• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2023

In 1945, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Approximately 70 000 Koreans are estimated to have been exposed to radiation from atomic bombs at that time. After Korea's Liberation Day, approximately 23 000 of these people returned to Korea. To investigate the long-term health and hereditary effects of atomic bomb exposure on the offspring, cohort studies have been conducted on atomic bomb survivors in Japan. This study is an ongoing cohort study to determine the health status of Korean atomic bomb survivors and investigate whether any health effects were inherited by their offspring. Atomic bomb survivors are defined by the Special Act On the Support for Korean Atomic Bomb Victims, and their offspring are identified by participating atomic bomb survivors. As of 2024, we plan to recruit 1500 atomic bomb survivors and their offspring, including 200 trios with more than 300 people. Questionnaires regarding socio-demographic factors, health behaviors, past medical history, laboratory tests, and pedigree information comprise the data collected to minimize survival bias. For the 200 trios, whole-genome analysis is planned to identify de novo mutations in atomic bomb survivors and to compare the prevalence of de novo mutations with trios in the general population. Active follow-up based on telephone surveys and passive follow-up with linkage to the Korean Red Cross, National Health Insurance Service, death registry, and Korea Central Cancer Registry data are ongoing. By combining pedigree information with the findings of trio-based whole-genome analysis, the results will elucidate the hereditary health effects of atomic bomb exposure.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.291-302
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• 2023

Objectives: Disability weights require regular updates, as they are influenced by both diseases and societal perceptions. Consequently, it is necessary to develop an up-to-date list of the causes of diseases and establish a survey panel for estimating disability weights. Accordingly, this study was conducted to calculate, assess, modify, and validate disability weights suitable for Korea, accounting for its cultural and social characteristics. Methods: The 380 causes of disease used in the survey were derived from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network and from 2019 and 2020 Korean studies on disability weights for causes of disease. Disability weights were reanalyzed by integrating the findings of an earlier survey on disability weights in Korea with those of the additional survey conducted in this study. The responses were transformed into paired comparisons and analyzed using probit regression analysis. Coefficients for the causes of disease were converted into predicted probabilities, and disability weights in 2 models (model 1 and 2) were rescaled using a normal distribution and the natural logarithm, respectively. Results: The mean values for the 380 causes of disease in models 1 and 2 were 0.488 and 0.369, respectively. Both models exhibited the same order of disability weights. The disability weights for the 300 causes of disease present in both the current and 2019 studies demonstrated a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.994 (p=0.001 for both models). This study presents a detailed add-on approach for calculating disability weights. Conclusions: This method can be employed in other countries to obtain timely disability weight estimations.

• Information Systems Review
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.275-295
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• 2005

Changes in business environment caused by globalization of the world economy and the beginning of the knowledge society forced hospitals to equip with tools for the enhanced competitiveness. In other words, hospitals must aim three targets such as acquisition of advanced medical skills and equipments, improvement of service level for patients, and achievement of superior managerial performance simultaneously. This study has been done to suggest a way to reduce the possibility of hospital bill claim reduction as an alternative for the achievement of superior managerial performance. If the reduction rate of hospital bill claim is high, it will put negative impact on the hospital's revenue stream and hospital's reliability. Thus, if they want to stay competitive, hospitals need to device ways to cut the reduction rate as much as possible. In this study, a prototype system has been developed and implemented to check the possibility to cut the reduction rate through deep analysis of causes of reduction. The prototype first developed utilizing data mining techniques and the relation rules algorithm. Then the prototype was tested its performance using the D hospital's live data.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.132-146
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• 1998

This Study was attempted to provide the basic data necessary in the development and introduction of Home Health Nursing System by investigating the recognition and attitude level of Home Health Nursing System. The data were collected by means of questionaires presented to 74 patients who had been admitted in C general hospital in Chon Ju, from June 30, 1997. As the tool for this study, the questionares developed by Kim Yong. Soon, et al (1990) and Han Bok Hee(1993) were modified and supplemented for the aim of this study. The computer was used for data analysis. The items about the charateristics of the subjects and the attitude to the management plan of Home Health Nursing System were represented as the frequency and percentage. The standard deviation and calculation average were produced on the items related to definition, recognition, necessity, expected effect of the attitude of Home Health Nursing System and the items related to admission. The ANOVA test was .used according to the characteristics of variables to analyze the necessity and difference of Home Health Nursing System. The results of this study were as follows 1) The general characteristics of the subjects were as follows ; for sex, man, $58.1\%$ ; for age, 50-59 years, $29.7\%$ ; for the level of education, high school, $51.4\%$ ; $79.7\%$ of them were married; for the family forms, small family, $73.0\%$ ; and $68.9\%$ of them take the monthly income over 100 million won. 2) The characteristics related to admissions of the subjects were as follows ; for clinic, surgical department, $78.4\%$ ; addmission not more then 7days, $47.3\%$ ; for the operation-performance $71.6\%$ of them were experienced; for the admission route, via outpatients clinic, $54.1\%$ ; for waiting period to the admission day, 1-2 days, $71.6\%$. 3) The difficulties comming from the hospitalization were related mostly to the factor that they felt hospital life more inconvenient than home.(3.66) The reasons for the difficulties in the admission which was due to insufficient beds in the hospital was related to the concentration to the general hospital because of 'The Whole National Medical Insurance System'(4.05). 4) On the previous informations about the Home Health Nursing System, those who have heard of only the name were 42 $(56.8\%)$, and on the recognition of it, they thought that it is periodic treatment by the licenced nurses for the recovering pateints after early discharge(3.73). On the attitude about the necessity of Home Health Nursing System, they thought that it is necessary because of the increasing trend of a psychological disease by the change of environment and complexity of the social structure(4.24). On the expected effect of Home Health Nursing System, they answered that it is convinient for the family of the patient to take care of them(4.l8). 5) On the attitude to the management plan of the Home Health Nursing System, those who had intention to participate in the system in the case of systemic support were 42(56.8). In the visiting time, 'visit periodically' and 'visit when the patient needs' were $28(37.8\%)$ respectively. For the application of medical insurance, if possoble, they will use $(91.9\%)$; for the method of payment for the treatment, 'pay by the time required' was $23(31.1\%)$, for the subject of management, 'National public institute must operate' was $33(44.6\%)$. 6) The relationship between the general characteristics of the subjects and the necessity of Home Health Nursing System showed the notable difference in the age (F=3.508, P<0.05) and marrage state (F=5.402, P<.023).

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.595-601
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• 1993

Background: Today, tuberculosis continues as an important cause of death in Korea despite the effective treatment and prevention. So we have studied charicteristic distribution of death by pulmonary tuberculosis through epidemiologic survey. Subjects and Method: The mortality data were obtained from 684 pulmonary tuberculosis cases who died in a tuberculosis-centered hospital in Seoul during the period of 5 years from 1986 to 1990. In order to estimate the distribution of death by tuberculosis, t-test and $x^2$-text were performed on the data. Results: 1) 19.9% of patients died among the total 3,441 hospitalized pulmonary tuberculosis cases during 5 years. 2) In distribution of sex and age, male death occupies 81% of total death. Significantly high proportions of younger female death (under 40 years-old) were also observed. 3) In terms of medical security status, medical assistance group occupies 42.3% of medical insurance group while the non-security group also occupies 11.8% of total death. 4) Treatment interruption was observed in 78% of total death. Conclusion: Special attention should be given to the identification, management and follow up of high risk group in nationwide tuberculosis control program.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.130-137
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• 2022

Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, appropriate management of sequelae and treatment of infectious symptoms became increasingly important healthcare issues. Although the practice guidelines and treatment cases based on the East Asian traditional medicine have been reported, there are rare studies on the use of Korean medicine in Korea. Therefore, this study aimed to present the progress of non-contact Korean medical treatment for infected patients at a local public health center using retrospective chart review. A total of 18 patients were prescribed with 5 days of herbal decoction and medicine extract covered by the national health insurance. With the questionnaire form, the progression and improvement of symptoms before and after treatment were evaluated using the numerical rating scale (NRS), and the treatment satisfaction and opinions were obtained. The symptoms such as cough (5.56±2.23 to 2.89±2.14), sputum (6.11±1,75 to 3.28±2.47), sore throat (6.06±2.70 to 1.47±1.62), anorexia (5.56±2.63 to 1.94±2.21), nausea (3.75±1.71 to 1.17±1.11), diarrhea (3.40±2.63 to 1.50±1.51), chest tightness (4.93±2.46 to 2.29±2.30) and fatigue (6.44±1.79 to 2.67±1.88) all improved according to the NRS, and the satisfaction with herbal medicine treatment on a 5-point Likert scale was 4.24±0.90. No side effects and adverse reactions were reported. Thereupon non-contact Korean medical treatment can be concluded that it effectively reduces the COVID-19 infection mild symptoms in restrictive extent. Since the retrospective data does not include a control group, the more confirmative data is needed by multicenter and large-scale controlled clinical study afterwards.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.143-153
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• 2013

Objective : This study was done to define the treatment protocol of Traditional Korean Medicine for persistent allergic rhinitis, which might be necessary for conducting PRCT study. Methods : Data were collected by questionnaire from Korean Medicine doctors participated in the Conference of The Korean Oriental Medical Ophthalmology & Otolaryngology & Dermatology Society in October 2012. We investigated their treatment procedures for persistent allergic rhinitis in ordinary clinical settings. Their treatment patterns including annual treatment period, frequencies and treatment times were also investigated. Finally, we combined the national insurance covered or out-of-pocket treatments as treatment packages according to the response rates of each contents, and displayed them as treatment protocols for PRCT study. Results : 50 Korean medicine doctors described the informed consent and questionnaire. Response rates of each treatment procedure were listed in Table 2 to Table 5. Treatment periods, frequencies and treatment time of each visit were listed in Table 6. Finally, treatment packages which would be defined for PRCT were listed in Table 7 as treatment package 1(response rates were over 50%), package 2(response rates were over 25%), package 3(response rates were over10%). Conclusion : These results provide the rational background and preliminary sources of defining treatment packages for developing PRCT protocols.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.229-234
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• 2016

PURPOSE. The purpose of this study was to investigate the demographic patterns of maxillofacial prosthetic treatment to identify the characteristics and geographic distribution of patients with maxillofacial prosthetics in the capital region of Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS. This retrospective analytical multicenter study was performed by chart reviews. This study included patients who visited the department of prosthodontics at four university dental hospitals for maxillofacial prosthetic rehabilitation. Patients with facial and congenital defects or with insufficient medical data were excluded. The patients were classified into three categories based on the location of the defect. Patients' sex, age, and residential area were analyzed. Pearson's chi-square test with a significance level of 0.05 was used to analyze the variables. RESULTS. Among 540 patients with maxillofacial prosthetics, there were 284 (52.59%) male patients and 256 (47.41%) female patients. The number of the patients varied greatly by hospital. Most patients were older than 70, and the most common defect was a hard palate defect. Chi-square analysis did not identify any significant differences in sex, age, and distance to hospital for any defect group (P>.05). CONCLUSION. The results of this study indicated that there was imbalance in the distribution of patients with maxillofacial prosthetic among the hospitals in the capital region of Korea. Considerations on specialists and insurance policies for the improvement of maxillofacial prosthetics in Korea are required.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.278-285
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• 2019

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis is highly prevalent in overweight patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and can be reduced by physical activity via altered proinflammatory parameters. However, the association between the frequency of physical activity and the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis in prediabetic patients remains unclear and was evaluated in this study. Methods: Utilizing the Korean National Health Insurance Sharing Service database, 58,391 adults, who met the research criteria and underwent a general medical check-up between 2009 and 2013, were selected for this study. To analyze the data, a logistic regression with a proc survey logistic procedure was used. Results: The study revealed that the cumulative rheumatoid arthritis prevalence was lower in prediabetic patients compared to that in the control group (OR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.483-0.840; p=0.001). More frequent physical activity (≥3 days/week) was significantly associated with a reduced rheumatoid arthritis prevalence in both groups (OR, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.039-0.521; p=0.044 vs. OR, 0.15; 95% CI, 0.063-0.237; p=0.007). Additionally, a 3.8-fold higher risk of rheumatoid arthritis development was observed in prediabetic adults with less frequent baseline physical activity (≤2 days/week). Overall, in prediabetes, the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis was associated with the frequency of physical activity and not with the fasting plasma glucose levels. Conclusion: More frequent physical activity is associated with a low risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis in prediabetic patients. Thus, further studies are needed to confirm the clinical outcomes of frequent physical activity in rheumatoid arthritis prevention and control.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.134-140
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• 2019

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Excessive sugar consumption may increase the risk for development of several diseases. Although average dietary sugar intake of Koreans is within the recommended level, an increasing trend has been found in all age groups. This study aimed to evaluate the population attributable fractions (PAF) to dietary sugar for disease and death in Korea, and to estimate the socioeconomic effects of a reduction in dietary sugar. MATERIALS/METHODS: The prevalence of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) overconsumption (${\geq}20g$ of sugar from beverages) was analyzed using the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2015. Disease-specific relative risks of excessive SSB consumption were obtained through reviewing previous studies. Using the prevalence of SSB overconsumption and each relative risk, PAFs for morbidity and mortality were calculated. Socioeconomic costs of diseases and death attributable to SSB overconsumption were estimated by using representative data on national medical expenditures, health insurance statistics, employment information, and previous reports. RESULTS: Disease-specific PAF to SSB consumption ranged from 3.11% for stroke to 9.05% for obesity and dental caries, respectively. Costs from disease caused by SSB overconsumption was estimated at 594 billion won in 2015. About 39 billion won was estimated to be from SSB consumption-related deaths, and a total of 633 billion won was predicted to have been saved through preventing SSB overconsumption. CONCLUSIONS: Sugars overconsumption causes considerable public burdens, although the cost estimates do not include any informal expenditure. Information on these socioeconomic effects helps both health professionals and policy makers to create and to implement programs for reducing sugar consumption.