• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.333-344
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• 2016

Objectives: This study aimed to examine risk-accepting personality traits and associated factors among farmers. Methods: Data were collected from farmers aged over 40 living in Goryeong, North Gyeongsang-do Province, Korea. Study participants were enrolled in the Korean Rural Cohort study from 2011 to 2014. Surveys for the risk perception of farming were made through face-to-face interviews. Chi-square tests and logistic regression analysis were conducted adjusting for gender, age, marital status, and education. Results: Several factors such as gender, age, marital status, age first worked as a farmer, duration of farming, and history of pesticide poisoning were associated with risk-accepting personality traits among farmers. Farmers with risk-accepting personalities tend to be older, less educated, and have self-employed health insurance. Farmers who started farming after the age of 50 are likely to be risk averse compared to farmers who started farming before the age of 20 (OR=0.41, 95% CI; 0.21, 0.82). Frequent spraying of pesticides was marginally associated with higher risk acceptance among female farmers (OR=1.61, 95% CI: 0.99, 2.64). Male farmers who had experienced pesticide poisoning in their lifetime showed higher odds of risk-accepting personality traits (OR=2.20, 95% CI: 1.03, 4.72) Conclusion: Risk-acceptors were more likely to spray pesticides frequently and to experience more pesticide poisoning compared to risk-averse individuals. This result suggests that farming hazards are to some degree driven by risk-accepting personality traits. Further investigation of how risk-accepting behaviors influence farming practices and pesticide poisoning is needed.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.101-113
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the neural activity of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) patients is different from that of normal individuals when performing aesthetic judgments. Methods: We recruited typical ASD patients without savant skills (ASD group, n=17) and healthy controls (HC group, n=19) for an functional magnetic resonance imaging study. All subjects were scanned while performing aesthetic judgment tasks on two kinds of artwork (magnificent landscape images and fractal images). Differences in brain activation between the two groups were assessed by contrasting neural activity during the tasks. Results: The aesthetic judgment score for all images was significantly lower in the ASD group than in the HC group. During the aesthetic judgment tasks, the ASD group showed less activation than the HC group in the anterior region of the superior frontal gyrus, and more activation in the temporoparietal area and insula, regardless of the type of images being judged. In addition, during the aesthetic judgment task for the fractal images, the ASD group exhibited greater neural activity in the amygdala and the posterior region of the middle/inferior temporal gyrus (Brodmann area 37) than the HC group. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that the brain activation patterns associated with aesthetic experiences in ASD patients may differ from those of normal individuals.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.353-361
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• 2020

Objectives: An inadequate understanding of infertility can affect individuals' self-efficacy and ability to perform self-care; thus, reproductive health education is an important part of infertility treatment. The present qualitative study aimed to explore the experiences and educational needs of infertile women with regard to reproductive health. Methods: In this qualitative study, we utilized a content analysis approach. Purposive sampling was performed to ensure maximum diversity. In total, 23 individual interviews were conducted with 20 Iranian women with infertility and 3 key informants between July 2018 and February 2019 in northern Iran. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was performed using a conventional content analysis approach. Results: Reproductive health education needs were identified by analyzing interview data from 4 main categories: familiarity with the fertility process and preparation for pregnancy, recognition of infertility and expectations around seeking treatment, recognition of preventive actions associated with reproductive health, and correction of false beliefs. Recognizing the causes of infertility and understanding the different approaches to infertility treatment are among the most important educational needs of infertile women. The potential for neglect of health-related issues due to concerns about fertility and the maternal experience necessitates education about preventive measures for cervical cancer, breast cancer, and sexually transmitted infections. Correcting misconceptions, including those related to contraceptives and traditional medicine, can also help promote reproductive health. Conclusions: In infertile women, the educational needs associated with reproductive health are multifaceted. Satisfying these needs can help achieve optimal treatment results and promote reproductive health.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.242-250
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• 2006

Haemophilus influenzae type b(Hib) conjugate vaccines prevent Hib disease in individuals and reduce the carriage and transmission of the organism in the community. The incidence of Hib disease has been decreased dramatically in a diverse range of countries through the use of a variety of conjugate vaccines and vaccine schedules. In some countries, the vaccine has caused a near-disappearance of invasive Hib disease through a combination of direct protection and herd immunity. The effectiveness of the vaccine was not modified by the type of conjugate vaccine, the number of doses given(two, three or four), age at first vaccination(two months, 42 to 90 days, three months) and whether the vaccine was tested in an industrialized or developing country. Over 15 years of international experience with vaccines has also demonstrated that they are safe. In 2004, Hib vaccines were adapted in routine immunization in 92 countries in the world. Decisions regarding the use of the Hib vaccine in routine immunization schedules depend not only on the effectiveness and efficacy of the vaccine but also on factors such as burden of disease, vaccine cost, and competing priorities. In Korea, Hib disease burden seemed to be lower than other developed countries(~10/100,000). Moreover Hib vaccines showed excellent immunogenicity in Korean children in many studies. Therefore, a potential approach to economize the cost of Hib vaccines could be to explore the possibilities of using reduced vaccine doses for immunization as some other countries.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.3-10
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• 2014

Reactive disorder is a group of diagnosis with a definitely known etiology and whose etiological factor is essential to the diagnosis. In DSM system, such reactive disorders are listed as adjustment disorder, acute stress disorder, brief psychotic disorder with marked stressor and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, a growing number of individuals is suffering from a prolonged feeling of embitterment after exceptional negative life events and this condition could be diagnosed neither PTSD nor adjustment disorder nor depressive disorder in the context of DSM-IV diagnostic system. This clinical condition can be described as 'posttraumatic embitterment disorder' (PTED). PTED is a reactive disorder triggered by exceptional, though normal negative life events such as conflict in the workplace, unemployment, death of a relative, divorce, severe illness, or experience of loss or separation. The common feature of such events is that they are experienced as unjust, as a personal insult, accompanied by psychological violation of basic beliefs and values. The central psychopathological response pattern in PTED is a prolonged feeling of embitterment. In particular, the core emotion of embitterment can lead to the rejection of treatment. Therefore, "wisdom therapy" as a new treatment approach specifically designed for PTED has been developed. It is assumed that many patients suffering from PTED are often misunderstood and misdiagnosed. This review would help to introduce PTED into the clinical field in psychiatry.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.292-300
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• 2010

Objectives: This study attempted to explore the aging phenomena that now characterize much of Korean society, and assessed issues associated with the life satisfaction experienced during the process of aging. Methods: By employing the National Survey on the State of Life and the Desire for Welfare of the Elderly, 2004 in South Korea this study attempted to identify the factors that determine subjective life satisfaction among the elderly. The data utilized herein consisted of 3278 elderly people aged 65 years or older, from 9308 households. Results: The results of analysis from the final model after the introduction of 19 variables in 8 factors showed statistically similar explanatory power in men (adj. $R^2=0.320$) and in women (adj. $R^2=0.346$). We found that economic condition was the most influential factor in both men (B = 0.278) and women (B = 0.336) except perceived health condition variables. The second most influential variable in life satisfaction was health checkups in men (B = 0.128) and degree of nutritional diet in women (B = 0.145). Those who had experience with chronic diseases also reported significantly lower perceived life satisfaction and this was particularly true of women. Conclusions: The aging society requires an understanding of the lives of elderly individuals. This study explored factors associated with life satisfaction in old age by using a life satisfaction model. The success of an aging society begins with an accurate understanding of the elderly, and thus political attention will need to be focused on this matter.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.57 no.7
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• pp.310-316
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• 2014

Purpose: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a complex genetic disorder that results from the lack of paternally expressed genes in the chromosome 15q11-q13 region. This study was performed to delineate the clinical features of PWS infants and toddlers and the effects of two-year growth hormone (GH) treatment according to gender and age at the start of treatment. Methods: The clinical characteristics and the results of the GH treatment were reviewed retrospectively for 30 PWS patients diagnosed by molecular genetic testing and clinical manifestations. Results: The mean age at diagnosis with PWS was 13.7 months (2-47 months of age). All patients showed the characteristics of facial dysmorphism, including brown hair and almond-shaped eyes. Most patients showed developmental delays/mental retardation (93.3%), cryptorchidism (75%), feeding problems in infancy (73.3%), and neonatal or infantile hypotonia (66.7%). Among 30 patients, 14 PWS infants and toddlers had been treated with GH for more than two years. Two years of GH treatment resulted in an improvement in head circumference-standard deviation score (HC-SDS), body weight-SDS, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) SDS, IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) SDS, lean body mass, and bone mineral content, especially in IGFBP-3 SDS and motor development in PWS patients younger than two years of age. There was significant increase in IGF-1 SDS and IGFBP-3 SDS among male PWS patients after GH treatment. Conclusion: Our study showed increases in IGFBP-3 SDS and an improvement in motor development among individuals under two years of age after GH treatment, and significant difference in IGF-1 SDS and IGFBP-3 SDS by gender.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.36-44
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• 2007

Objectives : There have been few studies examining the differences in health care utilization across social classes during the last year of life. Therefore, in this study we analyzed the quantitative and qualitative differences in health care utilization among cancer patients across educational classes in their last year of life, and derived from it implications for policy. Methods : To evaluate health care utilization by cancer patients in the last year of life, Death certificate data from 2004 were merged with National Health Insurance data (n=60,088). In order to use educational level as a social class index, we selected the individuals aged 40 and over as study subjects (n=57,484). We analyzed the differences in the medical expenditures, admission days, and rates of admission experience across educational classes descriptively. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between medical expenditures and independent variables such as sex, age, education class, site of death and type of cancer. Results : The upper educational class spent much more on medical expenditures in the last one year of life, particularly during the last month of life, than the lower educational class did. The ratio of monthly medical expenditures per capita between the college class and no education class was 2.5 in the last 6-12 months of life, but the ratio was 1.6 in the last 1 month. Also, the lower the educational class, the higher the proportion of medical expenditures during the last one month of life, compared to total medical expenditures in the last one year of life. The college educational class had a much higher rate of admission experiences in tertiary hospitals within Seoul than the other education classes did. Conclusions : This study shows that the lower educational classes had qualitative and quantitative disadvantages in utilizing health care services for cancer in the last year of life.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.27 no.3 s.47
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• pp.597-608
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• 1994

This study was conducted to evaluate the relationships between the environmental exposure and biological monitoring among workers exposed to metallic mercury We interviewed each workers to get the medical history including previous hazardous occupational history. We measured the respiration rate and tidal volume of each worker in order to calculate the 8-hour inhaled mercury of workers. And we wafted to evaluate the effect of exposure duration to mercury concentrations in blood and urine as biologic exposure indices of metallic mercury. The regression and correlation analysis were done to the relationships of 8-hour inhaled mercury and mercury in blood and urine. The results were as follows; 1. The subjects were 35 fluorescent lamp manufacturing workers. The mean age of subjects was .24.8 years old, and the mean work careers of workers was 1.19 years. 89% of the total was consisted man. 2. The correlation coefficients between 8-hour inhaled mercury and mercury in blood and urine were higher than that of only considered air mercury concentration. 3. The correlation coefficients of 8-hour inhaled mercury and mercury in blood and urine were above 0.9 in workers who had exposed to mercury more than 1 year 4. The R-square value and -value of regression analysis between the 8-hour inhaled mercury and mercury in blood and urine was also higher in workers who had exposed to mercury over 1 year than in workers who had less than 1 year working experience. The important results of this study were that relationships between the 8hr-inhaled mercury and mercury in blood and urine was very high than that with air mercury concentration only. And the results were very apparent when considering workers 1 year or more. Therefore we concluded that the work career and respiratory volume of each individuals should be considered in evaluation the, results of biological monitoring of workers exposed to metallic mercury.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.2713-2717
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• 2014

Background: Cancer imposes significant economic challenges for individuals, families, and society. Households of cancer patients often experience income loss due to change in job status and/or excessive medical expenses. Thus, we examined whether changes in economic status for such households is affected by catastrophic health expenditures. Materials and Methods: We used the Korea Health Panel Survey (KHPS) Panel $1^{st}-4^{th}$ (2008-2011 subjects) data and extracted records from 211 out of 5,332 households in the database for this study. To identify factors associated with catastrophic health expenditures and, in particular, to examine the relationship between change in economic status and catastrophic health expenditures, we conducted a generalized linear model analysis. Results: Among 211 households with cancer patients, 84 (39.8%) experienced catastrophic health expenditures, while 127 (40.2%) did not show evidence of catastrophic medical costs. If a change in economic status results from a change in job status for head of household (job loss), these households are more likely to incur catastrophic health expenditure than households who have not experienced a change in job status (odds ratios (ORs)=2.17, 2.63, respectively). A comparison between households with a newly-diagnosed patient versus households with patients having lived with cancer for one or two years, showed the longer patients had cancer, the more likely their households incurred catastrophic medical costs (OR=1.78, 1.36, respectively). Conclusions: Change in economic status of households in which the cancer patient was the head of household was associated with a greater likelihood that the household would incur catastrophic health costs. It is imperative that the Korean government connect health and labor policies in order to develop economic programs to assist households with cancer patients.