• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.999-1002
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• 2012

Epirus is a rural area of North-Western Greece. We reviewed data from 4 hospitals for 4.975 patients who underwent prostate biopsy in Epirus in the twelve year period from 1999 to 2010. Two six -year periods were compared (1999-2004 and 2004-2010). All cases of prostate cancer confirmed by biopsy were recorded and age-standardized incidence rates per 100,000 males were calculated. We also recorded the clinical stage for patients diagnosed in our hospital and correlated this with PSA and Gleason scores. Percentage of positive prostate biopsies was also calculated. There were a total of 1714 new cases during 1999-2010 and the mean annual age-adjusted incidence was 34/100.000. The mean incidences during 1999-2004 and 2005-2010 were 26/100,000 and 42/100,000, respectively. The mean age at diagnosis was 74. The most common Gleason score was 6 and the prevalent clinical stage was T2. Median PSA at diagnosis was 10.8 ng/ml. There was a significant difference between stage cT4 and all other stages regarding PSA value (p=0.000). A positive correlation was found between Gleason score and PSA (p=0.013). These results are in accordance with the incidence rise recorded in neighboring countries of South-East Europe. However we should keep in mind the risk of overdiagnosis and the detection of low-risk cancers that would not have caused morbidity or death during a man's lifetime anyway.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.507-519
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• 2003

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence, health behaviors, and control of hypertension in rural areas in Korea. Method: A total of 927 subjects above age 20 were selected from the areas which fell under the jurisdiction of the 24 Community Health Center located in Chungcheongbuk-do. The employees in the Community Health Center visited and interviewed patients. Data were collected using a questionnaire from July to October 2002. Result: The result showed that women had higher hypertension prevalence rates than men and the increment of its rate leveled up according to age. The hypertension prevalence rate was significantly high when the monthly income was less than 1 million won, their type of the Medical Insurance was the Guardian, they were only able to read Korean characters, and they were bereaved of spouses. In the Health behavior related to hypertension, the hypertension group showed a significantly lower level than the non- hypertension group in terms of drinking rate, smoking rate, intake of salt and intake of meat. There was no significant difference in the exercise rate and coffee intake rate between these groups. In the degree of the obesity the hypertension group was significantly higher than the non-hypertension group. The factors related to hypertension were that the duration for the incidence of hypertension was 12 to 60 months and took up 41.2%. The places where the medical check-ups occurred were the Community Health Center at 46.6%, the medical institution was mostly hospitals recording 46.5%. There were 66.1% of the targets who knew well about their blood pressure and there were 64.7% people who received education about it. As for the education place, the rate of Community Health Center was mostly high and it stood at 77.0%. In the aspect of the management of hypertension, the targets who took medicine on a regular basis were up to 76.1% and the targets who measured blood pressure once a month happened to be about 46.1 %. The targets who always recorded their blood pressure were 3.8%, chest X-ray as a related examination of hypertension reached 32.6%, electrocardiogram examination was 36.2%, cholesterol and serum lipid examination took up 33.6%, and the eye ground examination took 7.3%, which showed the lowest level of all.

• Korean journal of health promotion
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.184-193
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• 2018

Background: Despite increasing the number of newly licensed nurses across Korea, shortages caused by geographical imbalances remains a significant concern. Therefore, understanding nursing students' attitudes to working and living, factors influencing where they first choose to work after graduation is useful in formulating appropriate interventions to retain nurses in regional areas. Methods: A total of 329 senior nursing students from areas outside Metropolitan Seoul completed self-report questionnaires. Data were analyzed using t-test, chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: Of the respondents, 57.8% reported that they planned to work in the region in which their school was located. The three factors ranked as having the greatest influence on their decision to work in non-metropolitan regions were: the cost of living, housing costs, and the proximity to family. Enjoyable aspects of rural life contributed positively to students' intentions to work in non-metropolitan regions, whereas isolation and socialization problems negatively affected their intentions to work in such areas. Conclusions: Greater consideration should be given to improving working conditions and housing environments in non-metropolitan regions.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.92-103
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• 1975

This study was conducted to find out status of delivery environments, delivery attendants, and various immunization practices towards 513 babies who were born during the period from January 1, 1972 to December 31, 1974, in Dongnae Area, Shindong Myon, Chunseong Gun, Ganwon Do. The results and findings obtained from the study are summarized as follows : 1. Of all deliveries, 10.7% of the babies were reported born at the hospitals. 2. Deliveries attended by qualified professionals such as, doctors, midwives or public health nurses, were 22.2% of the total deliveries. Those who delivered alone without having anyone's assistants were as much as 9.7%, The percentage of the deliveries attended by the professional groups were increased year by year among the younger group mothers with the babies birth order being first or second place. 3. Sewing scissors were most frequently used as a tool for cutting the umbilical cord indicating 87.5% in this area. Sterilized tools were used among 50.3% of the women. 4. The usage af vinyl sheet and cement bag paper were frequently used as a delivery sheet, indicating 32.3%. Delivery set which was distributed by the health center was used 18.0%. (excluded the deliveries attended by professional attendants) 5. Immunization practices for the infant were observed as relatively high rate: 92.8% of the infant received D. p. T., 81, 3u/o received against poliomyelitis, 52.8% for small pox, 78.9% with B. C. G., and 18.5%against measles. The percentage af babies complected 3 times shot for D. P. T. and 2 times shot for poliomyelitis vaccine turned out be to 67.8% and 87.5%, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.448-460
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• 1994

This study was conducted to investigate risk factors for senile dementia as well as care givers' stresses and thier needs for nursing care. It was done using a retrospective survey. A convenience sample or In senile dementia patients and l20 nor-mal elders in a rural area was used. The tools used in the study were the MMSE-K(Mini-Mental State Examination-Korea) for dementia screening test and a questionaire developed by the research team. Data were collected through home visits by Com-munity Health Practitioners. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, T-test, and Chi-square test. The findings are as follows : 1. There were significant differences in age, marital status, and religions between the two groups. 2. There was a significant difference in smoling behavior between the two groups. 3. There was a significant difference in past his-tory of cancer between groups. 4. There was a significant difference in past and present elderftmily relationship between the two groups. 5. There were significant differences in intellectual activities, assuming major role in family and seeking other's help in daily life troubles between the two groups. 6. There were significant differences in stress factors such as child problem, family conflict, health problem and illegal behavior between the two groups. 7. The major problems out by families in caring for dementia patient were catastrophic reactions, dirtiness, mood change, devouring and tremor. The most serious problems faced by families was dirtiness. with catastrophic reactions, sleep distrubance, changeableness, and a suspcio-usness following. The care givers expressed chronic fatigue, anxiety, tension, depression, disorder in daily life, shamefulness, blame from neighbours and guiltiness. 8. There is need for geriatric hospitals, nursing homes, burden sharing, and counselling or education for family care givers. A replicate study in the urban area is recommended to validate the findings of this study. To explore the impact of stress in life and ‘han’ on senile dementia, a qualitative study is recommended.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.27-38
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• 1984

The Family Planning Project as a birthcontrol policy has been enthusiastically carried out by the government since 1962. But gradually it get less enthusiastic. Therefore, it is required to establish a more comprehensive and systematic plan and to carry out it thoroughly. And it is needless to say that people's knowledge about family planning, their attitudes and their practice should be concretly comprehended. Taking these things into consideration, this study surveys the general situation on family planning among 237 married women of less than 34 years in Guro 6-dong, one of target areas for Korea University Health Project from Sep. 17, 1984 to Oct. 13, 1984. The results are as follows; 1) Most of the subjects (62.8%) want 2 children and 13.6% want one child. But son-preference consciousness is remarkably revealed among them, which is thought to cause social inequality between man and woman. Therefore, it needs to change the traditional son-preference convention, for equality of all men regardless of sex. 2) The rate of induced abortion experience by person is 61.6% and the average frequency is 1.4. Almost all the induced abortion are carried out at clinics and hospitals during 2~3 months after conception. To prevent these unnecessary conception and induced abortion in view of maternal health, ethics and economics, proper contraceptive measures should be emphasized. 3) Temporary contraceptives should be sold more widely in the basis of free trade in order to practice the intensive and comprehensive family planning because the degree which Health Center has been utilized for buying temporary contraceptives is low. 4) There are serious problems such as the side effects and the lack of follow up care in permanent contraceptives. Those lower the practice rate of permanent contraception. Therefore it is necessary to improve the quality of permanent contraception practice and strengthen the follow-up care.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.66-77
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• 2009

This study aims to examine the effect of socioeconomic status (hereafter, SES) on healthcare utilization of the patients with rare and incurable diseases. Information of 2,973 patients who were self-employed insured and utilized healthcare service in 2007 was drawn from the National Health Insurance (hereafter, NHI) claim data. SES was set as four groups based on the monthly contribution. Outcome variable was the expense for outpatient and in-hospital services, which was log-transformed and square-rooted in oder to obtain normal distribution. Covariates included age, gender, residence and diagnosis. To examine the effects after controlling for covariates, we employed generalized estimating equation model, since patients with the same diagnosis are likely to have similar characteristics of demographics and healthcare utilization. Univariate statistics showed that lower SES was associated with less utilization of healthcare services. After controlling for covariates, a significantly smaller amount of money was expended for the lowest SES group compared to the highest one. Rural residence was associated with less utilization, except that residents in Seoul significantly more utilized outpatient services in tertiary hospitals. Considering that there is a subsidy program for the low income patients, such differences in healthcare utilization according to SES seems to result from the burden of out-of-pocket payments for uncovered services of the NHI.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.5053-5056
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• 2012

Background: Bladder cancer is one the most common malignancies of the genitourinary tract. The present study aimed to assess the epidemiology, of bladder cancer in Mazandaran, a large province in northern Iran as high-incidence cancer area, during a 2-year period. Methods: The data for this study were obtained from the population-based cancer registry of the Vice-Chancellory for Health Affairs of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences and Mazandaran hospitals between March 1, 2010 and March 1, 2011. Demographic data, including sex, age, residency and symptoms were investigated through careful review of medical records. Using a questionnaire protocol, several variables were assessed for these cases such as smoking, history of opium, vegetable consumption habits, and history of other cancers. Results: A total of 112 cases were analyzed, 98 (87.5%) in men and 14 (12.5%) in women (mean age of $68.0{\pm}14.6$ years). Urban and rural residence were 60.7% and 39.3%. Tobacco and opium use were found in 45.5% and 21.4% of patients, respectively. Approximately 60% consumed vegetables an average of fewer than one time per day. Hematuria was the first symptom in these cases which were mainly diagnosed as having bladder cancer by ultrasonography. Conclusion: The results showed that bladder cancer tends to be found in the elderly and the male to female ratio is high. Macroscopic hematuria is a very important symptom for indicating probably urothelial tumor that should be followed up patients with transabdominal ultrasonography as a routine modality.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.165-176
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• 2006

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate job satisfaction and its related factors among radiological technologists. Methods: The subjects were 302 persons in various hospitals and the data were collected from 22 May to 17 July, 2005 using a structured questionnaire. It was composed of socio-demographic characteristics, job-related factors, and job satisfaction with the duty inner factors, the duty outside factors, and the organizational factors. Results: Men were more satisfied than women in their employment(p<0.05). Job satisfaction level of university hospital workers were higher than the general hospital, the hospital, and medical clinics. Job satisfaction level of the general radiological technologists showed lower than the chief radiological technologists (p<0.05). In monthly average grant, the more gained, the higher the satisfaction level(p<0.05). By multiple linear regression analysis, the related factors of job satisfaction level were medical field and duty position (p<0.05). Conclusions: The research shows that job satisfactions levels of the radiological technologists are determined by the health and safety of the work environment. Therefore more improvements must be made for radiological technologists to be more satisfied in their jobs.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.268-277
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• 2021

Background: Most antipsychotic drugs studies have been mainly conducted on side effects, randomized clinical trials, utilization rates, and trends. But there have been few studies on the influencing factors in elderly patients. The purpose of this study was to analyze the influencing factors on the outpatient prescription of antipsychotic drugs in the elderly patients. Methods: Active ingredients of antipsychotic drugs in Korea were selected according to the Korean Pharmaceutical Information Center (KPIC)'s classification. Data source was Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) claims data in 2020 and target patient group was the elderly patient group. We extracted patients who have been prescribed one or more antipsychotic drugs and visited only one medical institution. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square, t-test, negative binomial regression. Results: A number of outpatients were 245,197 and prescriptions were 1,379,092. Most characteristics of patients were 75-85 year's old, female, health insurance type, no disease (dementia, schizophrenia), atypical drugs, cci score (>2) and characteristics of medical institution were neurology in specialty, rural region, general hospitals. Results of regression showed that patient's characteristics and medical center characteristics had significant effect on the outpatient prescription of antipsychotic drugs in the elderly patients. Conclusion: This study suggests that national policy of antipsychotic drugs in the elderly patients, with the consideration of the patients' and medical institutions' characteristics, is needed.