• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.55-63
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• 2000

Objectives : Fatigue is a common symptom experienced by everyone. Nevertheless, clinicians have a tendency of ignoring it since fatigue itself is not considered a distinct disease. Actually, some limited research about chronic fatigue syndrome has been made within the country, but in reality, the probability of getting this syndrome is still considered very low due to the strict diagnosis standard. Therefore, there are tremendous numbers of patients who do not get enough attention from clinicians for their fatigue symptoms only because technically they do not belong to the syndrome. Therefore, a basic statistical database must be compiled and patient management programs must be developed. To accomplish this, we conducted this study by measuring degree of fatigue, clinical characteristics and processes of Oriental medical treatment of fatigue patients. Methods : The objects of this study were selected from the new patients who entered the tonification Clinic in Kynnghee Oriental Medical Center between August 11, 2000 and October 7, 2000. Their main complaint was fatigue and they did not suffer from any physical or mental problem either historically or at the time of the study. The objects were divided into two groups based on duration of fatigue; fatigue under 6 months is considered as acute fatigue and fatigue for longer than 6 months is chronic fatigue. The prepared survey sheet for measuring fatigue degree was distributed to the patients with their consent. The patients were divided again into three subgroups : the fIrst group went through 1st test and constitution test after tonification clinic; the second one went into constitution test skipping Ist measuring test; the third one went into only tonification clinic with neither 1st measuring test nor constitution test. Results : The total number of object patients was 47 and 80% of them were considered as 'fatigue patients' by the Chalder scale. Among all patients, 29.5% requested treatment for chronic fatigue, which is over 6 months. The average of scale II for all patients was 14.8, which indicates moderate fatigue. The averages of scale II-1, II-2, II-3 were respectively 7.5, 5.9, and 3.7 so the most common complaint was physical fatigue. When compared scale II based on occupations, student group scored 6.9 and office man group scored 8.5 in scale II-1, physical fatigue, but it was not significant. Conclusions : Numerous number of patients have come to Oriental medical centers or hospitals in Korea. Therefore, deeper statistical research and follow-up-monitoring are reqnired in the Oriental medical academic world. In this study, among all patients who entered the tonification Clinic in Kyunghee Oriental Medical Center, 29.5% requested treatment for chronic fatigue, which is over 6 months. This kind of statistical report is the first time trial in the Oriental medical academy world. Through these steps, more objective treatment can be made and standards of prognosis assessment can be established.tablished.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.2833-2838
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• 2015

Background: Repeating a prior chemotherapy (rechallenge therapy) is an option for selected patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, but there is very little evidence in the literature for this approach. Thus, we reviewed our registry to evaluate prognostic factors and survival of patients who received irinotecan and oxaliplatin-based regimens as rechallenge third and fourth-line therapy. Materials and Methods: Patients who received irinotecan-based or oxaliplatin-base regimen as first-line had been rechallenged with third-line or fourth-line therapy. These patients were selected from the database of Turkish mCRC registry archives between October 2006 and June 2013 and evaluated retrospectively for factors effecting progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) by the Kaplan-Meire and Cox-regression methods. Results: Thirty-nine patients were enrolled. The median duration of follow-up was 36 months (14-68 months). Thirty-one patients (76%) died during follow-up. In terms of rechallenge treatments, 29 patients had received third-line and 10 patients had received fourth-line. Response rate (RR) was found to be 12.9%, with stable disease in 19 (48.7%) patients. The median PFS was 6 months (95%CI=4.64-7.35 months) and the median OS was 11 months (95%CI=8.31-13.68 months). The factors effecting survival (PFS and OS) were only being PFS after first-line chemotherapy ${\geq}12months$ (p=0.007, 95% CI=1.75-35.22 and p=0.004, 95%CI=1.44-7.11), both in univariate and multivariate analyses. Conclusions: This study indicates that rechallenge treatment could be a good option as a third or later line therapy in patients who had ${\geq}12months$ PFS onreceiving first line therapy.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.225-232
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• 2017

This study aimed to identify worker groups that are to accidents and to track the changes in their socioeconomic status there after. We analyzed the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) database(2001-2006) were recorded according to the participant's economic activity status at the beginning of follow-up, and economic activity status was. During the follow-up period, the unemployed group experienced more accidents that resulted in disability than the economically active group. Interestingly, the unemployed group also had the highest industrial accident rate. Among the employed, daily and unpaid family workers were more vulnerable to disabilities. After the accidents, the participants tended to become economically inactive or unemployed. Compared to other worker groups, the economically inactive, unemployed, and daily and unpaid family workers experienced higher rates of accidents and faced graver conditions as a result. Although they constitute a significantly large part of society, these vulnerable workers are not currently covered by any social security measures, such as accident surveillance, training, and accident insurance. Social policy should therefore be directed toward protecting these vulnerable worker groups.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.9
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• pp.480-488
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• 2021

Background: An adequate large-scale pediatric cohort based on nationwide administrative data is lacking in Korea. Purpose: This study established the National Investigation of Birth Cohort in Korea study 2008 (NICKs-2008) based on data from a nationwide population-based health screening program and data on healthcare utilization for children. Methods: The NICKs-2008 study consisted of the Korean National Health Insurance System (NHIS) and the National Health Screening Program for Infants and Children (NHSPIC) databases comprising children born in 2008 (n=469,248) and 2009 (n=448,459) in the Republic of Korea. The NHIS database contains data on age, sex, residential area, income, healthcare utilization (International Classification of Diseases10 codes, procedure codes, and drug classification codes), and healthcare providers. The NHSPIC consists of 7 screening rounds. These screening sessions comprised physical examination, developmental screening (rounds 2-7), a general health questionnaire, and age-specific anticipatory guidance. Results: During the 10-year follow-up, 2,718 children (0.3%) died, including more boys than girls (hazard ratio, 1.145; P<0.001). A total of 848,048 children participated in at least 1 of the 7 rounds of the NHSPIC, while 96,046 participated in all 7 screening programs. A total of 823 infants (0.1%) weighed less than 1,000 g, 3,177 (0.4%) weighed 1,000-1,499 g, 37,166 (4.4%) weighed 1,500-2,499 g, 773,081 (91.4%) weighed 2,500-4,000 g, and 32,016 (5.1%) weighed over 4,000 g. There were 23,404 premature babies (5.5%) in 2008 compared to 23,368 (5.6%) in 2009. The developmental screening test indicated appropriate development in 95%-98% of children, follow-up requirements for 1%-4% of children, and recommendations for further evaluation for 1% of children. Conclusion: The NICKs-2008, which integrates data from the NHIS and NHSPIC databases, can be used to analyze disease onset prior to hospitalization based on information such as lifestyle, eating habits, and risk factors.

• Korean Circulation Journal
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.325-335
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• 2024

Background and Objectives: The number of sensitized heart failure patients on waiting lists for heart transplantation (HTx) is increasing. Using the Korean Organ Transplantation Registry (KOTRY), a nationwide multicenter database, we investigated the prevalence and clinical impact of calculated panel-reactive antibody (cPRA) in patients undergoing HTx. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 813 patients who underwent HTx between 2014 and 2021. Patients were grouped according to peak PRA level as group A: patients with cPRA ≤10% (n= 492); group B: patients with cPRA >10%, <50% (n=160); group C patients with cPRA ≥50% (n=161). Post-HTx outcomes were freedom from antibody-mediated rejection (AMR), acute cellular rejection, coronary allograft vasculopathy, and all-cause mortality. Results: The median follow-up duration was 44 (19-72) months. Female sex, re-transplantation, and pre-HTx renal replacement therapy were independently associated with an increased risk of sensitization (cPRA ≥50%). Group C patients were more likely to have longer hospital stays and to use anti-thymocyte globulin as an induction agent compared to groups A and B. Significantly more patients in group C had positive flow cytometric crossmatch and had a higher incidence of preformed donor-specific antibody (DSA) compared to groups A and B. During follow-up, group C had a significantly higher rate of AMR, but the overall survival rate was comparable to that of groups A and B. In a subgroup analysis of group C, post-transplant survival was comparable despite higher preformed DSA in a desensitized group compared to the non-desensitized group. Conclusions: Patients with cPRA ≥50% had significantly higher incidence of preformed DSA and lower freedom from AMR, but post-HTx survival rates were similar to those with cPRA <50%. Our findings suggest that sensitized patients can attain comparable post-transplant survival to non-sensitized patients when treated with optimal desensitization treatment and therapeutic intervention.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.259-272
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• 2022

Background: The Korean Peninsula exhibits a characteristic graded floral distribution, with northern (Manchurian flora) and southern (China-Japan-Korea flora) lineage species coexisting according to climatic and topographical characteristics. However, this distribution has been altered by climate change. To identify ecosystem changes caused by climate change and develop appropriate measures, the current ecological status of the entire Korean Peninsula should first be determined; however, analysis of the current floral distribution in North Korea has been hampered for political reasons. To overcome these limitations, this study constructed a database of floral distributions in both South and North Korea by integrating spatial information from the previously established National Ecological Survey in South Korea and geocoding data from the literature on biological distributions published in North Korea. It was then applied to analyze the current status and distribution characteristics of Manchurian and China-Japan-Korea plant species on the Korean Peninsula. Results: In total, 45,877 cases were included in the Manchurian and China-Japan-Korea floral distribution database. China-Japan-Korea species were densely distributed on Jeju-do and along the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula. The distribution density decreased as the latitude increased, and the distributions reached higher-latitude regions in the coastal areas compared with the inland regions. Manchurian species were distributed throughout North Korea, while they were densely distributed in the refugia formed in the high-elevation mountain regions and the Baekdudaegan in South Korea. In the current distribution of biomes classified according to the Whittaker method, subtropical and endemic species were densely distributed in temperate seasonal forest and woodland/shrubland biomes, whereas boreal species were densely distributed in the boreal forest biome Korean Peninsula, with a characteristic gradation of certain species distributed in the temperate seasonal forest biome. Factor analysis showed that temperature and latitude were the main factors influencing the distribution of flora on the Korean Peninsula. Conclusions: The findings reported herein on the current floral distribution trends across the entire Korean Peninsula will prove valuable got mitigating the ecological disturbances caused by ongoing climate change. Additionally, the gathered flora data will serve as a basis for various follow-up studies on climate change.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.5_4
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• pp.1097-1109
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• 2023

Urban is an area where small-scale changes to individual buildings occur frequently. An existing urban building database requires periodic updating to increase its usability. However, there are limitations in data collection for building changes over a wide urban. In this study, we check the possibility of detecting building changes and updating a building database by using satellite images that can capture a wide urban region by a single image. For this purpose, building areas in a satellite image are first extracted by projecting 3D coordinates of building corners available in a building database onto the image. Building areas are then divided into roof and facade areas. By comparing textures of the roof areas projected, building changes such as height change or building removal can be detected. New height values are estimated by adjusting building heights until projected roofs align to actual roofs observed in the image. If the projected image appeared in the image while no building is observed, it corresponds to a demolished building. By checking buildings in the original image whose roofs and facades areas are not projected, new buildings are identified. Based on these results, the building database is updated by the three categories of height update, building deletion, or new building creation. This method was tested with a KOMPSAT-3A image over Incheon Metropolitan City and Incheon building database available in public. Building change detection and building database update was carried out. Updated building corners were then projected to another KOMPSAT-3 image. It was confirmed that building areas projected by updated building information agreed with actual buildings in the image very well. Through this study, the possibility of semi-automatic building change detection and building database update based on single satellite image was confirmed. In the future, follow-up research is needed on technology to enhance computational automation of the proposed method.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.232-246
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• 2018

The purpose of this research is to contribute to clinical researches on neck pain and cervical spondylosis by reviewing the latest research trends and evaluation tools through the analyses of clinical studies on neck pain and cervical spondylosis over the last 5 years. 70 papers satisfying the selection conditions among the RCT papers that had been searched as "neck pain" or "cervical spondylosis" at Pubmed(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed) from March 2011 to February 2016 were targeted. Papers were numbered in order of their publication dates and analyzed by classifying their contents into 1) pain classification, 2) treatment type, 3) treatment duration, 4) treatment time, 5) number of participants, 6) evaluation tools and methods of research, and 7) evaluation duration. 55 papers targeted chronic neck pain, 6 papers acute and subacute neck pain, and 2 papers subacute and chronic neck pain. In comparison by intervention, 43 papers corresponded to physical therapy, 3 papers to acupuncture, 1 to herbal fomentation, 5 to medication, and 18 papers corresponded to multilateral comparisons comparing the efficacy by various interventions. In research period, there were 50 papers based on treatment period, 16 papers based on the number of treatments, and 4 papers based on different periods depending on each group. In treatment duration, the cases from 1 month or more to less than 3 months were most, followed by the cases of less than 1 month, and the cases from 3 months or more to less than 6 months. In treatment frequency, the number of treatments of the treatment group was the same as that of the control group in 51 papers, and many treatments were conducted by the methods of acupuncture, manual therapy, and injection therapy in cases of once or twice of treatments, and physical therapy and electroacupuncture corresponded mainly to the cases from 3 times or more to less than 10 times of treatments, and retrospective observation and exercise programs corresponded mainly to the cases of more than 30 times of treatments. In the number of subjects of the researches, the cases from 50 or more to less than 100 were most, followed by the cases from 20 or more to less than 50. There were 7 evaluation tools cited 10 times or more: VAS, NRS, PPT, NDI, NPQ, CROM, and SF-36. In evaluation period, 37 papers evaluated only during the treatment period, and 33 papers conducted follow-up. In follow-up period, the cases of less than 3 months were most, followed by the cases from 6 months or more to less than 1 year, and the cases from 3 months or more to less than 6 months. When planning clinical researches on cervical pain in the future, appropriate intervention methods, frequency and duration of treatment, period of follow-up, appropriate number of subjects and selection of evaluation tools for objective validity will have to be considered. In addition, randomization, double-blind, etc. will have to be considered for researches with high basis level.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.155-164
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• 2022

Objectives : A growing body of evidence links type 2 diabetes (T2D) with a neurodegenerative disease (ND) such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between NDs and the development of T2D by comparing the incidence of T2D in a group of various NDs (ND group) and control group. Methods : A population-based 10-year follow-up study was conducted using the Korean National Health Information Database for 2002-2015. We used a retrospective cohort study design to investigate the association of ND with T2D occurrence. The study population included ND (n=8,814) and control (n=37,970) groups, all aged 60 years or over. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the risk of developing T2D as a function of time. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to evaluate the relationship between ND and T2D. Results : T2D was developed in a significantly higher percentage of patients in the ND group (53.6%) than in the control group (44.7%). The ND group increased the risk of T2D (HR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.38-1.47). About one-third of patients in both groups were additionally diagnosed with another ND before the occurrence of T2D during a 10-year follow-up period. When compared to those who did not have another ND during the follow-up period, the incidence of T2D in those who were additionally diagnosed with another ND was higher in both the ND and control groups. Conclusions : The ND group had about 1.4 times higher risk of developing T2D than the control group. Our results showed a positive association between ND and T2D.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.36-46
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• 2014

Objectives: To evaluate the association between fracture risk and levothyroxine use in elderly women with hypothyroidism, according to previous osteoporosis history. Methods: We conducted a cohort study from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service claims database from January 2005 to June 2006. The study population comprised women aged ${\geq}65$ years who had been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and prescribed levothyroxine monotherapy. We excluded patients who met any of the following criteria: previous fracture history, hyperthyroidism, thyroid cancer, or pituitary disorder; low levothyroxine adherence; or a follow-up period <90 days. We categorized the daily levothyroxine doses into 4 groups: ${\leq}50{\mu}g/d$, 51 to $100{\mu}g/d$, 101 to $150{\mu}g/d$, and > $150{\mu}g/d$. The hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated with the Cox proportional hazard model, and subgroup analyses were performed according to the osteoporosis history and osteoporosis-specific drug prescription status. Results: Among 11 155 cohort participants, 35.6% had previous histories of osteoporosis. The adjusted HR of fracture for the > $150{\mu}g/d$ group, compared with the 51 to $100{\mu}g/d$ group, was 1.56 (95% CI, 1.03 to 2.37) in osteoporosis subgroup. In the highly probable osteoporosis subgroup, restricted to patients who were concurrently prescribed osteoporosis-specific drugs, the adjusted HR of fracture for the > $150{\mu}g/d$ group, compared with the 51 to 100 ${\mu}g/d$ group, was 1.93 (95% CI, 1.14 to 3.26). Conclusions: While further studies are needed, physicians should be concerned about potential levothyroxine overtreatment in elderly osteoporosis patients.