• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.34
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• pp.40.1-40.9
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• 2022

Background: According to the occupational accident status analysis in 2020, of 1,180 occupational deaths, 463 were caused by cardiovascular disease (CVD). Workers should be assessed for CVD risk at regular intervals to prevent work-related CVD in accordance with the rules on occupational safety and health standards. However, no previous study has addressed risk and mortality. Therefore, this longitudinal study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between 10-year cardiovascular risk of the general health checkup and mortality. Methods: The study included 545,859 participants who visited Kangbuk Samsung Total Healthcare Centers from January 1, 2002, to December 31, 2017. We performed 10-year cardiovascular risk assessment for the participants and the risk was divided into 4 groups (low, moderate, high, and very high). The study used death data from the Korea National Statistical Office for survival status as an outcome variable by December 31, 2019, and the cause of death based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10^th Revision (ICD-10) was identified. Statistical analysis was performed using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis, and the sum of the periods from the first visit to the date of death or December 31, 2019, was used as a time scale. We also performed a stratified analysis for age at baseline and sex. Results: During 5,253,627.9 person-years, 4,738 overall deaths and 654 cardiovascular deaths occurred. When the low-risk group was set as a reference, in the multivariable-adjusted model, the hazard ratios (HRs) (95% confidence interval [CI]) for overall mortality were 3.36 (2.87-3.95) in the moderate-risk group, 11.08 (9.27-13.25) in the high-risk group, and 21.20 (17.42-25.79) in the very-high-risk group, all of which were statistically significant. In cardiovascular deaths, the difference according to the risk classification was more pronounced. The HRs (95% CI) were 8.57 (4.95-14.83), 38.95 (21.77-69.69), and 78.81 (42.62-145.71) in each group. As a result of a subgroup analysis by age and sex, the HRs of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality tended to be higher in the high-risk group. Conclusions: This large-scale longitudinal study confirmed that the risk of death increases with the 10-year cardiovascular risk of general health checkup.

• Korean Circulation Journal
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• v.52 no.7
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• pp.544-555
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• 2022

Background and Objectives: The outcome benefits of β-blockers in chronic coronary artery disease (CAD) have not been fully assessed. We evaluated the prognostic impact of β-blockers on patients with chronic CAD after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods: A total of 3,075 patients with chronic CAD were included from the Grand Drug-Eluting Stent registry. We analyzed β-blocker prescriptions, including doses and types, in each patient at 3-month intervals from discharge. After propensity score matching, 1,170 pairs of patients (β-blockers vs. no β-blockers) were derived. Primary outcome was defined as a composite endpoint of all-cause death and myocardial infarction (MI). We further analyzed the outcome benefits of different doses (low-, medium-, and high-dose) and types (conventional or vasodilating) of β-blockers. Results: During a median (interquartile range) follow-up of 3.1 (3.0-3.1) years, 134 (5.7%) patients experienced primary outcome. Overall, β-blockers demonstrated no significant benefit in primary outcome (hazard ratio [HR], 0.88; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.63-1.24), all-cause death (HR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.60-1.25), and MI (HR, 1.25; 95% CI, 0.49-3.15). In subgroup analysis, β-blockers were associated with a lower risk of all-cause death in patients with previous MI and/or revascularization (HR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.14-0.99) (p for interaction=0.045). No significant associations were found for the clinical outcomes with different doses and types of β-blockers. Conclusions: Overall, β-blocker therapy was not associated with better clinical outcomes in patients with chronic CAD undergoing PCI. Limited mortality benefit of β-blockers may exist for patients with previous MI and/or revascularization.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.270-278
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• 2019

This study is a preliminary survey to determine the desired demanding well-dying education requirements for subjects aged 65 years or older according to their family's death experience. The results of this study report that all subjects needed well-dying education regardless of their family's death experience. In addition, 71.8% of those who had experienced family deaths said they needed education. On the other hand, 40% of those with no family deaths said that education was needed. Both groups responded as needing well-dying education based on the meaning of death and value of life. Groups with family death experiences hoped to include 'how to overcome sadness related to the death of family and friends' and 'information about organ or body donation procedures'. Both groups responded that 1 week was appropriate for the duration of well-dying education, and that the lectures and discussions were appropriate for the education method. In the future, well-dying education will require sustainable education, not one-offs, and education for the family as well as the elderly.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.10 no.8
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• pp.37-44
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to determine the inhibiting factors of dying well for people who want to have a good death. The final respondents in this study were sampled using stratified proportional allocation using a stratified random sampling method, and 1,000 adults aged between 19 and 75 years were selected. The questionnaire used consisted of four items on general characteristics and 20 items related to the inhibiting factors of dying well scored on a 7-point Likert scale. Analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and decision tree analysis. Results showed that, among the inhibiting factors of dying well, "degenerative diseases (such as dementia)" and "loss of control (mental / physical)" scored 5.502 and 5.268 points, respectively; the highest significant positive correlation was found between "bad marital relationship" and "bad relationship with children," followed by "did not receive death education" and "lack of medical policy promotion (dying well)" and "bad relationship with children" and "indifference of others." Considering these findings, it appears that the whole society will make efforts to improve the perception and practice of good death, and life and death education will be expanded if death education for dying well is organized and implemented.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.154-162
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• 2016

Purpose: This descriptive study was aimed at identifying the relations among geriatric nurses' terminal care performance, death anxiety and self-esteem and the factors that affect nurses' terminal care stress. Methods: Data were collected using a self-reported questionnaire completed by 212 geriatric hospital nurses working in 10 hospitals in K city and B metropolitan city. Results: The survey results showed that the stress factors were terminal care performance and death anxiety. Significant predictors for terminal care stress were death anxiety and terminal care performance. (And the higher the level of death anxiety and terminal care performance were, the heavier the stress was.) These factors explained 32.5% of the variance in terminal care stress. Conclusion: The results of the study suggested that terminal care performance was an important factor of terminal care stress for geriatric nurses. Therefore, it seems that it is necessary to develop an educational intervention program to improve nurses' terminal care performance to reduce their terminal care stress.

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.251-262
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• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the extent to which in-hospital-based home health nurses' perceptions and anxiety about death following terminal care, affects their attitudes toward terminal care. Methods: The subjects were 128 advanced practice nurses working in hospital-based facilities for home health care, located in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, and Incheon Metropolitan City. Data were collected from May 3, 2019, to June 3, 2019, using structured questionnaires, on terminal care and related variables based on the literature. Data were analyzed by performing the Student's t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation, and multivariable stepwise regression using the SPSS Version 25.0 program. Results: The scores of the attitudes toward terminal care of home health care nurses was 3.25 points out of a possible 4 points. Factors affecting nurses' attitudes toward terminal care were their concern about death(β=0.45, p<0.001), religion(β=-0.26, p=0.001) and the anxiety of others about dying(β=-0.23, p=0.003), which explained 32.0% of the observed variance concerning the factors affecting nurses' attitudes toward terminal care. Conclusion: Through this study, concern about death, anxiety about how other people process dying, and religion, were found to be associated factors. The more concerned the nurses were about death and the less their anxiety about how others process dying, the better the home health care nurses' attitude toward implementing terminal care.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.264-273
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• 2013

Purpose: This study is to explore the relationships among spirituality, death anxiety and burnout level of nurses caring for cancer patients. Methods: Participants were 210 nurses from a cancer hospital in Seoul. Data were collected from April until June 2012 and analyzed using t-test, one-way ANOVA, Scheffe's test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: The mean score for spirituality was 3.51 out of six. Among sub-categories, the one that scored the highest was the purpose and meaning of life, followed by unifying interconnectedness, inner resources and transcendence. The mean score for death anxiety was 3.22, and the sub-categories in the order of high score were denial of death, awareness of the shortness of time, pure death anxiety and fear of matters related to death. For the burnout, the mean was 4.10. Among sub-categories, highest mark was found with emotional exhaustion, followed by depersonalization and personal accomplishment. The spirituality level was negatively correlated with those of death anxiety and burnout. Death anxiety was positively correlated with burnout levels. Nurses with the higher spirituality level also had a higher level of education and experience of spiritual education, believed in the existence of God. In contrast, death anxiety and burnout levels were higher among those with a lower level of education, atheists, and for those who answered that religion has little influence on life. Conclusion: Thus, it is necessary to provide spiritual interventions for nurses who care for cancer patients to develop their spirituality, reduce death anxiety and prevent them from burning out easily.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.5501-5507
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• 2015

This study seeks to identify the duties and tasks of a social welfare worker when developing a combined death education program for welfare workers using DACUM method. The program would adopt both a medical and humanistic perspective that can be applied to real life. The study period was between March 2 to March 10, 2015. The study was conducted on eight DACUM committee members who are professors in the field of healthcare or humanities and social sciences. Their medical, humanistic and social viewpoints were investigated. The results show that the focus of the education needs to be on 'the acceptance and understanding of death' and 'healing the stress from loss and suicide prevention'as tasks under the duty of 'loss and mourning'. The tasks for the duty 'the need for death education'were identified as 'death in traditional society and death in contemporary society' as well as 'understanding of issues related to death'. The results show that there is a need to develop death education programs that emphasize healing for the acceptance and understanding of death from a humanistic perspective.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.168-177
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitude toward death in Korean nursing students. Method: The sample consisted of 365 baccalaureate nursing students. The questionnaires included questions on sociodemographics and death-related characteristics of the participants, and the Fear of Death and Dying Scale (FODS) to measure the attitude toward death. Result: The mean of the FODS score was 2.63 out of 4, so the participants had a slightly negative attitude toward death. There were statistically significant differences between gender, religion, religion activity, perceived health status, experience of parents' death, experience of friend's death, and overall FODS score. Among the four subscales of overall FODS, the score of the fear of death of self was significantly higher in the participants who experienced clinical practice and who experienced patient's death in the intensive care unit compared to the emergency room. Conclusion: Based on the study results, educational programs to change the attitude toward death are required before clinical practice. Programs need to consider nursing students' gender and religion, and give opportunity to share experiences and feelings about death of family or friend. In addition, using standardized patients and simulators is advised in the need for simulation training.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.115-122
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• 2015

Purpose: To calculate Preventable Trauma Death Rate (PTDR), Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) is the most utilized evaluation index of the trauma centers in South Korea. However, this method may have greater variation due to the small number of the denominator in each trauma center. Therefore, we would like to develop new indicators that can be used easily on quality improvement activities by increasing the denominator. Methods: The medical records of 1005 major trauma (ISS >15) patients who visited 2 regional trauma center (A center and B center) in 2014 were analyzed retrospectively. PTDR and PARK Index (Preventable Major Trauma Death Rate, PMTDR) were calculated in 731 patients with inclusion criteria. We invented PARK Index to minimize the variation of preventability of trauma death. In PTDR the denominator is all number of deaths, and in PARK Index the denominator is number of all patients who have survival probability (Ps) larger than 0.25. Numerator is the number of deaths from patients who have Ps larger than 0.25. Results: The size of denominator was 40 in A center, 49 in B center, and overall 89 in PTDR. The size of denominator was significantly increased, and 287 (7.2-fold) in A center, 422 (8.6-fold) in B center, and overall 709 (8.0-fold) in PARK Index. PARK Index was 12.9% in A center, 8.3% in B center, and overall 10.2%. Conclusion: PARK Index is calculated as a rate of mortality from all major trauma patients who have Ps larger than 0.25. PARK Index obtain an effect that denominator is increased 8.0-fold than PTDR. Therefore PARK Index is able to compensate for greater disadvantage of PTDR. PARK Index is expected to be helpful in implementing evaluation of mortality outcome and to be a new index that can be applied to a trauma center quality improvement activity.