• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.37-49
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• 2020

Background: Unmet healthcare needs have many advantages for measuring inequalities in healthcare use. However, the existing indicator is difficult to capture the reality of unmet healthcare needs sufficiently and is not quite appropriate in comparing regional inequality. The purpose of this study is to critically analyze the utilization of the unmet healthcare need indicator for regional healthcare inequalities research. Methods: We used the level of healthcare accessibility and healthcare need to categorize the regions that are known to cause differences in healthcare utilization between regions and verified how existing unmet healthcare need indicator is distributed at the regional level. Results: Four types of regions were classified according to the high and low levels of healthcare needs and accessibility. The hypothesis about the regional type expected to have the highest unmet healthcare need was not proved. The hypothesis about the lowest expected regional type was proved, but the difference in the average rate of unmet healthcare needs among regional types was not significant. The standard deviation of the rate of unmet healthcare needs among regions within the same type was also higher than the overall regional variation, which also disproved the whole frame of hypothesis. Conclusion: Failure to prove the hypothesis means the gap between the supposed meaning of the indicator and the reality. In order to understand the current state of healthcare utilization of people in various regions of Korea and to resolve inequality, fundamental research on the in-depth structure and mechanisms of healthcare utilization is needed.

• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.277-302
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• 2017

Educational objectives for mathematics in the curriculum revised in 2009 and the curriculum revised in 2015 put great emphasis on practical use of math, but perception of that lacks at schools. Accordingly, this research is recognizing the need for paying attention to curriculum focusing on mathematical connectivity and is inspecting CMP curriculum which has been developed over the years to reinforce problem solving competence and improve communication skills. This study analyzes CMP textbooks published as third edition in 2014 after several revisions, focusing on equations, inequalities and functions. First, this thesis analyzes mathematical connectivity using a new analysis framework which applied the modes of representation(situations, verbal description/ tables/ graphs/ formulae) made by Janvier(1987). Second, this research analyzes connectivities between different units, various sections, other subjects and practical contents related to the real life. The results: CMP textbooks use various practical materials for specific situations. They represent twelve processes of connectivity according to the modes of representation of Janvier. The books also show relationship between equations and functions, between inequalities and functions. And CMP textbooks include other subjects and practical contents.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.49 no.sup1
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• pp.53-59
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• 2016

Background: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the concentration of cardiovascular surgical procedures in a metropolitan area and investigate the perception of specialists regarding governmental policies to resolve this imbalance. Methods: From March to May 2015, surveys were distributed to members of the Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Association. The final pool of research subjects consisted of 75 respondents. Subjects were queried regarding the concentration of cardiovascular operations in metropolitan areas, alternatives to the imbalance, and governmental policies to resolve the inequalities. Results: Survey participants responded that South Korea needs governmental policies to alleviate the concentration of cardiovascular surgery patients in large metropolitan hospitals. Participants agreed that the freedom to choose medical institutions and improved accessibility to metropolitan hospitals due to advanced transportation systems were some of the causes for the concentration. A majority (98.7%) of respondents thought establishing thoracic and cardiovascular surgery centers in provinces was an appropriate solution to alleviate the concentration. Thoracic and cardiovascular surgery specialists were ranked as the number one group on which to focus development. Conclusion: Developing and carrying out policies to establish thoracic and cardiovascular surgery centers in provinces will alleviate the regional imbalance in available heart surgery services and an overall improvement in cardiovascular disease treatment in South Korea.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.435-445
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• 2017

This study was conducted to overcome the limitations of prior research on the equity of medical care performed by identifying simple differences in the use of medical care or using limited medical needs and medical utilization indicators. Specifically, we used activity limits, chronic diseases, and subjective health status as medical needs, and used outpatient, inpatient, and emergency services as medical uses. In addition, we used concentration index, concentration curve, and Le Grand factor to analyze the equity of medical use considering medical needs. The main results are as follows. First, the amount of medical care for the low-income class is higher than that of the high-income class when considering the concentration of medical use. In particular, the number of hospitalization days for low-income households and hospitalization fees were higher than the fees of outpatient medical consultation and emergency room usage. Second, medical needs were concentrated in the low income class. In other words, low-income group is not as healthy as the high-income group. Third, the Le Grand factor was calculated in order to confirm the fairness of the medical uses considering the medical needs. Even if medical needs are taken into consideration, the high-income earners will have a large amount of medical care. In addition, when considering the limitation of activity and the number of chronic diseases, the medical use of the high income class was more frequent. However, when the subjective health condition and the chronic illness were considered, medical use of the low income class was more frequent. This may be due to the underestimation of the medical needs of the low-income earners by neglecting their own health status and perception of chronic diseases.