• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.92-99
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• 2016

Purpose: The use of flumazenil administration in the emergency department is still controversial because of concerns about adverse effects. The present study was conducted to re-evaluate the risk-benefit ratio associated with flumazenil administration to patients suspected of having acute hypnotics and sedatives poisoning in the emergency department. Methods: A retrospective chart review study was conducted for patients whose final diagnoses were "poisoning" and "benzodiazepine" or "sedatives-hypnotics" from Mar. 2006 to Feb. 2015. The basal characteristics of the patients, including past medical history, ingredients and dose of ingested drug and co-ingested drugs were investigated. For patients administered flumazenil, responsiveness and time from admission to flumazenil administration were investigated with supplement. All collected data were analyzed in aspect terms of risk/benefit. Results: A total of 678 patients were included in our study. Benzodiazepine was the most common sedative/hypnotic drug prescribed, and the frequency of prescription continuously increased. The proportion of TCA as co-ingestion decreased from 13.1% to 3.9% in patients with acute sedative/hypnotic poisoning. Flumazenil was administered to 55 patients (8.1%), of which 29 patients (52.7%) were applied to contraindications. Fifty-three patients (96.4%) showed positive responsiveness, including partial responsiveness after flumazenil administration. No severe adverse events were identified. Conclusion: Based on the current trends in prescription patterns for sedative/hypnotic drugs, increased use of non-TCA antidepressants, and responsiveness to administration of flumazenil, benefit seemed weighted more in this study, although the observed benefits were based on limited results. Further prospective multicenter studies will be needed to optimize benefit-risk ratio.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.28-40
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• 2014

Objectives: Prescriptions for Parkinson's can be dispensed at the outpatient pharmacy. In general, the treatment of Parkinson's disease requires a multitude of drugs, sometimes taken 4 to 6 times a day at specific times as prescribed by the medical practitioner. Said "time-specific therapy" is one of the major reasons of dispensing delay observed at the outpatient pharmacy. Because our establishment lacked a computerized system to support time-specific prescriptions, they were not recognized electronically. They had to be issued and dispensed manually, which required a greater amount of time than the automated process. To solve the problem, a new sig code was developed to handle time-specific prescriptions with a comprehensive automated dispensing system to support it. This study aims to create electronic programs and streamline the process to increase dispensing performance. And thus, ensure greater patient safety and dispensing accuracy within a shorter dispensing time and also increase employee satisfaction through a decreased workload. Methods: After identifying the problems caused by non-electronic prescriptions an automated system that allowed the issuance of time-specific prescriptions was developed. A new sig code was created that could be recognized by the Pharmacy electronic medical program, the label printer to group medications by administration times and the Automatic Tablet Counter(ATC) to count the grouped drugs accordingly. Result: With the new sig code, the practitioner became able to electronically select the times of drug administration while issuing the prescription. This 'time-specific prescription' can now be recognized by the pharmacy electronic medical program, the label printer and the ATC like any other prescription. Conclusion: The developed program started operating on September 2013. Although not all Parkinson's patients have been issued with the new electronic 'time-specific prescription', the overall dispensing process has become more streamlined and accurate. As the medical team continues to integrate the new system in their practice an additional decrease of the dispensing time is predicted. Future program upgrades and other new time-saving approaches are scheduled, which are expected to further increase the service quality of our outpatient pharmacy.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.86-94
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• 2022

Purpose: Patients experiencing chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) apply various palliative care as well as drugs in their daily life to alleviate symptoms. There is a need to identify the influence of these efforts and patients' psychosocial status on the relief of CIPN symptoms. This short-term prospective study investigated how prescription drugs, non-pharmacological behaviors (exercise, massage, and heat therapy), and psychological states (social support, depression, and anxiety) affected CIPN symptoms. Methods: Participants scheduled to receive postoperative platinum or taxane-based chemotherapy were enrolled consecutively. CIPN was measured with the Neurotoxicity-12 subscale of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy/Gynecologic Oncology Group-Neurotoxicity-12 instrument. Data were collected three times during the 4 or 5 cycles of chemotherapy. Results: At the end of the 2nd chemotherapy cycle, 93.1% of participants reported CIPN symptoms. Multiple regression analyses showed that a heat therapy (β= -.34, p< .001), massage (β= -.21, p= .012), and walking 5 times or more per week (β= -.26, p= .021) provided relieve for CIPN symptoms. Depression (β= .19, p= .027) significantly exacerbated CIPN symptoms. Conclusion: These results suggested that a comprehensive management program that includes walking, heat therapy, massage, and mood therapy should be encouraged. Moreover, patients should be educated at chemotherapy initiation to understand appropriate interventions that can relieve CIPN symptoms.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.150-156
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• 2004

Objectives : To investigate the utilization patterns of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) among the elderly with osteoarthritis (OA) undergoing primary ambulatory care in Busan metropolitan city, Korea. Methods : OA patients, aged 65 years and over, were identified from the Korean National Health Insurance Review Agency drug prescription database. The subjects had at least one episode of claim for OA (ICD-10-CM: M15-M19) between August 1, 2000 and February 28, 2002. Trends in the determinations of NSAIDs utilization were identified using chi-squared tests for trend. Results : There were 47,711 osteoarthritic patients. The total number of visits by these patients was 177,443, with a total frequency for NSAID prescriptions of 214,952. Seventy-nine percent of the OA patients were female. NSAIDs were prescribed on 133,284 visits (75.1%) and the proportion of prescriptions was significantly increased with age. Only the proportion of visit when NSAIDs were prescribed decreased, from 65.1 to 43.5%, during the study period (p<0.001). However, the proportion of combined treatments with anti-ulcer drugs was increased. The use of NSAIDs injections was decreased. Of the individual NSAIDs, diclofenac (28.7% of total frequency of NSAID prescriptions), piroxicam (15.0%) and talniflumate (8.7%), were the most frequently prescribed. Among the NSAIDs prescribed OA visits, 45.7% used two or more NSAIDs. Conclusion : The total proportion of NSAIDs prescribed to the osteoarthritic patients was higher than in other studies. The decline in the use of NSAIDs during the study period, and the frequent selection of safer medications, such as combination therapy with anti-ulcer drug, may reflect the risk awareness of the use of NSAIDs.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.84-92
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• 2022

Background: Topical corticosteroids (TCs) are available both as over-the-counter drugs and prescription medicines at pharmacies. Although they are generally safe drugs, inappropriate and excessive use could result in potential side effects. Thus, it is important to have appropriate knowledge regarding the use of TCs. We performed a cross-sectional survey to assess public knowledge and the potential misuse or overuse of TCs. Methods: A cross-sectional and nationwide online survey was conducted among participants who were aware of TCs. The survey items included sources of information, indications, potential side effects, and methods of application of TCs. A comparative analysis was conducted between those with (TC users) and without (TC non-users) an experience of using TCs. Results: Among 3,000 participants, 74.4% were TC users. The mass media was the most common information source of TCs, and only one-third of the surveyed people relied on pharmacists or doctors for information. Regarding indications and application methods, incorrect answer rate was high in some items, but respondents showed adequate knowledge. However, awareness of the safety of TCs was low. Overall, the TC users showed a higher knowledge of TCs than TC non-users. Conclusions: Public knowledge of the use of TCs appears to be appropriate. However, we found potential misuse or overuse of some items and a lack of awareness of the side effects concerning TCs. Thus, healthcare professionals' significant role is required.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.171-209
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• 2022

There were also many medical-related rulings in 2021, among which the rulings reviewed in this paper are as follows. The first relates to a case in which the medical record, which is the primary judgment data regarding the presence or absence of medical negligence, has been modified. The court judged whether there was negligence on the basis of the first written medical record without considering the contents of the medical record that was later modified. Next, the ruling on the case of asking for liability for damages for prescription of anti-obesity drugs recognized negligence related to prescription, but denied liability for property damage by denying a causal relationship, and recognized only alimony for violation of the duty of explanation. The a full-bench ruling on the scope of subrogation of the National Health Insurance Corporation, which subrogates the claims for compensation for medical expenses against the perpetrator of the patient, changed the existing precedent that had taken the 'deduction method after offsetting negligence' and judged it as 'the method of offsetting negligence after deduction'. In addition, in the ruling on whether or not there was negligence, the court was not bound by the medical record appraisal result. Lastly, in relation to the National Health Insurance Service's disposition of reimbursement for medical care benefit costs, we reviewed the ruling that discretion should be exercised even when a non-medical person makes a refund to a medical institution opened by a non-medical person. And we also reviewed the ruling that the scope of reimbursement for medical institutions jointly using facilities and manpower specifically should be determined.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.63-69
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• 2014

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the difference between male and female in some clinically meaningful aspects and to prevent intentional poisoning in children and adolescents. Methods: Retrograde medical records review of patients who visited the emergency department of two secondary hospitals for drug ingestion from March 2010 through March 2013 was performed. Unintentional ingestion or ingestion by others was excluded. Results: A total of 138 cases were reported, male 25.4% (n=35), female 74.6% (n=103). The reason for poisoning was intentional in 132 cases (95.7%) and misuse in six cases (4.3%). In female patients, non-prescription drugs was the most common cause of intentional poisoning (68.9%). Male patients tend to use life substances for intentional poisoning more frequently (20.0%) than female (3.9%). Seven male patients and 12 female patients had previous psychiatric history and 34.3% of male and 41.7% of female were consulted to the psychiatric department. Conclusion: Female adolescents are more likely to ingest drugs intentionally for suicide attempt than males of comparable ages. The drugs they ingested were, in many cases, obtained with ease from the drug store nearby and, remarkably, most of the drugs they obtained in that way were acetaminophen-containing. This suggests that some guidelines or control in the pharmacy that restrict children or adolescents from obtaining potentially or possibly life-threatening drugs might be necessary. In addition, education regarding drugs is thought to be necessary in school for teenagers as they tend to misuse them with incorrect acknowledgement.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.138-144
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• 2015

Objective: It is to evaluate the drug interaction monitoring program as a pilot project to develop a pharmaceutical care model in a medical intensive care unit and to analyze the influencing factors of drug interactions. Method: Electronic medical records were retrospectively investigated for 116 patients who had been hospitalized in a medical intensive care unit from October to December in 2014. The prevalence of adverse reaction with risk rating higher than 'D' was investigated by Lexi-$Comp^{(R)}$ Online database. The factors related with potential drug interaction and with treatment outcomes were analyzed. Results: The number of patients with a potential interaction of drug combination was 92 (79.3%). Average ages, the length of stay in the intensive care unit and the numbers of prescription drugs showed significant differences between drug interaction group and non-drug interaction group. Opioids (14.4%), antibiotics (7.2%), and diuretics (7.2%) were most responsible drug classes for drug interactions and the individual medications included furosemide (6.4%), tramadol (4.9%), and remifentanil (4.5%). There were 950 cases with a risk rating of 'C' (84.6%), 142 cases with a risk rating of 'D' (12.6%), and 31 cases with a risk rating of 'X' (avoid combination) (2.8%). The factors affecting drug interactions were the number of drugs prescribed (p < 0.0001) and the length of stay at intensive care unit (p < 0.01). The patients in intensive care unit showed a high incidence of adverse reactions related to potential drug interaction. Therefore, drug interaction monitoring program as a one of pharmaceutical care services was successfully piloted and it showed to prevent adverse reaction and to improve therapeutic outcomes. Conclusion: Active participation of a pharmacist in the drug management at the intensive care unit should be considered.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.35-46
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• 2014

Background: This paper describes the relationship and effect of health examination on personal medical cost by identifying the difference of the cost for medical care in physician visit between the population without and with health examination. Methods: After classifying into three cohorts in which, independent variables were designed according to the Andersen's behavioral model, the association of personal medical cost for medical care and prescription drugs which is dependent variable was analyzed by t-test and Mann-Whitney test for description and gamma regression model for inference. Results: In personal average medical cost, the population with health examination paid significantly more than without health examination, 11.6% more in cohort 2008, 26.6% more in cohort 2009, and 48.0% more in combined cohort. The odds ratio on medical expenditure of outpatients with health examination was 1.067, 1.126, 1.398 significantly in cohort 2008, 2009, and combined cohort respectively, comparing to the group without health examination. In independent variables, that is female, the elderly, never married, non-working, non-metropolitan, the higher family income, the smaller family size, people with disability, the people with chronic disease, and people with health examination have significantly being paid more tendency showing positive association with medical cost. Conclusion: This result showed that medical expenditure in physician visit has been increased after taking a health examination. Therefore reasonable limitation of getting preventive medical service is suggested to avoid medical shopping around and reduce being repeated health examination by unifying control to find out easily the clinical results from various medical facilities.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.255-264
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• 2014

Objective: The aims of this study are to investigate the total volume of prescribed medicines against Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the trends of usage by analyzing the claims-data from the Korea National Health Insurance Service. Method: The demographic and claims-data were included the major AD treating medicines such as donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine and memantine, and analyzed during the period of 2010~2012. The assessing criteria were gender, age, habitation, types of medical institution, code of ingredients, outcomes of treatment, volume and amount of claims, and the numbers of patients with dementias. After trimming the data, it were analyzed by the market size, demographic traits, characteristics of medical service, characteristics of each anti-AD medicine, etc. Results: Among the chosen 4 medicines, donepezil had the top prescription volumes. Most prevalent prescribing preparations of donepezil were conventional types. However, among the non-conventional types, oro-dispersible formulation is the fast increasing one in both volume and growth rate. This specialized preparations to improve both toleration and adherence, tend to being prescribed generally at the tertiary medical institutions. While the younger patients with mild-to-moderate AD mostly treated by expensive medicines in resident at the tertiary hospitals, the rest older patients with severe AD have been treated non-expensive one at long-term care facilities. Conclusion: AD is a chronic illness therefore, long-term use of therapeutic medications are highly important. If an anti-AD treatment was applied steadily in the earlier stages, it would be achieved not only improving the quality of life of patient but also reducing the expenses in the medical and nursing cares. As the socioeconomical impacts of AD is expanding, healthcare professionals need to aware the importance of pharmacotherapy and to improve sociopolitical fundamentals.