• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.891-901
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• 2004

This study is to investigate the degree of consumers' non-ethical perceptions and behaviors, and to explore related variables such as demographic variables, idealism and relativism. The data used in this study were obtained by surveying 237 college students from 10th through 24th of October, 2002 in Kimhae city. We conducted a statistical analysis of the data, using percentiles, frequencies, means, t-test, ANOVA, and Multiple Regression. Consumers' non-ethical perceptions and behaviors were measured by modifying Consumer Ethics Scale(CES, Muncy & Vitell, 1992). The CES scale comprises 4 sub-factors: actively benefiting from illegal activity(CES1), passively benefiting(CES2), actively benefiting from questionable action(CES3), no harm/no foul(CES4). Average scores of consumers' non-ethical perceptions and behaviors marked below a mid-value, which means that most of the students are basically ethical. The related variable of consumers' non-ethical perceptions was idealism. The related variables of consumers' non-ethical behaviors were idealism and the amount of discretionary money. The results show that most of the participants are basically ethical as a consumer. However, the results related with the CES4 sub-factor which includes consumer attitudes toward copyrights of consumer softwares and music CDs tell us that they are relatively non-ethical. This claims an importance of consumer education to college students in regards to intellectual property.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.275-286
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• 2016

Purpose: This study explored influencing factors on quality of life (QoL) above middle-aged women in relation to demographic factors, health-related factors, menopausal status, metabolic syndrome (MS) and its risk factors. Methods: This study was secondary data analysis from the Sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013~2015 that utilized a complex, multi-stage probability sample design. Study sample of 2,310 was inclusive of (28.8%) of women who were over 40. To evaluate the factors that would influence an impaired quality of life, $x^2$ test, GLM, and logistic regression analysis were done. Results: Level of quality of life was lower in women with late post-menopause(over 10 years since menopause) than women with pre-menopause. Factors influencing impaired QoL were as follows: graduated middle school and elementary school or less (OR=2.43, 4.42, respectively, p<.05), no job (OR=1.92, p<.001), stress (OR=1.92, p=.001), depression (OR=1.93, p=.001), insufficient sleep (OR=1.64, p=.003), late post-menopause (OR=2.61, p=.044) and over 85cm of waist circumference (OR=1.76, p=.01). Conclusion: These results suggest that late post-menopause may be an independent factor influencing an impaired QoL. To promote post-menopausal womens' health, a nursing strategy is required to teach women how to manage levels of stress, depression, insufficient sleep, and abdominal obesity through health education, nutritional counselling, and physical activity program.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2639-2642
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• 2012

Background: The patterns of gastric cancer recurrence vary across societies. We designed the current study in an attempt to evaluate and reveal the outbreak of the recurrence patterns of gastric cancer and also prediction of time to recurrence and its effected factors in Iran. Materials and Methods: This research was performed from March 2003 to February 2007. Demographic characteristics, clinical and pathological diagnosis and classification including pathologic stage, tumor grade, tumor site and tumor size in of patients with GC recurrent were collected from patients' data files. To evaluate of factors affected on the relapse of the GC patients, gender, age at diagnosis, treatment type and Hgb were included in the research. Data were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier and logistic regression models. Results: After treatment, 82 patients suffered recurrence, 42, 33 and 17 by the ends of first, second and third years. The mean ( SD) and median ( IQR) time to recurrence in patients with GC were 25.5 (20.6-30.1) and 21.5 (15.6-27.1) months, respectively. The results of multivariate analysis logistic regression showed that only pathologic stage, tumor grade and tumor site significantly affected the recurrence. Conclusions: We found that pathologic stage, tumor grade and tumor site significantly affect on the recurrence of GC which has a high positive prognostic value and might be functional for better follow-up and selecting the patients at risk. We also showed time to recurrence to be an important factor for follow-up of patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2991-2995
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• 2012

Background: India shows some of the highest rates of cervical cancer worldwide, and more than 70% of the population is living in rural villages. Prospective cohort studies to determine the risk factors for cervical cancer are very rare from low and medium resource countries. The aim of this study was to quantify the effect of risk factors related to cervical cancer in a rural setting in South India. Material and methods: Sociodemographic and reproductive potential risk factors for cervical cancer were studied using the data from a cohort of 30,958 women who constituted the unscreened control group in a randomised screening trial in Dindigul district, Tamilnadu, India. The analysis was accomplished with the Cox proportional hazard regression model. Results: Women of increasing age (HR=2.4; 95% CI: 1.6, 3.8 in 50-59 vs 30-39), having many pregnancies (HR=7.1; 1.0, 52 in 4+ vs 0) and no education (HR=0.6; 0.2, 0.7 in high vs none) were found to be at significantly increased risk of cervical cancer. Conclusion: This cohort study gives very strong evidence to say that education is the fundamental factor among the sociodemographic and reproductive determinants of cervical cancer in low resource settings. Public awareness through education and improvements in living standards can play an important role in reducing the high incidence of cervical cancer in India. These findings further stress the importance of formulating public health policies aimed at increasing awareness and implementation of cervical cancer screening programmes.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2547-2556
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• 2012

Objectives: Smoking among university students represents a formidable and global public health challenge. We assessed the associations between socio-demographic, health and wellbeing variables as independent variables, with daily smoking, attempts to quit smoking, and agreement with smoking ban as dependent variables. Methods: A sample of 3258 undergraduate students from eleven faculties at Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt, completed a general health questionnaire. Results: Overall daily or occasional smoking in last three months prior to the survey was about 9% (8% occasional and 1% daily smokers), and smoking was generally more prevalent among males (male=17%, female=0.6%, P < 0.001). After adjustment for confounders, not having normal BMI and having a mother who completed at least bachelor's degree education was positively associated with daily smoking, and conversely, no history of illicit drug use was a protective factor. About 76% of smokers had attempted to quit smoking within the last 12 months prior to the survey. Although a large proportion of students agreed/strongly agreed with the banning of smoking at university altogether (87%), such agreement was less likely among smokers. Conclusion: There is need for implementation of non-smoking policies on university premises, as well as regular up-to-date information on, and the periodic/yearly monitoring of tobacco use by university students employing standardised data collection instruments and reference periods. In addition, it would be valuable to develop campus-based educational/ awareness campaigns designed to counteract tobacco advertisement directed towards young people in Middle East countries. Otherwise, the danger could be that the current relatively low smoking prevalence among university students may escalate in the future.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.16
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• pp.6755-6760
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• 2014

Background: Oral cancer is a common form of cancer in India, particularly among men. About 95% are squamous cell carcinomas. Tobacco along with alcohol are regarded as the major risk factors. Objectives: (i) To determine associations of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) with respect to gender, age group, socioeconomic status and risk habits; (ii) To observe the distribution of affected oral anatomical sites and clinico-pathological profile in OSCC patients. Materials and Methods: This is an unmatched case-control study during period January 2012 to December 2013. Total of 471 confirmed OSCC patients and 556 control subjects were enrolled. Data on socio-demography, risk habits with duration and medical history were recorded. Results: There were significant associations between OSCC with middle age (41-50years; unadjusted OR=1.63, 95%CI=1.05-2.52, p=0.02) (51-60 years; unadjusted OR=1.79, 95%CI=1.15-2.79, p=0.009) and male subjects (unadjusted OR=2.49, 95%CI=1.89-3.27, p=0.0001). Cases with both habits of tobacco chewing and smoking were at a higher risk for OSCC than tobacco chewing alone (unadjusted OR=0.52, 95%CI=0.38-0.72, p=0.0001), duration of risk habits also emerged as a responsible factor for the development of carcinoma. The majority of patients were presented in well-differentiated carcinomas (39.9%). Prevalence of advance stages (TNM stage III, IV) was 23.4% and 18.3% respectively. The buccal mucosa was the most common (35.5%) affected oral site. Conclusions: In most Asian countries, especially India, there is an important need to initiate the national level public awareness programs to control and prevent oral cancer by screening for early diagnosis and support a tobacco free environment.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.2901-2904
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• 2014

The incidence of colorectal cancer has been increasing in many Asian countries including Malaysia during the past few decades. A physician recommendation has been shown to be a major factor that motivates patients to undergo screening. The present study objectives were to describe the practice of colorectal cancer screening by primary care providers in Malaysia and to determine the barriers for not following recommendations. In this cross sectional study involving 132 primary care providers from 44 Primary Care clinics in West Malaysia, self-administered questionnaires which consisted of demographic data, qualification, background on the primary care clinic, practices on colorectal cancer screening and barriers to colorectal cancer screening were distributed. A total of 116 primary care providers responded making a response rate of 87.9%. About 21% recommended faecal occult blood test (FOBT) in more than 50% of their patients who were eligible. The most common barrier was "unavailability of the test". The two most common patient factors are "patient in a hurry" and "poor patient awareness". This study indicates that colorectal cancer preventive activities among primary care providers are still poor in Malaysia. This may be related to the low availability of the test in the primary care setting and poor awareness and understanding of the importance of colorectal cancer screening among patients. More awareness programmes are required for the public. In addition, primary care providers should be kept abreast with the latest recommendations and policy makers need to improve colorectal cancer screening services in health clinics.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.35-39
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• 2016

Purpose: This study compared the efficacy and tolerability of intravenous (i.v.) phenobarbital (PHB) and i.v. levetiracetam (LEV) in children with status epilepticus (SE) or acute repetitive seizure (ARS). Methods: The medical records of children (age range, 1 month to 15 years) treated with i.v. PHB or LEV for SE or ARS at our single tertiary center were retrospectively reviewed. Seizure termination was defined as seizure cessation within 30 minutes of infusion completion and no recurrence within 24 hours. Information on the demographic variables, electroencephalography and magnetic resonance imaging findings, previous antiepileptic medications, and adverse events after drug infusion was obtained. Results: The records of 88 patients with SE or ARS (median age, 18 months; 50 treated with PHB and 38 with LEV) were reviewed. The median initial dose of i.v. PHB was 20 mg/kg (range, 10-20 mg/kg) and that of i.v. LEV was 30 mg/kg (range, 20-30 mg/kg). Seizure termination occurred in 57.9% of patients treated with i.v. LEV (22 of 38) and 74.0% treated with i.v. PHB (37 of 50) (P=0.111). The factor associated with seizure termination was the type of event (SE vs. ARS) in each group. Adverse effects were reported in 13.2% of patients treated with i.v. LEV (5 of 38; n=4, aggressive behavior and n=1, vomiting), and 28.0% of patients treated with i.v. PHB (14 of 50). Conclusion: Intravenous LEV was efficacious and safe in children with ARS or SE. Further evaluation is needed to determine the most effective and best-tolerated loading dose of i.v. LEV.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.558-568
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors influencing insufficient physical activity in older cancer patients. Data were analyzed from the 2014 Survey of Living Condition of Elderly study. Metabolic Equivalent Tasks(MET) hours were calculated using self-reported weekly frequency, duration and types of physical activities to measure the degree of physical activity. Factors influencing insufficient physical activity in older adults included limitations in ADL and IADL, depression, impaired cognitive function, current smoker, lower levels of social activity participation and life satisfaction with social or leisure activities. When adjusted for demographic factors, patients with ADL limitation had 2.8 times (OR=2.762, CI=1.110, 7.952) higher risks of insufficient physical activities than those without. Current smokers had 2.4 times (OR=2.426, CI=1.113, 5.288) higher risks than non-smokers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.537-540
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• 2015

Background: Ovarian cancer is recognized as the fourth leading cancer in Malaysia. However, women do not always seek help in a timely manner and gaps in awareness may influence screening uptake and presentation. The purpose of this study was to determine levels of awareness of ovarian cancer risk factors in female population in Penang, Malaysia. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Penang, Malaysia from January until February 2014. Eighty-seven women were selected by convenient sampling. Awareness of risk factors of ovarian cancer was assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 for descriptive statistics and Pearson chi-square test for the association between socio-demographic data and awareness. A p value ${\leq}0.05$ was considered statistically significant. Results: In all, 74.7% of participants answered correctly for the risk factor of increasing age, although 94.3% were unaware of increased risk of tall women. A majority, 71.3%, had a low level of awareness of ovarian cancer risk factors. There was a significant association between age and knowledge (p=0.047). Additionally, there was a significant association between higher education level and level of awareness of ovarian cancer risk factors (p=0.039). Conclusions: This study revealed that awareness of ovarian cancer risk factors among Malaysian women is low. The results show a need for improved public understanding about ovarian cancer risks and provision of important information for health professionals about initiatives needed for future awareness, prevention and screening programs.