• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.197-209
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• 2019

Purpose: This study was done to examine good death awareness, attitudes toward advance directives (ADs), and preference for care near the end-of-life (PCEOL) of hospitalized elders in long-term care hospitals. Relevant characteristics were investigated as well as correlation of the variables. Methods: This descriptive research study involved 161 hospitalized elderly patients in long-term care hospitals. A self-report questionnaire was used to measure Good Death Scale, ADs Survey, PCEOL Scale, and general characteristics. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation with SPSS/WIN 23.0. Results: In terms of good death awareness, a significant difference was observed; in according to age (F=3.35, p=.037), payer of treatment costs (F=3.98, p=.021), mobility (F=3.97, p=.021), heard discussion about ADs (t=-3.89, p<.001), and willing to complete ADs (t=2.12, p=.036). As far as attitudes toward ADs, the participants presented significant difference depending on religion (t=2.38, p=.018), average monthly income (F=3.91, p=.022), duration of hospital admission (F=5.33, p=.006), person to discuss ADs (t=-2.76, p=.006). On PCEOL, there was a significant difference, depending on religion (t=-3.59, p<.001) and perceived health status (F=3.93, p=.022). Finally, as for how the variables were related to each other, good death awareness and attitudes toward ADs had a weak positive correlation with PCEOL. Conclusion: To help seniors staying in nursing homes face a good death and enjoy autonomy, there should be educational and support systems that reflect each individual's sociodemographic characteristics so that the seniors can choose what kind of care they want to receive near the end-of-life.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.454-461
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• 2018

Background: Working conditions and psychosocial work factors have acquired an important role explaining the well-being and performance of professional drivers, including those working in the field of public transport. This study aimed to examine the association between job strain and the operational performance of public transport drivers and to compare the expositions with psychosocial risk at work of three different types of transport workers: taxi drivers, city bus drivers, and interurban bus drivers. Method: A sample of 780 professional drivers was drawn from three transport companies in Bogota (Colombia). The participants answered the Job Content Questionnaire and a set of sociodemographic and driving performance questions, including age, professional driving experience, work schedules, and accidents and penalties suffered in the last 2 years. Results: Analyses showed significant associations between measures of socio-labor variables and key performance indicators such road traffic accidents and penalties. Furthermore, multiple linear regression analysis contributed to explain significantly suffered accidents from key variables of the Job Demand-Control model, essentially from job strain. In addition, throughout post-hoc analyses, significant differences were found in terms of perceived social support, job strain, and job insecurity. Conclusion: Work stress is an issue that compromises the safety of professional drivers. This research provides evidence supporting a significant effect of job strain on the professional driver's performance. Moreover, the statistically significant differences between taxi drivers, city bus drivers, and interurban bus drivers in their expositions to work-related stress suggest the need for tailored occupational safety interventions on each occupational group.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.31 no.spc
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• pp.525-533
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• 2020

Purpose: Workers in special employment relationship (WSERs) are workers in nonstandard employment arrangements who lack worker protection accorded in standard employment arrangements. This study aimed to describe self-rated health (SRH) and depressive symptoms (DS) among Korean WSERs in comparison to regular wage workers (RWW) and identify associations between working conditions and those outcomes. Methods: In this study, secondary data analysis using the 5th Korean Working Conditions Survey was used. The sample totaled 29,120, including 1,538 WSERs and 27,564 RWWs. Sociodemographic and work-related characteristics were employed as explanatory variables and SRH and DS as dependent variables. Using multiple logistic regression, the determinants of fair/poor SRH and DS were identified. Results: The prevalence rates for fair/poor SRH and DS in WSERs were 25.2% and 28.3%, respectively, and 20.7% and 25.0% in RWWs, respectively. Compared to RWWs, WSERs had 31% (aOR=1.31, 95% CI=1.14~1.49) and 20% (aOR=1.20, 95% CI=1.06~1.36) higher odds of SRH and DS, respectively. Some factors, such as a lack of rest guarantee and sickness presenteeism, had a larger influence in the WSER than in the RWW group. Conclusion: Compared to RWWs, WSERs reported having poorer working conditions and were more likely to report poor general and mental health. Therefore, in Korea, public health policymakers should consider measures to protect the working conditions and health of WSERs, a growing segment of the working population. The study produced new epidemiological evidence regarding the relationships between employment arrangements and health.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.15 no.sup1
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• pp.53-69
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• 2021

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: To determine the weight change trend among the adult Turkish population after 1 yr of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and factors associated with weight change. MATERIALS/METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted between 26 February and 6 March 2021 using an online questionnaire that included questions for sociodemographic variables, eating habits, stress level, and the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire-R18. Those who weighed themselves 1-2 weeks before the pandemic was declared in Turkey and remembered their weight were invited to participate in the study. Trends in weight and body mass index (BMI) change were calculated. The variables associated with a 1% change in BMI were assessed using hierarchical regression analysis. RESULTS: The study was conducted with 1,630 adults (70.25% female) with a mean age of 32.09 (11.62) yrs. The trend of weight change was found to increase by an average of 1.15 ± 6.10 kg (female +0.72 ± 5.51, male +2.16 ± 7.22 kg) for the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rate of participants with a normal BMI (18.50-24.99 kg/m²) decreased to 51.91% from 55.75%. Consuming an "Increased amount of food compared to before the pandemic" was found to be the independent variable that had the strongest association with a 1% increase in BMI (β = 0.23 P < 0.001). The average change in the BMI was higher in older individuals than in those who were younger. A high stress level was associated with a decrease in BMI (β = -0.04 P = 0.048). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the factors associated with weight change after 1 yr of the pandemic in the Turkish population was reported for the first time. A high stress level and increased weight gain trend still occur in Turkey after 1 yr of the pandemic.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.339-345
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• 2022

Cardiovascular diseases is one of the leading causes of death in the world. The objectives of this study were to build various models using sociodemographic variables based on three variable selection methods and seven machine learning algorithms for the identification of hypertension and dyslipidemia and to evaluate predictive powers of the models. In experiments based on full variables and correlation-based feature subset selection methods, our results showed that performance of models using naive Bayes was better than those of models using other machine learning algorithms in both two diseases. In wrapper-based feature subset selection method, performance of models using logistic regression was higher than those of models using other algorithms. Our finding may provide basic data for public health and machine learning fields.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.46-55
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• 2022

Objectives Many studies have reported noticeable increases in the proportion of employees working either relatively short or relatively long hours. Such trends have been accompanied by an increasing concern that how much subjective mental well-being of employees would be influenced by their hours of work. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between work hours and clinically relevant depressive symptoms with demographic variables adjusted. Methods Participants were employees of a total of 56 private companies and local government organizations in Korea, aged 19 to 65 years. A self-report questionnaire that included items on working hour, job stress, levels of depression, and socio-demographic factors was administered to 15360 Korean employees, with 14477 valid responses. Hierarchical linear regression analyses, adjusted for sociodemographic factors, job related demographic factors, job stress, were used additionally to estimate the association between working hours and depressive scores. Results We found that working more than 40 hours per week correlated positively with the level of depressive symptoms after adjusting for demographic variables and the level of job stress. Furthermore, working 40 or fewer hours per week correlated negatively with the level of depressive symptoms. Being younger (β = -0.078, β = -0.099), being a female (β = 2.770, β = 1.268), and possessing a lower level of education (β = -0.315, β = -1.125) were significantly associated with higher level of depressive symptoms in all respondents. Conclusions Both of working excessively long or short hours is significantly associated with the prevalence of depressive symptoms. Establishing proper office hours for employees is critical to improving the quality of working conditions and maintaining good mental health in the workplace.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.273-294
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• 2023

Background: Most developed countries are working to improve their universal health coverage systems. This study investigates regional disparities in unmet healthcare needs and their causes in South Korea. Additionally, it compares the unmet healthcare needs rate in South Korea with that of 33 European countries. Methods: The analysis incorporates information from 13,359 adults aged 19 or older, using data from the Korea Health Panel. The dependent variables encompass the experience of unmet healthcare needs and the three causes of occurrence: "burden of medical expenses," "time constraints," and "lack of care." The primary variable of interest is the region of residence, while control variables encompass 14 socio-demographic, health, and functional characteristics. Multivariable binary logistic regression analysis, accounting for the sampling design, is conducted. Results: The rate of unmet healthcare needs in Korea is 11.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 11.0%-13.3%), which is approximately 30 times higher than that of Austria (0.4%). The causes of unmet healthcare needs, ranked in descending order, are "lack of care," "time constraints," and "burden of medical expenses." Predictive probabilities for experiencing unmet healthcare needs and each cause differ significantly between regions. For instance, the probability of experiencing unmet healthcare needs due to "lack of care" is approximately 10 times higher in Gangwon-do (13.5%; 95% CI, 13.0%-14.1%) than in Busan (1.3%; 95% CI, 1.3%-1.4%). The probability due to "burden of medical expenses" is approximately 14 times higher in Seoul (4.1%; 95% CI, 3.6%-4.6%) compared to Jeollanam-do (0.3%; 95% CI, 0.2%-0.4%). Conclusion: Amid rapid sociodemographic transitions, South Korea must make significant efforts to alleviate unmet healthcare needs and the associated regional disparities. To effectively achieve this, it is recommended that South Korea involves the National Assembly in healthcare policy-making, while maintaining a centralized financing model and delegating healthcare planning and implementation to regional authorities for their local residents-similar to the approaches of the United Kingdom and France.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.239-256
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• 2024

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Over the past 10 yrs, the prevalence of diabetes in Korea has continued to incline, and the importance of lifestyle modification to manage diabetes has been highlighted. For patients with diabetes, carbohydrate intake reduction is effective in improving glycemic control; thus, we aimed to analyze the effect of carbohydrate intake ratio and suggest an appropriate carbohydrate intake ratio. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Using the 8th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2019-2021), we analyzed the data including participants aged 30 yrs or older with diabetes, and they were stratified into good and poor glycemic control groups. To analyze the correlation between the dietary behavior characteristics of participants with diabetes and the carbohydrate intake ratio, sociodemographic characteristics, dietary behavior, and health behavior were adjusted, and multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to present the adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: In the unadjusted crude model, when carbohydrate intake ratio in total energy intake increased by 1%, the likelihood of poor glycemic control increased by 1.007-fold (95% CI, 0.998-1.016; P = 0.121). In model 1, which uses age and sex as adjustment variables, an increase of up to 1.011-fold was possible (95% CI, 1.001-1.021; P = 0.008). In model 2, which added variables such as diabetes duration, frequency of fruit consumption, frequency of lunch and, frequency of dinner, the risk of poor glycemic control increased by 1.010-fold as the carbohydrate intake ratio increased (95% CI, 0.998-1.022; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study confirmed that as the ratio of carbohydrate intake to total energy intake increases the likelihood of poor glycemic control also increases in patients with diabetes. Therefore, to improve glycemic control in patients with diabetes, controlling the carbohydrate intake may be helpful.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.208-218
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• 2017

Objective: This study examined the caregiver burden, depressive symptoms, and mental-related quality of life of 226 caregivers of stroke patients, who had been hospitalized in 7 general hospitals located in Cheongju and Daejeon Metropolitan city. Methods: Data were collected from August 5, 2014 to October 5, 2014 and a structured self-administered questionnaire was used. The results were analyzed using a t-test, ANOVA for different comparisons of the mental related quality of life in the sociodemographic characteristics, care-related characteristics, health-related behavioral characteristics, caregiver burden, and depressive symptoms. Hierarchical multiple regression was conducted to determine the explanatory power of the independent variables on the dependent variables, with the variables showing significant differences in univariate analysis as independent variables. Results: According to the results of hierarchical multiple regression analysis, the relevant factors that influenced the mental-related quality of life were the relationship with a patient, burden by 'care', burden by sacrifice of 'personal life', and depressive symptoms. Conclusion: To enhance health-related quality of life, not only is a systematic complement on such factors needed, but the development and implementation of an intervention program to the caregiver burden and depressive symptoms is also urgently required.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.255-270
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that influence the consumption of convenience foods among Korean adolescents. Methods: This study had a descriptive cross-sectional study. Data were obtained from the 15th (2019) Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey, which involved a nationwide representative sample of 57,303 middle- and high-school students. Convenience-food consumption was defined by frequency of adolescents consuming convenience foods obtained from convenience stores, supermarkets, and cafeterias over the previous 7 days. The analyzed variables were related to sociodemographic, mental health, and health behavior. The Rao-Scott χ² test was applied to examine the difference in the rate of consuming convenience foods obtained from convenience stores according to each factor. Hierarchical logistic regression was conducted to examine the factors that influence convenience-food consumption among Korean adolescents. Results: It was found that 29.1% of Korean adolescents consumed convenience foods obtained from convenience store more than three times per week. The significant influencing factors were female sex; low subjective academic achievement, and subjective household economic status; high perceived stress; low subjective sleep sufficiency; experience of depression; suicidal ideation; lower physical activity; skipping breakfast; lower consumptions of fruit, milk, and vegetables; higher consumptions of soda drinks, sweet drinks, caffeine, and fast food; lower water intake; current smoking and drinking; drug use; and experience of violence. Conclusion: These findings provide a better understanding of the sociodemographic, mental-health, and health-behavior factors that influence the consumption of convenience foods among Korean adolescents. We suggest that differentiated policies, strategies, and nutrition education need to be developed and implemented, in order to address the above-mentioned factors and thereby reduce such behaviors among Korean adolescents.