• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.20
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• pp.8607-8612
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• 2014

Background: Breast cancer patients experience a variety of altered appearance - such as loss or disfigurement of breasts, discolored skin, and hair loss - which result in psychological distress that affect their quality of life. This study aims to evaluate the impact of socioeconomic status on the altered appearance distress, body image, and quality of life among Korean breast cancer patients. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted at advocacy events held at 16 different hospitals in Korea. Subjects were eligible to participate if they were 18 years of age or older, had a histologically confirmed diagnosis of breast cancer, had no evidence of recurrence or metastasis, and had no psychological problems at the time of the survey. Employment status, marital status, education, and income were assessed for patient socioeconomic status. Altered appearance distress was measured using the NCI's cancer treatment side effects scale; body image and quality of life were measured by the EORTC QLC-C30 and BR23. Means and standard deviations of each outcome were compared by socioeconomic status and multivariate linear regression models for evaluating the association between socioeconomic status and altered appearance distress, body image, and quality of life. Results: A total of 126 breast cancer patients participated in the study; the mean age of participants was 47.7 (SD=8.4). Of the total, 83.2% were married, 85.6% received more than high school education, 35.2% were employed, and 41% had more than $3000 in monthly household income. About 46% had mastectomy, and over 30% were receiving either chemotherapy or radiation therapy at the time of the survey. With fully adjusted models, the employed patients had significantly higher altered appearance distress (1.80 vs 1.48; p<0.05) and poorer body image (36.63 vs 51.69; p<0.05) compared to the patients who were unemployed. Higher education (10.58, standard error (SE)=7.63) and family income (12.88, SE=5.08) was positively associated with better body image after adjusting for age, disease stage at diagnosis, current treatment status, and breast surgery type. Similarly, patients who were married and who had higher education had better quality of life were statistically significant in the multivariate models. Conclusions: Socioeconomic status is significantly associated with altered appearance distress, body image, and quality of life in Korean women with breast cancer. Patients who suffer from altered appearance distress or lower body image are much more likely to experience psychosocial, physical, and functional problems than women who do not, therefore health care providers should be aware of the changes and distresses that these breast cancer patients go through and provide specific information and psychosocial support to socioeconomically more vulnerable patients.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.161-168
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• 2001

The types of exposure data needed in an industry-based study depend on the diseases of interest and the study design to be used. The best situation occurs when we have quantified personal exposure estimates for the agents of interest, the least informative case occurs when we have only knowledge of the fact of employment in a plant, industry, or trade where exposure probability is high. Exposure information for most industry-based studies falls somewhere between these tow extremes. Job exposure matrices(JEM) are designed to link information on occupation with information on exposure to specific workplace hazards. Some forms of systematic error of bias may be less likely to occur in studies that utilize job-exposure matrices to indirectly infer exposures from job titles than in studies that assess exposures by asking subjects about their past exposure. JEM can be used effectively in industry-based studies for historic cohort studies, case-control study to assist with the retrospective assessment of occupational exposures among workers whose individual exposure histories are unavailable. JEM generally consist of a computerized database that links information about job categories and likely exposures. These two major axes may be stratified by calendar time. This article reviews the design of JEM in support of industry-based studies. Specific matrices may find broader applicability along with the increasing availability of detailed hygienic data.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.383-394
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate, through case studies, the usefulness of utilizing local R&D centers under science and technology ODA programs. For the past few decades, advanced countries have supported ODA projects of developing countries, but there have been negative opinions regarding the results. Through a case study of the black pearl cultivation project between the Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology and Micronesia, this study explains the usefulness of actively utilizing Korean R&D centers established and operational in recipient countries. Although black pearl cultivation is not an ODA project, the case study offers valuable insights as it is operated in a similar form and thus highly applicable to future projects. Based on the case study, four implications were derived to ensure the successful operations of science and technology ODA projects in the future. First, there is a need to improve relevance by making use of the technological capacities of local R&D institutes to develop projects that reflect the needs of recipient and donor countries. Second, trust must be established with local communities over the long term in order to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of project operations. Third, the proportion of science and technology ODA projects must be expanded to acquire sustainability, and more support should be granted to ODA projects involving marine resources, which are an advantage for countries of Micronesia. Lastly, the locals should be offered employment opportunities and regular training programs to allow for the actual transfer of knowledge instead of mere techniques. The implications derived in this study will prove useful in pursuing science and technology ODA projects, especially with Micronesia.

• Journal of Practical Engineering Education
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.107-117
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• 2023

The operating regulations of the undergraduate co-op amended and announced on July 6, 2021 aim to enhance the quality of co-op and improve student rights through the standardized operation. However, among the revisions, 75% of the minimum wage and up to 25% of job training are acting as great difficulties in corporate participation in the co-op. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to review the concept of the co-op and the main contents of the revision of the Ministry of Education's operating regulations, and to examine companies' perceptions and responses. As a result of the study, some companies were not aware of the revision of the notice in detail. In addition, the revisions related to the training support fee was found to be the biggest concern among the corporates, and the burden of job training also existed among the corporates. Based on the research results, policy improvement directions were discussed, and the implications and limitations of this study were also suggested.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.67-80
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• 2020

This study has been conducted at a time when Korean government continues to extend support for youth startups as part of its policy to create jobs and the focus moves from career and employment to youth startups with a growing interest in the field of youth startups. Against this background, this study aims to identify difficulty factors of youth startups in areas besides the Seoul Metropolitan Area, seek ways to overcome difficulty factors, and propose policy implications. To this end, this study set five criteria and 25 sub-criteria to evaluate the difficulties of youth startups by reviewing previous studies and conducting literature review, and performing brainstorming method. The empirical analysis of the evaluation criteria was performed, using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method, on youths aged 19 to 39 in Gunsan area. The analysis results showed that the largest difficulty factors facing local youths include business model establishment, business administration and management, and startup funding in the criteria. As for sub-criteria, the largest difficulty factors are market information acquisition, technology commercialization, project feasibility, technology development, and new market pioneering in descending order. Local youths have much difficulty about the process of turning a business item into a product and commercializing it. According to a comparative analysis by gender, men were a relatively high difficulty in commercializing business models than women. men were a relatively high difficulty in commercializing business models than women. On the other hand, women were higher than men in all factors (management management, entrepreneurship, improvement of entrepreneurship system, and improvement of entrepreneurship awareness) except for factors affecting business model. In addition, the factors of entrepreneurship were found to be relatively different among young people (college students, prospective entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs). In conclusion, it was suggested that in order to revitalize youth entrepreneurship in the region, it is necessary to actively resolve the difficulties of business model commercialization rather than entrepreneurship funds. In addition, it is necessary to strategically support customized entrepreneurship support and situational administrative services because gender and hierarchical difficulties are different than general solutions. This study presented practical priorities and derivation methods for the entrepreneurship difficulties faced by local youth, and suggested measures and improvements for vitalizing local youth entrepreneurship in the future.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.1024-1049
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• 2011

Korea has accomplished rapid industrial development based on the manufacturing industry. However, the growth potential has been slowing down lately due to some reasons including low employment creation rates. Also, competitions in the manufacturing industry with China and developing countries in Asia are constantly intensified. Advanced countries maintain economic growth based on the competitiveness secured by changing its industrial structure into service oriented economy. Accordingly Korean government announced various policies to promote service industry and stimulate R&D activity for the advancement of knowledge based service industry. For promoting R&D of private firm, R&D center accreditation system for knowledge based service firm is going to be introduced. However, the accreditation system needs to be revised because it was established based solely on manufacturing business. Under the existing system, subject firms for government support are selected based on R&D activities. However in service area, the difference between R&D activity and business activity is indistinctive due to its nature so that the range of subject firms can be expanded too much. So it is more practical to select major service businesses and operate the system with selected businesses. There also should be proper logic to select major service business from the whole service businesses. We have to consider Koean industrial structure which is heavily dependent on manufacturing business and has weak competitiveness in service business when preparing the logic. In this paper, we study how to set up the range of service business and the requirements for R&D center accreditation. For this, this paper analyzed the ripple effect on the economy of service businesses based on input-output analysis, R&D activity and capability to put the resource for R&D. Based on the analysis result, we suggest methods to screen subject companies for R&D center accreditation among service business and present possible measures on manpower and physical requirement for service industry's R&D center accreditation system.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.429-436
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to analyze factors relationship between dental caries experience and obesity among elementary school of student's in oral health clinic to provide empirical data for school of oral health program. The subjects of this study consists of 235 elementary school student's in Gyeongsan area. The data were collected from July 1 to 30, 2011 by self-administrative questionnaires. Increased with age in the lower level dental caries experience. Dental caries experience and obesity realted to were not with Mother's employment status, education level, economic level each other. Number of weekly exercise normal weight (9.4%) than obesity weight (21.5%) was higher in the 0 times. The obesity and dental caries experience was not associated with each other. The results suggest that social and demographic variation and regardless of don't home care made in support do student's oral and health care school health in terms of how much management so school oral health clinics later gradually enlarge and systematic a national policy will be implemented.

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.228-249
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• 2018

In 2015, the population of elderly people in Thailand was 16% of the total population and is predicted to be over 20% by 2021 and nearly 28% by 2031. The increase of the elderly population in Thailand has also increased the proportion of dependent elderly people, and caring for them poses many challenges for both families and the government. This descriptive method research aimed to survey the health status of dependent older people in the rural community of Lampang province in northern Thailand. The participants consisted of 62 older people and 62 primary family caregivers from Hong Ha Health Promoting Hospital, Lampang, Thailand (totaling 124 people). The researchers assessed the health status of older people and their activities of daily living (ADL). In addition, researchers assessed the health status and stress of caregivers. All the participants were interviewed about their experiences with caregiving. The results showed that most of the older respondents were female with an average age of 78.15 years. Based on the ADL assessment, 50 of the 62 older persons were homebound while the rest were bedridden. The majority of older people had chronic or long-term conditions that required hospitalization from time to time. Their frequent health problems included oral disorders such as tooth decay or caries/gum disease/no teeth, reduced sight, psychological disorders, knee pain and risk of falling, low BMI, risk of malnutrition, and urinary leakage and incontinence (58.06%, 66.13%, 62.90%, 70.97%, 38.71%, 66.13%, and 37.10%, respectively). Usual care provided by the family members included personal hygiene care, food preparation and feeding, medication management, housekeeping and organizing necessary equipment, supply of needed equipment, prevention of falls, helping with travel for medical checkups and treatment, and providing companionship. Families experienced shortages of medical supplies, daily use equipment, lack of employment, inadequate income, and difficulty accessing health care services due to lack of transportation. Some caregivers experienced caregiving stress related to a lack of social interactions as well as routine caregiving activities. Families need different types of support in order to promote the well-being of older people and caregivers. This highlights the need for a community participation model for the care of older people in order to reflect sustainable long-term outcomes.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.14
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• pp.5927-5936
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• 2014

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Jordanians. Breast cancer patients suffer from several negative consequences after treatment and these include pain, fatigue, sexual problems, appearance and body image concerns, with psychological dysfunction. This could affect the patient quality of life and psychological well-being. To the best of our knowledge, there is no published quantitative data on the quality of life and psychological well-being of breast cancer patients in Jordan. The objective of this study was to obtain such data and assess predictors with calculated scores. Methods: In this cross-sectional study conducted among breast cancer patients in Jordan diagnosed in 2009 and 2010, assessment was performed using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30), the Breast Module (QLQ-BR23) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Clinical, demographic and psychosocial indicators that could predict patient quality of life scores were collected. Results: The number of patients interviewed was 236 (mean age=$50.7{\pm}10.7$ years). The mean Global Health score for the QLQ-C30 was $63.7{\pm}20.2$ SD. Among functional scales, "social functioning" scored the highest ($mean=78.1{\pm}28.6$ SD), whereas "emotional functioning" scored the lowest ($mean=59.0{\pm}SD\;33.5$). For the QLQ-BR23, the worst scores within the functional scales were for "body image" ($mean=52.1{\pm}36.8$ SD) and "future perspective" ($mean=52.9{\pm}38.5$ SD). The worst symptom was "upset by hair loss" ($mean=69.8{\pm}43.0$). The mean HADS scores was $18.{\pm}9.0$ SD. Out of study participants, 53% scored abnormal on the anxiety scale and 45% on the depression scale. Severe depression and severe anxiety were detected among 8% and 14% of study participants, respectively. Statistically significant predictors for individual scores were similar to those reported in published studies, such as the presence of recurrence since baseline, family history of cancer, low educational status, current social problems, extent of the disease, presence of financial difficulties, and employment status. Conclusions and Recommendations: Breast cancer survivors in Jordan have overall good quality of life scores when compared with patients from Western countries. However, their psychological wellbeing is more impaired. There is an urgent need for psychosocial support programs and psychological screening and consultation for breast cancer patients at hospitals of the Ministry of Health in Jordan.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.371-384
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• 2010

This research investigates the historical changes of the educational system for the clothing departments at vocational high schools. According to the growth of the fashion industry, employment potential in the clothing departments of the vocational high schools, numerical changes in the educational statistics, and curriculums were investigated by papers, reports, and statistic data. The statistic data were derived from the 'Center Educational Statistics and Information', 'School Information' (Hak-gyo Alimi), 'Korean Statistical Information Services' and internet home pages of vocational high schools. Technical service workers that graduate from clothing departments and vocational high schools have limited competitiveness in a thriving fashion industry field. Highly developed fashion industries require more professional workers in fashion design, fashion marketing, and fashion materials. Compared to 1994, when 35 classes were conducted in 5 vocational high schools, 69 classes are now conducted at 15 schools. They have over 2,000 students and produce over 600 graduates. However, 222 credits of the $1^{st}$ curriculum in 1958 went down to 82 credits in the 2007 revised curriculum to complete the credits of clothing departments. The 15 courses of the 1st curriculum fell to 5 courses in the 2007 revised curriculum on the number of major subjects. It is a fundamental problem that major courses in clothing education have been excessively reduced despite the demand for of highly specialized workers in the fashion industry. In the view of operating conditions of those schools, there were several problems such as the wide gaps in the curriculum, limited equipment, the supply of teachers, and counseling on the choice of college or a career. In conclusion, the following measures are required: 1) the increase of complement credits in major subjects and renovation of curriculum, 2) national substantial support to change the social circumstance concerning vocational education and occupational consciousness, 3) operation of credit approving systems in universities and colleges for students that have completed the same courses at vocational high schools, 4) designing realistic programs for vocational education and cooperation systems with corporate enterprises.