• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.15-23
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• 2021

Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine the Korean women's attitude toward sex in their 20s in order to investigate the relationship between attitude toward sex and preventive behavior against cervical cancer. Method: The data was collected by conducting a survey in parts of Chungcheongbuk provinces from November 1st to the 10th, 2017, with a total of 353 respondents. Frequency analysis, chi-square test and logistic-regression analysis were conducted. Result: A result of logistic-regression analysis, the degree of preventive behavior against cervical cancer of those who were 'conservative' toward sex was 1.866 times greater, significantly. As the attitude toward sex becomes more liberal, the awareness of the necessity for preventive behavior against cervical cancer may possibly become lower. Conclusion: Therefore it is necessary to work in tandem with the school health program to increase preventive behavior against cervical cancer for the women in their 20s through early education and promotion.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.218-231
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• 2001

Background : The purpose of this study was to investigate the understanding and the attitude of Korean hospital CEOs toward the healthcare quality improvement. Methods : A mailed questionnaire survey to the CEOs of hospitals with 400 beds or more was conducted between September 15 and October 30, 2000. Of the 108 hospitals eligible for the study, 58 participated, yielding a response rate of 54 percent. Result : The hospital CEOs have expressed that their hospital management was arduous job, and they had been pressured by increasing competitions among healthcare providers. They indicated that the low fees of health insurance made their hospital management difficult. The results also indicated that there was general consensus that the improvement of service quality was important in encouraging their organizations, but the investment of manpower and equipment ranked higher than the improvement of service quality. The majority of the CEOs have good understanding about quality improvement activities. However the facts that in general QI must be focused at the process of services and customer satisfaction, meanwhile quality improvement activities are helpful for the organizational productivity embarrassed them. The hospital CEOs responded that there were successful changes in terms of quality of care, patient satisfaction, and process efficiency after QI activities, but no increase in patient number and profit. Lack of understanding to QI activities and limited budget seem to attribute unsatisfactory outcomes. Conclusion : The majority of Korean hospital CEOs have a good understanding and attitude about QI activities. As mentioned in the result, despite of several limitations, several facts regarding the CEOs of hospital in Korean can be elucidated. (1) The general cognition of the QI project is relatively high, and it is accepted with positive concern, (2) the priority of the QI project, however, is not set higher than other projects and (3) the specific concepts of the actual QI project such as customer (patient)-focused work driving, the recognition of the work accomplishment, and the importance of rewards have not sufficiently understood.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.231-238
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• 2015

Objectives: The present study aimed to analyze the factors that could affect the health-promoting behaviors of North Korean adolescent refugees residing in South Korea. Methods: Questions about their sociodemographic variables, subjective health status, healthy living habits, and health-promoting behaviors were asked. Results: Statistically significant differences were found in religion (t=2.30, p<0.05), having family members in South Korea (t=2.02, p<0.05), and subjective health status (t=4.96, p<0.01). Scores on health-responsible behaviors were higher with higher age (t=2.90, p<0.01) and for subjects without family or friends (t=2.43, p<0.05). Higher physical-activity behaviors were observed in males (t=3.32, p<0.01), in those with better subjective health status (t=3.46, p<0.05) and lower body mas index (t=3.48, p<0.05), and in smokers (t=3.17, p<0.01). Nutritional behaviors were higher in those who followed a religion (t=2.17, p<0.05). Spiritual growth behaviors were higher in those who followed a religion (t=4.21, p<0.001), had no family in South Korea (t=2.04, p<0.05), and had higher subjective health status (t=5.74, p<0.01). Scores on interpersonal relationships and stress-management behaviors were higher for those with higher subjective health status. A multiple regression analysis showed greater effects on health-promoting behaviors when subjective health status was better. Older people and non-smokers exhibited more health-responsible behaviors, while more physical-activity behaviors and spiritual growth activities were observed when subjective health status was better. Interpersonal relationship behaviors had positive effects on those with good subjective heath status and on non-smokers. Conclusions: Based on the results of the current study, an alternative was suggested for promoting health in North Korean adolescent refugees.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.4-11
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• 2016

Background: Hospital admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs), which are widely used as an indicator of poor access to primary care, can be used as an efficiency indicator of healthcare use in countries providing good access to health care. Korea, which has a national health insurance (NHI) system and a good supply of health care resources, is one such country. To quantify admission rates of ACSC and identify characteristics influencing variation in Korean health care institutions. Methods: By using NHI claims data, we computed the mean ACSC admission rate for all institutions with ACSC admissions. Results: The average ACSC admission rate for 4,461 institutions was 1.45%. Hospitals and clinics with inpatient beds showed larger variations in the ACSC admission rate (0%-87.9% and 0%-99.6%, respectively) and a higher coefficient of variation (7.96 and 2.29) than general/tertiary care hospitals (0%-19.1%, 0.85). The regression analysis results indicate that the ACSC admission rate was significantly higher for hospitals than for clinics (${\beta}=0.986$, p<0.05), and for private corporate institutions than public institutions (${\beta}=0.271$, p<0.05). Conclusion: Substantial variations in ACSC admission rates could suggest the potential problem of inefficient use of healthcare resources. Since hospitals and private corporate institutions tend to increase ACSC admission rates, future health policy should focus on these types of institutions.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.63-84
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• 2008

The aim of this study was to analyze the correlation between professional autonomy and ideology among Korean physicians and to investigate how these factors affect job satisfaction like social status satisfaction and economic reward satisfaction. This study utilized a self-administered questionnaire survey and collected data nationwide between July and August, 2003. 211 responses were used for final analysis. SPSS 12.0 was used for a chi-square test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation analysis, independent t-test and hierarchical multiple regression analysis. The results of this study were as follows. First, many variables of ideological factor were related to job satisfaction. Second, physicians expecting the change of political influence has patient-centered attitude. Third, there were many relationships between professional autonomy and ideology variables. Fourth, physicians expecting the change of political influence and customer-centered healthcare system showed more job satisfaction. In conclusion, professional autonomy is related to ideology, and in order to enhance job satisfaction, ideological factor needs more development. In addition, market-oriented healthcare system would contribute to enhance the job satisfaction of physicians expecting the change of political influence and customer-centered healthcare system.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.62-71
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• 2015

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate North Korean refugees' knowledge of mental illnesses and treatments and analyze the factors affecting this knowledge. Methods: Subjects were selected via a snowball sampling method, and the survey outcomes of 152 North Korean refugee participants were analyzed. The factors affecting knowledge of mental illnesses were analyzed via a regression analysis by constructing a multivariate model with mental illness knowledge score as the dependent variable. Results: The North Korean refugees' mental illness scores ranged from 3 to 24 points, with an average score of 13.0. Regarding the factors that influence mental illness knowledge, the subjects with South Korean spouses and those who had spent more time in South Korea had higher knowledge scores. Furthermore, the subjects who considered the mental health of North Korean refugees to be a serious issue revealed lower knowledge scores than those who did not believe it was a serious issue. The subjects who visit psychiatric clinics showed higher knowledge scores than those who do not. The South Korean subjects who had at least a college education exhibited higher scores than did those without advanced education. The subjects who are satisfied with life in South Korea manifested a higher mental illness knowledge score than those who are not. Conclusions: This study is significant as being the first study to ever measure and evaluate the level of North Korean refugees' knowledge of mental illnesses. In addition, the evaluations of North Korean refugees' mental illness knowledge and influencing factors while residing in South Korea created basic data that formed the foundation of an effort to enhance mental health literacy and provide proper mental health services. The results of this study can be utilized to solve mental health problems that might frequently occur during the unification process of North and South Korea in the future.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.126-134
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• 2020

Objectives: Cancer diagnoses have a tremendous impact on individuals and communities, drawing intense public concern. The objective of the current research was to examine news coverage and content related to cancer-related issues in Korean newspapers. Methods: Primarily using the database system of the Korea Press Foundation, we conducted a content analysis of 2806 articles from 9 Korean daily newspapers during a recent 3-year period from 2015 to 2017. Thematic categories, the types of articles, attitudes and tone, and the number of sources in each article were coded and classified. Results: Many news articles dealt with a diverse range of themes related to cancer, including general healthcare information, the latest research and development, specific medical institutions and personnel, and technology and products, which jointly accounted for 74.8% of all articles. Those thematic categories differed markedly in terms of article type, tone, and the number of cited sources. News articles provided extensive information about healthcare resources, and many articles seemed to contain advertising content. However, the content related to complex social issues such as National Health Insurance did not include enough information for the reader to contextualize the issues properly or present the issues systematically. Conclusions: It can be assumed that the media exert differential influence on individuals through news coverage. Within the present reporting framework, the availability and usefulness of information are likely to depend solely on individuals' capabilities, such as financial and health literacy; this dependency has a negative impact on knowledge gaps and health inequities.

• Interdisciplinary Bio Central
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.6.1-6.4
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• 2009

We stand at the brink of a fundamental change in how medicine will be practiced. Over the next 5-20 years medicine will move from being largely reactive to being predictive, personalized, preventive and participatory (P4). Technology and new scientific strategies have always been the drivers of revolutions and this is certainly the case for P4 medicine, where a systems approach to disease, new and emerging technologies and powerful computational tools will open new windows for the investigation of disease. Systems approaches are driving the emergence of fascinating new technologies that will permit billions of measurements on each individual patient. The challenge for health information technology will be how to reduce this enormous amount of data to simple hypotheses about health and disease. We predict that emerging technologies, together with the systems approaches to diagnosis, therapy and prevention will lead to a down turn in the escalating costs of healthcare. In time we will be able to export P4 medicine to the developing world and it will become the foundation of global medicine. The "democratization" of healthcare will come from P4 medicine. Its first real emergence will require the unprecedented integration of biology, medicine, technology and computation. as well as societal issues of major importance: ethical, regulatory, public policy, economic, and others. In order to effectively move the P4 scientific agenda forward new strategic partnerships are now being created with the large-scale integration of complementary skills, technologies, computational tools, patient records and samples and analysis of societal issues. It is evident that the business plans of every sector of the healthcare industry will need to be entirely transformed over the next 10 years.and the extent to which this will be done by existing companies as opposed to newly created companies is a fascinating question.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.16-25
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• 2019

Purpose:The healthcare system of South Korea is at the extreme of the dispersed system. Few regulations limit patients from directly visiting higher-level medical institutions for primary care sensitive conditions. As a result, similar to local clinics, general and tertiary teaching hospitals also provide diverse primary care services. Our study aimed to examine the general public's perceptions of their primary care performance. Methods: Face-to-face surveys were conducted with 1000 adults who were living in South Korea with the aid of a questionnaire that included the Korean Primary Care Assessment Tool (KPCAT). The KPCAT consists of five domains, which are the main indicators of primary care performance: first contact, comprehensiveness, coordination, personalized care, and family/community orientation. One-way analysis of variance and post hoc tests were used to compare the KPCAT scores across the three types of medical institutions. Results: Domain-wise analyses revealed two different patterns. With regard to first contact and its subdomains, the highest and lowest scores emerged for local clinics and tertiary teaching hospitals, respectively. However, the other four domain scores were significantly lower for local clinics than for the other two types of medical institutions. Conclusions: Local clinics were perceived to be medical institutions that are responsible for providing primary care. However, the general public perceived only one domain of their primary care to be superior to that of the other two types of medical institutions: first contact. National efforts should be taken to strengthen their other four domains of primary care by training their workforce and providing appropriate incentives.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.190-198
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• 2021

Objectives: Insufficient evidence exists regarding factors that affect screening adherence among people with a family history of diabetes, who comprise roughly half of all patients with diabetes. Therefore, we aimed to identify the determinants of diabetes screening adherence in adults with a family history of diabetes who had not yet been diagnosed with diabetes. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at selected urban primary healthcare facilities in Tehran, Iran. The study population was clinically non-diabetic adults above 20 years of age with a family history of diabetes in at least 1 first-degree relative. All eligible people identified on randomly-selected days of the month were invited to join the study. Results: Among 408 participants, 128 (31.4%) had received a fasting blood glucose check during the last year. Using binary logistic regression, the independent predictors of screening adherence were knowledge of adverse effects of diabetes such as sexual disorders (odds ratio [OR], 3.05) and renal failure (OR, 2.73), the impact of family members' advice on receiving diabetes screening (OR, 2.03), recommendation from a healthcare provider to have a fasting blood glucose check (OR, 2.61), and intention to have a fasting blood glucose check within the next 6 months (OR, 2.85). Other variables that predicted screening adherence were age (OR, 1.05), job (being a housekeeper; OR, 3.39), and having a college degree (OR, 3.55). Conclusions: Knowledge of the adverse effects of diabetes, physicians' and healthcare providers' advice about the benefits of early disease detection, and family members' advice were independent predictors of screening adherence.