• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.263-273
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• 2006

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the trend of health statue of the elderly living in rural area according to drinking patterns. Methods: This study was conducted with 2,421 elderly people (male 1,273 and female 1,148) residing in the selected 25 villages, with exclusion of a few elderly people who were in hospital, out for a long time or had an unknown address. This study were carried out, face-to-face interviews with the subjects were made from January to March 2002. Results: The investigation of drinking state showed that for male subjects, drinkers accounted for 48.8%, nondrinkers 35.1% and abstainers from drinking 16.1%, whereas for female subjects, drinkers accounted 15.3%, nondrinkers 80.2% and abstainers from drinking 4.5%. The health status was analyzed according to drinking pattern. For elderly men, abstainers from drinking showed worse health state than nondrinkers and drinkers. Elderly women showed the same result. It is widely known that drinking are the important causes of chronic diseases. Therefore, it is needed to provide the elderly with education on control of preventable health risk factors and effect of living state on health, in order to prevent aggravation of health level of the elder population aged 65 and over. This will also help them promote their health. It will be desirable that for the elderly, the objective will focus on health promotion rather than treatment of diseases. Conclusions: Carry out health plan for rural communities and health maintenance programs and health promotion of the elderly in those communities shall be developed. In addition, preventive education and health examination shall be conducted more frequently with the elderly who drink but are still healthy.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.29-39
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• 2004

Background : The diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to mediastinal tumors and cysts have changed over the past three decades. This report summarizes our forty-two years of experience with these tumors. Methods : This study retrospectively reviewed 479 patients with primary mediastinal tumors and cysts that were diagnosed and managed over the past 17-year period (1985~2002) and compared them to the report of the previous 25-year result (1960~1985) in Yonsei University College of Medicine, Severance Hospital in Seoul, Korea. Results : During the 17 years, there were 479 cases of pathologically proven mediastinal tumors and cysts. Thymoma (38.2%) was the most common mediastinal tumor and has increased noticeably during recent years. The gender ratio showed a male predominance (1.3:1) and the age distributions were even over all the age groups. The most common sites of the tumor and the proportion(28.6%) of malignant tumors were the same as that previously reported. A diagnosis of a tumor in asymptomatic patients was possible in 174 cases (36.3%), which was higher that reported previously. The diagnostic yield of a fine needle aspiration biopsy was 68.6% in the total tumors and 80.9% in the malignant tumors. A surgical resection was the most frequently chosen treatment modality and was performed in 405 cases (84.6%). The complete resection rate was 91.1%, which is higher than the previous result of 78.8%. Conclusion : These results showed that the prevalence of mediastinal tumors and cysts, particularly thymoma, increased. A fine needle aspiration biopsy was a valuable preoperative differential diagnostic method for malignant tumors. The surgical and complete resection rate increased remarkably possibly due to the better applicable chest CT scans, the more frequent health check-up provided by the regular health promotion program for all people as a health insurance policy, and the improved diagnostic techniques in the pathologic, radiological, and clinical fields.

• Neonatal Medicine
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.44-53
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• 2008

Purpose : Epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) caused by adenovirus is a highly contagious disease, which has been reported as outbreaks involving adults in the community. However, there has been no report on EKC outbreak by adenovirus in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Korea. Aims of this study were to investigate the EKC outbreak by adenovirus type 8 in NICU and to confirm an effectiveness of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for diagnosis. Methods : Conjunctival swab or nasopharyngeal aspirate specimens were taken from all patients and tested by viral culture and PCR. Adenovirus serotype was determined by sequencing of PCR product of selected region of hexon gene using the virus isolates or specimens. Results : An outbreak of EKC occurred which was involving 12 preterm infants in the NICU of the Seoul National University Children's Hospital between July 12th and August 1st, 2005. Three hospital staffs and one family member of the neonate were also affected. Adenovirus was detected in 12/12 (100%), 6/11 (54.5%) by PCR and virus culture, respectively. Eleven PCR-positive neonates were identified as serotype 8 by sequencing. The first affected 4 babies have had routine ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) examinations one week ago. While previous outbreaks were sustained for a few months, the event in our unit was controlled without complications in 3 weeks. Conclusion : We analyzed the EKC outbreak by adenovirus type 8 in NICU. Adenovirus serotype was identified by PCR and sequencing with high sensitivity for the first time in Korea, so we suggest this method can be very useful for rapid diagnosis and infection control.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.129-135
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• 2002

Objective : The primary objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of HBsAg-positives in the late 1990's among Korean adults. In addition, we evaluated the association of age, a residential area, a vaccination rate, a family history of chronic liver diseases and a past history of acute liver disease with the seropositivity of HBsAg, and estimated the prevalence of chronic HBV infection by follow-up for 6 month or more. Methods : A total of 10 areas, six metropolitan and four small cities, were selected. In each cities, one health screening center was selected for recruitment of study subjects. The study subjects were enrolled from a general health examination program that is provided by medical insurance companies. Questionnaires on various risk factors were administered to the study subjects. Sera was drawn and tested for HBsAg by radioimmunoassay. HBeAg and ALT were also tested for those of HBsAg positive. The HBsAg positives was retest for HBsAg 6 months later Results : Among the study subjects (n= 1816), the seroprevalence of HBsAg was 5.5% (95% CI=4.5%-6.6%), 7.4% in men (95% CI=5.8-9.4) and 3.6% in women (95% CI=2.5-5.0). A past history of acute liver disease and a family history of chronic liver diseases was shown to be risk factors for HBsAg positivity. Among the 31 HBsAg-positives, negative seroconversion rate was estimated to be 3.2%, Thus, prevalence of chronic HBV infection was estimated to be 5.3% (95% CI=3.7-6.6). Conclusion : In this study, the HBsAg seroprevalence rate was lower than that of the other studies in 1980's, particularly in young adult and women. Considering the public health importance of liver cancer and chronic liver diseases, the further effort is needed to prevent and reduce the HBV infection.

• 한국노년학
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.569-592
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• 2018

This study purported to investigate the current state of human rights of older adults residing in rural areas of Korea. The study utilized, as an analytic framework, 4 priority directions (1. "older persons and development", 2. "rural area development", 3. "advancing health and well-being into old age", and 4. "ensuring enabling and supportive environments") with 13 task actions recommended by Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA). Furthermore, the study examined gender differences in all items included in the analytic framework. Data was collected by the face-to-face survey on 800 subjects aged 65 and over. Statistical analyses were conducted using STATA 13.0 program. The main results were summarized in order of 4 priority directions as follows. First, average working hours per day were 6.2, and men reportedly participated in economic activities and needed job training more than women, while women participated in lifelong education programs more than men. Awareness of fire and disaster prevention facilities was low in both genders. Second, accessibility to the support center for the elderly living alone as well as protective services for the vulnerable elderly was found to be low. IT-based services and networking were used more by men than women, and specifically, IT-based financial transactions and welfare services were least used. Third, medical check-ups and vaccinations were well received, while consistent treatments for chronic illnesses and long-term care services were relatively less given. In addition, accessibility to mental health service centers was considerably low. Fourth, although old house structures and the lack of convenience facilities were found to be circumstantial risk factors for these elders, experiences of receiving housing support services were scarce. The elderly were found to rely more on informal care, and concerns for their care were higher in women than men. Plus, accessibility to elderly abuse services was markedly low. Based on these results, discussed were implications for implementing policies and practical interventions to raise the levels of the human rights for this population.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.149-158
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to examine relation of oral health awareness, knowledge and behavior in department dental hygiene, health-related majors and health-unrelated majors in attempt to provide basic data of oral health promotion and oral health education. This study were 591 female H university students in Gwangju. The interests of oral health, the recognition of importance for oral health, and recognition of one's own oral health status were highest in dental hygiene students, followed by health-unrelated majors and health-related majors. The level of oral health knowledge by the major was highest in dental hygiene students(9.73), followed by health-related majors(9.14) and health-unrelated majors(9.05). In the oral health behavior by major, students who brushed more than three times a day, used the oral care products and received regular dental examinations within 1 year were the highest in the dental hygiene major, followed by health-related majors and health-unrelated majors. The experience of scaling within 1 year was the highest in the dental hygiene major, followed by health-related majors and health-unrelated majors. The higher the oral health knowledge, increased awareness of oral health concern and the importance of oral health. Also, the higher the degree of interest in oral health, the greater the recognition that oral health is important and the more the oral health condition is perceived as healthy, It was found that the number of brushing increased. In this results, the higher the oral health knowledge, the higher the oral health awareness and the oral health behavior. It is necessary to find ways to develop or utilize various oral health education for university students.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.75-88
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• 2023

The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the demographic characteristics of pediatric dental patients who underwent dental treatment under general anesthesia (DTGA) at the Seoul National University Dental Hospital from January 2011 through December 2020 and compare the patterns of repeated DTGA between dental patients with severe disabilities (DSD) and non-DSD (healthy or medically compromised patients without DSD). There were 1,857 DTGAs among 1,719 patients (mean age = 5.1 years; males = 59.3%; ASA 2 or above = 52.9%; DSD = 26.8%). Overall, 6.6% of patients underwent repeated DTGA, and the rate of repeated DTGA over a 10-year period was 7.4%. ASA 2 or above (p < 0.0001) and DSD (p < 0.0001) were more likely to undergo repeated DRGA compared to ASA 1 and non-DSD. At both GA1 and GA2, DSD received significantly more restorative treatment on permanent teeth than non-DSD (p = 0.002, p < 0.0001, respectively). There has been an increasing demand for DTGA in pediatric dentistry over the last 10 years. Regular check-ups and preventive oral health care are necessary for pediatric dental patients with severe disabilities to reduce the possibility of repeated DTGA.