• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.690-704
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• 2014

This study examined the risk perception in internet shopping by Chinese and analyzed the effects of risk perception on internet word-of-mouth acceptance and transmission. This analysis was conducted with data collected from 373 Chinese individuals in their 20s. Data were analyzed with factorial analysis, cluster analysis, ANOVA, multiple regression analysis, Chi-square test, and Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ using SPSS 18.0. The results were: 1) The factor analysis of risk perception extracted four factors: fashion/social psychological risk, product risk, transaction risk, and economic risk. The cluster analysis classified them into: Group with low-risk, Group with high-risk, Group with economic risk, and Group with medium-risk. 2) Group with high-risk and Group with economic risk had a higher word-of-mouth acceptance than other groups. The Group with a high-risk had more word-of-mouth transmission than other groups. 3) It was found that when word-of-mouth was accepted, the factual information about fashion products (size and material) was most referred to, and that the overall evaluation of satisfaction and dissatisfaction was most conveyed when word-of-mouth was conveyed. 4) Internet word-of-mouth acceptance was affected by product risk, economic risk, and transaction risk. Internet word-of-mouth transmission was affected by economic risk, and fashion/social psychological risk, product risk, and transaction risk.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.167-171
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• 2016

Purpose: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common medical disorder with serious complications if untreated. Dentists play a vital role in the early diagnosis of this condition, thereby improving patients' prognoses. The purpose of this study was to identify patients with a high risk of OSA using simple cephalometric measurements in patients receiving routine dental care. Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted on 206 patients divided into a high-risk group and a control group after answering the Berlin questionnaire. Cephalometric analysis of a digital cephalogram was performed to measure the upper airway diameter (UAD) and mandibular-to-hyoid bone distance (MP-H) by 2 observers at 2 different times. Results: Among 206 patients, 93 (45%) were included in the high-risk group and 113 (55%) were in the control group. No significant difference was present between the groups with regard to gender, and the patients ranged in age from 18 to 65 years. The UAD measurements in the high-risk group were significantly lower than in the control group, and the MP-H measurements were significantly higher in the high-risk group than in the control group. The UAD was lower in middle-aged patients in both groups. Conclusion: Our study found that the UAD was lower in individuals with a high risk of OSA. Also, we found that middle-aged individuals of both genders were more likely to develop OSA. Dentists play a vital role in diagnosing patients at a high risk for OSA via thorough clinical examinations, risk factor analyses, and simple cephalometric analyses.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.87-105
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to analyze whether nonemergency, isolated coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery for high- or low-risk patients biases the assessment of the risk-adjusted mortality rates of hospitals. This study used 2002 National Health Insurance claims data for tertiary hospitals in Korea. The study sample consisted of 1,959 patients from 23 tertiary hospitals. The risk-adjustment model used the patients' biological, admission, and comorbidity data identified in the claims. The subjects were classified into high- and low-risk groups based on predicted surgical risk. The crude mortality rates and risk-adjusted mortality rates for low-risk, high-risk, and all patients in a hospital were compared based on the rank and the four intervals defined by quartile. Also, the crude mortality rates of the three groups were compared with their 95% confidence intervals of predicted mortality rates. The C-statistic (0.83) and Hosmer-Lemeshow test ($X^2$=11.47, p=0.18) indicated that the risk-adjustment model performed well. Presenting crude mortality rates with their 95% confidence intervals of predicted rates showed higher agreements among the three groups than using the rank or intervals of mortality rates defined by quartile in the hospital performance assessment. The crude mortality rates for the low-risk patients in 21 of the 23 hospitals were located on the same side of their 95% confidence intervals compared to that for all patients. High-risk patients and all patients differed at only one hospital. In conclusion, the impact of risk selection by hospital on the assessment results was the smallest when comparing the crude inpatient mortality rates of CABG patients with the 95% confidence intervals of predicted mortality rates. Given the increasing importance of quality improvements in Korean health policy, it will be necessary to use the appropriate method of releasing the hospital performance data to the public to minimize any unwanted impact such as risk-based hospital selection.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.200-203
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• 2009

The risk ranking of food groups included the Korea Food Code is a potentially powerful means to prioritize food safety management strategies. Although the interest in risk ranking of food groups has been increasing worldwide, there was, until recently, no standard system in Korea for the risk ranking of food groups. This study was conducted to rank food groups using theoretically estimated comparative risk scores of 101 food groups included the Korea Food Code. These scores were estimated using the risk evaluation model, which focuses on 3 aspects, namely, exposure assessment, severity assessment, and consumption part. The results of this study revealed that the risk was the highest in the case of ready-to-eat (RTE) food items, followed by fish products and breads. Using this ranking system, we can identify the food with high risk scores and design risk management strategies targeted specifically at these items.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.149-156
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• 2017

Background: This study was conducted to evaluate the performance of the Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC) model, identify potentially high-cost patients, and examine the effects of adding prior utilization to the risk model using Korean claims data. Methods: We incorporated 2 years of data from the National Health Insurance Services-National Sample Cohort. Five risk models were used to predict health expenditures: model 1 (age/sex groups), model 2 (the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services-HCC with age/sex groups), model 3 (selected 54 HCCs with age/sex groups), model 4 (bed-days of care plus model 3), and model 5 (medication-days plus model 3). We evaluated model performance using $R^2$ at individual level, predictive positive value (PPV) of the top 5% of high-cost patients, and predictive ratio (PR) within subgroups. Results: The suitability of the model, including prior use, bed-days, and medication-days, was better than other models. $R^2$ values were 8%, 39%, 37%, 43%, and 57% with model 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. After being removed the extreme values, the corresponding $R^2$ values were slightly improved in all models. PPVs were 16.4%, 25.2%, 25.1%, 33.8%, and 53.8%. Total expenditure was underpredicted for the highest expenditure group and overpredicted for the four other groups. PR had a tendency to decrease from younger group to older group in both female and male. Conclusion: The risk adjustment models are important in plan payment, reimbursement, profiling, and research. Combined prior use and diagnostic data are more powerful to predict health costs and to identify high-cost patients.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.340-353
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• 2009

It is very important to screen the elderly for nutritional risk, because nutritional status is a critical factor to maintain their health. Some nutrition checklists used in Korea for the elderly are from other countries. Reliability of those checklist in Korea is not studied enough. This survey was done for the elderly over 65-years-old who live in Hong-cheon, An-dong, Dam-yang and Yeon-gi in Korea (subject; summer: 146, winter: 145) to study the reliability of DETERMINE checklist which is adopted widely in Korea. Using the score of DETERMINE checklist, the elderly were divided as high, middle and low risk groups. For nutritional assessment for those elderly, dietary assessment using 24 recall, anthropometry, biochemical assessment and health condition were used. Results for the checklist showed that percentage below EAR for energy intake and protein intake in winter were higher in the high risk group than other groups. The intakes of phosphorus and iron and most vitamins were below the DRI. The percentage of subjects with intake below DRI was highest in the high risk group. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive values using the DETERMINE were calculated using 6 point as a cut-off point. Subjects were divided into two groups by MAR (MAR < 0.75:undernutrition, MAR < 0.75 : normal). Sensitivity recorded 49.4% and 34.3%, specificity did 61.9% and 65.4 and Positive predictive value did 62.1% and 46.0% each for summer and winter. Results of screening using DETERMINE Checklist were not matched with dietary assessment but not with anthropometric and biochemical measurement. In conclusion DETERMINE 'Checklist' is shown be a good screening tool for finding out risk groups for dietary intake in the elderly, It needs to verify reliability and validity through large-scale survey.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.77-84
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• 2021

Purpose: Malnutrition affects all age groups, but older adults are particularly more vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies. This study evaluated the age-specific factors affecting malnutrition in hospitalized older adults. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on inpatient elderly people who received artificial nutrition from 2010 to 2017. Data of demographics, diagnosis, type of nutrition therapy, number of comorbidity, fall risk assessment, Acute Physiologic Assessment and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) score, and intensive care unit admission were collected. Malnutrition was defined as a body mass index (BMI) of less than 18.5 kg/m². Patients were classified as the young-old (65~74 years old), the old-old (75~84 years old), or the oldest-old (85 years old or older). Results: A total of 7,130 older adults were included, and 4,028 patients were classified as the young-old, 2,506 into the old-old, and 596 into the oldest-old. Proportion of malnutrition was higher in the oldest-old compared to the other groups. In multivariate analysis, parenteral nutrition, alcohol, and high risk of falls were factors affecting malnutrition in all groups. Parenteral nutrition and alcohol in the young-old, high risk of falls in the old-old, and male sex in the oldest-old were the factors affecting malnutrition by the age group. Conclusion: Older age was the most significant factor affecting malnutrition. Specific strategies by age are needed to improve nutritional status in hospitalized older adults as influencing factors for malnutrition vary among different age groups.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.122-129
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• 2001

Purpose : After Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is known to be a fatal disease, efforts and studies are made to determine the cause, treatment method and method of preventing infection. However, no treatment method is present and vaccine development has not been made. Therefore, the most effective treatment method is prevention, and almost 100% prevention is possible when correct preventive measures are taken. We suggest effective prevention education by comparing knowledge and attitude of those unmarried men who had sexual encounters with prostitutes (high risk group) and those with no sexual encounters with prostitutes (low risk group). Methods : From January 1, 2000 to June 30, 2000, a survey was done in 516 unmarried soldiers and college students. With the collected data, chi-square test was used to compare and analyze the demographic characteristic, knowledge on AIDS, and attitude on AIDS between the high risk group and low risk group. One-way ANOVA test was used to compare and analyze the scores on knowledge between these two groups. Results : Among 516 unmarried men, 256 men (49.6%) fell into the high risk group and 260 men (50.4%) into the low risk group. Both groups showed that they heard of AIDS during their middle school years. The main route of obtaining knowledge on AIDS was through TV programs with 124 men(48.4%) in the high risk group and 167 men (64.2%) in the low risk group (P=0.002). Among 20 items, the average score on knowledge was $13.9{\pm}1.9$ in the high risk group and $14.1{\pm}1.8$ in the low risk group with no statistical difference between these two groups (P=0.191). Two items showed statistical significance in the low risk group compared with the high risk group; these were the item of AIDS being transmitted through transfusion (P=0.014) and through mosquitoes (P=0.009). As for attitude, statistical significance was present in the item stating that AIDS patients should be isolated in the high risk group compared with the low risk group (P=0.029). Conclusions : The present study showed that both the high risk group and low risk group obtained knowledge on AIDS through TV. No statistical difference was present between the two groups other than the high risk group showed statistically high results in two items on knowledge and one item on attitude. Thus, these results showed that exposure to AIDS can be lowered with better knowledge and the attitude of those with a low risk of infection was more positive.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.2279-2285
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• 2014

Background: To evaluate treatment outcomes of patients with stage I-III endometrial cancer treated with postoperative radiation. Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of 166 endometrial cancer patients, undergoing surgery and postoperative radiotherapy at Siriraj Hospital from 2005-2008 was performed. Pathology was reviewed. Results of treatment were reported with 5-year loco-regional recurrence free survival (LRRFS), 5-year overall survival (OS), patterns of failure and toxicity, and according to stage and risk groups. Results: Median follow up time was 62.8 months. Pathological changes were found in 36.3% of the patients after central reviews, leading to 19% changes in risk groups. Most of the patients (83.7%) received pelvic radiation (PRT) and vaginal brachytherapy (VBT). Five-year LRRFS and OS of all patients were 94.9% and 85.5%, respectively. There was no recurrence or death in low and low-intermediate risk groups. For the high-intermediate risk group, 5-year LRRFS and OS were 96.2% and 90.8%, respectively, and for the high risk group 90.5% and 71%. Late grade 3 and 5 gastrointestinal toxicity was found in 3% and 1.2% of patients, respectively. All of them received PRT 5,000 cGy in 25 fractions. Conclusions: Low and intermediate risk patients had good results with surgery and adjuvant radiation therapy. For high risk patients, postoperative radiation therapy alone appeared to be inadequate as the most common pattern of failure was distant metastasis.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.53-61
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• 2015

Objectives: The seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) among high-risk groups overseas is high, but studies in these groups are rare in South Korea. We conducted the present study from April to November 2012 to obtain data on the seroprevalence and associated risk factors for HEV among slaughterhouse workers in South Korea. Methods: Slaughterhouse workers from 80 workplaces nationwide were surveyed in South Korea in 2012. The subjects comprised 1848 cases: 1434 slaughter workers and 414 residual products handlers. By visiting 80 slaughterhouses, which were mixed with 75 of which also performed residual products handling, we conducted a questionnaire survey for risk factors and obtained blood samples in order to determine the seropositivity and seroprevalence of HEV. Anti-HEV IgG and IgM were measured using HEV IgG and IgM enzyme-linked immunospecific assay kits and HEV antigen was measured by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results: The seropositivity of anti-HEV IgG was 33.5% (slaughter workers 32.8% and residual products handlers 36.2%), and among the seropositive individuals the seroprevalence of anti-HEV IgM was 0.5% (slaughter workers 0.5%, residual products handlers 0.7%). The response rate of HEV-antigen as measured by RT-PCR was 0.2%. Risk factors significantly related to anti-HEV IgG seropositivity were age, sex, and working duration (slaughter workers only). Conclusions: There were significant risk factors (sex, age, and working duration) for HEV identified in our study. All three positive cases for HEV-antigen by RT-PCR were related to pig slaughter but without statistical significance. To prevent HEV, an educational program and working guidelines may be needed for high risk groups.