• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.2-6
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• 2006

Ever since the foundation of the Korean Society for Preventive Medicine in 1947, members of the Society had made remarkable contributions to the public health development and national health promotion. They had played key roles in establishing national health system, improving environmental hygiene, controlling infectious and chronic diseases, promoting family planning, improving industrial and environmental health, and developing health service management. However, the Society had less actively responded to the changes in health service needs of the population that were caused by a rapid epidemiologic transition in last a few decades. Early detection and treatment of chronic diseases including cancer and cardiovascular diseases and risk reduction by the life style modification are major approaches to the contemporary national health problems and they are the core contents of preventive medicine. The author proposed to develop the clinical preventive medicine specialist who will have additional training in clinical medicine for health screening and life style modification to the current preventive medicine training program and thus will be able to provide comprehensive preventive medical services. Another area that the Society may take the initiative is training preventive medicine specialist in the disaster, including bioterrorism, preparedness and management. The Society should be more active in proposing health policy and health service program and also participate collectively in a large scale health research project of the government. These approaches may not only contribute more effectively to the national health promotion but also improve the identity of the Society.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.227-248
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• 1990

The study was conceived in relation to a concern over the growing gap between the needs of chronic patients and the availability of care from the current health care system in Korea. Patients with agonizing chronic pain, discomfort, despair and disability are left with helplessly unprepared families with little help from the acute care oriented health care system after discharge from hospital. There is a great need for the development of an alternative means of quality care that is economically feasible and culturally adaptible to our society. Thus, the study was designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of home heath care as an alternative to bridge the existing gap between the patients' needs and the current practice of health care. The study specifically purports to test the effects of home care on health expenditure, readmission, job retention, compliance to health care regime, general conditions, complications, and self-care knowledge and practices. The study was guided by the operations research method advocated by the Primary Health Care Operations Research Institute(PRICOR) which constitutes 3 stages of research : namely, problem analysis solution development, and solution validation. The first step in the operations research was field preparation to develop the necessary consensus and cooperation. This was done through the formation of a consulting body at the hospital and a steering committee among the researchers. For the stage of problem analysis, the Annual Report of Seoul National University Hospital and the patients records for last 5 years were reviewed and selective patient interviews were conducted to find out the magnitude of chronic health problems and areas of unmect health care needs to finally decide on the kinds of health problems to study. On the basis of problem analysis, the solution development stage was devoted to home care program development asa solution alternative. Assessment tools, teaching guidelines and care protocols were developed and tested for their validity. The final stage was the stage of experimentation and evaluation. Patients with liver diseases, hemiplegic and diabetic conditions were selected as study samples. Discharge evaluation, follow up home care, measurement and evaluation were carried out according to the protocols of care and measurement plan for each patient for the period of 6 months after discharge. The study was carried out for the period from Jan. 1987 to Dec. 1989. The following are the results of the study presented according to the hypotheses set forth for the study ; 1. Total expenditures for the period of study were not reduced for the experimental group, however, since the cost per hospital visit is about 4 times as great as the cost per home visit, the effect of cost saving by home care will become a reality as home care replaces part of the hospital visits. 2. The effect on the rate of readmission and job retention was found to be statistically nonsignificant though the number of readmission was less among the experimental group receiving home care. 3. The effect on compliance to the health care regime was found to be statistically significant at the 5% level for hepatopathic and diabetic patients. 4. Education on diet, rest and excise, and medication through home care had an effect on improved liver function test scores, prevention of complications and self - care knowledge in hepatopathic patients at a statistically significant level. 5. In hemiplegic patient, home care had an effect on increased grasping power at a significant level. However. there was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the level of compliane, prevention of complications or in self-care practices. 6. In diabetic patients, there was no difference between the experimental and control groups in scores of laboratory tests, appearance of complications, and self-care knowledge or self -care practices. The above findings indicate that a home care program instituted for such short term as 6 months period could not totally demonstrate its effectiveness at a statistically significant level by quantitative analysis however, what was shown in part in this analysis, and in the continuous consultation sought by those who had been in the experimental group, is that home health care has a great potential in retarding or preventing pathological progress, facilitating rehabilitative and productive life, and improving quality of life by adding comfort, confidence and strength to patients and their families. For the further studies of this kind with chronic patients it is recommended that a sample of newly diagnosed patients be followed up for a longer period of time with more frequent observations to demonstrate a more dear- cut picture of the effectiveness of home care.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.7-11
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• 2018

Significant advances in the diagnosis and medical care of children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are major reasons for the better survival rates of children and adolescents with CKD than the survival rates reported in previous decades. These patients are reaching adulthood, and therefore require a transition to adult medical care. This transition phase is well-recognized to be associated with considerably increased morbidities and medical problems, such as non-adherence, graft loss after transplantation, and loss to follow-up. Low adherence increases morbidity and medical complications and contributes to poorer qualities of life and an overuse of the health care system. However, these tragic outcomes may be avoidable through a structured and well-defined transition program. In the last decade, there has been increasing interest to resolve these medical and psychological problems that occur during the transfer of young adult patients from pediatric to adult renal units. The aims of a successful transition from pediatric to adult medical care include enhancing the individual development of better health-competence and stabilizing, or even improving, the state of health. This review will focus on various aspects of the transition phase of adolescents who have CKD or who underwent kidney transplantation from pediatric to adult nephrology care.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.247-256
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to identify and describe the caregiving difficulties that mothers of children with spina bifida experience from their own perspectives. Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was designed. Data were collected from five mini-focus group interviews and four individual interviews using open-ended questions. Nineteen mothers of children with mild spina bifida participated in the study during 2014-2015. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis to identify major difficulties perceived by the mothers. Results: Five domains were identified with 12 subdomains. "Daily routine continence management" describes difficulties arising in bladder and bowel management for the child with spina bifida. "Management of school life of child" deals with difficulties in relation to the school facilities, such as the toilets, as well as teachers and friends. "Relationship with family and neighbors" illustrates problems in relations with their spouse, normal children, relatives and neighbors. "Maintaining physical and psychological health" includes physical and psychological problems of the mothers. "Finance" describes economic burden that the mothers face in the management of child's illness. Conclusion: The findings from this study provide insight into the practical issues related to the management of chronic conditions of children with spina bifida from the mothers' perspectives.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.81-90
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• 2023

Objectives: This study analyzed the decline in quality of life according to age in the chronic disease patient group, quantified it as a quantitative index, and compared it by sex and chronic disease. Methods: In the 2017-2019 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey database, 11,473 adults aged 19 years or older, excluding cancer patients, were analyzed for age-specific changes in the EQ-5D Index by chronic disease. The decline in quality of life according to age in patients with chronic diseases was analyzed by linear regression analysis while controlling for general characteristics. Then, linear regression analysis was performed according to sex. Results: In the case of the control group, the quality of life decreased by 0.0004 for every 1-year increase in age(P<0.001). By chronic disease, asthma(β=0.0019, P<0.001), arthritis(β=0.0017, P=0.002), thyroid dis- ease(β=0.0016, P=0.015), dyslipidemia(β=0.0011, P=0.020), and hypertension(β=0.0009, P=0.027) mostly showed a greater decrease in quality of life than the control group. In addition, when divided into two groups by sex, hypertension(β=0.0012, P=0.029), thyroid disease(β=0.0041, P=0.038), and arthritis(β=0.0022, P<0.001) showed a significant decrease in quality of life only in male. Diabetes(β=0.0056, P=0.038), dyslipi- demia(β=0.0022, P=0.001) significantly decreased quality of life only in female. Conclusions: Chronic disease had a negative impact on patients perception of quality of life, and the more severe the pain and activity limitation due to the chronic disease, the more severe it was. It also showed different patterns according to sex. Therefore, it is necessary to allocate more medical resources and provide policy support to prevent chronic diseases, which are serious social problems.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.43-59
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• 1977

The Community Health Service considers the family as a service unit and places the emphasis of its service on the health problems and the nursing needs of the family rather than the individual. From the conceptual point of view that tile community health service is both health maintenance and health promotion of the family, the community health nurse should have a knowledge of the growth and development of the family and be responsible for the comprehensive support of normal family development. The community health nurse often is in a position to make a real contribution to normal family development. In order to investigate the relationship between the areas of nursing need and family development, the following objectives were established 1. To discover the general characteristics of the study population by the stage of family development. 2. To discover specific nursing needs in relation to the family developmental stage, and to determine the intensity of the nursing needs and the ability of the family to cope with these needs. 3. To discover overall family health nursing problems in relation to the family developmental stage and determine the intensity of the nursing need and the problem solving ability of family. Definitions : The family developmental stages as classified by Dually were used stage 1. Married couples(without children) stage 2. Childbearing Families (oldest child birth to 30 months of age) stage 3. Families with preschool children (oldest child 2½-to 6 years) stage 4. Families with schoolchildren (oldest child 6 to 13 years). stage 5. Families with teenagers (oldest child 13 to 20 years) stage 6. Families as launching centers (first child gone to last child′s leaving home). stage 7. Middle- aged parents (empty nest to retirement) stage 8. Aging family member (retirement to death of both spouses) The areas of nursing need were defined as those used in the study, "A Comprehensive Study about Health and Nursing Need and a Social Diagram of the Community", by tile Nursing research Institute and Center for population. and Family Planning, July 1974. The study population defiled and selected were 260 nuclear families ill two myron of Kang Hwa Island. Percent, mean value and F- test were utilized in tile statistical analysis of the study result. Findings : 1. General characteristics of the study population by tile family developmental stage ; 1)The study population was distributed by the family developmental stage as follows : stage 1 : 3 families stage 2 : 13 families stage 3 : 24 families stage 4 : 41 families stage 5 : 50 families stage 6 : 106 families stage 7 : 13 families stage 8 : 10 families 2) Most families had 4 or 5 members except for those in stage, 1, 7, and 8. 3) The parents′ present age was older in the higher developmental stage and their age at marriage was also younger in the higher developmental stages. 4) The educational level of parents was primarily less than elementary school irrespective of the developmental stage. 5) More than half of parents′ occupations were listed as laborers irrespective of the developmental stage, 6) More than half of the parents were atheists irrespective of the developmental stage. 7) The higher the developmental stage(from stage 2 to stage 6 ), the wider the distribution of children′s ages. 8) More than half of the families were of middle or lower socio-economic level. 2. Problems in specific areas of nursing need by family developmental stage, the intensity of nursing need and the problem solving ability of the family : 1) As a whole, many problems, irrespective of the developmental stage, occurred in tile areas of Housing and Sanitation, Eating Patterns, Housekeeping, Preventive Measures and Dental care. Problems occurring ill particular stages included the following ; stage 1 : Prevention of Accident stage 2 : Preventive Vaccination, Family Planning. stage 3 : Preventive Vaccination, Maternal Health, Family Planning, Health of Infant and Preschooler. stage 4, 5 : Preventive Vaccination, Family Planning, Health of School Children. stage 6 : Preventive Vaccination, Health of School Children. 2) The intensity of the nursing need in the area of Acute and Chronic Diseases was generally of moderate degree or above irrespective of the developmental stages except for stage 1. Other areas of need listed as moderate or above were found in the following stages: stage 1 : Maternal Health stage 3 . Horsing and Sanitation, Prevention of Accident. stage 4 . Housing and Sanitation. stage 5 : Housing and Sanitation, Diagnostic and Medical Care. stage 6 : Diagnostic and Medical care stage 7 : Diagnostic and Medical Care, Housekeeping. stage 8 : Housing and Sanitation, Prevention of Accident, Diagnostic and Medical Care, Dental Care, Eating Patterns, Housekeeping. 3) Areas of need with moderate problem solving ability or less were as follows : stage 1 : Diagnostic and Medical Care, Maternal Health. stage 2 : Prevention of Accident, Acute and Chronic Disease, Dental Care. stage 3 : Housing and Sanitation, Acute and Chronic Disease, Diagnostic and Medical Care, Preventive Measure, Dental Care, Maternal Health, Health of Infant and preschooler, Eating Patterns. stage 4 : Housing and Sanitation, Prevention of Accident, Diagnostic and Medical Care, Preventive Measure, Dental Care, Maternal Health, Health of New Born, Health of Infant and Preschooler, Health of school Children, Eating Patterns, Housekeeping. stage 5 . Housing and Sanitation, Prevention of Accident, Acute and Chronic Disease, Diagnostic and Medical Care, Preventive Measure, Dental Care, Preventive Vaccination, Maternal Health, Eating Patterns. stage 7, 8 : Housing and Sanitation, Prevention of Accident, Acute and Chronic Disease, Diagnostic and Medical Care, Preventive Measures, Dental Care, Preventive Vaccination, Eating Patterns , Housekeeping. Problem occurrence, the degree of nursing need and the degree of problem solving ability 1 nursing need areas for the family as a whole were as follows : 1) The higher the stages(except stage 1 ), the lower the rate of problem occurrence. 2) The higher the stage becomes, the lower the intensity of the nursing need becomes. 3) The higher the stages (except stages 7 and 8), the higher. the problem solving ability. Conclusions ; 1) When the nursing care plan for the family is drawn up, depending upon the stage of family development, higher priority should be give to nursing need areas ① at which problems were shown to occur ② where the nursing need is shown to be above moderate degree and ③ where the problem solving ability was shown to be of moderate degree. 2) The priority of the nursing service should be Placed ① not on those families in the high developmental stage but on those families in the low developmental stage ② and on those areas of need shown in stages 7 and 8 where the degree nursing need was high and the ability to cope low.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.93-108
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that affected to physical functions, activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). The subjects for this study, 236 persons, 65 years and over, who were living at rural area in Chun-Cheon city. This survey was carried out from march 3rd to April 25th, 1998. The data was analysed by using SPSS PC+ program. The results were as follows. 1.The variables that were related to the conditions of physical functions were as follows; age, sex, educational level among the general characteristics; raising ways of money, monthly using money for life, states of pocket money, obtaining method of pocket money, state of weight, problems in mind, whether or not chronic illness among socio ㆍeconoㆍphysical conditions; the level of satisfactions in life, subjective condition of health among the subjective thinking ; controlling state in smoking and drinking of alcohol among the lifestyles for promoting health. But the variables for medical utilization were not related to the level of physical function. 2. The variables that were associated with the condition of ADLs were as follows; age among the general characteristics; monthly using money for life, working amount among the socioㆍeconoㆍphysical conditions; subjective conditions of health among the subjective thinking. But The variables for medical utilization, lifestyle for promoting health were irrelevant to the conditions of ADLs. 3. The variables that were related to the conditions of IADLs were as follows; age, educational level among the general characteristics; raising ways of money, monthly using money for life, resident type in the household, procurement method of pocket money, level of weight, problems in mind, wether or not chronic illness among socioㆍeconoㆍphysical condition; regularity of health checking among lifestyles for promoting health; kinds of utilizing medical agent among the variables about utilization patterns of medical agencies; subjective condition of health among the subjective thinking In this study, in the aged there were related factors of physical and life functions, were age, working amount, subjective condition of health.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.365-369
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• 2021

Background: Law enforcement communications (i.e., 911 dispatch and call takers) is a challenging and stressful occupation. The purpose of this study is to identify the main stressors associated with employment in law enforcement communications, and to identify and provide context to how these stressors affect workers' health and wellbeing. Methods: This research study included focus groups with 23 call takers and 911 dispatchers employed by a large, urban law enforcement agency in 2018. Thematic analyses were conducted to identify trends. Results: Four themes of stressors emerged (i.e., the high stakes nature of some 911 calls for service, understaffing, supervisor-related stress, and recruiting practice). Two health-related themes emerged as being occupation-related: weight gain and poor sleep patterns/insufficient sleep). Specifically, participants reported negative eating habits resulting in weight gain and obesity, lack of sleep and irregular sleep schedules, and development of hypertension and/or diabetes since beginning their jobs. Conclusion: Law enforcement communications professionals experience a number of the same stressors facing law enforcement officers in patrol. These stressors, combined with the sedentary nature of the job, could result in long-term, chronic health problems.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.7-17
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• 2004

In this paper, we checked health problems of patients who suffered from arthritis. After assessing each patients condition, in order to alleviate their sufferings, we introduced several methods of aromatherapy as a holistic approach to these health problems. Aromatherapy is used of essential oils, which are obtained from aromatic plants, can be defined as a nature-friendly complementary/alternative method, has its great merit in its each way of application. If the arthritis condition is localized, massage,compress or poultices, and hand or foot baths are most effective. Many of essential oils in the recipe have dual benefits, as anti-inflammative and analgesic agents. The Juniper and carrot seed aid in eliminating fluid and toxin accumulation in the joint and surrounding tissue. There are many different courses available and health professional should choose one that is relevant to clinical practice. Considering the future of nursing as a major contribution in the consumer-centered structure of medical health service, aromatherapy as a complementary/alternative method is expected to contribute not only to establishing more effective health service but also to resolving chronic health problems of arthritis.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.3-8
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• 2023

Periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD) is a sleep-related movement disorder characterized by involuntary, rhythmic limb movements during sleep. While PLMD itself is not considered life-threatening, its association with certain underlying health conditions raises concerns about mortality risks. PLMD has been found to be associated with cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and cardiovascular disease. The fragmented sleep caused by the repetitive limb movements and associated arousals may contribute to sympathetic activation, chronic sleep disruption, sleep deprivation, and subsequent cardiovascular problems, which can increase mortality risks. The comorbidities and health factors commonly associated with PLMD, such as obesity, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease, may also contribute to increased mortality risks. PLMD is often observed alongside other neurological disorders, including restless legs syndrome (RLS) and Parkinson's disease. The presence of PLMD in these conditions may exacerbate the underlying health issues and potentially contribute to higher mortality rates. Further research is needed to elucidate the specific mechanisms linking PLMD to mortality risks and to develop targeted interventions that address these risks.