• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.176-182
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• 2016

Objectives: Prospective evaluations of the associations between depressive symptoms and suicide deaths have been mainly performed in high-risk populations, such as individuals with psychiatric disorders or histories of self-harm. The purpose of this study was to prospectively examine whether more severe depressive symptoms assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) were associated with a greater risk of death from suicide in a general-risk population. Methods: A total of 113 478 men from the Korean Veterans Health Study (mean age, 58.9 years) who participated in a postal survey in 2004 were followed up for suicide mortality until 2010. Results: Over 6.4 years of follow-up, 400 men died by suicide (56.7 deaths per 100 000 person-years). More severe depressive symptoms were associated with greater risk of suicide death (p for trend <0.001). The unadjusted hazard ratios (HRs) in comparison to the absence of depression were 2.18 for mild depression, 2.13 for moderate depression, 3.33 for severe depression, and 3.67 for extreme depression. After adjusting for potential confounders, men with a potential depressive disorder had an approximate 90% higher mortality from suicide (adjusted HR, 1.92; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.38 to 2.68; p<0.001) than men without depression. Each five-point increase in the GDS score was associated with a higher risk of death by suicide (adjusted HR, 1.22; p<0.001). The value of the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve of GDS scores for suicide deaths was 0.61 (95% CI, 0.58 to 0.64). Conclusions: Depressive symptoms assessed using the GDS were found to be a strong independent predictor of future suicide. However, the estimate of relative risk was weaker than would be expected based on retrospective psychological autopsy studies.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.51-65
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• 2003

Objectives： To examine the regional mortality differences in The Republic of Korea according to geographic location. Methods： All 232 administrative districts of the Republic of Korea in 1998 were studied according to their geographic locations by dividing each district into three categories； "metropolis," "urban," and "rural". Crude mortality rates for doth sexes from total deaths as well as the three major causes of death in Korea (cardiovascular disease, cancer, and external causes) were calculated with raw data from the "1998 report on the causes of death statistics" and resident registration data. Standardized mortality ratios (SMR) were calculated using the indirect standardization method. Poisson regression analyses were performed to examine the effects of geographic locations on the risk of death. To correct for the socioeconomic differences of each region, the percentage of old ($\geq$ 65 years old) population, the number of privately owned cars per 100 population, and per capita manufacturing production industries were included in the model. Results： Most SMRs were the lowest in the metropolis and the highest in the rural areas. These differences were more prominent in men and in deaths from external causes. In deaths from cancer in women, the rural region showed the lowest SMR. In Poisson regression analysis after correcting for regional socioeconomic differences, the risk of death from all causes significantly increased in both urban (OR＝1.111) and rural (OR＝1.100) regions, except for rural women, compared to the metropolis region. In men, the rural region showed higher risk (OR＝1.180) than the urban region (OR＝1.l51). For cardiovascular disease and cancer, significant differences were not found between geographic locations, except in urban women for cardiovascular disease (OR＝1.151) and in rural women for cancer (OR＝0.887), compared to metropolis women. In deaths from external causes, the risk ratios significantly increased in both urban and rural regions and an increasing tendency from the metropolis to the rural region was clearly observed in both sexes. Conclusions： Regional mortality differences according to geographic location exist in The Republic of Korea and further research and policy approaches to reduce these differences are needed. to reduce these differences are needed.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.369-380
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• 1981

In this department 504 cases of valve replacement were done since 1968 to the end of October 1981. Since October 31, 1978 to the end of October 1981 ,333 Ionescu-Shiley bovine pericardial xenograft bioprosthetic cardiac valves were replaced in 265 patients. There were 149 males and 116 female. Ages ranged from 2 to 63 years with 25 cases under 15 years of age. Among 265 cases of Ionescu valve replacement there were 157 MVR, 36 VAR, 6 TVR, 45 MVR+ AVR, 16 MVR+TVR and 5 MVR+AVR+TVR cases with mortality of 5.7%, 8.3%, 16.7%, 8.9%, 18.8% and 20% for each group respectively. Over all mortality rate in 265 Ionescu valve replacement cases was 7.9% with 21 total deaths. Main causes of operative deaths were due to LCOS in 7, bleeding in 5, arrhythmia in 3, air embolism in 2,and heart block in 2 cases. There were 12 late complications with 6 deaths. Over all long-term survival rate was 89.8%. MVR showed the highest long-term survival rate with 92.4%, and MVR+AVR+TVR the lower with 80% lower with 80%.Average follow-up period was 14 month duration. Twenty five congenital anomaly cases were operated with Ionescu-valve replacement that consisted of 7 VSD+AI, and 5 Ebstein anomaly cases with over all operative mortality of 16% and late mortality of 14.3% among 21 operative survivors. There were 25 Ionescu valve replacement cases in pediatric patients under the age of 15 years, with 4 operative deaths. Fourteen MVR, 7 AVR, and 3 TVR cases were found. Even though long-term follow-up study was short in postoperative period with total of 33~.0 months among 244 operative survivors ranging one to 36 months, the late survivors showed beneficial long-term results two thromboembolic episodes in 244 patients were found. More cases and longer term follow-up study are warranted for valve replacement in pediatric and TVR cases with Ionescu-valves which have advantageous hemodynamic structures compared with other bio-prosthetic heart valves.

• International Journal of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.275-280
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• 2023

Currently, the cumulative number of confirmed cases from the coronavirus in Korea is 30.17 million, and the cumulative number of deaths also reaches 33,444 (as of January 31, 2023). Therefore, this study aims to conduct an empirical analysis on the establishment of quarantine systems in major domestic cities as it is necessary to analyze the influencing factors of COVID-19 and discuss policy directions necessary to establish an effective quarantine system in the future. Among them, 16 cities in Korea with a relatively weak quarantine infrastructure were compared with the interrelationship between "number of upper-level hospitals", "number of urban populations", "number of infected", and "number of deaths", and ultimately the results of quarantine for each local government. In conclusion, the average population of 16 cities is 0.792 million, and the average number of infected people is 0.458 million, and the average cumulative infection rate is 57.8%. Seven cities exceed the average cumulative infection rate: Suwon (61.6%), Yongin (59.1%), Seongnam (61.8%), Hwaseong (65.6%), Anyang (60.7%), Cheonan (62.9%), and Jeonju (62.9%). In addition, despite the establishment of excellent treatment facilities in the city (ave=0.0129), the ratio of "accumulated deaths" (ave=0.11%) was high in Changwon (0.12%/0.0193), Ansan (0.12%/0.0138), Cheongju (0.11%/0.0174), and the ratio of "accumulative deaths" was low (0.09%) despite the construction of relatively poor treatment facilities. Through the results of this study, we expect a paradigm shift in the infectious disease management system in major cities in Korea after post-COVID-19.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.120-127
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• 2024

Objectives: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to increased mortality rates. To assess this impact, this ecological study aimed to estimate the excess death counts in southern Iran. Methods: The study obtained weekly death counts by linking the National Death Registry and Medical Care Monitoring Center repositories. The P-score was initially estimated using a simple method that involved calculating the difference between the observed and expected death counts. The interrupted time series analysis was then used to calculate the mean relative risk (RR) of death during the first year of the pandemic. Results: Our study found that there were 5571 excess deaths from all causes (P-score=33.29%) during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 48.03% of these deaths directly related to COVID-19. The pandemic was found to increase the risk of death from all causes (RR, 1.26; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.19 to 1.33), as well as in specific age groups such as those aged 35-49 (RR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.12 to 1.32), 50-64 (RR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.28 to 1.49), and ≥65 (RR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.12 to 1.32) years old. Furthermore, there was an increased risk of death from cardiovascular diseases (RR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.11 to 1.22). Conclusions: There was a 26% increase in the death count in southern Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than half of these excess deaths were not directly related to COVID-19, but rather other causes, with cardiovascular diseases being a major contributor.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.361-368
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• 2008

Objective to assess whether exposure to air pollutants is associated with postneonatal infant death, using a timeseries methodology, between 1999 and 2003 in Seoul, Korea.. Methods We investigated the short-term effects of air pollution for 548,725 live births during the study period. The daily count of postneonatal infant deaths from all causes and from SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) by birth order was analyzed by a Generalized Additive Poisson model, with controlling for the effects of seasonal trends, air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, and day of the week as covariates. Results During the study period, we observed 699 deaths from all causes and 47 deaths from SIDS. We did not find any significant associations between daily mortality and ambient levels of air pollutants except for CO and $NO_2$. The estimated relative risk of postneonatal infant death from all causes was 1.17 (95% CI=1.04-1.32) and 1.16 (95% CI=1.03-1.29) by IQR (interquartile range) for CO and $NO_2$ respectively. Also, we observed no clear trend of the mortality effects of air pollution by birth orders. Conclusion In conclusion, our findings suggest that air pollution, in general, influenced adversely postneonatal infant death from all-cause and SIDS although it was not statistically significant. This study may support that the rationale.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.115-121
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• 1990

We have experienced twenty-eight patients of esophageal perforation at the department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, Seoul National University Hospital during the period from Jan. 1957 to Jun. 1989. The ratio between male and female patients was 17:11, and their age ranged from 2 years to 61 years old. [average: 30.4 years old] The cause of esophageal perforation were instrumental trauma in 9 cases, caustic perforation in 6 cases, spontaneous perforation in 6 cases, surgical trauma in 2 cases, and others in 5 cases. The most frequent location of perforation was in the lower third portion of the esophagus [13 case, 46 %]. Patients complained of chest pain [86 %], dyspnea [57 %], fever [57 %], subcutaneous emphysema [43 %], and others. The frequent complications of esophageal perforation were empyema [13 cases, 46 %] and mediastinitis [11 cases, 39 %]. The first treatment was supportive care in 3 cases, primary closure and reinforced procedures in 13 cases with 3 deaths, open drainage in 5 cases with 2 deaths, diversion in 4 cases with 2 deaths and closed thoracostomy drainage in 3 cases. After the first treatment, 6 patients received multi-staged operations for several months. Overall mortality was 25 %, and the most frequent cause of death was sepsis[57 %]. We thought that factors affecting the outcome of esophageal perforation are;[1] early diagnosis and adequacy in the first treatment, [2] intensive perioperative management including multi-stage surgical approach, [3] patient`s condition at the diagnosis

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.46-51
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• 2014

2,097 deaths out of 5,229 by traffic accident occurred by vehicle to vehicle crash and 855 deaths out of 2,097 occurred at side crash in 2011. Korean government adopted New Car Assessment Program to reduce the wounded and deaths at traffic accident in 1999 and side impact test has been added in 2003. 43 out of 53 vehicles tested in NCAP side impact rated 4 and 5 stars means the highest occupant protection. In this study three small class vehicles have been tested according to Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's side crashworthiness test protocol. IIHS test protocol uses 1,500kg moving barrier rather than NCAP's 950kg and the occupant protection rated Good, Acceptable, Marginal and Poor based on injury measure, structural integrity and head protection.

• The Journal of the Korean life insurance medical association
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.140-147
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• 1984

We've reviewed 5,067 cases of claims by death that had occured for about 5 years from January, 1979 to October, 1983. As a result, We came to following conclusions; First, the greater part of deaths above mentioned were due to the Disease of Adult such as the Malignant neoplasm(18.4%), a Heart disease(10.4%), Liver cirrhosis(9.1%) and the Cerebrovascular disease(7.6%) as well as Accidental Death(26.5%), which were occupied by 72% of the whole. Second, classifying them by medical examination or non-medical, deaths in case of non-medical examination showed 80.8% of the. whole. And for age, sections ranging from 40 to 49 and from 30 to 39 took the overwhelming portions by 36.9% and 29.8% respectively, both of which showed 66.7% of the whole. Third, for the period elapsed, deaths within 1 year from the entrance showed 21.3% and that from 1 years to under 2 years, 19.9%. Thus the rate of early death under 2 years stood for 41.2% of the whole. Fourth, for occupation of the insureds, commerce occupied 20.4%, company employees 14.4%, agriculture 13.3%. These three categories marked 48.8% of the whole. From this, it appeared that the accidental death rate of the insured with the risky occupation was much greater than orthers.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.159-172
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• 2017

Asthma deaths in Seoul peaked on the third, fifth, and second days after the PM concentration exceeded the daily average concentration standard. We classified the synoptic meteorological conditions, based on the days involving such cases, into three categories. Type 1 included the meteorological condition likely to cause high air pollution concentrations in the leeward region, the dominant wind direction of which is the northwest. Type 2 included the meteorological condition likely to cause high air pollution concentrations due to the weak wind velocity under stable atmospheric conditions. Type 3 was when the passage low atmospheric pressure and the expansion of high atmospheric pressure occurred at the rear, indicating a meteorological condition likely to cause high air pollution, in certain regions. Type 1 occurred 11 times, with high concentrations of over $100{\mu}g/m^3$ being observed in the southeastern part of Seoul. Type 2 occurred 24 times, often accompanied by a PM concentration of $100{\sim}400{\mu}g/m^3$. Type 3 occurred 11 times, and was accompanied by several days of yellow dust that accounted for the highest concentrations.