• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.400-403
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• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: By the year 2050, thirty-eight percent of the Korean population will be over the age of 65. Health care costs for Koreans over age 65 reached 15.4 trillion Korean won in 2011, accounting for a third of the total health care costs for the population. Chronic degenerative diseases, including coronary heart disease (CHD), drive long-term health care costs at an alarming annual rate. In the elderly population, loss of independence is one of the main reasons for this increase in health care costs. Korean heath policies place a high priority on the prevention of CHD because it is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This evidence-based study aims to the estimate potential health care cost savings resulting from the daily intake of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation. Potential cost savings associated with a reduced risk of CHD and the medical costs potentially avoided through risk reduction, including hospitalizations and physician services, were estimated using a Congressional Budget Office cost accounting methodology. RESULTS: The estimate of the seven-year (2005-2011) net savings in medical costs resulting from a reduction in the incidence of CHD among the elderly population through the daily use of omega-3 fatty acids was approximately 210 billion Korean won. Approximately 92,997 hospitalizations due to CHD could be avoided over the seven years. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that omega-3 supplementation in older individuals may yield substantial cost-savings by reducing the risk of CHD. It should be noted that additional health and cost benefits need to be revisited and re-evaluated as more is known about possible data sources or as new data become available.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.18
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• pp.8359-8364
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• 2016

Background: Thailand has come to an epidemiologic transition with decreasing infectious diseases and increasing burden of chronic conditions, including cancer. Breast cancer has the highest incidence rates among females throughout Thailand. This study aimed to identify the current burden and the future trends of breast cancer of Lopburi, a province in the Central Thailand. Materials and Methods: We used cancer incidence data from the Lopburi Cancer Registry to characterize and analyze the incidence of breast cancer in Central Thailand. With joinpoint and age-period-cohort analyses, the incidence of breast cancer in the province from 2001 to 2010 and project future trends from 2011 to 2030 was investigated. Results: Age-adjusted incidence rates of breast cancer in Lopburi increased from 23.4 to 34.3 cases per 100,000 female population during the period, equivalent to an annual percentage change of 4.3% per year. Both period and cohort effects played a role in shaping the increase in incidence. Joinpoint projection suggested that incidence rates would continue to increase in the future with incidence for women ages 50 years and above increasing at a higher rate than for women below the age of 50. Conclusions: The current situation where early detection measures are being promoted could increase detection rates of the disease. Preparation of sufficient budget for treatment facilities and human resources, both in surgical and medical oncology, is essential for future medical care.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.18
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• pp.8327-8333
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• 2016

Background: The recent epidemiologic transition in Thailand, with decreasing incidence of infectious diseases along with increasing rates of chronic conditions, including cancer, is a serious problem for the country. Breast cancer has the highest incidence rates among females throughout Thailand. Lampang is a province in the upper part of Northern Thailand. A study was needed to identify the current burden, and the future trends of breast cancer in upper Northern Thai women. Materials and Methods: Here we used cancer incidence data from the Lampang Cancer Registry to characterize and analyze the local incidence of breast cancer. Joinpoint analysis, age period cohort model and Nordpred package were used to investigate the incidences of breast cancer in the province from 1993 to 2012 and to project future trends from 2013 to 2030. Results: Age-standardized incidence rates (world) of breast cancer in the upper parts of Northern Thailand increased from 16.7 to 26.3 cases per 100,000 female population which is equivalent to an annual percentage change of 2.0-2.8%, according to the method used. Linear drift effects played a role in shaping the increase of incidence. The three projection method suggested that incidence rates would continue to increase in the future with incidence for women aged 50 and above, increasing at a higher rate than for women below the age of 50. Conclusions: The current early detection measures increase detection rates of early disease. Preparation of a budget for treatment facilities and human resources, both in surgical and medical oncology, is essential.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.362-373
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the costs and benefits of individual home visiting health care using secondary data and literature review. Methods: The total number of subjects was 1,008,837. A specific program was classified into disease management, care of infant, child and women, or elderly care. The costs and effects of a program were identified from a societal perspective, and the effects were converted into monetary terms or benefits. The total cost was calculated in the way that medical expenses, travel costs and productivity losses were offset by the decrease in benefits and thus only the program budget was included in the total cost. Results: The total program cost was 47.6 billion won per year and the total annual benefit was estimated at 435.6 billion won. The benefits of arthritis management were the biggest among disease management programs. The net benefit was 388.0 billion won per year and the benefit/cost ratio was 9.16. Conclusion: Home visiting health care was validated to be economically effective. It made a positive contribution to improving the health status of vulnerable populations and reducing medical expenses. These results suggest that home visiting care should be extended more broadly to vulnerable populations.

• Proceeding of Spring/Autumn Annual Conference of KHA
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• 2009.04a
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• pp.155-160
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• 2009

Safety of residents could be considered and then increased when we plan, design, and operate a city. In Korea, CPTED (Crime Prevention through Environmental Design) is currently being applied to new towns. However, it is not systemized and neither efficient, for there are no constraint provisions, and the foreign cases are not specifically customized to the current situation of the country. This means, the introduction of CPTED is an indispensable fact, but there are limits to the budget aids and actual application, for there is no legal base to support it. This study, therefore, aims to find the limits from analyzing related laws and regimes, administrative regulations, and applied cases, and to deduct improvement plans based on examined foreign cases. In this Study, the supporting system of foreign CPTED related laws and regulations was analyzed around the cases of England and U.S.A, and based on that information, the present condition and limits of CPTED related laws and regulations of Korea were deducted. As a result of this study, there were no constraint provisions to apply the design guidelines to actual planning, and there were limits on backup aid and actual application due to the lacking of analyzing the relevant area. Also, an acceptable framework must be arranged by the revision of laws and ordinances to compel the system, and link it with the CPTED certification system which will revitalize the whole system.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.15
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• pp.6735-6740
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• 2015

Background: With the recent epidemiologic transition in Thailand, featuring decreasing incidences of infectious diseases along with increasing rates of chronic conditions, cancer is becoming a serious problem for the country. Breast cancer has the highest incidence rates among females, not only in the southern regions, but throughout Thailand. Surat Thani is a province in the upper part of Southern Thailand. A study was needed to identify the current burden, and the future trends of breast cancer. Materials and Methods: Here we used cancer incidence data from the Surat Thani Cancer Registry to characterize the incidences of breast cancer. Joinpoint analysis was used to investigate the incidences in the province from 2004 to 2012 and to project future trends from 2013 to 2030. Results: Age-standardized incidence rates (world) of breast cancer in the upper parts of Southern Thailand increased from 35.1 to 59.2 cases per 100,000 female population, which is equivalent to an annual percentage change of 4.5-4.8%. Linear drift effects played a role in shaping the increase of incidence. Joinpoint projection suggested that incidence rates would continue to increase in the future with incidence for women aged 50 and above, at a higher rate than for women below the age of 50. Conclusions: The current early detection measures increase detection rates of early disease. Preparation of a budget for treatment facilities and human resources, both in surgical and medical oncology, is essential.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.397-408
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• 2006

Due to the temporal and spatial variability of the warming at and near the Antarctic Peninsular, it is required to better understand local climate at the issued region. The purpose of the study are to characterize surface radiation, air temperature and wind direction and investigate their relations at the King Sejong Station near the Antarctic Peninsular during last three and half years. While the study site was a weak radiative energy sink (positive net radiation) with annual mean of 15-20 Wm-2, it played a role as a strong sink in summer (December to January) with mean of 85 Wm-2, a magnitude that was significantly larger than those at other surface covered with snow or ice in Antarctica. Monthly averaged air temperature ranged from -7.7-2.8oC and the variations of monthly averaged air temperature showed the distinct differences with year. Northwesterly, westerly and easterly were dominant and the variability of air temperature could be explained by the variability of the frequency of wind direction with cold easterly and warm northwesterly/northerly to some degree, which in turn influenced radiation budget through albedo in summer.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.187-203
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• 1999

This paper will discuss about how we can foster educational support mechanisms to facilitate health promotion programs at the local level. Health promotion in Korea is in the early developmental stage; it has only been since the Health Promotion Act was legislated in 1995, the health promotion programs have been planned and implemented. In the context of the recent decentralization process, local health departments have a major responsibility for developing and implementing health promotion programs at the local level. The short history of health promotion in Korea has meant that local public health departments have limited experience and organizational capacity for health promotion planning ＆ practice. The results of one survey for investigating the progress of health promotion at the local level are instructive. The survey demonstrated that the public health workers recognized that the lack of personnels, insufficient budget, the lack of policy ＆ the organizational support, the lack of skill ＆ knowledge to be effective health promotors, the lack of guidance for health promotion practice were major barriers to implementing health promotion programs at the local level. The object of this paper is to suggest some ways of overcoming barriers to implementing health promotion programs at the local level This paper emphasizes on the importance of educational supports as well as environmental supports - legislative, policy, organizational, economical - in building the organizational capacity and infrastructure of local health department for health promotion. It suggests some ways of providing educational supports to the public health workers at the local level. and supports the positions that educational opportunities for training in health promotion can be better provided to the public health workers at the provincial level rather than at the national level. It argues that the educational ＆ training programs should be developed and based on the educational need assessment; that the application of the main educational principles ＆ theoretical models for health promotion be used to develop educational programs for the public health workers; and that professional health organizations should make plans to provide more educational programs at their annual conferences or at other convenient times. These kinds of educational supports facilitate the ability of public health workers to improve their capacity for health promotion practice at the local level and help to alleviate some of the pressure on state resources.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.993-1007
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• 2016

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to review the current status of clinical practice and training in dental hygiene in hospitals and clinics for the students. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 80 dental hospitals and clinics from August 8 to September 12, 2016. Except incomplete answers, 211 copies were retrieved and analyzed. The questionnaire consisted of general characteristics of the subjects (6 items), present condition of clinical education (7 items), support policy and facilities (8 items), teaching personnel (6 items), improvement direction (3 items), and general considerations (3 items). Results: The annual practice time for students was 8.4 weeks. The average number of students per each practice institution was 5.95. The evaluation of the clinical practice period was rated as 'average' by 55.3% of the respondents, while 65.4% preferred the current duration of the practice. Meanwhile, 33.0% of the respondents wanted to increase the practice period. In clinical training education support, 62.3% of the hospitals had a person in charge, 79.2% of the hospitals and clinics had a operative procedure, appointed staff and a department for student practice. But 86.5% of the hospitals did not have standards for the budget for practice and instruction fee. In the personnel for clinical training, 52.6% said they were dental hygienists. In 87.1%, the practice instruction conducted by professors was done through communication with the hospital or clinic, while the man-to-man practice instruction was 8.6%. Conclusions: It is necessary to improve the process and operation method of dental hygiene clinical training. In order to make clinical training meet education goals, a standardized set of criteria is needed to support training education and guidelines for instructors and students.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.27-38
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• 2003

This study aimed to provide basic data for future management of roadside trees by analyzing problems associated with plantation and management of roadside trees through categorization of functions and organizational structure, plantation and management, and management regulations and generating improvement opportunities based on the result of a survey on the awareness of government officials who are directly in charge of managing roadside trees in 31 cities & counties within Kyonggi province. The summary of key results of this study is as follows. First, "roadside tree-related function" is still not considered to be independent. About a half of government officials in charge did not majored in this field and they spent only about "2.09hours", in average, in the roadside tree-related function out of 8 working hours per day. Second, regarding problems and improvement opportunities in roadside tree-related function, lack of time was considered to be the biggest problem in overall management of roadside trees. As for improvement opportunities, "increase of dedicated manpower" and "system development" to facilitate efficient processing were suggested. Third, an annual budget for roadside tree-related affairs was merely 92 million won per city/county. A registry for management of roadside trees was kept manually. As for the roles of roadside trees, improvement of landscape and securing of green area itself were valued highly. Fourth, Ginkgo biloba, Zelkova serrata, and Prunus yedoensis were suggested to be the most appropriate species for roadside tree and Platanus occidentalis, Populus albaglandulosa, Populus euramericana, and Robinia pseudo-acacia were mentioned to be the least appropriate species.