• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7283-7288
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• 2013

Background: Tobacco use among adolescents is a major public health concern, and identifying predictors of smoking is necessary for planning prevention programs. The present study examined the relationship between refusal self efficacy, self esteem, smoking refusal skills and water pipe (hookah) smoking among Iranian male adolescents. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 380 Iranian male adolescents aged between 15-19 years selected by multistage sampling. The participants completed an anonymous, voluntary, self-report questionnaire. Variables independently associated with water pipe (WP) smoking were identified by multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: The mean age of the participants was $16.7{\pm}1.3$ years. The prevalence of WP smoking was 17.3%. Logistic regression analysis revealed that knowledge (OR=0.56; 95% CI: (0.37-0.79), attitude (OR=0.69; 95% CI: (0.52-0.89), self esteem (OR=0.67; 95% CI: (0.55-0.82), smoking refusal skills (OR=0.73; 95% CI: (0.55-0.87), and self efficacy (OR=.82; 95% CI: (0.61-0.93) were all signifcant prediting facotrs for adolescents WP smoking. Conclusions: The findings have implications for public health interventions. Indeed, self efficacy and smoking refusal skills should be considered when developing tailored measures for the prevention of WP smoking among adolescents.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6893-6897
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• 2013

Background: During and after the Fukushima nuclear disaster (FND), many parents were concerned about the effects of radiation on the health of their children. Purpose: To clarify the factors that influenced general workers living with children and the effect of child age groups in implementing preventive behaviorsagainst radiation following the FND. Materials and Methods: A descriptive study of preventive behaviors among general workers was carried out 3-5 months after the nuclear disaster. The subjects were 1,394 regular workers, who took part in radiation seminars run by the Fukushima Occupational Health Promotion Center between July and September, 2011. In total, 1,217 responses were submitted, of which 1,110 were eligible for the present study. This anonymous questionnaire survey inquired about the presence and age of children in the household and about radiation preventive behavior implemented after the FND. The contribution of each variable was assessed by logistic regression analysis. Results: General workers in Fukushima who lived with younger children performed more preventive behavior against radiation during and after the FND. In particular, both location-related and daily routines were practiced significantly more frequently (p<0.01) by workers living with a child in the age ranges of 0-6 (8 of 10 items) and 7-12 (5 of 10 items). Conclusions: This is the first study to assess the positive association between living with children by age group and increased preventive behavior against radiation implemented by general workers after the FND.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.170-175
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• 2018

Purpose: Lactose intolerance (LI) is perceived to be frequent in Asia and has been reported to have considerable impact on dietary intake, nutritional status and the quality of life. We aimed to gather information from healthcare professionals on the perceived incidence, diagnosis and management of LI in 1 to 5 year old children in Southeast Asia. Methods: An anonymous electronic survey was sent randomly among healthcare professionals registered in the database of the pediatric societies in Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore between June and October 2016. Results: In total, 259 health care professionals responded of which 45.5% (n=118) were from Thailand, 37.4% (n=97) from Indonesia and 16.9% (n=44) from Singapore. Of the participants who responded (n=248), primary LI prevalence among children 1 to 3 years of age was estimated to be less than 5% by 56.8%. However, about 18.9% (n=47) answered they did not know/unsure. Regarding secondary LI, 61.6% of respondents (n=153) estimated the prevalence to be less than 15%. But again, 10.8% (n=27) answered they did not know or unsure. Rotavirus gastroenteritis was ranked as the top cause for secondary LI. There was considerable heterogeneity in the diagnostic methods used. The majority of respondents (75%) recommended lactose-free milk to manage primary and secondary LI. Conclusion: More education/training of pediatricians on this topic and further epidemiological studies using a more systematic approach are required.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.23-33
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• 2007

Purpose: This study is to investigated the eating behavior, physical activities and obesity degree of the adolescents. Methods: The subjects of research were 1,092 third year students in middle school and high school randomly chosen of N city area and L gun area in Chonbuk province. The data was collected by an anonymous questionnaire. A survey tool developed in Ministry of Health and Welfare(2005) was used to investigate eating behavior, physical activities and obesity degree of subjects. The data was analyzed with the SPSSWIN 15.0 Programs. Results: 37.2% of adolescents only had positive eating behavior. 43.4% of adolescents did regular physical exercise, 10.8% did moderate physical exercise, and 43.3% did active physical exercise. 76.6% of adolescents did muscular strength exercise. So, the majority of adolescents were doing physical exercise. The percentage of adolescents who had normal weight range was 90.6%. The percentage of over weight range was 5.2%, which was higher than the percentage of under weight range, 4.2% Conclusion: This study is a descriptive research for investigating the eating bahavior, physical activities and obesity degree of adolescents. The results provided the baseline data for improving eating behavior, and improving physical activities and relieving obesity degree in adolescence. Therefore an effective national policy must study and develope a program to establish the positive eating behavior, and to promote the physical activities, and to prevent the adolescents' obesity.

• 한국HCI학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.02b
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• pp.639-645
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• 2006

During abstinence from alcohol, craving is elicited by the cues and contexts previously associated with alcohol, and contributes to relapse. To prevent the craving and relapse experienced by alcoholics, cue-exposure therapy (CET) has been used to extinguish the association between alcohol and alcohol-related cues and contexts. This study applied CET, using a virtual reality (VR) system, to eight members of an Alcoholics Anonymous group, in eight sessions. Cues and contexts most likely to elicit an urge to drink were selected through a preliminary survey in order to compose VR-CET scenarios: a glass, bottle, food, and a bar were judged to be the most tempting for people in alcohol dependence and abstinence. By these cues and contexts, a Japanese style pub and a western bar were composed. Each session was administered for 30 minutes by a psychiatrist and included an introduction, immersion, VR navigation, interviews about feelings, and self-report questionnaires about cravings. The eight sessions consisted of initial and closing sessions, and six cue- and context-focused sessions. As a result, a reduction in cue-elicited craving after VR-CET was reported. A mean score of 15.75 (SD = 10.91) on the Alcohol Urge Questionnaire in the first session decreased to 11.57 (SD = 6.88) in the final session.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.112-117
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• 2018

Attending the operation room is an essential part of surgical clerkships. Syncope or presyncopal attacks in the operation room may negatively affect students' learning and career development. This study set out to identify the prevalence of syncope and presyncopal attacks in the operation room during medical students' surgical clerkships. Data from 420 medical students (303 men and 117 women) in their 3rd year of clerkship were collected between 2014 and 2017. An anonymous questionnaire was distributed to assess the prevalence and degree of syncope and presyncopal symptoms. A total of 27% of the respondents had experienced syncope or presyncopal symptoms, 49.6% of the female students and 18.8% of the male students (p<0.001). Fifty students (43.5%) had been attending as observers at the time of the syncopal attack, while 65 students (56.5%) had been participating as assistants. Thirty-four students (29.6%) had recently eaten at the time of the syncopal attack, while 81 students (70.4%) had not recently eaten. Prodromal symptoms included the urge to sit down (21.2%), sweating (19.3%), nausea (16.9%), a feeling of warmth (13.3%), darkened vision (12.6%), yawning (11.7%), palpitation (11.0%), ear fullness (10.2%), black spots in one's vision (7.6%), and hyperventilation (7.1%). This study showed the prevalence of syncope and presyncopal symptoms in the operation room during surgical clerkships. For students' safety and effective clerkship learning, thorough proactive education on syncopal attacks is required.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.5119-5124
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• 2015

Background: HPV vaccination in Singapore is voluntary and physician prescription-based. This study investigated the current status and intention for HPV vaccination among Singapore nurses. Materials and Methods: All female nurses in a general hospital were given an anonymous questionnaire on HPV vaccination experience and intention of vaccinating their daughters. The influence of age, knowledge and perceived-risk of cervical cancer, and cultural background on mother's intention of vaccinating their daughters was analyzed. Results: Of 2,000 nurses, 1,622 (81.1%) responded and analysis was performed on 1,611 with valid data. They showed good awareness on association of cervical cancer with multiple sexual partners (81.9%), history of sexually transmissible diseases (78.2%), and history of genital warts/HPV infection (73.5%), and on cervical cancer preventive effects of HPV vaccination (54.6%). The prevailing misconceptions of the vaccines were: investigational nature (38.9%), side effects (27.9%) and indicated for women at high risk for cervical cancer (20.5%). Conclusions: Misconceptions on the nature, role and safety of HPV vaccines low vaccine up-take rates and daughters. Dissemination of adequate and accurate HPV vaccine information and a review for school-based vaccination are needed for optimal delivery of HPV vaccines in Singapore.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.1977-1980
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• 2014

Background: The popularity of the narghile waterpipe, also referred to as hookah, shisha or hubble-bubble has increased tremendously during the past few decades. The aim of this study was to expose perception of narghile among a representative sample of university students in Sakarya University campus. Materials and Methods: Written approval was taken from the local education authority. An anonymous questionnaire which was prepared by the investigators and contained 17 questions was administered. Nine of the questions were related to socio-demographic characteristics and eight were related to the students harm perceptions about waterpipe. A total of 1,320 questionnaries were received and after preliminary evaluation 1,255 (95.7%) were found to be suitable for evaluation. The data was evaluated in SPSS program by using percentages and averages. Results: The $mean{\pm}SD$ age of the students was $20.8{\pm}2.29$ years (min 18, max 32). There were 864 (68.8%) females and 391 (31.2%) males. A total of 6.3 % of the students (n=79) believed that waterpipe is not harmful because its smoke does not burn the lungs. Almost one-third (n=318) think that the carcinogenic chemicals are filtered while waterpipe smoke passes from the water; 12.1 % of the students (n=152) checked "true" for the statement of "waterpipe smoke contains no nicotine". It is seen that 14.0 % of the students (n=176) think waterpipe with fruit/aroma is healthier than plain waterpipe. Conclusions: As a result of this study, it is found out that a substantial number of university students have false beliefs on harmful effects of waterpipe smoking.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.1091-1095
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• 2015

Cancers can be detected in early stages through awareness of suspicious symptoms or by specific actions undertaken by individuals or participation in medical checks or screening programmes. The present research had three objectives: to assess the knowledge of Romanian women who have relatives with cancer with regard to cancer symptoms and detection methods; to identify socio-demographics factors influencing their level of knowledge; provide information regarding the attitudes of women from the study regarding medical help-seeking in case of any symptom which might be associated with cancer. This cross-sectional study was performed in an oncological hospital from Cluj-Napoca, Romania. It involved 160 women aged 18-70 years, who had relatives with cancer. An anonymous questionnaire was filled in by the participants. The results showed that around 10% of the study sample recognized all the 8 listed symptoms associated with cancer and all the 7 listed methods for cancer detection. The results of the linear regression analyses show that the level of knowledge regarding both symptoms and methods for detection was higher among younger women (B=-0.390, p<0.01, respectively B=-0.260; p<0.01), among those living in urban areas (B=0.872, p<0.01, respectively B=0.676; p<0.01) and those having higher educational level (B=0.883, p<0.001, respectively B=0.536; p<0.001). The majority of the participants agreed with the importance of looking for medical help within weeks up to one month in case that a symptom which might be associated with cancer was observed. The study underlines the necessity that much more information should be given to women who have relatives with cancer about what they can do to detect cancer in an early stage. This is especially needed for older women, women living in rural areas and women having a lower educational level.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.1011-1014
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• 2012

Objective: The possibility that smoking prevalence among junior and senior high school students may decrease with increasing mobile phone bill was reported by the mass media in Japan. We conducted a nationwide survey on adolescent smoking and mobile phone use in Japan in order to assess the hypothesis that mobile phone use has replaced smoking. Methods: A total of 70 junior high schools (response rate; 71%), and 69 high schools (90%) from all over Japan responded to 2005 survey. Students in the responding schools were asked to fill out an anonymous questionnaire about smoking behavior, mobile phone bill, and pocket money. Questionnaires were collected from 32,615 junior high school students and 48,707 senior high school students. Results: The smoking prevalence of students with high mobile phone bill was more likely to be high, and that of students who used mobile phones costing 10,000 yen and over per month was especially high. When "quitters" were defined as students who had tried smoking but were not smoking at the time of survey, the proportion of quitters decreased as the mobile phone bill increased. The proportion of students who had smoking friends increased with the increase in the mobile phone bill per month. Conclusion: The hypothesis that the decrease in smoking prevalence among Japanese adolescents that has been observed in recent years is due to a mobile phone use can be rejected.