• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.8 no.12
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• pp.139-148
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• 2017

This purpose of the study was to investigate nurses' experience in developing medical supplies. The participants were six nurses, data were collected by open in-depth interviews from January to December, 2016, and analyzed using thematic analysis. Three themes and six sub-themes were identified. Nurse's experience in medical supplies development were 'new challenge for better patient care', 'the reality of nonprofessional beyond compare', and 'difficult but fruitful work'. The participants tried to improve the convenience of nursing work and to minimize the economic burden of patients by medical supplies development. They faced the difficulties as a laymen that a lack of information and knowledge about developing process, but felt worth. Based on these findings, there are necessary for the system and the support of the hospital that can reflect the idea of nurses and education about process on medical supplies development.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.124-140
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• 1995

Cardiac cathererization has become a routine diagnostic procedure indicated for evaluation of a wide varity of cardiac conditions. Patients are admitted to the coronary care unit after cardiac catheterization. These conscious patients report feeling uncomfortable in the CCU, but no studies have been done on the effects of bed rest, sand bags on the femoral puncture site and restricted mobility for 4 to 12 hours or longer postprocedure. The main objective of this thesis is to provide basic data to nursing on interventions which de-crease the uncomfortableness experienced by patients in the CCU following cardiac catheterization. In this phenomenological study, the various discomforts felt by the patients were collected and classified. The study subjects were a convenience sample of 29 patients who were admitted to the CCU of a general hospital in Inchon following cardiac catheterization. They were conscious, so they were able to communicate without difficulty. The data were collected over an U days period from July 21, to October 14, 1994. The subjects were interviewed using unstructured open questions and the interviews were tape recorded with the patient's permission The data were analyzed using the Van Kaams phenomenological method. Reliability and validity were exammed by two professor of nursing science, one head nurse, one staff nurse and one cardiologist. The results of the study are summarized as follows ; 1. The 129 descriptive statements by the postcardiac catheterization patients of discomfort were organized into 19 themes. 2. The 19 themes were divided into 3 categories ; physical, psychological, and environmental aspects. 3. The problems concerning the physical aspect were the discomfort of restriction of movement, dysuria, medical devices, pain in the puncture site, symptom is related to the procedure of cardiac catheterization, headache and dizziness, leg painand tingling sensation, and chest pain. The problems concerning the psychological aspect were regret resulting from dependency, economic burden, dissatisfaction with medical personnel, dissatisfaction with medical service system, anxiety about the result of the procedure, concern about the prognosis, loneliness, and concern over treatment procedure. The problems concerning the environmental aspect were influence from neighboring patients, noise, and maladaptation to environmental change. The necessity for holistic care which satisfies physical, psychological, and environmental need must be emphasized in order to solve these discomforts.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.385-396
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• 2004

Purpose: Hypertension has been a major cause of death in Korea since the 1970s, and has resulted in being a significant economic burden to the finances of national health care. The Ministry of Health and Welfare made several efforts. but hypertension control programs in Korea are still non standardized and ineffective. We wanted to investigate the current hypertension control program in public health centers systematically and suggest the direction for future programs. Method: The design of this study is a cross sectional investigation. From September to October in 2002, we sent a set of questionnaires to all PHCs, and 179 centers responded (response rate = 74.0%). The instrument was developed based on components of National health systems. Results: 1) Resources: The department responsible for hypertension control programs is the Department of Health Promotion. Health Education Center, Community Health Center, Citizen's Health Center, etc. The chief personnel of those departments are nurses. but 27.4% of PHCs have no full time nurse for hypertension management programs. PHCs had a lot of teaching materials (nine types per a PHC) and most of the recommended contents were included. But, periodical evaluation and revision were not being made, 2) Management: Nurses' (13.03 9.46 in 23 score) actions for hypertension control were not qualitative, but regular training and evaluation were seldom carried out. Need assessment (25.9%) and evaluation (about 10-20%) for the hypertension control program were indicated as low. 3) Programs: Programs focused on individuals rather than community or public, and 2nd prevention rather than 1st, 3rd prevention. Conclusion: The Ministry of Health and Welfare has to construct the infrastructure for hypertension control programs. Related scholars and committees should develop and declare standardized manuals for hypertension control and the management system, as well.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.127-140
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors affecting on the home treatment stress in the CP (cerebral palsy) children's mothers. Direct interviews were conducted from March 17 with April 4, 2003 with 97 mothers of CP children. The average level of stress from home treatment felt by mothers with CP children was $16.97{\pm}4.04$. Stress-levels were especially high in mothers who were not satisfied with the treatment outcome (p<.05) and whose acceptance of disability was low (p<.01). Stress felt by mothers was low when their health status was high (p<.05). A physical burden was shown to have a significant correlation with the stress of the mothers during the home treatment (p<.01). Mothers with a child of Level 2 disability had lower levels of stress than those with a child of Level 4 or 5 disability (p<.01). The level of stress was higher in mothers who lagged in acquiring technical sufficiency (p<.05). Multiple regression analysis showed that one factor affecting the stress felt by mothers with CP children was the degree of acceptance of the disability (p<.01). Programs that can reduce the stress levels of mothers with CP children through home treatment and secure social systems such as professional help and economic compensation, need to be developed. Active policies should be established and executed for these mothers since stress felt by mothers significantly affects the consistency and effectiveness of treatment provided at home.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.49-72
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• 1992

This paper examines the increasingly popular belief that higher holding tax will be the ultimate solution for Korea's land problems which include excessive concentration of ownership, high and rapidly increasing land prices, and rampant speculation. In principle, land holding tax can supplement capital gains tax in recapturing capital gains from land or suppress returns from land investment returns in line with other forms of asset. This paper shows, however, that the tax burden must be drastically increased for the tax to achieve such goals, and the resistance from tax payers is sure to be intense. As long as the price expectation remains high, as in Korea where land prices have increased 19% annually during the past 18 years, even such increase in the tax may have little impact on landlords' behaviors, the price trend, or the ownership structure. More effective solutions for Korea's land problems are relaxing land use regulations to encourage the supply for urban land and improving the performance of capital gains tax to recapture windfall gains from land. This paper also notes that the so-called "lock-in effect" of the capital gains tax seems to be exaggerated. Land holding tax should be viewed as a revenue raiser for local governments rather than an anti-speculative policy tool. Abandoning unattainable policy goals and adhering to the general principles of taxation, will make land holding tax much simpler, and will better function as a local revenue source.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.24 no.5 s.83
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• pp.251-270
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• 2006

This study examined how the households used and combined financing sources to pay for college education. It compared the probability of using each source (current incomes, saving, education loans and grants) by households' socio-economic characteristics and analyzed which factors influence the decision to use each source and the amounts from each source for financing college education. Data for this study were from a questionnaire completed by 4-year college students (n=623) and were analyzed by t-tests, ANOVA and Heckman's two-step estimation models. The findings of this study were as follows: First, the most frequent source for college education was parents' savings and the second one was parents' incomes. Also, the most frequent combination of sources was saving and current incomes and the second was combination of three sources, saving, incomes and education loans. Second, the probability of using incomes was higher for younger students than for older students. The number of siblings showed significant differences among income, savings and education loans. Those who had higher incomes were more likely to use current incomes, saving, but less likely to borrow for financing college education. Middle-class income groups were more likely to borrow for education. Third, household incomes and asset holdings had generally positive impacts on the probability of using incomes and savings for college education, while total debt burden decreased both the probability and amounts of income and saving sources. The college costs had significantly positive effects on both the probability and the amounts of all of financing sources. Total grants received significantly decreased the amounts from incomes, savings and borrowing sources.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.256-263
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• 2015

Background: Initial treatment of acute upper respiratory infection (AURI) should not include antibiotics because most AURIs are caused by virus. However, the prescription rate of antibiotics in Korea is higher than in any other countries. Inappropriate use of antibiotics in Korea accelerated the emergence of antibiotics resistance and increased the social and economic burden. The objective of this study was to investigate the factors related to antibiotics use for the AURI among children-adolescents and adults. Methods: This study analyzed the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service-National Patient Sample data which was nationally representative sampling stratified by sex and age. Results: The influencing factors of antibiotics use for AURI are gender, age, types of medical security, primary disease, existence of concomitant disease, treatment seasons, first visit or revisit, indicated specialty, types of medical institution, and location of medical institution. Conclusion: The results showed health policy makers are required to place more efforts to resolve inappropriate antibiotics use. Especially they need to establish a health policy to reduce the gap between areas and specialties and recommend standardized clinical guidelines according to the subgroup code of AURI and the age group of patients.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.28-33
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• 2001

The numbers of breast cancer are increasing in Korea and the needs for breast reconstruction are also parallel with cancer frequency. The purpose of the study is to define the different state and condition between the delayed reconstruction and the immediate reconstruction of breasts and to suggest how to get more satisfactory outcome. The study included 22 patients who underwent delayed breast reconstruction using transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous(TRAM) free flap from December, 1990 to January, 2001. Their ages ranged from 28 years to 58 years. We have used internal mammary artery and vein as a recipient vessel in 13 patients because of fibrosis and severe scarring in the axillary region and thoracodorsal artery and vein in 9 patients. When we used internal mammary artery with recipient vessel, we would use contralateral deep inferior epigastric artery with donor vessel. We obtained satisfactory result without any flap loss, and most patients satisfied with shape and volume of reconstructed breast. We found that delayed breast reconstruction have some differences compared with immediate breast reconstruction. First, we remove fibrotic and scar tissue as much as possible to achieve satisfactory shape of breast. Second, we plan preoperative design in standing position to obtain symmetrical recreation of inframammary fold. Third, we use internal mammary vessel in many cases with recipient vessel for microvascular anastomosis. Fourth, patients with delayed breast reconstruction feel more satisfaction than patients with immediate breast reconstruction do. Finally, economic burden is much higher in the delayed case than in the immediate case because of no coverage with insurance.

• 대한근관절건강학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1996.04a
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• pp.110-121
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• 1996

It is well defined that osteoporosis is an age related disorder and associated with decreased bone mass. It is one of the most important disease lacing the aging population because of its association with fracture of the hip, vertebrae and distal radius. The disease provoke a significant economic burden and major public health problem of an elderly. The life-time risk of hip fracture in white women is approximately 15% which is equal to the combined risk of breast, uterine, and ovarian cancer. Despite its deleterious effect on women's health, knowledge of the epidemiology of osteoporosis in Korea is only beginning. 1970 in Korea has non as the crossover period between the chronic and an Infectious diseases. As the result, the infant mortality declined and an elderly population in Korea increased significantly in the past decade, The average life expectancy of women in Korea is now about 75 years. Thus, the majority of Korean women will spend approximately one-third of their life in the postmenopause state. Therefore, better understanding of bone metabolism and fracture incidence in Korean population is a great interest for the medical community as well as for public health. Currently, no population based epidemiologic data are available to support the incidence of osteoporotic fractures in Korea. However, available data suggest that significant declining of bone mineral density (BMD [g/$cm^2$]) has been occurring in Korean women after menopause. In same population, peak BMD was observed around 33-39 years of age and continue to decline thereafter. An accelerated bone losses occur after the menopause and the average loss is approximately 13% within 15 years from the menopause. The incidence of fracture was highly correlated with an age and bone mineral density. The mean age of menopause in Korean women was 47 years and this age appears to getting younger when analyzed by the birth cohort. An earlier menopausal age and increase life expectancy place Korean women at increase risk for osteoporosis and bone fracture. Korean or Asian women are no longer protected from the risk of bone fracture. Therefore, an early prevention or intervention schemes are essential before the outbreak of osteoporosis and/or fracture occurs in Korean or Asian women.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.83-94
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• 2020

Backgrounds : To reduce the patients' economic burden of herbal decoctions use, in 2012, Korean government decided to implement the pilot project of herbal decoctions coverage in the National Health Insurance. Objectives : This study aimed to analyze the policy decision-making process for the pilot insurance project in 2012. Methods : Official documents, research papers, statistical reports, and news articles, etc. on the coverage of herbal decoctions were searched and collected. We used the Kingdon's Policy Stream Model to analyze how the policy of pilot project of herbal decoctions coverage was decided, and who were the main activists for the decision-making process. Results : Components to be included in the 'Problem stream' were the decline in the profits of Korean Medicine institutions, the contraction of the herbal decoctions use, and the fiscal surplus of National Health Insurance. In the 'Policy stream', there were several model studies for herbal decoctions coverage, and examples of herbal benefits in other social insurances. In the 'Political stream', there were the legislative initiatives by member of the National Assembly and the promotion of insurance coverage by the Association of Korean Medicine(AKOM), etc. Policy window for herbal decoctions coverage was opened by the combination of these three streams with the efforts of policy activists, such as the executives of AKOM, and policy researchers. Conclusions : The policy decision process for health insurance coverage of herbal decoctions was analyzed using Kingdon's model, and the analysis shows that the combination of political streams and entrepreneurs' competencies can be an important driving force in policy decision making.