• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.129-138
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• 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant surge in glove usage, as recommended by the World Health Organization. Despite efforts to ensure the quality and safety of gloves, glove-associated skin diseases such as hand dermatitis have become ubiquitous, particularly among health care workers. This review discusses the prevalence, causes, and risk factors of hand dermatitis, as well as research efforts in medical gloves in the past decade to overcome glove-related hand dermatitis. Research papers from 2013 to 2022 were reviewed, selecting only 49 relevant papers from the Ovid, PubMed, and Scopus databases. The average prevalence of hand dermatitis among health care workers increased from 21.08% to 37.24% upon the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The cases are likely due to allergies to latex proteins, rubber additives, and accelerators commonly found in gloves. Using alternatives to latex gloves, such as accelerator-free and latex-free glove options, can help reduce allergy-induced hand dermatitis. Strict hand hygiene practices, such as frequent hand washing and the use of sanitizers, are also contributing factors in contracting hand dermatitis. Over the past decade, glove research advancements have focused mainly on reducing or immobilizing latex proteins. These include the use of biodegradable dialdehyde, sodium alginate, arctigenin, bromelain, papain, UV-LED, prototype photoreactors, and structure-modified nanosilica with silane A174. Two effective hand dermatitis preventive measures, i.e. an additional layer of glove liners and the use of gentle alcohol-based hand sanitizer, were recommended. These advancements represent promising steps towards mitigating hand dermatitis risks associated with glove usage.

• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.1329-1346
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• 2016

Korea Health Panel (KHP) data and Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) data are collected by self-assess and self-report for individual's health status and medical use. Previous studies have claimed that the reliability for prevalence rates and health life expectancies obtained from these data should be validated. National Health Insurance Services in Korea recently released a sample cohort DB that contain all data related to the use of medical facilities for all entire Korea citizens. It has been shown that disease-specific prevalence rates calculated from these data are representative and reliable for the entire population. In this paper, we evaluate the reliability of prevalence rates derived from self-reported data such as KHP and KNHANES by comparing to the prevalence rates from the sample cohort DB. We found that both KHP and KNHANES underestimate prevalence rates and in turn overestimate health life expectancies. Moreover, the general trends of health life expectancies might be distorted (except for the sample cohort DB) because of sampling and non-sampling errors.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.333-339
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• 2015

The study was intended to investigate the factors affecting dental caries in adults. To that end, adults aged 19 years and older among 10,113 subjects who completed the health-related questionnaire, medical examination and nutrition surveys in the first year (2013) of the 6th Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey, and 4,843 subjects categorized as patients with permanent teeth caries were included in the final analysis. The prevalence of dental caries in line with socio-economic aspects was found to be higher in men than in women. In view of education, the prevalence of dental caries was high in high school graduates, middle school graduates, college graduates and other advanced degree holders in the order named. Low monthly income earners showed the highest prevalence of dental caries. As for health-related lifestyles, the prevalence of dental caries was higher in smokers than in non-smokers. Obese subjects showed a little higher prevalence of dental caries compared to people of normal weight. Also, the prevalence was higher in those who failed to get oral examination than otherwise. Frequent daily toothbrushing and use of dental floss and interdental brush significantly decreased the prevalence of dental caries. In the logistic regression analysis with the presence or absence of dental caries employed as a dependent variable, gender, age, income level, smoking, oral examination and use of dental floss were found to serve as independent variables affecting dental caries. Therefore, Korean adults' socio-economic factors and lifestyles were proved to affect dental caries, which warrants some dental health programs and action plans designed to help lead healthy lifestyles whilst preventing dental caries and improving dental health in adults.

• Korean journal of dermatology
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• v.56 no.10
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• pp.624-627
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• 2018

Allergic contact dermatitis is an inflammatory condition associated with periorbital erythema, edema, and pruritus. The periorbital skin is relatively thin compared with the skin over other facial areas; therefore, it is vulnerable to allergen penetration and may show a variety of cutaneous manifestations. Recently, vision enhancement surgery is a widely performed procedure, and the prevalence of senile cataract and glaucoma is increasing. The prevalence of periocular allergic contact dermatitis is increasing secondary to the growing use of topical ophthalmic medications. Several studies in Korea have reported periocular allergic contact dermatitis secondary to the use of topical ophthalmic medications including latanoprost ($Latano^{(R)}$), fluorometholone ($Tolon^{(R)}$), polymyxin B ($Terramycin^{(R)}$), atropine sulfate ($Atropine^{(R)}$), neomycin sulfate ($Cambison^{(R)}$), and befunolol hydrochloride ($Bentos^{(R)}$), among others. However, ofloxacin ($Effexin^{(R)})$-induced allergic contact dermatitis has not been reported in the domestic and/or foreign literature. We report a case of periocular allergic contact dermatitis secondary to the use of ofloxacin ophthalmic ointment.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.71 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2011

Many findings suggest that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) imposes an enormous burden on patients, health-care professionals and society. COPD contributes to morbidity and mortality and to a significant use of health-care resources. In spite of a higher prevalence of COPD in Korea, the result of COPD treatment is not effective. The purpose of this article was to review recent advances in the study of COPD in Korea with the aim of improving effective management. This review highlights articles pertaining to the following topics; prevalence, assessment of COPD, risk factors for hospitalization, co-morbid diseases, phenotypes, and treatment issues.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.231-239
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• 2015

Purpose: This study was conducted to examine the prevalence of successful aging and factors influencing successful aging. Methods: This was a secondary analysis study. Data were analyzed from 10,462 elderly people who participated in the 2011 National Elderly Survey. According to the use of community senior facilities, participants were divided into 4 groups: those who used senior centers (group A, n=580), village senior clubs (group B, n=3,240), both of the 2 facilities (group C, n=339), and neither of the 2 facilities (group D, n=6,303). Cross-tabulation and logistic regression were performed. Results: The prevalence of successful aging was highest in group C (20.94%) and lowest in group D (10.41%). The physical & mental function and active engagement domains were highest in group C, while they were lowest in group D. The disease & risk factors domain were highest in group A, while lowest in group B. An educational level of middle-school or higher and income level in the third or higher quintile were significant factors for predicting successful aging in all groups. Conclusion: These results provide a basis for designing prevention and management programs as interventions to increase the prevalence of successful aging in Korean older adults.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.347-357
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• 2015

Purpose: This study was conducted to assess the prevalence rate of, and the risk factors for pressure ulcers in critical patients at the time of intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Methods: We reviewed the electronic medical records of 2,107 patients who were admitted to the intensive care units in D university hospital between January 1 and December 31, 2012. The collected date were analyzed by ${\chi}^2$-test, t-test, and multi-variate logistic regression with forward stepwise selection using the SPSS program version 21. Results: The prevalence rate of pressure ulcers at the ICU admission was 23.7%. Risk factors significantly affecting pressure ulcers carrying were the age of 80 years or older (OR=3.70, 95% CI: 1.80~7.60), body weight less than 50 kg (OR=2.82, 95% CI: 1.74~4.56), sedated consciousness (OR=6.10, 95% CI: 3.57~10.40), use of ventilator (OR=1.60, 95% CI: 1.02~2.49), use of vasopressors (OR=1.53, 95% CI: 1.09~2.14), ICU admission via operation room (OR=0.49, 95% CI: 0.29~0.85), and hospital admission from nursing homes (OR=13.65, 95% CI: 3.02~61.72). Conclusion: The findings of this study suggested that the prevention efforts for pressure ulcers should be given in prior to ICU admission. Further research is necessary for developing nursing interventions for preventing pressure ulcers in the pre-ICU stage.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.757-762
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• 2014

Smoking is recognized as a health problem worldwide and there is an established tobacco epidemic in Saudi Arabia as in many other countries, with tobacco users at increased risk of developing many diseases. This cross sectional study was conducted to assess the prevalence of oral mucosal, potentially malignant or malignant, lesions associated with tobacco use among a stratified cluster sample of adults in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A sample size of 599 was collected and each participant underwent clinical conventional oral examination and filled a questionnaire providing information on demographics, tobacco use and other relevant habits. The most common form of tobacco used was cigarette smoking (65.6 %) followed by Shisha or Moasel (38.1%), while chewing tobacco, betel nuts and gat accounted for 21-2%, 7.7%, and 5% respectively. A high prevalence (88.8%) of soft tissue lesions was found among the tobacco users examined, and a wide range of lesions were detected, about 50% having hairy tongue, 36% smoker's melanosis, 28.9% stomatitis nicotina, 27% frictional keratosis, 26.7% fissured tongue, 26% gingival or periodontal inflammation and finally 20% leukodema. Suspicious potentially malignant lesions affected 10.5% of the subjects, most prevalent being keratosis (6.3%), leukoplakia (2.3%), erythroplakia (0.7%), oral submucous fibrosis (0.5%) and lichenoid lesions (0.4%), these being associated with male gender, lower level of education, presence of diabetes and a chewing tobacco habit. It is concluded that smoking was associated with a wide range of oral mucosal lesions, those suspicious for malignancy being linked with chewable forms, indicating serious effects.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7065-7067
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• 2013

Background: Tobacco use is one of the leading causes of preventable death across the world today and the smoking rates among men in the Arab world are amongst the highest in the world. Smoking of dokha, a traditional Arab tobacco is common in some of the Middle East countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Iran. This review focuses on the prevalence, pattern and health effects of dokha use in the Middle East. For this purpose an electronic search was performed in the following databases and websites: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Proquest and Google scholar up to December 2012. The search strategy was based on Internet search for the synonyms of dohka or midwakh. From the results of the review it emerged that younger people are the most common users of dokha. Hence effective outreach health education programs, targeting adolescents, especially school students before they take up the habit of smoking, may thus curb the emergence of the problem.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.899-910
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• 2017

Nomogram is useful for predicting the prevalence of each patient through the scoring system without a complex formula. Because there are few studies on chronic otitis media (COM) in adults, this study aims to identify the relevant risk factors for COM in Korean adults and to build a nomogram for the risk factors. The Health Interview Survey data subset, derived from the Sixth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES VI), was used to evaluate the participants. Of the participants, the weighted prevalence of COM was 5.3%. Residence, earphone use, atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis, and subjective hearing status were identified as risk factors for COM. Using 6 risk factors, we propose a nomogram for COM, and use AUC to verify the discrimination of the nomogram.