• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.507-519
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• 2003

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence, health behaviors, and control of hypertension in rural areas in Korea. Method: A total of 927 subjects above age 20 were selected from the areas which fell under the jurisdiction of the 24 Community Health Center located in Chungcheongbuk-do. The employees in the Community Health Center visited and interviewed patients. Data were collected using a questionnaire from July to October 2002. Result: The result showed that women had higher hypertension prevalence rates than men and the increment of its rate leveled up according to age. The hypertension prevalence rate was significantly high when the monthly income was less than 1 million won, their type of the Medical Insurance was the Guardian, they were only able to read Korean characters, and they were bereaved of spouses. In the Health behavior related to hypertension, the hypertension group showed a significantly lower level than the non- hypertension group in terms of drinking rate, smoking rate, intake of salt and intake of meat. There was no significant difference in the exercise rate and coffee intake rate between these groups. In the degree of the obesity the hypertension group was significantly higher than the non-hypertension group. The factors related to hypertension were that the duration for the incidence of hypertension was 12 to 60 months and took up 41.2%. The places where the medical check-ups occurred were the Community Health Center at 46.6%, the medical institution was mostly hospitals recording 46.5%. There were 66.1% of the targets who knew well about their blood pressure and there were 64.7% people who received education about it. As for the education place, the rate of Community Health Center was mostly high and it stood at 77.0%. In the aspect of the management of hypertension, the targets who took medicine on a regular basis were up to 76.1% and the targets who measured blood pressure once a month happened to be about 46.1 %. The targets who always recorded their blood pressure were 3.8%, chest X-ray as a related examination of hypertension reached 32.6%, electrocardiogram examination was 36.2%, cholesterol and serum lipid examination took up 33.6%, and the eye ground examination took 7.3%, which showed the lowest level of all.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.30-38
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• 2001

This research was conduced to 1) examine the influence of milk group intake on the dietary, considering dietary diversity and nutrient adequacy, 2) identify which foods truly contribute to the intake of specific nutrients 3) point out the dietary problems of this age group. The subjects were 664(male 357, female 307) healthy toddlers of the ages of 12-36 months, who had neither been taking any medicine-type supplements nor had any diseases that affect the dietary intakes, chosen among the outpatients of university and private hospitals in Seoul and Kyonggi province during Mach-August, 1999. The 24 hour recall method and CAN Pro(food analysis program) were used to analyze the amount of nutrient intake. The grouping of the subjects for the analysis by monthly age was based on the 98 Korean Child growth standard. The results that the milk group intake showed significant negative correlations with the grain group(r=-0.194, p<0.01), the vegetable group(r=-0.115, p<0.01) and the fruit group(r=-0.125, p<0.01). It also showed that the more the milk group intake, the lower the Dietary Diversity Score(r=-0.131, p<0.01), and the more the intake of raw milk, the more dificient the intake of iron(r=-0.211, p<0.01), vitamin A(r=-0.169,p<0.01), vitamin B$_1$(r=-0.078, p<0.05) and vitamin C(r=-0.187, p<0.01). Foods contributory to nutrient intake for of 12-14 months of were mostly infant formula, and the contribution ratio was high. In the age of 15-17 months, the subjects obtained most of the nutrients from raw milk., liquid-type yoghurt, soybean milk, cooked rice, etc. As for iron intake, the age of 21-23 month obtained the most from ionic drinks, and 24-29 months from raw milk, chocolate cakes, ionic drinks, etc. Though the NAR(Nutrient Adequacy Ratio) and MAR(Mean Adequacy Ratio) generally tended to increase accordingly with the DDs, as for nutrients Ca, vitamin A, vitamin B$_1$, and vitamin C the NAR marked the highest when the DDS marked the lowest(due to infant formula). And for iron, even when the DDS was 5 the NAR value was low. Im conclusion, the more the milk group intake, the lower was the dietary diversity. High dependency on infant formula and others from milk group over the age of 12 months proved to result in a decrease of nutritious solid food intake, iron deficiency and a low dietary diversity score, which can lead to an unbalanced diet. Therefore, nutrition education towards mothers/caretakers of toddler is of urgent need, in order to reduce the fluid milk group intake of low nutritional density and to provide various solid foods the children. (Korean J Nutrition 34(1):30-38, 2001)

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.61-79
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• 2018

Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the effect of non-thermal dielectric barrier discharge(DBD) plasma on decontamination of Staphylococcus aureus(S. aureus) and Escherichia coli(E. coli) as common pathogens. Methods: This experiment was carried out in a chamber($0.64m^3$)designed by the authors. The plasma was continuously generated by a non-thermal DBD plasma generator(Model TB-300, Shinyoung Air tech, Korea). Suspensions of S. aureus and E. coli of 0.5 McFarland standard($1.5{\times}10^8CFU/mL$) were prepared using a Densi-Check photometer(bio $M{\acute{e}}rieux$, France). The suspensions were diluted1:1000 in sterile PBS solutions(approximately$10^{4-5}CFU/mL$) and inoculated on tryptic soy agar(TSA) in Petri dishes. The Petri dishes(80mm internal diameter)were exposed to the non -thermal DBD plasma in the chamber. Results: The results showed that 95% of S. aureus colonies were killed after a six-hour exposure to the DBD plasma. In the case of E. coli, it took two hours to kill 100% of the colonies. The gram-negative E. coli had a greater reduction than the gram-positive S. aureus. This difference may be due to the structure of their cell membranes. The thickness of gram-positive bacteria is greater than that of gram-negative bacteria. The S. aureus is more resistant to DBD plasma exposures than is E. coli. It should be noted that average concentrations of ozone, a byproduct of the DBD plasma generator, were monitored throughout the experiment and the results were well below the criteria, 50 ppb, recommended by the Korean Ministry of the Environment. Thus, non-thermal DBD plasma is deemed safe for use in hospital and public facilities. Conclusions: There was evidence that non-thermal DBD plasma can effectively kill S. aureus and E. coli. The results indicate that DBD plasma technology can greatly contribute to the control of infections in hospitals and other public and private facilities.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.185-196
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• 2015

Background: Issues concerning with the classification accuracy of Korean Outpatient Groups (KOPGs) have been raised by providers and researchers. The KOPG is an outpatient classification system used to measure casemix of outpatient visits and to adjust provider risk in charges by the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service in managing insurance payments. The objective of this study were to refine KOPGs to improve the classification accuracy and to evaluate the refinement. Methods: We refined the rules used to classify visits with multiple procedures, newly defined chemotherapy drug groups, and modified the medical visit indicators through reviews of other classification systems, data analyses, and consultations with experts. We assessed the improvement by measuring % of variation in case charges reduced by KOPGs and the refined system, Enhanced KOPGs (EKOPGs). We used claims data submitted by providers to the HIRA during the year 2012 in both refinement and evaluation. Results: EKOPGs explicitly allowed additional payments for multiple procedures with exceptions of packaging of routine ancillary services and consolidation of related significant procedures, and discounts ranging from 30% to 70% were defined in additional payments. Thirteen chemotherapy drug KOPGs were added and medical visit indicators were streamlined to include codes for consultation fees for outpatient visits. The % of variance reduction achieved by EKOPGs was 48% for all patients whereas the figure was 40% for KOPGs, and the improvement was larger in data from tertiary and general hospitals than in data from clinics. Conclusion: A significant improvement in the performance of the KOPG was achieved by refining payments for visits with multiple procedures, defining groups for visits with chemotherapy, and revising medical visit indicators.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.203-212
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• 2023

Since the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, it has been generally believed that a medical technologists (MTs) are supposed to perform polymerase chain reaction tests and next-generation sequencing (NGS) in the hospitals. However, many do not recognize that the duty of MT for clinical genetic testing has not been stated in the Medical Laws (72.5% for MT, N=200; 62.8% for students, N=123). In this regard, to evaluate the feasibility of MT's role for NGS genetic testing, we requested our subjects to fill out an online survey and analyzed the data. Among them, it shows that the scope of MT's role, including NGS performance should include clinical genetic testing (99.5% for MT, N=200; 86.8% for students, N=123). Also, questions on clinical genetics, which is associated with both cellular genetics and molecular genetic questions should be included in the National MT License Problem Bank (97.5% for MT; 71.4% for students). Based on these results, the Korean Association of Medical Technologists needs to cooperate synergically with the Academic Association of Biomedical Laboratory Science with respect to genetic education and legislation for the future benefit of both MTs and students.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.314-323
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• 2023

This study assessed the desired wage guidelines for medical technologists (MTs), mainly primary care providers and those in secondary medical institutions, in 16 cities and provinces in Korea. A survey of 1,327 MTs was conducted using a structured Google questionnaire from August 1, 2022, to September 30, 2022. The wage levels differed according to gender, age, education, career, region, and employment status. There were differences in wage levels according to gender and region with less than one year of career, and the wage gap was relatively larger for woman than man. An awareness of wage compensation appropriate for work performance, and technology value compensation were low at 2.01, 2.23, and 2.30, respectively. This study suggests that primary and secondary medical institutions should provide reasonable wages compensation for MTs' work in order to create an environment where MTs can receive stable jobs and work. Moreover, the Korean Association of Medical Technologists should establish a cooperative system so that the starting wage of MTs in primary and secondary medical institutions can receive the desired wage of 34 million won.

• Journal of the Korean BIBLIA Society for library and Information Science
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.233-252
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• 2018

The first Protestant medical missionary, Horace Allen, came to Korea in 1884 and built the first western-style hospital, Jaejungwon. John Heron, Oliver Avison and other foreign medical doctors soon followed. They established hospitals and medical schools, and, by treating patients and educating native doctors, they disseminated and developed modern medicine in Korea. At the same time, they wrote letters and reports to their sponsoring agencies, as well as family and friends, thereby leaving a vast body of literature that is scattered all over the world. Since the end of the 19th century, the records left by foreign medical missionaries have been valuable resources for the study of Korean history. While all types of records, such as diaries, memoirs, reports and travel logs, are available, these tend to be exaggerated or unverifiable because they are unilateral records. In contrast, letters can be verified because they are bilateral records between the recipient and the sender, and cannot be modified or altered according to changes in circumstances. Despite the academic value of these materials, however, there have been insufficient efforts to discover or identify these primary data sources, or to systematically organize them for scholars. This paper identified 49 archival collections from 29 institutions in North America. After analyzing their academic value, the paper will explore digital humanities options in utilizing the letters for future scholarship.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.12-22
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• 1976

Amongst varieties of clinical nursing role, the administration of medication is often highlighted as of prime importance. In order to attain data for the improvement of teaching strategies of medication, diagnostic evaluation of the knowledge level is a necessity. This study was performed from August through December 1975. 449 registered nurses, randomly sampled from general hospitals:16 of Seoul and 7 of Taegu and Pusan, were tested through 54 test questionaries based on 4 practical dimensions of administration of medication. Results are as follows ; 1. Status of respondents: Length of clinical experiences; the average length revealed to be 2 years and 7 months, 72% revealed to have had less than 3 years of experience; 38.6%-less than 1 year, 19 .2%-over 1 year and less than 2 years, and 14, 2%-over 2 years and less than 3 years. Type of Nursing education received ; 9.4% revealed to have graduated technical high school of nursing, 67.5o/o the 3 year diploma school and 21, 7% the baccalaureate degree program. The knowledge Level; Degree of self-satisfaction on knowledge level revealed that;27, 4% responded to "more or less satisfied", 48.8% "more or less un-satisfied" and 19.8% to "not satisfied". The average level of basic knowledge revealed to be moderate by 66.95 points. The level of knowledge of 4 questionnaire categories revealed that; drug action category by average of 66.5 points, methodology category by 65.4 Points, safety measure category by 71.4 points and terminology and concepts category by 64.6 points, Questionnaire items which revealed high points are of;6 of drug action category, 4 of methodology, 4 of safety measure, and 3 of terminology. The items of low points are: 8 of drug action, 3 of methodology, 3 of safety measure and 5 of terminolology categories. 3. The type of nursing education revealed to have no significant influence on the level of knowledge on the administration of medication. 4. The length of clinical experience revealed to have no significant influence on the level of knowledge. 5. 75. l% responded that the actual practice of medication modes are "similar" to that included in the fundamentals of nursing course. 6. In-service education on medication; 54.0% revealed to have some incidental in-service education on medication while 34.0% receive programmed in- service education. 61.8% revealed to have expressed the need of systemic In-service education as one of the means for improvement of medication. 32.7% revealed to obtain information concerning medicine by reading commercial publications on drug package, while only 20.9% by reading specific information channel.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.9-13
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• 2013

Objectives: Bisphosphonates (BP) are widely used in medicine for inhibiting bone resorption; however bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ) is a major side effect of BP. To date, there have been no specific reports on the incidence of BRONJ among Koreans. This study investigated the preliminary results from a nationwide survey of BRONJ in the Departments of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS) at individual training hospitals. Materials and Methods: A total of 15 OMFS departments (10 from dental schools, 4 from medical schools, and 1 from a dental hospital) participated in a multi-centric survey. This study assessed every BRONJ case diagnosed between January 2010 and December 2010. The patient age and BP type were evaluated. Results: A total of 254 BRONJ cases were collected. The majority of BRONJ cases were associated with oral BP therapy, while 21.8% of the cases were associated with intravenous administration. Alendronate was the drug most frequently related to BRONJ (59.2% of cases), followed by risedronate (14.3%) and zolendronate (17.0%). The average age of BRONJ patients was $70.0{\pm}10.1$ years, with a range of 38-88 years of age. With the number of BP patients in Korea reported to be around 600,000 in 2008, the estimated incidence of BRONJ is at least 0.04% or 1 per 2,300 BP patients. Conclusion: The results suggest that the estimated incidence of BRONJ in Korea is higher than the incidence of other countries. Future prospective studies should be carried out to investigate the exact epidemiological characteristics of BRONJ in Korea.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.187-202
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• 1998

This study was carried out to identify the difference between educational needs and levels of satisfaction of primigravida during the antepartum period. The goal of the study was to obtain data needed to develope educational programs and to improve the nursing quality for antepartal clients. The subjects were 106 primigravida who attend antenatal clinic at 3 general hospitals in the Seoul area. The data was gathered using a questionnaire which, consist of 71 items, was developed by the researcher from May 4 to June 3, 1998. Results found are as follows : 1. The characteristics of subjects : The majority of subjects were aged 25-29 years(73.6%), college graduates(61.3%), jobless(68.9%), had no religion(38.7%), attended antenatal clinic regularly(91.5%), duration of pregnancy was 38-39 weeks(49.06%), pregnancy was planned(67%), and 42.5% have had some sort of prenatal education. 2. Over all level of educational needs was relatively high(Mn. 3.97) but the level of satisfaction was of average level(Mn. 3.01). Therefore, differences between the level of educational needs and satisfaction was significant(P=.0001). 3. The educational needs by category, the highest need was on birth preparation(Mn. 4.18), self care of the mother and infant care(Mn 4.10), health maintenance and promotion(Mn. 3.79), the lowest was care of discomfort(Mn 3.66). The level of satisfaction was higher on postpartum self care(Mn 3.15), but the lowest was infant care(Mn 2.84). Differences between educational needs and satisfaction by categories was significant(P=.0001). 4. Relationship between educational needs and levels of satisfaction among primigravida of different characteristics were as follows : 1) Educational needs of minor discomforts area were significantly high among age of 25-29(P=.0108), and over 35 years of age, was satisfied on preparation of labor & delivery, postpartum self care (P=.036, .02). 2) With regard to different level of education, middle school graduates had higher educational needs on discomfort care and postpartum self care(P=.0014, .014). College graduates have had higher educational needs on health maintenance(P=.008) and were more satisfied on preparation of birth(P=.0025) 3) With regard to whether pregnancy was planned or not, no difference was found on educational needs. But the levels of satisfaction was significantly higher in the group of planned pregnancy(discomfort care P=.0454, birth preparation P=.0256, postpartum self care P=.0092). 4) with regard to antenatal education, those who have had some sort of antenatal education, educational needs on birth preparation(P=.0345) was significantly high. And also the levels of satisfaction were significantly higher on every category(P=.0004-.0001). 5) No difference was found on educational needs or level of satisfaction by Job, religions, regularity of antenatal care and complication of pregnancy.