• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.9773-9779
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• 2014

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the prime causes of mortality around the globe, with a significantly rising incidence in the Middle East region in recent decades. Since detection of CRC in the early stages is an important issue, and also since to date there are no comprehensive epidemiologic studies depicting the Middle East region with special attention to the average risk group, further investigation is of significant necessity in this regard. Aim: Our aim was to investigate the prevalence of preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions of the colon in an average risk population. Materials and Methods: A total of 1,208 eligible asymptomatic, average- risk adults older than 40 years of age, referred to Firuzgar Hospotal in the years 2008-2012, were enrolled. They underwent colonoscopy screening and all polypoid lesions were removed and examined by an expert gastrointestinal pathologist. The lesions were classified by size, location, numbers and pathologic findings. Size of lesions was measured objectively by endoscopists. Results: The mean age of participants was $56.5{\pm}9.59$ and 51.6% were male. The overall polyp detection rate was 199/1208 (16.5 %), 26 subjects having non-neoplastic polyps, including hyperplastic lesions, and 173/1208 (14.3%) having neoplastic polyps, of which 26 (2.15%) were advanced neoplasms. The prevalence of colorectal neoplasia was more common among the 50-59 age group. Advanced adenoma was more frequent among the 60-69 age group. The majority of adenomas were detected in the distal colon, but a quarter of advanced adenomas were found in the proximal colon; advance age and male gender was associated with the presence of adenoma. Conclusions: It seems that CRC screening among average-risk population might be recommended in countries such as Iran. However, sigmioidoscopy alone would miss many colorectal adenomas. Furthermore, the 50-59 age group could be considered as an appropriate target population for this purpose in Iran.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.345-351
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• 2018

We study convergent influence on job burnout(MBI-GS: Maslach Bunout Inventory-General Survey) and its association with Organizational Commitment Questionnaire(OCQ), Type A Behavior Pattern(TABP) and depression(CES-D: Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale) among Hospital Administrative Staff(HAS). The survey was administered to 201 staff from 9 general hospitals located in J area from Jul. 3rd, 2017 to Jul. 29th, 2017. The structured self-administered questionaries were used. MBI-GS was positively correlated with TABP and CES-D, and it was negatively correlated with OCQ. With the analysis of covariance structure, CES-D was more influential on MBI-GS than OCQ and TABP. The study found the higher TABP and CES-D, and the lower OCQ tend to increase MBI-GS. The results indicate that the efforts, to decrease TABP and CES-D, and to increase OCQ, are required to decrease the MBI-GS of HAS. The results are expected to be useful for organization personnel management to decrease the MBI-GS of HAS. In the following study, the analysis about additional factors of influence on MBI-GS will be needed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.47-52
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• 2010

Green tobacco sickness (GTS) is known as an occupational disease among tobacco harvesters, and a form of acute nicotine intoxication by the absorption of nicotine through the skin from the wet green tobacco plant. On the assumption that GTS may occur by inhalation as well as absorption of nicotine, we measured the airborne nicotine concentration in tobacco field and the processing room of tobacco leaves. We measured the airborne nicotine concentrations in the tobacco field and processing room between 13 and 30 July 2008. All sampling and analyses of airborne nicotine were conducted according to the manual of analytic methods of NIOSH 2551, and we sampled 2 times at 11 points in the tobacco field by area sampling. The sampling in the processing room of tobacco leaves was conducted at 3 points, and earlymorning dew was collected from the tobacco by wringing the moisture into specimen bottles. The airborne nicotine concentration [geometric mean (geometric standard deviation)] in the tobacco field in the P.M. was higher [49.2 mg/$m^3$ (1.3)] than the A.M. concentration [43.4 mg/$m^3$ (1.4)]. Similarly, the nicotine concentration in the processing room of tobacco leaves was 224.4 mg/$m^3$ (1.2), and the concentration of nicotine in the dew was 64.7 mg/${\ell}$ (1.7). Based on our results, the airborne nicotine concentration in the tobacco field and the processing room of tobacco leaves were 100 and 400 times higher than the occupational recommended values (TLV-TWA of 0.5 mg/$m^3$), respectively. In the future, it is hoped that epidemiologic studies and environmental measurements will be conducted for GTS which occurs by inhalation of nicotine. If GTS is confirmed to occur by inhalation of nicotine, respiratory and dermal protective equipment must be distributed.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.27-50
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• 2001

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease. Although the joints are the major loci of the disease activity, fatigue is a common extraarticular symptom that exists in all gradations of rheumatoid arthritis. Fatigue is defined as a subjective sense of generalized tiredness or exhaustion and has multiple dimensions. Therefore fatigue is a common and frequent problem for those with rheumatoid arthritis. In fact, 88-100% of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis experience fatigue. Especially the degree of fatigue is higher in women than men with rheumatoid arthritis. Despite the importance of fatigue among the patients with rheumatoid arthritis, the mechanism that leads to fatigue in rheumatoid arthritis is not completely understood. This study was intended to test and validate a model to predict fatigue in women with rheumatoid arthritis. Especially it was intended to identify the direct and indirect effects of the variables of pain, disability, depression, sleep disturbance, morning stiffness, and symptom duration to fatigue. Data were collected by questionnaires including Multidimensional Assesment of Fatigue(Tack, 1991), numeric scale of pain, graphic scale of joints, Ritchie Articular Index, Korean Health Assessment Questionnaire(Bae, et al., 1998), Inventory of Function Status(Tulman, et al., 1991), Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression, and Korean Sleep Scale(Oh, et al 1998). The sample consisted of 345 women with a mean duration of rheumatoid arthritis for 10.06 years and a mean age of 49.64 years. SPSS win and Win LISREL were used for the data analysis. Structural equation modeling revealed the overall fit of the model. Pain predicted fatigue directly and indirectly through disability, depression, and sleep disturbance. Disability, sleep disturbance predicted fatigue only directly, while depression only indirectly through disability and sleep disturbance. Also morning stiffness and symptom duration predicted fatigue through disability and depression. All predictors accounted for 65% of the variance of fatigue. Depression, pain, and disability predicted sleep disturbance. Depression had reciprocal relationship with disability and they both were predicted by pain directly and indirectly. In summary, pain, depression, disability, sleep disturbance, morning stiffness, and symptom duration contributed to the fatigue of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The best predictor of fatigue was pain. This finding indicates that the modification of pain, depression, disability, sleep disturbance, morning stiffness could be nursing intervention for relief or prevention of fatigue.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.319-329
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• 2010

Objectives: This study was performed to determine the levels of quality of life (QOL) according to the grade of long-term care service for the elderly people who were admitted from long-term care insurance, and to reveal its association with the physical and mental functioning such as the Activity of Daily Living (ADL), the Instrumental Activity of Daily Living (IADL), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and the Mini-Mental State Examination-Korean version (MMSE-K). Methods: The interviews were performed during the period from March 1 to May 31, 2009, for 958 elderly people in urban and rural areas. The questionnaire items included various indices such as the ADL, IADL, CES-D, and MMSE-K, as independent variables and the index of QOL, as the dependent ones. For statistical analysis, t-tests were used for the mean scores of QOL according to gender and the grade of long-term care services, and Spearman's correlation was used for each variable. The effects of physical and mental functioning for QOL were assessed by covariance structure analysis. The statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The mean scores of QOL among all the subjects was $55.4{\pm}15.62$ (Grade I: $49.7{\pm}14.17$, Grade II: $56.8{\pm}14.62$, Grade III: $59.4{\pm}16.36$), and it was lower according to the higher grade of long-term care insurance. In terms of the correlation matrix of the QOL and the physical and mental function factors, the QOL showed positive correlation with the ADL, IADL and MMSE-K, while it had negative correlation with depression. On the analysis of covariance, mental functioning (depression and the MMSE-K) had a greater influence on the level of QOL than the physical functioning (ADL and IADL). Conclusions: The level of the QOL in the elderly people who were admitted from long-term care insurance was lower according to higher the grade of long-term care insurance. Also, the mental functioning (depression and MMSE-K) was more influential on the level of the QOL than the physical functioning (ADL and IADL).

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6227-6231
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• 2013

In the past, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection was endemic in the general Korean population. The association of HBV infection with the occurrence of liver cancer has been well demonstrated in several epidemiologic studies. While the mortality rates of liver cancer in Korea have decreased steadily over the last decade, the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in mothers remains high at 3-4%, and 25.5% of these HBsAg positive mothers are positive for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg). HBV infection caused almost a quarter of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases and one-third of deaths from HCC. These aspects of HBV infection prompted the Korean government to create a vaccination program against HBV in the early 1980s. In 1995, the Communicable Disease Prevention Act (CDPA) was reformed, and the government increased the number of HBV vaccines in the National Immunization Program (NIP), driving the vaccination rate up to 95%. In 2000, the National Health Insurance Act (NHIA) was enacted, which provided increased resources for the prevention of perinatal HBV infection. Then in 2002, the Korean government, in conjunction with the Korean Medical Association (KMA), launched an HBV perinatal transmission prevention program. The prevalence of HBsAg in children had been high (4-5%) in the early 1980s, but had dropped to below 1% in 1995, and finally reached 0.2% in 2006 after the NIP had been implemented. After the success of the NIP, Korea finally obtained its first certification of achievement from the Western Pacific Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WPRO-WHO) for reaching its goal for HBV control. An age-period-cohort analysis showed a significant reduction in the liver cancer mortality rate in children and adolescents after the NIP had been implemented. In addition to its vaccination efforts, Korea launched the National Cancer Screening Program (NCSP) for 5 leading sites of cancer, including the liver, in 1999. As a consequence of this program, the 5-year liver cancer survival rate increased from 13.2% (1996-2000) to 23.3% (2003-2008). The development of both the primary and secondary prevention for liver cancer including HBV immunization and cancer screening has been of critical importance.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.4435-4440
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• 2013

Aloe vera gel supercritical $CO_2$ extract (AVGE) has been shown to contain five phytosterols, reduce visceral fat accumulation, and influence the metabolism of glucose and lipids in animal model experiments. Recent epidemiologic studies have shown that obesity is an established risk factor for several cancers including colorectal cancer. Therefore, we examined the effects of AVGE on intestinal polyp formation in Apc-deficient Min mice fed a high-fat diet. Male Min mice were divided into normal diet (ND), high fat diet (HFD), low dose AVGE (HFD+LAVGE) and high dose AVGE (HFD+HAVGE) groups. The ND group received AIN-93G diet and the latter 3 groups were given modified high-fat AIN-93G diet (HFD) for 7 weeks. AVGE was suspended in 0.5% carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and administered orally to mice in HFD+LAVGE and HFD+HAVGE groups every day (except on Sunday) for 7 weeks at a dose of 3.75 and 12.5 mg/kg body weight, respectively. ND and HFD groups received 0.5% CMC alone. Between weeks 4 and 7, body weights in the HFD and HFD+LAVGE groups were reduced more than those in the ND group. However, body weights were not reduced in the HFD+HAVGE group. Mice were sacrificed at the end of the experiment and their intestines were scored for polyps. No significant differences were observed in either the incidence and multiplicity of intestinal polyps (${\geq}0.5$ mm in a diameter) among the three groups fed HFD. However, when intestinal polyps were categorized by their size into 0.5-1.4, 1.5-2.4, or ${\geq}2.5$ mm, the incidence and multiplicity of large polyps (${\geq}2.5$ mm) in the intestine in the HFD+HAVGE group were significantly lower than those in the HFD group. We measured plasma lipid (triglycerides and total cholesterol) and adipocytokine [interleukin-6 and high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin] levels as possible indicators of mechanisms of inhibition. The results showed that HMW adiponectin levels in the HFD group were significantly lower than those in the ND group. However, the levels in the HFD+HAVGE group were significantly higher than those in the HFD group. These results indicate that HAVGE reduced large-sized intestinal polyps and ameliorated reduction in plasma HMW adiponectin levels in Min mice fed HFD.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.133-137
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• 2015

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with primary frozen shoulder in a Korean population. Methods: A total of 1,373 patients whose shoulders were diagnosed with primary frozen shoulder across 11 resident-training hospitals were reviewed retrospectively. Various demographic characteristics and clinical characteristics according to gender and presence of diabetes were evaluated. Results: The average age of patients was 55.4 years. Gender proportion was 58.3% females and 41.7% males. The frozen shoulder involved the non-dominant arm in 60.7% of patients and the bilateral arms in 17.6% of patients. The average duration of symptoms was 8.9 months, and 51.3% of patients had experienced nocturnal pain. Comorbidities associated with frozen shoulder in our sample of patients included diabetes (18.7%), cardiovascular diseases (17.7%), thyroid diseases (5.4%), and cerebrovascular diseases (3.6%). The diabetic group was correlated with the following demographic and clinical characteristics: old age, involvement of the dominant arm, nocturnal pain, long duration of symptoms, and no history of trauma. Further, we found that, in males, having a frozen shoulder was significantly correlated with a history of trauma; in females, having a frozen shoulder was significantly correlated with having thyroid diseases. Conclusions: These demographic data of primary frozen shoulder in the Korean population were consistent with those of previously reported epidemiologic studies. Primary frozen shoulder with diabetes was correlated with old age, bilateral involvement, long duration of symptoms, and nocturnal pain.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 2000

Purpose: It is important to have the epidemiologic data of rotavirus serotypes for the application of polyvalent rotavirus vaccines. Epidemiological studies of rotavirus serotypes in Korea have been reported only in limited areas with small number of cases. Authors tried to investigate the distribution of rotavirus G serotypes in ChungJu area with RT-PCR. Method: Stool specimens were collected from 202 children with acute diarrheal symptoms, who admitted to or visited Kon-Kuk University Hospital in ChungJu from June 1998 to May 1999. Samples were screened for rotavirus with EIA method (TestPack Rotavirus, Abbott Laboratories) and rotavirus G Serotypes were determined by RT-PCR. Results: Rotavirus was positive in 46.6%. The incidence of G serotypes was as follows; G1 10%, G2 10%, G3 28%, G4 26%, and G9 20%. There were three cases of multiple serotypes; G1 with G9, G2 with G9, and G4 with G9. Serotype of G8 was not found. Conclusion: The proportion of G serotypes in ChungJu is much different from previous reports. Serotype of G9 was found which had not been reported in Korean children till now. Long term plans for the investigation of rotavirus serotypes must be needed in wide area.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.23-28
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• 2011

Objectives: REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) has received little attention in epidemiologic studies. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of probable REM sleep behavior disorder (pRBD) in the elderly population and its clinical features. Methods: A random sample of 1,588 was selected from a roster of 14,050 elderly population living in Osan city. The subjects were asked to fill out the REM sleep behavior disorder screening questionnaire (RBDSQ). Subjects whose score were 5 or higher on RBDSQ underwent a diagnostic phase of person-to-person assessment by experts in RBD. Results: Among 1,588 subjects, 886 elderly subjects participated in the screening phase and 123 subjects were assessed in the diagnostic phase. Eleven subjects were diagnosed as having pRBD, so prevalence was 1.5% (95% CI=0.70-2.30%). The frequency of depression and cognitive decline was significantly increased in patients with pRBD compared to subjects without pRBD, and there was no difference in sleep disturbances between two groups. Conclusions: Probable REM sleep behavior disorder is not rare in the elderly but frequently under-recognized. More attention should be paid to evaluation and treatment of RBD.