• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.46-52
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to measure the serum lipid concentrations by gender and age, and to investigate the relationship between dietary behavior and serum lipid levels in Korean adults. The subjects consisted of 209 volunteers (121 men and 88 women) who visited a health promotion center. Their anthropometric and biochemical blood indices were measured, and data on lifestyles were obtained using structured questionnaires. The blood total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and triglyceride concentrations increased significantly with age in women (p<0.01). The food habit score of men and women increased with age, and total food habit score was negatively correlated with BMI (p<0.05). The rate of skipping meals (p<0.001), overeating (p<0.05), eating instant food (p<0.001), and eating out (p<0.05) decreased significantly with age, and the intake rate of vegetables (p<0.001) and carbohydrates (p<0.05) significantly increased with it. The food intake frequency of 21 food items was also measured, and snacks (p<0.05), high fat foods (p<0.01) meats (p<0.05), and instant foods (p<0.01) were negatively correlated with HDL-cholesterol. Snacks (p<0.05) and high fat foods (p<0.01) were positively correlated with LDL-cholesterol. Snacks (p<0.05) and fats/oils (p<0.01) were positively correlated with triglycerides. These results suggest that the food habits and food intake frequency may be one of the important factors affecting serum lipid concentrations in Korean adults.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.226-233
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• 2011

Objectives: Being overweight or obese is central to metabolic syndrome, and these characteristics constitute dominant risk factors for chronic diseases. Although behavioral factors, including eating habits and sedentary lifestyles, are considered to be determinants of obesity, the specific childhood factors that contribute to this condition have not been clearly defined. Methods: The subjects consisted of 261 children aged 7- 9 years who were recruited from an elementary school during October 2003. Information was obtained from their parents using a questionnaire focused on eating behaviors and lifestyle factors, additional data were also collected via anthropometric measurements and biochemical examinations, including blood tests. Results: A total of 48 (18.4%) of the 261 children were overweight, and 34 (70.8%) had at least one other component of metabolic syndrome. Eating behaviors emerged as significant lifestyle-related risk factors for being overweight or obese. Those who engaged in overeating more than twice per week had three times the risk of being overweight (odds ratio [OR], 3.10, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.39 to 6.92), and those who ate rapidly had three times the risk of being overweight (OR, 3.28; 95% CI, 1.68 to 6.41). Those who had fewer family meals (fewer than 2?3/month) had a nine times higher risk of being overweight than those who had family meals more frequently (at least 1/day) (OR, 9.51; 95% CI, 1.21 to 74.82). Conclusions: This study showed that being overweight or obese during preadolescence is associated with a higher risk of metabolic syndrome and is related to unhealthy eating behaviors. Thus, weight-control strategies and healthy eating behaviors should be developed early in life to reduce the risk for metabolic syndrome.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.148-160
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• 2003

TMA(Tissue Mineral Analysis) is very popular method in hair mineral analysis for health care professionals in over 48 countries medical center. Assesment of nutritional minerals and toxic elements in the hair is very important not only for determining adequacy, deficiencies and unbalance, but also for assessing their relative relationships in a body. In Korea, there are some problems in TMA method. Because of not haying a medical information database which is suitable for korean to do analyze, the requested TMA has to send to TEI-USA. However, as the TMA results from TEI-USA is composed of English documents and graphic files prohibited to open, its usability is very low and a lot of dollars has to be payed. Also, it can make some problems in the reliability of the TMA results, since the TMA results are based on the database of western health and mineral standards, To solve these problems, I developed the first Medical Information System of TMA in Korea here. The system can analyze the complex tissue mineral data with multiple stage decision tree classifier. It is also constructed with multiple fuzzy database and hence analyze the TMA data by fuzzy inference methods. The effectiveness test of this systems can be shown the increased business efficiency and satisfaction rate 86% and 92% respectively.

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.164-172
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• 2016

Objectives: This study attempted to evaluate the usefulness and direction of development of post-traumatic assessment and interventions based on the opinions of psychiatrics and disaster and trauma-related experts using the Delphi survey technique. Methods: In-depth individual interviews served as the pre-survey and were followed by Delphi primary and secondary surveys. Specialists in child and adolescent mental health, psychological support professionals specialized in disasters and related practitioners with experience of disasters in Korea completed a set of questionnaires and participated in focus group interviews and in-depth individual interviews on post-traumatic assessment and intervention. Results: We found that the following issues have a significant impact on the interventions after disasters: the proper time of the initial interview in the event of a disaster, assessment notices, aged assessment services, mandatory enforcement measures, scale screening and treatment intervention elements, symptoms degree classification, intervention standardization, the use of a levelled program, care unit environment, and operation plan. Conclusion: This study proposed effective mental health intervention measures and has implications for the development of evaluation treatment protocols after disasters.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.211-225
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• 1999

This descriptive correlational study was carried to identify the relationship among social support, compliance, and psychosocial adjustment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The study was done with 100 rheumatoid arthritic patients who were visited in Outpatient clinic of university hospital in Taegu, Korea from the 23rd of February to the 20th of March in 1998. The Data were collected through person to person interviews which were performed by five researchers. The instruments used for this study were Yu's social support scale(1996), Cho's compliance scale(1987), and Kim's psychosocial adjustment scale(1997). The data was analyzed by using a t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient, ANOVA, and Tukey test with the SAS Program. The results of this study were as follows ; 1. The mean score of social support was 2.76 for 4 full marks, compliance was 3.20 for 5 full marks, and psychosocial adjustment was 2.26 for 4 full marks. 2. Hypothesis 1 : "The higher the social support degree, the higher the compliance degree of the rheumatoid arthritis patient". It was supported(r=0.54, p<0.001). Hypothesis 2 : "The higher the compliance degree, the higher the psychosocial adjustment degree of the rheumatoid arthritis patient". It was supported(r=0.34, p<0.001). Hypothesis 3 : "The higher the social support degree, the higher the psychosocial adjustment degree of the rheumatoid arthritis patient". It was supported(r=0.24, p<0.05). 3. In general, the spouse group compared to other groups was demonstrated as the most dependable group for patients to trust and expect support. And the sons and daughters group was shown higher than other groups in terms of social support(F=4.19, p=0.01). There was no difference in terms of compliance in degree. In the degree of psychosocial adjustment the highly educated group(more than high school) is a little higher than the lowly educated group(F=3.08, p=0.03). In the costs of medical care, the group that could afford was significant higher than the group which could not afford results in terms of the psychosocial adjustment degree(F=3.99, p=0.01). The outcome of this study is that the social support that related rheumatoid arthritic patients had an effect on the following compliance, and the following compliance helps psychosocial adjustment of patients. It also shows that social support related psychosocial adjustment. Therefore, to increase the level of psychosocial adjustment of rheumatoid arthritic patients, it will be effective in supportive nursing intervention to improve social support and compliance.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.31 no.2 s.61
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• pp.285-292
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• 1998

To investigate the effect of smoking on the hearing threshold, 1,887 adult male workers who visited health care center during the period 1 January 1996 - 31 July 1997 were selected. Air-conduction hearing threshold level, diastolic blood pressure(DBP), total cholesterol, fasting blood sugar(FBS), hematocrit and obesity were measured. The data on age, occupation, and smoking were collected. Air-conduction hearing threshold in smoker was significantly higher than non-smoker in categories of 250, 500, 1000 and 4000 Hz(p<0.05). Mean values of PTA-low, PTA-mid, and PTA-high in smoker were also significantly higher than non-smoker(p<0.05). In multiple regression analysis, smoking is likely to play a significant role after controlling age, occupation, DBP, FBS, total cholesterol, hematocrit, and obesity(p<0.05). The hearing threshold was significantly increased with increasing age(p<0.05), the manufacturing worker may have higher hearing threshold(p<0.05). The higher hematocrit and the more obese, the higher hearing threshold(p<0.05). However, DBP, total cholesterol and FBS were not significantly related with hearing threshold level. In conclusion, smoking was significantly related with the hearing threshold level in adult men.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.35-51
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• 2020

Objective : The purpose of this study was to develop and establish the preliminary validity of the Restaurant Accessibility and Task Evaluation Information Tool (RATE-IT), an electronic survey for evaluating restaurant accessibility for people with disabilities. Methods : A multi-phase method was used to develop and validate the RATE-IT. The taxonomy was developed in phase one, while the validity of the content was tested in phase two. Finally, the validity of the constructs was assessed in phase three. Results : The results indicated that appropriate items were included (relevance=0.99 and language level=0.99) and also supported that the RATE-IT evaluated the construct of restaurant accessibility (F=0.72, p=.40). When compared to a checklist of the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) for Buildings and Facilities questions, RATE-IT showed the potential to differentiate restaurants by their level of accessibility (p=.10). Further, the RATE-IT was also easy to use (p<.00), understandable (p<.00), and efficient (p<.00). Conclusion : RATE-IT shows a promising methodology and is strongly preferred by users.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.5023-5029
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• 2013

Background: To evaluate knowledge about screening tests and tests without proven screening value in a Greek Breast Unit population undergoing benign vacuum-assisted breast biopsy (VABB). Materials and Methods: This study included 81 patients. Three knowledge-oriented items (recommended or not, screening frequency, age of onset) were assessed. Regarding screening tests two levels of knowledge were evaluated: i). crude knowledge (CK), i.e. knowledge that the test is recommended and ii). advanced knowledge (AK), i.e. correct response to all three knowledge-oriented items. Solely CK was evaluated for tests without proven screening value. Risk factors for lack of knowledge were assessed with multivariate logistic regression. A second questionnaire was administered 18 months after VABB to assess its impact on the performance of tests. Results: Concerning screening tests considerable lack of AK was noted (mammogram, 60.5%; Pap smear, 59.3%; fecal occult blood testing, 93.8%; sigmoidoscopy, 95.1%). Similarly lack of CK was documented regarding tests without proven screening value (breast self-examination, 92.6%; breast MRI, 60.5%; abdominal ultrasound, 71.6%; barium meal, 48.1%; urine analysis, 90.1%; chest X-Ray, 69.1%; electrocardiogram, 74.1%; cardiac ultrasound, 75.3%). Risk factors for lack of AK were: place of residence (mammogram), age (Pap smear), personal income (sigmoidoscopy); risk factors for lack of CK included number of offspring (breast MRI, chest X-Ray), BMI (abdominal ultrasound), marital status (urine analysis), current smoking status (electrocardiogram). VABB's only effect was improvement in mammogram rates. Conclusions: A considerable lack of knowledge concerning screening tests and misperceptions regarding those without proven value was documented.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.110-117
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• 2018

In the present study, mec complex typing and SCCmec typing were performed to analyze the molecular genetic characteristics of 20 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains isolated from clinical specimens and 4 strains isolated from the ICU environments of secondary medical institutions in a Chungnam province, Korea, from June to July of 2017. Among a total of 20 MRSA strains isolated from clinical specimens, 8 cases (40%) were SCCmec type II, one case (5%) was SCCmec type IVa, and 11 cases (55%) were not-typeable in SCCmec type analysis. Among 4 MRSA isolates from the ICU environment, one strain did not have the mecA gene and 3 strains were typed as SCCmec types II, III, and IVa, respectively. Data from the present study showed that the origin of MRSA isolated from the clinical specimens was different from those from the ICU environment in most cases but the origin was concordant in one case. In this case, MRSA might be transmitted by healthcare workers to the ICU environment. Further study with a large number of cases and other hospital infection-related microorganisms will be needed. This continuous follow-up study might provide useful information on infection control in medical institutions.