• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.5121-5126
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• 2016

Objective: To investigate the impact of chemotherapy on quality of life (QoL) among breast cancer patients and to evaluate the relationship with age, cancer stage and presence of any comorbidity. Methods: A prospective study was conducted among breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy in Hospital Melaka from 1st January 2014 to 31st July 2014. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) was given to patients to fill in prior chemotherapy (baseline) and after the third cycle of chemotherapy. Socio-demographic and clinical data were collected and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Result: Respondents were 32 female patients [mean age (SD): 49.7(9.93) years]. They reported a significant lower global health status (P < 0.01) and significant higher symptoms of nausea and vomiting (P < 0.01), loss of appetite (P = 0.028) and diarrhea (P = 0.026) after the third cycle of chemotherapy as compared to baseline. Compare to, this study showed significant better emotional functioning (P < 0.01) and social functioning (P < 0.01) than the EORTC QLQ-C30 Reference Values 2008 for breast cancer cases. Under symptom scales higher scores were noted for appetite loss (P = 0.017), nausea and vomiting (P < 0.01). Age, stage and comorbidity had no clear associations with global health status in our patients (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Chemotherapy did reduce the QoL of breast cancer patients. Management of chemotherapy-induced loss of appetite, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting should be improved for a better outcome.

• Korean Public Health Research
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.25-34
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• 2018

Objective : This study aimed to examine the association Self-Rated Health(hereafter SRH) and Activities of Daily Living(hereafter ADL), Independent Activities of Daily Living(hereafter IADL) among Korean elderly. Methods : Using nationally representative cross sectional studies called 2014 Survey of living conditions and welfare needs of Korean elder persons. We used SRH as an independent variable, disabilities of ADL and IADL as dependent variables. Logistic regression was implemented and potential confounders such as socio-economic status, demographic characteristics and others were adjusted. Results : It was revealed that people who were female(than male) and 75 or more years old(than less than 75 years old) were shown to have poor SRH and disabilities of both ADL and IADL. In logistic regression model, poor SRH was associated with ADL and IADL disabilities. Especially, their association was more remarkable among male than among female. It can be understood that socio-economic contexts affect quality of life among elderly and SRH can be differently perceived by gender. Conclusions : Our notable findings showed that gender perspective is needed to understand SRH and daily living among elderly.

• 한국노년학
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.503-518
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• 2007

The intergenerational support exchange depends on elder's objective conditions and social context, and its effects are diverse. I argue that not only capacity such as health condition and economic status but also relational properties among parent(s) and adult children are important to determine their reciprocal support exchange. Seoul area is selected, and 730 elders are interviewed to be analyzed quantitatively. The survey data are collected based on the structured questionnaire. Findings are partly supportive to the arguments presented above. The relational properties, especially coresidence, the number of adult children, and contact frequency independently influence reciprocal support. The better health conditions of parent(s) are, the more support to adult children is given. The economic status is related to financial support exchange only. The types of intergenerational support exchange include dependant, balanced, and generalized reciprocity. The most important determinant of the reciprocity is the elders' health condition.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.133-148
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• 1989

This study attempts of analyze empirically the living status of the elderly in Korea by finding out the problems of it in the family and by clarifying the influences of the family environmental variables and the values on the adjustment of the aged. To carryout the aim of this study, the causes and the patterns of the problems for the aged had been found out through the review of literature. Based on them the questionnaire was prepared including the questions of the values, family environmental vriables as well as the degree of satisfaction of thier liver and the extent of life interchange. The former variables were taken as independent and the latter were taken as dependent variables, so that the relationship between the two variables could be exemplified. The 400 aged over 60 living in Seoul and the other cities were selected through the purposive sampling and interviewed. The answers of the 376 respondents, 94% of the sample, were analyzed for this study. The following results have been found out through the various statistical analysis such as frequency distribution, chi-square test, pearson's correlation, analysis of variance and cluster analysis. At first, the results from the examination of the frequency distribution regarding the living status of the aged are; I) sixteen percent of the respondents living with their married offspring were receiving economical support, though they pointed out the problems of the extended family are the inconveniences with their children (60%) and simpleness (20%) of their livers. It seems that the aged in Korea are poor and have negative opinion on the relationship with their offspring even if they live in the same house. Secondly, it has been found out that the family environmental variables, especially such as sex, occupation, residence, education, level, living ability and the family type, play and important role not only on the degree of satisfaction of their liver but also on the extent of interchange of their lives. However, the variables such as religion and whether the spouse is alive or not do not play and important role. Thirdly, the reported main reasons of their delightness were healthy life (1.87%), the well-being of their offspring (2.08%), the spouse's long life (3.38%), religious activity (5.05%), the hobby activity (4.31%) and the participation in the social activity (5.05%). While, they mainly concern about the illness (1.98%), offspring (2.00%), econmic difficulties (3.39%), inharmonious home (3.81%) and the despicable treatment (3.81%). The respondents wer classified into two groups, they are dependent and independent, using cluster analysis. Health, social activity, offspiring, religion, couple's long life among the factors which lead them to be delighted were turned out to be statistically signhificant at 0.01 significance level between the two groups. As far as their worrisome matters are concerned, health and economic difficulties were significantly different between the two groups. Fourthly, regarding the life interchange, it has been proved that there is a statistically significant differences betwwen the two groups in the economic and the emotional satisfaction, help for ordinary life, status in the family, subjective and objective relationship with offspring, but not in economic dependency and the activity status. Fifthly, it has been noted that there is a high correlation between the degree of life's satisfaction and the extent of life interchange. On the basis of the results mentioned above, it could be concluded taht; i) The majority of the aged in Korea are not economically active, and thus they live with their married offspring even of they have a negative opinion on the subjective relationship with them. This can be pointed out as the main problem of the aged and thus it needs to be studied further. ii) the environmental variables such as age, sex education level, family type and occuption (which can not be changed by their effrot) turned out to give an important effect on the extent of the life interchange among the aged. iii) The respondents who are identified as independent group have a higher degree of life satisfaction and family status than the group identified as defendent. Thus, it can be inferred that it is possible for them to adjust their life by making an effort to modify themselves. iv) The high correlation between the extent of life interchange and the degree of life satisfaction indicates that the elderly themselves can adjust in order to obtain the higher degree of life satisfaction. Therefore, the following suggestions are derived from this study. First of all, the aged should try to be psychologically independent. Second, they need to control themselves in order to achieve self-assurance. Third, the community have to prepare a program of self-development for the aged. Fourth, the social welfare policy that can solve the problem of illness and poverty of the elderly should be introduced, so that their minimum requirements can be satisfied.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.177-192
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• 2011

The arguments exist that private health insurance(PHI) policy holders tend to use the health care services more than non-policy holders due to their little out-of-pocket spending, resulting in the adverse effects on the finances of National Health Insurance. This study aims to increase the objective understanding of the issue and to draw a direction of further research, by reviewing the articles, reports and statistics which examined the effects of purchasing PHI policies on health care utilization. Significant differences in healthcare utilization, except for the very partial increase of utilization in outpatient settings, have been not found. The similar trends of the results have existed in a few previous studies which tried to control the endogeneity of medical use and health insurance with latent variables which affect the decision on medical use and health insurance. However, we can not exclude the potential change of healthcare utilization patterns because the portion of the insured of indemnity PHI is becoming rapidly larger in the market. For further research, we should try to obtain the objective information of subjects' past medical history, health status, health related behavior, and income affecting purchase of PHI and utilization of healthcare services. And the efforts of controlling the endogeneity of medical use and health insurance with latent variables which affect the decision on medical use and health insurance, are very considerable.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.65 no.7
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• pp.75-85
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to examine ways to vitalize cause related marketing (CRM) by proposing character T-shirts The campaign will employ Neo-Pop art, a genre popular with both companies and consumers. Study results are as follows: First, campaign T-shirts on the issue of human alienation resulting from digitalization can be utilized to generate financial profit that can be returned to society. This can lead to the acts of exchange for profit generation, public image improvemen of companies, and enhancement of their external status. As for the non-financial aspect, the campaign could lead to increased awareness of social issues and present opportunities to take actions of improvement. Second, the financial objective of character T-shirts dealing with environmental issue of sustainability involves brand distribution network support and revitalization of promotion such as shopping basket of love and eco-friendly store matching program for eco-friendly campaign. As for the non-financial aspect, it can help raise consumers' awareness of cause related activities such as crowd funding and fundraising and prepare opportunities of direct participation. Third, the financial objective of character T-shirts dealing with natural disaster relief activities on the global level involves brand recognition level increase and enhancement of positive association of companies through emergency relief and articles support as a result of drastic increases in casualties from nature disasters. As for the non-financial aspect, it can induce people's participation in relief activities and lead to the establishment of crisis response procedures. The information on the development of pop-art character T-shirts proposed in this study is expected to be used as basic information on cause marketing of fashion companies in the future, while providing inspiration to related fashion design.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.1-15
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• 2020

Objectives : To investigate aggravating and mitigating factors of atopic dermatitis and to utilize the outcome in treatment planning. Methods : The research has a cross-sectional study design. Patients' SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) Index, demographic, physical characteristics, social history, serologic index and skin related instrumental measurements were analyzed with correlation and regression analysis method. Results : 48 patients in total were enrolled in the study. Skin Surface Hydration (SSH) and sex were found to be statistically significant aggravating and mitigating factors. As SSH increased, Total SCORAD (tSCORAD) and Objective SCORAD (oSCORAD) increased as well. As SSH decreased, tSCORAD and oSCORAD decreased as well. Female patient had a higher probability of suffering from severer subjective symptoms than that of male. Age, body mass index (BMI), alcohol consumption and smoking, transepidermal water loss (TEWL), IgE, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IFN-γ were found not to be statistically significant. There was no correlation between Subjective SCORAD (sSCORAD) and oSCORAD neither with Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI). Conclusions : Increasing cutaneous moisture should be included in the treatment plan of atopic dermatitis. More emphasis should be put on alleviating subjective discomforts of female patients than that of male. Establishing separate strategies of managing objective eczema status and subjective discomforts respectively should be considered.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.90-95
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• 2017

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the physical therapists' perception of the use of gait measures, the frequency of the gait measures used, and also to identify the barriers that limit the use of these assessment tools. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Physical therapists from the Seoul, Gyeonggi area from March to July 2016 were included in the study. Over the course of 18 weeks, a cross-sectional study was conducted with a self-report questionnaire. A total of 700 questionnaires were distributed and 350 questionnaires (50%) were collected, however with the exclusion of 140 questionnaires due to non-consent, a total of 210 questionnaires (30%) were analysed. Results: Out of the 10 standardized assessment tools, the therapists showed the highest perception for the timed up and go test (TUG [n=153, 72.9%]) and they also had high perception for the 10 meters walk test (10MWT [n=149, 71.0%]), and 6-minute walk test (6MWT [n=123, 58.6%]). The respondents answered that the TUG (n=116, 55.2%), 10MWT (n=100, 47.6%), and 6MWT (n=51, 24.3%) was used the most often. On the contrary, only four (1.9%) therapists have used the Chedoke-McMaster stroke assessment and the Rivermead Mobility Index. The lack of time was considered as the most important barrier to the use of assessment tools in clinical practice. Conclusions: Through this study, it has been shown that the domestic physical therapists used the TUG and the 10MWT mainly due to high recognition and evaluation status; however, the lack of time was the greatest impediment to the clinical application of the gait assessment tools.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.99-113
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• 2002

For this study a sample of 205 people, 66 males and 139 females, over 65 years of age, residing in C-gu of S-si and utilizing senior centers, were selected, The objective of the study was to provide basic data for health promotion program development provided by health centers. A questionnaire was used to collect date on general characteristics, health status, social health status and utilization rate for health services. The instruments used in this study were the Lawton scale, to measure daily routine function, the MMSE-K developed by Folstein and modified to fit the Korea situation, for mental health status, and the CES-Dtool developed by Radloff, for emotional health status. the SPSS Window program was used to calculate percentages. Tests of significance were done using t-test and ANOVA. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify variables influencing the use of health services. The results are as follows : Of those utilizing senior citizen centers, 40.9% of males and 17.3% of the female thought they were healthy. The average score for IADL was 7.4. The daily routine of female respondents consisted of buying household articles and drugs, and other IADLs such as riding the bus or subway alone. These resulted in a higher score compared to males. For emotional health, 7.6% of the males reported depression compared to 21.6% of the females. For mental health, 48.5% of the males and 28.8% of the females were found to be in the group suspicious for dementia. On social health, 57.6% of the males and 62.6% of the females reported no intimate human relations. Of those older people who had close human relations, 52.5% of the males indicated a friend as the closest person and 53.8% of the females, their children. On use of health services, there was a significantly higher need for mobile medical care services treatment for those with lower education levels and status of window/widower. There was a significantly higher need for health exmination services for those with lower levels of exercise, greater satisfaction with sleep, higher levels of oral health care, and higher social contacts. In conclusion, there is a need to provide varied programs for the promotion of health, along with parallel resolution of social, psychological and economic issues. It is recommended that health services for elderly people provided by the health centers be implemented with full recognition of these characteristics and differences.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.91-99
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• 2017

Objectives: As in many low-income and middle-income countries, out-of-pocket (OOP) payments by patients or their families are a key healthcare financing mechanism in Bangladesh that leads to economic burdens for households. The objective of this study was to identify whether and to what extent socioeconomic, demographic, and behavioral factors of the population had an impact on OOP expenditures in Bangladesh. Methods: A total of 12 400 patients who had paid to receive any type of healthcare services within the previous 30 days were analyzed from the Bangladesh Household Income and Expenditure Survey data, 2010. We employed regression analysis for identify factors influencing OOP health expenditures using the ordinary least square method. Results: The mean total OOP healthcare expenditures was US dollar (USD) 27.66; while, the cost of medicines (USD 16.98) was the highest cost driver (61% of total OOP healthcare expenditure). In addition, this study identified age, sex, marital status, place of residence, and family wealth as significant factors associated with higher OOP healthcare expenditures. In contrary, unemployment and not receiving financial social benefits were inversely associated with OOP expenditures. Conclusions: The findings of this study can help decision-makers by clarifying the determinants of OOP, discussing the mechanisms driving these determinants, and there by underscoring the need to develop policy options for building stronger financial protection mechanisms. The government should consider devoting more resources to providing free or subsidized care. In parallel with government action, the development of other prudential and sustainable risk-pooling mechanisms may help attract enthusiastic subscribers to community-based health insurance schemes.