• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.260-265
• /
• 2013

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the seasonal variation of death from intentional self-harm by hanging, strangulation and suffocation (HSS: Korean Standard Classification of Diseases-6 code: X70) using the 2011 death registry data. Methods: The analysis was based on data of 8,359 HSS deaths from 2011 national vital statistics in Korea. Daily, weekly, and monthly death pattern on HSS were used to examine the relationship seasonal variation and HSS deaths. Results: A total of 8,359 HSS deaths occurred in 2011, with a mean age of 50.6 years. The HSS death rate (per 100,000) was 25.5 in male and 10.8 in female. In one day 17.6 males and 8.0 females occurred HSS death on average. The number of HSS death per day was the highest on 8th June (45 deaths), and lowest on 1st February (7 deaths) during the period. The variations of daily HSS death showed wide fluctuation from a peak of 34 to 45 deaths (29th May to 9th June) to a trough of 17-26 deaths (10th-13th September: the Korean thank-giving consecutive holidays), 13-20 deaths (2nd-5th February: the new year's day by the lunar calendar) and 8-9 deaths (24th-25th December: Christmas holidays). There were no significant difference between gender and seasonal variation (month, season, and week). Conclusion: The mean number of HSS death per day was highest in June (30.6 deaths), and months with the lowest number of deaths was January and December (range, 19.4 to 19.6 deaths). HSS death were more prevalent during summer and spring and were less likely to occur during winter. On Saturdays (21.0 deaths), the number of HSS death per day was the lowest, and Monday (27.9 deaths) was the highest. HSS death was less likely to occur on holidays (21.4 deaths). There was significant seasonal variation in HSS death by weekly and monthly (p<0.01).

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.19 no.12
• /
• pp.389-397
• /
• 2019

As the usage of e-cigarettes and its effects on health harms receive attentions, the debate over regulating e-cigarette industry's' social media marketing has been heated. While the industry has aggressively employed social media marketing such as YouTube, little research has examined what kinds of e-cigarette information is delivered to Korean viewers through YouTube. This study investigated the presence of product-related information and health harm information in the videos, and the characteristics of YouTube creators. The proportion of female creators was smaller than male creators, but more than female smoking rates. The results showed that product-related information such as taste, design and convenience was mentioned more than half the videos, but health ham was mentioned less. Videos which mentioned convenience and design tended to not mention health harm. These results could be used to support the current regulation approach over e-cigarette YouTube marketing.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.203-209
• /
• 2010

Objectives : Increasing evidence suggests the presence of neurobiological bases for temperamental characteristics in humans. Brain correlates of harm avoidance(HA) have been most extensively studied using functional and structural brain imaging methods due to its potential link with anxiety and depressive disorders. To date, however, we are not aware of any reports that have examined the potential relationship between HA levels and regional cortical thickness. The aim of the current study is to examine the cortical thickness which is associated with HA temperament in healthy young subjects. Methods : Twenty-eight young, healthy individuals(13 men and 15 women, mean age, $29.4{\pm}6.3$ years) were screened for eligibility and administered the Korean version of the Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory and underwent high-resolution structural magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Results : HA was associated with cortical thickness in the right superior frontal cortex and in the left parietal cortex, adjusted for age and sex and corrected for multiple comparisons using the permutation testing method. Conclusion : Individual temperamental differences in HA are associated with structural variations in specific areas of the brain. The fact that these brain regions are involved in top-down modulations of subcortical fear reactions adds functional significance to current findings.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.34-44
• /
• 2022

Purpose:We investigated physicians' responses to a series of clinical vignettes consisting of patient safety incidents, with and without disclosure of patient safety incidents (DPSI). Methods: An anonymous survey was conducted to investigate physicians' responses to the DPSI via online communities of physicians, and additional participants were recruited using a snowballing sampling method. We evaluated physicians' responses to the DPSI using eight hypothetical scenarios (HS) from the following perspectives: thoughts regarding medical errors, revisiting the physician, recommendation, lawsuit, criminal prosecution, trust score, and compensation amounts. We used the chi-square test to evaluate the overall differences in response rates among the scenarios. Statistical analyses were performed using the Student's t-test to compare the trust scores and compensation amounts. Results: A total of 910 physicians participated in this survey. An overall comparison of trust scores among HS showed that HS 1 (unclear medical errors, minor harm, and DPSI) had the highest trust score. In contrast, in the opposite scenario, HS 8 (clear medical errors, major harm, and DPSI not conducted) received the lowest scores. Cases with minor harm to patients (HS 1, 2, 5, and 6) showed lower compensation amounts than the others (HS 3, 4, 7, and 8). Physicians were more likely to think of situations with DPSI as not having medical errors (53.1% vs. 55.2%). In addition, the scenarios with DPSI were evaluated favorably in terms of intention to revisit, recommend, suit, and engage in criminal proceedings. Physicians showed higher trust scores (6.2 vs 5.4) and gave lower compensation amounts ($27.7 million vs $28.1 million), although there was no significant difference in terms of compensation amounts to the physician conducting DPSI. Conclusion: Our study showed overall positive perceptions regarding DPSI among Korean physicians.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.259-266
• /
• 2022

Objectives: The combination of Harm-Avoidance (HA) and Self-Directedness (SD) of Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) has been reported pivotal for mental health; however its clinical usefulness in integrative medicine has not sufficiently reported. The purpose of this study was to illustrate multi-phasic mental health of subjective satisfaction with life, emotional well-being, and psychopathology, following the HA-SD profile groups. Methods: A total of 527 Korean university students reported HA and SD scores as to render their HA-SD profile, and multi-phasic mental health characteristics using Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) with composite well-being scales of SC (Sum of Self-Directedness and Cooperativeness score) and HI (Happiness Index, subtraction of Negative Affect (NA) score from Positive Affect (PA) score) as standardized. Pearson's correlation was used to report correlation coefficient, and the ANCOVA with age and sex as covariates, to show significant differences in mental health and well-being between the HA-SD profile groups. Results: The HA-SD profile groups showed distinctive multi-phasic mental health characteristics; health related scores of SWLS, PA, SC and HI decreased following the order of hS (low HA and high SD), HS (high HA and high SD), hs (low HA and low SD) and Hs (high HA and low SD) profile groups; however the non-health related scores of NA and BDI showed contrasting order. Conclusions: The HA-SD profile was found to be clinically useful for examining multi-phasic mental health and well-being status, and the TCI may be an imperative personality inventory for integrative medicine.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.137-155
• /
• 2019

The present study investigated the relationships between autistic trait and socio-moral judgments. We used Autism Spectrum Quotient, a moral judgment task in which participants needed to consider both the intention and outcomes of a person's actions, a moral judgment task in which participants were asked to evaluate a person's utilitarian choices in moral dilemmas, and Moral Foundations Questionnaire. Autistic traits were negatively correlated with blame for failed attempts to harm others, suggesting that higher autistic traits were associated with difficulty in considering intentions in moral judgments. Also, higher autistic traits were associated with higher endorsement of utilitarian option on personal moral dilemmas, and lower endorsement for no-harm principle of moral foundations. These correlations were confirmed as group differences between high autistic-trait group (AQ >= 26) and a low autistic-trait group (AQ < 26). Our findings suggest that individuals with high autistic trait may have difficulty in considering others' intentions and show lower sensitivity to no-harm principle in moral judgment tasks.

• 한국노년학
• /
• v.39 no.4
• /
• pp.883-893
• /
• 2019

The purpose of this study is to analyze the characteristics of the elderly patients with depression who were admitted to the hospital with intentional self-harm. 3,280 patients were selected from KCDC database(2011-2015) using STATA 12.0. Analysis results show that gender(female), residence(micropolitan city), result of suicide(death), risk factors(financial problems, psychological problems, physical disease, conflicts with family, place(non-residence) method of suicide(poisoning) were statistically significant. The hospital should detect the elderly patient with depression when they admitted.

• Korean Security Journal
• /
• no.36
• /
• pp.201-225
• /
• 2013

The link between transnational environmental harm and national security has attracted new attention due to the environmental crisis such as climate change, nuclear accidents and, pollution. However, both domestic and international environmental regimes are still tied to the unsuccessful and unclear notion-sustainable development. The present author argues that environment should be considered as a security matter for the effective environmental protection. If, for example, a nation committed a serious environmental harm and the effects spans borderlines, and the source nation refuses to cooperate or compensate, would sustainable development still be an appropriate measure? Then, what would be the victim state's tool to protect its own security? The present author first looks into the possibility utilizing UN Security Council. But due to its limited legality and effectiveness in this environmental matter the present author would like to propose a non-traditional but a not-brand new method. This new method reflects two new trends both from international law and security areas. First, this approach clearly moves from the military focused security concept to broader security concept. Second, this is also a shift from traditional international law to transnational law. With these two new approaches, we will find a more suitable answer both for securing national environmental security and for protecting environment.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.44-50
• /
• 2007

Objectives: previous studies have suggested the possible predisposing personality in fibromyalgia(FM). The aim of this study is to investigate the personality traits in female patients with FM compared to healthy female controls using the Temperament and Character Inventory(TCI) and furthermore, to evaluate the personality traits affecting the severity of the symptoms of FM. Methods Forty female patients with FM and 40 healthy female controls were examined using the TCI and the Hamilton depression rating scale. The FM patients were also evaluated the severity of the symptoms of FM using the fibromyalgia impact questionnaire(FIQ). Results : ANCOVA with age and depression levels as covariates showed that the FM patients scored significantly higher on the harm avoidance(F=2.187, p=0.047) and lower on the self-directedness(F=4.551, p=0.036) than the healthy controls. The FIQ scores showed positive correlation with the harm avoidance scores in the FM patients when adjusting for age and depression level(R=0.399, p=0.013) Multiple linear regression models revealed that the harm avoidance scores would affect the FIQ scores in FM patients(95% Cl=0.004-1.942, p=0.049). Conclusions : These results suggest that the female FM patients have distinctive temperament and character dimensions compared to the healthy female controls. Moreover, the harm avoidance may be the predictive personality to affect the severity of the symptoms of female FM patients.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Sensory Integration
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.38-47
• /
• 2022

Objective : We investigated how sensory processing patterns contribute to temperament and character traits in undergraduate students. Methods : A total of 107 undergraduate students were recruited in September 2022 via convenient sampling method. They completed the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile and the Temperament and Character Inventory. Multiple regression models were applied to analyze the effect of sensory processing quadrants (low registration, sensation seeking, sensory sensitivity, sensation avoiding) on each temperament (novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence, persistence) and character (self-directedness, cooperativeness, self-transcendence) traits. Results : Sensation seeking significantly predicted high levels of novelty seeking, reward dependence, persistence, self-directedness, and self-transcendence but low harm avoidance. Low registration predicted high harm avoidance but low levels of reward dependence, persistence, and self-directedness. Reward dependence was predicted by high sensory sensitivity and low sensation avoiding. Conclusion : This study demonstrated that sensory processing patterns affected novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence, persistence, self-directedness, and self-transcendence in young adults.