• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• 제10권2호
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• pp.79-85
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• 2022

Article 10 of the Constitution All citizens have dignity and values as humans and have the right to pursue happiness. There is a need for support measures such as a means to realize the respect of dignity and values as humans, and how to efficiently maintain policies on welfare for the elderly classified as the socially disadvantaged. It was considered necessary to develop an elderly-friendly city for economic, physical, and social life. Dasan Jeong Yak-yong's respect for adults was to practice the ideology of Confucianism, so this was the most important thing in the past Joseon Dynasty. In particular, it was considered important to think of adults first in practicing filial piety.This study focuses on the long-term care insurance system for the elderly, one of the welfare policy measures for the elderly. The significance of implementing the long-term care insurance system for the elderly is to benefit not only the elderly, but also all generations, including the middle-aged and children who were in charge of long-term care. To this end, the government should properly manage the factors of the social insurance financial crisis caused by the low birth rate and aging population.In addition, concerns about health insurance are high, so it is necessary to secure an appropriate level of government budget for health insurance financial management and minimize unnecessary non-benefit. In addition, it is necessary to induce appropriate medical use through connection with construction medical insurance.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.32-42
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• 2022

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical benefit of 2D contrast-enhanced T2 fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (CE-T2 FLAIR) image for detecting leptomeningeal metastasis (LM) in the brain metastasis work-up for lung cancer. Materials and Methods: From June 2017 to July 2019, we collected all consecutive patients with lung cancer who underwent brain magnetic resonance image (MRI), including contrast-enhanced 3D fast spin echo T1 black-blood image (CE-T1WI) and CE-T2 FLAIR; we recruited clinico-radiologically suspected LM cases. Two independent readers analyzed the images for LM in three sessions: CE-T1WI, CE-T2 FLAIR, and their combination. Results: We recruited 526 patients with suspected lung cancer who underwent brain MRI; of these, we excluded 77 (insufficient image protocol, unclear pathology, different contrast media, poor image quality). Of the 449 patients, 34 were clinico-radiologically suspected to have LM; among them, 23 were diagnosed with true LM. The calculated detection performance of CE-T1WI, CE-T2 FLAIR, and combined analysis obtained from the 34 suspected LM were highest in the combined analysis (AUC: 0.80, 0.82, and 0.89, respectively). The inter-observer agreement was also the highest in the combined analysis (0.68, 0.72, and 0.86, respectively). In quantitative analyses, CNR of CE-T2 FLAIR was significantly higher than that of CE-T1WI (Wilcoxon signed rank test, P < 0.05). Conclusion: Adding CE-T2 FLAIR might provide better detection for LM in the brain-metastasis screening for lung cancer.

• 한국간담췌외과학회지
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• 제28권2호
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• pp.229-237
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• 2024

Backgrounds/Aims: While patients with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer (BRPC) are a target population for neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), formal guidelines for neoadjuvant therapy are lacking. We assessed the perioperative and oncological outcomes in patients with BRPC undergoing NAC with FOLFIRINOX for patients undergoing upfront surgery (US). Methods: The AHPBA criteria for borderline resectability and/or a CA19-9 level > 100 µ/mL defined borderline resectable tumors retrieved from a prospectively populated institutional registry from 2007 to 2020. The primary outcome was overall survival (OS) at 1 and 3 years. A Cox Proportional Hazard model based on intention to treat was used. A receiver-operator characteristics (ROC) curve was constructed to assess the discriminatory capability of the use of CA19-9 > 100 µ/mL to predict resectability and mortality. Results: Forty BRPC patients underwent NAC, while 46 underwent US. The median OS with NAC was 19.8 months (interquartile range [IQR], 10.3-44.24) vs. 10.6 months (IQR, 6.37-17.6) with US. At 1 year, 70% of the NAC group and 41.3% of the US group survived (p = 0.008). At 3 years, 42.5 % of the NAC group and 10.9% of the US group survived (p = 0.001). NAC significantly reduced the hazard of death (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.20; 95% confidence interval, 0.07-0.54; p = 0.001). CA19-9 > 100 µ/mL showed poor discrimination in predicting mortality, but was a moderate predictor of resectability. Conclusions: We found a survival benefit of NAC with FOLFIRINOX for BRPC. Greater pre-treatment of CA19-9 and multivessel involvement on initial imaging were associated with progression of the disease following NAC.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• 제36권4호
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• pp.103-133
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• 2014

응급의료시설은 해당 지역의 보건의료환경을 결정하는 중요한 요인이다. 최근 양질의 응급의료시설 확충을 위해 국가재정 투입의 사회적 수요가 증가하고 있으며, 효율적 재정투입을 위해 관련 정책에 대한 과학적인 평가가 요구된다. 이러한 취지에서 본 연구는 응급의료시설 확충의 경제적 가치를 추정하기 위한 체계적인 방법을 모색하고자 한다. 응급의료시설의 정량적 성과지표인 예방가능사망자 수를 추정하는 방법을 실증적으로 분석하며, 이 성과를 경제적 가치로 전환하기 위해 경제학적 관점에서 응급사망 1인당 사망비용을 추정한다. 또한 본 연구의 결과를 실제 사례에 적용해 봄으로써 국가재정사업 평가에서의 활용 가능성을 살펴보았다. 과학적이고 체계적인 방법에 대한 연구와 응용은 지역 간 의료자원의 불균형을 완화시키고 국가재정의 효율성을 제고시키는 데 기여할 것으로 판단된다.

• 대한예방한의학회지
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• 제19권3호
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• pp.77-90
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• 2015

Objective : The purpose of this study is to discuss the role and ways to improve the position and rights of Korean Medicine Doctors (KMDs) working at long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) through survey analysis. Method : (1) The legal and institutional position of KMDs is studied using current law and related papers. (2) The online survey was conducted through KMD community websites, targeted at KMDs working at LTCHs. Results : (1) Whereas there is perceived added benefit for the eight specializations for a specialist of Western medicine at LTCHs, in the case of a specialist of Korean Medicine, their value is not institutionally recognized at all. (2) A Western inpatient's medical fee is more than a Korean inpatient's medical fee, and the individual fee for the same medical treatment is also higher in Western hospitalization. So, Korean medical hospitalization actually cannot be made. Because of that, Korean Medicine Doctors find it difficult to be primary care physicians. (3) Musculoskeletal diseases and the aftereffects of cerebrovascular diseases were the most common chief complaints addressed in Korean medical consultations. Conclusion : This study shows that KMDs working at LTCHs have suffered many kinds of inequality. That is because of the limited medical scope of the current medical system and real constraints from the gap in Korean-Western medical fees by the National Health Insurance Corporation. Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate these variations along with revising the statute with continuous research.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• 제36권5호
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• pp.515-527
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• 2003

Objectives： A meta-analysis of the literatures was conducted to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of medical nutrition therapy by dietitians. Methods : The 30 studies were identified from a computerized search of published research on MEDLINE, Science-Direct and the PQD database until May, 2002 and a review of reference lists. The main search terms were“dietitian”,“dietary intervention”,“nutrition intervention”, “cost”,“cost-effectiveness”and“cost-benefit analysis”. The subgroup analysis was performed by publication year, study design, intervention provider, type of patient (in/out-patient) and type of cost (total cost/direct cost). Two reviewers independently selected trials for inclusion, assessed the quality and extracted the data. Results : The 30 studies were identified using the electric database search and bibliographies. The 17 trials were eligible for inclusion criteria, then the systematic review and a meta-analysis were conducted on effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of medical nutrition therapy. The quality of the studies was evaluated using the quality assessment tool for observational studies. The quality score was 0.515 $\pm$ 0.121 (range : 0.279-0.711, median : 0.466). The meta-analysis of 17 studies based on the random effect model showed that medical nutrition therapy was highly effective in treating the diseases (effect size 0.3092 : 95% confidence interval 0.2282-0.3303). The vote-counting method, one of meta-analysis methods, was applied to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of medical nutrition therapy conducted by dietitians. Two criteria (method 1, method 2) for voting were used. The calculated p-values for method 1 (more conservative method) and method 2 (less conservative method) were 0.1250 and 0.0106, respectively. Medical nutrition therapy by dietitians was significantly cost-effective in the method 2. Conclusion. This meta-analysis showed that the effectiveness of medical nutrition therapy was statistically significant in treating disease (effect size 0.3092), and that the cost-effectiveness of medical nutrition therapy was statistically significant in the method 2 (less conservative method) of vote counting. (Korean J Nutrition 36(5): 515~527, 2003)

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제59권10호
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• pp.408-413
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• 2016

Purpose: This study investigated predictors of unresponsiveness to second-line intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment for Kawasaki disease (KD). Methods: This was a single-center analysis of the medical records of 588 patients with KD who had been admitted to Asan Medical Center between 2006 and 2014. Related clinical and laboratory data were analyzed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results: Eighty (13.6%) of the 588 patients with KD were unresponsive to the initial IVIG treatment and received a second dose. For these 80 patients, univariate analysis of the laboratory results obtained before administering the second-line IVIG treatment showed that white blood cell count, neutrophil percent, hemoglobin level, platelet count, serum protein level, albumin level, potassium level, and C-reactive protein level were significant predictors. The addition of methyl prednisolone to the second-line regimen was not associated with treatment response (odds ratio [OR], 0.871; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.216-3.512; P=0.846). Multivariate analysis revealed serum protein level to be the only predictor of unresponsiveness to the second-line treatment (OR, 0.160; 95% CI, 0.028-0.911; P=0.039). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis to determine predictors of unresponsiveness to the second dose of IVIG showed a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 72% at a serum protein cutoff level of <7.15 g/dL. Conclusion: The serum protein level of the patient prior to the second dose of IVIG is a significant predictor of unresponsiveness. The addition of methyl prednisolone to the second-line regimen produces no treatment benefit.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제38권1호
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• pp.9-15
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• 2005

Objectives : To analyze medical expenses by cancer site and survival time among cancer patients in their last year of life. Method : The study subjects were 45,394 people that had died of cancers in 2002, were registered by the Korea Central Cancer Registry and received National Health Insurance benefit in the last year (360 days) of life. Personal identification data, general characteristics, dates of death and cancer incidence, and site of cancer were collected from the National Statistical Office and the Korea Central Cancer Registry, and merged with the data of the individual medical expenses of the Health Insurance Review Agency. Results : Average monthly cost curves were U-shaped with high costs near the time of diagnosis and death, and lower costs in between. Medical expenses in the last year of life were around 30.3, 16.7, 13.0, and 12.1 million won among leukemia, lymphoma, ovarian cancer, and breast cancer patients, respectively. Digestive organ cancers including stomach, esophagus, liver, pancreas, and colorectal cancers had relatively low medical expenses. Medical expenses in the last year of life were inverse U-shaped with high expenses near one year of survival. Average monthly cost in the 12 months before death among the patients who had survived $10{\sim}15$ years were more than two-fold greater than the cost before diagnosis among those who had survived for less than one year. Conclusions : Leukemia was the most expensive cancer. It is possible that once diagnosed as cancer, medical expenses do not return to the level before diagnosis. Further research will be needed to understand the magnitude and change of the medical expenses among cancer patients with long term follow up data.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• 제21권3호
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• pp.165-170
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• 2016

Recent trial results suggest that the consumption of a low glycemic index (GI) diet is beneficial in the prevention of high blood glucose levels. Identifying active hypoglycemic substances in ordinary foods could be a significant benefit to the management of blood glucose. It has been hypothesized that noodles with Bombyx mori powder are a low GI food. We evaluated GI and changes in postprandial glucose levels following consumption of those noodles and compared them with those following consumption of plain wheat flour noodles (control) and glucose (reference) in healthy subjects. Thirteen males (age: $34.2{\pm}4.5years$, body mass index: $23.2{\pm}1.1kg/m^2$) consumed 75 g carbohydrate portions of glucose and the 2 kinds of noodle after an overnight fast. Capillary blood was measured at time 0 (fasting), 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 180 min from the start of each food intake. The GI values were calculated by taking the ratio of the incremental area under the blood glucose response curve (IAUC) for the noodles and glucose. There was a significant difference in postprandial glucose concentrations at 30 and 45 min between the control noodles and the noodles with Bombyx mori powder: the IAUC and GI for the noodles with Bombyx mori powder were significantly lower than those for glucose and plain wheat flour noodles. The wheat flour noodles with Bombyx mori powder could help prevent an increase in postprandial glucose response and possibly provide an alternative to other carbohydrate staple foods for glycemic management.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• 제19권4호
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• pp.375-392
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• 2019

Preoperative chemo- and radiotherapeutic strategies followed by surgery are currently a standard approach for treating locally advanced gastric and esophagogastric junction cancer in Western countries. However, in a large number of cases, the tumor is extremely resistant to these treatments and the patients are exposed to unnecessary toxicity and delayed surgical therapy. The current clinical trials evaluating the combination of preoperative systemic therapies with modern targeted and immunotherapeutic agents represent a unique opportunity for identifying predictive biomarkers of response to select patients that would benefit the most from these treatments. However, it is of utmost importance that these potential biomarkers are corroborated by extensive preclinical and translational research. The aim of this review article is to present the most promising biomarkers of response to classic chemotherapeutic, anti-HER2, antiangiogenic, and immunotherapeutic agents that can be potentially useful for personalized preoperative systemic therapies in gastric cancer patients.