• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.31 no.2 s.61
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• pp.323-334
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• 1998

To investigate determinants of health care utilization of the physically disabled over 20 years old in age living in Taegu city, a self-administered questionnaire survey was carried out for 337 disabled persons with chronic illness from April to July, 1997. Health care utilization .ate was 81.9%(69.1% for hospital or clinic and 12.8% for pharmacy). Marital status, job, health concern, and response to illness showed statistically significant relationship with health care utilization(p<0.05). By path analysis, job, economic status, medical security type and response to illness had a significant direct effect on health care utilization(p<0.05), however, health concern and regular source of care had an indirect effect. The reasons of no health utilization were due to economic problem(31.1%), no symptom(18.0%), inconvenience to seek care or no accompanying persons to be helped(14.8%), unseriousness of the severity of the illness(14.8%), too busy to be treated or no free time(8.2%), hopeless prognosis to be treated(6.6%) in order. In conclusion, it is recommended that the program for expanding medicaid, improving socioeconomic status by getting a job and health education to increase the health concern toward physically disabled should be implemented to increase health care utilization rate.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.185-195
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• 2024

Background: Disabled people have particularly restricted access to health care. In response to this, the pilot project for the general physician (GP) system for disabled people was implemented in 2018, based on the rights of people with disability to the Health Act in South Korea. However, its participants were 0.2% among the total of those with severe disabilities in 2021. Therefore, this study examined the factors related to registering with a GP and the access level to its services to suggest implications for activating the participation of disabled people. Methods: We analyzed factors affecting the registration with a GP and the number of using the services among the participants of the GP system during May 2018 and December 2021 by conducting hierarchical logistic regression and hierarchical regression. The data were linked with the national health insurance data to examine various predictors, including disability types, socioeconomic status, health status, and GP registration. Results: As a result of analyzing the factors affecting whether or not to register for the pilot project, those with disabilities (physical disabilities, brain lesions, visual, intellectual, mental, and autistic disability) eligible for disability care (odds ratio [OR], 4.157) than other disability, and those living in metropolitan (OR, 4.330) or cities (OR, 3.332) than rural residences were highly likely to enroll the pilot study. Health-related variables also predicted the registration status of the pilot project. The predictors related to GP enrollment types (membership type: general health or disability care, GP's affiliation: clinics or hospitals) significantly influenced levels of access to services. Conclusion: It is necessary to develop the GP project for disabled people by considering the variation in types of disability, residences, and health. Further study will be needed to investigate the impact of GPs on the level of participation among disabled people.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.41
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• pp.41-74
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• 2008

Based on the theory of news media's agenda-setting function, this study analyzed Korean public's most important problems (MIP) and the degree of public consensus on the importance of those MIP's. The analysis was done in terms of both time and social strata. According to the findings, economy, social welfare, and political issues were in the for tier of the MIP list. The analysis of issue diversity (H-statistic) also demonstrated a relatively high degree of agenda consensus among Korean public despite some fluctuation in the consensus level, which appears to be higher than that among the American public. A decrease in the degree of agenda consensus with the passage of time appealed to be a general phenomenon across diverse social strata. However, the degrees of consensus-building were different in light of education, socioeconomic status, and the size of residential area. Those who are more educated, have more economic power, and live in a larger city had more chances to experience agenda consensus. These results seem to be basically attributable to the presumed positive relationship between these demographic variables and media exposure. The different degrees of public consensus according to the different levels of those demographic variables suggest that a closer investigation into the various influences on the importance of public issues among the respondents should be done in future studies.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.71-84
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• 2009

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to analyze the proportion of admission via the emergency room(the rest is ER) in an emergency medical center and to examine the factors related to admission. Methods : This study used 2005 National Health Insurance claims data for admitted patients of 112 hospitals having emergency medical centers in Korea. The study sample had 2,335,610 patients. The data was classified into emergency admission and non-emergency admission. To investigate the factors affecting the type of admission, the following were included as independent variables: type of health assurance_(national health insurance beneficiaries or medical aid beneficiaries), demographic characteristics_ (sex, age), cause of admission_ (disease or injury), whether an operation was performed or not, DRG severity level, the number of beds, and the location of the hospital. Data were analyzed using the Chi-square test for the differences in emergency admission rates for each variables, and multiple logistic regression analysis was used for identifying the factors affecting admission type. Results : The proportion of admission via the ER accounted for 40.6% of the total admission among hospitals having emergency medical centers. The risk of admission via ER was relatively high for patients who were male, the aged, the injured, the surgical patients, the patients having more severe symptoms, and the patients admitted the hospitals located in metropolitan areas, and the patients admitted the hospitals having 300-699 beds. Medical aid patients were more likely admitted through the emergency room than health insurance patients after other variables ware adjusted. Conclusions and Discussion : We analyzed the proportion of admission via the ER for the total admission rate of hospitals having an emergency medical center in Korea. And we explored the factors related to admission via the ER. This proportion may be used as an indicator of the adequacy of medical utilization or low accessibility to hospitals of patients with low socioeconomic status.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.411-422
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• 2015

Objectives: This study investigated the socioeconomic factors that affect quality of life (QL) in healthy adults and to study the relationship between QL and health-related habits and food intake. Methods: Subjects consisted of 1,154 healthy adults without any known disease, aged 19 to 65 years from the 2013 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. We used SPSS statistical program version 20.0 for data analysis. Results: The average age and QL score of the study population were 36.7 years and 0.99 points, respectively. Males had a significantly higher QL score than the females (p < 0.001), and employed subjects and those employed in permanent positions had significantly higher scores as compared respectively with unemployed subjects and those employed in temporary positions (p < 0.001, p < 0.05). The group that responded "almost every day" to the "frequency of binge drinking" and "frequency of disruption of daily life due to drinking" had significantly lower QL scores as compared to other groups (p < 0.05). Further, the scores were significantly higher for individuals who practiced "intense physical activities" and "walking" (p < 0.001). The groups that responded that they were "very stressed" showed significantly lower QL scores in comparison to the other groups (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in QL scores according to anthropometric or biochemical indices. When subjects were divided into two groups based on average QL scores, the frequency of intake of "barbecued beef" was significantly higher while the frequency of intake of "fried eggs or rolled omelet," and "soy milk" was significantly lower in the high QL group. Conclusions: Based on these findings, it is evident that in healthy adults without any known underlying illnesses, psychological factors such as economic activity, occupational environment, and stress are considered to have a greater impact on their QL than are nutrient intake, blood biochemical indices, and anthropometric status.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.16
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• pp.7365-7374
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• 2015

Background: Over the past decade, bladder cancer was associated with a significant increase. Given the importance of the impact of socioeconomic status on the distribution of cancer incidence and mortality, and the need to information on these parameters for prevention planning, the aim of this study was to evaluate data for bladder cancer and their relationship with human development index (HDI) and its components in Asia in 2012. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted based on data from the world data of cancer and the World Bank (including the HDI and its components). The incidence and mortality rates were drawn for Asian countries. To analyze data, correlation tests between incidence and death rates, and HDI and its components were employed with a significance level of 0.05 using SPSS software. Results: A total incidence of 696,231 cases (68.7% in males and 31.3% in females, sex ratio of 2.19:1) and 524,465 deaths (67.0% in men and 32.9% in women, sex ratio was 2.03:1) were recorded in Asian countries in 2012. Correlation between HDI and standardized incidence rate was 0.241 overall (p=0.106), 0.236 in men (p=0.114) and -0.250 in women (p=0.094). Also between HDI and standardized mortality rate 0.025 (p=0.871) in men 0.118 (p=0.903) and in women 0.014 (p=0.927). Conclusions: Bladder cancer incidence is higher in developed countries, but the rate is declining, and in less developed and developing countries it is growing. There was no statistically significant correlation between the standardized incidence rate of bladder cancer and the HDI and its dimensions in Asia, except for the level of education.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.421-425
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• 2012

Cancer can be a major cause of poverty. This may be due either to the costs of treating and managing the illness as well as its impact upon people's ability to work. This is a concern that particularly affects countries that lack comprehensive social health insurance systems and other types of social safety nets. The ACTION study is a longitudinal cohort study of 10,000 hospital patients with a first time diagnosis of cancer. It aims to assess the impact of cancer on the economic circumstances of patients and their households, patients' quality of life, costs of treatment and survival. Patients will be followed throughout the first year after their cancer diagnosis, with interviews conducted at baseline (after diagnosis), three and 12 months. A cross-section of public and private hospitals as well as cancer centers across eight member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will invite patients to participate. The primary outcome is incidence of financial catastrophe following treatment for cancer, defined as out-of-pocket health care expenditure at 12 months exceeding 30% of household income. Secondary outcomes include illness induced poverty, quality of life, psychological distress, economic hardship, survival and disease status. The findings can raise awareness of the extent of the cancer problem in South East Asia and its breadth in terms of its implications for households and the communities in which cancer patients live, identify priorities for further research and catalyze political action to put in place effective cancer control policies.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.319-326
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• 2016

Recently multicultural female population is increasing of our country as international marriages increase. With oral care programs, conducting follow-up surveys on multicultural women's oral health condition to figure out the condition and examining improvements and related factors, it tried to contribute to building oral care programs for the future of multicultural families. The study participants were recruited from multi-cultural family center in a metropolis, they were treated their oral conditions at local dental clinics during a year. All participants were 608 people, and among them, one year follow-up sample was 40 women. An interview questionnaire was used to collect information on socioeconomic level and general characteristics related to oral status, through oral examination were conducted to obtain dental caries experience and periodontal conditions. The statistical analysis was done by using the SPSS 20.0 program. Comparing the results between before and after oral health program for an year, DMFS, DS, FS, DT, FT and CPI were significantly decreased during a year. The present study increases interest about multicultural women and family and we look forward to using it as basic data for oral health promotion.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.249-271
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• 2012

This research examines the degree and the patterns of living arrangement transitions and analyzes the factors affecting transitions in living arrangement among elders in Korea. Data came from four-wave panel study of Hallym Aging Research Institute. The first wave was conducted in 2003, and each successive wave occurred exactly 2 years after. Respondents who were aged 60 and over, and had at least one living child were selected for this research. The baseline consisted of 1,907 respondents(2003), then became 985 for the fourth transition interval (2009). A total of 825 who participated both in 2003 and 2009 were used. Binomial logit regression analyses were used to analyze the effects of demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, physical health, cognitive function, psychological well-being, and cultural attitudes toward elder care on transitions in living arrangements. Results show that 29.82% of the elders made transitions in living arrangements from 2003 to 2009, indicating remarkably unstable living situation over this time period. The ratio of living alone is increased from 17.6% to 19.6%, in contrast with decreased ratio of living with married children from 30.5% to 25.2%, and that of living with unmarried children from 19.9% to 13.7%. Factors affecting transitions in living arrangement were different according to types of living arrangement. Elders living with married children were more likely to be older, widowed and to have higher level of psychological well-being and more traditional attitude toward elder care. Elders living alone were more likely to be women, widowed, and to have more chronic diseases and lower level of psychological well-being.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.41-64
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• 1987

The main objectives of the present study were to understand the knowledge and practice of breastfeeding mothers about the feeding and supplementary food and to analyze the factors related to it. The data for the present study collected from July 9 to July 31, 1984 for 302 mothers in Seoul. 1. The Knowledge of Breastfeeding Mothers about the Fee4ing and Supplementary Food (1) In the knowledge of mothers on the appropriate feeding pattern before 6 month, 69.3% of total women believed that breast-fed babies are healthier. There was a singificant difference in the type of feeding in order to education level, socio-economic state, and. mass-media exposure. (2) In the knowledge of mothers on an appropriate duration of lactation, the mean duration of breastfeeding is 8. 1 month. The duration of breastfeeding gradually decreases in order of education level, socio-economic state, mass-media exposure, and employment status. (3) In the knowledge of mothers on an appropriate time of introduction of supplementary food, the mean time of introduction of supplementary food is 4. 7 month. It is gradually decrease in order of education level, socioeconomic state, mass-media exposure, and employment state. 2. The Practice of Breastfeeding Mothers about the Feeding and Supplementary Food (1) The practice of mothers on infant-feeding before 6 month and that education level, socio-economic state and mass media exposure are the higher, the rate of breast feeding is the less. (2) The mean duration of breastfeeding is 9 month. It is 1 month longer the knowledge of mothers on an appropriate feeding pattern before 6 month. (3) The time of introduction of supplementary food is average 4.75 month. It is similar to the knowledge of mothers on an appropriate time about introduction of supplementary food. The result of this study indicate that the knowledge and practice of breast feeding is maintained comparatively high in low educated group, whereas it is noticeably decreasing among the high educated group. High educated group believed that the short duration of breastfeeding better than long, and they practiced breastfeeding so short period. And high educated group also thought early introduction of supplementary food is good for the babies health. Consequently, in this study, for the most part, elite group is found to have rather wrong opinions and practice about infant nutrition. Therefore the accurate information of infant nutrition is must be encouraged to mothers.