• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.128-134
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• 2019

Background: Patients with rotator cuff tears are usually afflicted with shoulder pain and disability. However, it is unclear which factors are related to shoulder pain in patients with rotator cuff tears. This study was therefore undertaken to determine the factors correlated with shoulder pain in patients with painful rotator cuff tears, but without any history of trauma. Methods: We evaluated a cohort of 745 patients with painful rotator cuff tears having no trauma history, and analyzed the relationship between pain and multiple factors including demographic data, tear characteristics, and passive range of motion. Pain was analyzed with a questionnaire concerning the visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain. Tear characteristics were determined by evaluating tear size, muscle atrophy, number of torn tendons, and presence of arthritis. Multivariate linear regression analysis and chi-squared test were applied to evaluate the relationship between the VAS for pain and variable factors. Results: Shoulder pain was associated with young age (p=0.01), male sex (p=0.01) and the presence of diabetes mellitus (p<0.001). Measurements of rotator cuff tear characteristics including tear size (p=0.53), muscle atrophy (p=0.16) and the number of torn tendons (p=0.34) did not correlate with shoulder pain. Symptom duration (p=0.60) and range of motion (p>0.05) also showed no correlation with VAS for pain. Conclusions: Young age, male sex and the presence of diabetes mellitus correlated positively with preoperative shoulder pain in patients with painful rotator cuff tears without a trauma history. Combined treatment of pain management and risk factor correction could be helpful to control preoperative shoulder pain.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.62 no.2
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• pp.48-54
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• 2019

Purpose: Liver metabolism plays a pivotal role in the development of metabolic disorders. We aimed to investigate the clinical and laboratory risk factors associated with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels in young adolescents from an urban population in Korea. Methods: A population of 120 apparently healthy adolescents aged 12-13 years was included in the cross-sectional design study; 58 were overweight or obese and 62 were of normal weight. We estimated anthropometric and laboratory measurements, including waist-to-height ratio, blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, aspartate aminotransferases (AST), ALT, and lipid profiles. Results: The mean ages of the overweight or obese and normal weight participants were $12.9{\pm}0.3$ and $13.0{\pm}0.3years$, respectively. Height, weight, body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, AST, ALT, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, triglyceride, insulin, and the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) score were significantly higher and the high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and quantitative insulin-sensitivity check index were significantly lower in the overweight/obese participants in comparison to the normal-weight participants (all P<0.05). In multivariate linear regression analysis, waist-to-height ratio, systolic blood pressure, and HOMA-IR score were independently and positively associated with serum ALT levels. Conclusion: Screening for ALT levels in adolescents may help to differentiate those at risk of metabolic abnormalities and thus prevent disease progression at an early age.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.340-348
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• 2019

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the nutritional status of liver transplantation (LT) recipients and explore certain factors that influence nutritional status, including dietary patterns and physical activities. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study. The subjects included 211 LT recipients at a medical center outpatient clinic located in Seoul, Korea. The nutritional status, dietary patterns, and physical activities of each subject were measured using the body mass index (BMI), Mini Dietary Assessment (MDA), and Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. Independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Results: The percentages of living and deceased donor LTs were 81.0% and 19.0%, respectively. The mean BMIs pre- and post-LT were 23.88 and $23.16kg/m^2$, respectively, and the average MDA score was 36.55. More than 60.0% of the subjects had a moderate or high level of physical activity. In multivariate analysis, a higher BMI before LT (${\beta}=.72$, p<.001), a lower Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) score (${\beta}=-.18$, p<.001), and being male (${\beta}=-.10$, p=.024) contributed to better nutritional status post-LT. Patients within six months of LT were less engaged in muscle exercises than those post six months of LT (p=.020). Conclusion: LT recipients in Korea have good nutritional status and a good level of physical activity. To improve recipients' post-LT nutritional status, the pre-LT nutritional status should be considered, particularly in those with a higher MELD score. In addition, physical activity including muscle-strengthening exercises should be encouraged from an earlier stage.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.217-225
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess socio-demographic, disaster-related, physical health-related, psychological, and social factors that may adversely affect disaster victims' QoL (Quality of Life). Methods: A cross sectional study was designed by using the secondary data. From the 3rd Disaster Victims Panel Survey (2012~2017), a total of 1,659 data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics including frequency, percentage, t-test, ANOVA, and multivariate linear regression. Results: Older people with lower health status lacking financial resources prior to a disaster were more at risk of low levels of QoL. Lower levels of perceived health status, resilience, and QoL were reported by disaster exposed individuals, while their depression was higher than the depression in the control group of disaster unexposed ones. Resilience, social and material supports were positively associated with QoL whereas depression and PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders) were negatively associated. Conclusion: These findings suggest that psychological symptoms and loss due to disasters can have adverse impacts on the QoL of disaster victims in accordance with their prior socio-demographic background. They also indicate that targeted post-disaster community nursing intervention should be considered a means of increased social support as well as physical and mental health care for disaster victims.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.39-46
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• 2019

Background: As of now, the impact of low back pain (LBP) and its chronic state, chronic low back pain (CLBP), on mental health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has never been investigated among police officers. The present investigation aims at studying this relationship using a biopsychosocial model. Methods: Between May and October 2014, a Web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among Quebec police officers (Quebec, Canada). Mental HRQOL was measured using the role emotional (RE) and the mental health (MH) domains of the SF-12v2 Health Survey. The impact of CLBP on mental HRQOL (as opposed to acute/subacute LBP or no LBP) was studied with a multivariate linear regression model. Results: Of the 3,589 police officers who participated in the study, 1,013 (28.4%) reported CLBP. The mean age of respondents was $38.5{\pm}8.7years$, and 32.0% were females. The RE (44.1/100) and MH (49.0/100) mean scores of the CLBP group were comparable with the scores found in populations suffering from cancer or heart diseases. Compared to officers without LBP, the presence of CLBP was significantly associated with lower RE (${\beta}$: -0.068; p = 0.003) and MH (${\beta}$: -0.062; p = 0.002) scores. These relationships were not found in the acute/subacute LBP group. Conclusion: Our results underscore how frequent CLBP is among police officers and how burdensome it is. Considering the importance of good physical and mental health for this occupational population, police organizations should be aware of this issue and contribute to the efforts toward CLBP prevention and management in the workplace.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 2021

Objectives: Bisphenol A (BPA) is used in the electrical, mechanical, medical, and food industries. Previous studies have suggested that BPA is an endocrine disruptor. Regulation of BPA has led to increased use of bisphenol F (BPF) and bisphenol S (BPS). However, few studies have investigated the associations of BPF and BPS with thyroid dysfunction in children. Our study investigated the associations of prenatal BPA and early childhood BPA, BPF, and BPS exposure with thyroid function in 6-year-old children. Methods: Prenatal BPA concentrations were measured during the second trimester of pregnancy in an established prospective birth cohort. We measured urinary BPA, BPF, and BPS concentrations and thyroid hormone levels (thyroid-stimulating hormone, total T3, and free T4) in 6-year-old children (n=574). We examined the associations between urinary bisphenol concentrations and percentage change of thyroid hormone concentrations using multivariate linear regression. We also compared thyroid hormone levels by dividing the cohort according to BPA, BPF, and BPS concentrations. Results: The associations between prenatal BPA and total T3 levels were statistically significant in all models, except for girls when using a crude model. The associations between urinary BPA and BPS concentrations and levels of all thyroid hormones were not statistically significant. However, we observed that lower free T4 levels (-1.94%; 95% confidence interval, -3.82 to -0.03) were associated with higher urinary BPF concentrations in girls only. Conclusions: Our findings identified significant associations between prenatal BPA exposure and total T3 levels in all children and between BPF exposure and free T4 levels in girls only.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.299-305
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• 2021

This study examined to identify the factors influencing on inpatients' satisfaction with hospitalization and willingness to recommend hospital to others. Data from the 2018 National Patient Experience Survey were used for the analysis. Of the 593 patients experiencing inpatient services, multivariate linear regression analysis was conducted to explore the factors such as physician care, nursing care, facility and administrative support, and healthcare system on inpatients' satisfaction after controlling for their socio-demographic and health related factors. The study found that physician care, nursing care, administrative support and healthcare system were related to inpatients' satisfaction and willingness to recommend hospital. To improve inpatients' satisfaction, it is necessary to improve healthcare professionals' overall patient-centerdness attitude, user friendly hospital facilities and administrative support services and efforts to trust and satisfaction on healthcare system from the patients' perspectives.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.248-259
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• 2022

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Adequate nutritional intake is essential for good health and well-being. We aimed to compare the nutrient intake from homemade meals, meals sourced externally ("eating out"), and meals from workplace foodservices, as well as the potential association between foodservices used and nutritional quality among adult Korean workers. SUBJECTS/METHODS: We used data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a nationwide cross-sectional survey on the health and nutritional status of the Korean population. Data from 6,845 workers aged 20-64 years were included. A survey on dietary behavior and nutrition was conducted using the 24-h dietary recall method. Nutritional quality was examined using the index of nutritional quality (INQ) score. Higher INQ scores reflected poorer nutritional quality, with insufficient intake of a higher number of nutrients. Multivariate linear regression was used to identify the association between the foodservices used and INQ scores after adjusting for other covariates. RESULTS: We found that foodservice users exhibited a higher 1-day intake of total energy and macronutrients (all P < 0.05) and lower INQ scores (P < 0.01) than non-users. The INQ scores for total daily meals decreased with the frequency of foodservice use (P < 0.01). A significant association was observed between the non-use of foodservices and INQ scores (β = 0.29, P < 0.01) after adjusting for other covariates. CONCLUSIONS: The use of workplace foodservices contributed to higher dietary nutritional quality among workers. This study highlights the importance of expanding the scope of workplace foodservices to promote higher nutritional quality and healthy dietary habits among workers.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.214-224
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• 2022

Background: Studies of the prognostic role of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are still limited. This study investigated the prognostic power of CTCs from the pulmonary vein (PV), peripheral blood (PB), and bone marrow (BM) for postoperative recurrence in patients who underwent curative resection for NSCLC. Methods: Forty patients who underwent curative resection for NSCLC were enrolled. Before resection, 10-mL samples were obtained of PB from the radial artery, blood from the PV of the lobe containing the tumor, and BM aspirates from the rib. A microfabricated filter was used for CTC enrichment, and immunofluorescence staining was used to identify CTCs. Results: The pathologic stage was stage I in 8 patients (20%), II in 15 (38%), III in 14 (35%), and IV in 3 (8%). The median number of PB-, PV-, and BM-CTCs was 4, 4, and 5, respectively. A time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that PB-CTCs had excellent predictive value for recurrence-free survival (RFS), with the highest area under the curve at each time point (first, second, and third quartiles of RFS). In a multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression model, PB-CTCs were an independent risk factor for recurrence (hazard ratio, 10.580; 95% confidence interval, 1.637-68.388; p<0.013). Conclusion: The presence of ≥4 PB-CTCs was an independent poor prognostic factor for RFS, and PV-CTCs and PB-CTCs had a positive linear correlation in patients with recurrence.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.345-353
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• 2022

Objective: To investigate airway volumes using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) by skeletal patterns, sex, and cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) stages in Korean adolescents. Methods: The sample consisted of pretreatment CBCT and cephalograms of 95 adolescents (aged 12-19) obtained out of 1,611 patients examined for orthodontic treatment from 2018 to 2020 in Kyungpook National University Dental Hospital. The samples were classified into two sex groups; three skeletal pattern groups, four chronological age groups and four CVM stages. Nasopharyngeal volumes (NPV), oropharyngeal volumes (OPV), total pharyngeal airway volume (TAV) and minimum cross-sectional area (MCA) measurements were taken from the CBCT. Multiple linear regression analyses to find out which one of the independent variables are good predictors for airway variables. Significant factors were analyzed by two-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) then multiple comparisons were analyzed using a t-test, and Fisher least significant difference. Results: Age, sex, CVM, and Sella-Nasion-B point have significant influence on airway variable. Males and females showed similar patterns of change in chronological age groups 1-3; however, males had larger NPV, OPV, and MCA at CVM in group 4. According to CVM stages, males had larger OPV, TAV, and MCA at CVM stage 6 (p-value: 0.019, 0.021, 0.015, respectively) and no sex differences at CVM stages 3, 4, and 5. Conclusions: Skeletal patterns have an effect on airway volume. Sex differences were found in CVM 6.