• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.127-133
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• 2014

Gastritis is a major disease that has the potential to grow as gastric cancer. Gastric cancer is a very common cancer, and it is related to a very high mortality rate in Korea. This disease is known to have various reasons, including infection with Helicobacter pylori, dietary habits, tobacco, and alcohol. The incidence rate of gastritis has reported to differ between age, population, and gender. However, unlike other factors, there has been no analysis based on gender. So, we examined the high risk factors of gastritis in each gender in the Korean population by focusing on sex. We performed an analysis of 120 clinical characteristics and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) using 349,184 single-nucleotide polymorphisms from the results of Anseong and Ansan cohort study in the Korea Association Resource (KARE) project. As the result, we could not prove a strong relation with these factors and gastritis or gastric ulcer in the GWAS. However, we confirmed several already-known risk factors and also found some differences of clinical characteristics in each gender using logistic regression. As a result of the logistic regression, a relation with hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, hyperlipidemia therapy, hypotensive or antihypotensive drug, diastolic blood pressure, and gastritis was seen in males; the results of this study suggest that vascular disease has a potential association with gastritis in males.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.221-226
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• 2014

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels are associated with decreased risk of coronary artery disease. Several genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for HDL cholesterol levels have implicated Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) as possibly being causal. Herein, the association between single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs10503669 in the LPL gene and HDL cholesterol levels and triglyceride levels was tested in the Korean population. A total of 994 subjects from Seoul City were included in a replication study with LPL SNP rs10503669. SNP rs10503669 in the LPL gene was associated with mean HDL cholesterol levels (effect per allele 3.13 mg/dL, P<0.0001) and triglyceride levels (effect per allele -18.0 mg/dL, P=0.0026). Subjects with the CA/AA genotype had a 0.42-fold (range 0.23~0.77-fold) lower risk of having abnormal HDL cholesterol levels (<40 mg/dL) than subjects with the CC genotype. When analyzed by gender, the association of LPL was stronger in men than in women. This study clearly demonstrates that genetic variants in LPL influence HDL cholesterol levels and triglyceride levels in Korean adults.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.23
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• pp.10525-10529
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• 2015

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the perception of cancer risk and likelihood of having undergone cancer screening. Materials and Methods: We used data from the Korean Health Panel Survey from December 2011 onward. Of 3,390 patients who visited a hospital during the previous year, we included data from 2,466 individuals; 924 samples were excluded due to missing data. Logistic regression analysis and the chi square test were used to investigate the association between perceived cancer risk and the likelihood of having undergone cancer screening. Results: For patients who perceived their risk of developing cancer during the next 10 years to be 30-40%, the odds ratio was increased 1.65 fold (95%CI: 1.223, 2.234) compared with those who perceived their risk to be almost zero. Although the difference was not statistically significant, perceiving cancer risk as either extremely low or extremely high appears to be associated with a reduced likelihood of having undergone cancer screening, resulting in an inverted U-shaped relationship. Conclusions: Physicians and researchers should be aware of the importance of the affective component of risk perception. Policies addressing the influence of cancer risk perception should be implemented in South Korea and worldwide.

• Journal of Korean Society for Geospatial Information Science
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• v.13 no.3 s.33
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• pp.41-52
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• 2005

The high density of population and building; can cause catastrophe in urban areas when natural or artificial disasters break out. The aim of this paper is to assess comprehensive disasters risk of urban areas by Geospatial Information System. For this purpose, we classified disasters risk of urban areas into low categories: flood, fire, building-collapse, and shelter, and then determined factors for hazard risk assessment respectively. The results of hazard assessment can be applied to minimize the demage of disasters in establishing the urban management planning. For more systematic and professional approach the further research is need to consider more disaster assessment factors and join with related experts.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.67-73
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• 2010

Relatively high density of population and buildings exists in urban area mainly because of broad job opportunities and conveniences available. In other words, if happened, there might be high possibility of disaster which can not be easily recovered. The purpose of this study is to show evaluation approach of the risk degree resulted from the disaster, which considers the attributes of urban area. Cheongju-city in Chungcheongbuk-do is selected as sample district to be estimated. The degree of overall risk including fire risk, building collapse risk, evacuation risk and gas explosion risk etc. is analyzed in the designated area. The analysis suggests the highest risk degree in Bukmun-ro district which also shows CBD decline phenomenon. Therefore, it can be not only predicted that this area as old downtown has not been provided with disaster prevention operation and urban renewal project, but also judged that administrative assistances for the disaster are required possibly soon.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.232-241
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• 2008

Moderate alcohol consumption has been known to be associated with reduced risk for coronary heart disease (CHD). We assessed the association between alcohol consumption and CHD-related risk factors [hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM) , high total cholesterol, high triglyceride (TG), low HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), and high LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C)] in Korean. After excluding those with extreme intake values, the number of final subjects included in the analysis was 4,662 Korean adults aged over 20 years (1,961 men, 2,701 women) who participate in the 2005 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The subjects were divided into four or five groups; none-alcohol consumption group, moderate alcohol consumption group (<15 or 15.0-29.9 g/d), heavy alcohol consumption group (30-69.9 g/d or ${\geq}$ 70 g/d in men, ${\geq}$ 30 g/d in women). Odds ratios (ORs) were estimated from logistic regression adjusting for potential covariates. Alcohol consumption was inversely associated with low HDL-C in both men and women. However, heavy alcohol intake (${\geq}$ 70 g/d) significantly increased risk for hypertension, DM, and hypertriglyceridemia in men. The frequency of alcohol intake was also associated with CHD risk. The risk for low HDLC was decreased with alcohol consumption (${\geq}$ 1 times/wk), but frequent alcohol intake (${\geq}$ 4 times/wk) increased the risk for hypertension. This study revealed that moderate alcohol consumption has protective effect on CHD-related risk factors in Korean population.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2017

Objectives: The aim of this study was to verify relationships between light- and heavy alcohol drinking and health-risk behaviors such as smoking, inappropriate weight control, physical inactivity, and sexual activity among adolescents. Methods: The data of 68,043 adolescents in middle- and high school collected from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey in 2015 were analyzed. For statistical analysis, logistic regression model was used. Results: The rate of heavy alcohol drinking increased with increasing age up to 21.5% among boys and 13.9% among girls. Among boys, heavy alcohol drinkers were at a higher risk of smoking (adjusted odds ratios [OR]=3.3, 95% confidence interval [CI]=2.8-3.8), inappropriate weight control (OR=1.7; 95% CI=1.4-2.1), having sexual intercourse (OR=3.6; 95% CI=3.0-4.2) than light drinkers. Multiple health-risk behaviors of smoking, inappropriate weight control and sexual intercourse also increased in accordance with the severity of drinking alcohol beverage compared to non-drinker. Physical inactivity was decreased among heavy drinkers compared to light drinkers (OR=0.8; 95% CI=0.7-0.9 for inactivity of moderate exercise). Similar results were observed among girls. Conclusions: Alcohol drinking especially heavy alcohol drinking among adolescents is related to other risky behaviors including smoking, inappropriate weight control, and sexual activity. To prevent health problems in adolescents, it is necessary to adopt a combined approach regarding heavy drinking and health-risk behaviors.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.218-225
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• 2011

Objectives: This study investigated the relationship between the blood mercury concentration and cardiovascular risk factors in elderly Korean individuals living in coastal areas. Methods: The sample consisted of 477 adults (164 males, 313 females) aged 40 to 65 years who visited a Busan health promotion center from June to September in 2009. The relationship between blood mercury concentration and cardiovascular risk factors including metabolic syndrome, cholesterol profiles, blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), was investigated. Variables related to blood mercury concentration were further evaluated using multiple regression analysis. Results: The blood mercury concentration of the study population was 7.99 (range, 7.60 to 8.40) ${\mu}g$/L. In males, the blood mercury concentration was 9.74 (8.92 to 10.63) ${\mu}g$/L, which was significantly higher than that in females (7.21, [6.80 to 7.64] ${\mu}g$/L). The blood mercury concentration of the study population was related to several cardiovascular risk factors including low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (p=0.044), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (p=0.034), BMI (p = 0.006), waist circumference (p = 0.031), and WHR (p < 0.001). In males, the blood mercury concentration was significantly correlated with WHR in the multiple regression analysis. Conclusions: In males, the blood mercury concentration was related to waist-to-hip ratio, which is a central obesity index and cardiovascular risk factor. Our finding suggests that cardiovascular disease risk in males was increased by mercury exposure via an obesity-related mechanism.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.625-633
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• 2009

This study was conducted to assess the distribution of coronary risk factors(CRF) and evaluate the risk profile of coronary heart disease by the clustering of the CRF in health checkup examinees. The study sample consists of 3,345 adults aged 30s-60s years(1,917 males, 1,428 females), not recognized as taking medicines for or having cardiovascular diseases, who underwent health package check-up at the health examination center of a university-affliated hospital in Daejon City. The proportion of subjects with 1, 2, 3, 4 and or more risk factors were 27.6%, 26.5%, 16.9% and 9.1%, respectively, therefore, the 80.0% of total subjects had at least one more risk factor. From these findings, this study concluded that the prevalence rates of CRF were relatively high. These data provide further evidence that the early intervention for coronary health prevention and promotion in general adult population is necessary at the population level.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.58-67
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• 2019

Background: In this study, we aimed to investigate the drinking behaviors and drinking-related problems of college students in South Korea to produce national alcohol statistics. Methods: We carefully examined the questionnaires and previous research developed in the previous research project and selected questions that reflect the special environment and culture of college students. In order to stratify a nationally representative sample of college students, the distribution of students around the country were found through the educational statistics database of the Korea Educational Development Institute. Based on this information, we conducted a survey in collaboration with Gallup (Korea) to survey and analyze the drinking behaviors of 5,024 Korean students. Results: A nationwide cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2017, for Korean college students. A total of 5,024 students were recruited and analyzed. The monthly drinking rate was 78.0% for male students and 72.9% for female students. The high-risk drinking rate was 23.3% for male students and 17.2% for female students. The most popular category for number of drinks per drinking session was 'more than 10 glasses' per drinking session for both male (44.1%) and female (32.8%). On the alcohol use disorders identification test, the greatest proportion of male students were in the high-risk drinking category (score 8 to 15) 43.8%, followed by the 'low-risk drinking' (score 0 to 7) in 43.6%, 'alcohol abuse' (score 16 to 19) 7.2%, and 'alcohol dependence' (greater than 20) 5.4% categories, respectively. For female students, the greatest proportion of female students were in the 'low-risk drinking' in 49.6%, followed by 'high-risk drinking' 37.1%, 'alcohol abuse' 8.4%, and 'alcohol dependence' 4.9% categories, respectively. Conclusion: The results of the study showed that the drinking behavior of Korean college students was excessive. Overall, it was found that the college population has a greater high-risk drinking behaviors than general adult population. Furthermore, these problem drinking behaviors were prominent among female college students. Results from the present study suggest that it is necessary to monitor the drinking behavior of college students with constant interest and to prepare policies and strategies suitable for these circumstances.