• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.18-29
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• 2000

Back injury is frequent in industry workers and is a common cause of productivity loss. It has been reported that the insured of industrial accident insurance tend to stay in hospital longer than that of other types of insurance. The purpose of this study was to identify factors affecting the length of hospital stay for the treatment of back injury in the workers under industrial accident insurance. The results of this study help insurers develop reasonable industrial accident insurance policy for back injury claims and prevention strategies of work-related back injury. A total of 2,949 patients whose industrial accident insurance claim has been approved for the treatment of work-related back injury from January to December 1999 were included in this study. Relationship between the length of hospital stay and characteristics of patient, work place, back injury, and hospital were assessed using ANOVA, t-test, simple linear regression and multiple resgression. The major findings of this study are as follows : 1. The average length of hospital stay(LOS) was 91.82 days, respectively. 2. Characteristics of Patient LOS of male patients was longer than that of female patients, there was positive correlation between age and LOS and between average wage and LOS. Working period was negatively correlated with LOS. Distance from resident to hospital was positively correlated with LOS and LOS was significantly different dependign on type of duty. 3. Characteristics of Work Place LOS was significantly different depending on types of industry and geographical region of work place. Size of work place was positively correlated with LOS. 4. Characteristics of Back Injury Occupational back pain required shorter LOS compared with back injury due to electric shock. Number of concomitant illnesses and severity of disability were positively correlated with LOS. 5. Characteristics of Hospital Patients treated in community hospitals required significantly longer LOS. Treatment in hospitals with rehabilitation program required decreased LOS. This was more prominent as number of physicians specialized in rehabilitation. 6. Multiple regression analysis revealed that distance form resident to hospital, geographical region of work place, size of work place, number of concomitant illnesses, severity of disability, and type of hospital were factors affecting LOS.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.291-300
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• 2012

Objectives: We aimed to estimate the annual socioeconomic burden of coronary heart disease (CHD) in Korea in 2005, using the National Health Insurance (NHI) claims data. Methods: A prevalence-based, top-down, cost-of-treatment method was used to assess the direct and indirect costs of CHD (International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision codes of I20-I25), angina pectoris (I20), and myocardial infarction (MI, I21-I23) from a societal perspective. Results: Estimated national spending on CHD in 2005 was $2.52 billion. The majority of the spending was attributable to medical costs (53.3%), followed by productivity loss due to morbidity and premature death (33.6%), transportation (8.1%), and informal caregiver costs (4.9%). While medical cost was the predominant cost attribute in treating angina (74.3% of the total cost), premature death was the largest cost attribute for patients with MI (66.9%). Annual per-capita cost of treating MI, excluding premature death cost, was $3183, which is about 2 times higher than the cost for angina ($1556). Conclusions: The total insurance-covered medical cost ($1.13 billion) of CHD accounted for approximately 6.02% of the total annual NHI expenditure. These findings suggest that the current burden of CHD on society is tremendous and that more effective prevention strategies are required in Korea.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.43-49
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• 2010

Objectives : Among young generation, the prevalence of spinal disorders is known to be increasing. This study aimed to analyze the clinical data of spinal disorder in young ages in Korea. Methods : Number of patient, kinds of disorder, and medical cost were analyzed for patients(7~18 years) underwent spinal disorders using computerized database of Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service(HIRAS) from 2004 to 2008. We included dorsopathies as spinal disorder according to Korean Classification of Diseases(KCD) and excluded spinal disorder caused by trauma. We compared the data of traditional Korean medicine treatment with that of western medical care. Results : 4.8% of the children and adolescents had medical treatment with spinal disorder in 2008. The claim number and medical cost for both traditional Korean medicine and western medicine treatment are increasing 1.8 and 1.3 times respectively over 5 years. Total medical spent of western clinic was 2.1 times than those of traditional Korean clinic. The most common spinal disorder was dorsalgia(31.8%) and scoliosis(13.5%) in western clinics while back pain(29.0%) and neck pain(10.8%) in oriental clinic. Conclusions : We first reported the clinical tendency of spinal disorder in Korean children adolescents from 2004 to 2008. This study will support the development of a strategy for traditional Korean medicine-based prevention or treatment of spinal disorders in young generation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.339-347
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• 2013

Yaksun, a medicinal diet, has been traditionally prepared and applied (based on theories in oriental medicine) for the modulation of disease symptoms and signs. However, restaurants that serve and claim Yaksun mainly focus on stamina foods. A consistent definition of Yaksun has not been provided, which can confuse the public interpretation of Yaksun. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perception of Yaksun in Korean adults living in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Chungbuk regions. Among the participants (M=55, F=168, 25y), only 10.4% understood the definition of Yaksun (mainly through the broadcast media). The frequency of Yaksun consumed when eating out was 2~3 times per month in 50.2% of participants. The main reason for choosing a Yaksun menu (46.3% of participants) when eating out was for health. The mean satisfaction score of Yaksun was $3.5{\pm}0.8$ on the five point Likert scale. Participants highly agreed ($3.8{\pm}0.8$) that Yaksun is composed of nutritious foods combined with oriental medicinal herbs for the treatment of disease, which was significantly higher in groups with learning experience on Yaksun (p<0.05). Interestingly, participants showed neutral to the description, that a diet without oriental medicinal herbs is not Yaksun ($3.1{\pm}1.0$), which was significantly different between genders (p<0.05). Men recognized more than women that Yaksun should be based on oriental medical theory (p<0.05) and should be prepared for the prevention or treatment of diseases (p<0.05). In conclusion, the concept and terminology of Yaksun need to be defined and publicized in modern diet.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.215-219
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• 2014

In Korean Cosmetic Act, four uses of functional cosmetics are recognized: skin whitening, anti-wrinkle, UV protection or suntan. Cosmeceuticals, one of the functional cosmetics, have been specifically developed for medical and cosmetic benefits. However, the uses of cosmeceuticals in patent applications are not limited to those of functional cosmetics, and the number is increasing with variety of medical use claims such as anti-inflammatory, prevention of hair loss, or obesity in cosmeceutical patent applications. Since some of the cosmeceutical use claims are not clearly distinguished from medical use claims in pharmaceuticals, there has been a controversy over the extent of granting patents regarding the medical use of cosmeceuticals. In this article, we have investigated the range of medical uses in patented claims of functional cosmetics, summarized examiners' views and discussed the examination practice of cosmetic-related inventions in the United States, Europe, and Japan.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.633-643
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• 2005

The purpose of study was to investigate nutritional supplements intake of elementary school students aged 7 to 12 years in Incheon The subjects were 631 mothers of schoolchildren and cross sectional study was conducted by a self-administered questionnaire. Nutritional supplements were taken by $42.3\%$ of the surveyed elementary school students. Among nutritional supplements they toot vitamin and mineral accounted for $47.3\%$, herbs and chinese medicine $39.3\%$ and dietary supplements $10.7\%.$ Among reasons for taking nutritional supplements, help for growth, health promotion, supply for deficient nutrients and prevention or treatment of disease were in order. As for the reasons for not taking nutritional supplements, most of the subjects answered that meals are enough in getting nutrients for children Mother of elementary school students usually Dew the health claim of the nutritional supplements before taking the Also they usually got the information of the nutritional supplements 1mm doctors or pharmacist and bought the nutritional supplements at drugstores, oriental medicine clinic and on-line shop in order. As for the effect of nutritional supplements, $43.7\%$ of the subjeces answered as 'effective' and $81.7\%$ of the mother of elementary school students who took nutritional supplements answered positively that they would continue to have their children take it Among the reasons they would continue to have their children take it help for growth ranked the first. therefore, these results my provide basic informations on nutritional supplements used by the elementary school students in Incheon.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.409-417
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• 2017

The study is concerned with doing research on the plan to prevent the dispute occurring between contract parties regarding the additional cost generated when the construction period is shortened during construction work. After the review of the claim cases and the judgment cases of the court regarding the additional cost caused by the shortened construction period, the representative problem is the incomplete regulations on calculating the additional cost. In the 1st stage of the results of the research on the problem, the procedure handling the additional cost is presented, and the process of planning and approving the shortening of the construction period is gone through in the stage of the procedure to prevent the dispute on the additional cost between contract parties. In the 2nd stage, the plan on enacting and revising the regulations on removing the incomplete problems of the current regulations relating to the calculation of the additional cost. The basis for the advanced contract management is provided by resolving the incomplete problems of the current regulations relating to the shortening of the construction period with the prevention of a dispute and the resultant loss.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.51-60
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• 2008

Objectives : We examined the effect of sociodemographic factors, cancer, and psychiatric disorders on suicide by gender and age-specific patterns in South Korea. Methods : The study is a case-control study. Claim data was obtained from the national health insurance database and national death registration database. The number of people who committed suicide was 11,523, which was matched with a control group consisting of ten times as many people at 115,230 selected from the national health insurance and medical aids beneficiaries. The medical utilization of the case group was one year before death and that of the control group was from July 1,2003 to June 30, 2004. Four variables-address, economic status, presence of a psychiatric disease, and cancer-were used in multiple logistic regression analyses. Results : Living in cities or in rural areas showed a greater risk for suicide than living in a metropolitan city. Low economic status, the presence of a psychiatric disorder, and cancer were also statistically meaningful risk factors for suicide. The three major psychiatric diseases, schizophrenia, alcohol abuse, and bipolar disorder, were meaningful in all age groups, but the scale of the odds ratio differed by the age group. Only the psychiatric disorder variable was meaningful in the adolescent group, whereas a psychiatric disorder and economic status were meaningful for the young adult group, and all variables were meaningful for the middle-aged group. A psychiatric disorder and cancer were meaningful in the elderly group, economic status was meaningful for male subjects, and address was meaningful for female subjects. Conclusions : Factors such as living in city or rural areas, low economic status, the presence of a psychiatric disorder, and cancer were statistically meaningful risk factors in suicide. These factors also differed by age group. Therefore, policymakers should establish policies for suicide prevention that are relevant for each age group.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.8 no.1 s.35
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• pp.78-86
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• 2007

Top priority to manage construction projects is given to the planning and scheduling in order to keep the project duration, which is one of the most important factors in construction management. However, recently most of public construction projects especially for civil projects are delays and preventive research, many efforts were made concerning construction delays and preventive management methods. But analysis of delay causation, which is a main key to solve the problems is not done, yet. Therefore, in this research causation delays are analyzed by characteristics of construction projects, which are type of projects, type of contracts, project participants, and general condition. As a result of the analysis, delay causation are proved to be different by characteristics of the projects. The research results will be used for prevention of time extension and dispute resolution.

• Psychiatry investigation
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.1064-1070
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• 2018

Objective Several cell line studies have demonstrated thioridazine's anticancer, multidrug resistance-reversing and apoptosis-inducing properties in various tumors. We conducted this nationwide population-based study to investigate the association between thioridazine use and cancer risk among adult patients with schizophrenia. Methods Based on the Psychiatric Inpatient Medical Claim of the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan, a total of 185,689 insured psychiatric patients during 2000 to 2005 were identified. After excluding patients with prior history of schizophrenia, only 42,273 newly diagnosed patients were included. Among them, 1,631 patients ever receiving thioridazine for more than 30 days within 6 months were selected and paired with 6,256 randomly selected non-thioridazine controls. These patients were traced till 2012/12/31 to see if they have any malignancy. Results The incidence rates of hypertension and cerebrovascular disease were higher among cases than among matched controls. The incidence of hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease and chronic pulmonary disease did not differ between the two groups. By using Cox proportional hazard model for cancer incidence, the crude hazard ratio was significantly higher in age, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cerebrovascular disease, coronary artery disease and chronic pulmornary disease. However, after adjusting for other covariates, only age and hypertension remained significant. Thioridazine use in adult patients with schizophrenia had no significant association with cancer. Conclusion Despite our finding that thioridazine use had no prevention in cancer in adult patients with schizophrenia. Based on the biological activity, thioridazine is a potential anticancer drug and further investigation in human with cancer is warranted.