• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.494-502
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• 2019

Various international reports have shown strong proof that socioeconomic and sociodemographic variables are correlated with allergic diseases, yet little is known about how these variables affect Korean adolescents. This study was conducted to identify the socioeconomic and sociodemographic risk factors for allergic diseases of Korean adolescents, and to provide information for preventing and managing such conditions. Data from the 2018 Korean Youth Risk Behavior Survey (KYRBS) of 60,040 adolescents was used for this study. An anonymously administered online survey was conducted to collect information on the dependent variables. The independent variables were asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the correlations between the dependent variables and the independent variables. Low economic status, living with mother, high education level of parents, high school record, obesity, drinking and smoking were the risk factors for asthma. Low economic status, the place of residence, living with mother, high education level of the parents, gender, high school record, obesity, drinking and smoking were the risk factors for allergic rhinitis. Low economic status, living with mother, high education level of parents, genderhigh school record, obesity and drinking were the risk factors for atopic dermatitis. We found that low socioeconomic status and unhealthy behavior were the risk factor for allergic diseases of Korean adolescents. Balanced economic growth in the community and controlling unhealthy behavior can help reduce the prevalence of allergic diseases.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.6-15
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• 2022

Climate change is among the most important issues facing mankind in modern society. However, global PV energy expansion has been driven mainly by OECD countries. We investigate the determinants of PV energy growth by panel data of selected OECD countries from 1991 to 2018. We investigate four categories of driving factors: socioeconomic, technological, country specific, and policy factors. The test results support that PV capacity growth is significantly driven by technology development and multidimensional environment policy factors. Socioeconomic factors such as CO₂, GDP, and electricity price are statistically significant on the growth of PV energy, too. Whereas, country-specific solar potential factor is the least related. As most of the socioeconomic factors are exogenous, we need to focus more on PV technology development and policy measures.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.186-193
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• 2017

Purpose: Obesity is one of the most common health problems among children and its prevalence has increased in recent decades. Socioeconomic status (SES) is a well-known risk factor for childhood obesity although the associations were different across countries. Previous studies in other countries have reported a positive association between childhood obesity and SES in developing countries, and inverse correlation has been reported in developed countries. For this reason, we wanted to investigate the relationship between SES and obesity in Korean children. Methods: Data were acquired 3,095 boys and girls who participated in the fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which was conducted from 2010 to 2012. Body mass index was calculated from measured anthropometric data using the 2007 Korean National Growth Charts. Results: Upon univariate analysis, we did not find any statistically significant differences in the parental employment status, monthly family income between children with and without obesity. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed childhood obesity was positively associated with maternal overweight (OR, 1.889; 95% CI, 1.079-3.309), maternal obesity (OR, 3.409; 95% CI, 2.228-5.215) and paternal obesity (OR, 2.135; 95% CI, 1.257-3.627). Conclusion: The present study showed that socioeconomic status might not an important risk factor for obesity in Korean children. These results warrant further studies to clarify the association between SES and obesity in Korean children.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.39 no.7
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• pp.684-691
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• 2006

Abdominal obesity (AO) is a strong risk factor for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, which has shown a remarkable increase in Korea. This study aimed to identify prevalence of AO and related risk factors in Korean adults. A total of 5,132 men and women aged 20-85 years old from the 2001 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were included in the analyses. AO was defined as waist circumference >=90 cm in men and >=85 cm in women as proposed by Korean Society of Obesity. Multiple logistic regression was carried out to identify risk factors for AO. Three models were specified: (i) demographic and socioeconomic factors (model 1: age, education, poverty income ratio, employment), (ii) lifestyle factors and covariates (model 2: physical activity, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, dietary quality, type 2 diabetes, co-morbidity) and (iii) demographic, socioeconomic and lifestyle factors (model 3). The prevalence of AO was 24.1 % in men, 23.5% in women. High poverty income ratio in men and low education attainment in women were risk factors for AO in model. 1. There was a significant association of AO with alcohol consumption, physical inactivity and dietary quality in men, alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking in women. These factors except alcohol consumption in men became insignificant in model 3. This findings underscore the importance of developing AO prevention programs in Korea that target the at risk groups identified in this study. A program focusing on low income men or less educated women would be more efficient.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.95-98
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• 2011

Head louse infestation (HLI) is one of the most frequently occurring parasitic diseases in children. This study was conducted to investigate the socioeconomic and personal factors influencing HLI in the Republic of Korea. A total of 2,210 questionnaires about various factors related to HLI were obtained from children in 17 primary schools throughout the country. The rate of HLI was significantly lower in children who lived together with mother or in a family where both parents worked. In addition, HLI was lower in children whose fathers or mothers were public officers or teachers. However, HLI was higher in children who had small families and washed their hair less often. Education levels of parents and the number of children in family were not significant. Improvement of socioeconomic factors and personal hygiene will be helpful for reducing HLI.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.347-352
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• 2016

Background: This study used receiver operating characteristic curve to analyze Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) adenosquamous carcinoma data to identify predictive models and potential disparities in outcome. Materials and Methods: This study analyzed socio-economic, staging and treatment factors available in the SEER database for adenosquamous carcinoma. For the risk modeling, each factor was fitted by a generalized linear model to predict the cause specific survival. An area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was computed. Similar strata were combined to construct the most parsimonious models. Results: A total of 20,712 patients diagnosed from 1973 to 2009 were included in this study. The mean follow up time (S.D.) was 54.2 (78.4) months. Some 2/3 of the patients were female. The mean (S.D.) age was 63 (13.8) years. SEER stage was the most predictive factor of outcome (ROC area of 0.71). 13.9% of the patients were un-staged and had risk of cause specific death of 61.3% that was higher than the 45.3% risk for the regional disease and lower than the 70.3% for metastatic disease. Sex, site, radiotherapy, and surgery had ROC areas of about 0.55-0.65. Rural residence and race contributed to socioeconomic disparity for treatment outcome. Radiotherapy was underused even with localized and regional stages when the intent was curative. This under use was most pronounced in older patients. Conclusions: Anatomic stage was predictive and useful in treatment selection. Under-staging may have contributed to poor outcome.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.329-345
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• 2005

Gender and intelligence of children, parenting practices and socioeconomic status of parents were studied to investigate whether they functioned as protective factors for resilient children. Total of 556 children of 12 years of age were contacted for the study. Teachers were asked to rate the children's interpersonal competence. Children reported their experience of stressful life events on a checklist. Based on the competence scores and the experience of stressful life events, 107 children were classified into adaptive, resilient, and maladaptive group. IQ scores were assessed using an intelligence test for the 107 children. Mothers reported their parenting practices and their socioeconomic status through a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, chi-squares, t-tests, and one-way ANOVAs were performed to analyze the data. There was no difference in their experience of stressful life events between boys and girls. Girls were rated as being more competent by their teachers. There were more girls in the adaptive and the resilient group and more boys in the maladaptive group. Children in adaptive and the resilient group had higher intelligence scores than the maladaptive group. Mothers of resilient children replied as being warm and acceptive and more refusing and controlling than mothers of the adaptive children Group differences in socioeconomic status of the family were not found. Thus, being a girl and having higher IQ scores were the protective factors for the resilient children.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.81-86
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• 2006

Background: A number of studies have reported associations between the ambient air pollution concentrations and various health outcomes. Especially, ozone is well known for primary risk factor of asthma attacks. The results of a recent study indicate that the size of the effect on health outcomes due to air pollution varied according to several conditions, including age, gender, race and the socioeconomic status. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the associations of ozone with the childhood asthma hospitalizations as stratified by the socioeconomic status (SES) at the community level in Seoul, Korea, 2002. Methods: SES at aggregated levels was measured on the basis of average regional health-insurance rate per citizen in the area. We applied the generalized additive model to analyze the effect of ozone on asthma after controlling for the potential confounding variables that were capable of influencing the results. Results: Our analysis showed that the number of children who were hospitalized for asthma increased as the SES of the residence area decreased. The estimated relative risks of hospitalization for asthma, as stratified by the SES of the community level, were 1.12 (95% confidence interval 1.00-1.25) in districts with the highest SES levels, 1.24 (95% CI=1.08-1.43) within the moderate SES levels, and 1.32 (95% CI=1.11-1.58) in the districts with the lowest SES levels. Conclusions: Our analysis showed that exposure to air pollution did not equally affect the health status of individuals. This suggests that not only the biological-sensitivity markers, but also the SES of the subjects should be considered as potentially confounding factors.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.12 no.11
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• pp.4968-4979
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Socioeconomic factors on medical information resources when medical consumer choose inpatient or outpatient services. The target population was 12,249 people aged above 19 in Chungcheongbuk-do. The sample was accrued for the period of 3 months in 2008 by face to face interview of direct visiting from systematic sampling method. There was a significant difference in the use of personal informer and public informer by sex(p<0.001). There was a significant difference in the use of experimental and professional informer by living area(p<0.001). In conclusion, the results suggest that there is relationship between medical information resource and socioeconomic factors of medical consumer.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.141-148
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• 2023

Purpose : This study examined the relationship between suicidal thoughts, hand grip strength, socioeconomic status, educational level, and disease occurrence. Methods : Korean national health and nutrition examination survey 2017 were used in this study. 5,449 were analysed. For comparison between groups, cross-tabulation analysis and mean comparison were performed. Logistic regression analysis were performed to analyze the influencing factors between grip strength and suicidal ideation. Results : Our results are consistent with the literature on the importance of socioeconomic status in health. The lower the level of education, the higher the suicidal thoughts. Being single or divorced was also significantly associated with suicidal ideation. Moreover, a lower income level was significantly associated with a higher suicide intention. Furthermore, older ages, lower educational levels, and lower income were significantly associated with a higher odds ratio of suicidal thoughts. Interestingly, suicidal thoughts were significantly lower among non-smokers. In contrast, suicide intention did not differ significantly according to gender, age, monthly drinking habit, aerobic physical activity, and disease occurrence. Suicidal thoughts decreased as grip strength increased and this was statistically significant. Socioeconomic status, disease occurrence, and handgrip strength level affected the security of an individual's livelihood and were significant risk factors for suicidal thoughts. These associations remained significant in multiple logistic regression even after controlling for all covariates. Conclusion : Future prevention intervention efforts to reduce suicide risks should consider handgrip strength. Studies to explore the possible proximal risk factors and mediators between handgrip strength and suicidal thoughts are also warranted.