• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.455-460
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• 2014

Background: The purpose of the present study was to determine geographic clustering of breast cancer incidence in Kanagawa Prefecture, using cancer registry data. The study also aimed at examining the association between socio-economic factors and any identified cluster. Materials and Methods: Incidence data were collected for women who were first diagnosed with breast cancer during the period from January to December 2006 in Kanagawa. The data consisted of 2,326 incidence cases extracted from the total of 34,323 Kanagawa Cancer Registration data issued in 2011. To adjust for differences in age distribution, the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) and the standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of breast cancer were calculated for each of 56 municipalities (e.g., city, special ward, town, and village) in Kanagawa by an indirect method using Kanagawa female population data. Spatial scan statistics were used to detect any area of elevated risk as a cluster for breast cancer deaths and/or incidences. The Student t-test was performed to examine differences in socio-economic variables, viz, persons per household, total fertility rate, age at first marriage for women, and marriage rate, between cluster and other regions. Results: There was a statistically significant cluster of breast cancer incidence (p=0.001) composed of 11 municipalities in southeastern area of Kanagawa Prefecture, whose SIR was 35 percent higher than that of the remainder of Kanagawa Prefecture. In this cluster, average value of age at first-marriage for women was significantly higher than in the rest of Kanagawa (p=0.017). No statistically significant clusters of breast cancer deaths were detected (p=0.53). Conclusions: There was a statistically significant cluster of high breast cancer incidence in southeastern area of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was suggested that the cluster region was related to the tendency to marry later. This study methodology will be helpful in the analysis of geographical disparities in cancer deaths and incidence.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.1-19
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• 2003

The study has examined the relationship between the middle school students´ after school activities and leisure satisfaction to provide the opportunity of making good use of leisure time and of developing students´ latent talent and aptitude. The research finding are as follows : 1. Based on socio-demographic variables. the female students had more rates of participation in talent and aptitude educational activity than male students. The number of the students from rural areas was much bigger than that of cities such as Gwangju or other big cities in Chonnam. But the students whose parents made a lot of money showed less interest in participating talent and aptitude educational activities. 2. Based on the research of socio-demographic variables, students from counties or smaller areas showed more satisfaction than Gwangju in leisure satisfaction among the six subordinate categories. 7th graders were more satisfied in educational and environmental leisure activities than 8th or 9th graders. Moreover. as the family income is higher and as the father´s educational level is higher. satisfaction rate from leisure activities came out to be higher 3. In regard to satisfaction they get from their leisure activities, it was comparatively high when they had the activities voluntarily as their hobbies or for fun. Some students regarded it as their chances for the next step and they were really satisfied, too. And also the period of time was one of the factors that affected students´ satisfaction. They were satisfied enough when they had the activities less than four month in a year The students who had strong concentration and great enthusiasm showed high leisure satisfaction in all areas except for the environmental one.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.717-734
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify preschool children's eating behaviors associated with early childhood obesity and its multi-level, socio-ecological determinants. SUBJECTS/METHODS: In a cross-sectional study of 364 mothers of preschool children aged 3-5 years, these children's healthy eating behaviors were assessed using a validated preschool nutrition quotient (NQ-P) questionnaire. The children's overweight or obesity statuses were determined based on body mass index percentiles from the 2017 Korean National Growth Chart. The associations between the NQ-P score and risk of overweight or obesity were examined using multivariable logistic regression. The associations of individual, maternal, physical, and media environmental factors with the NQ-P score were also examined using multivariable linear regression. RESULTS: Preschool children with greater NQ-P scores were at a significantly lower risk of overweight or obesity (P < 0.01). The NQ-P score had a significantly positive association with maternal body mass index and an inverse association with household income (all P < 0.05). Maternal parenting and feeding practices exhibited associations with the NQ-P score. Positive associations were observed with "warm," "structured," and "autonomy-supportive" parenting as well as monitoring feeding practices (all P < 0.05). In addition, the NQ-P score had a significantly positive association with the childcare center's anti-obesogenic environment, such as the provision of nutritional and physical-activity support and vicinity of the built food environment to the home, including access to good-quality food, fruits and vegetables, and low-fat foods (all P < 0.05). Regarding media environments, the NQ-P score demonstrated more significant associations with viewing and eating and/or cooking content displayed on online video platforms (all P < 0.05) than with that on television. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm the significance of healthy eating behaviors in early-childhood-obesity prevention and underscore the importance of multilevel maternal, physical, and media environmental interventions that effectively guide eating behaviors in preschool children.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.75-87
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• 2000

The aims of this study are to establish a mode of housing life style that meet the demands of families living in big cities, and the contribute to the development of a better housing life style pattern by considering metropolitan residents' choice of housing and basic concepts of their behavioral patterns. The results of this study were as follows: 1. Value orientation of family life was divided into value orientation of family and value orientation of housing. Value orientation of family was constituted of four factors such as 'harmony', 'leisure and hobbies', 'individual development and its support' , 'education' . Value orientation of housing is constituted of three factors such as 'physical characteristics of house' , '\`environmental condition', 'socio-economic conditions of housing'. The comprehensive life values were constituted of six factors such as 'the importance of communal family', 'the importance of housing decoration and housing life benefits', 'the importance of security and holding environment' , 'the importance of familial harmony', 'the importance of privacy', 'the importance of convenience and natural environment'. Based on three factors, were found to be fine types of value orientation of family life which were 'pursue healthy of family', 'comfort of family', 'clean environment', 'convenient environment', and 'harmonious relationship among family members'. Variables influencing the value orientation of family life were property and price of housing. 2. Consumption propensity when buying house, furniture and durables were constituted of four factors which were propensity to 'beauty', 'fashion', 'tradition and symbol', and 'pragmatic use'. Based on these factors, there were found to be four types of consumption propensity when buying house, furniture and durables which were 'fashion', 'tradition and symbol', 'beauty', and 'pragmatic use'. Variables influencing spending habits were found to be objective social class (SES), types of residence, wife's educational background, and price of housing. 3. Propensity to using space were constituted of three factors which were 'convenience', 'politeness and social grace', and 'housekeeping'. Based on these factors, there were found to be three types of propensity to using space which were 'individuality', 'convenience', and 'politeness and housekeeping'. Variables influencing propensity to use of space were found to be objective social class (SES), wife's educational background, types of homeownership and price of housing 4. According to this study, there were found to be six patterns of housing life style: 1) family that seeks formalist life, 2) family that seeks harmonious life, 3) family that seeks active healthy life, 4) family that combine various factors, 5) family that seeks convenience, 6) family that stresses environment.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.324-330
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• 2022

Background: Lung injuries due to exposure to humidifier disinfectants (HDs) were reported in 2011 in South Korea. As a result of the government's epidemiological investigation and toxicity test study, it was found that HDs caused health damage such as lung disease. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to classify HD exposure ratings and analyze the affecting factors that could identify the relationship with lung disease. Methods: Exposure assessment for HDs was conducted using a questionnaire during face-to-face interviews with the applicants. Ratings of high exposure (Class 1) and low exposure (Class 2) were cross-tabulated with clinical ratings (acceptable and unacceptable). Logistic regression analysis was carried out by setting the clinical rating of lung disease as a dependent variable and the socio-demographic and exposure characteristics obtained through the questionnaire as independent variables. Results: The concentration in air of polyhexamethylene guanidine (PHMG) was 71.96±107.47 ㎍/m³, and the exposure concentration was 15.21±23.28 ㎍/m³ . The exposure rating was overestimated with 97.1% of affected subjects having high exposure using margin of exposure (MOE), but only 9.9% matching the clinical class. In the overestimated group, it could be explained by the fact that the exposure time was long and the subjects had already recovered from damage symptoms. As a result of logistic regression analysis, ten variables were found to be significant influencing factors. Conclusions: A new exposure rating could be calculated based on the MOE, and factors affecting lung disease could be estimated through comparative evaluation with the clinical rating.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.556-565
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• 2014

Objectives: This study is aimed at inquiring into the grasp of real condition of working environment and improvements by calculating the hypertension distribution consequent on job stress risk and exposure level of alleviating factors. In addition, this study is intending to estimate the hypertension distribution through socio-demographic factors and level of stressors occurring at working environment, such as high workload, low control, low support, job insecurity, long working hours, low income. Methods: This study estimated the hypertension distribution using the tertiary Korean Working Conditions Survey data, and conducted comparative analysis according to the category of individual questionnaire items using odds ratio. Result: As a result of study, it was found that in the event that working environment satisfaction is low and business & an immediate superior's attitudes are negative, the hypertension distribution was high. Particularly, it was found that physical risk factor musculoskeletal risk factor, and mental risk factor in a workplace were all increasing the hypertension distribution. Conclusions: With the aged workers' labor market participation ratio increasing, hypertension could be a major issue in the field of Occupational Safety and Health. Thus, it's necessary that the relevant employer should lower the hypertension distribution through creation of pleasant working environment and inducement of workers to improve in the relations with their superiors. As for the uppermost limit of this study, there is a limit to clarifying the mechanism of hypertension through multivariate statistics analysis because it's difficult to establish causal relationship by individual questionnaire item as the working conditions survey is made by cross-sectional study. In the follow-up research, this study is going to do research on the mechanism of hypertension through questionnaire supplementation and in-depth analysis.

• Architectural research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.13-20
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• 2015

The physical environment can dramatically affect students' feeling and their behavior, educational attainment, and the way in which we do school activities. Unlimited access to campus areas without appropriate securities have reported an increase of crime in school area and safety issues has encouraged school facility planners to install securities devices at every corner of buildings. However, it is still questionable whether this approach is enough to protect students and staffs from the victimization of crime, including thefts, burglaries and sexual offences. There has been continued doubt about the safety of educational facilities where individual college students are studying and enjoying extra-curricular activities. Therefore, the purpose of this study is intended to investigate the effects of perception of safety by students on the level of academic performance at public outdoor environment of university campus. An extensive literature noted that the central element of modern school design principle mainly holds the theory of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) and the concept of defensible space. The second generation of CPTED also focused on social soft issues as well as situational factors, which extends beyond mere physical design to include social factors. The correlation analysis found that the effect of sense of safety does appear to be statistically significant on the facilitation of academic achievement. However, the analysis of Chi-square concluded that the perception of safety was not related to demographic and socio-economic profiles of the group except for gender. Further, stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that the most prime predictor for academic achievement were 'safe public outdoor space/paths' at university campus environment, implying careful design of public open space and sidewalks based on the guideline of CPTED. The study also demonstrated that as the level of positive perception of safety rose, the overall academic achievement also responded to the specified rate (${\beta}=.99$). Finally, the findings reinforce an evidence that high-quality school environments are a positive factor in student academic performance.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.219-226
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• 2018

Objectives: This study aimed to explain the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) gap between the poorest and the wealthiest quintiles in the capitals of Kermanshah and Kurdistan Provinces (Kermanshah and Sanandaj), in western Iran. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among 1772 adults. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status (SES), lifestyle factors, body mass index, and HRQoL of participants were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The slope and relative indices of inequality (SII and RII, respectively) were employed to examine socioeconomic inequality in poor HRQoL. Blinder-Oaxaca (BO) decomposition was used to quantify the contribution of explanatory variables to the gap in the prevalence of poor HRQoL between the wealthiest and the poorest groups. Results: The overall crude and age-adjusted prevalence of poor HRQoL among adults was 32.0 and 41.8%, respectively. The SII and RII indicated that poor HRQoL was mainly concentrated among individuals with lower SES. The absolute difference (%) in the prevalence of poor HRQoL between the highest and lowest SES groups was 28.4. The BO results indicated that 49.9% of the difference was explained by different distributions of age, smoking behavior, physical inactivity, chronic health conditions, and obesity between the highest and lowest SES groups, while the remaining half of the gap was explained by the response effect. Conclusions: We observed a pro-rich distribution of poor HRQoL among adults in the capitals of Kermanshah and Kurdistan Provinces. Policies and strategies aimed at preventing and reducing smoking, physical inactivity, chronic health conditions, and obesity among the poor may reduce the gap in poor HRQoL between the highest and lowest SES groups in Iran.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.66-75
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• 2012

Purpose: This study is aimed at obtaining the information on the physical fitness level of female flight attendants at a local airline. Methods: The subjects are 2,409 female flight attendants who have had medical examination and physical fitness tests at an airline medical center from January 2 to December 30, 2008. The independent variables include socio-demographic & behavioral characteristics, and medical examination results, whereas the dependent variable is their physical strength score representing their fitness level. Results: Factors that affect the fitness strength score are age, flight hours per year, and fasting blood sugar level. It is found that physical fitness level is higher when the subjects are over 35, on board for over 850 hours per year and their fasting blood sugar level is over 100 mg/dL. Conclusion: It is concluded that for the improvement of flight attendants' health, more exercise to develop cardio-respiratory endurance and muscular strength is needed, and further study needs to be done to develop fitness enhancement programs considering flight attendants' job characteristics, working years, and flight hours per year, and programs for those returning to their workplace after a long-term leave, and new employees.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.127-144
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• 1999

The purposes of this study were to identify the housing maintenance cost, imputed rent fee and total housing cost of households living in rental house, to analyze the factors related to their housing maintenance cost, imputed rent fee and total housing cost and to investigate the factors contributing to total housing cost to total household income ratio. The data used for these purposes, was 97 KHPS of Daewoo Economic Research Institute. Sample size of households living in rental house, was 663. Statistics performed for the analysis were frequencies, percentiles, t-test, Lorenz cutie and Gini coefficient, Tobit analysis, OLS and Logistic analysis. The results of this study were as fellows: First, monthly cost of monthly rent & maintenance and repairs of households living in rental house with a deposit was lower than rental house, while the imputed rent fee of households living rental house with a deposit was higher than monthly rent households'And, total housing cost of households living in rental house with a deposit was higher than monthly rent households'. Second, Gini coefficient of the housing maintenance cost was 0.440, Gini coefficient of imputed rent fee was 0.362, and Gini coefficient of total housing cost was 0.291. Third, the variables related to their housing maintenance cost were family type, total household expenditure of socio-demographic characteristics and residence, type of rent, housing type of housing environmental factor. Also, the variables contributing to imputed rent fee were job type and educational attainment of household hearts, the number of family members, total household expenditure, residence, type of rent, housing type and tole number of rooms. In addition, the variables associated with total housing cost were job type and educational attainment of household head, total household income and residence, type of rent, housing type and the number of room. Finally, age, job type, educational attainment of household head, wife's employment status, the number of family members, family type, total household expenditure, residence, rent type of rent, housing type, the size of living space, and the number of room were significant variables contributing to total household cost to total household income ratio.