• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.285-290
• /
• 2007

Objectives : Cases of human brucellosis in Korea have recently increased due to the increasing incidence of bovine brucellosis. The authors conducted this study to elucidate the status of brucellosis through seroepidemiologic study. Methods : We selected our study population from a high risk group. We conducted a questionnaire survey and obtained blood samples to determine the seroprevalence of brucellosis antibodies for 10 days in February, 2005. The titers of brucellosis were measured by the combination of standard tube agglutination test (STA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test. Results : Our study subjects comprised 1,075 cases: 971 livestock workers, 51 veterinarians, and 53 artificial inseminators. In the STA test, 27 cases (2.5%) had titers of greater than or equal to 1:20. Of 1,068 cases (7 cases were excluded due to previous brucellosis), 7 cases of brucellosis were diagnosed with titers of 1:160, giving a seroprevalence of brucellosis of 0.66%. The seroprevalence in the male group was 0.95%, and that of livestock workers, veterinarians, and artificial inseminators was 0.52%, 4.17%, and 0.00%, respectively. The Spearman's correlation coefficient between the positive rate of bovine brucellosis per capita and household and human brucellosis was 0.806 and 0.744, respectively. The concordance rate between the Korea National Institute of Health and the Gyeongsangbuk-do Institute of Health and Environment by the STA and ELISA tests was 94.7% and 100.0%, respectively. Conclusions : The study results indicated in higher seroprevalence rate among veterinarians than among livestock workers and artificial inseminators. Because veterinarians may be exposed to this high risk, effective working guidelines for veterinarians to guard against brucellosis must be developed. Moreover, more extensive epidemiologic research for laboratory workers and meat handlers is needed.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.358-372
• /
• 2000

The purpose of this study was to describe the way of life (such as smoking habits, alcohol consumption, exercise, duration of sleep, eating habits etc.), physical. psychological and overall health complaints and to identify the relationship between the way of life and health complaints of the nursing students. Data was collected with the self-administered OMI( Okayama Medical Index Health Questionnaire, devised Cornell Medical Index) from 766 nursing students and was analyzed. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and an ANOVA with an SPSS/PC+ program were used. The results were as follows: 1. The mean age of subjects was 21.0557(2.7618) years old in their 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th year-classes of nursing departments and college students in 4 regions of Korea. 62.1% of subjects were of the proper body weight, 2.0% were overweight, and 28.3% were underweight. Most subjects did not have a past history of disease, but 1.8% of subjects had experienced a blood transfusion. 2. 28.3% of the subjects had averaged 7 hours of sleep, 98.5% were nonsmokers, 91.2% were nondrinkers, 74.7% of subjects had milk intake sometimes, 53.7% of the subjects had an average salt intake, 49.6% of the subjects usually had a green vegetable intake, 45.4% of the subjects sometimes had fatty food intake, 64.8% of the subjects had good taste, 29.5% of the subjects enjoyed physical exercise. 3. The highest percentages of 'yes' among physical. psychological and overall health complaints were observed in the question 'Do you have gastric pain?'(60.2%), 'Are you confused of disorderly?' (37.2%), 'Physical body was burdensome and fatigued.'(57.3%). 4. The total O.M.I. score ranged from 1 to 89 with an average of 22.91(SD=12.10). A statistically significant difference was observed for the physical. psychological complaints for alcohol consumption. and for the psychological complaints for salt and fatty food intake. These conclusions should provide grounds for future studies of strategies for health promoting lifestyle for nursing students and their health concerns. Further research is required to investigate the life environmental and psychological factors affecting the way of life for nursing students and their health status, to analyze the health behavior of nursing students related with their culture and consciousness. Also epidemiologic research methodology, such as prospective cohort study should be considered to explore the performing process of nursing student's health behavior related with the occurrence of diseases.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.42 no.5
• /
• pp.705-712
• /
• 2013

Epidemiologic research has suggested that frequent eating out may be associated with poor dietary habits, including high-calorie and inadequate nutrient intakes. Limited studies, however, have evaluated dietary behaviors with patterns of eating out in South Korea. The aims of this study were to examine the associations between nutrient intakes, adherence to dietary guidelines, and frequencies of eating out among Korean adults. Data were analyzed from adult (30 to 64 years old) participants of the 2007~2009 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (n=10,223). Nutrient intake levels were assessed by the 24-hour recall method. The dietary score (DS-ADGK) was calculated based on the adherence to dietary guidelines for Koreans. Subjects who frequently consumed meals outside the home tended to be younger, male, urban-dwelling, highly educated, and receiving a higher income. The frequency of eating out was positively associated with the higher intake of most nutrients, except carbohydrates and crude fiber. Regular breakfast habits seem to be associated with the frequency of meals outside the home for women; younger women who frequently eat out tended to have irregular breakfast eating habits, but this association is attenuated with increasing age. The mean DS-ADGK differed by sex, age, and the frequency of eating out; older participants scored higher than the younger ones, women had higher scores than men, and those who frequently eat out had lower scores than their counterparts. In addition, the adherence score for each component of the dietary guidelines was also significantly different by age and sex. The consideration of demographic characteristics related to frequent eating out and other barriers to healthful eating, as well as essential and practical interventions, are needed to promote positive dietary behavioral changes in Korea.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.1292-1303
• /
• 2015

Jeju province is the highest area about obesity(1st), alcohol consumption(2nd) and male smoking(2nd) among sixteen Korean provinces by the report of Statistics Korea: 2013 community health survey. Therefore, it is assumed that the incidence rate of colon, liver, lung and breast cancer can be high. The purpose of this study is to test these cancer's incidence and mortality trends and compare comparability with national average. The Joinpoint regression model and permutation tests for identifying changes and parallelism in trend were used to test registered data at Jeju Regional Cancer Registry from 1999 to 2012. In male colorectal cancer, Average Age Percent Change(AAPC) of Age-Standardized incidence Rate(ASR) was 8.4% per year(p-value<.000) and the hypothesis of parallelism with Korean male average was rejected because of steep increasing of Jeju male patients' AAPC(p-value=.047). In male liver cancer, AAPC of ASR was -2.98 % per year(p-value<.000) and parallelism with Korean male average was rejected because of sluggish decreasing of Jeju(p-value=.026). In male lung cancer, the ASR parallelism with Korean male average was rejected(p-value=.009) because Jeju patients APC(4.37% per year) was increased during 2006~2012. This study demonstrates that AAPC and Trends of male colon, male lung and male liver were difference from national average. Further studies are needed to understand its causes.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.389-400
• /
• 2014

Objectives: Though there are many studies about sleep disorder, no research has been performed on the utilization of oriental medicine as a treatment. Therefore, the oriental medical treatment pattern of Korean patients with sleep disorders was examined herein using the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRAS). Methods: The medical records of patients with sleep disorders (G47) or nonorganic sleep disorders (F51) as a main diagnosis were adopted from the HIRAS database from 2011 to 2013. Analysis was performed on the number of patients and cost per patient, with comparison between oriental and western medicine in terms of gender, age, patient care service type, and hospital type. Results: 1) Regarding sleep disorders, the medical visits and insurance charges have been increasing. Western medicine was utilized 8 times more often than oriental medicine during 3 years. 2) There were 2.5 times more women than men. 3) Among all ages, the 50~59 year group had the highest representation. 4) In comparison of average portions of patient care type over 3 years, outpatients were the majority, while the number of visits of outpatients and hospitalization has been increasing. 5) Comparison of average portion of oriental hospital type over 3 years revealed oriental clinics to be used most. The use of general hospitals was higher in western medicine treatment, while public health centers used oriental medicine more. 6) Regarding average oriental medical cost per patient over 3 years, the total was 88,000 won, with 353,000 won for hospitalization and 85,000 won for outpatients. The outpatient cost has been increasing. 7) In line with 6, oriental medical hospitals cost 126,000 won, local clinics were 85,000 won, and etc. was 95,000 won. Average costs of all types have increased during 3 years, except oriental medical hospitals in 2013. Conclusions: This study provided objective information about the epidemiologic characteristic of oriental medicine used for treatment of sleep disorder. For expansion of oriental medical demand for sleep disorder, this study would be helpful in understanding the recent status.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.259-264
• /
• 2016

Metastatic cancer is one of the main causes of cancer-related death since they rarely respond to available treatments. There is epidemiologic evidence that high garlic consumption decreases the incidence of cancer. Recent studies of our laboratory have revealed that a garlic-extracts is effective in suppressing metastasis. For experimental metastasis, C57BL/6 mice were injected intravenously with melanoma B16F10 cells in the tail vein, and were orally administered various concentrations (0, 50, 100 or 200 mg/kg body weight) of garlic hexane extract (GHE) for 21 days. The incidence and the area of the melanoma cell colony occupied by the poorly differentiated carcinoma were significantly lower in dose-dependent in 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg BW GHE - treated mice compared with control mice. In conclusion, the results of the present study show that GHE administration prevents lung metastasis in C57BL/6 mice.

• Neonatal Medicine
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.61-66
• /
• 2008

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to describe the epidemiologic features of febrile illnesses in newborns and to predict the risk of serious infections in this population. Methods : A retrospective study was conducted on 123 full-term infants <30 days of age with an axillary temperature >38$^{\circ}C$ who were hospitalized between 2000 and 2006. Neonates with prenatal risk factors, congenital anomalies, antibiotic administration prior to admission to the hospital, or suspected hospital-acquired infections were excluded. We evaluated the symptoms, physical examination findings, laboratory data, and clinical course between the high- and low-risk groups for serious infections. Results : The high-risk group included 30 infants with the following diagnoses in order of frequency: aseptic meningitis, urinary tract infection, bacterial meningitis, infectious enteritis, sepsis concomitant with disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, bacteremia, pneumonia, cellulitis, and omphalitis. Leukocytosis and thrombocytopenia were statistically different between the two groups. Factors, such as moaning signs, seizures, body temperature, and pulse rate were statistically significant. Conclusion : Unlike previous studies, we included newborns with clinical bacterial infections and aseptic meningitis as the high-risk group. Leukocytosis, thrombocytopenia, moaning signs, seizures, and changes in vital signs were considered useful predictors for identifying febrile neonates at high-risk for serious infections in spite of a difference in the definition of serious infection.

• Kidney Research and Clinical Practice
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.373-383
• /
• 2018

Background: Several epidemiologic studies have suggested that the urine sodium excretion (USE) can be estimated in lieu of performing 24-hour urine collection. However, this method has not been verified in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) or in an interventional study. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of estimating USE in a prospective low-salt diet education cohort (ESPECIAL). Methods: A new formula was developed on the basis of morning fasting urine samples from 228 CKD patients in the ESPECIAL cohort. This formula was compared to the previous four formulas in the prediction of 24-hour USE after treatment with olmesartan and low-salt diet education. Results: Most previously reported formulas had low predictability of the measured USE based on the ESPECIAL cohort. Only the Tanaka formula showed a small but significant bias (9.8 mEq/day, P < 0.05) with a low correlation (r = 0.34). In contrast, a new formula showed improved bias (-0.1 mEq/day) and correlation (r = 0.569) at baseline. This formula demonstrated no significant bias (-1.2 mEq/day) with the same correlation (r = 0.571) after 8 weeks of treatment with olmesartan. Intensive low-salt diet education elicited a significant decrease in the measured USE. However, none of the formulas predicted this change in the measured urine sodium after diet adjustment. Conclusion: We developed a more reliable formula for estimating the USE in CKD patients. Although estimating USE is applicable in an interventional study, it may be unsuitable for estimating the change of individual sodium intake in a low-salt intervention study.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.261-270
• /
• 2021

Purpose : The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of sleep duration on stress and depression in college students. The results obtained will be used as a foundational framework for fostering a healthy sleep culture among college students and for formulating measures to improve the quality of their sleep. Ultimately, we intend to produce a publicity and educational material. Methods : For this study, a survey involving 100 college students was conducted, after which data based on a final total of 95 respondents were analyzed. The information on stress and depression were first analyzed in terms of general characteristics and then organized based on the data collected to investigate the effects of sleep duration on stress and depression. The participants were divided into the following groups: "less than 6 hours," "6 to 7 hours," and "7 to 8 hours." BEPSI-K (Brief encounter psychosocial instrument-Korean) was used for stress evaluation, while K-CESD-R (Korean version of center for epidemiologic studies depression scale-revised) was utilized for depression evaluation. Results : First, according to sleep duration, the BEPSI-K scores showed a statistically significant difference in each group (p<.01). In the post-hoc test, there was a difference among the "less than 6 hours" group, the "7 to 8 hours" group. A statistically significant difference was noted (p<.01). In addition, sleep duration had a statistically significant effect on the negative (-) direction of the BEPSI-K (p<.01). Second, the K-CESD-R score according to sleep duration showed a statistically significant difference in each group (p<.01). Notably, in the post-hoc test, the "less than 6 hours" group differed from the "6 to 7 hours" group, "7 to 8 hours" group. A statistically significant difference was noted (p<.01). In addition, sleep duration had a statistically significant effect on the negative (-) direction of the K-CESD-R (p<.01). Third, for the correlation between sleep duration and stress and depression, a negative (-) correlation was found between sleep duration and BEPSI-K and K-CESD-R. Meanwhile, a positive (+) correlation was found between BEPSI-K and K-CESD-R. Conclusion : Based on the findings of this study, the sleep duration of college students has an effect on stress and depression. The results of this study can be used as a foundational framework in formulating a plan for improving the quality of sleep of college students.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.236-243
• /
• 2022

Background: In the case of multiple exposures to different types of heavy metals, such as the conditions faced by residents living near a smelter, it would be preferable to group hazardous substances with similar characteristics rather than individually related substances and evaluate the effects of each group on the human body. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the utility of factor analysis in the assessment of health effects caused by exposure to two or more hazardous substances with similar characteristics, such as in the case of residents living near a smelter. Methods: Heavy metal concentration data for 572 people living in the vicinity of the Janghang smelter area were grouped based on several subfactors according to their characteristics using factor analysis. Using these factor scores as an independent variable, multiple regression analysis was performed on health effect markers. Results: Through factor analysis, three subfactors were extracted. Factor 1 contained copper and zinc in serum and revealed a common characteristic of the enzyme co-factor in the human body. Factor 2 involved urinary cadmium and arsenic, which are harmful metals related to kidney damage. Factor 3 encompassed blood mercury and lead, which are classified as related to cardiovascular disease. As a result of multiple linear regression analysis, it was found that using the factor index derived through factor analysis as an independent variable is more advantageous in assessing the relevance to health effects than when analyzing the two heavy metals by including them in a single regression model. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that regression analysis linked with factor analysis is a good alternative in that it can simultaneously identify the effects of heavy metals with similar properties while overcoming multicollinearity that may occur in environmental epidemiologic studies on exposure to various types of heavy metals.