• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.119-127
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• 2021

Objectives: We aimed to find the relationships between employment status and hs-CRP level among Korean wage workers using the 2016 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination (KNHANE, revised). Methods: This study was conducted on 1,937 daytime wage workers over the age of 19 and within a normal weight range (18.5≤BMI≺25). Regular workers were defined as those granted an employment guarantee until reaching retirement age, and non-regular workers were defined as temporary, non-typical, dispatched, short-term workers and contractors. For hs-CRP, three divisions were classified as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and American Heart Association (AHA) with less than 1.0 mg/L indicating low risk of cardiovascular disease, above 1.0 mg/L and below 3.0 mg/L considered moderate risk, and more than 3.0 mg/L indicating high risk. To find the relationship between work type and hs-CRP level in Korean wage workers, multinominal logistic regression analysis was performed. Results: For non-regular workers, the odds ratio of the cardiovascular moderate-risk group and cardiovascular high-risk group was statistically significant compared to regular workers. After adjusting for factors such as gender, age, subjective health status, income, education, smoking, and physical labor, the odds ratio of the cardiovascular high-risk group was statistically significant. Conclusions: In this study, the relationship between non-regular workers and high hs-CRP level was examined. Based on this, institutional strategies should be pursued to prevent and manage cardiovascular disease among non-regular workers.

• Journal of Computing Science and Engineering
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.246-256
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• 2011

Due to the increasingly aging population, there is a rising demand for assistive living technologies for the elderly to ensure their health and well-being. The elderly are mostly chronic patients who require frequent check-ups of multiple vital signs, some of which (e.g., blood pressure and blood glucose) vary greatly according to the daily activities that the elderly are involved in. Therefore, the development of novel wearable intelligent systems to effectively monitor the vital signs continuously over a 24 hour period is in some cases crucial for understanding the progression of chronic symptoms in the elderly. In this paper, recent development of Wearable Intelligent Systems for e-Health (WISEs) is reviewed, including breakthrough technologies and technical challenges that remain to be solved. A novel application of wearable technologies for transient cardiovascular monitoring during water drinking is also reported. In particular, our latest results found that heart rate increased by 9 bpm (P < 0.001) and pulse transit time was reduced by 5 ms (P < 0.001), indicating a possible rise in blood pressure, during swallowing. In addition to monitoring physiological conditions during daily activities, it is anticipated that WISEs will have a number of other potentially viable applications, including the real-time risk prediction of sudden cardiovascular events and deaths.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.755-764
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• 2022

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death in Koreans, and eating habits, including diet quality, are among the etiologies of these diseases. Recently, various studies on regional health disparities have been conducted. However, there are limited studies on their relationship with nutritional factors. This study aimed to identify the magnitude of regional disparities in diet quality and prevalence of CVD in Korean adults. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This study included 17,646 participants aged ≥ 20 years from the 7^th (2013-2016) Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants were classified into four groups based on their residential areas: City 1, City 2, City 3, and non-city. Demographic characteristics, health-related factors, body mass index (BMI), metabolic syndrome index, diet quality, and CVD prevalence were evaluated. RESULTS: In terms of demographic characteristics, age (P < 0.001), marital status (P < 0.001), educational level (P < 0.001), and income (P < 0.001) were lower in the non-city category. Health-related factors such as monthly drinking rate (P < 0.01) and mental stress (P < 0.05) were the highest in City 1 and lowest in the non-city group. Conversely, the current smoking rate (P < 0.05), BMI (P < 0.05), and prevalence of metabolic syndrome (P < 0.001) were the highest in the non-city group (P < 0.05). The non-city group also had the highest prevalence of CVDs (35.6%). This group had the lowest diet quality index (68.36 ± 0.22, P < 0.01), caused by low intake of fruit and calcium, a lack of sodium moderation, and an overall imbalance in the macronutrient and fatty acid ratio. When the diet quality index was increased by 1, the odds ratio for the prevalence of CVDs was reduced by 0.991 (P < 0.001), but this was not the case in all regions. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides useful information and data in identifying and resolving the regional health disparities related to CVD prevalence and implementation of public health nutrition systems.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1997 no.05
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• pp.318-321
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• 1997

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.371-382
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• 1985

Over the past 4 decades after World War II a great deal of data and clinical experiences have been accumulated relating to the diagnosis and surgical treatment of congenital and acquired cardiovascular diseases in Korea. Clinical data on cardiovascular surgical cases performed in all 22 hospitals for open heart surgery in Korea was collected from it`s starting up to December 1984. The first recorded open heart surgery for a young adult atrial septal defect was performed by Young Kyoon Lee, M.D. on August 7, 1959, Seoul National University Hospital, Korea. And, some scattered reports on cardiovascular surgical cases in it`s early period have changed recently the number of hospitals for open heart surgery and clinical cases enormously in total amount of 13, 100 cardiovascular operations performed on 12, 990 cases up to December 1984. Of the total 13, 100 cardiovascular operations, congenital cardiovascular anomaly occupied 70%. Of the congenital cases, 6, 580 operations for acyanotic group [operative mortality 4.5%], and 2, 489 operations for cyanotic group [operative mortality 20%]. The incidence of congenital cardiovascular anomaly in order of frequency was ventricular septal defect [29%], patent ductus arteriosus [26%], Tetralogy of Fallot [22%], atrial septal defect [8, 6%], pulmonary valve stenosis [3.0%], and endocardial cushion defect [1.1%]. Of the 3, 412 valvular heart disease cases, which occupied 85% of total 4, 031 acquired cardiovascular disease, individual incidence was in mitral 2, 565 [63.5%], double valve 451 [11.1%], and simple aortic valve 351 [8.7%]. Total number of valve replaced, mechanical and tissue, was 2, 795, and 1, 884 for mitral, 808 for aortic, and 103 for tricuspid in position. Operative mortality for prosthetic valve replacement in total was 9.8%. Remained acquired cardiovascular cases chronic constrictive pericarditis [7.9%], cardiac tumor [1.9%], coronary artery bypass [1.8%], cardiac trauma [1.2%] and less than 1% of thoracic aortic aneurysm. Overall operative mortality for open and non-open cardiovascular surgical operation was 7.7% [congenital acyanotic group 3.2%, congenital cyanotic group 19.4%, and acquired group 7.8%]. In conclusion, present status of cardiovascular surgery in Korea is stabilized with accumulation of clinical cases and experiences, and the future in the field of cardiovascular surgery is promising, especially in the infant cardiac surgery and aortocoronary bypass surgery, with abrupt increase of specialized cardiac centers, trained specialists, and expanding social health insurance.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.502-508
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• 2020

Dual drug-eluting stents (DES) is a primary treatment method for coronary arterial diseases in current interventional cardiology practice. However, their pathological results according to the sequence of coating of drugs have not been reported yet. The peptide-dopamine dissolved in acetonitrile was coated onto the Chonnam National University Hospital (CNUH) stent using an electrospinning coating machine. For secondary coating (e.g., sirolimus coating, designated as SPS), sirolimus (SRL) and poly lactic-glycolic acid (PLGA) were mixed in tetrahydrofuran (THF), and the solution was then coated on the CNUH stent that had underwent the primary peptide coating using an electrospinning and spray technique. Next, the peptide-dopamine was coated on the SRL-PLGA coated stent (PSS). In this study, it was confirmed that endothelialization was promoted without being significantly affected by the coating order (SPS or PSS). The sequence of drug and peptide coating may affect the development of restenosis and PSS was effective in the prevention of restenosis compared to that of using SPS.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.831-843
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• 2010

Purpose: In this study cardiovascular health status and health behavior of Korean women based on their household income were explored. Methods: For this cross-sectional study, 91 women residing in the community were recruited to complete survey questionnaires and biophysical tests including blood pressure (BP), body mass index (BMI), body fat rate, waist circumference (WC), and blood chemistry tests. Results: Compared to non-low income women (NLIW), low income women (LIW) were more likely to be older, less educated, and jobless, and further more LIW were postmenopause and reported having been diagnosed with hypertension or hypercholesterolemia. Significant differences were found in systolic BP, triglyceride level, BMI, body fat rate, and WC between the groups. Two fifths of the LIW had indications for metabolic syndrome. Their 10-yr risk estimate of myocardioal infarction or coronary death demonstrated a higher probability than that of NLIW. Although these significant differences were due to age gap between the groups, advanced age is known to be one of the key characteristics of LIW as well as a non-modifiable risk factor. Conclusion: Effective community programs for vulnerable women at risk of cardiovascular disease should be based on strategies targeting unhealthy behaviors and modifiable risk factors.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.1-20
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• 2019

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the effects of Korean Medicine Hospital Utilization (KMHU) on major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and death in hypertensive patients taking antihypertensives. Methods: Using the Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort database, this study identified and diagnosed 68,457 hypertensive patients taking antihypertensives between 2003 and 2006. They were divided into KMHU and non-KMHU groups. The follow-up period ended with the diagnosis of myocardial infarction, stroke, or death. After propensity score matching (PSM), there were 18,242 patients each in the non-KMHU and KMHU groups. We calculated the incidence rate, hazard ratio (HR), and 95% confidence interval (CI) for MACE, myocardial infarction, stroke, and death in patients with hypertension using a stratified Cox proportional hazard model. In addition, secondary outcome analyses for stroke and cardiovascular mortality were performed. Results: After PSM, the HRs for MACE (HR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.81-0.87), all-cause mortality (HR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.72-0.79), and myocardial infarction (HR: 0.90, 95% CI: 0.83-0.97) were significantly lower in the KMHU group than in the non-KMHU group. Moreover, the HRs for stroke-related mortality, haemorrhage and ischaemic stroke-related mortality, and ischaemic heart disease-related and circulatory system disease-related mortality were significantly lower in the KMHU group than in the non-KMHU group. Conclusions: On long-term follow-up observation, this study supported the effect of KMHU for managing hypertension and reducing the burden of cardiovascular diseases.

• Korean Circulation Journal
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• v.52 no.8
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• pp.641-641
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• 2022

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.1-13
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to analyze the medical care utilization behavior of patients to whom treatment (surgery) is recommended after they are diagnosed with abnormal findings on health screening and factors affecting the selection of the medical institute for treatment. The data was collected from 291 patients who need treatment or surgery, according to the abnormal findings on the additional examination such as cardiac CT, brain MRI, Gastroscopy and Colonoscopy since four diseases are suspected among of 2,752 people who receive health screening. The results are as follows. First, the most common disease of patients who have abnormal findings by the diagnosis through the results of first testing is colon disease based on through the additional examination. The most common disease of patients who will get treatment (surgery) based on final diagnosis by a doctor who determines the result of health screening on the basis of diagnosis from the first testing is cardiovascular disease. Second, in terms of diseases, patients with cardiovascular disease select the medical institute where they get the health screenings as a place for treatment. Patients with cerebrovascular disease select another medical institute for treatment. Finally, the affective factors of selectivity treatment facility on health screening satisfaction were human, facility, health screening and revisit factors.