• Korean Journal of Rural Living Science
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.109-119
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• 1995

The objectives of this study were 1) to identity the living conditions of old women at rural area, 2) to inquire of the activities for extra income 3) to Provide information on the social service program development for old rural women. Data were collected by interview with the questionaire from 396 old rural women in Korea. In analyzing data, $x^2$-test has been produced by S A S program package at Rural Development Administration. The major results were as follows ; 1. The average age was 69.7years old of the subjects, illiteracy was 54.1%, widows was 58.6%, and the 18.4% of elderly have led a solitary life. Also, the degree of health care was very low. 2. The source of living costs in most old rural women lay on agricultural income. Also, because of the educational expenditure for their children, etc., they led to poverty, and then could not provide for their old age. 3. In spite of the 60.4% of the old women did farming, a lot of them wishes to have a side job. The reasons why they wish to do a side job were making money, spending their time in working, being proud before their children, etc.. 4. According as they rely on their husband, the eldest son and his wife, for the psychological, physical, economical support, their position among family was low. Therefore, only the 43.3% of old women were satisfied with their life. 5. Finally, in the result of this case study, the old women, who particpate in the extra income promoting program, were satisfied with their rural life, and their social position were high rather than elswhere.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.167-194
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• 2004

This paper examine the gender-poverty gap and the feminization of poverty in Korea with using data from the National Survey Household Income & Expenditure(1996, 2000) and the Urban Survey Household Income & Expenditure(1996-2002) by Korea National Statistical Office. The poverty rate in 2000 was 16.9 percent for female-head families and 7.9 percent for male-head families, which means that female-head families were 2.6 times more likely to be poor than male-head families. With examining impact of economic crisis in 1998 on gender-poverty gap, it show that both the poverty rate of female-head and male-head increase radically in peak of economic crisis, while, in the stage of recovering economy, the poverty rate of male-head families recovered mostly the level before economic crisis, but that of female-head families recover only the 2/3 level before and the 1/3 remain still under poverty. Thus gender-poverty gap appeared bigger during passing through economic crisis. With analyzing on influence factors of poverty, it appear that poverty is influenced by gender itself as well as education level, working condition which is reflected substantially characteristics of gender. Such an analysis results mean that the considering gender dimension is necessary to resolve poverty fundamentally because gender is a point intersection among family, labour market, and social security. Therefore it appears certain that to develop and adopt of women-friendly social policy is effective approach, which could resolve poverty and social problems related to social rights.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.28-38
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• 2018

Purpose: To evaluate the medical expenditures for prostate cancer patients, including out-of-pocket costs, and compared the costs between androgen deprivation therapy and radical prostatectomy treatment. Methodology: This study combined clinical data from 357 prostate cancer patients from the Smart Prostate Cancer Database and the medical expenditure data from the claims and cost databases. We used the independent two-sample t-tests to compare androgen deprivation therapy and radical prostatectomy. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify determining factors for androgen deprivation therapy and radical prostatectomy treatments. Findings: The medical costs of androgen deprivation therapy treatment were much lower than radical prostatectomy treatment at the one year and remained lower until the fourth-year. However, after four years, the accumulated medical expenditures of androgen deprivation therapy become significantly higher than radical prostatectomy treatment. Patients with a higher cancer stage and older age had higher chances of being treated using androgen deprivation therapy treatment than radical prostatectomy treatment. Practical Implications: Our results show that early detection of cancer reduces the treatment cost for both patients and insurance payers. It also demonstrates that cost comparisons should be conducted over long periods of time in order to most accurately assess the costs.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.30 no.2 s.57
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• pp.437-461
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• 1997

Because of a significant improvement in the economic situation and development of scientific techniques in Korea during the last 30 years, the life expectancy of the Korean people has lengthened considerably and as a result, the number of the elderly has markedly increased. Such an increase of the number of aged population brought about many social, economic, and medical problems which were never seriously considered before. This study was conducted to assess the trend of medical care utilization and medical expenditure of the elderly. The data of each patient in the study were taken from computer database maintained for administrative purpose by the Korea Medical Insurance Corporation. The study population was 132,670 who were 60 years old or more and registered in Korean Medical Insurance Corporation from 1989 to 1993. The study subjects were predominantly female(56.3%) and 10,000-20,000 Won premium group(50.6%). The following are summaries of findings : The total increase of the number of inpatient cases was 40.5% from 1989 through 1993. The average annual increase was 3.7% in inpatient medical expenditures per case, 4.4% in inpatient medical expenditures per day and 0.08% in length of stay per case from 1989 through 1993. Cataract was the most prevalent disease of 10 leading frequent diseases in all ages from 1989 through 1993. The case mix in 1993 compared to 1989 revealed that cataract and ischemic cerebral disease were increased whereas essential hypertension and pulmonary tuberculosis were decreased . The average annual increase of medical expenditures was 3.8% in general hospitals, 6.3% in hospitals and 2.4% in clinics. From 1989 through 1993, medical expenditures used by high-cost patients accounted for about 14% to 20% of all expenditures for inpatient care, while they represented less than 2.5% of the elderly population. Time series analysis revealed that total medical expenditures and doctor's fee for inpatient will be progressively increased whereas drug expenditures for inpatient will be decreased. And there will be no change in length of stay. Based on the above results, the factors increasing medical cost and utilization should be identified and the method of cost containment for the elderly health care should be developed systematically.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.577-586
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• 2009

Aging is associated with decreased energy expenditure, thermogenesis and energy requirements. Maintenance of physical fitness of the elderly has been reported to reduce the rate at which the basal metabolic rate, muscle strength, skeletal muscle mass and bone density deteriorate. Skeletal muscle disease is known to increase the risk of physical disability and psychological problems. This study was conducted to investigate changes in disability, emotional problems, body compositions, obesity indices and nutrient intake levels according to physical fitness with the elderly in rural areas. According to the results, physical fitness was negatively related with Activities of Daily Living(ADL, p<0.05), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living(IADL, p<0.001), Body Mass Index(BMI, p<0.001) and abdominal obesity(p<0.05), while it showed a positive correlation with the General Self Efficacy Scale(GSES)(p<0.001) and nutrient intake(p<0.05). When changes in these factors were compared according to the range of quartile of the Fullerton Advanced Balance Scale(FAB Scale), GSES(Q1=35.3, Q2=43.5, Q3=53.2, Q4=51.9, p<0.001), BMI(Q1=36.1%, Q2=34.7%, Q3=33.2%, Q4=28.6%, p<0.01), abdominal obesity(Q1=1.02, Q2=0.99, Q3=0.97, Q4=0.94, p<0.001) and nutrient intake(Q1=71.1%, Q2=75.4%, Q3=80.6%, Q4=80.2%, p<0.05) differed significantly. Taken together, these results suggested that better physical fitness would lead to a reduction in negative factors including physical disability and obesity indices, but to an increase in positive factors such as GSES and nutrient intake. The results of this study are expected to be used as basic data for the development of programs to promote the health of the elderly in a local society.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.1115-1119
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• 2013

Background: Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a serious complication following chemotherapy and is associated with significant mortality and financial expenditure. The aim of this study was to evaluate risk factors for longer length of stay (LOS) and mortality and cost of treatment among hospitalized adults with cancer who developed febrile neutropenia in Thailand. Materials and Methods: Information on illness of inpatients and casualties came from hospitals nationwide and from hospital withdrawals from the 3 health insurance schemes in fiscal 2010. The data covered 96% of the population and were analyzed by age groups, hospital level, and insurance year schemes in patients with febrile neutropenia. Results: A total of 5,809 patients were identified in the study. The mortality rate was 14%. The median LOS was 8.67 days and 69% of patients stayed for longer than 5 days. On bivariate analysis, age, cancer type, and infectious complications (bacteremia/sepsis, hypotension, fungal infections, and pneumonia) were significantly associated with longer LOS and death. On multivariate analysis, acute leukemia and infectious complications were linked with longer LOS and death significantly. The median cost of hospitalized FN was THB 33,686 (USD 1,122) with the highest cost observed in acute leukemia patients. Conclusions: FN in adult patients results in significant mortality in hospitalized Thai patients. Factors associated with increased mortality include older age (>70), acute leukemia, comorbidity, and infectious complications.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.625-633
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of private insurance revenues and household spending on household income inequality. To this end, we conducted a concentration index and concentration curve analysis for the income level of medical panel survey data in 2015. The main results are as follows. First, the household income concentration ratio is 0.3580, which means that income is concentrated in the high income group, and the degree of inequality is considerably large. Second, although the portion of the private insurance benefits was small on the high-income household, it helped to strengthen the benefits concentration on this group. Third, the low income group has a large self-pay medical expense. Finally, the index of the income excluding the burden of the total medical expenses in the household income was 0.3676, so that even accounting for medical expenses, the income was concentrated in the high income class. Therefore, private insurance benefits and medical expenses were all contributing factors to the inequality of household income, and this study provides the essential materials for research and policy planning which could lead to the convergence of different fields.

• 한국노년학
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.1041-1061
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• 2012

The study looked into the effect of housing poverty on the depression level for the elderly in depth. In this study, we defined housing poverty as sub-minimum standard housing conditions, excess housing expenditure and housing instability. In order to verify the correlation of two variables, a mediating model structured by social welfare service was used which gave out the 4th Korea welfare panel data. When it came to our research methods, structured equation analysis was applied to verify the mediating effect and theoretical background. The results revealed that housing poverty of the elderly directly affected their depression level. Also the satisfaction of social service showed a partial mediating effect between housing poverty and depression level. But the mediating effect of social service experience between housing poverty and depression level was not statistically significant. The outcome of this study indicated the practical and social intervention to promote a mental health of the elderly by improving residential environment.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.305-331
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• 2011

This study analyzes the consumption patterns of the poor households. The first objective of this analysis is to show that the group living in poverty get not one consumption pattern but several types of consumption patterns. The second objective is to understand what factors effect the consumption patterns. This study use the data of Korea Welfare Panel Study in 2008 & 2009. In oder to achieve first goal, We conduct factor analysis and cluster analysis. And to achieve second goal, We conduct multinomial logistic Analysis. Major findings are as follows. First we find six patterns of consuming types of the poor households. They are education oriented consuming type, diet oriented type, social network oriented type, transportation-communication oriented type, health & medical oriented type, and housing expenditure oriented type. Second we find these consumption patterns are effected by not economic factors but socio-populational factors, especially by life cycle of members of household.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.38
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• pp.7-32
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• 1999

Providing the income support program for people under the poverty level has been regarded as the basic obligational role of modern government. The target population of this program should include all the poor who are unable to maintain the minimum health and decency level with their own income. The minimum living cost, however, varies within a country because there are regional differences in consumer price and the mode of living. The current program does not count for the regional differences, leaving a significant portion of Seoul's poor needy people being ineligible for this public care. Recognizing these regional differences, this paper attempts to estimate the minimum living cost in Seoul area, comparing it to the national one. It employs the data and method that the Korea Institute of Health and Social Affairs adopted in its 1994 study, since it has been served as a basis of the current public assistance program. The minimum cost of living in Seoul is estimated to be \887,611 per month for a 4-person household. It is 1.33 times greater than the national monthly minimum of \666,684. Based upon the '94 urban household expenditure survey data, some 5.9 percent of Seoul's population, 636,132 people, are found to be under the Seoul's minimum living level. This number is 5.2 times greater than those 123,304 people who are eligible for the current public assistance program in Seoul.