• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.49-57
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• 2020

Purpose: This study aimed to identify and compare the risk factors of depression among middle-class Korean workers. Methods: A cross sectional study was designed for secondary data analysis. From the 8th Korean Medical Panel Survey (2008~2013), a total of 3,056 data was drawn and analyzed. With SPSS version 24, a developmental stage comparison, with the stage being young adults (20~39), middle-aged adults (40~64), and older adults (65+) were conducted. Frequency, percentage, 𝑥² test and logistic regression analysis were statistical tools used to analyze the data. Results: In all developmental groups, experience of frustration was found to be a common risk factor of depression. Stress from excessive task, peer-compared subjective health status, and self-perceived social class were risk factors of depression in the young adults and the middle-aged adults. Anxiety for the future significantly influenced depression in the middle-aged adults and older adults. Conclusion: Experience of frustration was a major risk factor of depression among Korean middle-class workers. Interventions to reduce depression need to be developed focusing on the specific risk factors by developmental stages such as experience of frustration, stress from task burden, poor peer-compared subjective health status and anxiety for the future.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.511-516
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• 2018

This study examined the effectiveness of a short thumb splint and a glove type splint which combined features of a fitness glove in order to improve hand function and performance of functional task after traumatic brain injury. One subject with traumatic brain injury participated in this study and wore a short thumb splint and customized glove type splint. His hand function was significantly improved when comparing to that of not using those splints. In addition, using the glove type splint was more significant to perform functional tasks than using the short thumb splint. The findings of this study identified that hand function of people with traumatic brain injury was improved by using those splints as an occupational therapy service and it is necessary to adapt the customized splints according to the personal characteristics.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.319-325
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• 2018

Background: Prolonged neck flexion during smartphone use is known as a factor of neck pain and alteration of neck muscle activity. Studies on the effects of shoulder taping on neck discomfort and neck muscle responses while texting on a smartphone are still lacking. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of shoulder taping on neck discomfort using a numerical rating scale, and neck muscle activity and fatigue using a surface electromyography during a texting task on a touchscreen smartphone. Methods: Twenty-five healthy adolescents used the dominant hand to perform a 30-minute texting task using a touchscreen smartphone at two separate times under one of the following two conditions: taping across the upper trapezius muscle and no taping. Neck discomfort, normalized root mean square, and normalized median frequency slopes for upper trapezius, cervical erector spinae, and sternocleidomastoid muscles were recorded. Results: The results revealed that shoulder taping provided significantly lower neck discomfort than no taping (p < 0.001). However, shoulder taping did not significantly alter normalized root mean square and normalized median frequency slope values of all muscles when compared with no taping controls. Conclusion: Shoulder taping reduces neck discomfort but does not affect neck muscle activity and fatigue while texting on a touchscreen smartphone.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.266-273
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• 2021

Objective: The objective of this study was to suggest improvement methods for investigations and systems through a review of musculoskeletal risk factor investigation reports conducted in the workplace. Methods: A total of 34 reports on musculoskeletal risk factor investigations were reviewed. To confirm the appropriateness of the evaluation, reevaluation was conducted through a field investigation using other evaluation tools. In order to understand the effectiveness of the improvement plan, a survey was conducted with those in charge of tasks with ergonomic burdens. Results: As a result of performing a field survey using the work sampling method recommended by the KOSHA (Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency) for ten tasks, eight tasks were determined to pose an ergonomic burden. When 30 tasks were evaluated with RULA (rapid entire body assessment), 90% of them were evaluated at a higher level than the results of the workplace survey. Among the improvement measures, only 36% of the field workers affirmed them, and in only 19% of the workplaces were actual improvements made. Conclusions: In order to improve the ergonomic investigation system for risk factors in the ergonomic burden task, it is necessary to secure the objectivity of the evaluation performed by the institution and enable the active participation of workers in improvement activities.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.53-74
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• 2021

Objective : The purpose of this study was to examine foreign literature on the evaluation and interventions for motor functions in children. Methods : Studies in this review were identified by searching the PubMed, Cochrane Library (Embase) databases from those published form January 2010 to March 2020 using the following keywords: "motor function test" or "motor function measure" or "movement assessment" or "motor proficiency test" or "motor scale" or "motor skill" and children. Results : Of the total 37 identified studies, 14 analyzed evaluations, 23 analyzed interventions, all of which were randomized control trials. Studies on evaluations were increasingly more common, in contrast to studies on interventions for motor functions. The most frequent field of research was rehabilitation. The studies on evaluations included the AIMS and MABC-II, and GMFM was the most frequently used intervention. Interventions were most commonly used in task-oriented training (six studies). Conclusion : This study aimed to provide a basis for therapists to choose effective motor function evaluation and interventions for clinical trials by analyzing studies related to interventions for and evaluation of motor function in children.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.61-70
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• 2021

This study aimed to analyze the research trends of the abstract data of ergonomic studies registered in MEDLINE, a medical bibliographic database, using word embedding. Medical-related ergonomic studies mainly focus on work-related musculoskeletal disorders, and there are no studies on the analysis of words as data using natural language processing techniques, such as word embedding. In this study, the abstract data of ergonomic studies were extracted with a program written with selenium and BeutifulSoup modules using python. The word embedding of the abstract data was performed using the word2vec model, after which the data found in the abstract were vectorized. The vectorized data were visualized in two dimensions using t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE). The word "ergonomics" and ten of the most frequently used words in the abstract were selected as keywords. The results revealed that the most frequently used words in the abstract of ergonomics studies include "use", "work", and "task". In addition, the t-SNE technique revealed that words, such as "workplace", "design", and "engineering," exhibited the highest relevance to ergonomics. The keywords observed in the abstract of ergonomic studies using t-SNE were classified into four groups. Ergonomics studies registered with MEDLINE have investigated the risk factors associated with workers performing an operation or task using tools, and in this study, ergonomics studies were identified by the relationship between keywords using word embedding. The results of this study will provide useful and diverse insights on future research direction on ergonomic studies.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.237-243
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• 2016

Background: This study examined the relationship between interhandle distances and upper limb exertion during simply pushing and pulling of a cart with four swivel wheels, defined by a roll box pallet (RBP) in a Japanese industrial standard. Methods: Six healthy young male participants were asked to push and pull an RBP at a distance of 5.2 m under six conditions corresponding to different interhandle distances (40 cm, 60 cm, and 80 cm) and weights (130 kg and 250 kg). The upper limb exertion was studied by shoulder abduction and flexion, and elbow flexion, as well as surface electromyogram (EMG) in shoulder extensor, and elbow flexor and extensor. Participants were required to provide subjective evaluations on operability after each trial. Results: Subjective operability indicated that a narrower interhandle distance had a better operability for pushing. Interhandle distance was also related to upper limb exertion especially for pushing. A narrow interhandle distance caused smaller shoulder adduction but larger elbow flexion. The normalized EMG data revealed that muscular activity became smaller with a narrow interhandle distance in shoulder extensor. During the pulling task, elbow flexion was smaller at a narrow interhandle distance, although subjective operability and normalized EMG were not significantly varied. Conclusion: A wider interhandle distance, such as 80 cm, was not suitable in the forwardbackward movement of the RBP. Therefore, this study concluded that an interhandle distance of 40 cm would be suitable for pushing and pulling an RBP to protect the workers' hands against the risk of injury by installing inner handles.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.29-38
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• 2015

Objective : The purpose of the study is to propose the treatment methods for problem of handwriting, micrographia in Parkinsons disease. Methods : For this purpose, foreign literatures on the subjects with Parkinsons disease was researched. Results : The results of this review is summarized as follows. The treatment methods for micrographia were applied to external cue and feedback among motor learning strategies in order to improve motor initiation. The external cues included visual, auditory, and verbal stimulations, and feedback strategy was visual stimulation. For writing with external cue or visual feedback, result in expanding the size of the letters in addition, writing task performance is maintained for a short period without those. Conclusion : Further studies are needed to examine the strategy maintained effect for long periods.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.3484-3490
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• 2015

Construction industry has a relatively higher accident rate compared to other industries, especially the serious accident rate including death. Ministry of Employment and Labor has not only implemented safety consciousness but also initiated the basic occupational safety and health training for the construction industry. Despite the effort, only a few sites follow the obligatory task and there are reports stating the effect of the education is minimal. As a result, this research aims to determine and analyze the current state of the basic occupational safety and health training including its lesson plan and method. Furthermore, by analyzing the preliminary study on the effective instructional method, this research suggests an effective method to implement safety consciousness to the workers. An improvement plan is also suggested by supplying appropriate educational material to different workers by differentiating the characteristics and the cause of death at various work types in construction sites.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.271-284
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• 2019

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the process from occurrence of a hospital nurse's suicide to workers' compensation approval, responses of the parties involved, issues debated during approval deliberations, and significant policy changes resulting from the incident. Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews with involved parties and collected various documents, including newspaper articles, forum proceedings, and the agency report on determination of workers' compensation. Content analysis was performed on the collected data. Results: A Joint Task Force continuously reported its progress and findings through mass media such as newspaper, radio, and TV. These activities exerted pressure on a government agency to conduct an occupational disease review and significantly impacted the workers' compensation approval. The agency recognized associations between the hospital's inadequate nurse training and the suicide but did not confirm the excessive overtime and workplace harassment experienced by the nurse as causes of the suicide. This case's media coverage and impact resulted in a law prohibiting workplace harassment and a hospital system dedicating at least one nurse to training activities. Conclusions: This incident had a significant social impact as the first case of workers' compensation approval for a hospital nurse's suicide. However, the case produced no structural changes in nurses' working conditions such as heavy workloads.