• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.69-84
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine change in adolescent depression across time and to determine the relation between individual and neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) and depression. Methods: This study employed multilevel latent growth analysis using longitudinal data from Korea Children and Youth Panel Survey. A sample of this study consists of 2,351 adolescents who were in first grade of middle school in 2010. Results: Results showed that both initial level and downward trajectory of depression varied significantly across individuals as well as across neighborhoods. On the individual level, self-rated economic condition(b=-0.203, p<.001) was related to the initial level of depression. Adolescents whose father had a high educational level(b=0.028, p<.001) or whose mother had a low educational level(b=-0.022, p=.011) had lower rates of decline in adolescent depression. On the neighborhood level, neighborhood deprivation index (b=0.003, p=.019) and gini coefficient(b=0.124, p=.040) were associated with lower rates of decline in depression. Conclusions: Low SES in adolescence is correlated with worse mental health, especially depression. Social disparities in depression likely originate before adulthood. The findings argue for the importance of understanding depression in adolescence from a multilevel or ecological framework.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.46-54
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• 2022

This is a study using data from the 8th National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to identify the factors that affect the handgrip strength and health status in the elderly. Bivariate logistic regression analysis was performed on 1,470 subjects. As a result of this study, the decrease in grip strength was significantly lower for males, 70-74 or 65-69 years of age, and those who thought their subjective health status was normal or good. The decrease in grip strength was significantly higher when the education level was less than elementary school or middle school, and when the sleeping time was more than 8 hours. Considering the variables affecting hand grip strength, it can be used as basic data when establishing health policies for the elderly or health promotion policies to improve grip strength as a primary prevention activity.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.18-24
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• 2005

The purposes of this study were 1) to investigate the oral health problem of the disabled according to the handicapped types, 2) to collect the empirical data for developing and establishing the oral health policies for the handicapped, and 3) to find out the major obstacles against the dental services and oral health promotion. The handicapped subjects were collected by designed cluster sampling and interviewed with structured questionnaire in order to measure the oral health knowledge and behaviors. The subjects were attending the special schools and private or public welfare institutions for crippled disorder, encephalopathy disorder, mental retardation, visual disturbance, hearing defect, and developmental disorder. Oral examination was conducted by 13 trained dentists. 1,476 of handicapped people were finally surveyed. The results were as follows; The experiences of visiting dental office during the last one year in 18~64 year-old disabled people were 48.86% in crippled disorder, 52.50% in mental retardation, 58.24% in visual disturbance, 39.29% in hearing defect, respectively. To improve this challenging situation, we should find out the obstacles against the dental service and oral hygiene maintenance by the types of handicap, and develop the oral health policies which could support and advocate the Korean disabled.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2014

Background: In Japan, more than 60% of employees are reported to suffer from anxiety and stress. Consequently, Japanese society has begun to address such important issues as psychogenic disability and job-related suicide. Furthermore, given the aging of society and the surge in the number of elderly people requiring care, it is necessary to adequately and proactively support employees who care for their elderly relatives. The purpose of the present study was to investigate caregiver burden in caring for elderly relatives and work-related stress factors associated with mental health among employees. Methods: We studied 722 men and women aged 18-83 years in a cross-sectional study. The K10 questionnaire was used to examine mental health status. Results: The proportion of participants with a high K10 score was 15% (n = 106). Having little conversation with their supervisor and/or coworkers significantly increased the risk of depression [odds ratio (OR) 1.8], as did high job overload (OR 2.7) and job dissatisfaction (OR 3.8), compared with employees who frequently conversed with their supervisor and/or coworkers. Caring for elderly relatives as a prominent characteristic of an employee was a significant risk factor for depression (OR 2.1). Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that employees who were caring for elderly relatives were significantly associated with an increased risk of depression. To prevent depressive disorders, it may be important to focus on reducing the work-caregiving role conflict, as well as enhancing employees' job control and better rewarding their efforts in the workplace.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.493-500
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• 2013

The study aims to determine the status of oral health of mental illness patients and establish the preliminary data. The examinations and questionnaire survey were done 92 psychiatric patients to measure sociodemographic characteristics, decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) index, patient hygiene performance (PHP) index, community periodontal index of treatment need (CPITN). Result of the missing teeth index in the state of oral health was higher in the hospital group (6.42) while the filled teeth index was higher in the center group (4.78). In the DMFT index, mental illness patients were higher than the national sample. The oral health status of medical aid recipients was poorer as the subjects were older and less educated (p<0.05). The PHP index was 3.41, close to the bad oral hygiene state. The hospital group (81.7%) required higher need for periodontal treatment. The periodontal health state was much poorer especially when the subject was in the age of 40's and 60's, received less education, and had no family (p<0.05). $CPITN_3$ was higher in the hospital group (13.3%) than the national sample (5.7%). The mental illness patients were socially vulnerable, therefore oral health care program should be needed and age, education level, health insurance type, presence of family and other factors needs to be considered in this approach.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.26-34
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• 2018

Objectives : This study tried to explore the prevalence of chronic physical diseases in patients with schizophrenia and its effects on total medical costs. Methods : The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service data in 2014-2015 was employed. Only the injuries and diseases, identically diagnosed 3 times or more as a major or minor injury and disease, were classified into chronic physical diseases to improve data accuracy. Total medical costs included out-of-pocket and insurer's costs from health care system perspective. Results : It was shown that 24.5%, 17.3% and 23.4% of schizophrenia patients had one, two and three or more chronic physical diseases, respectively. There was a high prevalence of not only metabolic, but also musculoskeletal, diseases in those patients. The amount of 2015 total medical costs of patients with schizophrenia in 2014 was about 1.08 trillion won. The factors affecting the costs included sex, age, number of chronic physical diseases, and health insurance status. Conclusions : It is considered that clinical practice guidelines based on personal diseases may not sufficiently solve the problems for comorbidities in schizophrenia patients. Accordingly, it should be required to develop models for new types of medical systems capable of treating and caring varied illnesses at the same time.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.41-54
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• 1999

Health behaviors determine people's health status and the Quality of their life. Health education is the most effective method to change people's health behaviors in modem life. Therefore health education for adolescents is essencial to form desirable health behaviors and improve the Quality of their life. This study was administered to analyze important needs for the health education among Chinese, Korean -Chinese adolescents in Gilin, China and Korean adolescents in Seoul. Korea. The data were collected from 387 chinese and 74 Korean-Chinese boys and girls of 3 high schools in Gilin, China and 359 boys and girls of 3 high schools in Seoul, Korea. The results were as follow: 1. Forty percent of Korean students were sick during the past 4 weeks, but only 10.8％ of Korean-Chinese students and 9％ of Chinese students were sick. More than 70％ of Chinese and Korean-Chinese students had health concern, but only 26.6％ of Korean students were interested in health. 2. Korean-Chinese and Chinese students had higher health education needs than the Korean. They were not interested in sex education. On the other hand, Korean students were interested in mental health and not interested in consumer health education. 3. Korean-Chinese students had more health education needs than Chinese or Korean adolescents and the difference was statistically significant (p〈0.05). 4. In Korean-Chinese students, family income and academic grades were significantly related to their health education needs (p〈0.05). Among Chinese students, recent illness was related to their health education needs. In Korean students, the better health status and the more family income. the higher health education needs.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.240-251
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• 2012

Assessment regarding the nutritional status of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients is important because their nutritional status influences the outcome of disease. The purpose of this study investigated the dietary habits, dietary quality, and quality of life for Korean PD patients according to their nutritional status. Seventy PD patients were recruited from K University Hospital (KMC IRB#0918-07) from February 2010 to October 2011. To diagnose PD, the United Kingdom Parkinson's Society Brain Bank standards were used by a neurology physician. The participants were interviewed and assessed using various tools, including a general questionnaire, anthropometrics, questionnaires for dietary habits, dietary diversity score (DVS), dietary variety score (DVS), diet quality index-international (DQI-I), beck depression inventory (BDI), the Korean version of mini mental state examination (K-MMSE), and 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36). The results of the study were as follows: 1) Most of the PD patients (69.0%) were at risk of malnutrition, and 8.5% and 22.5% of the subjects were malnourished and well-nourished, respectively. 2) Clinical symptoms (swallowing and chewing difficulties) were obvious, and the quality of diet (DDS, DVS, DQI-I) was low in the malnourished group (p < 0.01). 3) The malnourished group had significantly lower scores regarding SF-36 (quality of life) as well as that of cognitive function (p < 0.05). 4) The nutritional status of PD patients was significantly correlated with their depression (p < 0.05) and quality of life (p < 0.01). These results indicate that appropriate nutritional management will improve the nutritional status and quality of life as well as the cognitive function in Parkinson's disease patients.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.94-104
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• 2015

Objectives: Mental health disorders and suicide are an important and growing public health concern in Korea. Evidence has shown that both globally and in Korea, obesity is associated with an increased risk of developing some psychiatric disorders. Therefore, we examined the association between distorted body weight perception (BWP) and suicidal ideation. Methods: Data were obtained from the 2007-2012 Korea National Health and Nutritional Evaluation Survey (KNHANES), an annual cross-sectional nationwide survey that included 14 276 men and 19 428 women. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to investigate the associations between nine BWP categories, which combined body image (BI) and body mass index (BMI) categories, and suicidal ideation. Moreover, the fitness of our models was verified using the Akaike information criterion. Results: Consistent with previous studies, suicidal ideation was associated with marital status, household income, education level, and perceived health status in both genders. Only women were significantly more likely to have distorted BWP; there was no relationship among men. In category B1 (low BMI and normal BI), women (odds ratio [OR], 2.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.48 to 3.42) were more likely to express suicidal ideation than women in category B2 (normal BMI and normal BI) were. Women in overweight BWP category C2 (normal BMI and fat BI) also had an increased OR for suicidal ideation (OR, 2.25; 95% CI, 1.48 to 3.42). Those in normal BWP categories were not likely to have suicidal ideation. Among women in the underweight BWP categories, only the OR for those in category A2 (normal BMI and thin BI) was significant (OR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.59). Conclusions: Distorted BWP should be considered an important factor in the prevention of suicide and for the improvement of mental health among Korean adults, especially Korean women with distorted BWPs.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.412-421
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• 2019

Background: The purpose of this study was to identify the status of Successful Aging among the elderly aged 65 and over in rural areas and to compare factors related with Successful Aging between "kyung-ro-dang" users and non-users. Methods: A total of 181 elderly aged 65 or older were selected from four districts (Heung-upri, Mejiri, Sajerri, and Daeanri) of Wonju city. A survey method using face to face interviews was applied to collect information. Successful aging was measured on a 5-point Likert-type scale using the successful aging scale developed for the Korean elderly, which indicates the higher the score, the higher the level of successful aging. Descriptive statistics, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were computed; the level of significance was set at 5%. Hierarchical polynomial regression was applied to find out the factors associated with successful aging. Results: Of the total, 112 elders used kyung-ro-dang and 69 elders who did not use kyung-ro-dang. The level of successful aging of the elderly was higher among kyung-ro-dang users than non-users. The factors related to successful aging among kyung-ro-dang users were walking and social participation. Users who walk more than 4 times per week and social participation activities have a higher level of satisfaction. In the case of non-users, a higher level of monthly income, having a spouse, social support, and social participation associated with a higher level of successful aging. Conclusion: Monthly income, social participation, and social factors were found to be related to successful aging along with physical and mental health conditions among the elderly in rural areas. Therefore, it can be concluded that income, social as well as mental and physical factors, are more critical for successful aging in the rural community care in Korea.