• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.308-316
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the perception and practice of hospital infection control of nursing staff in long-term care hospitals by the level of supplementation of nurses. Methods: The participants were 212 nurses and nurse assistants in 13 long-term care hospitals in a metropolitan city and the data were gathered by self-reported questionnaires during August 2011 and analyzed by SPSS/WIN program. Results: The beds per a nurse were 15, and the proportion of nurses among nursing staff in long-term care hospitals was about 33%. In general, the level of infection control in practice was lower than that of perception. The highest perception and practice domain was 'Management of disinfection/contamination', and the lower level domains were 'Personal hygiene' and 'Hand washing' There were statistically significant differences in the hospital infection control of perception and practice depending on age, education, career in long-term care hospital, job position, the quantity of beds, nurse, and nurse assistant, beds per a nurse and proportion of nurses in hospitals. Conclusion: According to these results, the systematic and continual education on hospital infection control of the nursing staff in long-term hospitals should be carried out. In addition, the policy to add more nurses into long-term care hospitals must be implemented.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.28-40
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of the study >was to examine the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders(WMSDs) and to identify the relationship between work-related psychosocial and acculturative factors and WMSDs among Korean-Chinese workers living in Korea. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 195 Korean-Chinese workers who have worked full-time for the past 6 months. A structured questionnaire, including measures for musculoskeletal symptoms, physical demand, work-related psychosocial(job demand, job control, interpersonal conflict), acculturative (acculturation strategy and acculturative stress), and personal factors, was used. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were conducted using the SPSS WIN 17.0. Results: The prevalence of WMSDs was 64.1%. In comparison to Korean workers, job demand of this group was lower while both interpersonal conflict and lack of job control were higher among them. Integration was the most commonly used acculturation strategy and mean scores of acculturative stress were below the median. Acculturative stress was positively correlated with integration and assimilation while negatively correlated with separation and marginalization. Interpersonal conflict and integration appeared to be related to WMSDs among male and female Korean-Chinese workers, respectively. Conclusion: The WMSD interventions need to be planned in consideration of different influences of work-related psychosocial and acculturative factors on WMSDs by gender.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.843-852
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• 2017

Recently, as the WHO IARC has classified radio frequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic (group 2B) to humans, there is increasing concern about the health effects of overexposure from electromagnetic fields. Especially, the workers are exposed to higher level of electromagnetic radiation than the general public. As a result, in Europe, the protection guidelines for the worker are developed and the exposure of the worker is strictly controlled. In this paper, the EU directive, standards and guidelines of the EMF exposure for the worker were reviewed, and the exposure assessment of EMF was performed for the arc welding. Based on that, we propose a way to introduce a national policy to protect the workers from EMF exposure in working environment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.34-42
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• 2009

There are many accident causes related to even an accident. As well four(4) stepped causes of one accident at construction sites are analyzed in the study. First, eleven(11) cause factors are set up at each step such as policy level, management, indirect, direct level which are discussed and determined by field experts with 15year experience or more. Therefore, one direct cause occurred in construction site can be connected to the previous cause than in direct and management, and policy problem of previous management. These questionnaires results are analyzed with three different methods such as weighing level by Delphi technique, correlation analysis, critical pass method. Three different methods show their characteristic to see which subcontract work is more dangerous or not. Subcontract or at a construction site can be use the above three different cases as they need at their site in order to make more effective countermeasures.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.36-44
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• 2007

Objectives : There have been few studies examining the differences in health care utilization across social classes during the last year of life. Therefore, in this study we analyzed the quantitative and qualitative differences in health care utilization among cancer patients across educational classes in their last year of life, and derived from it implications for policy. Methods : To evaluate health care utilization by cancer patients in the last year of life, Death certificate data from 2004 were merged with National Health Insurance data (n=60,088). In order to use educational level as a social class index, we selected the individuals aged 40 and over as study subjects (n=57,484). We analyzed the differences in the medical expenditures, admission days, and rates of admission experience across educational classes descriptively. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between medical expenditures and independent variables such as sex, age, education class, site of death and type of cancer. Results : The upper educational class spent much more on medical expenditures in the last one year of life, particularly during the last month of life, than the lower educational class did. The ratio of monthly medical expenditures per capita between the college class and no education class was 2.5 in the last 6-12 months of life, but the ratio was 1.6 in the last 1 month. Also, the lower the educational class, the higher the proportion of medical expenditures during the last one month of life, compared to total medical expenditures in the last one year of life. The college educational class had a much higher rate of admission experiences in tertiary hospitals within Seoul than the other education classes did. Conclusions : This study shows that the lower educational classes had qualitative and quantitative disadvantages in utilizing health care services for cancer in the last year of life.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.505-511
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• 2007

Objectives : While cervical cancer is one of the leading cancers among women worldwide, there are a number of effective early detection tests available. However, the participation rates in cervical cancer screening among Korean women remain low. After the nationwide efforts in 1988 and thereafter to encourage participation in cervical cancer screening, few studies have investigated the effects of socioeconomic inequality on participation in cervical cancer screening. The purpose of this study was to investigate 1) the level of socioeconomic disparities in receiving cervical cancer screening by age group and 2) if there was an improvement in reducing these disparities between 1995 and 2001. Methods : Using data from the Korean National Health Status, Health Behavior and Belief Survey in 1995, the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from 1998 and 2001 (sample sizes of 2,297, 3,738, and 3,283), age-standardized participation rates were calculated according to education level, equivalized household income, and job status. Odds ratios and the relative inequality index (RII) were also calculated after controlling for age. Results : Women with lower education levels were less likely to attend the screening test, and the disparities by education level were most pronounced among women aged 60 years and older. The RIIs among women 60 years and older were 3.64, 4.46, and 8.64 in 1995, 1998, and 2001, respectively. Higher rates of participation were reported among those in the highest income category, which was more notable among the middle aged women (40s and 50s). An inconsistent trend in the rate of participation in cervical cancer screening by occupational level was found. Conclusions : Indicators of socioeconomic position seem to have varying impacts on the inequalities in the rates of participation in cervical cancer screening according to age group. These results demonstrate the need for more aggressive and age-based interventions and policy programs to eliminate the remaining inequalities.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.464-474
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• 2022

Objectives: We introduced the cohort studies included in the Korean Cohort Consortium (KCC), focusing on large-scale cohort studies established in Korea with a prolonged follow-up period. Moreover, we also provided projections of the follow-up and estimates of the sample size that would be necessary for big-data analyses based on pooling established cohort studies, including population-based genomic studies. Methods: We mainly focused on the characteristics of individual cohort studies from the KCC. We developed "PROFAN", a Shiny application for projecting the follow-up period to achieve a certain number of cases when pooling established cohort studies. As examples, we projected the follow-up periods for 5000 cases of gastric cancer, 2500 cases of prostate and breast cancer, and 500 cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The sample sizes for sequencing-based analyses based on a 1:1 case-control study were also calculated. Results: The KCC consisted of 8 individual cohort studies, of which 3 were community-based and 5 were health screening-based cohorts. The population-based cohort studies were mainly organized by Korean government agencies and research institutes. The projected follow-up period was at least 10 years to achieve 5000 cases based on a cohort of 0.5 million participants. The mean of the minimum to maximum sample sizes for performing sequencing analyses was 5917-72 102. Conclusions: We propose an approach to establish a large-scale consortium based on the standardization and harmonization of existing cohort studies to obtain adequate statistical power with a sufficient sample size to analyze high-risk groups or rare cancer subtypes.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.11 no.9
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• pp.239-246
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of family resilience on the positive attitudes toward a children with disabilities of non-disabled siblings. For this purpose, a survey data was collected from 110 siblings with disabled children. The general characteristics of the parent questionnaire, and the general characteristics of a child with a disability, non-disability sibling's general characteristics, be receptive attitude, consisted of family resilience, and the data were analyzed by frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, t test, ANOVA and regression analysis by SPSS 18.0. Structural equation was used for black AMOS18. The results of the measurement analysis were summarized as follows: 1. family resilience showed positive correlation with positive attitudes toward a children with disabilities of non-disabled siblings. 2. as a result of regression analysis for find out influence of family resilience on the positive attitude of non-disabled siblings, family resilience was statistically significant influence factors, which 50%, 50% explanatory power. In conclusion, these results reinforce the important of considering family context as a contributor to the positive attitudes toward a children with disabilities of non-disabled siblings, so it could be suggested that family resilience needs to be improve.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.242-252
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• 2022

Objectives: Firefighters and police officers are exposed to various occupational hazards. No studies in Korea have investigated the occurrence of cancer by type of cancer for the two occupations. This study aims to investigate the risk of occurrences associated with types of cancers in firefighters and police officers. Methods: Utilizing National Health Insurance(NHI) Claims data from 2006-2015, the study included 8,871,468 general workers, 25,001 firefighters, and 102,274 police officers. Using general workers as a control group, we calculated the standardized incidence ratios(SIR) by types of cancer for firefighters and police officers. After calculating the SIR for all subjects, the SIR was calculated by stratifying according to gender. Results: SIR of colon cancer 1.38(95% CI, 1.11-1.69), cancer of the liver and intrahepatic bile ducts 1.27(95% CI, 1.04-1.54), and 1.88(95% CI, 1.28-2.65) bladder cancer were higher firefighters than general workers. SIR of Lip, oral cavity, and pharynx 1.26(95% CI, 1.07-1.47), Stomach 1.14(95% CI, 1.06-1.23), colon 1.33(95% CI, 1.21-1.46), liver and intrahepatic bile ducts 1.21(95% CI, 1.10-1.32), pancreas 1.24(95% CI, 1.02-1.49), other skin 1.60(95% CI, 1.26-2.00), bladder 1.27(95% CI, 1.04-1.54), other urinary tract 1.46(95% CI, 1.27-1.68), other parts of central nervous system 1.68(95% CI, 1.10-2.46) were higher police officers than general workers. Conclusions: Both firefighters and police officers are exposed to various cancer occurrence risks, necessitating the development of occupational medical protection measures to reduce risk exposure factors.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.1989-1994
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• 2012

Background and Purpose: An analysis of the current nuclear medicine (NM) status and future demand in Turkey in line with the international benchmarks was conducted to establish a comprehensive baseline reference. Methods: Data from all NM centers on major equipment and manpower in Turkey were collected through a survey and cross-checked with the primary research and governmental data. Data regarding manpower currently working were obtained from the relevant academic centers and occupational societies. Results: The current numbers of NM laboratories, NM specialists, gamma cameras, PET/CT scanners, radioiodine treatment units for thyroid cancer are 217, 474, 287, 75 and 39, respectively. There was personnel and equipment need underestimated in the field compared to developed countries. Equipment insufficiency was more significant in the Ministry of Health (MoH) hospitals. These gaps should be eliminated with strategic planning of equipment and NM laboratories. Currently, the number of the PET/CT devices is at the level of the developed countries. The number of specialists in the field should reach the expected goal in 2023. By 2023, Turkey will need around 820 NM specialists, 498 gamma cameras and 99 PET/CT devices. In addition, further studies should be made regarding other related staff, particularly for health physicians, radiopharmacists and NM technicians. Conclusion: There is an insufficiency of personnel and equipment in Turkey's NM field. Comprehensive strategic planning is required to allocate limited resources and the purchase of the equipment and employment policies should be structured as part of "National Special Feature Requiring Health Service Plan".