• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.313-326
• /
• 2013

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of lifestyle modification program on body composition and metabolic syndrome makers, depression in obese postmenopausal women. Method: The research design of this study included a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The lifestyle modification program was administered twice a week for 12 weeks the experimental group, whereas the control group had no program. The experimental group consisted of 22 obese postmenopausal women while the control group contained 19 subjects. The study also attempted to measure the effects of the program on body composition, metabolic syndrome markers, and depression in obese postmenopausal women. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and a t-test using the SPSS/WIN 17.0 program. Results: After participating in the lifestyle modification program, the experimental group showed statistically significant decreases in systolic pressure, diastolic pressure and depression, but no change in body composition. Conclusions: The result of this study show that the lifestyle modification program had a significant impact on obese postmenopausal women. In the future, it is necessary to offer more tailed program for a longer period.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.42 no.6
• /
• pp.408-415
• /
• 2009

Objectives : This study was performed to investigate the mumps transmission control status and inapparent infection rate among middle and high school students in Daegu City during a mumps outbreak. Methods : Nine schools (two middle schools and seven high schools), which reported a number of mumps cases between 2007 and 2008 were selected for investigation. During March-May 2008, a standard questionnaire was distributed to gather information about case identification, instructed isolation measure, isolation status of mumps cases and related factors, and outdoor activities of nonisolated mumps case. Inapparent infection rate was estimated by serum mumps IgM and IgG antibodies status and self-reported mumps symptoms in three of the nine schools. Results : Among 2,560 respondents, more than half of students answered that they did not receive instructions in mumps transmission control measures during the outbreak. Among the 327 mumps cases identified by the questionnaire, 131 cases (40.1%) were considered as isolated and the isolation rates were significantly different among schools, grades, and gender. Of the non-isolated cases, 88.3% continued attending school. Inapparent mumps infection rates were between 56.3% and 70.2%. Conclusions : Mumps transmission control was inadequate to control the mumps outbreak. Although high inapparent infection rate would mitigate the transmission control effect of case isolation, this measure is fundamental for infection control. The reasons of this inadequate status need to be explored to develop an effective intervention strategy.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.109-113
• /
• 2019

Background: In both developed and developing countries, noise is regarded as the most common occupational hazard in various industries. The present study aimed to examine the effect of sound pressure level (SPL) on serum cortisol concentration in three different times during the night shift. Methods: This case-control study was conducted among 75 workers of an industrial and mining firm in 2017. The participants were assigned to one of the three groups (one control and two case groups), with an equal number of workers (25 participants) in each group. Following the ISO 9612 standard, dosimetry was adopted to evaluate equivalent SPL using a TES-1345 dosimeter. The influence of SPL on serum cortisol concentration was measured during the night shift. The serum cortisol concentration was measured using a radioimmunoassay (RIA) test in the laboratory. Repeated measure analysis of variance and linear mixed models were used with ${\alpha}=0.05$. Results: The results indicated a downward trend in the serum cortisol concentration of the three groups during the night shift. Both SPL and exposure time significantly affected cortisol concentration (p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001). Conversely, age and body mass index had no significant influence on cortisol concentration (p = 0.360, p = 0.62). Conclusion: Based on the obtained results, increasing SPL will lead to enhancement of serum cortisol concentration. Given that cortisol concentration varies while workers are exposed to different SPLs, this hormone can be used as a biomarker to study the effect of noise-induced stress.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.17 no.5
• /
• pp.525-535
• /
• 2008

5 public complaint areas against odor in Changwon Industrial Complex were selected and investigated to clear up the cause of the complaint. 16 companies operated in public complaint areas were visited and had a grip of their situation about odor generation and treatment. Two samples at it's site boundary of each company were taken to measure complex odor unit. Complex odor unit at the site boundary of investigated companies in the public complaint areas, for the most part, exceeded standard(odor unit 20) in industrial area. It was due to that this area was not designated as odor control region and that there are also many problems in current laws of Odor Protection Act, Air Quality Act and regional legislation. Accordingly, It will be necessary to revise the related legislation, to organize governance, to financially support the improvement of environmental facilities and to enforce guidance and the regulation rigidly for the odor emission reduction in Changwon Industrial Complex.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.54 no.3
• /
• pp.208-217
• /
• 2021

Objectives: In spite of the importance of green space for reducing obesity-related problems, there has been little exploration of whether access to green space (e.g., parks and recreational facilities) influences the obesity rate of adults in the United States. The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationships among accessibility of green space, obesity rates, and socioeconomic and demographic variables among adults living in the State of Indiana, United States. Methods: We conducted a secondary data analysis to investigate the relationships among accessibility to green space, obesity rates, and socio-demographic variables with employing Geographic Information System in order to measure the accessibility of green space. Results: This study found that accessibility of green space served as a strong predictor of reduced obesity rates among adults (β=-2.478; p<0.10). In addition, adults with higher education levels, as well as better access to green space, were found to have even lower obesity rates (β=-0.188; p<0.05). Other control variables such as unemployment rates, food security, and physical inactivity are additional factors that influence obesity rates among adults. Conclusions: Accessibility of green space may play an important role in facilitating physical activity participation and reducing obesity rates.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.19 no.8
• /
• pp.971-981
• /
• 2010

The objectives of this study were to measure ambient total gaseous mercury (TGM) concentrations in Seoul, to analyze the characteristics of TGM concentration, and to identify of possible source areas for TGM using back-trajectory based hybrid receptor models like PSCF (Potential Source Contribution Function) and RTWC (Residence Time Weighted Concentration). Ambient TGM concentrations were measured at the roof of Graduate School of Public Health building in Seoul for a period of January to October 2004. Average TGM concentration was $3.43{\pm}1.17\;ng/m^3$. TGM had no notable pattern according to season and meteorological phenomena such as rainfall, Asian dust, relative humidity and so on. Hybrid receptor models incorporating backward trajectories including potential source contribution function (PSCF) and residence time weighted concentration (RTWC) were performed to identify source areas of TGM. Before hybrid receptor models were applied for TGM, we analysed sensitivities of starting height for HYSPLIT model and critical value for PSCF. According to result of sensitivity analysis, trajectories were calculated an arrival height of 1000 m was used at the receptor location and PSCF was applied using average concentration as criterion value for TGM. Using PSCF and RTWC, central and eastern Chinese industrial areas and the west coast of Korea were determined as important source areas. Statistical analysis between TGM and GEIA grided emission bolsters the evidence that these models could be effective tools to identify possible source area and source contribution.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.819-823
• /
• 2014

Objective: The aim was to evaluate roles of vitamin D3 (VD3) and beta-carotene (BC) in the development of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in a high-risk area, Huai'an District, Huai'an City, China. Methods: 100 new ESCC diagnosed cases from 2007 to 2008 and 200 residency- age-, and sex-matched healthy controls were recruited. Data were collected from questionnaires, including a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to calculate the BC intake, and reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) was used to measure the serum concentrations of BC and VD3. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated in conditional logistic regression models. Results: The average dietary intake of BC was $3322.9{\mu}g$ (2032.4-5734.3) in the case group and $3626.8{\mu}g$ (1961.9-5827.9) in control group per capita per day with no significant difference by Wilcoxon test (p>0.05). However, the levels of VD3 and BC in the case group were significantly lower than in the control group (p<0.05). The OR values of the highest quartile and the lowest quartile of VD3 and BC in serum samples were both 0.13. Conclusion: Our results add to the evidence that high circulating levels of VD3 and BC are associated with a reduced risk of ESCC in this Chinese population.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.178-186
• /
• 2020

Background: Cognitive impairment is a public health burden. Our objective was to investigate associations between work hours and cognitive function. Methods: Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) participants (n = 2,497; 50.7% men; age range 44-84 years) reported hours per week worked in all jobs in Exams 1 (2000-2002), 2 (2002-2004), 3 (2004-2005), and 5 (2010-2011). Cognitive function was assessed (Exam 5) using the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (version 2), a measure of global cognitive functioning; the Digit Symbol Coding, a measure of processing speed; and the Digit Span test, a measure of attention and working memory. We used a prospective approach and linear regression to assess associations for every 10 hours of work. Results: Among all participants, associations of hours worked with cognitive function of any type were not statistically significant. In occupation-stratified analyses (interaction p = 0.051), longer work hours were associated with poorer global cognitive function among Sales/Office and blue-collar workers, after adjustment for age, sex, physical activity, body mass index, race/ethnicity, educational level, annual income, history of heart attack, diabetes, apolipoprotein E-epsilon 4 allele (ApoE4) status, birth-place, number of years in the United States, language spoken at MESA Exam 1, and work hours at Exam 5 (β = -0.55, 95% CI = -0.99, -0.09) and (β = -0.80, -1.51, -0.09), respectively. In occupation-stratified analyses (interaction p = 0.040), we also observed an inverse association with processing speed among blue-collar workers (adjusted β = -0.80, -1.52, -0.07). Sex, race/ethnicity, and ApoE4 did not significantly modify associations between work hours and cognitive function. Conclusion: Weak inverse associations were observed between work hours and cognitive function among Sales/Office and blue-collar workers.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.91-100
• /
• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of microteaching for student health educators. Methods: Subjects included 43 students in the nursing department of "H" university. In order to measure the degree of self-efficacy and speech anxiety at pre-treatment and post-treatment, subjects in the experimental group underwent training in microteaching. Results: No significant difference of variance in self-efficacy and speech anxiety was observed between subjects in the experimental group and those in the control group. However, self-confidence, a sub-domain of self-efficacy, showed a significant increase from pretest to post-test. In addition, speech anxiety measured during the post-test showed improvement, when compared with that of the pretest. Conclusion: Findings of this study provide preliminary evidence that microteaching may result in improved speech behavior.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
• /
• v.35 no.5
• /
• pp.69-78
• /
• 2018

Objectives: This study is aimed to analyze service user's benefit and perceived-outcomes of visiting healthcare. Methods: Using a questionnaire survey we analyzed the subjective service quality and satisfaction of survey respondents. The sampling was designed with socioeconomic characteristics(age, sex, user group et al.), and each respondent (N=1,000) was presented with double-bounded dichotomous choice questions. To measure the value of visiting healthcare, we employed a contingent valuation method. Results: The respondents were satisfied with service and quality on visiting healthcare. And the acceptance-to-pay of respondent's benefit was 50,458 won for each visit and in totality, service user's benefit was 185.9 billion won. Conclusions: It is necessary to invest in visiting healthcare in public health centers.