• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.667-674
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• 2015

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignancy in Malaysia, where data are limited regarding knowledge and barriers in regard to CRC and screening tests. The aim of the study was to assess these parameters among Malaysians. Materials and Methods: The questionnaires were distributed in the Umra Private Hospital in Selangor. The questionnaire had four parts and covered social-demographic questions, respondent knowledge about CRC and colorectal tests, attitude towards CRC and respondentaction regarding CRC. More than half of Malay participants (total n=187) were female (57.2%) and 36.9% of them were working as professionals. Results: The majority of the participants (93.6%) never had a CRC screening test. The study found that only 10.2% of the study participants did not consider that their chances of getting CRC were high. A high percentage of the participants (43.3%) believed that they would have good chance of survival if the cancer would be found early. About one third of the respondents did not want to do screening because of fear of cancer, and concerns of embarrassment during the procedure adversely affected attitude to CRC screening as well. Age, gender, income, family history of CRC, vegetable intake and physical activity were found to be significant determinants of knowledge on CRC. Conclusions: The major barriers identified towards CRC screening identified in our study were fear of pain and embarrassment. The findings have implications for understanding of similarities and differences in attitude to CRC amongst elderly patients in other cultural/geographic regions.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.15
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• pp.6285-6288
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• 2015

Background: Breast cancer is commonly diagnosed at late stages in countries with limited resources. In Morocco, breast cancer is ranked the first female cancer (36.1%) and screening methods could reduce the proportion presenting with a late diagnosis. Morocco is currently adopting a breast cancer screening program based on clinical examination at primary health facilities, diagnosis at secondary level and treatment at tertiary level. So far, there is no systematic information on the performance of the screening program for breast cancer in Morocco. The aim of this study was to analyze early performance indicators. Materials and Methods: A retrospective evaluative study conducted in Temara city. The target population was the entire female population aged between 45-70 years. The study was based on process and performance indicators collected at the individual level from the various health structures in Tamara between 2009 and 2011. Results: A total of 2,350 women participated in the screening program; the participation rate was 35.7%. Of these, 76.8% (1,806) were married and 5.2% (106) of this group had a family history of breast cancer. Of the women who attended screening, 9.3% (190) were found to have an abnormal physical examination findings. A total of 260 (12.7%) were referred for a specialist consultation. The positive predictive value of clinical breast examination versus mammography was 23.0%. Forty four (35.5%) of the lesions found on the mammograms were classified as BI-RADs 3; 4 or 5 category. Cancer was found in 4 (1.95%) of the total number of screened women and benign cases represented 0.58%. Conclusions: These first results of the programme are very encouraging, but there is a need to closely monitor performance and to improve programme procedures with the aim of increasing both the participation rate and the proportion of women eligible to attend screening.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.321-327
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• 2022

Background: Scapular dyskinesis is considered a risk factor for the shoulder pain that may warrant screening for prevention. Clinicians of all experience screen scapular dyskinesis using the scapular dyskinesis test yes-no classification (Y-N), yet its reliability in asymptomatic individuals is unknown. We aimed to establish Y-N's intra- and inter-reliability between students and expert physical therapists. Methods: We utilized a cross-sectional design using consecutive asymptomatic subjects. Six students and two experts rated 100 subjects using the Y-N. Cohen's kappa (κ) and Krippendorff's alpha (K-α) were calculated to determine intra- and inter-rater reliability. Results: Intra- and inter-rater values for experts were κ=0.92 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.91-0.93) and 0.85 (95% CI, 0.84-0.87) respectively; students were κ=0.77 (95% CI, 0.75-0.78) and K-α=0.63 (95% CI, 0.58-0.67). Conclusions: The Y-N is reliable in detecting scapular dyskinesis in asymptomatic individuals regardless of experience.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.114-118
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• 2018

Objective: The left and right sides of the brain has different roles. This study investigated the differences in cognitive driving ability between stroke survivors with damage to the left brain and right brain. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the driving cognitive ability of left and right hemispheric drivers following stroke. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: The Stroke Drivers' Screening Assessment (SDSA) from the UK was translated to the Korean Stroke Drivers' Screening Assessment (K-SDSA) to meet the specific traffic environments of Korea. The SDSA is composed of 4 tasks :1) a dot cancellation task that measures concentration and visuospatial abilities necessary for driving, 2) a directional matrix task to measure spatio-temporal executive function required for driving, 3) a compass matrix task to measure accurate direction determination ability required for driving, and 4) recognition of traffic signs and reasoning ability to understanding traffic situation. The SDSA assessment time is about 30 minutes. The K-SDSA was used to compare the cognitive driving abilities between 15 stroke survivors with left and 15 stroke survivors with right brain damage. Results: There were significant differences between the persons with stroke patients with left brain lesions (right hemiplegia) compared to the persons with stroke with right brain lesions (left hemiplegia) (p<0.05). It was found that the cognitive driving ability of those with right brain damage was lower than that of the group of left brain damage. Conclusions: This research investigated the driving cognitive ability of persons with stroke. The therapists can use this information as basis for the driving test and training purposes. It could also be used as a basis to understanding if the cognitive ability of not only stroke survivors but also those with brain damage is adequate to actually drive.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.787-798
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• 2020

Purpose: This study aimed to assign weights for subscales and items of the Post-Intensive Care Syndrome questionnaire and suggest optimal cut-off values for screening unplanned hospital readmissions of critical care survivors. Methods: Seventeen experts participated in an analytic hierarchy process for weight assignment. Participants for cut-off analysis were 240 survivors who had been admitted to intensive care units for more than 48 hours in three cities in Korea. We assessed participants using the 18-item Post-Intensive Care Syndrome questionnaire, generated receiver operating characteristic curves, and analysed cut-off values for unplanned readmission based on sensitivity, specificity, and positive likelihood ratios. Results: Cognitive, physical, and mental subscale weights were 1.13, 0.95, and 0.92, respectively. Incidence of unplanned readmission was 25.4%. Optimal cut-off values were 23.00 for raw scores and 23.73 for weighted scores (total score 54.00), with an area of under the curve (AUC) of .933 and .929, respectively. There was no significant difference in accuracy for original and weighted scores. Conclusion: The optimal cut-off value accuracy is excellent for screening of unplanned readmissions. We recommend that nurses use the Post-Intensive Care Syndrome Questionnaire to screen for readmission risk or evaluating relevant interventions for critical care survivors.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.164-174
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the physical growth and developmental status of infants and children of married immigrant women. Methods: The participants were 92 infants and children aged from birth to 6 yr whose mothers were married immigrant women living in one rural area. Physical growth and developmental status were evaluated by using anthropometric assessment, and Korean Denver II developmental screening test. Results: Of the participants, 10.8% were below the 3rd percentile for weight, 13.0% for length, 5.4% for head circumference, and from 69.6% to 79.3% were distributed below the 50th percentile on growth charts. Further, 18.5% were classified as having questionable development. Factors related to low physical growth in infants and children were mother's weight and mother's level in Korean language classes. Conclusion: The physical growth and developmental status of children is vulnerable and serious. The study results suggest a need for regular growth and developmental evaluations. Political support is important for these mothers. In addition, there also is a need to develop early intervention strategies to promote growth and development of the infants and children of these married immigrant women.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.155-160
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• 2014

Purpose: This study aimed to analyse female academician health beliefs for breast cancer screening and levels of self-esteem. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between October 2010 and March 2011, covering female academicians working in all faculties and vocational schools at Ondokuz Mayis University, except for the ones in the field of health (n=141). Data was collected using a questionnaire developed by researchers in the light of the related literature, the Champion's Health Belief Model Scale for Breast Cancer, and the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory. Descriptive statistics, the t-test, Mann-Whitney U and correlation analysis were used to analyze the data with the SPSS 13.0 statistical package. Results: 53.8% of the participants were single, 58.6% did not have children, 80.7% had regular menstrual cycles, 28.3% was taking birth control pills, 17.9% were undergoing hormone therapy, 11% suffered breast problems, 8.3% had relatives with breast cancer, 78,6% knew about breast self-examination (BSE), 68.3% was performing BSE, 16.2% were performing BSE monthly, 17.9% had had mammograms, and 30.3% had undergone breast examinations conductedby physicians. The women who had breast physical examinations done by physicians had higher susceptibility, self-efficacy and health motivation, and fewer barriers to mammography than those who did not have breast physical examinations. Conclusions: There was a relationship between the female academician self-esteem and their perceived seriousness of breast cancer, perceived barriers to BSE and health motivation. Our Turksih female academicians had medium levels of self-esteem.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.172-180
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• 2014

Background: People with disabilities have higher prevalence rates and earlier onset of chronic disease than the non-disabled; therefore, their participation in health screening is important. This study evaluates the participation rate and trends in health screening of people with disabilities, and examines the association between their participation rate and disability characteristics, and socioeconomic status. Methods: Data on disability-related characteristics were collected from the National Disability Registry, and participants' corresponding health examination data were taken from the Korean National Health Insurance Corporation between 2002 and 2011. A total of 873,819 participants aged ${\geq}20$ years were analyzed in this study. Results: The rate of participation of people with disabilities in health screening has increased each year, but their participation rate is lower than that of the total population. The participation rate was lower in females than in males; the elderly group than in the younger group; those who live in city areas than rural areas; self-employed for health insurance than employees; those with an internal organ disability than those with an external physical disability; those with a severe disability than those with a mild disability; and those with a short-term disability than for those with a long-term disability. Conclusion: The factors associated with participation rate are age, sex, socioeconomic status, and disability characteristics. These findings indicate that health check-ups of people with disabilities should be promoted using an approach that takes into account the large individual differences in socioeconomic status and disability characteristics in this population.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.1953-1958
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• 2015

Background: In India, cancer accounts for 7.3% of DALY's, 14.3% of mortality with an age-standardized incident rate of 92.4/100,000 in men and 97.4/100,000 in women and yet there are no nationwide screening programs. Materials and Methods: We calculated age-standardized and age-truncated (30-69 years) detection rates for men and women who attended the Indian Cancer Society detection centre, New Delhi from 2011-12. All participants were registered with socio-demographic, medical, family and risk factors history questionnaires, administered clinical examinations to screen for breast, oral, gynecological and other cancers through a comprehensive physical examination and complete blood count. Patients with an abnormal clinical exam or blood result were referred to collaborating institutes for further investigations and follow-up. Results: A total of n=3503 were screened during 2011-12 (47.8% men, 51.6% women and 0.6% children <15 years) with a mean age of 47.8 yrs (${\pm}15.1yrs$); 80.5% were aged 30-69 years and 77.1% had at least a secondary education. Tobacco use was reported by 15.8%, alcohol consumption by 11.9% and family history of cancer by 9.9% of participants. Follow-up of suspicious cases yielded 45 incident cancers (51.1% in men, 48.9% in women), consisting of 55.5% head and neck (72.0% oral), 28.9% breast, 6.7% gynecological and 8.9% other cancer sites. The age-standardized detection rate for all cancer sites was 340.8/100,000 men and 329.8/100,000 women. Conclusions: Cancer screening centres are an effective means of attracting high-risk persons in low-resource settings. Opportunistic screening is one feasible pathway to address the rising cancer burden in urban India through early detection.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.100-112
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• 2022

Purpose: This study is a qualitative analysis of Korean-American (K-A) women's cancer prevention in the US. Methods: Qualitative research was conducted. Fifteen K-A women in four states were interviewed. Content theme analysis was used to analyze verbatim transcriptions of interviews. Results: Participants experienced difficulties in utilizing cancer screening programs. Factors include unfamiliarity with the US health care system, high health care costs or lack of health insurance, language barriers, and irregular and sporadic cancer screening participation. Participants also actively pursued non-institutional approaches to cancer prevention. They engaged in word-of-mouth informational exchanges in K-A communities, sought cancer screening in hospitals in Korea, conducted internet searches, autonomously decided on their health issues, and adopted healthy practices including better diets, physical exercise, and spiritual practices. Conclusion: It is necessary to implement measures to increase K-A women's utilization of the US cancer screening services and to encourage their active engagement in hands-on cancer prevention practices. K-A women should be empowered through increased familiarity with US cancer screening services and through the establishment of improved K-A community social services.