• Title/Summary/Keyword: Effective Management

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Impact of Net-Based Customer Service on Firm Profits and Consumer Welfare (기업의 온라인 고객 서비스가 기업의 수익 및 고객의 후생에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Eun-Jin;Lee, Byung-Tae
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.17 no.2
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    • pp.123-137
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    • 2007
  • The advent of the Internet and related Web technologies has created an easily accessible link between a firm and its customers, and has provided opportunities to a firm to use information technology to support supplementary after-sale services associated with a product or service. It has been widely recognized that supplementary services are an important source of customer value and of competitive advantage as the characteristics of the product itself. Many of these supplementary services are information-based and need not be co-located with the product, so more and more companies are delivering these services electronically. Net-based customer service, which is defined as an Internet-based computerized information system that delivers services to a customer, therefore, is the core infrastructure for supplementary service provision. The importance of net-based customer service in delivering supplementary after-sale services associated with product has been well documented. The strategic advantages of well-implemented net-based customer service are enhanced customer loyalty and higher lock-in of customers, and a resulting reduction in competition and the consequent increase in profits. However, not all customers utilize such net-based customer service. The digital divide is the phenomenon in our society that captures the observation that not all customers have equal access to computers. Socioeconomic factors such as race, gender, and education level are strongly related to Internet accessibility and ability to use. This is due to the differences in the ability to bear the cost of a computer, and the differences in self-efficacy in the use of a technology, among other reasons. This concept, applied to e-commerce, has been called the "e-commerce divide." High Internet penetration is not eradicating the digital divide and e-commerce divide as one would hope. Besides, to accommodate personalized support, a customer must often provide personal information to the firm. This personal information includes not only name and address, but also preferences information and perhaps valuation information. However, many recent studies show that consumers may not be willing to share information about themselves due to concerns about privacy online. Due to the e-commerce divide, and due to privacy and security concerns of the customer for sharing personal information with firms, limited numbers of customers adopt net-based customer service. The limited level of customer adoption of net-based customer service affects the firm profits and the customers' welfare. We use a game-theoretic model in which we model the net-based customer service system as a mechanism to enhance customers' loyalty. We model a market entry scenario where a firm (the incumbent) uses the net-based customer service system in inducing loyalty in its customer base. The firm sells one product through the traditional retailing channels and at a price set for these channels. Another firm (the entrant) enters the market, and having observed the price of the incumbent firm (and after deducing the loyalty levels in the customer base), chooses its price. The profits of the firms and the surplus of the two customers segments (the segment that utilizes net-based customer service and the segment that does not) are analyzed in the Stackelberg leader-follower model of competition between the firms. We find that an increase in adoption of net-based customer service by the customer base is not always desirable for firms. With low effectiveness in enhancing customer loyalty, firms prefer a high level of customer adoption of net-based customer service, because an increase in adoption rate decreases competition and increases profits. A firm in an industry where net-based customer service is highly effective loyalty mechanism, on the other hand, prefers a low level of adoption by customers.

A Model to Measure the Success of a Web-based Information System at a Government Agency - the Chungwadae Case (공공기관 업무관리시스템 성과평가 모형 개발에 관한 연구: 청와대 업무관리시스템(e지원시스템)을 중심으로)

  • Bae, Lee-Chul;Hong, Il-Yoo
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.18 no.1
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    • pp.97-115
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    • 2008
  • Introduction The e-government is concerned with using Internet and Web technologies to exchange information and services with citizens, businesses and other related organizations, and it centers on three functions, namely informational, interactive, and transactional [UN, 2001]. Many developed countries like the U.S. have been actively involved in e-government projects, since they enable both more effective public services for citizens and more efficient internal operations. Korea is among these leading countries that are planning to leverage computer and communication technologies to provide for integration of work processes and information as well as convenient access to information and services. For this reason, evaluating e-government projects is becoming a crucial issue for both researchers and policy-makers. However, most research to date has primarily focused on a model of success of an e-government system designed for citizens, overlooking internal systems specifically created for employees working in a public organization. This paper is intended to propose a model to measure the success of a Web-based information system designed for use by internal users at Chungwadae, the executive branch of Korea's central government. The paper is also aimed at applying the model to the assessment of the present system being used at Chungwadae in comparison with the preceding system. Evaluating an e-Government System The most widely cited model of information systems success today is that of DeLone and McLean[1992, 2003, 2004]. The original model states that the success of an information system can be measured using six dimensions, including system quality, information quality, use, user satisfaction, individual impact, and organizational impact. Although the ultimate success of an information system may be reflected in the impact that the system has upon individuals as well as an organization, aspects of using the system such as system use and user satisfaction can play an important role in determining the system success, because the system would be a sheer failure if users don't like and use the system. As a response to criticisms given by numerous researchers, the authors adapted their model to fit the emerging Web-based environment. The revised model[DeLone and McLean, 2003] they offered included an additional quality dimension, namely service quality, and combined individual and organizational impacts into net benefits which can also influence user satisfaction. The e-government system success model can be built around this updated model. Our model incorporates information quality, system quality, and service quality as in the DeLone and McLean model. However, the 'system use' dimension has been replaced by perceived usefulness, as suggested by Seddon[1998]. In addition, because the e-government systems that this paper focuses on are internal public systems used in government agencies, the 'net benefits' dimension has been replaced by perceived work efficiency. Based on the proposed model, a total of nine hypotheses have been formulated which we tested using an empirical analysis. Methods A questionnaire form has been created with items that are designed to examine the relationships among the variables in the model. The questionnaire has been handed over, in person, to 65 members of Chungwadae staff who are now actively using the E-Support System, the present information system created to support internal work at Chungwadae. We made arrangements to meet with each individual who agreed to participate in our survey, and helped to fill out the survey form with explanations. Of the 65 copies that were delivered, only 33 were returned, and 30 responses of these have been adopted for our analysis, since three were not valid. The extremely small sample size was due to the limited number of staff members who had adequate experience required of this study. Results We gathered data from the questionnaire survey and analyzed them using a regression analysis to test the hypotheses. As shown in the table below, the results indicated that all three dimensions of an information system’s quality are positively related to user satisfaction. However, information quality and system quality were found to be positively related to perceived usefulness, while service quality was not. In addition, perceived usefulness is not positively related to user satisfaction, implying that a user may find a system useful, but may not be satisfied with it. Finally, user satisfaction and perceived usefulness both are positively related to perceived work efficiency. This suggests that workers' positive experience with the system is important to guarantee favorable work efficiency. Conclusions We conclude that the proposed model proved useful in measuring the success of an internal information system used by a government agency. To demonstrate the applicability and usefulness of the model in the paper, we applied the model to the assessment of the present internal system used at Chungwadae in comparison with the preceding system. The results showed that the present system outperforms the preceding one in a statistically significant way. Future research will have to focus on applying the model to Korea's governmental agencies other than Chungwadae and examine whether it proves applicable in different types of governmental organizations.

Distribution of Weeds with Different Surface Management Systems of Greenhouse Soil in Gyeongnam Province (경남지역 시설원예작물 재배지 및 표토관리별 잡초발생 양상)

  • Hwang, Jae-Bok;Yun, Eul-Soo;Park, Chang-Young;Park, Sung-Tae;Nam, Min-Hee
    • Korean Journal of Weed Science
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    • v.31 no.3
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    • pp.221-228
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    • 2011
  • Weed control is of fundamental importance when planting horticultural crops, particularly during the establishment phase. Weeds compete for nutrients, water and light, and can severely threaten the survival and early growth of newly planted crops. Failure to control weeds represents one of the single most important factors leading to crop loss. Knowledge on the existence of the diversity of weed species in greenhouses is of our main concern in this study in order to develop a most efficient and effective weed control strategies. Sixty-two greenhouses were surveyed in 3 cities and counties of Gyeongnam area in March to October 2009 to investigate the feature of weed occurrence in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) after harvesting of the main crops. Forty-one weed species were identified and classified to 18 families which were composed of 14 annual weeds, 18 summer annual weeds and 9 perennial weeds. On the other hand, broadleaf, grasses and sedges recorded with 30, 7 and 4 weed species, respectively. Asteraceae was the most dominant weed species (9 species) noted followed by Poaceae (7 species), Cyperaceae (4 species), Caryophyllaceae and Brassicaceae (3 species respectively) and other families have 1~2 species. The dominant weed species occurred in the greenhouse based on the summed dominance ratio. These weeds were Digitaria sanguinalis, Cyperus iria, Portulaca oleracea, Rorippa islandica, Mazus japonicas, Cardamine flexousa, and Eclipta prostrata and others. Weed occurrence in the greenhouse after horticultural crops consisted of summer annuals (4 species), winter annuals (3 species), and perennial annuals (1 specie). The dominant species occurred in tilled soil based on summed dominance ratio of weeds were Cardamine flexousa (88.1%), Eclipta prostrate (57.4%) and Portulaca oleracea (55.2%). Comparison of weed occurrence was thoroughly surveyed also in which field without PVC, weed species were Portulaca oleracea (55.2), Eclipta prostrata (57.9%) and Trigonotis peduncularis (25.1%) and field with PVC, the identified weeds were Portulaca oleracea (98.75), Trigonotis peduncularis (49.1%), and Eclipta prostrata (36.8%).

Effect of Timing and Placement of N Fertilizer Application for Increased Use Efficiency - Principle and Practice (열대지역(熱帶地域)에 있어서 질소비료(窒素肥料)의 시용시기(施用時期)와 시비위치(施肥位置)가 비료효율(肥料效率)에 미치는 영향(影響) - 원리(原理)와 실제(實際))

  • Hong, Chong-Woon
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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    • v.20 no.3
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    • pp.285-299
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    • 1987
  • Timing and placement of fertilizer applications are two managerial means to improve the fertilizer use efficiency. The relative importance of these two means is determined by the application rate. With the realistic rate of N application recommended to the small farmers in the tropics, at present and in the near future, basal application in right manner, seems to be more important than split application at different times. In wetland rice soils, deep placement by whatever available means is desirable. But in the situations where perfect deep placement is very difficult to implement, the whole-layer application may be worth trying, until better methods become available. In rainfed uplands, N fertilizer application plans should be contingent upon the amount and distribution of rainfall: apply a less risky rate as subsurface banding near the crop rows to start with; then, depending upon the rainfall prospects in the season, apply or omit the additional dose. Because the patterns of crop response to N fertilizer can be significantly different between the research farms and farmers' fields, it seems imperative to have information on the patterns of crop response to N under farmers' management conditions, for the development of realistic fertilizer application recommendations. To enable the farmers to adopt improved fertilizer application technologies, it is essential to develop and make available to farmers convenient fertilizer applicators. Past experience with the improved fertilizer use technologies indicates that, in the long run, the development of fertilizers that are not only effective and convenient for farmers to use but also easy to produce without major modifications of existing fertilizer production systems is the ultimate solution to the problem of low N fertilizer use efficiency.

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Improvement of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi(AMF) Propagule at the Preplanting Field for Ginseng Cultivation (인삼 재배 예정지의 Arbuscular 균근균(AMF) 번식체 밀도 향상)

  • Sohn, Bo-Kyoon;Jin, Seo-Young;Kim, Hong-Lim;Cho, Ju-Sik;Lee, Do-Jin
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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    • v.41 no.3
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    • pp.170-176
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    • 2008
  • This study was carried out to improve density of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) propagule and physiochemical properties of soil by planting crops at the preplanning field for ginseng cultivation. Winter crops, such as barley and rye and summer crops, such as sudangrass and soybean were cultivated in combination to improve AMF propagation and soil aggregation at the fields. Yield of harvested crops by plating with winter or/and summer crops was 3,045kg10a1 of the only rye cultivation, 2,757kg10a1 of sudangrass cultivation in combination with rye growing (rye/sudangrass) and 1,628kg10a1 of soybean cultivation in combination with barley growing (barley/soybean), respectively. Soil aggregation rate was improved by cultivation with barley (45.7%) and with rye/sudangrass (45.1%), respectively. The density of AMF spores in soil was increased slowly by cultivating with winter crops. In summer crops cultivation system, density of AMF spores at sudangrass cultivated field was 64.0sporesg1 dried soil and it was higher than that at soybean cultivated field. External hyphae length (EHL) was 1.52.0mg1 air-dried soil at winter crops cultivated field. However, in summer crops cultivation systems, EHL was 2.62.9mg1 airdried soil at sudangrass cultivated field and was 1.72.2mg1 air-dried soil at soybean cultivated filed, showing these were higher than those in non-cultivated field (control). Glomalin content of soil cultivated with crops was higher than that of control soil. Especially, the highest glomalin content was shown to 1.7mg1 air-dried soil in the barley/soybean cultivation systems. These results suggested that the most effective soil management to improve AMF propagule density and soil physical properties by planting crops system was cultivating sudangrass followed by barley at the preplanning fields for ginseng cultivation.

Radiation Therapy for Operable Breast Cancer after Conservative Surgery (유방암환자의 유방보존수술 후 방사선 치료 성적)

  • Lee, Myung-Za;Chun, Ha-Chung
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.20 no.4
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    • pp.309-315
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    • 2002
  • Purpose : To evaluate the result of conservative management on recurrence, survival and prognostic factors of patient with operable breast cancer. Materials and Methods : Fifty three patients, treated for localized breast cancer by lumpectomy or quadrantectomy followed by radiotherapy between January 1985 and December 1996, were retrospectively studied. All patients followed up for at least five years. Their median age was 43 years (range24\~72). The tumor stages were as follows : T1 in 30 patients, T2 in 21, Tis in 2. Thirty-eight patients had negative and 15 had positive axillary nodes. The histological types were 42 infiltrating ductal, 2 infiltrating lobular, and 2 intraductal carcinomas with 7 other histologies. The tumor locations were the outer quadrant in 38 breasts, the inner quadrant in 13 and central in 2. Radiation doses of 46\~50Gy were given to the entire breast areas with additional doses of 14-18 Gy delivered to the tumor bed areas. Results : The overall five and 10 yea actuarial and disease free survivals were 94.3%and92.4%,91.2%and81%, respectively. The overall five year survivals were 100% in stage I and IIa, and 66.7% in stage IIb and IIIa tumors. Seven patients failed either locally or distantly. Incidence of local failure and distant metastasis for the first failure were 7.5%and5.7%, respectively. Local recurrence appeared within 2 years of treatment at the primary site and after more than 8 years outside of primary lesion, whereas distant metastasis appeared between 2 and 6 years following treatment. The overall recurrences were high at a young age (< or = 35 years), with 5 out of 12 (2 local, 3 distant), and in T2 lesions with 5 out of 21 (1 local, 3 distant, and 1 in both). Distant metastasis was high in the positive axillary lymph node group with 4 out of 15 (26.6%). A high incidence in the axillary node was noted at a young age with 7 out of 12 (58.3%) and in T2 lesions with 8 out of 21 (38.4%). A young age, positive axillary node and large tumor size were all related with poor survival. Conclusion : Based on this study, lumpectomy or quadrantectomy, followed by radiation appears to be an adequate therapeutic method in operable breast cancer. A long term follow-up is necessary because a recurrence of breast can occur long time after treatment. The poor prognostic group, especially young patients with an aggressive biological behavior needs more effective treatment modalities to improve their survival.

Surgical Treatment for Carotid Artery Stenosis (경동맥 협착증의 수술적 치료)

  • Kim, Dae-Hyun;Yi, In-Ho;Youn, Hyo-Chul;Kim, Bum-Shik;Cho, Kyu-Seok;Kim, Soo-Cheol;Hwang, Eun-Gu;Park, Joo-Chul
    • Journal of Chest Surgery
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    • v.39 no.11 s.268
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    • pp.815-821
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    • 2006
  • Background: Carotid endarterectomy is an effective treatment modality in patients with severe carotid artery stenosis, but it may result in serious postoperative complications, We analyzed the results of the carotid endarterectomy performed in our institution to reduce the complications related to the card endarterectomy. Material and Method: We analyzed retrospectively the medical records of 74 patients(76 cases) who underwent carotid endarterectomy for carotid artery stenosis by a single surgeon from February 1996 to July 2004. Result: There were 64 men and 10 women. The mean age of the patients was 63.6 years old. Carotid endarterectomy only was performed in 63 cases, carotid endarterectomy with patch angioplasty in 8 cases, and carotid endarterectomy with segmental resection of internal carotid artery and end to end anastomosis in 5 cases. Intra-arterial shunt was used in 29 cases. The mean back pressures of internal carotid arteries checked after clamping common carotid arteries and external carotid arteries were 23.48±10.04 mmHg in 25 cases with changes in electroencephalography(group A) and 47.16±16.04 mmHg in 51 cases without changes in electroencephalography(group B). There was no statistical difference in the mean back pressure of internal carotid arteries between two groups(p=0.095), but the back pressures of internal carotid arteries of all patients with changes in electroencephalography were under 40 mmHg. When there was no ischemic change of electroencephalography after clamping common carotid artery and external carotid artery, we did not make use of intra-arterial shunt regardless of the back pressure of internal carotid artery. Operative complications were transient hypoglossal nerve palsy in four cases, cerebral hemorrhage occurred at previous cerebral infarction site in two cases, mild cerebral infarction in one case, hematoma due to anastomosis site bleeding in one case, and upper airway obstruction due to laryngeal edema probably caused by excessive retraction during operation in two cases. One patient expired due to cerebral hemorrhage occurring at previous cerebral infarction site. Conclusion: Carotid endarterectomy is a safe operative procedure showing low operative mortality. We suggest that intra-arterial shunt usage should be decided according to the ischemic change of electroercephalography regardless of the back pressure of internal carotid artery. Excessive retraction during operation should be avoided to prevent upper alway obstruction due to laryngeal edema and if upper airway obstruction is suspected, prompt management is essential.

Current Use of Dexamethasone Rescue Therapy for Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (기관지폐 이형성증에 대한 덱사메타손 구제 치료)

  • Jung, Eui-Seok;Ahn, Yo-Han;Lee, Ju-Young;Kim, Yoon-Joo;Son, Se-Hyung;Sohn, Jin-A;Lee, Eun-Hee;Choi, Eun-Jin;Kim, Eun-Sun;Lee, Hyun-Ju;Lee, Jin-A;Choi, Chang-Won;Kim, Ee-Kyung;Kim, Han-Suk;Kim, Beyong-Il;Choi, Jung-Hwan
    • Neonatal Medicine
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    • v.16 no.2
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    • pp.146-153
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    • 2009
  • Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the current use of dexamethasone rescue therapy (DRT) for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Methods: This is a retrospective study of 251 BPD patients managed in the neonatal intensive care units at Seoul National University Childrens Hospital and Seoul National University Bundang Hospital between March 2004 and August 2008. The demographic data and clinical characteristics of the mothers and infants were analyzed. The infants were compared based on DRT responsiveness. The DRT complications were investigated. Results: Ninety-three patients (37.1%) were classified with severe BPD, DRT was only given to patients with severe BPD. Dexamethasone was administered to 24 patients (9.6%) whose respiratory status had precluded extubation, which indicated that conventional BPD management had failed. Fourteen patients (58.3%) who received DRT were responsive. DRT non-responders required more oxygenation and more complicated with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Responder had shorter length's of hospitalization and lower mortality rates. High dose dexamethasone was no more effective in weaning neonates from the ventilatior than low dose dexamethasone. Sepsis was the most common complication of DRT. Conclusion: DRT is a valuable treatment for severe BPD ahead of PAH development. DRT should not be performed in BPD patients with PAH due to the possibility of complications.

Prediction of Potential Risk Posed by a Military Gunnery Range after Flood Control Reservoir Construction (홍수조절지 건설 후 사격장 주변지역의 위해성예측 사례연구)

  • Ryu, Hye-Rim;Han, Joon-Kyoung;Nam, Kyoung-Phile;Bae, Bum-Han
    • Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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    • v.12 no.1
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    • pp.87-96
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    • 2007
  • Risk assessment was carried out in order to improve the remediation and management strategy on a contaminated gunnery site, where a flood control reservoir is under construction nearby. Six chemicals, including explosive chemicals and heavy metals, which were suspected to possess risk to humans by leaching events from the site were the target pollutants for the assessment. A site-specific conceptual site model was constructed based on effective, reasonable exposure pathways to avoid any overestimation of the risk. Also, conservative default values were adapted to prevent underestimation of the risk when site-specific values were not available. The risks of the six contaminants were calculated by API's Decision Support System for Exposure and Risk Assessment with several assumptions. In the crater-formed-area(Ac), the non-carcinogenic risks(i.e., HI values) of TNT(Tri-Nitro-Toluene) and Cd were slightly larger than 1, and for RDX(Royal Demolition Explosives), over 50. The total non-carcinogenic risk of the whole gunnery range calculated to a significantly high value of 62.5. Carcinogenicity of Cd was estimated to be about 103, while that of Pb was about 5×104, which greatly exceeded the generally acceptable carcinogenic risk level of 104106. The risk assessment results suggest that an immediate remediation practice for both carcinogens and non-carcinogens are required before the reservoir construction. However, for more accurate risk assessment, more specific estimations on condition shifts due to the construction of the reservoir are required, and more over, the effects of the pollutants to the ecosystem is also necessary to be evaluated.

A Study of Follow-up Test' and Related Factors in Students Who have Positive Result in Urine Tests (학생뇨검사 유소견자의 추후검사율 및 관련 요인)

  • Kim, Dong Sik;Park, Jae Yong;Kam, Sin;Cha, Byung Jun
    • Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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    • v.10 no.2
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    • pp.157-167
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    • 1997
  • This study was conducted to investigate follow up tests and related factors in students who tested positive for in urine tests. For the purpose of this study, the authors analysed a self-administered questionnaire collected from 316 middle school students and 451 high school students who had positive urinalysis results in Kyungpook province during the month of February, 1996. The major findings of this study were as follows : The proportion of follow up tests among students was 39.2% in middle school students and 34.1% in high school students. There was a significant relation among a number of factors : parents' environment, health concern, and knowledge of urinalysis results, existence of nursing teachers, education concerning urinalysis, medical facility visits, and notification methods. In a multiple logistic regression analysis a higher economic level, parents' concern, knowledge of urinalysis results, medical facility visits, anti direct notification of parents were all significantly related with the follow up tests. On consideration of the above findings, in order to perform practical and effective follow-up management of students who have a positive result in urine test, direct notification of urine test result to parents as well as active health guidance in school are required.

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