• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.546-555
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• 1999

Objectives : To determine the prevalence, pattern. and out-of-pocket expenditure of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) utilization in Korean adult population. Methods : We conducted a representative telephone survey of 2,042 persons aged 18 or older. Data about any health problem, details of their use of medical doctors(MDs) offices/hospitals/pharmacies services and CAM during the preceding 12 months were collected with structured questionnaire. Results : The utilization rate of CAM among Korean adults was 29% in one year. A total of 231 kinds of CAM was identified from this survey. Annual out-of-pocket expenditure associated with CAM use in 1998 amounted to ${\xi}{\S}1.88$ billion and was comparable to 40.8% of out-of-pocket expenditure paid for MDs offices/hospitals/pharmacies services. Among those(N=424) who paid for both MDs offices/hospitals/pharmacies services an d CAM, 35.8% paid more for CAM. CAM gave more satisfaction than western medicine to those who had experience of both types of therapy. About half of CAM users were willing to recommend CAM to others. Disclosure rate to physician among CAM users was not high(40.6%). Conclusion : CAM became a popular source of health care in Korea, Korean spent a substantial amount of out-of-pocket money on CAM without any public control. Because CAM use is likely to be increased rapidly through lay referral system, health policy makers and health professionals should pay more attention to CAM for making appropriate utilization of CAM.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.61-73
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• 2017

In the Health Insurance System of South Korea, patients must pay high out-of-pocket expenditures for the medical service by uninsured medical benefits. So, the government implemented a policy to relieve the burdens of patients by lowering the uninsured selective-medical treatment costs in August, 2014. This study investigate the policy effects of selective-medical treatment(SMT) on the medical service's usage and cost with severe lung cancer patients. The patients are selected in one university hospital(with 1,000 beds), between one year before and after policy implementation. The study find that the usages of outpatient(visit number) and inpatient (length of stay) are not changed by statistically significant. It means that there are no effect in medical service behavior between before and after the policy. In medical expenses, outpatients decreased in their out-of-pocket payments by policy, but total medical expenses and insured medical benefits is not changed, because of the increased another medical insurance fees. For inpatient, although the SMT costs are statistically significant decrease, the total out-of-pocket payments and insured medical expenses are not changed statistically significant. Those findings show that the political decision making about SMT made lowing the selective-medical expenses, but total insured cost and patient's out-of pocket money were not changed by the new increased medical insurance fees. It means that the policy about SMT gave no particular benefit for patients. So, it need another benefit plans to lower the medical expenses of severe lung cancer patients with a high medical service usage and much total medical expense.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.193-202
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• 1998

The purpose of this study was to understand clothing condition of elderly men focusing on somatotype variation and satisfaction with ready-to-wear and to provide basic data in designing ready-to-wrar for the elderly men. The questionnaire method was used and one-to-one interviews were held for the elderly residents in Seoul, Deajon, Jonju, and Yeosu areas. The total of 275 questionnaires (from 148 elderly men in the 60's, 99 in the 70's and 28 in the 80's) were collected and used for statistics. SAS package was used for the statistics and the statistics were based on frequency, X2-test, ANOVA, Duncan's multifle range test. The results of the study were as follows; 1) Height (p< .05), weight (p< .001) and Rohrer index (p< .05) decreased significantly with ageing 2) The somatotypes of 75.6% were changed and the 70's 8t the 80's showed significantly (p< .05) higher changing rate compared to the 60's and more changes took place significantly (p< .001) with ageing. 3) The most preferred out wear was suit & tie and next was jumper or shirt. 4) For the mode of getting suit, the highest number 55.3%) purchased ready-to-wear, next (32.0%) was tailored and the least (12.7%) neither purchased nor tailored. The percentage of buying ready-to-wear significantly (p< .01) decreased with ageing. The main reason for getting tailor-made was not well fitting of ready-to-wear (20.7% out of 32.0%). And for the mode of getting suit, there was significant differance with income (p< .001) and pocket money (p< .01). 5) The most important factors in suit and shirt werefirst, size (fitness) and second, comfort in movement. 6) For the wearing feeling of suit, 55.3% showed discomfort. There was significant difference according to the age (p< .05) and pocket money (p< .05). The Discomfort increased with ageing and less pocket money. 7) 62.4% answered it uneasy to Pick out well fitting If comfortable suit. This showed their dissatisfaction with ready-to-wear. 8) As for the items of not well fitting, 64.4% answered in jacket, 60.8% in trousers, 46.0% in shirt. The above result shows that elderly men's somatotype changes as they age, suit is found uncomfortable and it's not easy for elders to pick out comfortable ready-to-wear. So, they seem to have a certain dissatisfaction in ready to wear. Therefore, there is a need for reorganization of size and developing pattern design according to measurement of elderly men.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.374-378
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• 2019

After the announcement of Moon Jae-in Government's plan (Moon's Care) for Benefit Expansion in National Health Insurance in August 2017, it is necessary to monitor the effects of the policy, especially household out-of-pocket payments (OOP). This paper aims to observe the current status and trend of OOP in Korea. Current health expenditure (CHE) was 144.4 trillion won in 2018, which accounts for 8.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) increased 9.7% from the previous year. Although GDP's share of CHE has been close to the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, the public fund's share was 59.8% of the total in 2018, which was lower than the OECD average of 73.5%. OOP's share was 32.9% in 2018, which decreased from 37.4% in 2008. The share of OOP of non-covered services was 20.0% in 2018, which decreased from 22.9% in 2008. The share of cost-sharing with third-party payers was 12.9% in 2018, which decreased from 14.5% in 2008. The OOP of non-covered services was significantly decreased in hospital and inpatient curative care, but the OOP of non-covered services was significantly increased in the medical clinic. The effect of Moon's Care was not showed in OOP through the results of 2017 and 2018, but further monitoring is needed because the Moon's Care is progressing and the observational period is short.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.181-192
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• 2008

Objective: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is common especially among patients with osteoarthritis The aim of this study was to investigate the utilization rate and expenditures of patients who use CAM. Method: Two hundred seventy four patients with osteoarthritis were interviewed by a telephone survey. A structured questionnaire about sociodemographic features and type, cost, satisfaction and reason of CAM utilization was used Results: Among 274 patients with osteoarthritis, 251 patients(91.6%) had used at least one type of CAM during six months. There was a significant difference in sex (female), age (70 years), medical security (insurance), educational level between the user and non-user of CAM. Hyperthermia was the most use. The average cost for CAM utilization was 120 thousands won/person during six months and there was no difference in sociodemographic features among the out-of-pocket cost of users. The scores of satisfaction for CAM use were ranged between 60-70. Conclusions: CAM became a popular source of health care because of elderly and lay referral system. And Korean spent a substantial amount of out-of-pocket money on CAM without benefit. Health care system and professionals should pay more attention to CAM, make a evidence for CAM.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.314-323
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• 2022

This study is a descriptive survey research conducted on second and third year nursing students located in G city from October 10 to 13, 2018, in order to assess the effects of life stress and eating habits among nursing students on eating behavior. The results of the study showed that there were differences in the subjects' eating behavior in terms of the amount of pocket money spent on food (F=5.83, p=.003), dietary pattern (t=4.14, p<.001), and unbalanced diet (F=9.27, p<.001). Eating behavior had a significant correlation with life stress (r=-.16, p=.001) and eating habits (r=.50, p<.001). Factors that affected eating behavior included eating habits (𝛽=.42, p<.001), food expenses taken out of pocket money (𝛽=-.14, p=.007), unbalanced diet(𝛽=-.14, p=.007), and life stress (𝛽=-.13, p=.010), and the explanatory power of these factors was 30.6% (F=26.63, p<.001). Based on the results of this study, it is necessary to find a way to promote the practice of having a healthy diet.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.639-647
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• 2002

Purpose: Sexuality is important for the quality of life in old men, but this issue has been less explored due to social prejudice. Therefore, this study was carried out to describe a correlation between sex life and depression perceived by old men. Method: The subjects were 370 old men who were aged over 60 and lived in a city and three provinces. Instruments used in this study were Perception of Sex life Scale 01 items) and Depression Scale (20 items). The data was collected from December 2001 to February 2002 by written responses of the subjects to the questionnaire as well as one-to-one interview by research assistants for subjects. Statistical analysis for the data was done using SPSS and the level of significance was tested at 95% of confidence interval. Result: 1) Mean age of the subjects was $69.35{\pm}5.70$. A total of 253 subjects (68.6%) had spouse, and 191 of the subjects (52.3%) had sexual intercourse as frequently as 3 times per month. The average score for perception of sex life was $21.25{\pm}5.06$, out of the total score of 44, and that of depression was $35.08{\pm}9.29$ out of the total score of 80. 2) Perception of sex life was statistically significant by age, education, disease, medication, living arrangement, marital status, presence of girlfriend, pattern of inter-coitus, pocket money age of last coitus, subjective health state, and relationship (P<0.05). 3) Depression was statistically significant by age, education, disease. medication, living arrangement, marital status, satisfaction for marriage life, pattern of inter-coitus, feeling for change of sex life, pocket money, subjective health state, and relationship (P<0.05). 4) The correlation between perception of sex life and depression was negative, showing that depression tended to decrease as perception of sex life increases. Conclusion: It is concluded that depression in old men is closely related to their sex life. Positive sex life may have an important effect on the quality of life in old men.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.297-306
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• 2004

Purpose: This study was done to identify the relationship between social support and morale in the elderly. Method: A structured questionnaire was carried out from April, 2003 to June, 2003 on 203 elderly. The data was analyzed with a SPSS program for descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficients, t-test, ANOVA, and stepwise multiple regression was done Result: The level of social support was moderate, and family support was the highest score. In types of support, appraisal support was the highest score. The level of morale was slightly lower than moderate, and the score of social support showed significantly positive correlation with morale. In general characteristics, several variables were significantly related to social support and morale. The most powerful predictor of morale was material support by family and the variance was 19.6%. A combination of material support by family, emotional support by relatives, level of satisfaction with pocket money, perceived health, level of intimacy with one's children, and material support by friends account for 43.3% of the variance in morale of the elderly. Conclusion: To increase the morale of the elderly, it is necessary to consolidate material support by family and relatives.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.267-271
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• 2017

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the introduction of National Health Insurance (NHI) which has contributed to improving public health and accessibility. This article aims to show the trends of main indicators during the last 40 years. NHI has achieved rapid expansion of target population (1977-1989). The percentage of population covered increased from 8.8% in 1977 to 94% in 1990. The average number of visit days per person was 0.75 in 1977 but significantly increased to 31.11 in 2015. In 2015, NHI revenues were 52.4 trillion won and expenditures were 48.2 trillion won which is 9.5 times and 9.6 times higher than in 1995. NHI achieved universal coverage in short period of time and has contributed to improving the healthcare status. However, there still remain problems including low-benefit coverage and high out of pocket money. Therefore, the effort to reform these problems is needed.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.342-357
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• 2004

A descriptive correlation study was done to provide a basic data for comprehensive nursing care by analyzing the relationship between spiritual wellbeing, hope and perceived health status of the rural elderly. 130 respondents who lived at their homes and nursing homes for elders in D county. Kyungbuk province were selected and their age was over 60 years old. Paloutzian and Ellison(1982)'s spiritual wellbeing scale. Nowotny(l989)'s hope scale and Northern Illinois University's health self rating scale was used. From September 2nd to September 30th, 2002, ready made questionnaires were handed out by researcher and two well trained nurse research assistants. to those who can fill it out and for those who cannot fill out the questionnaires alone, the researcher and assistants read it and finished by interview. This study used Pearson's correlation coefficient for the hypothetic test and the average point and standard deviation of spiritual wellbeing, hope, and perceived health status were checked. To find out the difference between spiritual wellbeing, hope, and perceived health status by general characteristics ANOVA and Tukey test were used. The results are as follows : 1. The mean score for spiritual wellbeing of the rural elders was $49.94(\pm5.62)$ in a possible range of 20-80. The mean score of religious wellbeing was $25.20(\pm3.91)$ and that of existential wellbeing was $24.74(\pm2.83)$ in a possible range of 10-40. The average point of religious wellbeing was $2.52(\pm0.39)$ points and existential wellbeing was $2.47(\pm0.28)$ points to 4 point full marks. 2. The mean score for hope was $67.68(\pm10.92)$ in a possible range of 29-116. The average point of hope was $2.33(\pm0.38)$ points to 4 point full marks. 3. The mean score for perceived health status was $9.95(\pm2.66)$ in a possible range of 4-14. The average point of perceived health status was $2.15(\pm0.72)$ point to 4 point full marks. 4. In testing the hypothesis concerning the relationship between spiritual wellbeing and hope, there was a statistically positive correlation(r=0.621. p=0.000). 5. In testing the hypothesis concerning the relationship between hope and perceived health status, there was a statistically positive correlation(r=0.305, p=0.000). 6. There were significant differences in spiritual wellbeing according to age(F=5.60, p=0.000), religion(F=11.61. p=0.000), family status(F=2.86, p=0.040) and average monthly pocket money(F=4.32, p=0.015). 7. There were significant differences in hope according to age(F=16.49, p=0.000), religion (F=3.56, p=0.009), educational level(F=8.94, p=0.000), present occupation(t=-3.13, p=0.002), family status(F=5.90, p=0.001) and average monthly pocket money(F=3.41. p=0.036). 8. There were significant differences in perceived health status according to present occupation(t=-2.16, p=0.033) average monthly pocket money(F=4.11, p=0.019). From the above results it can be concluded that: There was a positive correlation between spiritual wellbeing and hope, hope and perceived health status. There was no positive correlation between spiritual wellbeing and perceived health status. For futher study, adequate spiritual wellbeing scale and hope scale for rural elders should be developed and, age and religion factors has to be reconsidered. When the nurse implicate the nursing intervention which can be promote the spiritual wellbeing and hope, rural elder's spiritual wellbeing and hope can be improved and at the same time, their perceived health status also can be improved.