• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.221-232
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• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore emergency room nurse's work experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Data were collected from 15 registered nurses working in the emergency room between October, 10th and December 15th, 2020, through focus group interviews and in depth interviews. Collected data were analyzed using Colaizzi's phenomenological method. Results: The study derived four categories and eight themes. The four categories are 'sense of cringing with fear', 'nursing in chaotic situation', 'lonely struggles', and 'career growth as a nurse'. Emergency room nurses experienced fear and confusion in the COVID-19 pandemic, but overcame the crisis and had positive experiences of professional growth as a nurse. Conclusion: To protect emergency room nurses from infectious disease and improve their professional quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic appropriate education and healthcare resource should be provided. It is necessary to reflect clinical worker's opinions and improve the delivery system of guideline to reduce confusion in the field and develop practical infectious disease control guideline. Furthermore, better working conditions, appropriate rewards and social and mental support should be provided for nurses in emergency room.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.160-165
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• 2022

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has taken a toll on human lives and health systems worldwide and is still affecting all medical practices years later. In particular, much medical staff had to sacrifice in areas where the medical system was overloaded in the early stages of the outbreak and the resulting shortage of medical resources. In the future, another pandemic disease seems to emerge, which should threaten otolaryngologists inevitably. It is necessary to understand viral aerosolization and practice recommendations for COVID-19. These can guarantee the most effective treatment for the patients during the pandemic and protect the safety of our medical staff and patients.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.330-333
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• 2022

Korea's quarantine response to the novel coronavirus (coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]) pandemic is based on the sacrifice of health professionals, especially public health doctors (PHDs) who were called out first and put in the first place in the country. PHDs performed major quarantine tasks, such as collecting samples from screening clinics and epidemiological investigations, in various parts of the country, including the Daegu area, where the first large-scale COVID-19 confirmed cases in Korea and explosively increased. Because of their position as fixed-term civil servants, however, PHDs' professionalism as doctors was ignored, and they were not properly compensated for their work. They were also exposed to problems such as a high risk of infection, mental suffering, and various human rights violations. We must prepare concrete measures to improve the fundamental treatment of PHDs and protect their human rights in order to prepare for a possible infectious disease pandemic in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.242-249
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• 2023

Objectives: Following the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, adolescents have experienced decreased physical activity and a decline in mental health. This study analyzed the association between changes in depressed mood after the COVID-19 pandemic and physical activity among adolescents. Methods: The analysis was based on the results of the 17th Youth Health Behavior Online Survey conducted in 2021, which included 54848 middle and high school students in South Korea. Information on physical activity included low-intensity physical activity lasting >60 min/day, high-intensity physical activity, and strength training exercises. A logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association between physical activity and changes in depression after the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and previous depression, adolescents who performed strength training exercises more than once per week had a 0.95-fold lower risk (odds ratio [OR]=0.948, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.905-0.994, p=0.027) of increasing depression after the COVID-19 pandemic, while the risk of decreasing depression increased by 1.22-fold (OR=1.215, 95% CI=1.131-1.305, p<0.001). The results were not significant for low-intensity physical activity for >60 min/day and high-intensity physical activity. Conclusion: Strength-training exercises are significantly associated with the prevention of depression among adolescents following the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.212-220
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• 2023

Objectives: This study compared the epidemiological and clinical manifestations of patients hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic at a tertiary care hospital in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. Methods: This retrospective observational study utilized data from all cases of laboratory-confirmed RSV infection at Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital from January 2016 to December 2021. Differences in the clinical presentation of RSV infection before (2016 to 2019) and during (2020 to 2021) the COVID-19 pandemic were analyzed and compared. Results: In total, 358 patients hospitalized with RSV infections were reported from January 2016 to December 2021. During the COVID-19 pandemic, only 74 cases of hospitalized RSV infection were reported. Compared to pre-pandemic levels, the clinical presentations of RSV infection showed statistically significant decreases in fever on admission (p=0.004), productive cough (p=0.004), sputum (p=0.003), nausea (p=0.03), cyanosis (p=0.004), pallor (p<0.001), diarrhea (p<0.001), and chest pain (p<0.001). Furthermore, vigilant measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including lockdowns, also interrupted the RSV season in Thailand from 2020 to 2021. Conclusions: The incidence of RSV infection was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand, which also changed the clinical presentation and seasonal pattern of RSV infection in children.

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.163-178
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• 2023

Individuals have been under more stress since the COVID-19 pandemic began than they were before the pandemic. While social support is a known stress buffer among the general population, its impact on stress among vulnerable populations, such as immigrants and those living in rural areas, has received little attention in the context of South Korea. Accordingly, we examined the relationship between different types of social support and COVID-19 stress among young adult immigrants based on where they live (rural vs. urban). We conducted a survey of 300 young adult immigrants aged 25-34 years and analyzed the results. The dependent variable was COVID-19 stress, and the independent variables were four types of social support: emotional, appraisal, instrumental, and informational. We discovered that young adult immigrants in rural areas perceived higher-level social supportin all aspects compared with those in urban areas. Furthermore, social support was not related to COVID-19 stress in urban areas, while appraisal support was positively and informational support was negatively related to COVID-19 stress in rural areas. Our findings suggest that a contextualized understanding of social support is critical to understanding COVID-related stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.398-405
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• 2023

Background: Starting from March 2020 until December 2021, different phases of Covid-19 pandemic have been identified in Italy, with several containing/lifting measures progressively enforced by the National government. In the present study, we investigate the change in occupational risk during the subsequent pandemic phases and we propose an estimate of the incidence of the cases by economic sector, based on the analysis of insurance claims for compensation for Covid-19. Methods: Covid-19 epidemiological data available for the general population and injury claims of workers covered by the Italian public insurance system in 2020-2021 were analyzed. Monthly Incidence Rate of Covid-19 compensation claims per 100,000 workers (MIRw) was calculated by the economic sector and compared with the same indicator for general population in different pandemic periods. Results: The distribution of Covid-19 MIRw by sector significantly changed during the pandemic related to both the strength of different waves and the mitigation/lifting strategies enforced. The level of occupational fraction was very high at the beginning phase of the pandemic, decreasing to 5% at the end of 2021. Healthcare and related services were continuously hit but the incidence was significantly decreasing in 2021 in all sectors, except for postal and courier activities in transportation and storage enterprises. Conclusion: The analysis of compensation claim data allowed to identify time trends for infection risk in different working sectors. The claim rates were highest for human health and social work activities but the distribution of risk among sectors was clearly influenced by the different stages of the pandemic.

• The Journal of Economics, Marketing and Management
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.27-36
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• 2024

Purpose: The paper analyzes for detecting unexpected shocks such as global financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic, and contagion between countries by capturing in the mean-shift, variance-covariance-shift, and skewness-coskewness-shift parameters of interest rates. Research design, data and methodology: A flexible multivariate model of interest rates is provided by allowing for regime switching and a joint skewed normal distribution. The model is applying to the structural breaks of crisis and contagion between the US and the selected global bond markets during the global financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. Inspection of the moment statistics weakly suggests a flight to safety to the US during the global financial crisis and to Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: The results indicate that risk averse investors had a higher risk appetite for the US and Canada assets during the crisis regimes, compared to their counterparts. Conclusions: The results show that coskewness contagion dominates correlation contagion, and coskewness contagion is significant for the Korea and Japan-US pairs for the global financial crisis and the Euro-US pair for the COVID-19 pandemic. All channels of structural breaks of crisis and contagion are significant when considered jointly, reinforcing the need to consider contagion and structural breaks during crises in a multivariate setting.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.21-29
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• 2023

This paper reviews the global effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the mental health of children and adolescents in South Korea, the U.S., Japan, and China. We reviewed research on deteriorated mental health, including increased suicide, suicidal thoughts, and self-harm. Various studies have shown that students' mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, have worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the number of students who committed suicide has significantly increased in the U.S. and Japan. Factors such as prior mental health status, change in daily routine, reduced physical activity, excessive screen time, overuse of electronic devices, and reduced social support have been reported to have a significant effect. The chain of deteriorating mental health among the youth began at the onset of COVID-19, social distancing, and school closure. As youths began to stay at home instead of going to school, they lost opportunities to connect with their friends or teachers, who could provide support outside of their homes. Young people spent less time on physical activity and more time online, which damaged their sleeping schedule and daily routine. In preparing for the post-pandemic phase, we should thoroughly analyze the long-term effects of the pandemic on youth mental health, while simultaneously tackling current imminent issues.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.923-930
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• 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic weakened the small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector. The decline in turnover is one that is felt by the batik industry in East Java, and the decline in turnover in the batik industry is very drastic. This research was conducted to prove the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on SMEs in the batik industry. One model is proposed to prove the existence of an increase in the performance of the batik industry's SMEs by implementing a customer relationship management strategy, business strategy, and market orientation. The study population was the batik industry entrepreneurs in East Java, Indonesia, using SEM analysis based on Amos, purposive sampling method, and a sample of 180 respondents. The results showed that the model was accepted. The results also show that customer relationship management and business strategy contributed to the performance of SMEs, while market orientation did not contribute to the performance of SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic. To be able to maintain the sustainability of the company, the steps taken by the company are to lay off some of the employees, and during the production period the production stops, and focus on selling goods that have been previously produced.