• Title/Summary/Keyword: problems of the elderly

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Current Status of Sericulture and Insect Industry to Respond to Human Survival Crisis (인류의 생존 위기 대응을 위한 양잠과 곤충 산업의 현황)

  • A-Young, Kim;Kee-Young, Kim;Hee Jung, Choi;Hyun Woo, Park;Young Ho, Koh
    • Korean journal of applied entomology
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    • v.61 no.4
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    • pp.605-614
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    • 2022
  • Two major problems currently threaten human survival on Earth: climate change and the rapid aging of the population in developed countries. Climate change is a result of the increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere due to the increase in the use of fossil fuels owing to economic and transportation development. The rapid increase in the age of the population is a result of the rise in life expectancy due to the development of biomedical science and technology and the improvement of personal hygiene in developed countries. To avoid irreversible global climate change, it is necessary to quickly transition from the current fossil fuel-based economy to a zero-carbon renewable energy-based economy that does not emit GHGs. To achieve this goal, the dairy and livestock industry, which generates the most GHGs in the agricultural sector, must transition to using low-carbon emission production methods while simultaneously increasing consumers' preference for low-carbon diets. Although 77% of currently available arable land globally is used to produce livestock feed, only 37% and 18% of the proteins and calories that humans consume come from dairy and livestock farming and industry. Therefore, using edible insects as a protein source represents a good alternative, as it generates less GHG and reduces water consumption and breeding space while ensuring a higher feed conversion rate than that of livestock. Additionally, utilizing the functionality of medicinal insects, such as silkworms, which have been proven to have certain health enhancement effects, it is possible to develop functional foods that can prevent or delay the onset of currently incurable degenerative diseases that occur more frequently in the elderly. Insects are among the first animals to have appeared on Earth, and regardless of whether humans survive, they will continue to adapt, evolve, and thrive. Therefore, the use of various edible and medicinal insects, including silkworms, in industry will provide an important foundation for human survival and prosperity on Earth in the near future by resolving the current two major problems.

Does the Gut Microbiota Regulate a Cognitive Function? (장내미생물과 인지기능은 서로 연관되어 있는가?)

  • Choi, Jeonghyun;Jin, Yunho;Kim, Joo-Heon;Hong, Yonggeun
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.29 no.6
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    • pp.747-753
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    • 2019
  • Cognitive decline is characterized by reduced long-/short-term memory and attention span, and increased depression and anxiety. Such decline is associated with various degenerative brain disorders, especially Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). The increases in elderly populations suffering from cognitive decline create social problems and impose economic burdens, and also pose safety threats; all of these problems have been extensively researched over the past several decades. Possible causes of cognitive decline include metabolic and hormone imbalance, infection, medication abuse, and neuronal changes associated with aging. However, no treatment for cognitive decline is available. In neurodegenerative diseases, changes in the gut microbiota and gut metabolites can alter molecular expression and neurobehavioral symptoms. Changes in the gut microbiota affect memory loss in AD via the downregulation of NMDA receptor expression and increased glutamate levels. Furthermore, the use of probiotics resulted in neurological improvement in an AD model. PD and gut microbiota dysbiosis are linked directly. This interrelationship affected the development of constipation, a secondary symptom in PD. In a PD model, the administration of probiotics prevented neuron death by increasing butyrate levels. Dysfunction of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) has been identified in AD and PD. Increased BBB permeability is also associated with gut microbiota dysbiosis, which led to the destruction of microtubules via systemic inflammation. Notably, metabolites of the gut microbiota may trigger either the development or attenuation of neurodegenerative disease. Here, we discuss the correlation between cognitive decline and the gut microbiota.

Survey on Quality of Hospice.Palliative Care Programs in Korea (한국 호스피스.완화의료기관 실태 조사)

  • Yun, Young-Ho;Choi, Eun-Sook;Lee, In-Jeong;Rhee, Young-Sun;Lee, Jung-Suk;You, Chang-Hoon;Kim, Hyun-Sook;Paek, Yu-Jin
    • Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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    • v.5 no.1
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    • pp.31-42
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    • 2002
  • Purpose : The purpose of this study was to evaluate the present status of hospice palliative care programs in Korea as a basic database for standardization of hospice palliative care. Method : The data was collected from July to October, 2001. The instrument used for this study was the questionnaires which was consisted of the general characteristics of organization, recipient of service, manpower, contents of service, financial conditions and facilities. Sixty-four hospice palliative care programs answered the questionnaires, confirmed by telephone. Results : They were 40 hospital-based hospice palliative care programs and 24 nonmedical hospice palliative care programs. 11 Hospital-based hospice palliative programs have isolated unit or hospital affiliated free standing hospice. 6 Non-hospital hospice palliative programs have a free standing hospice. Major subjects of hospice palliative program were terminal cancer patients but patients with non-terminal illness were also included. Only 24 of 64 hospice palliative programs had all of the essential professionals : physicians, nurses, social workers, and clergies. Home hospice palliative care programs have a referral system in hospital based (89.7%) and nonmedical programs (73.7%). 24hr hospice are were provided in 26 hospital-based (65.0%) and 9nonmedical programs (37.5%). There were rooms for family in half of hospital-based programs. 73.9% of hospice palliative care programs have financial problems. 62.0% of Hospice palliative care programs need financial support from government. Conclusion : 64 Hospice palliative care programs provided hospice palliative services but had many problems in manpower, quality of care and facility. For improving the quality of terminal patients' life and promoting the cost effectiveness of health care resources, it is necessary to consider the standardization and institutionalization of hospice palliative care.

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Radiotherapy in Medically Inoperable Early Stage Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (내과적 문제로 수술이 불가능한 조기 비소세포성 폐암에서의 방사선치료)

  • Kim, Bo-Kyoung;Park, Charn-Il
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.257-264
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    • 2000
  • Purpose: For early stage non-small-cell lung cancer, surgical resection is the treatment of choice. But when the patients are not able to tolerate it because of medical problem and when refuse surgery, radiation therapy is considered an acceptable alternative. We report on the treatment results and the effect of achieving local control of primary tumors on survival end points, and analyze factors that may influence survival and local control. Materials and Method : We reviewed the medical records of 32 patients with medically inoperable non-small cell lung cancer treated at our institution from June, 1987 through June, 1997. All patients had a pathologic diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer and were not candidate for surgical resection because of either patients refusal (4), old age (2), lung problem (21), chest wail invasion (3) and heart problems (3). In 8 patients, there were more than 2 problems. The median age of the patients was 68 years (ranging from 60 to 86 years). Histologic cell type included souamous (24), adenocarcinoma (6) and unclassiried squamous cell (2). The clinical stages of the patients were 71 in 5, 72 in 25, 73 in 2 patients. Initial tumor size was 3.0 cm in 11, between 3.0 cm and 5.0 cm in 13 and more than 5.0 cm in 8 patients. Ail patients had taken chest x-rays, chest CT, abdomen USG and bone scan. Radiotherapy was delivered using 6 MV or 10 MV linear accelerators. The doses of primary tumor were the ranging from 54.0 Gy to 68.8 Gy (median; 61.2 Gy). The duration of treatment was from 37 days through 64 days (median; 0.5 days) and there was no treatment interruption except 1 patient due to poor general status. In 12 patients, concomitant boost technique was used. There were no neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatments such as surgery or chemotherapy. The period of follow-up was ranging from 2 months through 93 months (median; 23 months). Survival was measured from the date radiation therapy was initiated. Results : The overall survival rate was 44.6$\%$ at 2 years and 24.5$\%$ at 5 years, with the median survival time of 23 months. of the 25 deaths, 7 patients died of intercurrent illness, and cause-specific survival rate was 61.0$\%$ at 2 years and 33.5$\%$ at 5 years. The disease-free survival rate was 38.9$\%$ at 2 years and 28.3$\%$ at 5 years. The local-relapse-free survival rate was 35.1$\%$, 28.1$\%$, respectively. On univariate analysis, tumor size was significant variable of overall survival (p=0.0015, 95$\%$ C.1.; 1.4814-5.2815), disease-free survival (P=0.0022, 95$\%$ C.1., 1.4707-5.7780) and local-relapse-free survival (p=0.0015, 95$\%$ C.1., 1.2910- 4.1197). 7 stage was significant variable of overall survival (p=0.0395, 95$\%$ C.1.; 1.1084-55.9112) and had borderline significance on disease-free survival (p=0.0649, 95$\%$ C.1.; 0.8888-50.7123) and local-relapse-free survival (p=0.0582, 95$\%$ C,1.; 0.9342-52.7755). On multivariate analysis, tumor size had borderline significance on overall survival (p=0.6919, 955 C.1., 0.9610-5.1277) and local-relapse-free survival ( p=0.0585, 95$\%$ C.1.; 0.9720-4.9657). Tumor size was also significant variable of disease-free survival (p=0.0317, 95% C.1.; 1.1028-8.4968). Conclusion : Radical radiotherapy is an effective treatment for small (71 or f3 cm) tumors and can be offered as alternative to surgery in elderly or infirmed patients. But when the size of tumor is larger than 5 cm, there were few long-term survivors treated with radiotherapy alone. The use of hypefractionated radiotherapy, endobronchial boost, radisensitizer and conformal or IMRT should be consider to improve the local control rate and disease-specific survival rate.

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A Study on the Effectiveness of Care of Patients with Alzheimer s Disease According to Residence Arrangement and Types of Services (치매노인의 거주형태 및 서비스유형에 따른 간호관리의 효과분석)

  • 홍여신;박현애;조남옥
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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    • v.26 no.4
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    • pp.768-781
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    • 1996
  • The problem of care of patients and families with Alzheimer's disease has become a conscious raising social policy issue in Korea. The government of the Republic of Korea has become cognizant of the situation and has begun searching for ways to remedy it. Thus, there is a need for a comprehensive under-standing of the situation in which patients and their families are struggling and the enormous problems of care. With a realization of the urgent need, this study was done to investigate the situation and the care needs of families with patients with Alzheimer's Disease, and to compare the effectiveness of services utilized by the families in terms of cost and effects on patient's conditions and on family live. The Subjects for the study were 29 families with hospitalized patients, 25 families utilizing hospital outpatient clinics, 14 families utilizing day care facilities, and 16 families with homebound patients. A total of 84 families were interviewed by four trained interviewers using structured and semistructured questionnaires. The data produced from these interviews included : the patient's stage of Alzheimer's disease, patient's bizarre behavior, hours spent on patient care per day, family burden and quality of life, direct and indirect costs encountered in the care of patients, and the families' evaluation of the effectiveness of the services received. The data were analyzed to determine the relationships between family charactersistics, patient's conditions and services utilization. The effectiveness of each of the service entities was assessed through families evaluation and hoped for service and comparisons were made between services in terms of the cost-effectiveness ratios. After initial comparison of cost-effectiveness ratios, further analysis was done to compare between groups for incremental effectiveness for each incremental unit of cost to determine the most cost-effective service entities. The findings of the study are as fellows : 1. The choice of living arrangement and the types of services are a function of the stage of Alzheimer's condition and the economic status of the family. 2. Comparision of the cost of care showed that most expenses were encountered in by families with hospitalization, families using outpatient services, and families using day care services in that order. The least expense was involved in the care of homebound patients. The economic burden felt by families was in the same order as expenses. 3. The average number of hours spent on daily patient care was 9.9 hours for the outpatient clinic users, 9.7 hours for homebound patients, and 5.4 hours for day care users. 4. There were significant differences in the patient's conditions (CDRL), bizarre behaviors and the families's burden by living arrangement and /or types of service. However, no significant difference was found between groups in the family's quality of life. 5. The families rated the services of day care center as most effective for the care of the patients and families, except for a few families who had experienced some improvement in the patient's conditions. The outpatient clinic users expressed psychological comforts mainly in that the patient was being taken care of. For those hospitalized patients, families expressed the comfort of being relieved of the burden of care and that the patient is being professionally cared for. Form the analysis of the costs, hours of patient care, patient's bizarre behaviors, family's quality of life and burdens, and family's evaluation of services, it is concluded that up to the mid stage of Alzheimer's condition, the utilization of day care center services is found to be the most cost-effective, and toward the end stage of the Alzheimer's disease, it is hoped that there will be a establishment of long term or short term in-patient facilities for the protection of patients and preservation of the integrity of families for less cost. Thus. it was concluded that the family centered system of care is the most effective for Korea with systematic support systems developed for the care of patients and their families according to the needs of families as the patient's condition deteriorates.

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A Study on the Effects of Risk Factors and Protection Factors of Care givers on Job Change Intention: Focused on the Mediation Effect of Occupational Adaptation (요양보호사의 위험요인과 보호요인이 이직의도에 미치는 영향 연구: 직업적응의 매개효과 중심으로)

  • Park, Su Jan;Kim, Youn Jae
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.13 no.2
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    • pp.159-175
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    • 2018
  • The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that could overcome the crisis and adversity of the nursing care provider through understanding the effect of job adaptation on the turnover intention of the nursing care provider and to contribute to the various problems of the nursing care provider in the long term. In order to confirm this as an empirical research task, risk factors and protection factors, general characteristics of the survey subjects, job adaptation and turnover intention were selected, and the risk factors and protective factors of caregivers' As a mediator. So Seoul. The results of the questionnaire survey were as follows: 291 caregivers in the elderly medical welfare facilities in Gyeonggi area. First, as the relationship between the risk factors and protective factors of occupational caregivers and occupational adaptation were more severe, the higher the maladjustment of the workplace culture, the more the job satisfaction and organizational commitment were adversely affected. The emotional support, The higher the information support, the more satisfied and satisfied the job. Second, the relationship between the risk factors of the caregiver and the protective factors and the turnover intention, the higher the conflict of caregivers, the more unstable the workplace, the more difficult it is to adapt to work culture, Respectively. Finally, as a result of verifying the mediating effect of occupational adaptation on the relationship between risk factors and protective factors and turnover intention of caregivers, job satisfaction, which is a sub-factor of job adaptation, It is shown that they play mediating roles only in the relationship between stress and turnover intention, and do not play a mediating role in the relationship between protective factor self - efficacy and social support and turnover intention. In other words, if caregivers feel satisfaction about their job, they can be less stressed on their jobs, improve their self-efficacy, and have a positive attitude toward social support. Also, it was found that the more the caregiver 's immersion into the organization, the less job stress and turnover intention decreased, but the self - efficacy and social support perception were not influenced. Based on this, the director of the facility should strive to stabilize the operation of the facility and provide high-quality services by seeking ways to improve conflict resolution and adaptation to the workplace culture so that nursing care workers can adapt to their work. And it is required to develop active management strategies and institutional support for improving job satisfaction and organizational commitment of caregivers.

A Comparative Study on Factors Affecting Satisfaction by Travel Purpose for Urban Demand Response Transport Service: Focusing on Sejong Shucle (도심형 수요응답 교통서비스의 통행목적별 만족도 영향요인 비교연구: 세종특별자치시 셔클(Shucle)을 중심으로)

  • Wonchul Kim;Woo Jin Han;Juntae Park
    • The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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    • v.23 no.2
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    • pp.132-141
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    • 2024
  • In this study, the differences in user satisfaction and the variables influencing the satisfaction with demand response transport (DRT) by travel purpose were compared. The purpose of DRT travel was divided into commuting/school and shopping/leisure travel. A survey conducted on 'Shucle' users in Sejong City was used for the analysis and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis was applied to minimize the overfitting problems of the multilinear model. The results of the analysis confirmed the possibility that the introduction of the DRT service could eliminate the blind spot in the existing public transportation, reduce the use of private cars, encourage low-carbon and public transportation revitalization policies, and provide optimal transportation services to people who exhibit intermittent travel behaviors (e.g., elderly people, housewives, etc.). In addition, factors such as the waiting time after calling a DRT, travel time after boarding the DRT, convenience of using the DRT app, punctuality of expected departure/arrival time, and location of pickup and drop-off points were the common factors that positively influenced the satisfaction of users of the DRT services during their commuting/school and shopping/leisure travel. Meanwhile, the method of transfer to other transport modes was found to affect satisfaction only in the case of commuting/school travel, but not in the case of shopping/leisure travel. To activate the DRT service, it is necessary to consider the five influencing factors analyzed above. In addition, the differentiating factors between commuting/school and shopping/leisure travel were also identified. In the case of commuting/school travel, people value time and consider it to be important, so it is necessary to promote the convenience of transfer to other transport modes to reduce the total travel time. Regarding shopping/leisure travel, it is necessary to consider ways to create a facility that allows users to easily and conveniently designate the location of the pickup and drop-off point.

A Preliminary Study for Evaluating on Demonstration Project of Community-based Home Health Care Nursing Services by the Seoul Nurses Association (지역사회중심 가정간호 시범사업 성과평가를 위한 기초연구- 서울시 간호사회 주관 -)

  • 유호신;이소우;문희자;황나미;박성애;박정숙;최행지;정기순;한상애
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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    • v.30 no.6
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    • pp.1488-1502
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    • 2000
  • This study, based on current home nursing services, aims at promoting measures for establishing a community-based home nursing system derived from the pilot home nursing demonstration project conducted by the Seoul Nurses Association. The study was based on an analysis of home nursing records from march 1993 to December 1999. The following is a summary analysis, based on individual characteristics of the patients, the organization, which recommended the service for their patients and personnel services. 1. The service has been used by many elderly people 60years of age or older(66.4%). and married people(60.9%). The average number of visits by service personnel for patients of city government was 23.5. This is 2.5 times as many visits by general patients. General patients(20.2%) had only one visit from service personnel, while 65.5% of patients of city government had 10 or more visits. Particularly, for government recommended patients, 72.7% of the patients were recommended by nurses, while only 21.9% where referred to the services by doctors. The main focus of a home nursing service was to maintain present health status (53.4%), and hospice(11.6%). Also to increase hospital-based home nursing services focused on recovery(55.9%) and maintain present health conditions (19.0%). 2. For general patients, 42.0% of patients were suffering from problems related to CVA, 11.3% from high blood pressure, and for patients referred from city, 21.2% from skeletal muscular disease. Results of home nursing services 29.4% of patients were able to recover or maintain their health status, but 48.9% of the patients died. Another main point of community-based home nursing services is medication(6.7%), other basic nursing services(6.1%), special treatment, instructions on how to use medical devices(5.9%), change of physical posture(4.6%), and training on changing physical positions(4.7%). As mentioned above there were some differences between the characteristics of patients who used the pilot home nursing service conducted by the Seoul Nurses Association and those hospital-based service users. The results are believed to be useful to support a community-based home nursing service model. Particularly, patients under medical supervision and patients recommended by government-run health clinics show a higher frequency and longer use of home nursing services compared to general patients or hospital-based home nursing service users. According to the study, nurses accounted for a large number of recommendations for home nursing services. Many patients with CVA, high blood pressure, skeletal muscular disease and bedsores used community-based home nursing services, while others used the service for minor treatments or maintaining their current health status. Based on the study, the researchers make several suggestions to establish a community- based home nursing service system. First, different ways of setting up a community-based home nursing system have to be mapped out based on the evaluation of the pilot home nursing service conducted by the Seoul Nurses Association. Secondly, a new, community-based, home health care nursing service model, and reimbursement payment system have to be developed. This is based on the outcome of the analysis, and implemented policy. Accordingly, efforts are needed to develop a community- based home nursing system with an intermediary role to promote the visiting nursing services of government-run health centers.

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The Present State of Food Serviee by the Covered Wagon Bars (포장마차 영업실태조사(營業實態調査))

  • Yoon, Eun-Young;Choi, Kyung-Suk;Park, Young-Sook;Mo, Su-Mi
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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    • v.3 no.2
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    • pp.187-195
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    • 1988
  • In accordance with the rapidly growing number of street food service without a registration, a study was undertaken to determine the present state of food service by the covered wagon bar, through an investigation in Jamwondong, around the south gate market and Kangnam subway station, in Seoul, between July 25th and August 25th of 1987. The survey was comprised of three parts: 1) foodservice operation in covered wagon, 2) personal and food handling hygiene, 3) food behaviors of customers. A total of 54 covered wagon bars, consisting of 51.8% mobile bars and 48.2% non-mobile bars, operating in the above three locations, were investigated. Survey results show non-mobile covered wagon bars to be more popular among persons in their thrities and fourties than among teens or the elderly; also among males than females; among company employees and college students than others. Seventy five percent of the mobile covered wagon bars served snack type foods and others served wine and foods for wine, in contrast to hundred percent of the non-mobile covered wagon bars served wine and foods for wine. The survey found many problems of hygiene, in method of food purchasing, menu planning, food preparation, dish washing treatment of leftovers and water supply, as well as personal hygiene. However, customers prefer the casual and popular atmosphere at the counter of the covered wagon bar. Finally, the study emphasizes a need for better operation of covered wagon bar, improvement of food stuff handling and the way of food services and personal hygiene. A change of the registration system from the illegal operation are urgently needed for better quality food services of covered wagon bars.

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Factors Associated with Unmet Needs for Medical Care among Island Inhabitants in Korea (일개 섬 지역 주민의 미충족 의료와 관련 요인)

  • Cho, Seong-Sik;Lee, Tae-Kyung;Bang, Ye-Won;Kim, Chul-Ju;Im, Hyoung-June;Kwon, Young-Jun;Cho, Yong;Paek, Do-Myung;Ju, Young-Su
    • Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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    • v.35 no.2
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    • pp.151-164
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    • 2010
  • Objective:Korea has 3,170 islands with about 188,000 inhabitants. These inhabitants' needs for health services might go unmet because of geographic isolation, slimmer availability of health services, and higher proportion of the elderly compared with the mainland population. Unmet health service needs might result in serious health problems for these island residents. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate their unmet health service needs and related factors from population of Nowha island. Methods: The survey was conducted from July 30 to August 1 by trained interviewers. Target population were residents in Nohwa island and the sampling method was incomplete quota sampling. General characteristics, socioeconomic status, utilization of health service, and unmet medical service needs were investigated. First univariate and then multivariate logistic analyses were done for the statistical analysis. Results: 324 residents were surveyed and the proportion of unmet health services needs was 26.5%. People living alone and of female sex had increased health services needs based on univariable analysis. From the multivariate analysis, those living alone increased the health services needs. Self-determined low socioeconomic status and medical aid increased the proportion of unmet medical needs, but these were not statistically significant. Conclusion:In Nowha island, those who are elder, and of lower socioeconomic status had much higher unmet medical needs. The results suggest the need for more social support by qualified health services to solve this unmet medical needs problem.