• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.478-483
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• 2014

Objectives: The main objective of this study is to assess the levels of hazardous substances in floor dust in primary schools located in the city of Busan in Korea. Materials and Methods: An on-site investigation of three primary schools was performed between April and May 2013. The hazardous substances measured in this study were 14 heavy metals (Cu, Fe, Pb, Mn, Ni, Zn, Cr, Cd, As, Al, Sn, Co, Mo and Si) and the biological agents were bacteria, fungi and endotoxin). Results: Among the heavy metals, Cd, Co, Pb and Cr were not detected in the floor dust from the three primary schools. The mean levels of other heavy metals were as follows: $20({\pm}10)ng/cm^2$ for As, $30({\pm}20)ng/cm^2$ for Al, $5({\pm}4)ng/cm^2$ for Sn, $20({\pm}20)ng/cm^2$ for Mo, $1,340({\pm}620)ng/cm^2$ for Si, $110({\pm}100)ng/cm^2$ for Cu, $240({\pm}50)ng/cm^2$ for Fe, $30({\pm}30)ng/cm^2$ for Mn, $10({\pm}10)ng/cm^2$ for Ni, and $50({\pm}30)ng/cm^2$ for Zn. It was found that mean concentrations of bacteria, fungi and endotoxin in the floor dust of primary schools were $4.7{\time}10^7({\pm}2.2{\time}10^7)cfu/cm^2$, $6.3{\time}10^6({\pm}6.4{\time}10^6)cfu/cm^2$, and $8,140({\pm}5,801)EU/cm^2$, respectively. The predominant species identified in the floor dust of the primary schools were Pseudomonas spp. for bacteria and Penicillium spp.,Cladosporidium spp.,and Aspergillus spp. for fungi, which would be somewhat similar to the microbial distribution pattern of other general environments. Conclusions: Based on the results obtained from this study, the levels of heavy metals, microbes and endotoxin distributed in the floor dust of primary school were higher than those reported for other general facilities. Thus, preventive measures should be prepared for the health care of children.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.65-87
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• 2011

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to perform basic study on environmental and respiratory diseases in Ulsan and vicinities. Also, this study evaluated the actual state of environmental disease and health education at middle and high schools in Ulsan and surroundings. Methods: For this study, we conducted a survey on the health of the general public, environmental effects, and investigated the characteristics of environmental disease, health and hygiene education, etc. The populations of this study were middle and high school students in Ulsan, Korea. This study investigated the knowledge of environmental disease and health education at schools in Ulsan and vicinities from November 2009 to December 2009. All statistical calculations were performed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows, and gained the following results by implementing Frequency Analysis, Cross-tabulation Analysis and ANOVA. Results: As more and more environmental diseases are increased, the interest of the people has been increasing on this. The incidence rates of asthma and atopy were represented the top 25% of the country in Korea. The source of heavy metal, PAHs and VOCs in Ulsan includes the Petrochemical Complex at Nam-gu and Ulju-gun, the Nonferrous Metal Industrial Complex at Onsan-eup, Ulju-gun, and the Heavy Industrial Complex at Dong-gu and Buk-gu. Especially, there are a number of fossil fuel combustion facilities such as waste incineration plants and boilers at Nam-gu and the Onsan Industrial Complex. It may help greatly to investigate the characteristics of environmental pollutants such as environmental air pollutant and indoor contaminant to better manage the local student's health. Conclusions: It has been revealed that the hazardous chemicals and environmental contaminants are main substances of cause for asthma, atopy, dermatitis, and allergy disease. Therefore, through with collecting basic data such as environmental disease of inhabitants, health education, conscious and knowledgeable level in parents of students and students, We have to exert to improve knowledge and prevention with health life in school through development of health education program systematically for preventing of environmental disease.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.350-360
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• 2010

Objectives: This study was conducted to identify factors that affect medical service performance in rural health sub-centers and to develop a method to improve health sub-center performance that takes advantage of these insights. Methods: This study included 1,242 South Korean health sub-centers that had been in operation at least since December 31, 2009 as units of analysis. After adjusting for population differences between areas, the performance of medical service among health sub-centers was analyzed according to medical services performed per person. We performed t-tests, ANOVA, Scheffe's tests and multiple regression analyses. Results: The following were significant variables affecting the medical service performance of rural health sub-centers: number of hospitals and clinics, presence of community health practitioner posts, distance from health sub-centers to main public health centers, distance from health sub-centers to the nearest emergency medical facilities, and proportion of the local population aged 65 and over. In contrast, the proportion of the local population between ages 0-4 and the placement of public health doctors that had already completed their internship were not significant variables. Conclusions: The medical service performance of health sub-centers located in rural areas is significantly affected by local population and health care environment characteristics, and therefore, it is imperative to develop strategies to provide differentiated service based on these factors.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.92-108
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• 2009

This study suggests a model for continuing and comprehensive management of hypertension or Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Korea. Moreover, this paper computed the contribution cost of hypertension or T2DM management using the healthcare medical cost, which could have occurred from stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) that were successfully prevented from the effective hypertension or T2DM management. Additionally, these costs were compared with the cost of implementing the hypertension or T2DM management model suggested in this study. This study used the medical fee summary of the health insurance claims submitted to National Health Insurance Corporation by medical facilities for services provided during the period from January 1st 1999 to December 31st 2006. The prevalence rate with treatment referred to cases in which patients submitted their medical claims at least once during the period, along with an accordant diagnosis. The incidence rate with treatment referred to cases in which patients who never submitted claims for the accordant disease during the five years from 1999 to 2003 submitted claims for the accordant disease in 2004 and 2005. The relative risk of the occurrence of stroke, MI and ESRD was 11.0, 13.6, and 30.3, respectively. The attributable risk of hypertension or T2DM for stroke was 0.730, and that for MI and ESRD were 0.773 and 0.888, respectively. Based on these, the contribution cost of hypertension or T2DM is estimated to be 986.3 billion Korean Won(KRW) for stroke patients, 330.5 billion KRW for MI patients, and 561.7 billion KRW for ESRD patients as in 2005. Hence, the total contribution cost of hypertension or T2DM to stroke, MI, and ESRD is 1.878 trillion KRW. The estimate for operational costs included an annual expenditure of 50,000 KRW per each recipient and an annual subsidy of 0.22 million KRW per person for the 1.6 million low.income individuals with hypertension or T2DM to cover their out.of.pocket medical expenses. Under this assumption, it took approximately 0.6 trillion KRW to manage 5 million high.risk patients in the low. and mid.income range, coverings up to 50% of costs. In conclusion, considering the potential benefits of preventing stroke, MI, and ESRD, the costs seems to be reasonable.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.97-104
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• 1998

Burns in children result in the loss of precious life, or if the child survives, in much suffering from physical, emotional, social, and economic problems. These burn accidents to children happen in the bustle of family life and frequently without any warning. With this background information, this study was designed to identity types of burns in children and mothers' attitudes towards, and knowledge of burn prevention, in order, to not only, in still a safety consciousness regarding the seriousness of burn accidents and the strengthening prevention, but also as basic data towards the development of an educational program aimed at prevention. From May 1 to May 25 in 1997, data were collected from the mothers of children attending five day care centers and kindergartens located in Seoul, which had been selected for the study. The tools used for the study, which were developed by the researchers, surveyed the type of burns suffered by children, mothers' knowledge of burns and attitudes toward burn accidents. The data were analyzed through real numbers percentages and analysis was done using SPSS computer programs. The results of the study show that the most frequent type of burn accidents were those caused by hot water(55.4%) and these were frequently related to everyday habits that easily lead to danger. Further, the first aid treatment following a burn was weak. The majority of the mothers had not instructed their children on who to contact in the case of a fire, first aid for burns, or how to take escape in the case of a fire. This left the children in a defenseless position in case of a fire. The mothers showed a lack knowledge, on what to do when a blaze is discovered, how to put out a fire, first aid for burns, escaping from a fire and appropriate water temperature, in that 50% of the time they answered incorrectly. From this study a prevention program, HIPP (Home Injury Prevention Program) could be developed that includes fire prevention habits and first aid for burns. This program can be used with kindergarten and elementary school children for group education on fire prevention and can be used as a foundation for construction of a system of facilities and equipment to prevent fires and also prevent injury from fires.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.81-93
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• 2006

This study was carried out to examine the actual condition of health promotion program through oriental medicine in the health center and to provide basic data to develop proper policy of oriental medical health promotion program for the community people. The data were collected from 26 health centers which have been implementing the oriental medical health promotion program, using selfadministered questionnaire for two weeks from 1 October to 15 October 2006. The results are as follows : Generally, the respondents have the positive views on the level of budget and facilities/equipments of the oriental medical health promotion program in health center. However, they have the negative views on the level of manpower and education/training of the program. And also more than 70% of the respondents have the negative opinion on capabilities of formulating and evaluating the oriental medical health promotion program. The respondents indicated that there was the lack of coordination between the oriental medical health promotion program and existing health promotion in health center, and that low rate of utilizing community resources. With regard to the method of selecting the target group for the program, there are differences according to the each program. Many programs tended to select the target group not through the criteria of life-course and illness group but through the efficiency of selecting group. And many programs such as stroke prevention program, constitutional medicine program, oriental medical prenatal program, oriental medical prenatal and postnatal program, oriental medical child care program are mainly composed of the development of educational program and lecture. Regarding the number of the present oriental medical health promotion programs, around 65% of respondents answered that the number of the programs was many and thus they needed to decrease to the proper level. And with regard to the priority of the need, effectiveness and the satisfaction for each programs, on the whole, Qui gong program, stroke prevention program, area-specialty program and oriental medical home visiting program have high score. In particular, oriental medical quit-smoking program has lowest score. From these results, it requires to develop and improve the oriental medical health promotion program in health center considering the need and characteristics of community.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.118-124
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• 2011

Purpose: The incidence of multiple trauma is increasing nowadays and is the leading cause of death among young adults. Initial treatment is well known to be crucial in multiple trauma victims. However, many indiscriminate transfers occur due to the lack of a well-organized trauma system in Korea. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the current serious state in which major trauma patients are transferred to the Emergency Medical Center of a university hospital from another medical center. Methods: From November 2009 to October 2010, we performed a retrospective study to analyze the characteristics of patients who visited the Ajou University Medical Center located in Gyeonggi-do. We evaluated the ISS (injury severity score), and a score over 15 point was identified as major trauma. The major trauma patients were separated into two groups according to the visit route, and the characteristics of each group were analyzed. Results: Among the 88,862 patients who visited to the Emergency Medical Center, trauma patients accounted for 19,950, and 343 of them were evaluated as major trauma patients. Among the 343 patients, 170 patients had been transferred from other medical centers. The proportion of males to females was 3.3:1, and the mean ISS was 22.7. The leading cause of trauma was motor vehicle accidents. Of the total 170 patients, 77.6% were admitted to the Intensive care unit and 36.3% underwent surgery. The 170 patients that had been transferred to our medical center, 78.8% were transferred from Gyeonggi-do, 15.3% were transferred from other regions, and 5.9% were miscellaneous. Conclusion: Almost half of the major trauma victims treat at our medical center had been transferred from other medical centers. Establishing a traumatic system, supported by well-organized trauma centers and emergency medical services, that can reduce inappropriate transfers among medical facilities is essential.

• Proceedings of the Korean Association for Survey Research Conference
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• 2005.12a
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• pp.187-220
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to analyze supporters' community formation motives/ Process/consumption experiences and community characteristics. For this purpose, this study collected the data using ethnographic interview. participant observation, documents and media reports. The results of this study show that supporters communities' formation and diffusion process were influenced by individual characteristics(e.g., personality, hobby and etc.), community characteristics(e.g.,team performance, star player, facilities and etc.) and external factors(ex: media movement etc.) and supporters have experienced various emotions such as intimacy. cohesion, pride and so on through various activities at on-line and off-line site. Community characteristics were classified into we-ness, rituals/traditions, moral responsibility. We found that we-ness influenced emotional dimensions such as joy, pleasure, fun and excitement. rituals and traditions made members feel passion. hope. love and vitality. and moral responsibility provided satisfaction. enthusiasm anxiety. regret and so on. Also, emotional attachment and brand loyalty were increased by these experiential aspects of community consumption.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.213-234
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• 2003

The purposes of this study which was done by questionnaire survey and case study of First Aid Certification Program in Seoul Health College were to analyze results and effects of the college financial support program from Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development. The significant 164 data were collected from 300 professors in 8 colleges having the Department of Emergency Care from Oct. 1, 2002 to Dec. 31, 2002 and analyzed using SPSS in terms of t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient and so on. The conclusions and suggestions from this study were summarized as follows; (1) Degree of acknowledgement about aims, contents, results of the college financial support program was above the middle(participants 4.21, non-participants 3.63) and higher relation than the others in case of participants(r:0.32 p<0.001), planning team(r:0.22 p<0.05). (2) Degree of acknowledgement about improvement of curriculum & educational facilities through the program was above the middle and higher relation than the others in case of participants. (3) Degree of acknowledgement about positive influence on acquirement rate of certification(licence) & job through the program was above the middle and performance & adaptation at work place was higher relation than the others in case of participants. (4) Degree of acknowledgement about positive influence on improvement of learning of student's major through the program was above the middle and higher relation than the others in case of participants. (5) The respondents thought that the program had a negative influence on professor's educational activities & research such as study 40.4%, lecture 23.1%, student guidance 12.5%. (6) When the program was administered by planning team, there were difficulties such as execution of budget 42.1%, cooperation with companies 17.1%, cooperation among program teams 11.8%, when it was administered by non-planning team there were difficulties such as execution of budget 45.5%, cooperation among departments 22.7%, cooperation with companies 13.6%. (7) Because it was too short to execute the budget, the ministry have to select proposed programs before the next school year. (8) This program should be changed temporary, insufficient support into consecutive, sufficient support for more characterization & specialization of the college which has a long-term developmental plan & vision.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.478-484
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• 2018

Objective : Cerebrovascular disease (CVD) was the third most common cause of death in South Korea in 2014. Evidence from abroad suggests that comprehensive stroke centers play an important role in improving the mortality rate of stroke. However, surgical treatment for CVD is currently slightly neglected by national policy, and there is still regional imbalance in this regard. For this reason, we conducted a survey on the necessity of, and the requirements for, establishing regional comprehensive cerebrovascular surgery centers (CCVSCs). Methods : This investigation was performed using the questionnaire survey method. The questionnaire was consisted with two sections. The first concerned the respondent's opinion regarding the current status of demand and the regional imbalance of cerebrovascular surgery in South Korea. The second section asked about the requirements for establishing regional CCVSCs. We sent the questionnaire to 100 board members of the Korean Society of Cerebrovascular Surgeons. Results : Most experts agreed that cerebrovascular surgery patients were concentrated in large hospitals in the capital area, and 83.6% of respondents agreed that it was necessary to alleviate the regional imbalance of cerebrovascular surgery. With regards to personnel, over 90% of respondents answered that at least two neuro-vascular surgeons and two neuro-interventionists are necessary to establish a CCVSC. Regarding facilities, almost all respondents stated that each CCVSC would require a neuro-intensive care unit and hybrid operating room. The survey asked the respondents about 13 specific neurovascular surgical procedures and whether they were necessary for a regional CCVSC. In the questions about the necessity of cerebrovascular surgical equipment, all seven pieces of equipment were considered essential by all respondents. A further five pieces of equipment were considered necessary on site: computed tomographic angiography, magnetic resonance angiography, conventional angiography, surgical microscope, and surgical navigation. Our results may provide a basis for future policy regarding treatment of cerebrovascular disease, including surgery. Conclusion : Raising the comprehensiveness of treatment at a regional level would lower the national disease burden. Policies should be drafted regarding comprehensive treatment including surgery for cerebrovascular disease, and related support plans should be implemented.