• Korean Journal of Family Medicine
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.370-374
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• 2018

Background: Iron is an essential element for women of reproductive age, especially in the period before and during the pregnancy. This study investigates the consumption of iron to prevent iron deficiency anemia among pregnant women visiting Neyshabur healthcare centers based on the theory of planned behavior. Methods: In this experimental study, data were collected through a questionnaire survey. It included 160 pregnant women who were receiving maternity services at twelve healthcare centers in the city of Neyshabur in Iran between 2015 and 2017. The participants' demographic and anthropometric characteristics, Using the theory of planned behavior, and blood lab examination results, including ferritin levels were measured and the data were analyzed using IBM SPSS ver. 22.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Results: The average scores of knowledge, attitude, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and intention categories for the intervention group were meaningfully increased after the participants received education on iron supplementation (P<0.05). However, these changes were not found to be significant in the control group (P>0.05). No statistically significant difference was obtained in the subjective norms category between the two groups after the education intervention (P=0.92). Conclusion: Based on the experimental effects of education encouraging iron supplementation in pregnant women, it is suggested that workshops promoting iron supplementation should be conducted in health centers with the aim of preventing widespread iron deficiency anemia.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2019

The purpose of this research is to introduce the best practice of the Japanese national dementia strategy and explore implications to the Korean national dementia strategy. Interview was conducted among professions those who is in charge of Kumamoto dementia care practice in Kumamoto province, upon review of related literature and public documents. The Kumamoto model is implemented by the department of neuropsychiatry in public university hospitals, which can offer dementia-specialized medical services. Medical centers for dementia in public university hospitals play a leading role for managing practice and training local dementia centers specialist, coordinating medical services among medical institutions and community welfare facilities. In reference to the Kumamoto model, the Korean national dementia strategy can find implications in the direction of current system, specifically its approaches toward policy governance.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.73 no.1
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• pp.48-55
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• 2012

Background: The epidemiology of tuberculosis (TB) has been assessed based on the data of the analysis of TB patients notified to the surveillance system in Korea. However, the national status of TB is not validated through this surveillance system. The objective is to determine the epidemiology of TB and to understand the accurate status of TB patients treated in private institutions. Methods: Medical records of 53,579 patients who had been diagnosed with TB in 2008 were analyzed. Results: Among 53,579 patients, the number of sputum smear positive cases was 15,639(29.2%) and the number of new cases was 39,191 (73.1%). The drug resistance rate of new cases was 5.3%, while the rate stood at 13.3% for TB patients with treatment history. The number of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) patients was 2,472 (4.6%), which consists of 2.9% of new cases and 9.3% of TB patients with prior treatment history. The number of extensively drug-resistant TB patients was 749 (1.4%), consisting of 1.1% of new cases and 2.2% of TB patients with prior treatment history. In terms of treatment outcomes, 66.4% of all TB patients, 70.5% of new cases, 64.4% of relapse cases, and 46.8% of MDR-TB cases were cured or completed. It was inferred that in 2008, the total number of TB patients reached 70,767, 145.6 per 100,000 people (95% confidence interval, 145.5~145.7). Conclusion: We conclude that the medical records review of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) data can be very effective in promoting the understanding of the current status of TB in private institutions.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.780-788
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study examined the relationship between famine exposure in early life and the risk of type 2 diabetes in adulthood during the 1959-1961 Chinese Famine. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A total of 3,418 individuals aged 35-74 years free of diabetes from two studies in 2006 and 2009 were followed up prospectively in 2009 and 2012, respectively. Famine exposure was classified as unexposed (individuals born in 1962-1978), fetal exposed (individuals born in 1959-1961), child exposed (individuals born in 1949-1958), and adolescent/adult exposed (born in 1931-1948). A logistic regression model was used to assess the relationship between famine exposure and diabetes after adjustment for potential covariates. RESULTS: During a three-year follow-up, the age-adjusted incidence rates of type 2 diabetes were 5.7%, 14.5%, 12.7%, and 17.8% in unexposed, fetal-exposed, child-exposed, and adolescent/adult-exposed groups, respectively (P < 0.01). Relative to the unexposed group, the relative risks (95% confidence interval) for diabetes were 2.15 (1.29-3.60), 1.53 (0.93-2.51), and 1.65 (0.75-3.63) in the fetal-exposed, child-exposed, and adolescent/adult-exposed groups, after controlling for potential covariates. The interactions between famine exposure and obesity, education level, and family history of diabetes were not observed, except for the urbanization type. Individuals living in rural areas with fetal and childhood famine exposure were at a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, with relative risks of 8.79 (1.82-42.54) and 2.33 (1.17-4.65), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that famine exposure in early life is an independent predictor of type 2 diabetes, particularly in women. Early identification and intervention may help prevent diabetes in later life.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.87-95
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• 1995

This study aims to provide the basic data for planning and design of Health Sub-Centers. To do this, the services and activities of H.S.C and facility condition were examined & utilized for future research on architectural planning and design of Health Sub-Centers.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.399-408
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• 2020

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the regional characteristics on the accessibility of emergency care and the impact of emergency medical accessibility on the patients' prognosis and the emergency medical expenditure. Methods: This study used the 13th beta version 1.6 annual data of Korea Health Panel and the statistics from the Korean Statistical Information Service. The sample included 8,119 patients who visited the emergency centers between year 2013 and 2017. The arrival time, which indicated medical access, was used as dependent variable for multi-level analysis. For ordinal logistic regression and multiple regression, the arrival time was used as independent variable while patients' prognosis and emergency medical expenditure were used as dependent variables. Results: The results for the multi-level analysis in both the individual and regional variables showed that as the number of emergency medical institutions per 100 km² area increased, the time required to reach emergency centers significantly decreased. Ordinal logistic regression and multiple regression results showed that as the arrival time increased, the patients' prognosis significantly worsened and the emergency medical expenses significantly increased. Conclusion: In conclusion, the access to emergency care was affected by regional characteristics and affected patient outcomes and emergency medical expenditure.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.22-47
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• 1997

This paper evaluated the relative efficiency of 33 provincial medical centers using Data Envelopment Analysis(DEA) and compared the DEA efficiency results with those of the current method conducted by the management evaluation team. DEA Was selected as an alternative efficiency evaluation method since it could handle multiple inputs and multiple outputs simultaneously and identify the sources of inefficiency. To analyze the sensitivity of productivity values to the variable sets, four different sets of input and output variables were identified. Results showed that most of the medical centers are operating far away from the efficiency frontier supporting the previous results. Some centers showed 100% efficiency regardless of the selected variable sets. DEA results are compared with current management evaluation results. Some inconsistencies were found for some DMUs between the results of two methods showing the existence of methodology bias. DEA results and ratio analyses results mostly agree for 1992 data.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.25-33
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• 2006

Purpose: To investigate the health problems and health services in child day care centers. Methods: Data were collected from 115 teachers at 16 child day care centers in Seoul city. A questionnaire was used to collect data, which were analyzed with the SPSS 12.0 program. Results: Most teachers had experienced various child health problems such as colds, hand․foot․mouth diseases, chicken pox, skin injuries, nasal bleeding, vomiting and diarrhea. Furthermore, they even experienced some serious ones including dysentery, measles, asthma and seizures, which demand professional skill. However, there were no registered nurses and most teachers requested that parents take a child home when these health problems happened. Only 31.3% of the child care centers had a teacher with CPR training. Approximately half of the centers kept child health records which included reports on allergic substances, and medical history but only 18.7% of the child care centers offered regular immunizations for the children. Conclusion: Various health problems were found in child day care centers. To maintain the children's health, there is a need to develop and make provisions for health services and programs in child day care centers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.59 no.10
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• pp.22-37
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• 2009

The main purpose of this research was to provide an example of a scientific and systematic approach to designing nurses' uniforms. Uniforms for the staff nurses and head nurses at Korea University Medical Centers were designed through the following four steps: research and analyses, design direction establishment, design presentation, and final decision. For the research and analyses, a focused group interview with 14 head nurses were conducted before the actual questionnaires were formed and distributed to 200 nurses at the medical centers. The data collected from 182 among 200 subjects were able to be used for the statistical analyses. As a result, the majority of nurses were not satisfied with the present nurse uniforms. They preferred pants to skirts, and straight pants to tapered pants. Blouses or jackets that slightly cover hips with sleeves reaching above the wrists were also preferred. Many respondents wanted uniforms that were practical and easy to manage. The ideal image of nursing uniforms were feminine, lively, active, light, cool, simple, and modern. According to the research and analyses result, design directions were established and uniform designs were presented to head nurses. Uniforms were designed based on symbols of Korea University and Korea University Medical Centers. Colors including white, pink, and grey were selected to represent the ideal image of nursing uniforms designated by the respondents. Fabrics including polyester(95%) and spandex(5%) blends, polyester(48%), rayon(48%), and spandex(4%) blends, and cotton(100%) were used for making garment samples. Final designs were decided by selecting and modifying the designs presented to the head nurses.

• Journal of Korean Dental Hygiene Science
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.1-7
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• 2021

Background: To identify the factors that affect the current status and satisfaction of people with disabilities at community oral care centers. Methods: A structured self-administered survey, including five questions on facility environment, five on usage procedure, four on medical skill, four on care cost, three on friendliness, and three on satisfaction, was administered to 218 residents of the G-disabled community care center. It comprised a Likert 5-point scale (strongly agree, 5 points; agree, 4 points; moderate, 3 points; disagree, 2 points; not at all, 1 point). The reliability of the measurement tool was 0.932 for Cronbach's α. Results: The evaluation of community oral care centers for the disabled showed that the environment was hygienic (4.42±0.73), reservation system was well maintained (4.18±0.95), and the dentist-in-charge was satisfied with the treatment (4.37±0.62). The participants agreed that the details were sufficiently explained (4.29±0.71). However, in terms of medical expenses, the score of "have fully heard the explanation of medical expenses and reductions" was 3.88±0.92. The factors affecting satisfaction were sex, final educational background in the facility environment, usage procedure, and medical skill. Conclusion: To increase the satisfaction of people with disabilities at community oral care centers, it is necessary to establish a facility environment and service according to the patients' need and increase the reduction or exemption benefits between different treatment cost categories. Oral health management policies for the disabled should be developed based on these factors, so that the oral care of vulnerable groups in blind spots can be maintained.