magnitude of variation without statistical testing. But it is difficult to explain the existence of variation with this way because variation indicies are easily influenced by several parameters and also their distribution are skewed. So, it needs for the study to investigate the distribution of these indices and develop the statistical testing model. Methods. This study was planned to analyze on the distribution of variation indices such as Extremal Quotient(EQ), Coefficient of Variation(CV), Systematic Component of Variation(SCV) and compare the statistical power among indicies. The simulations was performed on the basis of several assumptions and compared to the empirical data. Results. Main findings can be summarized as follows. 1. If other conditions are constant, the more number of regions, the larger 95 percentile of EQ. But under same situation, 95 percentile of CV and SCV were slightly decreased. 2. If the size of regional population or utilization rate were increased, 95 percentile of all statistics were decreased. Also in the cases of small population size and low utilization rate, 95 percentiles of EQ showed various change contrast to the little change of CV. 3. If the difference at the size of regional population were increased, 95 percentiles of EQ and SCV were increased contrast to the little different of CV. 4. If the utilization rate were increased, 95 percentiles of all indicies were increased. But under the same difference of utilization rate, the power of CV and SCV were increased comparing to no change of the power of EQ. 5. Usually the power of EQ were lower than that of CV or SCV and it is similar between CV and SCV. Conclusions. Therefore, we suggest that in selecting the variation indicies at the SAV, CV or SCV are superior than EQ in terms of significance level and power.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.42-53
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• 1991

Analysis of health care utilization is very important for health care policy development. Traditional studies of health care utilization were focused on measuring the level of health care utilization and on analyzing the determinants of health care utilization in the defined areas and populations. But there were some limitations in comparing the health care utilizations rates in traditional studies because so many factors were to be considered. Small area analysis is a method used to demonstrate substantial variations in health care utilization with popualtion-base use rates among similar geographic areas. This review discusses the methods, magnitude and trend of geographic variations, factors influencing small area variations, and makes suggestions for further study. Finally, the article discusses the necessity and feasibility of small area analysis in Korea.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.92-98
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• 2010

The capacitive sensor has a simple structure, compact size and low cost, but a small dynamic range. The small range is caused by use of gap variation. If the sensor takes area variation type with one plate moving horizontally, it can have a large measurable range. While the area variation has relatively low sensitivity, some studies have found methods to improve the sensitivity. Even though the methods are effective, parameters of the results are limited and 2 dimensional. This study provides more practical and 3 dimensional analysis and suggests relations between parameters. Using the results, the optimized design parameters of a high dynamic range capacitive sensor can be found.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.762-768
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• 1987

The capacitive transducers, which are used of the principle of capacitance changes by means of the variation of distance between electrodes, are usually utilized for measurement of small displacements. But the measurement ranges of this method are limited. In this study, the measurement ranges are extended by using the variation method of the surface area of electrodes. Thus the capacitive transducer and signal conditioner, which are having the capability of measurement range of 25mm and resolution of 0.1\ulcorner, have developed, and its environmental characteristics are also tested.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Health Science
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2013

Purpose. This study is to find the degree of variations and trends of hospital services utilization for hypertensive disease, and have done the comparative analysis of the factors affecting occurring some variations. For this, this study uses the data for patients-survey and health-survey of a regional society by Korea Institute for Heath and Social Affairs in 2008; The regional units are classified into 160 of medium size medical service areas. Methods. I understand the level of variation by using index of Extremal Quotient(EQ) and Coefficient Variation(CV), and analyze critical factors influencing some differences in hospital services utilization by using multi-regression model. Results. The main results are followed:The first, in case of rate of hospital services utilization according to standarization of sex and age by small area, I find the variations of EQ 5.3 and CV 0.3; In Ho-nam, especially, the variation of high rank of 10 of age shows higher distribution. The second, the results analyzing the factors influencing on hospital services utilization by multi regression model are that a number of bed hospitals is significant positive relationship and EQ-5D of health behavior is significant negative one. Conclusions. To increase equity of hospital services utilization for hypertensive disease, this study requests the appropriate supply management of bed hospitals by region, efficient allocation of resources, and revitalization of the health promotion program.