• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.169-197
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• 2012

It is often argued that the parental leave should be extended in order to help employees achieve the balance of work and family life. However, one should be careful in designing the parental leave since there is a tradeoff between the continuity of employment after childbearing and the depreciation of human capital due to the time off the work. The paper investigates whether the parental leave payment introduced in Korea in 2001 helped women's take-up of the leave and employment after giving birth. The results are as follows. First, the increase in the payment indeed raised the female take-up of the leave. Second, women returned to labor market less often after giving birth in the short run, but the size of the effect tends to decrease in the long run. However, the negative effect on returning to the same workplace after the birth remains significant in the long run. Lastly, there is no evidence that the share of women of childbearing age at workplace changed due to the increase in the parental leave payment. Although there is a limitation in that the analysis is based only on the employment covered by the Employment Insurance, these findings imply that the increase in the parental leave payment may not be an effective policy tool for promoting female labor market participation. On the other hand, it should be noted that it is necessary to pay attention to child development as well as female employment as an objective in order to make an overall judgement on the parental leave policy.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.84-97
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• 2000

The Necessity and Purpose of the Study Recently the number of patients with chronic diseases and the aged patients is increasing steadily. Furthermore, due to the expansion of health insurance system, the number of patients hospitalized in the general hospital is increasing at a surprising speed. However, hospitals urge the early discharge of the patients for the efficiencies of hospital administration, and therefore, the number of patients who must be taken care of in their home is also increasing. Homecare nursing is one of the health care service for the patients at home who require continual attention and care, and now increasing attentions are given to it as one of the professional nursing fields. However, it was almost impossible to find a study on the actual experiences of the homecare nurses written by their own language in Korea, that it also posed a great difficulty in understanding their diverse experience. Considering these situation, this study will help understanding of them, and provide the fundamental data on their experiences for making policies to develop homecare nursing. Methods of Research Phenomenological research method was employed to analyze the lived experiences of homecare nurses fundamentally. Data collection Data were collected from August 1998 to December 1998 from ten homecare nurses who worked for patients under the homecare nursing setting as model cases designated by Seoul Nurses Association and who agreed to the purpose of this study after listening to and understanding the explanation completely. The in-depth interview was carried at the time which was convenient both for the researcher and participants for one or two hours, and recovered with the approval participants. The first interview covered diverse and broad areas like the situation of homecare nursing, and their feelings and thoughts over it, and in the second and third interviews, more specific questions are asked. Data Analysis For the phenomenological analysis, contents analysis was employed. The data collected from the participants were analyzed into the following procedures according to Van Manen 's phenomenological analysis. 1) Reserve the preconception of the researcher by restricting it inside parenthesis. 2) Make a thorough observation of the lived experiences by insight process. 3) Analyze the contents (Find out the repetitive factors) 4) Interpret the essence found. 5) State the meaning of the interpretation. Results and discussion 1. Fear and expectation for the first visit. (unfamiliarity, awkwardness, anxiety, shivering) 2. Mingle with the family (feeling friendly with the family, becoming like a family member) 3. Being proud of her own know-how (learning the know-how, organizing alternatives, building up confidence) 4. Pity for the poor. (criticizing the current government, feeling ashamed, feeling anger) 5. Difficulty of constructing cooperative system with physicians (strenuousness, frustration) 6. Helplessness due to the lack of support system (difficulty to get supplies, annoyance, embarrassment by institutional restraints) 7. Anxiousness for heavy traffic and parking (annoyance, hastiness) 8. Ethical conflicts (pity for the patients and family, skepticism about lengthening life maintenance) 9. Burden for the possible accident (pressure, anxiety, conflict, physical exhaustion) 10. Establishment of identity as a professional (fulfillment, worth, joy) 11. Being distressed at other's ignorance

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.9
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• pp.977-986
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• 2008

Purpose : This study aims to estimate the financial cost of rotavirus infection in Korea in the year of 2005. Methods : The incidence rates used were from the epidemiological profile at Jeoungeub District (5.8 cases/1,000 children <5 years old for inpatients, and 22.65 cases/1,000 children <5 years old for outpatients, per year). The health care cost per capita of rotavirus infection (ICD code: A08.0) was extracted from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database in Korea. The patient survey was conducted to capture information about non-medical costs and associated productivity loss incurred by adult caregivers. Results : The number of annual national cases among children <5 years old with rotavirus infection was estimated to be 69,122 (i.e., 55,030 outpatients and 14,092 inpatients). The total cost of rotavirus infection was estimated at 13.3 billion Korean won, comprising 11 billion Korean won (82.7%) of direct medical costs, 1.6 billion Korean won (12.0%) of direct non-medical costs (e.g., transportation and supplies), and 0.68 billion Korean won (5.1%) of productivity lost by adult caregivers. Conclusion : Rotavirus infection carries not only medical costs but also non-medical and indirect costs; together, these costs incur a significant burden on South Korean society. The impact of rotavirus on quality of life and health among patient caregivers was not considered in this study, but it does merit further research.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.149-156
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• 2001

Objective : To elucidate risk factors for coronary heart diseases among Korean males. Methods : A nested case control study was conducted among a Korea Medical Insurance Cooperation(KMIC) cohort composed of 108,802 males. The eases included 246 male patients who were admitted to hospital due to coronary heart diseases from 1993 to 1997 (120-25 by ICD) and whose diagnosis was confirmed by the protocol by WHO MONICA Project(1994). The control group was composed of 483 patients selected by frequency matching considering age and resident area from an inpatient care group without coronary heart disease during the same period. For study cases and the controls, the results of a health check-up in 1990 and a questionnaire on life style in 1992 were received through the KMIC. Some additional information was collected by telephone interviews during October 1999. Results : Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the odds ratio(OR) of coronary heart diseases among past smokers and current smokers as compared to non-smokers were 1.94(95% CI : 1.14-3.31) and 2.20(55% CI : 1.35-3.59), respectively. The OR among persons who drank 4 cups or more of caffeinated beverages such as coffee or tea daily as compared to persons who drank one cup for 2-3 days was 2.50(95% CI : 1.07-6.12). The OR among persons with high normal BP and stage 3 hypertension against normotension were 2.51 (95% CI : 1.44-4.37) and 5.08(95% CI : 2.38-10.84). The OR among persons whose blood cholesterol were 240 mg/dL or mere against lower than 200mg/dL was 2.24(95% CI : 1.43-3.49). Conclusion : Smoking, drinking of excessive caffeinated beverages, hypertension and high blood cholesterol were proven to be significant risk factors for coronary heart diseases among Korean males.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.331-336
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• 2009

Objectives : The objectives of this study were to determine the relationship between lifestyle-implementation and metabolic syndrome in an electronics research and development company, and to provide a foundation for health providers of health management programs for setting priorities. Methods : From July 1 to July 16, 2008 we carried out a descriptive cross-sectional survey. Consecutive workers of one R & D company in Seoul, Korea (N=2,079) were enrolled in study. A checklist for lifestyle (from the National Health Insurance Corporation) consisted of questions regarding diet, drinking, smoking and exercise. After the survey, researchers obtained data from health profiles for metabolic syndrome(waist-circumference, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, blood pressure and fasting blood sugar level). Lifestyle was recorded as good or not good. Statistical analysis of metabolic syndrome and the lifestyle of subjects was done using multiple logistic regression analysis. Results : The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in our study gropu was 13.3% (N=277). After adjustment for age, the adjusted odds ratios (odds ratio, 95% confidence intervals) for metabolic syndrome increased in proportion to the number of bad habits: two (1.72, 1.23-2.44), three (2.47, 1.73-3.56), and four (3.63, 2.03-6.34). Relative to subjects eating both vegetables and meat', the OR for 'meat' eaters was 1.66 (1.18-2.31). Compared with 'nonsmokers and ever-smoker', the OR for 'current-smoker' was 1.62 (1.25-2.10). Compared with 'Healthy drinker', the OR for 'unhealthy drinker' was 1.38 (1.05-1.83). Conclusions : Poor lifestyle was associated with an increased likelihood of metabolic syndrome. These findings suggest that lifestyle-based occupational health interventions for young employees should include a specific diet, smoking cessation, and healthy-drinking programs.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1525-1531
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• 2012

Cigarette smoking is one of the most important public health concerns in Korea and worldwide. A number of studies have been conducted to measure the health and economic burden of smoking, but these did not reflect recent changes such as the decrease in smoking rate and the increase in the incidence of cancer. The purpose of this study was to provide up-to-date estimates of the health and economic burden of cancer caused by smoking and to compare the results with those of previous studies. Cancer-related burden was assessed with nationally representative data such as claims data from the National Health Insurance Corporation, and cause of death records from the National Statistical Office and the Korea Health Panel. We determined the smoking-attributable burden by multiplying the smoking-attributable fraction by the total burden. As a result, the burden of major cancers due to smoking was found to be substantial despite a recent sharp decrease in smoking by the Korean population. The total economic cost reaches $2,234.0 million in males and $870.0 million in females. Also, the health burden of cancers due to smoking is 2,038.9 disability adjusted life years (DALYs) per 100,000 individuals in men and 732.2 DALYs per 100,000 individuals in women. Among all cancers, cancers of the trachea, lungs and bronchus are the leading causes of health and economic burden. The huge burden caused by cancers linked to smoking makes it imperative that adequate policies to decrease the prevalence of smoking be developed, particularly considering the recent increase in smoking rate among women.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.143-164
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• 2005

The study is to analyze support-related issues, particularly associated with elderly and children care, which have been a fundamental agenda of family welfare policy. We are expected for societal-level controversy on the relationship of family support and social security in the near future because of rapid increase in ageing and divorce rate. Accordingly, we need to establish social consensus on the extent to which both family support system and social support system are responsible for the life maintenance of the elderly and the children from divorced family. We also clarify the various characteristics(including scope, degree, period of time, and need/manageability) of support provided by family members. Considering the changes of family structure and population composition, the policy of supporting the old and children should go for social responsibility. Findings show that civil law and social welfare law have unclear application on the relationship between family support and social security, and contents in family support. In particular, public assistance law strongly emphasizes the principle of family support while social insurance laws provide only limited and insufficient family maintenance. The suggestions of further study on support-related issues are given in the rapidly changing society and the increasing economic instability.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.1295-1301
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• 2015

Background: Cancer imposes a significant economic burden on individuals, families and society. The purpose of this study was to estimate the economic burden of cancer using the healthcare claims and cancer registry data in Korea in 2009. Materials and Methods: The economic burden of cancer was estimated using the prevalence data where patients were identified in the Korean Central Cancer Registry. We estimated the medical, non-medical, morbidity and mortality cost due to lost productivity. Medical costs were calculated using the healthcare claims data obtained from the Korean National Health Insurance (KNHI) Corporation. Non-medical costs included the cost of transportation to visit health providers, costs associated with caregiving for cancer patients, and costs for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Data acquired from the Korean National Statistics Office and Ministry of Labor were used to calculate the life expectancy at the time of death, age- and gender-specific wages on average, adjusted for unemployment and labor force participation rate. Sensitivity analysis was performed to derive the current value of foregone future earnings due to premature death, discounted at 3% and 5%. Results: In 2009, estimated total economic cost of cancer amounted to $17.3 billion at a 3% discount rate. Medical care accounted for 28.3% of total costs, followed by non-medical (17.2%), morbidity (24.2%) and mortality (30.3%) costs. Conclusions: Given that the direct medical cost sharply increased over the last decade, we must strive to construct a sustainable health care system that provides better care while lowering the cost. In addition, a comprehensive cancer survivorship policy aimed at lower caregiving cost and higher rate of return to work has become more important than previously considered.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.113-124
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• 2009

This study has attempted to calculate the intensity of illumination for the optimal growth environment of indoor plants after analyzing both damage to plant species and growth conditions as impacted by light conditions for the Kyobo Life Insurance greenhouse. The optical intensity of illumination has been estimated after investigating the problems of growth conditions based on an analysis of illumination by light condition, dead tree replacement cycle(weeks) and rate of damage of plant species. According to the investigation of illumination, the lowest difference was observed between the shaded spot in the south(531lux) and the sunny spot(602lux) while the largest difference(nearly 500lux) was detected between the shaded spot in the central area(210lux) and the sunny spot(782lux). According to an analysis of dead trees from 1990 to 2004, in terms of dead tree replacement cycle, Viburnum awabuki was the highest(161weeks), followed by Phyllostachys spp.(84weeks), Camellia japonica and Ternstroemia japonica(40weeks). Regardless of plant species, damage rate of plant were lower in the shaded spot and higher in the sunny spot. According to correlation and regression analyses with the intensity of illumination as an independent variable and the damage rate of plant species as a dependent variable, the damage rate of plant species increased as the intensity of illumination decreased. A dramatic decline in the rate of damage was observed at $500{\sim}600lux$. At 700lux, it reached the lowest level.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.671-683
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• 2011

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine the oral health knowledge and actual oral health care of the selected subjects, their decision making about prosthetic treatment, the state and characteristics of their prosthetic treatment and their satisfaction with prosthetic treatment in an attempt to provide some information on the improvement of the quality of life related to oral health and the promotion of oral health. Methods : The subjects in this study were 250 people who received education in two different lifelong education institutions in the city of Busan. After a survey was conducted from May 23 to June 15, 2011, the answer sheets from 217 respondents were analyzed. Results : 1. As for the general characteristics of the respondents, the men(52.1%) outnumbered the women. Those who were in their 60 and up(47.5%) made up the largest age group, and the married people(65.4%) outnumbered the unmarried ones. By occupation, the company employees(20.3%) made up the biggest group. By education, the greatest group was high-school graduates(36.1%). By monthly mean income, the biggest group gained an income of 2.01 million won or more(36.9%). As to medical security, community-based insurance was most prevailing (36.9%). In terms of health promotion, the largest group worked out to stay fit(52.4%). 2. Regarding oral health knowledge, they had a good knowledge about the cause of dental caries(56.7%), but they weren't well aware of the right time for regular dental checkup(47.9%). In relation to oral health care, regular scaling wasn't prevailing(16.9%). 3. Regarding connections between the general characteristics and satisfaction with prosthesis, the less-educated respondents expressed significantly more dissatisfaction(p=0.015). By monthly mean income, those who had a smaller income were dissatisfied in general(p=0.028). Conclusions : The findings of the study illustrated that it's required to spread awareness of the importance of oral health among people in general, and that differentiated incremental oral health care should be provided for different age groups. In order to raise the satisfaction of patients with prosthesis, how to relieve their pain and anxiety and how to adjust prosthetic treatment cost properly should carefully be considered. In addition, the government should take measures to offer assistance for the low-income classes in preparation for an increase in the elderly population.