• 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.

• Clinical Endoscopy
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.623-632
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• 2023

Background/Aims: Endoscopic resection of all colorectal adenomatous lesions with a low complication rate, simplicity, and negative residuals is challenging. Hence, we developed a new method called "non-injection resection using bipolar soft coagulation mode (NIRBS)" method, adapted for colorectal lesions. In addition, we evaluated the effectiveness of this method. Methods: We performed NIRBS throughout a 12-month period for all colorectal lesions which snare resection was acceptable without cancerous lesions infiltrating deeper than the submucosal layer. Results: A total of 746 resected lesions were included in the study, with a 4.5 mm mean size (range, 1-35 mm). The major pathological breakdowns were as follows: 64.3% (480/746) were adenomas, and 5.0% (37/746) were intraepithelial adenocarcinomas (Tis lesions). No residuals were observed in any of the 37 Tis lesions (mean size, 15.3 mm). Adverse events included bleeding (0.4%) but no perforation. Conclusions: NIRBS allowed the resection of multiple lesions with simplicity because of the non-injection and without perforating due to the minimal burn effect of the bipolar snare set in the soft coagulation mode. Therefore, NIRBS can be used to resect adenomatous lesions easily, including Tis lesions, from small to large lesions without leaving residuals.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.645-653
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• 2005

The prevalence of undernutrition in hospital populations is known to be high. The presence of malnutrition is associated with depression, infections, sarcopaenia, falls, fractures, reduced autonomy and increased mortality. This study specifically examined the prevalence of malnutrition in patients aged 65 or older at the time of admission as determined by the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) which has been a frequently used nutritional risk screening tools in detecting undernutrition in old people. This study was done for one hundred eight hospitalized geriatric patients in Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul, Korea. On admission baseline history, anthropometrics measurements, laboratory data and nutritional status by MNA were assessed. Length of hospital stay was obtained by reviewing medical charts. We used one-way analysis of variance to compare the differences in variables. Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were calculated for associations between MNA and variables. On admission, $22.3\%$ of patients were malnourished and $40.7\%$ were at risk of malnutrition according to the MNA. Percent of ideal body weight, anthropometrics data, albumin, and hemoglobin were lower in the malnourished patients (p<0.05). The malnourished patients stayed in the hospital 7.3 days longer, as compared with well nourished patients (p<0.05). Percent of ideal body weight, albumin, hemoglobin and total cholesterol were correlated inversely with nutritional status according to MNA (p<0.05). MNA can be used for nutritional assessment in Korean old people, because MNA significantly correlated with other nutritional assessment parameters, such as, anthropometric and laboratory data in hospitalized geriatric patients. The high prevalence of malnutrition in the elderly was observed and the presence of malnutrition on admission predicted a significant increase in the length of hospital stay in this study. Therefore further studies are needed to determine whether nutritional interventions in old people with low MNA scores can improve clinical outcomes during the hospital course.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.104-111
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• 2021

Objectives: Adolescent suicide is a serious national issue in Korea. Recently, life satisfaction has been recognized as a major factor related to this issue. The main purpose of this study was to identify the domains of life satisfaction that affect suicidal behavior in adolescence. Methods: Data were collected from eight middle schools in Incheon, Korea. A total of 1297 students answered questions regarding their demographic characteristics, happiness, self-related life satisfaction domains (appearance, leisure time, physical health, and mental health), depressive symptoms, and suicidal behavior. Results: In the Spearman correlation analysis, female sex, perceived socioeconomic status (SES), happiness, and all four self-related satisfaction scores showed significant correlations with depression and suicidality. Multivariate regression analysis suggested that suicidality was significantly affected by perceived SES, satisfaction with appearance, mental health satisfaction, and depression. Finally, depression was identified as a partial mediator of the association between mental health satisfaction and suicidality, and a complete mediator of the association between female sex and suicidality. Conclusion: Perceived SES, satisfaction with appearance, and mental health satisfaction significantly affected students' suicidality, with or without the effect of depression. Health authorities, educators, and family members must be aware of this to identify adolescents at suicide risk earlier.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.121-123
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• 2019

Urinary tract infection is common in the pediatric population. The most common causative agents are bacteria, among which Escherichia coli is the most frequent uropathogen. Although fungal urinary tract infection is rare in the healthy pediatric population, it is relatively common among hospitalized patients. Fungus may be isolated from the urine of immunocompromised patients or that of patients with indwelling catheters. The most common cause of funguria is Candida albicans. Although more than 50% of Candida isolates belong to non-albicans Candida, the prevalence of non-albicans candiduria is increasing. Herein, we report a case of community-acquired candiduria in a 4-month-old immunocompetent male infant who had bilateral vesicoureteral reflux and was administered antibiotic prophylaxis. He was diagnosed with urinary tract infection caused by Candida lusitaniae and was managed with fluconazole.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.1234-1243
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• 2011

Our study was carried out to develop the severity-adjustment model for length of stay in hospital for community-acquired pneumonia so that we analysed the factors on the variation in length of stay(LOS). The subjects were 5,353 community-acquired pneumonia inpatients of the Korean National Hospital Discharge In-depth Injury Survey data from 2004 through 2006. The data were analyzed using t-test and ANOVA and the severity-adjustment model was developed using data mining technique. There are differences according to gender, age, type of insurance, type of admission, but there is no difference of whether patients died in hospital. After yielding the standardized value of the difference between crude and expected length of stay, we analysed the variation of length of stay for community-acquired pneumonia. There was variation of LOS in regional differences and insurance type, though there was no variation according whether patients receive their care in their residences. The variation of length of stay controlling the case mix or severity of illness can be explained the factors of provider. This supply factors in LOS variations should be more studied for individual practice style or patient management practices and healthcare resources or environment. We expect that the severity-adjustment model using administrative databases should be more adapted in other diseases in practical.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.184-193
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• 2018

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine a path model on the relationship among social capital, physical activity and subjective health status in the community indwelling elderly. Methods: The study was conducted utilizing the 2014 Seoul Survey, in the method of analyzing cross-sectional design and secondary data. Among 45,497 participants in total, the data of 4578 adults aged 65 or above was analyzed. Social capital was measured by social trust and social participation. Physical activity was measured by regular exercise. Additionally, a numerical rating scale was used to assess subjective health status. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficients and path analysis. Results: Social participation and physical activity showed a direct effect on subjective health status in community indwelling elderly while social trust and physical activity showed an indirect effect on their subjective health status. The hypothetical path model of community indwelling elderly's subjective health status was proved correct. Conclusion: Findings from this study indicate that health-promoting intervention for community indwelling elderly should consider social trust and participation.

• Proceedings of the KSCN Conference
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• 2004.12a
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• pp.116-116
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• 2004

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.193-200
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• 2020

Objectives: Adolescent suicide, a major cause of adolescent death, is affected by various factors, including attitudes toward suicide. This study investigated the association between parenting style and adolescents' attitudes toward suicide and the mediating role of attitude toward suicide between parenting style and suicidal ideation. Methods: We surveyed 1,071 adolescents from eight middle schools in Incheon, Korea. The survey included sociodemographic information, attitudes toward suicide, perception of parenting style, depression severity, and suicidality. Results: Students in the authoritarian parenting group had a more permissive attitude toward suicide compared with the democratic and permissive parenting groups. These students considered that suicide is justified in certain situations and that choosing suicide is an individual's right. They also had a negative attitude toward talking about suicide or intervening in others' suicide. This association remained statistically significant after adjusting for the impact of confounding factors that could affect attitudes toward suicide, except for suicidal processes and preparedness to prevent suicide. In the mediation analysis, we observed that some factors of the attitudes toward suicide mediated between authoritarian parenting attitudes and suicidal ideation, namely, suicide as a right, preventability, suicide as normal/common, preparedness to prevent suicide, and resignation. Conclusion: This study revealed the significant impact of parenting style on children's attitudes toward suicide. Educating parents about the appropriate parenting attitudes-sympathetic and rational-can help prevent youth suicide.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.599-609
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• 2020

Objectives: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) first emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has rapidly become a global pandemic with over 26.4 million confirmed cases and approximately 871,000 fatalities worldwide as of this writing. In the Republic of Korea, disease clusters frequently occurred in long-term care hospitals where the majority of residents are elderly with underlying medical conditions. Despite the fact that public health authorities and local community health centers have put tremendous efforts into preventing the spread of disease, positive cases have continued to occur. Thus, the Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention rapid response team decided to conduct an environmental investigation of a long-term care hospital to identify whether environmental contamination has remained and contributed to the spread of COVID-19. Methods: An environmental investigation was conducted at Hospital A. The characteristics of the facility and its HVAC system were assessed by checking the layout and interviewing the people in charge. A total of 64 surface samples were collected from areas of concern, including patient rooms, toilets, elevators, and nurses' station. These samples were tested by a regional health and environmental research institute using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results: All samples from Hospital A were confirmed to be negative. Through interviews with high-level personnel at the regional community health center, we found that extensive disinfection is frequently performed on potentially contaminated areas in Hospital A in accordance with government guidelines. Conclusion: The environmental control measures implemented in Hospital A had been sufficient for mitigating the risk of further infection, suggesting that such measures may also be effective for other long-term health care facilities.