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Pharmacists' Perception for the Current and Future Pharmaceutical Services (현재와 미래 약국서비스에 대한 약사의 인식)

  • Kang, Minku;Bang, Joon Seok
    • Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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    • v.27 no.4
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    • pp.228-237
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    • 2017
  • Objective: We conducted a survey to understand the current state of pharmacy services and pharmacists' thoughts in the future of the community pharmacy setting. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to 229 pharmacists and gathered from 95 respondents. Results: We asked to pharmacists about what the ideal pharmacy duty should be in the next 10 years at the community pharmacy setting in Korea. For this question, the respondents said drug counselling (19.4%), dispensing (13.8%), long-term care of chronic disease and healthcare education (12.8%), and OTC counselling (11.5%). When asked about how much time they were spending doing certain tasks in the pharmacy, the main tasks were dispensing (23.5%), counselling (17.1%), prescription review (10.1%), and OTC counselling (5.5%). When asked about what the most important duty of a pharmacist was, medication counselling (45.4%) was the most important task that they identified and the reasons for not being able to fulfill this role properly was time shortage (78.9%) followed by the lack of counselling spaces, up-to-date knowledges, and focus on financial gains over patient counselling. Conclusion: Korean pharmacists are mainly focusing on dispensing in their daily work. Their basic responsibilities can be easily mechanized over the next few years, but the social expectations of disease-prevention and public health promotion both in current and future can not be replaced by such mechanical measures. Therefore, pharmaceutical services in Korea should be developed in more diverse and professional ways.

A Study of the Medical Disputes with Foreign Patients (외국인환자와의 의료분쟁에 관한 연구)

  • Jeong, Jeong-Ile
    • The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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    • v.13 no.2
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    • pp.309-334
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    • 2012
  • Although the number of foreign patients visiting Korea for medical treatments or plastic surgery is rapidly increasing, countermeasures against unforeseen medical disputes involving foreign patients are adequate. To date, the record shows that most foreign patients have visited doctors at the departments of family medicine, internal medicine, dermatology (incl. plastic surgery), and healthcare centers, which, fortunately, indicates that there are not many severe, high risk patients. However, if the current growth rate continues to rise and the number of foreign patients visiting each department continues to grow, more diverse medical practices will be likely to take place in the future, and consequently, it is expected that the possibilities of medical malpractice and the costs of dispute resolution will also rise dramatically. When a medical dispute occurs, in general, a lawsuit is ultimately settled by the court. However, since this can damage the creditworthiness of medical institutions and also incur significant litigation costs, which is a typical characteristic of a medical lawsuit, medical professionals or institutions will be heavily burdened. Furthermore, an adequate policy or countermeasure against a medical dispute with a foreign patient has not yet been established, and it would be difficult to resolve a dispute by finding the middle ground, due to relative standards and policies between countries. Now, we need to improve the existing policies and prepare for countermeasures that will allow us to precisely predict the nature of such disputes, which have been increasing, and resolve them peacefully. Based on such knowledge, this study aims to establish countermeasures against medical disputes with foreign patients, and examine ways to promptly and reasonably resolve them at an early stage.

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Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Patients with Gynecologic Cancer: a Systematic Review

  • Akpunar, Dercan;Bebis, Hatice;Yavan, Tulay
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.16 no.17
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    • pp.7847-7852
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    • 2015
  • Purpose: Research carried out with gynecologic cancer patients using CAM was reviewed to provide a source for discussing which CAM method is used for which purpose, patients' perceptions on the effects/side effects occurred during/after using CAM and their sources of information regarding CAM. Materials and Methods: This literature review was carried out for the period between January 2000 and March 2015 using Scopus, Dynamed, Med-Line, Science Dırect, Ulakbim, Research Starters, Ebscohost, Cinahl Complete, Academic Onefile, Directory of Open Access Journals, BMJ Online Journals (2007-2009), Ovid, Oxford Journal, Proquest Hospital Collection, Springer-Kluwer Link, Taylor & Francis, Up To Date, Web Of Science (Citation Index), Wiley Cochrane-Evidence Base, Wiley Online Library, and Pub-Med search databases with "complementary and alternative medicine, gynecologic cancer" as keywords. After searching through these results, a total of 12 full length papers in English were included. Results: CAM use in gynecologic cancer patients was discussed in 8 studies and CAM use in breast and gynecologic cancer patients in 4. It was determined that the frequency of CAM use varies between 40.3% and 94.7%. As the CAM method, herbal medicines, vitamins/minerals were used most frequently in 8 of the studies. When the reasons why gynecologic cancer patients use CAM are examined, it is determined that they generally use to strengthen the immune system, reduce the side effects of cancer treatment and for physical and psychological relaxation. In this review, most of the gynecologic cancer patients perceived use of CAM as beneficial. Conclusions: In order that the patients obtain adequate reliable information about CAM and avoid practices which may harm the efficiency of medical treatment, it is recommended that "Healthcare Professionals" develop a common language.

Development of Contents for KFDA Drug Safety Information Website (식품의약품안전청의 의약품안전사용정보방 웹사이트 구축을 위한 컨텐츠 개발)

  • Ji, Eun-Hee;Park, Hyo-Yung;Noh, Hye-Jin;Lee, Dong-Eun;Han, Na-Young;Jeong, So-Hyun;Kim, In-Wha;Shin, Wan-Gyoon;Oh, Jung-Mi
    • YAKHAK HOEJI
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    • v.56 no.3
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    • pp.204-209
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    • 2012
  • The purpose of this study was to construct database for a drug safety information website to serve as an access point of up-to-date resources for a wide variety of drug-safety information helping patients and healthcare professionals make well-informed decisions about medication use. All the contents developed were confirmed by the council of advisors who were the experts in drug safety. The detailed contents of database on frequently prescribed drug including 9 NSAIDs, 19 antibiotics, 24 cardiovascular, 21 metabolic, 14 respiratory, 20 digestive, 22 hormonal, 10 genitourinary, 10 anti-allergic, 27 antifungal/antiviral, and 71 neuropsychiatric agents were developed based on the approved drug labeling of the Korean FDA. A separately searchable database of drug-specific safety information for patients and health professionals was constructed for users in need of different depth of knowledge on using medications safely. The safety information on highly prevalent chronic diseases and drug classes was also developed. Finally the most recent global drug safety news was provided. The consumer directed information was developed in layman's terms as means of proving user-friendly information. The creation of this type of website is part of the Korean FDA's ongoing initiative to address and promote the safe use of medications for the public.

Burden of Virus-associated Liver Cancer in the Arab World, 1990-2010

  • Khan, Gulfaraz;Hashim, M. Jawad
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.16 no.1
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    • pp.265-270
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    • 2015
  • Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is amongst the top three cancer causes of death worldwide with hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV/HCV) as the main etiological agents. An up-to-date descriptive epidemiology of the burden of HBV/HCV-associated HCC in the Arab world is lacking. We therefore determined the burden of HBV/HCV-associated HCC deaths in the Arab world using the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2010 dataset. GBD 2010 provides, for the first time, deaths specifically attributable to viral-associated HCC. We analyzed the data for the 22 Arab countries by age, sex and economic status from 1990 to 2010 and compared the findings to global trends. Our analysis revealed that in 2010, an estimated 752,101 deaths occurred from HCC worldwide. Of these 537,093 (71%) were from HBV/HCV-associated HCC. In the Arab world, 17,638 deaths occurred from HCC of which 13,558 (77%) were HBV/HCV-linked. From 1990 to 2010, the burden of HBV and HCV-associated HCC deaths in the Arab world increased by 137% and 216% respectively, compared to global increases of 62% and 73%. Age-standardized death rates also increased in most of the Arab countries, with the highest rates noted in Mauritania and Egypt. Male gender and low economic status correlated with higher rates. These findings indicate that the burden of HBV/HCV-associated HCC in the Arab world is rising at a much faster rate than rest of the world and urgent public health measures are necessary to abate this trend and diminish the impact on already stretched regional healthcare systems.

Relationships between compliance and health-related quality of life in patients with hemodialysis (혈액투석환자의 이행과 건강관련 삶의 질 간의 관계)

  • Cha, Jieun
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.16 no.10
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    • pp.6495-6503
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    • 2015
  • The purpose of the study was to evaluate patients' compliance with the hemodialysis and to investigate relationships between compliance, physiological parameters, and health-related quality of life. Data were collected from 220 patients at 27 local hemodialysis clinics. Compliance was measured with Sick-role Behavioral Compliance including interdialytic weight gain, serum potassium, and phosphorus. Health-related quality of life was assessed using Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-12. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation. Total compliance scored 2.92 out of 4 points on average. Among fifteen items, 'I keep on my dialysis schedule(time and date)' was the highest score. There were differences in the scores for compliance according to age, marital status, and dialysis period. Statistically significant correlations were found between four compliance items(medication, infection control, sleep, eating vegetable and fruit) and health-related quality of life. The results of the study indicate that a patient-centered approach would be helpful to improve quality of life in patients with hemodialysis. Healthcare providers need to understand the patients' perspectives by identifying what is important to patients and taking patient values and priorities into account.

Molecular Detection and Genetic Diversity of Blastocystis in Korean Dogs

  • Suh, Sangsu;Lee, Haeseung;Seo, Min-Goo;Kim, Kyoo-Tae;Eo, Kyung-Yeon;Kwon, Young-Sam;Park, SangJoon;Kwon, Oh-Deog;Kim, Tae-Hwan;Kwak, Dongmi
    • Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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    • v.60 no.4
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    • pp.289-293
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    • 2022
  • Blastocystis is a genus of unicellular heterokont parasites belonging to a group of organisms known as Stramenopiles, which includes algae, diatoms, and water molds. Blastocystis includes several species that habitat in the gastrointestinal tracts of organisms as diverse as humans, farm animals, birds, rodents, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and cockroaches. It is important to public health and distributed globally, but its prevalence in dogs in Korea has not been reported to date. Here, we collected 787 canine fecal samples and assessed Blastocystis infection by age, sex, region, season, and diarrhea symptoms. We determined Blastocystis subtypes using phylogenetic analyses based on 18S rRNA gene sequences. We identified, 10 Blastocystis positive samples (1.3%). A higher proportion of infected dogs was asymptomatic; however, infection rates did not significantly differ according to region, age, sex, and season. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the Blastocystis sp. identified belonged to 4 subtypes (STs), ST1, ST5, ST10, and ST14, thus revealed the genetic diversity of Blastocystis sp. in dogs Korean. This is first report on the presence of Blastocystis sp. in dogs Korean. This study revealed a lower infection rate than expected and differed from previous studies in STs. Further studies are warranted to observe the national infection status of Blastocystis in dogs and the genetic characteristics of this genus.

Development of Real-time PCR Assay Based on Hydrolysis Probe for Detection of Epichloë spp. and Toxic Alkaloid Synthesis Genes

  • Lee, Ki-Won;Woo, Jae Hoon;Song, Yowook;Rahman, Md Atikur;Lee, Sang-Hoon
    • Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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    • v.42 no.3
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    • pp.201-207
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    • 2022
  • Fescues, which are widely cultivated as grasses and forages around the world, are often naturally infected with the endophyte, Epichloë. This fungus, transmitted through seeds, imparts resistance to drying and herbivorous insects in its host without causing any external damage, thereby contributing to the adaptation of the host to the environment and maintaining a symbiosis. However, some endophytes, such as E. coenophialum synthesize ergovaline or lolitrem B, which accumulate in the plant and impart anti-mammalian properties. For example, when livestock consume excessive amounts of grass containing toxic endophytes, problems associated with neuromuscular abnormalities, such as convulsions, paralysis, high fever, decreased milk production, reproductive disorders, and even death, can occur. Therefore, pre-inoculation with non-toxic endogenous fungi or management with endophyte-free grass is important in preventing damage to livestock and producing high-quality forage. To date, the diagnosis of endophytes has been mainly performed by observation under a microscope following staining, or by performing an immune blot assay using a monoclonal antibody. Recently, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based molecular diagnostic method is gaining importance in the fields of agriculture, livestock, and healthcare given the method's advantages. These include faster results, with greater accuracy and sensitivity than those obtained using conventional diagnostic methods. For the diagnosis of endophytes, the nested PCR method is the only available option developed; however, it is limited by the fact that the level of toxic alkaloid synthesis cannot be estimated. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to develop a triplex real-time PCR diagnostic method that can determine the presence or absence of endophyte infection using DNA extracted from seeds within 1 h, while simultaneously detecting easD and LtmC genes, which are related to toxic alkaloid synthesis. This new method was then also applied to real field samples.

Promoting Access to Health Technologies in the Post-pandemic Era: Gavi, Global Fund, Unitaid, and Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) Programs (포스트 코로나 시대 보건의료기술 접근성 제고를 위한 탐색 연구: 세계백신연합(Gavi) 글로벌펀드(Global Fund), 국제의약품구매기구(Unitaid) 및 Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator 사업 사례)

  • Song, Sooyeon;Heo, Jongho
    • Journal of Appropriate Technology
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    • v.7 no.2
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    • pp.216-224
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    • 2021
  • Purpose: Global collaboration to accelerate development and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines was launched with the name of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A), and this initiative owes its expertise to the lessons learned of the global health organizations. To date, the comprehensive mechanisms and potential effects of the initiative remain largely unknown. Methods: This study reviewed the programs of Gavi, the Global Fund, Unitaid, and ACT-A, which mitigating barriers to greater use of health technology with an analytic framework. Results and conclusion: The study findings are as follows. First, programs to alleviate the absence of necessary technology include the International Finance Facility for Immunization and Covax Facility. Second, Pooled Procurement Mechanism and Accelerated Order Mechanism are examples of mitigating the inability to access technology. Third, programs to overcome reluctance to adopt accessible technology include health system strengthening efforts such as the capacity-building health workforces. Further actions of Korea are needed to collaborate with the initiatives to enhance health outcomes.

Potentially Unnecessary Gastrointestinal Drug Use in Patients with Acute Cystitis (외래 급성 방광염 환자에서 잠재적으로 불필요한 위장약 사용)

  • Taeyeon Kim;Song Hyeon Jeon;Nam Kyung Je
    • Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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    • v.33 no.1
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    • pp.8-21
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    • 2023
  • Background: Gastrointestinal (GI) drugs are often co-prescribed with other medications to prevent GI complications. This study aimed to evaluate the prescribing pattern of potentially unnecessary GI drugs in patients with acute cystitis who were prescribed oral antibiotics and investigate the influencing factors affecting this. Methods: We identified female patients ≥20 years with acute cystitis who visited the outpatient clinic and were prescribed oral antibiotics between July and December by analyzing Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA)-National Patients Sample (NPS)-2019 data. Patients with no prior history of GI disorders within 180 days prior to acute cystitis, excluding or including the date of diagnosis of acute cystitis, were selected (Group A and B). Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the factors affecting the prescription of potentially unnecessary GI drugs. Results: A total of 1,544 in Group A and 552 patients in Group B were included for the final analysis. Potentially unnecessary GI drugs were prescribed in 1,176 patients in Group A (76.2%) and 231 patients in Group B (41.8%). Third generation cephalosporines and sulfonamides showed the lower odds ratio for prescribing GI drugs than penicillins. Prescribers from Urology clinics showed more than twice odds ratio for the prescription of GI drugs compared to prescribers from internal medicine clinics. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that potentially unnecessary GI drug prescriptions for patients with acute cystitis were high in South Korea. The positive risk factors affecting the prescription of unnecessary GIs were not patient-related factor but healthcare facility and prescriber-related factors.