• 근관절건강학회지
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• 제26권3호
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• pp.241-250
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• 2019

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify influencing factors on the performance of healthcare-associated infection control and microbiological hand contamination among caregivers at a tertiary hospital. Methods: The participants of this study were 59 caregivers woring at a tertiary hospital. Data were collected from July 1 to 30, 2018. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Scheffé test, Pearson's correlation coefficients and stepwise multiple regression by SPSS 23.0 Win program. Results: Multiple regression analysis revealed that factors influencing performance of healthcare-associated infection control were awareness (β=.63, p<.001) and the experience of infection-related education (β=-3.40, p=.042). Regression equations describing the performance of healthcare-related infection control were found to be appropriate (F=27.29, p<.001) and accounted for 68% of variance. Factors affecting the degree of microbiological hand contamination were work experience (β=-0.28, p=.026) and healthcare-related infection performance (β=-0.28, p=.029). A regression equation describing the microbiological hand contamination was appropriate (F=6.10, p=.004) and accounted for 42% of variance. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that it is necessary to increase performance of healthcare-associated infection control by caregivers. Also, educations for preventing healthcare-associated infection and guidelines for increasing compliance with healthcare-associated infection control are recommended to improve performance of healthcare-associated infection control.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.95-104
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• 2023

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the trends and characteristics of infection-related patient safety incident reporting before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Korea, and to provide basic data for preventing infection-related patient safety incidents and improving their management. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of secondary national data (Patient Safety Reporting Data) was conducted. In total, 517 infection-related patient safety incidents reported from 2018 to 2021 were analyzed. Changes in the number of reports before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and differences in variables related to infection-related patient safety incidents were analyzed using the chi-square test and independent t-test in SPSS 29.0. Results: This study found that infection-related patient safety incidents decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to before the pandemic. Furthermore, incident-related characteristics, such as the type of healthcare organization, severity of harm, and post-incident actions, changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: The many changes in the infection control system and practices during the COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to a decrease in the reporting of infection-related patient safety incidents. It is hoped that longitudinal studies on patient safety incidents related to the pandemic and analytical studies on factors influencing patient safety incidents will continue to be conducted to prevent and improve patient safety incidents.

• 의료ㆍ복지 건축 : 한국의료복지건축학회 논문집
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.7-14
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• 2018

Purpose: The outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome(MERS) in KOREA has brought up the demands for ventilation guideline and regulations for healthcare facilities since most of the infection was spreaded inside healthcare facility. Currently KOREA has no ventilation guideline or regulations covering entire section of healthcare facility. The purpose of this study is to investigate current ventilation methods in KOREA healthcare facilities to in future, propose ventilation guideline. Methods: Research of foreign counties ventilation guideline and regulation for healthcare facilities were conducted for reference. Field investigation with survey of 21 healthcare were conducted to identify the ventilation system and operating methods. Additionally survey for healthcare workers were conducted to observe the recognition related to ventilation system in healthcare facility. Results: The result showed that most of foreign countries ventilation guideline and regulation suggests similar items to reduce the spread of infection and maintain good indoor air quality. The investigation results indicated that fixed guideline for ventilation in healthcare facility were required due to different ventilation operating methods. Survey result of healthcare workers has told us that ventilation guideline and regulation is needed to prevent further infection. Implications: Absence of ventilation guideline and regulations for healthcare facility in KOREA is an urgent issue.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.300-307
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide basic data on the infection prevention management program, which is one of the infectious disease control program by identifying the prevalence and risk factors of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in healthcare workers. Methods: We surveyed a total of 3,046 LTBI test results, including those of 2,269 existing staff and 777 new employees. An interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) for the diagnosis of LTBI was performed using QuantiFERON^®-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-IT). The risk factors of LTBI were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. Results: The overall prevalence of LTBI was 16.0% (487/3,046). The prevalence of LTBI in the existing staff was 17.9% (406/2,269) and the prevalence of LTBI in new employees was 10.4% (81/777). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the risk factors of latent tuberculosis infection among the existing staff were gender, age and work period wheres, the risk factor amongst the new employees depended on their age. Conclusion: The LTBI was not related to the type of occupation and work unit. Therefore, while establishing an infection control program for the prevention of tuberculosis infection at medical institurions, institutional heads and infection control experts should encompass a policy for all the employees.

• Infection and chemotherapy
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• 제50권4호
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• pp.319-327
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• 2018

Background: Lancet-related needlestick injuries (NSIs) occur steadily in clinical practices. Safety-engineered devices (SEDs) can systematically reduce NSIs. However, the use of SEDs is not active and no study to guide the implementation of SEDs was known in South Korea. The lancet-related NSIs may be eliminated to zero incidence using a SED lancet with effective sharp injury protection and reuse prevention features. Materials and Methods: We implemented a SED lancet by replacing a conventional prick lancet in a tertiary hospital in a sequential approach. A spot test of the new SED was conducted for 1 month to check the acceptability in practice and a questionnaire survey was obtained from the healthcare workers (HCWs). A pilot implementation of the SED lancet in 2 wards was made for 1 year. Based on these preliminary interventions, a hospital-wide full implementation of the SED lancet was launched. The incidence of NSIs and cost expenditure before and after the intervention were compared. Results: There were 29 cases of conventional prick lancet-related NSIs for 3 years before the full implementation of SED lancet. The proportion of prick lancet-related NSIs among yearly all kinds of NSIs during two years before the pilot study was average 11.7% (22/188). Pre-interventional baseline incidence of all kinds of NSIs was 7.01 per 100 HCW-years. After the full implementation of SED lancet, the lancet-related NSIs became zero in the 2nd year (P = 0.001). The average direct cost of 18,393 US dollars (USD) per year from device and post-exposure medical care before the intervention rose to 20,701 USD in the 2nd year of the intervention. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was 210 USD per injury avoided. Conclusion: The implementation of a SED lancet could eliminate the lancet-related NSIs to zero incidence. The cost increase incurred by the use of SED lancet was tolerable.

• 한국병원경영학회지
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• 제25권4호
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• pp.1-12
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• 2020

During the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the western countries with advanced medical technology failed to contain coronavirus. This fact triggered our research question of what factors influence the clinical outcomes like infection rates and case mortality rates. This study aims to identify the determinants of COVID-19 related infection rates and case mortality rates. We considered three sets of independent variables: 1) socio-demographic characteristics; 2) cultural characteristics; 3) healthcare system characteristics. For the analysis, we created an international dataset from diverse sources like World Bank, Worldometers, Hofstede Insight, GHS index etc. The COVID-19 related statistics were retrieved from Aug. 1. Total cases are from 95 countries. We used hierarchical regression method to examine the linear relationship among variables. We found that obesity, uncertainty avoidance, hospital beds per 1,000 made a significant influence on the standardized COVID-19 infection rates. The countries with higher BMI score or higher uncertainty avoidance showed higher infection rates. The standardized COVID-19 infection rates were inversely related to hospital beds per 1,000. In the analysis on the standardized COVID-19 case mortality rates, we found that two cultural characteristics(e.g., individualism, uncertainty avoidance) showed statistically significant influence on the case mortality rates. The healthcare system characteristics did not show any statistically significant relationship with the case mortality rates. The cultural characteristics turn out to be significant factors influencing the clinical outcomes during COVID-19 pandemic. The results imply that the persuasive communication is important to trigger the public commitment to follow preventive measures. The strategy to keep the hospital surge capacity needs to be developed.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• 제39권3호
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• pp.223-229
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• 2022

Background: The first large coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak outside China occurred in Daegu. In response, we developed infection prevention measures for surgical patients during the outbreak at our hospital and retrospectively reviewed the outcomes of COVID-19-related surgical patients. Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 118 COVID-19-related surgical patients and monitored their clinical outcomes until March 31, 2021. We also interviewed healthcare workers who participated in their perioperative care at Kyungpook National University Chilgok Hospital. The perioperative management guidelines for COVID-19-related patients were prepared through multidisciplinary discussions, including the infection control department, surgical departments, and anesthesiology department before and during the COVID-19 outbreak. Results: One standard operating room was temporarily converted to a negative-pressure room by increasing the exhaust air volume, creating a relative pressure of -11.3 Pa. The healthcare workers were equipped with personal protective equipment according to the patient's classification of the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The 118 COVID-19-related patients underwent emergent surgery in the negative-pressure room, including three COVID-19-confirmed patients and five COVID-19-exposed patients. Conclusion: All surgeries of the COVID-19-related patients were performed without specific adverse events or perioperative COVID-19 transmission. Our experience setting up a negative-pressure operating room and conservative perioperative protocol to prevent COVID-19 transmission will help plan and execute infection control measures in the future.

• 대한치과의료관리학회지
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• 제11권1호
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• pp.47-53
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• 2023

This study aims to analyze the research trends of the Journal of Korean Academy of Dental Administration and identify the characteristics of the journal. The research was based on 10 academic journals from 2013 to 2022 and related documents. The type of paper, research method, statistical analysis, topic classification, and research subject of 65 papers were extracted and categorized. As a result, the distribution of paper types was as follows: research articles accounted for 83.2%, review articles for 12.3%. In terms of research methods, questionnaire surveys were used in 46.2% of the papers, literature reviews in 23.1%, and national data analysis in 7.7%. Research topics included dental manpower at 20.0%, infection control at 7.7%, dental information at 6.2%, patient safety at 6.2%, and oral health care quality at 6.2%. 72.3% of the papers were quantitative studies, and the majority of research subjects were dental hygienists or dental hygiene students, accounting for 26.2% of the total. The Journal of Korean Academy of Dental Administration covers topics such as dental healthcare marketing, dental healthcare organization and management, dental healthcare information, dental healthcare policy, dental healthcare insurance, dental healthcare quality management, patient safety, medical disputes, and infection control. The authors are also contributed by a variety of dental personnel, including dentists, dental hygienists, and dental technicians.

• 의료ㆍ복지 건축 : 한국의료복지건축학회 논문집
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.7-15
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• 2020

Purpose: Emergency room(ER) is the first place to enter a hospital where patients who might have been infected with contagious disease. Therefore, ER should be designed with infection control in mind. Researchers examined hospital ER layouts to identify layout design that support infection control. Methods: This study analyzed the hospital ER layout of Korean and other hospitals abroad. Researchers focused on route of incoming patients who potentially have infectious disease. Crossing of this route with other routes such as for imaging and testing should be avoided for infection control. Results: There were certain hospital ERs with better control of infection related incidents. ER floor plan layout is analyzed about allocation of key functions with movement routes for each role such as patients and medical staff in mind. To identify layout strategies for ER functions researchers simplified the routes in ER into diagrams. Layout options show that bypassing infection suspected routes over other routes is possible. Implications: Hospitals can control infection easier when they adopt strategic ER layout identified in this study.

• 대한방사선기술학회지:방사선기술과학
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• 제45권3호
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• pp.263-272
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• 2022

This study investigated small and medium-sized hospital workers' knowledge of COVID-19, the infection-control-related fatigue and stress levels, and the factors that impacted their performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a cross-sectional design, data were collected from 137 hospital workers from four small and medium-sized hospitals in S and C cities. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, a t-test, analysis of variance(ANOVA), Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression analysis. Small and medium-sized hospital workers' knowledge of COVID-19 revealed a correct answer rate of 66%. An average of 3.00 points out of 4 for infection control performance and 3.32 and 3.17 points out of 5 for infection-control-related fatigue and stress, respectively, were found. The level of knowledge regarding COVID-19 significantly differed by age and marriage (p<0.05), while infection control performance significantly differed by age, marriage, and infection control education experience (p<0.05). Infection-control-related fatigue and stress differed depending on the COVID-19 control education experience, economic and social prejudice, and fear of discrimination. There were positive correlations between knowledge and infection control performance, and infection control performance and infection-control-related fatigue and stress (p<0.001). This study showed that the factors that affected small and medium-sized hospital workers' performance included knowledge of "environmental management," "difficulties due to new role requirements," "presence or absence of infection education experience," "job type," and "age." These results suggest that practical and detailed education programs should be systematically developed and implemented for effective infection control.