• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.303-315
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• 2019

In 2018, 14.3 percent of South Korea's elderly population aged 65 or older entered an aged society and is expected to enter a super-aged society with more than 20 percent of the elderly population around 2025. Older adults often visit different medical institutions to take medicine, which requires medication management, such as interaction between each drug. In this study, we wanted to analyze the U.S. system, which specializes in drug management for the elderly, and Korea's system, which is about to enter a super-aged society, to find a systematic way to manage drugs for the elderly. The method of study was a systematic literature study on elderly drug management in Korea and the United States. Studies have shown that the United States has enacted the Medication Therapy Management (MTM) for the elderly and has been running the Senior Drug Enforcement Program. In Korea, a community care business is underway to manage drugs for senior citizens, but it is analyzed that the elderly need to have a special medicine system for senior citizens to use them more safely.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.415-423
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• 2022

Economic evaluations in the healthcare are used to assess economic efficiency of pharmaceuticals and medical interventions such as diagnoses and medical procedures. This study introduces the main concepts of economic evaluation across its key steps: planning, outcome and cost calculation, modeling, cost-effectiveness results, uncertainty analysis, and decision-making. When planning an economic evaluation, we determine the study population, intervention, comparators, perspectives, time horizon, discount rates, and type of economic evaluation. In healthcare economic evaluations, outcomes include changes in mortality, the survival rate, life years, and quality-adjusted life years, while costs include medical, non-medical, and productivity costs. Model-based economic evaluations, including decision tree and Markov models, are mainly used to calculate the total costs and total effects. In cost-effectiveness or costutility analyses, cost-effectiveness is evaluated using the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, which is the additional cost per one additional unit of effectiveness gained by an intervention compared with a comparator. All outcomes have uncertainties owing to limited evidence, diverse methodologies, and unexplained variation. Thus, researchers should review these uncertainties and confirm their robustness. We hope to contribute to the establishment and dissemination of economic evaluation methodologies that reflect Korean clinical and research environment and ultimately improve the rationality of healthcare policies.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.133-160
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• 1973

1. Introduction Community medicine with the concept of comprehensive medical care and an ideal medical care delivery system not only for an individual or family but for the whole community has emerged. In April 1970, the Presbyterian Medical Center started a hospital based community health service project in order to improve the health of the people in rural areas. Prior to commencing a comprehensive medical care system, a family survey was needed. The major objective of this survey was to obtain information concerning the people and their environment so as to be able to plan and implement a comprehensive medical care program in Soyang-Myun. 2. Survey Method An interview using a family record form was carried out for each household. This family record form was designed to get information about demography, family planning, environmental sanitation and vital statistics. Prior to beginning, the members of the survey team were trained in interviewing techniques for three days. The team consisted of a public health nurse, four nurse-aides, a sanitarian and four health extension workers who are working in our project, The survey was carried out during the period November 1971 to March 1972. 3. Project area 1) Population of Soyang-Myun was 11,668; male, 5,962 and female, 5,706. Sex ratio: 104.5. 2) Households : 1,858 3) Family size: The average household consisted of 6.3 persons. 4) Educational level of householder a. Illiterate 13% b. No schooling but able to read 10% c. Preschool children 19% d. Primary school 47% e. Middle school 7% f. High school 3% g. College or University 1% 5) Occupational distribution of householders a. Farmer 67% b. Laborer 13% c. Office worker 4% d. Merchant 4% e. Industrial worker 2% f. Unemployed 8% g. Miscellaneous 2% 6) Religious affiliation a. No religion 74% b. Buddhist 12% c. Protestant 10% d. Catholic 4% 4. Survey results Living Environment : a. Home ownership 95% b. Kinds of roofing Straw-thatched house 84% Tile-roofed house 10% Slate-roofed house 5% Other 1% c. Floor space Less than 6 pyong 10% 6-10 pyong 53% 11-15 pyong 24% 16-20 pyong 9% More than 20 pyong 4% d. Radio ownership 80% Environmental Sanitation : a. the source of drinking water public well 49% private well 30% drainage water 9% steam water 8% well pump 3% water distribution system 1% b. Distance between well and toilet more than 16meters 38% 6-10 meter 31% 11-15 meters 14% Less than 6 meters 17% c. The status of well management Bad 72% Fair 26% Good 2% d. General sanitary state of house Bad 37% Fair 51% Good 12% e. House drainage system had no house drainage. 77% Family Planning : a. 24% of the people have used contraceptives, but 12% ceased to use them. 76% have never used contraceptives. b. used methods 1oop 68% oral pill 16% vasectomy 4% condom 1% tubal ligation 1% two or more methods 10% Maternal Health : a. The number of conceptions of housewives under 50 years of age. 11 times 26% 6 times 11% 5 times 11% 4 times 9% b. The place of delivery own house 88% hospital 1% others 11% Treatment of general sickness : a. The place of treatment Soyang Health Center 31% Hospital (private or otherwise) 26% Pharmacy 14% Herb medicine 5% Private care 5% No treatment 12% Miscellaneous 7% b. Usual causes of diseases Unknown 46% Tuberculosis 29% Neuralgia 8% CVA 3% Bronchitis 3% Others 11%

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 2013

Objectives: As quality of work-life (QWL) among nurses affects both patient care and institutional standards, assessment regarding QWL for the profession is important. Work-related Quality of Life Scale (WRQOLS) is a reliable QWL assessment tool for the nursing profession. To develop a Chinese version of the WRQOLS-2 and to examine its psychometric properties as an instrument to assess QWL for the nursing profession in China. Methods: Forward and back translating procedures were used to develop the Chinese version of WRQOLS-2. Six nursing experts participated in content validity evaluation and 352 registered nurses (RNs) participated in the tests. After a two-week interval, 70 of the RNs were retested. Structural validity was examined by principal components analysis and the Cronbach's alphas calculated. The respective independent sample t-test and intra-class correlation coefficient were used to analyze known-group validity and test-retest reliability. Results: One item was rephrased for adaptation to Chinese organizational cultures. The content validity index of the scale was 0.98. Principal components analysis resulted in a seven-factor model, accounting for 62% of total variance, with Cronbach's alphas for subscales ranging from 0.71 to 0.88. Known-group validity was established in the assessment results of the participants in permanent employment vs. contract employment (t = 2.895, p < 0.01). Good test-retest reliability was observed (r = 0.88, p < 0.01). Conclusion: The translated Chinese version of the WRQOLS-2 has sufficient validity and reliability so that it can be used to evaluate the QWL among nurses in mainland China.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 1982

It is discussed in a social epidemiology that a symptom would be regarded as an illness or not by the inhabitants' socio-economic status, ages and races, and the aspects of health care seeking are various according to the above-mentioned characteristics. This paper surveyed the symptom recognition and health care seeking following a questionnaire that, of 14 symptom groups presented, which symptom would be regarded an illness necessary for medical treatment, and if it is regarded as an illness, which kind of medical treatment would be thought to be reasonable. As a result, differently from the general theory of social epidemiology, statistical differences according to independent variables was not found in symptom recognition, which indicates that Korean medical culture is similar between urban and rural areas. But in anticipatory health care seeking, various health care seekings were performed following the symptoms. Especially, general hospitals' medical care was thought to be more desirable by the inhabitants in city area than in rural area ; youngers than olders; high-incomers than low-incomers ; new or old middle class or urban laborers than rural farmers ; and the highly educated than the low educated. Conversely, the latters seeked some treatments by pharmacy.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.35-43
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• 1983

Health institutions in Korea include a wide range of traditions, most notable of which are hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and health centers as foci for the dispension of western medicine care ; and herb clinics and shamans acting as centers for traditional medicine. Health consumers have pluralistic conceptions of illness(or disease) and act accordingly, using what they consider as appropriate medical practices. The research conducted surveyed residents of Jeomdong-Myon(a rural farming district), Guro 6-Dong(an urban district) and the Banwol(a semiurban district) area on attitudes about health institutions and their utilization of them. The results indicate that the hospital is considered the most reliable health institution, however, the most widely known and commonly used institution was the pharmacy. Hospitals and clinics were found to be utilized more frequently by those residents who were familiar with them than by others less familiar with them. In addition respondents with higher education, those with medical insurance, and those living in urban areas tended to utilize hospitals and clinics more frequently than their less educated, uninsured, or rural counterparts. Converse to the ranking of western medical institutions, traditional health institutions were rated low with regards to reliability, familiarity and utilization. This indicates that western medical care has pervaded the Korean medical system.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.30-52
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• 1994

The purpose of this study is to look into the health behavior and utilization of health service, and the factors which have influence on both of them. In order to research them, it visited home and interviewed selecting randomly 300 subjects who can understand the purpose of this study, want to participate and are possible to interview. Questionnaries survey was administered during the period from April.6 to May.12. 1993. Collected materials analysis were dealt with a method of SPSS PC Program and used percentage. Mean, SD. t-test, $X^2-test$, Pearson's Correlation Coefficient, Multiple Regression and One-way ANOVA for hypothesis verification. The results of this study are as follows. 1. The hypothesis is that there will be a significant difference in performance degree of health behavior by general characteristics(sex, age, educational background, occupation, religion) of subjects. According to the results, it turned out that sex(P=.035), educational background(P=.0432), and occupation(P=.440) appeared to be a significant difference as P<.05. 2. The hypothesis that the more interesting degree on health of subjects have, the better they performance for health behavior was supported (r=.2552, P<.001). 3. The hypothesis that the healthier subjects are, the better they performance for health behavior was supported(r=.5262, P<.001). The highest correlation was seen between the healthier subjects and health behavior. According to the results of multiple regression analysis with interesting degree on health and healthier subjects as dependent variables, it turned out that R2 was 35% and had a significant difference. 4. The hypothesis is that there will be a difference in the utilization of health service by general characteristics(sex, age, educational background, occupation, religion). According to. the results, it showed that educational background (dental clinic), religion(pharmacy) had an influence on the frequency of utilization of facilities (P<.05).

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.80-85
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• 2014

Background: Currently available questionnaires for evaluating the quality of worklife do not fully examine every factor related to worklife in all cultures. A tool in Thai is therefore needed for the direct evaluation of the quality of worklife. Our aim was to translate the Work-related Quality of Life Scale-2 (WRQLS-2) into Thai, to assess the validity and reliability of the Thai-translated version, and to examine the tool's accuracy vis-$\grave{a}$-vis nursing in Thailand. Methods: This was a descriptive correlation study. Forward and backward translations were performed to develop a Thai version of the WRQLS. Six nursing experts participated in assessing content validity and 374 registered nurses (RNs) participated in its testing. After a 2-week interval, 67 RNs were retested. Structural validity was examined using principal components analysis. The Cronbach's alpha values were calculated. The respective independent sample t test and intraclass correlation coefficient were used to analyze known-group validity and test-retest reliability. Multistate sampling was used to select 374 RNs from the In- and Outpatient Department of Srinagarind Hospital of the Khon Kaen University (Khon Kaen, Thailand). Results: The content validity index of the scale was 0.97. Principal components analysis resulted in a seven-factor model, which explains 59% of the total variance. The overall Cronbach's alpha value was 0.925, whereas the subscales ranged between 0.67 and 0.82. In the assessment results, the known-group validity was established for the difference between civil servants and university employees [F (7.982, 0.005) and t (3.351; p < 0.05)]. Civil servants apparently had a better quality worklife, compared to university employees. Good test-retest reliability was observed (r = 0.892, p < 0.05). Conclusion: The Thai version of a WRQLS appears to be well validated and practicable for determining the quality of the work-life among nurses in Thailand.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.577-581
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• 2018

Schistosomiasis is prevalent in Nigeria, and the foremost pathogen is Schistosoma haematobium, which affects about 29 million people. Single dose of the drug praziquantel is often recommended for treatment but the efficacy has not been documented in certain regions. Therefore, this study was designed to assess the impact of single dose praziquantel treatment on S. haematobium infection among school children in an endemic community of South-Western Nigeria. Urine samples were collected from 434 school children and 10 ml was filtered through Nucleopore filter paper before examination for egg outputs by microscopy. The prevalence was 24.9% at pre-treatment. There was no statistically significant difference for the prevalence of infection between males (14.7%) and females (10.2%), although the mean egg count for the females (9.87) was significantly more (P<0.05) than the males (6.06). At 6 and 12 months post-treatment there was 74.4% and 86.4% reduction in the mean egg count, respectively. Interestingly, an increased prevalence of infection from 2.1% at 6 months to 7.7% at 12 months post-treatment was observed, nonetheless the mean egg count was reduced to 0.27 at 12th month from 1.98 at 6 months post-treatment. Resurgence in the prevalence rate between 6 and 12 months post-treatment with praziquantel is herein reported and the need for a follow-up treatment in endemic areas for adequate impact on schistosomiasis control is discussed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.13
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• pp.5349-5357
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• 2015

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer mortality among women of all ethnic and age groups in Malaysia. Delay in seeking help for breast cancer symptoms is preventable and by identifying possible factors for delayed diagnosis, patient prognosis and survival rates could be improved. Objectives: This narrative review aimed to understand and evaluate the level of in-depth breast cancer knowledge in terms of clinical breast examination and breast self-examination, and other important aspects such as side-effects and risk factors in Malaysian females. Since Malaysia is multicultural, this review assessed social perceptions, cultural beliefs and help-seeking behaviour in respect to breast cancer among different ethnic groups, since these may impinge on efforts to 'avoid' the disease. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive literature search of seven databases was performed from December 2015 to January 2015. Screening of relevant published journals was also undertaken to identify available information related to the knowledge, perception and help-seeking behaviour of Malaysian women in relation to breast cancer. Results: A total of 42 articles were appraised and included in this review. Generally, women in Malaysia had good awareness of breast cancer and its screening tools, particularly breast self-examination, but only superficial in-depth knowledge about the disease. Women in rural areas had lower levels of knowledge than those in urban areas. It was also shown that books, magazines, brochures and television were among the most common sources of breast cancer information. Delay in presentation was attributed mainly to a negative social perception of the disease, poverty, cultural and religion practices, and a strong influence of complementary and alternative medicine, rather than a lack of knowledge. Conclusions: This review highlighted the need for an intensive and in-depth breast cancer education campaigns using media and community health programmes, even with the existing good awareness of breast cancer. This is essential in order to avoid misconceptions and to frame the correct mind-set about breast cancer among women in Malaysia. Socio-cultural differences and religious practices should be taken into account by health care professionals when advising on breast cancer. Women need to be aware of the risk factors and symptoms of breast cancer so that early diagnosis can take place and the chances of survival improved.