• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.194-202
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• 2018

Health impact assessment in South Korea is carried out within the framework of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). And, public health and hygiene items in EIA as an evaluation of health impact items were designed to calculate the emission level of hazardous air pollutants from specific development projects, and the exposure concentration at major sites, and to assess the health risk associated with these projects. But, the assessment of the receptor characteristics around the development project is limitedly considered. The purpose of this study is to propose the method of calculation of potential exposed population and the use of it for public health and hygiene items in EIA. The data for the calculation of potential exposed population in South Korea were identified. And the calculation algorithm based on them was proposed. After that, in a development of industrial complex, a case analysis was carried out assuming the release of hazardous air pollutants. This study suggested that the concept of population risk should be applied in risk assessment utilizing the potential exposed population and as a future study, a standard of assessment of health effects for population risk should be established. Finally, the possibility of using this study as a location-limiting tool for the development project was presented through the method of calculating the potential exposed population. It is meaningful that this study presented a method for performing risk assessment from the perspective of receptors around a development project.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.24
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• pp.10841-10846
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• 2015

Background: Smoking is a primary risk factor for cancer development. While most research has focused on smoking cigarettes, the increasing popularity of shisha or water pipe smoking has received less attention. This study measured the prevalence and risk factors for shisha and cigarette smoking and related knowledge. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in Shah Alam, Malaysia. Participants aged ${\geq}18years$ were selected from restaurants. Data regarding demographic variables, smoking patterns, and knowledge about shisha smoking were collected in local languages. Logistic regression was performed to assess risk factors. Results: Of 239 participants, 61.9 % were male and 99.2% revealed their smoking status. Some 57.4% were smokers: 50.7% only cigarettes, 5.9% only shisha and 42% both. Mean age of starting cigarette smoking was $17.5{\pm}2.4years$ and for shisha smoking $18.7{\pm}2.0years$. In a univariate model, male gender, age 33-52 years and monthly income > MYR 4,000 increased the risk and unemployment and being a student decreased the risk. In a multivariate model, male gender increased the risk of smoking, while being a student decreased the risk, adjusting for age and income. The perception of shisha being less harmful than cigarettes was present in 14.6% and 7.5% had the opinion that shisha is not harmful at all, while 21.7% said that it is less addictive than cigarettes, 39.7% said that shisha did not contain tar and nicotine, 34.3% said that it did not contain carbon monoxide and 24.3% thought that shisha did not cause health problems. Conclusions: Prevalence of shisha and cigarette smoking is high in the general population in Malaysia and knowledge about shisha smoking is relatively low. The findings of our study might have implications for understanding similarities and differences in incidence of shisha and cigarette smoking in other cultural/geographic regions.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7267-7270
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• 2014

Background: The incidence of upper aero-digestive tract (UADT) cancers, including C00-C14, C30-C32, C15 and C16, is increasing rapidly in Kamrup Urban District (KUD) of Assam, North East (NE) India. According to the NCRP (2013) report 37.6% of all cancers in both sexes are UADT cancers in the NE region, accounting for 53.3% in males and about 27.5% in females of the total cases. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted for patient information from the period of 2008-2011. Age-standardized or age-adjusted rates (ASR or AAR) (per 100,000 person-years) were calculated using the World Standard Population as proposed by Segi and modified by Doll et al. The registry population area at risk was estimated using the 1991 and 2001 census population by sex, as well as the growth rate during that interval using the difference distribution method. Results: There were 5,638 cases registered during the last four years of the study (2008-2011) accounting for 56.7% (3,198/5,638) of the total in males and 43.3% (2,440/5,638) in females. The male: female ratio was 1.31:1.00. The overall age adjusted rates (AAR) were 179.4 and 153.8 per 100 000 males and females respectively. Cancer of the oesophagus was most common in both sexes, with most appreciable gender variation for tongue and hypopharynx, presumably reflecting differential expsoure to risk factors.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.46-54
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• 2011

Objectives : The objective of this study is to assess the prevalence and risk factors of metabolic syndrome (MS) among inpatients with schizophrenia, and to compare with general population. Methods : Nine hundreds seventy inpatients were included to assess the prevalence of MS from two mental hospitals in Yong-in city. Assessment of MS was performed based on modified American Heart Association criteria with abdominal obesity threshold of 90cm for men, 85cm for women. Comparative analysis was performed using age- and gender matched sample from Korea Health and Nutritional Examination Survey III. For evaluating risk factors, analysis included 766 inpatients taking consistent medications at least for 30 days. Results : The prevalence of MS of inpatients with schizophrenia was 26.2%, in females it was 33.2%, compared to 20.2% in males(p < 0.001). Compared to general population, the prevalence of MS was significantly lower in male and higher in female patients. In terms of criteria prevalence, who met abdominal circumference criterion were more prevalent in patient group(p < 0.001). After multivariate analysis, female gender and old age remained as risk factors of MS. Conclusions : The prevalence of MS of inpatients with schizophrenia was 26.2% and significantly low compared to general population. Female gender and old age were risk factors of MS.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.1093-1100
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• 2013

Background: p53 gene variants i.e. 16 bp duplication in intron 3, Arg72Pro in exon 4 and G>A in intron 6 have been reported to modulate susceptibility to various malignancies. Therefore, the present study evaluated the role of these p53 polymorphisms in oral cancer susceptibility in a population from Gujarat, West India. Method: Genotype frequencies at the three p53 loci in 110 controls and 79 oral cancer cases were determined by the PCR-RFLP method. Results: Heterozygous individuals at exon 4 showed protection from developing oral cancer. Homozygous wild and heterozygous individuals at intron 3 and those heterozygous at exon 4 in combination appeared to be at lowered risk. Furthermore, carriers of the 16 bp duplication allele at intron 3, proline allele at exon 4 and G allele at intron 6 were protected from oral cancer development. Conclusion: p53 polymorphisms, especially Arg72Pro in exon 4 could significantly modify the risk of oral cancer development in Gujarat, West Indian population.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.183-191
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• 2013

Objectives: In Korea, the proportion of deaths due to alcohol is estimated at 8.9%, far exceeding the global estimate of 3.8%. Therefore, this study was performed to examine the factors associated with low-risk, moderate-risk, and high-risk drinking patterns in Korean adults and to identify target populations for prevention and control of alcohol-related diseases and deaths. Methods: We analyzed data from 230 715 Korean adults aged 19 years and older who participated in the 2009 Korean Community Health Survey. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to examine associations between socio-demographic and health-related factors and patterns of alcohol use. Results: A substantially larger proportion of men than women engaged in high risk (21.2% vs. 3.4%) and moderate-risk alcohol use (15.5% vs. 8.2%). In both sexes, moderate- and high-risk uses were associated with younger age, higher income, being currently employed, smoking, being overweight/obese, and good self-rated health. Conclusions: Given the large proportion of the population that is engaging in moderate- and high-risk drinking and given the social norms that support this behavior, public health policies and campaigns to reduce alcohol consumption targeting the entire population are indicated.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.24
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• pp.10683-10690
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• 2015

The big gap between efficacy of population level prevention and expectations due to heterogeneity and complexity of cancer etiologic factors calls for selective yet personalized interventions based on effective risk assessment. This paper documents our research protocol aimed at refining and validating a two-stage and web-based cancer risk assessment tool, from a tentative one in use by an ongoing project, capable of identifying individuals at elevated risk for one or more types of the 80% leading cancers in rural China with adequate sensitivity and specificity and featuring low cost, easy application and cultural and technical sensitivity for farmers and village doctors. The protocol adopted a modified population-based case control design using 72, 000 non-patients as controls, 2, 200 cancer patients as cases, and another 600 patients as cases for external validation. Factors taken into account comprised 8 domains including diet and nutrition, risk behaviors, family history, precancerous diseases, related medical procedures, exposure to environment hazards, mood and feelings, physical activities and anthropologic and biologic factors. Modeling stresses explored various methodologies like empirical analysis, logistic regression, neuro-network analysis, decision theory and both internal and external validation using concordance statistics, predictive values, etc..

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.90-99
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• 2023

Background: Quantitative risk assessments should be accompanied by uncertainty analyses of the risk models employed in the calculations. In this study, we aim to develop a computational code named SUMRAY for use in cancer risk projections from radiation exposure taking into account uncertainties. We also aim to make SUMRAY publicly available as a resource for further improvement of risk projection. Materials and Methods: SUMRAY has two versions of code written in R and Python. The risk models used in SUMRAY for all-solid-cancer mortality and incidence were those published in the Life Span Study of a cohort of the atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The confidence intervals associated with the evaluated risks were derived by propagating the statistical uncertainties in the risk model parameter estimates by the Monte Carlo method. Results and Discussion: SUMRAY was used to calculate the lifetime or time-integrated attributable risks of cancer under an exposure scenario (baseline rates, dose[s], age[s] at exposure, age at the end of follow-up, sex) specified by the user. The results were compared with those calculated using another well-known web-based tool, Radiation Risk Assessment Tool (RadRAT; National Institutes of Health), and showed a reasonable agreement within the estimated confidential interval. Compared with RadRAT, SUMRAY can be used for a wide range of applications, as it allows the risk projection with arbitrarily specified risk models and/or population reference data. Conclusion: The reliabilities of SUMRAY with the present risk-model parameters and their variance-covariance matrices were verified by comparing them with those of the other codes. The SUMRAY code is distributed to the public as an open-source code under the Massachusetts Institute of Technology license.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.83 no.2
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• pp.147-156
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• 2020

Background: Limited studies have been performed to assess readmission following hospitalization for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in an Asian population. We evaluated the rates, reasons, and risk factors for 30-day readmission following hospitalization for CAP in the general adult population of Korea. Methods: We performed a retrospective observational study of 1,021 patients with CAP hospitalized at Yeungnam University from March 2012 to February 2014. The primary end point was all-cause hospital readmission within 30 days following discharge after the initial hospitalization. Hospital readmission was classified as pneumonia-related or pneumonia-unrelated readmission. Results: During the study period, 862 patients who survived to hospital discharge were eligible for inclusion and among them 72 (8.4%) were rehospitalized within 30 days. In the multivariable analysis, pneumonia-related readmission was associated with para/hemiplegia, malignancy, pneumonia severity index class ≥4 and clinical instability ≥1 at hospital discharge. Comorbidities such as chronic lung disease and chronic kidney disease, treatment failure, and decompensation of comorbidities were associated with the pneumonia-unrelated 30-day readmission rate. Conclusion: Rehospitalizations within 30 days following discharge were frequent among patients with CAP. The risk factors for pneumonia-related and -unrelated readmission were different. Aspiration prevention, discharge at the optimal time, and close monitoring of comorbidities may reduce the frequency of readmission among patients with CAP.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.43-48
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• 2010

Animal disease surveillance system, defined as the continuous investigation of a given population to detect the occurrence of disease or infection for control purposes, has been key roles to assess the health status of an animal population and, more recently, in international trade of animal and animal products with regard to risk assessment. Especially, for a system aiming to determine whether or not a disease is present in a population sensitivity of the system should be maintained high enough not to miss an infected animal. Therefore, when planning the implementation of surveillance system a number of factors that affecting surveillance sensitivity should be taken into account. Of these parameters sample size is of important, and different approaches are used to calculate sample size, usually depending on the objective of surveillance systems. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity of the current national serological surveillance programs for four selected bovine diseases assuming a specified sampling plan, to examine factors affecting the probability of detection, and to provide sample sizes required for achieving surveillance goal of detecting at least an infection in a given population. Our results showed that, for example, detecting low level of prevalence (0.2% for bovine tuberculosis) requires selection of all animals per typical Korean cattle farm (n = 17), and thus risk-based target surveillance for high risk groups can be an alternative strategy to increase sensitivity while not increasing overall sampling efforts. The minimum sample size required for detecting at least one positive animal was sharply increased as the disease prevalence is low. More importantly, high reliability of prevalence estimation was expected with increased sampling fraction even when zero-infected animal was identified. The effect of sample size is also discussed in terms of the maximum prevalence when zero-infected animals were identified and on the probability of failure to detect an infection. We suggest that for many serological surveillance systems, diagnostic performance of the testing method, sample size, prevalence, population size, and statistical confidence need to be considered to correctly interpret results of the system.