• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
• /
• v.24 no.5
• /
• pp.441-453
• /
• 2012

Purpose: This secondary data analysis study was aimed at identifying the factors related to the patterns of alcohol use (normal alcohol use, hazardous alcohol use, and alcohol dependence) in the Korean adult. Methods: This study analyzed the cross-sectional data from 230,715 Korean adults aged 19 year and older who participated in the 2009 Korean Community Health Survey. Multinomial logistic regression was used to uncover associations between demographic, health related factors and the patterns of alcohol use. Results: The patterns of alcohol use was differentiated from the sociodemographic variables (residential area, gender, age, marital status, educational level, monthly income, and occupation) and with health related factors (smoking status, hours of sleep, body mass index, pain or discomfort, subjective health, stress level, liver disease, cardio/cerebro vascular disease, and depression). Hazardous alcohol use was lower in rural areas and lower among women, but higher among people who smoke, reported severe stress, and/or depression. Similarly, alcohol dependence was lower among women and among those in rural areas, and was more likely associated with those who smoke, have severe stress and depression. Conclusion: A number of factors are associated with patterns of drinking. Smoking, severe stress and depression seems to confound the problems of alcohol use. Additional research is needed to isolate those factors that are the most important influencing the use of alcohol.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
• /
• v.30 no.5
• /
• pp.867-879
• /
• 2017

This study investigated the factors affecting problematic drinking amongst the male university students of the Changwon area (n=367). The participants were divided into 3 groups, and undertook the self-report questionnaire survey. Based on the AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) guidelines, problematic drinking were rated as 'no problem' (28.8%), 'at-risk drinking' (41.7%), and 'alcohol abuse' (29.5%). Our study revealed that students living alone, indulged in more club activities, and drank more than 3 cans of carbonated drinks a day; this was significantly high on the AUDIT score (p<0.05). Participation in education was significantly higher (p<0.05), but intention to reduce the monthly alcohol consumption was significantly lower (p<0.001) in the alcohol abuse group. Recognition level of drinking cultures, drinking habits, AUDIT, and nicotine dependence were significantly higher in the alcohol abuse group (p<0.001). Recognition level of drinking cultures and nicotine dependence by the FTND (Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence) positively correlated with problematic drinking, whereas dietary guidelines and self-esteem showed a negative correlation with problematic drinking (p<0.05). Based on the results of multiple linear regression analysis, the factors affecting problematic drinking were recognition level of drinking cultures (${\beta}=0.47$, p<0.001) and nicotine dependence (${\beta}=0.23$, p<0.001). We conclude that implementation of health education for university students, would aid in rectifying the incorrect perception of drinking. Furthermore, both drinking and smoking should be considered simultaneously.

• Journal of Wellbeing Management and Applied Psychology
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.33-39
• /
• 2023

Purpose: The purpose of this study is that the college age is an important transition period from youth to adulthood. Nursing students are unfamiliar with their field of study and need to adapt to a large amount of academic and practical training, so that they can have a better college life. An attempt was made to determine the effect of exam anxiety, academic stress, and alcohol dependence on the academic achievement of nursing students. Research design, data, and methodology: The subjects of the study were 130 students from all grades who agreed to participate in the study after expressing convenience among students attending the Department of Nursing at a university in Gyeongnam. The data collection period was from August 15 to September 15, 2023. It was about a month. The data investigation was conducted through a self-report survey. Results: Results showed that significant variables included exam anxiety, academic stress, alcohol dependency, parent relationships, peer relationships, and major satisfaction, explaining a total variance of 31.9%. Among these, the most influential factor was academic stress (β=-.352). Conclusions: This study identify factors influencing the academic achievement of nursing college students and hopes to contribute to formulating strategies for their growth and competence development.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.71-81
• /
• 2009

Objectives: This study furthers the currents understanding of alcohol use disorders, stress, mental health status and suicide among Seoul citizens. This study is to identify differences according to socio-demographic variables and variables which affect stress, mental status and suicide for developing mental health programs. Methods: The study subjects using cluster-stratified sampling method were 1234 adults over 19 years old from 17 dong, S-Ku in Seoul City. A cross-sectional study with face-to-face interview was used to collect data. A questionnaire measuring socio-demographic variables, Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) and psychosocial wellbeing index-short form (PWI-SF) was utilized. Results: Three findings in this study were discussed: (1) The prevalence of problem drinking and alcohol dependence and AUDIT score were significantly higher among male, younger age, and high level of education and income; (2) AUDIT score were related with stress, all 9 symptoms of SCL-R and suicide plan; (3) Problem drinkers were more likely to have 2.5 times of anxiety, 3.0 times of hostility, and 2.4 times psychoticism than non alcohol problem drinkers. Alcohol dependence drinkers were more likely to have 1.9 times of high risk group of stress, 4.1 times of obsessive-compulsive, 4.7 times of anxiety, 5.5 times of hostility, and 2.3 times psychoticism than non alcohol dependence drinkers. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the future intervention of Mental Health programs should be carefully designed and tailored by socio-demographic variables.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.108-115
• /
• 1997

The alcoholic neuropathies developed in approximately 34% of chronic alcoholics and the sexual dysfunction had been experienced in 8-54% of male alcoholics(Schiavi 1990). The aims of this study were to identify the prevalence of subclinical polyneuropathies and sexual disorders in alcohol dependence, and to evaluate the association between them. The nerve conduction velocity(NCV), electromyography(EMG), and pudendal somatosensory evoked potentials(SEPs) were tested for the male alcoholics(N=34) and controls(N=17 for NCV & EMG, N=25 for pudendal SEPs). The pudendal SEPs were measured by the following procedures, in which we stimulated the dorsal nerve of penis attached by the ring electrode(stimulus intensity, three times of threshold : stimulus rate, 1-4.7Hz : stimulus duration, 0.1 or 0.2msec), and recorded at the scalp(active electrode, 2cm behind Cz : reference electrode, Fz). The NCV and EMG detected signs of peripheral neuropathies in 79.4% of alcoholics. Among the alcoholics, 64.7% were abnormal on the pudendal SEPs. Among the alcoholics who revealed abnormality on EMG and NCV, 81.4% were abnormal on the pudendal SEPs, in which 51.9% were not responded. The P1 latencies of pudendal SEPs on neuropathic alcoholics were significantly delayed(p<0.05) than non-neuropathic alcoholics. There was a relative correlation between peripheral neuropathies and sexual disorders in the alcoholics. The prevalence of subclinical neuropathies and sexual disorders seemed to be much higher in alcohol dependence than expectation, and these two problems were relatively correlated, and our results suggested that the peripheral polyneuropathies were one of the prerequisites of sexual disorders.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.54 no.3
• /
• pp.277-291
• /
• 2021

Purpose: This study was undertaken to identify the alcohol drinking status of industrial workers, their health care practice, and dietary behavior, as well as their nutrient intake. Methods: In July 2019, 220 male subjects working in the Chungnam area were enrolled in the study. Their alcohol drinking status was evaluated by applying the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification-K (AUDIT-K) system. Demographic characteristics, status of health care practice, and dietary behaviors were assessed using a self-administered questionnaire; nutrient intakes were analyzed using 24-hour recalls. Data were analyzed by applying χ²-test, ANOVA, Duncan test, and Pearson's correlation analysis with SPSS v. 25.0. Results: Workers were classified by their alcohol drinking status as 'normal' (84, 38.2%), 'problem drinker' (45, 20.5%), 'alcohol dependence I' (60, 27.3%), and 'alcohol dependence II' (31, 16.0%). The alcohol drinking status showed significant differences with age (p < 0.05), monthly income (p < 0.05), smoking status (p < 0.05), and need for weight control (p < 0.05). Moreover, increased alcohol intake resulted in significantly decreased levels of health care practice and dietary behaviors (p < 0.05, p < 0.01, respectively). The energy intake was highest in the 'alcohol dependence I' group, followed by 'alcohol dependence II', 'problem drinker', and 'normal drinker' (p < 0.05). Intakes of vitamin E, vitamin C, and niacin in the 'alcohol dependence I' group were found to be higher than the other groups (p < 0.05). A negative correlation was obtained between alcohol drinking status, health care practice, and dietary behaviors, whereas a positive correlation was determined between alcohol drinking status, energy and water intakes. Conclusion: Considering these results, we conclude the necessity to consider nutritional and alcoholic education programs for improving the quality of work life of industrial workers, based on their alcohol drinking status.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.68-74
• /
• 2017

Objectives It is well known that problem drinking is associated with alterations of brain structures and functions. Brain functions related to alcohol consumption can be determined by the resting state functional connectivity in various resting state networks (RSNs). This study aims to ascertain the alcohol effect on the structures forming predetermined RSNs by assessing their cortical thickness. Methods Twenty-six abstinent male patients with alcohol dependence and the same number of age-matched healthy control were recruited from an inpatient mental hospital and community. All participants underwent a 3T MRI scan. Averaged cortical thickness of areas constituting 7 RSNs were determined by using FreeSurfer with Yeo atlas derived from cortical parcellation estimated by intrinsic functional connectivity. Results There were significant group differences of mean cortical thicknesses (Cohen's d, corrected p) in ventral attention (1.01, < 0.01), dorsal attention (0.93, 0.01), somatomotor (0.90, 0.01), and visual (0.88, 0.02) networks. We could not find significant group differences in the default mode network. There were also significant group differences of gray matter volumes corrected by head size across the all networks. However, there were no group differences of surface area in each network. Conclusions There are differences in degree and pattern of structural recovery after abstinence across areas forming RSNs. Considering the previous observation that group differences of functional connectivity were significant only in networks related to task-positive networks such as dorsal attention and cognitive control networks, we can explain recovery pattern of cognition and emotion related to the default mode network and the mechanisms for craving and relapse associated with task-positive networks.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.106-113
• /
• 2012

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the triallelic serotonin transporter gene and stressful life events to determine their effect on depression with alcohol dependence. Methods : Ninety-five hospitalized patients with alcohol dependence (73 male, 22 female) were enrolled in this study. Thirty-two (33.7%) of the total patients were diagnosed with major depressive disorder and dysthymic disorder by Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV. The characteristics of stress were evaluated using the stressful life events scale, and depressive symptoms were assessed using the depression scale (Beck Depression Inventory, BDI). Alcoholism with depression (n = 32) and alcoholism without depression (n = 63) were genotyped for the triallelic serotonin transporter gene ($L_A$ : higher expressing allele, $L_G$/S : lower expressing allele). Results : There was no significant difference in the allele frequency between the depression group and the non-depression group (${\chi}^2$ = 0.345, p = 0.619). $L_G$/S alleles had more comorbid depression in the higher score of stressful life events scale [Mental-Haenszel (MH)-${\chi}^2$ = 4.477, p = 0.034]. But there was no significant difference in the comorbidity according to the scores from the stressful life event scale in the $L_A$ alleles (MH-${\chi}^2$ = 0.741, p = 0.399). In the results, alcohol-dependent individuals with $L_G$/S alleles had more comorbid depression than those with $L_A$ alleles when they had experienced severe stressful life events (MH-odds ratio = 2.699, p = 0.028). Conclusions : These results suggest that there is no direct relationship between triallelic serotonin transporter gene and depression in the alcohol dependent patients. But alcohol dependent individuals with the lower expressing alleles of the serotonin transporter gene were more susceptible to depression than those with the higher expressing alleles in response to stressful life events.

• Korea Trade Review
• /
• v.44 no.2
• /
• pp.37-49
• /
• 2019

This paper determines if mandated alcohol health information labelling could be an obstacle to international trade by discussing international trade rules affecting member nations. WTO members could use alcohol labelling rules to protect human health, reduce the consumption of alcohol and provide product information. When a member uses alcohol labelling as a technical regulation or standard, it should comply with TBT Articles 2.2 and 2.4. If a member uses some specific warning messages for their objectives, it should be considered the contribution of the measure, trade restrictiveness, and alternatives. If WTO members want to employ their own alcohol labelling schemes for addressing carcinogenicity, intoxicating effects, dependence potential, effects on children, adolescents and pregnancy, it could be a technical barrier and also create adverse effects on international trade. Therefore, the harms of alcohol are supported by scientific evidence, and for this reason, the international harmonization for alcohol labelling should be discussed openly to prevent negative effects on trade.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.87-94
• /
• 2015

Objectives The power spectral analysis of electroencephalogram has been widely used to reveal the pathophysiology of the alcoholic brain. However, the results were not consistent and the three dimensional study can be hardly found. The purpose of this study was to investigate characteristics of the three dimensional electroencephalographic (EEG) activity of alcohol dependent patients using standardized low resolution electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA). Methods The participants consisted of 30 alcohol dependent patients and 30 normal healthy controls. All the participants were males who had refrained from alcohol at least one month and were not taking any medications. Thirty two channel EEG data was collected in the resting state with eyes-closed condition during 30 seconds. The three dimensional data was compared between two groups using sLORETA for delta, theta, alpha, beta1, beta2, and beta3 frequency bands. Results sLORETA revealed significantly increased brain cortical activity in alpha, beta1, beta2, and beta3 bands each in alcohol dependent patients compared to normal controls. The voxels showing the maximum significance were in the left transverse temporal gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, left anterior cingulate, and left fusiform gyrus in alpha, beta1, beta2, and beta3 bands respectively. Conclusions These results suggest that chronic alcohol intake may cause neurophysiological changes in cerebral activity. Therefore, the measuring of EEG can be helpful in understanding the pathophysiology of cognitive impairements in alcohol dependence.