• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.95-101
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• 2007

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of unintentional-injury and to identify factors related to the high incidence of unintentional-injury in the community in order to provide useful data for the development of prevention and intervention programs aimed at reducing unintentional-injury incidence. Methods: This study utilized data obtained from cross-sectional national surveys conducted for the 2001 National Health and Nutrition Survey targeting 37,769 individuals aged between 0 and 99 years old, which was performed using a face-to-face interview method. Demographic characteristics, unintentional-injury experience, types of injury, and attributes of health behavior were included in the study instruments. Results: About 1.3% of the subjects had experienced unintentional injury that required hospitalization at least once during the past year. Age older than 40 years, male gender, lower education, lower income, and blue collar workers were all significantly and positively associated with increased risk of unintentional-injury. Among the health behavior variables, sleeping less than 6 hours, drunk driving, and binge drinking were significantly associated with unintentional injury, while traffic accidents and falls/slips constituted 80% of all unintentional injuries. Conclusion: Public health efforts to reduce unintentional injuries should target high-risk populations such as males, those with low income and education levels, and binge drinkers.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.35-43
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• 2007

Purpose: This study was to explore the prevalence of alcohol experiences and to identify the expectancy on the effects of alcohol and alcohol knowledge in early adolescents. Method: The cross-sectional survey of 1854 students from seven middle schools in one district of Seoul was conducted by convenience sampling. Alcohol experience and early onset of alcohol use were measured by the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Alcohol expectancy was measured by an Alcohol Effects Questionnaire. Result: Over sixty five percent of adolescents reported that they had previous drinking experiences. The participants with no alcohol drinking experience had a lower level of alcohol knowledge than those with experience(t=2.73, p=.007). In expectancy on effects of alcohol, girls had a more positive alcohol expectation than boys(t=-2.54, p=.011). Alcohol knowledge negatively correlated with alcohol expectancy(r=-.40 p=.000). In regression of alcohol expectancy, gender and alcohol knowledge were significant predictors explaining 17%. Conclusion: The results support that alcohol expectancy is an important link with early drinking experiences and alcohol knowledge, focusing on the importance of gender differences. Therefore, an alcohol prevention program in early adolescence is needed and should be focused on multidimensionality of the alcohol expectancy with developmental and psychosocial factors for early adolescents.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.82-92
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• 2010

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the incidence and risk factors of suicidal ideation among the elderly in Korea. Methods: This cross-sectional study used secondary data of the 2005 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The participants were 1,097 elderly Koreans who responded to the health survey. Sociodemographics, health related characteristics, and the prevalence of suicidal ideation were obtained through face-to-face interviews. Risk factors of the suicidal ideation were also examined. Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression were used for data analysis. Results: Of the 1,097 respondents, 30.5% had suicidal ideation during the past year. Depression and stress were the important risk factors; others included mobility, pain/discomfort, chronic illness, smoking, sleep, and leisure time physical activity. Sociodemographic characteristics such as gender, education, and marital status affected suicidal ideation. Conclusion: The high frequency of suicidal ideation in the elderly suggests the necessity of community-based interventions directed at depression and stress.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.293-297
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• 2009

Objectives : To evaluate the impact of the workplace smoking ban in South Korea, where the male smoking rate is high (57%), on smoking behavior and secondhand smoke exposure. Methods : A workplace smoking ban legislation implemented in April 2003 requires offices, meeting rooms, and lobbies located in larger than 3,000 square meter buildings (or 2,000 square meter multipurpose buildings) should be smoke free. A representative cross-sectional survey, the third wave (2005) of health supplements in the National Health Nutrition Survey of South Korea, was used to measure the impact of the 2003 workplace smoking ban implementation on smoking behavior. It contained 3,122 observations of adults 20 to 65 years old (excluding selfemployed and non-working populations). A multivariate statistical model was used. The self-reported workplace smoking ban policy (full workplace ban, partial workplace ban, and no workplace ban) was used as the key measure. Results : A full workplace smoking ban reduced the current smoking rate by 6.4 percentage points among all workers and also decreased the average daily consumption among smokers by 3.7 cigarettes relative to no smoking ban. Secondhand smoke showed a dramatic decrease of 86 percent (= -1.74/2.03)from the sample mean for full workplace ban. However, public anti-smoking campaign did not show any significant impact on smoking behavior. Conclusions : The full workplace ban policy is effective in South Korea. Male group showed bigger impact of smoking ban policy than female group. The public antismoking campaign did not show any effectiveness.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.94-103
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• 2014

Objectives: The present study examined relationships between socioeconomic status (SES) and obesity and body mass index (BMI) as well as the effects of health-related behavioral and psychological factors on the relationships. Methods: A cross-sectional population-based study was conducted on Korean adults aged 20 to 79 years using data from the 2001, 2005, and 2007 to 2009 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Multivariate logistic and linear regression models were used to estimate odds ratios of obesity and mean differences in BMI, respectively, across SES levels after controlling for health-related behavioral and psychological factors. Results: We observed significant gender-specific relationships of SES with obesity and BMI after adjusting for all covariates. In men, income, but not education, showed a slightly positive association with BMI (p<0.05 in 2001 and 2005). In women, education, but not income, was inversely associated with both obesity and BMI (p<0.0001 in all datasets). These relationships were attenuated with adjusting for health-related behavioral factors, not for psychological factors. Conclusions: Results confirmed gender-specific disparities in the associations of SES with obesity and BMI among adult Korean population. Focusing on intervention for health-related behaviors may be effective to reduce social inequalities in obesity.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.232-243
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• 2012

Purpose: This study was to identify the level of knowledge and performances on evidence-based infection control and influencing factors on performance among nurses in intensive care unit. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey design was used. Two hundred thirty-nine nurses at intensive care units were conveniently recruited from seven hospitals located in Seoul and Kyounggi province. Data were collected with a questionnaire survey about evidence-based infection control. Data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN 17.0 program. Results: Both level of knowledge (mean 9.15 out of 19) on preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia and central venous catheter induced bloodstream infection, and performance on evidence-based infection control (1.94 out of 4) were moderate. Performance of evidence-based practice for infection control was related to reading research articles regularly, professional satisfaction, and taken education course. Conclusion: These results indicate that systematic and organizational strategies for enhancing evidence-based infection control are needed to improve quality of intensive nursing care.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.189-197
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to identify levels of hope, self-esteem, and quality of life, and to find correlations among these variables in people with spinal cord injury. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional descriptive survey. The data were collected by survey interview in 2010 from 120 people with spinal cord injury living in the community. To measure hope, self-esteem and quality of life, the Dispositional Hope Scale, Self-Esteem Scale, and World Health Organization's Quality of Life Instrument were utilized respectively. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation and stepwise multiple regression analysis using SPSS version 12.0. Results: Mean score of hope was 2.56 and that of self-esteem was 3.23. Mean score of quality of life was 3.01. Statistically significant relationships were found between quality of life and hope (r=.73, p<.001), and between quality of life and self-esteem (r=.67, p<.001). Multiple regression analyses showed that hope and self-esteem were statistically significant in predicting quality of life with the explanatory power of 59.1%. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that nursing interventions fostering hope and self-esteem should be integrated in developing rehabilitation programs to improve quality of life for people with spinal cord injury.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.17
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• pp.7707-7711
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• 2015

A cross-sectional survey of 370 female teachers working at Governmental schools in Gaza city was conducted. Twenty four schools were selected randomly of all female schools of the city that included primary, preparatory and secondary. In each school all-female teachers aged 35-45 year were invited to fill out a self-administered questionnaire to investigate knowledge and behavior toward breast cancer screening. The survey revealed that more than 75% of women had never undergone clinical breast examination and 60% had never undergone mammography, whereas 62% performed breast self-examination (BSE). Women who performed BSE had significantly higher knowledge about breast cancer screening (P=0.001). Women attending CBE and mammography screening also had significantly higher knowledge (P=0.001). There were significant associations between the practices and presence of positive breast cancer family history (P=0.002) and the level of education of husbands (P=0.024). The oldest women demonstrated higher performance rates of screening methods than the youngest (P=0.001). Lack of breast screening knowledge was identified among more than one third of the women, and 24.6% of women did not know any screening method. About a half of women harboured misconceptions about breast cancer screening, including the belief that breast cancer not treatable. Women residing in Gaza city (P=0.00) and with husbands less educated were more likely to have a high level of misconceptions (P=0.01).

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1187-1191
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• 2012

This study was conducted to determine the use of screening for stomach, liver, colorectal, breast, and cervical cancers, which are included in the Korean National Cancer Screening Programme. In 2011 the National Cancer Centre in Korea conducted a nationwide, population-based, cross-sectional interview survey using multi-stage random sampling. Participants included 4,100 cancer-free men 40 years and over of age and women over 30 years of age. The lifetime screening rates for stomach, liver, colorectal, breast, and cervical cancers were 76.2%, 54.3%, 56.1%, 79.0%, and, 74.8%, respectively. The rates of recommended screening for stomach, liver, colorectal, breast, and cervical cancers were 64.6%, 22.9%, 35.3%, 60.4%, and 62.4%, respectively. More than 70% of all screening was attributed to organised cancer screening programmes. The main reason given for non attendance was 'no symptoms'. A greater effort is needed to increase screening rates, especially for liver and colorectal cancers.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.199-207
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• 2014

Family type is not only an important sociodemographic variable for health studies but also influences the health behavior and health condition of individuals. This study assessed a representative sample to see whether family type is associated with health behavior in Korean adults age 65 and older. This is a cross-sectional study of 9,535 Korean elderly who participated in the 2010-2012 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The subjects were classified as couple cohabitation, couple-offspring cohabitation, alone, or alone-offspring cohabitation. We assessed the relationship between family type and six health behaviors (smoking, high risk drinking, walking, oral examinations, health screenings, and influenza vaccinations) after controlling covariates. The "alone" classification had a significantly higher risk of no health screening, but was more likely to have an influenza vaccination than couples. Significant interactions between family type and healthy behavior were observed with oral health screening, influenza vaccination, and smoking {Odds ratio (95% confidence interval), 1.452 (1.066-1.980), 1.375 (1.083-1.747), 2.246 (1.604-3.146)}. There is a significant association between family type and healthy behaviors.