• Health Policy and Management
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.508-517
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• 2021

Background: After the first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in January 2020, Korea has experienced three waves in 2020. This study aimed to analyze changes in health care utilization according to the period of the 1st to 3rd waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We analyzed 3,354,469,401 national health insurance claims from 59,104 medical facilities between 2017 and 2020. Observed-to-expected ratios (O:E ratio) with data from 2017 to 2019 as expected values and data from 2020 as observed values were obtained to analyze changes in medical utilization. T-test was used to test whether the difference of observed and expected values was statistically significant. Results: In 2020, the O:E ratio was 0.894, indicating a decrease in health care utilization overall during the pandemic. The O:E ratio of the 1st wave was 0.832, which was lower than those of the second (0.886) and third (0.873) waves. Health care utilization decreased relatively more among outpatient, women, children and adolescents, and health insurance patients. And health care utilization decreased more in small medical facilities and in Daegu and Gyeongbuk during the first wave. During the pandemic, the O:E ratios of respiratory diseases were 0.486-0.694, while chronic diseases and mental diseases were more than 1.0. Conclusion: Health care utilization decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic overall, and there were differences by COVID-19 waves, and by the characteristics of patients and medical facilities. It is necessary to understand the cause of changes in health care utilization in order to cope with the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.207-217
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• 2021

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors in which employee's health beliefs affect their intention to get COVID-19 vaccines. Methods: The participants of this survey were 237 emlpoyees living in Busan. Data were collected using structured online questionnaires from April 26th to May 6th, 2021. The data were analyzed in SPSS WIN version 25.0 using descriptive statistics, t-test, chi-square test, multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: At the average score for each area of health beliefs regarding COVID-19, self-efficacy was 4.45 points, perceived sensitivity 4.71 points, perceived severity 3.59 points, perceived benefit 4.46 points, and perceived disability 2.19 points. Monthly income, perceived sensitivity, perceived severity, and perceived benefit were found to be factors affecting the intention to get COVID-19 vaccines. Conclusions: In order to improve the vaccination intention of COVID-19, it is necessary for subjects to recognize the seriousness of the disease, increase their sensitivity to the disease, and actively promote and educate the community about the benefits of vaccination.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.472-478
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• 2021

Background: Early identification of patients who are highly likely to develop severe illness among confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) can be expected to lead to effective treatment. This study therefore aimed to determine whether the presence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has an impact on the exacerbation of COVID-19 symptoms. Methods: The study used the Korean National Health Insurance claim data for treatment of COVID-19 patients in 2020. NAFLD includes nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The outcome variables used were hospitalization and the use of medical devices. Hospitalization was defined by a length of stay exceeding one day and the use of medical devices was defined as one or more uses of a ventilator or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to determine if there was a difference in the hospitalization and use of medical devices of COVID-19 patients depending on the presence of NAFLD. Results: The odds ratio of hospitalization was 1.059, indicating slightly higher odds of hospitalization for patients with NAFL or NASH compared to those without the conditions, but it was not statistically significant (0.969-1.156). On the other hand, the odds ratio of use of medical devices was high at 1.667 and was statistically significant (1.111-2.501). Conclusion: The study results found NAFLD to be a risk factor that can exacerbate symptoms in COVID-19 patients. Accordingly, it is necessary to identify NAFLD patients through preemptive screening and provide them with appropriate treatments.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.181-193
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• 2021

Due to the spread of COVID-19, the domestic market was inevitable to face the crisis of tourism industry. Accordingly, most of local festivals decided to cancel or postpone, and have been in difficult situation. In addition, people also have experienced the thrist of cultural activities and tours. However, this situation can also be opportunity to find the clues for activating local festivals in the post-COVID-19 era with estimating the preservation value and deriving the determinants for it. Therefore, this study economically assessed the value of the local festival, Chimac Festival in Daegu, under the hypothetical financial crisis situation for COVID-19. Consequently, monthly income, age and place dependence was found to be influential for Daegu and nearby area citizens to have willingness to pay for the Chimac Festival in Daegu. The result shows that respondents are willing to pay 16,909 on truncated average. Thus, total value of Chimac Festival was estimated as 9.376 billion won.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.89-101
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• 2022

COVID-19 is significantly changing consumers' demand and habits. In order to understand consumer characteristics and find effective advertising directions in the post-COVID-19 era, this study set young consumers who are more sensitive to market changes and technological transformation from a subjective perspective of advertising audiences. Through the Q methodology, the advertising development model in the post-COVID-19 era was derived exploratively by examining their cognitive status of advertisements in the post-COVID-19 era. The model consists of three types of advertisements: "demand mining online ads" that value consumer demand and adapt to online shopping paths, "added value creation experiential ads" that value derived value and consumer experiences, and "practical and sentimental value creative ads" based on pragmatism and emotional values. In addition, this study also suggested for the sustainable practice of advertising in the post-COVID-19 era in various aspects, such as "seeking multidimensional values," "expanding consumer experience," and "mining and leading demand.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.183-189
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• 2022

COVID-19 is also influencing the coffee industry. This will increase untact consumption, a new consumption trend. Consumption utilizing online channels and delivery service applications that represent untact consumption is becoming commonplace. The coffee industry is also increasingly using coffee shops with drive-through and smart ordering systems that can be ordered with minimal contact. While most of the untact services are preempted at franchise stores, many independent coffee shops still offer differentiated services by communicating directly with customers. However, along with the prolonged COVID-19 infection, coffee shops in the present era, which cannot be free from infectious diseases, have no choice but to worry about delivery services. Therefore, this study analyzed the factors that influence coffee delivery services. Research results due to the influence of COVID-19, regular delivery services have increased along with coffee delivery services. Regular delivery services will play a central role in coffee delivery services due to increased use of home cafes by consumers who want to enjoy coffee in various ways.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.123-132
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• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify factors related to hand washing practice among adolescents before and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The study was conducted using data from the 15th~16th (2019~2020) Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey, and the subjects of the study were 57,303 and 54,948 people who participated in the 2019 and 2020 study, respectively. The data were analyzed with frequency test, rao-scott 𝑥² test and multiple logistic regression analysis using SPSS 27.0. Results: Changes in the hand washing practice rate were observed before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in all five behaviors; before eating in school, after using the toilet in school, before eating at home, after using the toilet at home, and after returning home. The study found that the hand washing practice rate increased by 1.21-2.43 times after the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, as a result of logistic regression analysis, the hand washing practice rate before and after the COVID-19 pandemic was related to gender, region, school grade, school type, economic status, health status, and personal hygiene education experience. Conclusion: This study confirmed the importance of hand washing education to improve the hand washing practice rate in adolescents. It is necessary to develop and apply an effective youth hand washing education program in consideration of various variables that appeared as significant factors influencing the hand washing practice rate before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.468-479
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• 2022

Objectives: This study investigates dietary supplement intakes by examining the characteristics of dietary and health-related behaviors. Data were obtained from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Dietary and health-related behaviors were also examined before and after the occurrence of COVID-19 and household types (multi-members vs. single person). Methods: Data used in this study were collected from the 2019-2020 KNHANES by including adults aged 19 to 64 years. Pregnant, lactating, and subjects consuming calories less than 500 and more than 5,000 were excluded. Differences in dietary and health-related behaviors before and after COVID-19, and between the two types of households were analyzed by Chi-square analyses using Rao-Scott. Logistic regression analyses were applied to determine which dietary and health-related behaviors affected the dietary supplement intakes. In addition, descriptive analysis was run for demographic characteristics. Results: The dietary supplement intake rate differed significantly with respect to the gender, age, education, marital status, and household income. Dietary supplement intakes, frequency of eating out, obesity, and body weight changes were significantly different before and after COVID-19. In addition, meal evaluation, frequency of eating out, drinking, smoking, activity, subjective health evaluation, and body weight changes showed significant differences by household type. Attitude towards nutrition, activity, meal evaluation, obesity, and smoking were factors that affected the intake of dietary supplements. Conclusions: While increased intake of dietary supplements is a prevalent phenomenon, this intake needs to be monitored and studied closely, considering the sociodemographic characteristics and dietary and health-related behaviors. Furthermore, the dietary supplement intake trend after COVID-19 needs to be studied along with food intake.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.33-43
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• 2023

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has made significant impacts on global public health, including the development of several skin diseases that have arisen primarily as a result of the pandemic. Owing to the widespread expansion of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), the development of effective treatments for these skin diseases is drawing attention as an important social issue. For many centuries, ginseng and its major active ingredients, ginsenosides and saponins, have been widely regarded as herbal medicines. Further, the anti-viral action of ginseng suggests its potential effectiveness as a therapeutic agent against COVID-19. Thus, the aim of this review was to examine the association of skin lesions with COVID-19 and the effect of ginseng as a therapeutic agent to treat skin diseases induced by COVID-19 infection. We classified COVID-19-related skin disorders into three categories: caused by inflammatory, immune, and complex (both inflammatory and immune) responses and evaluated the evidence for ginseng as a treatment for each category. This review offers comprehensive evidence on the improvement of skin disorders induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection using ginseng and its active constituents.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.286-295
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between household economic changes by COVID-19 and dietary habits in Korean adolescents. The study analyzed data from the 17th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2021. A total of 54,848 middle and high school students, 28,401 males and 26,447 females, participated in this study. COVID-19 lead to deterioration of household economy in the lower level of household economic status (p<0.001). The deterioration of household economic status by COVID-19 was associated with dietary habits such as lower breakfast intake, and higher fast food, soda drinks, and sweet drinks consumption (p<0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that deterioration of household economic status was significantly decreased in frequency of breakfast intake (OR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.67~0.80). The deterioration of household economic status by COVID-19 was also significantly associated with increased frequency of fast food (OR: 1.28, 95% CI: 1.16~1.41), soda drinks (OR: 1.42, 95% CI: 1.30~1.56) and sweet drinks (OR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.24~1.46) consumption (p<0.001). In conclusion, it was confirmed that the change in household economy caused by COVID-19 was associated with dietary habits in adolescents. As the household economy deteriorated, there was an increase in undesirable dietary habits including skipping breakfast and fast food consumption.