• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.41-61
• /
• 2001

The purpose of this study was to assess pregnant women's knowledge of, attitude to, and satisfaction with prenatal ultrasound and to determine the factors that influence their perception. A self-administered questionnaire survey was completed by two hundred eighty five pregnant women who visited the obstetric departments of three hospitals located in Seoul from October 17, 2000 to October 28, 2000. The major results are as follows. 1. Overall, the respondents did not fully understand the purpose of prenatal ultrasound. 92.2% of respondents stated that the main purpose of prenatal ultrasound was to check the fetus' age, growth and development but only 44.5% of respondents were aware of the fact that chromosomal abnormalities cannot be diagnosed only by prenatal ultrasound. The majority of respondents were aware of the diagnostic limitations of ultrasound. 2. While the majority of respondents were aware of the importance of pre-examination information, only 31.8% of respondents received such information from their health care providers. 3. Regarding the examination quality, 80.3% of respondents were satisfied with the competency of the examination. But more than 50% of respondents stated the cost and waiting time were not acceptable. 4. The knowledge of, attitude to, and satisfaction with prenatal ultrasound showed statistically significant differences according to the characteristics of each hospital. 5. From multiple regression analysis, the major components for knowledge of prenatal ultrasound were characteristics of hospitals, religion, income and gestational age. The major components for attitude toward prenatal ultrasound were characteristics of hospitals, religion and gestational age. The major components for satisfaction with prenatal ultrasound were characteristics of hospitals, income and drinking during the pregnancy. In conclusion, the respondents' perception of prenatal ultrasound is considerably low. More effective educational material or programs with prenatal ultrasound information should be provided to pregnant women prior to prenatal ultrasound examination. New strategies such as process reengineering are recommendable to increase the satisfaction with prenatal ultrasound.

• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.415-424
• /
• 2009

As one of the unsupervised learning neural network methods, self-organizing maps(SOM) are applied to various fields. It reduces the dimension of multidimensional data by representing observations on the low dimensional manifold. On the other hand, the minimal spanning tree(MST) of a graph that achieves the most economic subset of edges connecting all components by a single open loop. In this study, we apply the MST technique to SOM with subnodes. We propose SOM's with embedded MST and a distance measure for optimum choice of the size and shape of the map. We demonstrate the method with Fisher's Iris data and a real gene expression data. Simulated data sets are also analyzed to check the validity of the proposed method.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.10-17
• /
• 2012

The purpose of this study is to make people acknowledge the danger of the air terror and provide measures to prevent a recurrence of the accident and find required security. Also, the air terror is categorized into aircraft and airport and take steps to come up with preventive measures against the air terror by finding a countermeasure and precaution. The following steps should be checked to take precautionary measures against the air terror. major security crackdown and the need for a further security check should be conducted to prevent terrorists from boarding the aircraft, security around the airport needs to be tightened up by training the airport workers and promoting emergency situations, airport sheriffs and armed guards should be on patrol for the safety of the cabin, new measures of efficient security for in and around the airport and its facilities should be set up to tighten up security of baggage.

• Journal of Technologic Dentistry
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.25-36
• /
• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the status of oral health behaviors and oral health status, and to analysis the association between health behavior and chronic disease and oral health status of male workers. Methods: The survey used structured self administered questionnaires from September to October in 2009 in Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do province, randomize thirty workplace which work more than 50 workers and carry out a survey targeting 30 to 50 age male laborers who work selected workplace. Total of 1,532 replies were analysed. Results: Age, education, monthly income, job was significantly associated with number of toothbrushing, scaling experience, number of missing teeth. Smoking, amount of smoking, frequency of drinking, number of tooth brushing, unmet need and subjective oral health condition, HBP and DM was significantly associated with the number of missing teeth. In logistic regression, age(above 40), monthly income and DM were significant factors on loss of teeth. Conclusion: In conclusion, it is important to provide education on the teeth-brushing and DM management to workers engaged in a small or medium sized workplace with many tooth loss and low educational status, and to recommend a regular scaling as well as to establish policy for creating conditions upon an oral health check-up and a tooth scaling and allow the maintenance of an oral health.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.75-83
• /
• 2006

Background : Utilization review has been adopted as a vehicle for cost and utilization control of health care services. Its role was further stressed and expanded through the establishment of Health Insurance Review Agency in 2001. This article is to introduce concept, activities, and effect of utilization review based on the experiences of U.S. and to suggest important characteristics for ideal utilization review activities at the national level in Korea. Method : Twenty-five articles related with utilization review were reviewed after being selected through web site search through Med Line and Richis. Result : Utilization review was introduced mainly for health care expenditure control either by insurer, provider or the third parties under the pressure of increasing health care cost. It's activities can be categorized to prospective, concurrent and retrospective review according to the time of service provision. Based on most of studies, utilization review has been effective in controling rising health care cost and utilization. However it's effectiveness assumes a reimbursement structure of managed care like capitation payment. More worse, it is still unknown it's effectiveness on quality of care. Conclusion : Utilization review should be employed to increase the cost effectiveness of medical care by optimizing quality and patient's outcomes while also attempting to reduce the use of resources. So, it should consider outcomes before expenditures, check for both under and over-use, and construct an structure in which consumption is reduced equitably. Aggressive adoption of utilization review in Korean health care setting with fee-for-service reimbursement structure might not be a cost-effective approach before adoption of prospective payment system such as D.R.G. and capitation.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.14 no.6
• /
• pp.3975-3978
• /
• 2013

Background: Proteases play a regulatory role in a variety of pathologies including cancer, pancreatitis, thromboembolic disorders, viral infections and many others. One of the possible strategies to combat these pathologies seems to be the use of protease inhibitors. LC-pi I, II, III and IV (Lavatera cashmerian-protease inhibitors) have been found in vitro to strongly inhibit trypsin, chymotrypsin and elastase, proteases contributing to tumour invasion and metastasis, indicated possible anticancer effects. The purpose of this study was to check in vitro anticancer activity of these four inhibitors on human lung cancer cell lines. Material and Methods: In order to assess whether these inhibitors induced in vitro cytoxicity, SRB assay was conducted with THP-1 (leukemia), NCIH322 (lung) and Colo205, HCT-116 (colon) lines. Results: LC-pi I significantly inhibited the cell proliferation of all cells tested and also LC-pi II was active in all except HCT-116. Inhibition of cell growth by LC-pi III and IV was negligible. $IC_{50}$ values of LC-pi I and II for NCIH322, were less compared to other cell lines suggesting that lung cancer cells are more inhibited. Conclusion: These investigations might point to future preventive as well as curative solutions using plant protease inhibitors for various cancers, especially in the lung, hence warranting their further investigation.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.109-124
• /
• 2009

Background: This study aimed to examine whether cases of punishing false claimants threat general physicians to check their medical cost claims with care to avoid being suspected, and identify empirically general deterrence effects of the on-site investigation system in the Korean National Health Insurance. Methods: 800 clinics were selected among a total of 15,443 clinics that had no experience of on-site investigation until June 2007 using a stratified proportional systematic sampling method. We conducted logistic multiple regression to examine the association between factors related to provider's perception of on-site investigation and high level of perceived deterrence referring to fear of punishment after adjusting provider's service experiences and general characteristics. Results: The probability of high perceived deterrence was higher 1.7 times (CI: 1.13-2.56), 2.73 times (CI: 1.68-4.45) each among clinics exchanging the information once or more per year or once or more for 2-3 months than among clinics no exchanging the information about on-site investigation. Also, the probability of high perceived deterrence was higher 2.27 times (CI: 1.28-4.45) among clinics that knows more than 3 health care institutions having experienced an on-site investigation than among clinics knowing no case. Conclusion: A clinic knowing more punishment cases by onsite investigation and exchanging more frequently information about on-site investigation is likely to present high perceived deterrence. This result will provide important information to enlarge preventive effects of on-site investigation on fraud and abuse claims.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.651-657
• /
• 2013

Objectives : The purpose of the study is to verify the correlation between teenagers' use of internet and temporomandibular joint disorders(TMJD) because TMJD patients gradually increase in high school students. Methods : Subjects were 221 male high school students attending liberal arts and commercial schools from 9 to 21 of April, 2012. Students completed self-reported questionnaire. Results : TMJD symptoms included crackling joint (32.1%), headache (18.6%), malocclusion (8.1%), and jaw fatigue and muscular aching (7.2%). Students having at least one symptom accounted for 49.8%. Students having at least one poor habit accounted for 83.7% and 34.0% of the students used internet for 3 hours.. Score of students experiencing shoulders and chest pain was $5.13{\pm}1.10$ (p<0.05). Score of TMD afflicting area revealed $4.67{\pm}2.73$ (p<0.05) in mastication pain ($4.13{\pm}2.73$ (p<0.05)) due to long hours of internet use. Score of jaw fatigue related to muscular pain was $4.31{\pm}1.96$ (p<0.01). Duration of computer use was related to perceived TMJD symptoms (r=.153). Long duration of computer use was related to poor oral cavity habits (r=.157). Conclusions : Male high school students can perceive slight TMD which needs self management and regular check-ups and try to prevent TMD by utilizing measurement tools on TMD. Also, this study helps to prevent from worsening TMD by shortening hours of computer utilization.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.9-15
• /
• 2011

Recently, the oriental medicine industry in Korea has faced much hardship, due to the decreasing number of patients. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the reasons why patients are avoiding oriental medicine, because the percentage of people consuming medical service is an important marker that assesses the value of medical service. The researcher(s), based on theories on factors that affect health, health behaviors, and diseases, sought to find reasons why oriental medicine clinics saw a decline in the number of patients. Also, by proposing the problems inside the oriental medicine, I came to the following conclusion. -Because Koreans have low expectations for oriental medicine, they do not consider it as full medical service. Also, when they get sick, they are reluctant to seek oriental medicine because of reasons such as the limits of oriental medicine and check-ups, expensive medical cost, negative perception of oriental medicine, not enough support from the media, the old image of the oriental medicine and the little power the industry has on the society. -Among the inner problems of the oriental medicine community was the limitations that the science face on incurable and chronic diseases in terms of treatment and management, little professionalism, lack of scientific evidence, the attitude of the oriental medicine society, lack of sophistication in research methodology, and limitations in responding to changes in public health and the surroundings. The purpose of medicine is to eliminate the possibility of shortened life and dangers by treatment of diseases and health maintenance. For this to happen, structural and developed medical theories and means of treatment are necessary. The researcher hypothesizes that the problems that the oriental medicine society is facing mainly come from the lack of efforts and ability to provide such necessities.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
• /
• v.8 no.8
• /
• pp.137-145
• /
• 2017

The purposed of this study was to identify cardiocerebrovascular disease risk assessment and the factors that affect cardiocerebrovascular disease risk. The subjects of this study were 1340 middle age women worker in one shipyard. This study was base on worker health check up data. Data were analyzed using SPSS18.0 program. "healthy group" were 1078(80.4%), "low risk group" were 45(3.4%), "moderate risk group" were 150(11.2%), "high risk group" were 67(5.0%). Age, HDL, LDL, smoking, family history of stroke, hypertension were the factors that affected the risk cardiocerebrovascular disease. Results of this study can be used as fundamental data for developing cardiocerebrovascular disease preventive program in middle aged women.