• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.17-30
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• 2002

BACKGROUND: Back pain is a popular disease in general population as well as in workers. School students handle heavy bag and keep awkward postures during class long time. However, the prevalence of back pain among students and the risk factors associated with back pain are not well known. METHODS: In this study, we assess the frequency of risk factors for back pain among 2,717 high school students. From April 2001 to May 2001, using a self-reported questionnaire, we collected data on occurrence of back pain and potential risk factors for back pain. RESULTS: Fifteen percent of high school students reported having daily back pain for a week or more during the past 12 months. Female students had a higher prevalence of back pain than males(OR=2.22, 95% CI 1.69-2.91). Using a multiple logistic regression model, we found six factors associated with back pain for females; alcohol(OR=1.75, 95% CI 1.26-2.45), depression(OR=1.75, 95% CI 1.84-2.28), poor physical health(OR=2.57, 95% CI 1.84-8.58), obesity(OR=0.29, 95% CI 0.12-0.68), exercise(OR=l.50, 95% CI=1.07-2.16), and good performance(OR=l.50, 95% CI 1.05-2.18). Only alcohol, however, associated with back pain for males(OR=1.70, 95% CI 1.05-2.77) CONCLUSIONS: High school students had a relatively high prevalence of back pain. Students with alcohol consumption had the higher risk for back pain.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4725-4732
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• 2012

Aim: The incidence of stomach cancer in Mizoram is highest in India. We have conducted a population based matched case-control study to identify environmental and genetic risk factors in this geographical area. Methods: A total of 102 histologically confirmed stomach cancer cases and 204 matched healthy population controls were recruited. GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes were determined by PCR and H. pylori infections were determined by ELISA. Results: Tobacco-smoking was found to be an important risk factor for high incidence of stomach cancer in Mizoram. Meiziol (local cigarette) smoking was a more important risk factor than other tobacco related habits. Cigarette, tuibur (tobacco smoke infused water) and betel nut consumption synergistically increased the risk of stomach cancer. Polymorphisms of GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes were not found to be directly associated with stomach cancer in Mizoram. However, they appeared to be effect modifiers. Persons habituated with tobacco smoking and/or tuibur habit had increased risk of stomach cancer if they carried the GSTM1 null genotype and GSTT1 non-null genotype. Conclusion: Tobacco smoking, especially meiziol is the important risk factor for stomach cancer in Mizoram. GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes modify the effect of tobacco habits. This study is a first step in understanding the epidemiology of stomach cancer in Mizoram, India.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.103-109
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• 2006

Objective : Associations of vascular risk/disease or apolipoprotein E ${\varepsilon}4$(APOE4) with geriatric depression has been unclear at a population level. This study aimed to evaluate whether there would be interactions of vascular risk/disease and APOE4 on depression in a Korean elderly population. Methods : 732 community residents aged 65 or over were assessed for depression(GMS), information on vascular risk/disease(reported stroke, transient ishemic attack, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, smoking), examinations for vascular risk/disease(blood pressure, blood tests for glucose and lipid profiles, body size), APOE genotypes, demographic characteristics(age, gender, education), physical health, and cognitive function(MMSE). Results : Previous stroke and lower level of high density lipoprotein(HDL) cholesterol were significantly associated with geriatric depression independent of demographic characteristics, physical illnesses, and cognitive function. These associations were statistically significant only in those with APOE4, although the interaction terms didn't reach to statistical significance. Conclusion : Associations between vascular risk/disease and geriatric depression might be more prominent in those with APOE4. However further research would be needed to clarify this issue.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.167-176
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• 2023

Purpose: Despite the high prevalence of visual impairment caused by diabetic retinopathy and nutritional problems among older adults with diabetes, evidence regarding factors related to nutritional risk in this population is limited. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the correlates of nutritional risk among older adults with diabetes, focusing on visual impairment. Methods: This study was a secondary data analysis of the 2020 National Survey of Older Koreans aged 65 years and above. The sample comprised 2,376 older adults with diabetes, and complex sample ANOVA and Rao-Scott chi-square tests were used to compare the groups according to visual impairment. Complex-sample logistic regression analyses were conducted to verify the association between visual impairment and nutritional risk. Results: Older adults with diabetes, who also have severe visual impairment, are more likely to have nutritional risk status than those without impairment after controlling for covariates (odds ratio [OR] = 2.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.16~5.13). Among the covariates, depression (OR = 3.58, 95% CI 2.60~4.94), dependent activities of daily living status (OR = 2.79, 95% CI 1.60~4.86), and experience of hospitalization during the past year (OR = 2.51, 95% CI 1.57~4.03) were strongly associated with nutritional risk. Conclusion: Severe visual impairment increases the nutritional risk among older adults with diabetes. Therefore, it is essential to prevent visual impairment due to exacerbation of diabetes through appropriate management. Additionally, tailored nutritional interventions for visually impaired older adults with diabetes that consider visual characteristics are required.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.49-58
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• 2004

It is important to select a risk based priority area for environmental policy formation and decision-making. We estimated the health risks and associated damage costs from exposure to fine particles and assigned priority areas for twenty -five districts in Seoul. In order to estimate the theoretical mortality incidence of the health risk, baseline risks were estimated from mortality rates in two low level areas of fine particles, Seocho Gu and Cheju city To estimate the damage cost from the risk estimates, we investigated and estimated the willingness to pay (WTP) for specific risk reduction. We assumed two different locations as the reference area, Cheju city as Scenario I and Seocho gu as Scenario II. From the results, the five districts, Kwangjin, Chungnang, Kangbuk, Nowon, and Kangnam, ranked high in the categories of both health risk and economic risk. Damage costs were over twenty billion won in each of these districts. As there are uncertainties in these results, the parameter values such as PM$_{2.5}$ level, dose -response slope factor, baseline risk, exposure population and WTP should be continuously validated and refined.d.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.67-74
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• 2019

This study is to identify the heat vulnerability area as represented by heat risk factors which could be attributable to heat-related deaths. The heat risk factors were temperature, Older Adults(OA), Economic Disadvantage(ED), Accessibility of Medical Services(AMS), The population Single Person Households(SPH). The factors are follow as; the temperature means to the number of days for decades average daily maximum temperature above $31^{\circ}C$, the Older Adults means to population ages 65 and above, furthermore, the Economic Disadvantage means to the population of Basic Livelihood Security Recipients(BLSR), the Accessibility of Medical Services(AMS) means to 5 minutes away from emergency medical services. The results of the analysis are showed that the top-level of temperature vulnerability areas is Dong, the top-level of vulnerability OA areas is Eup, the top-level of AMS vulnerability is Eup. Moreover, the top-level of vulnerability ED area appears in the Eup and Dong. The result of analysing relative importance to each element, most of the Eup were vulnerable to heat. Since, there are many vulnerable groups such as Economic Disadvantage, Older Adults in the Eup. We can be figured out estimated the number of heat-related deaths was high in the Eup and Dong by the data of emergency activation in the Chungcheongnam-do Fire Department. Therefore, the result of this study could be reasonable.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.331-340
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• 2022

Early afterdepolarization (EAD), a significant cause of fatal ventricular arrhythmias including Torsade de Pointes (TdP) in long QT syndromes, is a depolarizing afterpotential at the plateau or repolarization phase in action potential (AP) profile early before completing one pace. AP duration prolongation is related to EAD but is not necessarily accounted for EAD. Several computational studies suggested EAD can form from an abnormality in the late plateau and/or repolarization phase of AP shape. In this sense, we hypothesized the slope during repolarization has the characteristics to predict TdP risk, mainly focusing on the maximum slope during repolarization (dVm/dt_{max_repol}). This study aimed to predict the sensitivity of dVm/dt_{max_repol} to ion channel conductances as a TdP risk metric through a population simulation considering multiple effects of simultaneous reduction in six ion channel conductances of g_NaL, g_Kr, g_Ks, g_to, g_K1, and g_CaL. Additionally, we verified the availability of dVm/dt_{max_repol} for TdP risk prediction through the correlation analysis with qNet, the representative TdP metric. We performed the population simulations based on the methodology of Gemmel et al. using the human ventricular myocyte model of Dutta et al. Among the sixion channel conductances, dVm/dt_{max_repol} and qNet responded most sensitively to the change in g_Kr, followed by g_NaL. Furthermore, dVm/dt_{max_repol} showed a statistically significant high negative correlation with qNet. The dVm/dt_{max_repol} values were significantly different according to three TdP risk levels of high, intermediate, and low by qNet (p<0.001). In conclusion, we suggested dVm/dt_{max_repol} as a new biomarker metric for TdP risk assessment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.87-95
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• 2023

On October 29, 2022, a very large number of people gathered in Itaewondong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Korea for a Halloween festival, and as crowds pushed through narrow alleys, 159 deaths and 195 injuries occurred, making it the largest crushing incident in Korea. There have been a number of stampede deaths where crowds gathered at large-scale festivals, event venues, and stadiums, both at home and abroad. When the density increases, the physical contact between bodies becomes very strong, and crowd turbulence occurs when the force of the crowd is suddenly added from one body to another; thus, the force is amplified and causes the crowd to behave like a mass of fluid. When crowd turbulence occurs, people cannot control themselves and are pushed into he crowd. To prevent a stampede accident, investigation and management of areas expected to be crowded and congested must be systematically conducted, and related ministries and local governments are planning to establish a crowd management system to prepare safety management measures to prevent accidents involving multiple crowds. In this study, based on national data, a continuous digital topographic map is modeled in 3D to analyze the risk of crowding and present a plan for selecting high-risk walking routes. Areas with a high risk of crowding are selected in advance based on various data (numerical data, floating population, and regional data) in a realistic and feasible way, and the analysis is based on the visible results from 3D modeling of the risk area. The study demonstrates that it is possible to prepare measures to prevent cluster accidents that can reflect the characteristics of the region.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.1019-1024
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• 2012

Background: Infections with human papillomavirus (HPV) are highly prevalent among sexually active young women in India. However, not much is known about the incidence of type-specific human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and their patterns of persistence, especially in the Indian context. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the rate of acquisition and persistence of HPV types in young women. Methods: Women residing in an urban slum in Delhi (n=1300) were followed for 24 months at 6 monthly intervals. Exfoliated cervical cells collected at each visit were tested for the presence of HPV DNA. Genotyping was performed using the reverse line blot assay. Results: The incidence rate for any HPV type was calculated to be 5 per 1000 women-months. Among high risk HPV types, HPV16 had the highest incidence rate followed by HPV59, HPV52 and HPV18, i.e., 3.0, 0.58, 0.41 and 0.35 women per 1000 women-months respectively. The persistence rate was higher for high-risk than low-risk HPV types. Among low-risk types, HPV42, HPV62, HPV84 and HPV89 were found to persist. Whereas almost all high risk types showed persistence, the highest rate was found in women with HPV types 16, 45, 67, 31, 51 and 59. The persistence rate for HPV16 infection was 45 per 1000 women-months. Conclusion: Incident HPV infections and high risk HPV type-specific persistence were found to be high in our study population of young married women. Understanding the patterns of HPV infection may help plan appropriate strategies for prevention programs including vaccination and screening.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.89-93
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• 2017

Background: Rates of overweight and obese Australians are high and continue to rise, putting a large proportion of the population at risk of chronic illness. Examining characteristics associated with preference for a work-based weight-loss program will enable employers to better target programs to increase enrolment and benefit employees' health and fitness for work. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken at two Australian mining sites. The survey collected information on employee demographics, health characteristics, work characteristics, stages of behavior change, and preference for workplace assistance with reaching a healthy weight. Results: A total of 897 employees participated; 73.7% were male, and 68% had a body mass index in the overweight or obese range. Employees at risk of developing obesity-related chronic illnesses (based on high body mass index) were more likely to report preference for weight management assistance than lower risk employees. This indicates that, even in the absence of workplace promotion for weight management, some at risk employees want workplace assistance. Employees who were not aware of a need to change their current nutrition or physical activity behaviors were less likely to seek assistance. This indicates that practitioners need to communicate the negative effects of excess weight and promote the benefits of a healthy lifestyle to increase the likelihood of weight management. Conclusion: Weight management programs should provide information, motivation. and trouble-shooting assistance to meet the needs of at-risk mining employees, including those who are attempting to change and maintain behaviors to achieve a healthy weight and be suitably fit for work.