• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.87-105
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• 2002

In order to find out the knowledge, attitude, and experience of community health practitioners(CHP) on complementary therapy, 393 community health practitioners who provide primary health care service in Busan, Kyeongnam, and Daegu, Gyeongbuk regions were interviewed or surveyed by mail from February 1st to March 31st, 2002. In terms of interest of CHPs toward 11 different hinds of complementary therapy, the rate of interest for soojichim was the highest with 75.3%. Aroma therapy had the interest of 71.0% of the CHPs, oriental medicine had 67.4%, and massage had 67.4%. The interest for shiatsu was 64.6%, while homeopath had the lowest rate of interest of 18.1%. In terms of reliance on the treatment results, oriental medicine scored the highest with 92.6%, and soojichim, massage, and shiatsu followed with 85.5%, 83.7%, and 81.7% respectively. Homeopath had the lowest reliance of 18.1%. The 65.1% of the CHPs had the experience of recommending oriental medicine to patients. 50.4% indicated that they had recommended soojichim, and 44.8% had recommended massage before. Shiatsu and aromatherapy followed with 34.4% and Homeopath had the lowest rate of 2.80%. When CHPs were asked if they had received any training in complementary therapy, 33.1% indicated that they had studied soojichim and 13.2%stated that they had learned oriental medicine. Aromatherapy, massage, and shiatsu followed with 11.2%, 8.4%, and 5.6% respectively On the other hand, none of the CHPs had received training in homeopath. In terms of using complementary therapy during the past 5 years, 23.9% had been treated with oriental medicine, and 18.896 had received soojichim. 5.9% had received aromatherapy, 5.3% had used massage, and 5.1% had experience with shiatsu. None of the practitioners had used homeopath during the past 5 years. Significantly many number of practitioners indicated that they had excellent treatment results with all hinds of complementary therapy, and there were rare cares of side effects. When they were asked if they wanted complementary therapy to become part of the curriculum during re-training or training for public service personnels, 78100 wanted soojichim, 69.2% wanted oriental medicine, and 67.9% wanted aroma therapy. 63.9% wanted shiatsu to be included, and 63.1% wanted massage. When CHPs were asked if they wanted to use complementary therapy during primary health care, 63.6% wanted to use soojichim, 52.9% wanted massage, and 51.9% wanted to use aroma therapy. Oriental medicine also showed a high rate of 50.1%. On the other hand, only a small percentage wanted to use chiropractic or homeopath with 17.0% and 12,2% respectively. Among the CHPs, there were some who had administered complementary therapy during the past 5 years. 84% had administered soojichim, 4.6% had administered oriental medicine, and 2.5% had administered massage 2.5% of the CHPs answered that they had administered aromatherapy. However, none of them had administered apitherapy or homeopath. Most of patients showed positive responses, and the rate of side effect was very low. As shown in the above results, although CHPs have a high rate of interest, reliance, and experience in recommending complementary therapy, only a low percentage of them had received any training in complementary therapy. In addition, since there were little side effects when they received or administered complementary therapy, they hoped complementary therapy, which can be beneficial to health, to be introduced to the curriculum. Therefore, in order to provide community members with complementary therapy and the correct information regarding the selection of complementary therapy that could be beneficial to health, a policy of continuous interest and support is needed so that CHPs can he provided with a systemic and rational curriculum of complementary therapy.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.200-213
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• 2004

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to create an electronic nursing record form to build a hospice nursing process database to be used in the u-hospital EMR system. Specific aims of the study were: 1. To generate a complete, accurate, and simple electronic nursing record form. 2. To verify its appropriateness following documentation with the standardized hospice protocol. 3. To verify its validity and finalize the hospice nursing process database through discussion among hospice professionals. Methods: Nursing records from three independent hospice organizations were collected and analyzed by five expert hospice nurses with more than 10 years of experience, and a nursing record database was developed. This database was applied to 81 hospice patients at three hospice organizations to verify its completeness. Results: 1. An electronic nursing record form with completeness, accuracy, and simplicity was developed. 2. The completeness of the standardized home hospice service protocol was 95.86 percent. 3. The hospice nursing process database contains 18 items on health problems, 79 items on related causes and major symptoms, and 229 items on nursing interventions. Conclusion: The new nursing record form and database will reduce documentation time and articulate and streamline the working process among team members. They can also improve the quality of hospice services, and ultimately enable us to estimate hospice service costs.

• Spatial Information Research
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.133-152
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• 1998

This article considers the experimental foundations of geographical phenomena for the distribution of lodging houses and the development of lodging Information Systems in Shin-Chon Area. This system allows the rural students to find their lodging houses conveniently. We examine the geographical reality of lodging houses in Shin-chon area and explores the lodging information system, reflecting how students select the lodging houses. Criteria for selection of lodging houses are travel time to school, interior facilities, rent fee, members, owners of lodging houses, which are collected by field swvey. The lodging information system is built in integration of Visual Basic with spatial data which are created in Mapinfo and Arcview through MapObject, component GIS software. This system provide query tools to efficiently investigate data as well as interactive map display. Also it displays the characteristics of a selected lodging houses using the identify tool on the map.

• 한국노년학
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.459-472
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• 2007

This research has its purpose of developing a tool to assess the needs of the Korean elderly at home population and to provide adequate services by evaluating their physical, psychological, and socio-environmental aspects. This developed tool is composed of two hundred questions and has the advantage of combined physical, psychological and social environmental situation assessment of the elderly at home. The tool also contains not only the objective view of the professionals, but also the subjective appeals of the elderly at home population so that it can reflect their substantial desires. The assessment tool was developed over 21 months from July, 2004 to March, 2006 and this period can be divided into three different stages. In the first stage, collecting of questions for the desire-focused assessment of the elderly by literature investigation and researching foreign source materials was carried out, and this ultimately developed assessment tool was applied to the long-term care insurance pilot project in the second stage. In this process, we revised some insufficiencies of this tool after we applied to elderly of 250 from the pilot project and other 200 elderly from this research team. For the last stage, the tool was completed by using inquiries of the focused group and the group of professionals to ensure its reliability and validity. In the process of developing the tool, the total of 200 questions under 13 subcategories was selected. The 13 subcategories are basic information, subjective appeals, information of the main helper, use of services, house environment, condition of health, condition of rehabilitation, daily living(ADL, IADL, defecation, assistance), social maintenance, behavioral disability, medical health, living habits, and strength. This tool is on the purpose to assess thoroughly the desires that the elderly at home population has and to provide the best service they need.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to provide the basic data for effective intervention of oral health behaviors strategy and to compare the actual conditions about hypertension and diabetes case management of the elderly at the hall for the aged and the D senior's college. The research method was a questionnaire including hypertension and diabetes case management of the elderly and the subjects were 174 of the elderly(65 age over) at the hall for the aged(100) and the senior's college(74). The results of this study were as follows; 1. Hypertension 1)The incidence of hypertension of elderly at the hall for the aged and the senior's college were 32.2%. 2)83.9% of the hypertension cases were initially diagnosed during hospital examination(p < 0.05). 3)Regular blood pressure checks were performed more than one time monthly on 76.8% of the cases(p < 0.05). 4)Blood pressure control was well controlled on 75%(p < 0.05). 5)85.7% of the elderly at the hall for the aged took hypertension drugs daily and 42.9% of the elderly at the senior's college took no drug alternatively(p < 0.05). 2. Diabetes 1)The incidence of the diabetes of elderly at the hall for the aged and the senior's college were 14.4%. 2)80.0% of the diabetes cases were initially diagnosed during hospital examination(p < 0.05). 3)64.0% of the cases did not have blood sugar measuring instrument(p < 0.05). 4. In the quality of life, the thinking of no difficulty in walking and no anxiety/depression was more presented on the elderly at the senior's college than those at the hall for the aged(p < 0.05). 5. The subjective health condition scores were higher on the elderly at the senior's college than those at the hall for the aged(p < 0.05).

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.155-164
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• 2002

Hypertension is the most frequent disease of chronic circulatory diseases and major intermediate cause or risk of the cerebrovascular disease which is a leading cause of death in Korea. Therefore, management of hypertension is an important issue in Korean healthcare. Especially, therapeutic compliance of hypertensives is very important because the hypertensive patients should receive anti-hypertensive treatment as long as the condition exists. However, many patients drop out of treatment, which is a major problem that needs to be solved through a hypertension control program. This study was carried out to provide basic data and counter measule for the hypertension control program in the community which aimed to keep the patients receiving treatment continuously. In order to investigate compliance of hypertensive patients during three months follow-up and the rate of control of hypertension, the data were collected during February, 2001, by reviewing medical records of 295 hypertensive patients who had been registered to Gunnam-myeon health subcenter before November, 2000. The author also study the dropout reasons by interviewing 58 patients among 68 dropout patients. The results were as follows: 1. Among the 295 subjects, 108(36.6%) were male and 187(63.4%) were female. Statistically, female hypertensives had a higher mean age than male(64.6 vs 66.3, p<0.05). 2. The 54.9% of the patients took anti-hypertensive medicine continuously for the past three months. And 19.3% had drug intermittently, and 25.8% dropped out of treatment. 3. Among several variables, such as sex, age, health insurance, the time taken from a patient's village to the health subcenter, only the last one was found to be significantly related to therapeutic compliance in the contingency table analysis. 4. The dropout reasons by multiple response were as follows, 'no symptom or no problem' (23.9%), 'change to other hospitals'(19.4%), 'geographical barrier'(17.9%), 'change to a neighborhood drugstore' (14.9%), 'immobility'(7.5%), 'economic barrier'(6.0%), 'unsatisfactory services of the health subcenter'(4.4%). 5. The mean blood pressure of 295 subjects was $144.9{\pm}12.9/86.88{\pm}8.6mmHg$. 6. The 32.5% of the subjects were controlled below 140/90mmHg. Conclusions: In order to improve the low rates of treatment and control of hypertension in rural hypertensives, a more active and systematic hypertension control program, including out-reaching follow-up management, is required in rural area. Especially, for health education of hypertensive patients, emphasis should placed on correcting wrong attitude toward hypertension.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.157-174
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• 1998

A survey was conducted to study the influence of socia-demographic factors on health-related behaviors. from June 1 to July 31, 1996. The study population was 1,903 adults in Kyongju City. A questionnaire method was used to collect data. Health-related behaviors included 24 items for men and 26 items for women. The followings are summaries of findings : The compliance of health promotion activities was higher when the age was older in men, when married, when having no religion and when the education level was higher than the other groups. And it was significantly higher when the income was lower in men and higher in women, in the residents living in apartment, in white collar workers, in the chronic ill people and when the body weight was lower than the other groups. Notable differences were found in the composition of health behavior factors for socio-demographic characteristics. Men used more tobacco, coffee and tea, salt and alcohol than women. However, the practice rates of regular exercise and physical examination were higher in men than women. On the other hand, the practice rates of fruit/vegetable intake, milk drinking and regular tooth brushing were higher in women than men. When the age was old, the amount of fruit/vegetable intake, the frequency of physician visit and health check-up, and regularity of meal were increased. When the income was high, the use rate of seat-belts, the amount of coffee, milk, fruit/vegetable and red meat intake were increased. The frequency of regular exercise. tooth brushing, health check-up, pap test and breast self examination were higher in the rich than the poor. When the education level was high, the frequency of regular exercise and tooth brushing, and the use rate of seat belts were increased, and the amount of alcohol consumption and salt intake were decreased. These findings suggest that socio-demographic factors are significantly associated with the patterns of health behaviors. In conclusion public health programs and individual counseling efforts should be multifaceted and behavior-specific to encourage to practice healthy life-style.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.8-17
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• 2005

Purpose: This study was performed to investigate burden, job satisfaction and quality of life of nurses who take care of cancer patients. Methods: The subjects were 237 nurses working at the oncology unit of hospitals with over 500 beds in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do. Data were collected using questionnaire from the February to March, 2005. Data were analyzed through t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient and stepwise multiple regression using SAS. Results: 1. The item that showed the highest level of burden was 'I feel limited even if I make efforts to reduce patients' pain. 'Burden was high in those group both who were younger than 35 years old and who had clinical experiences caring cancer patients for $3{\sim}4$ years. 2. The item that showed the lowest level of job satisfaction was 'the possibility of promotion'. Job satisfaction was high in those group both who had a spouse and were head nurses or incharge nurses. 3. The item that showed the lowest level of quality of life was 'I am physically exhausted'. Over 35 years old who had a spouse, and over 2,000,000 won monthly income made a high score in the quality of life. 4. There were negative correlations among burden, iob satisfaction and the quality of life. 5. The major factor affecting the quality of life was burden. Conclusion: The results of this study are expected to be utilized as basic data for developing support system to improve nurses' work conditions and quality of life.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.231-242
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• 2011

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of nutrition education based on ubiquitous healthcare (u-health) service on changes in dietary habits, nutrition intake, and risk factors for metabolic syndrome in male workers. In total, 72 male office workers with at least three risk factors of the National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III were recruited as subjects. Anthropometric measurements and biochemical analyses were conducted on all subjects. Dietary habits and nutrient intake were determined by a questionnaire using the 24-hour dietary recall method before and after nutrition education. Subjects measured their body composition, blood pressure, and physical activity more than once per week during the 12 weeks using the u-health care equipment and sent these data to a central database system using a personal computer. Individual nutrition counseling was provided four times on the first, fourth, eight, and twelfth weeks. The results showed significant decreases in abdominal circumference, body fat (%), diastolic blood pressure, serum triglycerides, and serum total cholesterol during the 12 weeks. Subjects with more than 12 measurements showed significant reductions in abdominal circumference, body fat (%), serum triglyceride, and serum total cholesterol. Mean intake of dietary fiber, animal calcium, potassium, vitamin C, and folic acid after nutrition education were higher than those before nutrition education. Participants showed significant increases in the frequencies of consuming protein foods (meat, fish, eggs, beans, tofu, etc.) and vegetables. In conclusion, nutrition education through the u-health service resulted in positive effects on the risk factors for metabolic syndrome, nutrient intake, and dietary habits.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.73-94
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• 2010

The attending system is a medical system that allows doctors in clinics to use the extra equipment in hospitals-beds, laboratory, operating room, etc-for their patient's care under a contract between the doctors and hospitals. Therefore, the system is very beneficial in terms of the efficiency of the usage of medical resources. However, it is necessary to develop a strong support system to strengthen its weaknesses and supplement its merits. If doctors use hospital beds under the attending system of hospitals, they would be able to check a patient's condition often and provide them with nursing care services. However, the current attending system lacks delivery and assistance support. Thus, for the successful performance of the attending system, a networking system should be developed to facilitate communication between the doctors and nurses. In particular, the nursing records in the attending system could help doctors monitor the patient's condition and provision of nursing care services. A nursing record is the formal documentation associated with nursing care. It is merely a data repository that helps nurses to track their activities; nursing records thus represent a resource of primary information that can be reused. In order to maximize their usefulness, nursing records have been introduced as part of computerized patient records. However, nursing records are internal data that are not disclosed by hospitals. Moreover, the lack of standardization of the record list makes it difficult to share nursing records. Under the attending system, nurses would want to minimize the amount of effort they have to put in for the maintenance of additional records. Hence, they would try to maintain the current level of nursing records in the form of record lists and record attributes, while doctors would require more detailed and real-time information about their patients in order to monitor their condition. Therefore, this study developed a system for assisting in the maintenance and sharing of the nursing records under the attending system. In contrast to previous research on the functionality of computer-based nursing records, we have emphasized the practical usefulness of nursing records from the viewpoint of the actual implementation of the attending system. We suggested that nurses could design a nursing record dictionary for their convenience, and that doctors and nurses could confirm the definitions that they looked up in the dictionary through negotiations with intelligent agents. Such an agent-based system could facilitate networking among medical institutes. Multi-agent systems are a widely accepted paradigm for the distribution and sharing of computation workloads in the scientific community. Agent-based systems have been developed with differences in functional cooperation, coordination, and negotiation. To increase such communication, a framework for a multi-agent based system is proposed in this study. The agent-based approach is useful for developing a system that promotes trade-offs between transactions involving multiple attributes. A brief summary of our contributions follows. First, we propose an efficient and accurate utility representation and acquisition mechanism based on a preference scale while minimizing user interactions with the agent. Trade-offs between various transaction attributes can also be easily computed. Second, by providing a multi-attribute negotiation framework based on the attribute utility evaluation mechanism, we allow both the doctors in charge and nurses to negotiate over various transaction attributes in the nursing record lists that are defined by the latter. Third, we have designed the architecture of the nursing record management server and a system of agents that provides support to the doctors and nurses with regard to the framework and mechanisms proposed above. A formal protocol has also been developed to create and control the communication required for negotiations. We verified the realization of the system by developing a web-based prototype. The system was implemented using ASP and IIS5.1.