• Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging
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• 제30권2호
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• pp.99-108
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• 2022

BACKGROUND: Adding pulsation to the Fontan circulation might change the fate of patients palliated by this procedure. Our aim was to compare the pulsatility index (PI) of the pulmonary artery (PA) between the various modifications of Fontan palliation. METHODS: Doppler-derived PI was measured in PA branches of a cohort of 28 patients palliated by 6 modifications of Fontan procedure. A group of normal individuals was included for comparison. RESULTS: Atriopulmonary connection (APC) group had the highest PA branches PI and statistically was close to the PI of the normal individuals (right pulmonary artery [RPA] PI of 1.58 vs. 1.63; p = 0.99 and left pulmonary artery [LPA] PI of 1.54 vs. 1.68; p = 0.46, respectively). The lowest PA branches PI was seen in the group of extracardiac total cavopulmonary connection (RPA PI of 0.62 and LPA PI of 0.65). Other 4 modifications including the extracardiac conduit with oversewn pulmonary valve, extracardiac conduit with preserved adjusted antegrade flow, extracardiac conduit from inferior vena cava onto the rudimentary right ventricle and lateral tunnel had a mean "RPA and LPA" PI of "1.19 and 1.17", "1.16 and 1.11", "1.13 and 1.11", "0.82 and 0.84", respectively. The modified Dunnett's post hoc test has shown a significant statistical decline in PI of all modifications compared to the normal individuals except for the APC group. CONCLUSIONS: Fontan palliated patients in different groups of surgical modification showed a spectrum of Doppler-derived PI with the highest amounts belong to the groups of pulsatile Fontan.

• 한국노년학
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• 제36권3호
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• pp.905-926
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• 2016

고령에 대한 개념은 학자와 법령 등에 따라 다양하게 정의되고 있으나, 본 연구의 특성상 소비지출이 소득과 관련이 깊으므로, 고령자고용촉진법에서 기준으로 하고 있는 55세를 고령자의 기준연령으로 설정하였으며, 고령자 가구는 고령자 1인가구와 고령자부부가족만으로 제한하여 연구를 진행하였다. 소비특성은 욕구의 반영이라는 표출된 욕구로 파악될 수 있어 사회복지 측면에서도 의미 있는 분석 대상이라 사료된다. 따라서 본 연구는 고령자 가구의 소비형태를 유형화해서 소비특성을 파악하고, 소비패턴을 결정하는 요인을 찾아 고령자 가구의 표출된 욕구를 통해 관련 정책 수립에 기여하고자 하였다. 조사대상인 고령자 가구 소비 패턴의 내재적 구조 유형을 살펴보기 위해 고령자 가구의 소비지출 항목을 투입하여 군집분석(Cluster analysis)의 K-means법을 실시하였으며, 결과 4개의 군으로 유형화 되어 각각 '보건의료 중심형', '저축 중심형', '생계 중심형', '식비 중심형'으로 명칭을 부여하였다. 고령자 가구의 소비패턴 결정에 영향을 미치는 요인을 분석하기 위하여 이항로지스틱 분석을 사용하였다. 연구결과 고령자 가구는 서로 다른 욕구와 문제에 직면해 있으며, 이를 해결하기 위한 접근방법도 다양해야 할 필요성이 있었다. 특히 지금까지 노인하면 경제적 빈곤자로 인식되어 왔으나, 연구에서는 저축을 통해 준비된 가구들도 있다는 것을 알 수 있었다. 전반적으로 생계 중심형이 가장 많았으며, 이에 영향을 주는 요인으로 혼인여부와 가계소득이 중요한 역할을 하고 있었다. 따라서 고령자 가구의 소득확대에 대한 노력이 필요함을 시사하고 있다. 또한 연령, 주택소유, 주관적 건강상태 등도 유의미한 영향력이 있는 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 연구 결과를 통해 결론 부분에서는 보건의식에 대한 고령자 스스로의 인식 개선, 노년기의 건강 상태에 대한 표준화된 기준 제시, 고령자의 문화생활에 대한 접근성 확보, 삶의 질을 높이기 위한 재정관리 코디, 고령자에게 맞는 일자리 개발과 보급, 협동주거형태인 공동생활가정 보급 등을 제도적 과제로 제언하였다.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제11권1호
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• pp.123-127
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• 1978

The major objective of this research is to identify those hospital characteristics that best explain cost variation among hospitals and to formulate linear models that can predict hospital costs. Specific emphasis is placed on hospital output, that is, the identification of diagnosis related patient groups (DRGs) which are medically meaningful and demonstrate similar patterns of hospital resource consumption. A casemix index is developed based on the DRGs identified. Considering the common problems encountered in previous hospital cost research, the following study requirements are estab-lished for fulfilling the objectives of this research: 1. Selection of hospitals that exercise similar medical and fiscal practices. 2. Identification of an appropriate data collection mechanism in which demographic and medical characteristics of individual patients as well as accurate and comparable cost information can be derived. 3. Development of a patient classification system in which all the patients treated in hospitals are able to be split into mutually exclusive categories with consistent and stable patterns of resource consumption. 4. Development of a cost finding mechanism through which patient groups' costs can be made comparable across hospitals. A data set of Medicare patients prepared by the Social Security Administration was selected for the study analysis. The data set contained 27,229 record abstracts of Medicare patients discharged from all but one short-term general hospital in Connecticut during the period from January 1, 1971, to December 31, 1972. Each record abstract contained demographic and diagnostic information, as well as charges for specific medical services received. The 'AUT-OGRP System' was used to generate 198 DRGs in which the entire range of Medicare patients were split into mutually exclusive categories, each of which shows a consistent and stable pattern of resource consumption. The 'Departmental Method' was used to generate cost information for the groups of Medicare patients that would be comparable across hospitals. To fulfill the study objectives, an extensive analysis was conducted in the following areas: 1. Analysis of DRGs: in which the level of resource use of each DRG was determined, the length of stay or death rate of each DRG in relation to resource use was characterized, and underlying patterns of the relationships among DRG costs were explained. 2. Exploration of resource use profiles of hospitals; in which the magnitude of differences in the resource uses or death rates incurred in the treatment of Medicare patients among the study hospitals was explored. 3. Casemix analysis; in which four types of casemix-related indices were generated, and the significance of these indices in the explanation of hospital costs was examined. 4. Formulation of linear models to predict hospital costs of Medicare patients; in which nine independent variables (i. e., casemix index, hospital size, complexity of service, teaching activity, location, casemix-adjusted death. rate index, occupancy rate, and casemix-adjusted length of stay index) were used for determining factors in hospital costs. Results from the study analysis indicated that: 1. The system of 198 DRGs for Medicare patient classification was demonstrated not only as a strong tool for determining the pattern of hospital resource utilization of Medicare patients, but also for categorizing patients by their severity of illness. 2. The wei틴fed mean total case cost (TOTC) of the study hospitals for Medicare patients during the study years was $11,27.02 with a standard deviation of $117.20. The hospital with the highest average TOTC ($1538.15) was 2.08 times more expensive than the hospital with the lowest average TOTC ($743.45). The weighted mean per diem total cost (DTOC) of the study hospitals for Medicare patients during the sutdy years was $107.98 with a standard deviation of $15.18. The hospital with the highest average DTOC ($147.23) was 1.87 times more expensive than the hospital with the lowest average DTOC ($78.49). 3. The linear models for each of the six types of hospital costs were formulated using the casemix index and the eight other hospital variables as the determinants. These models explained variance to the extent of 68.7 percent of total case cost (TOTC), 63.5 percent of room and board cost (RMC), 66.2 percent of total ancillary service cost (TANC), 66.3 percent of per diem total cost (DTOC), 56.9 percent of per diem room and board cost (DRMC), and 65.5 percent of per diem ancillary service cost (DTANC). The casemix index alone explained approximately one half of interhospital cost variation: 59.1 percent for TOTC and 44.3 percent for DTOC. Thsee results demonstrate that the casemix index is the most importand determinant of interhospital cost variation Future research and policy implications in regard to the results of this study is envisioned in the following three areas: 1. Utilization of casemix related indices in the Medicare data systems. 2. Refinement of data for hospital cost evaluation. 3. Development of a system for reimbursement and cost control in hospitals.