• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.1081-1091
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• 2004

Purpose: This study was done to identify the risk factors associated with falls among patients with Parkinson's Disease(PD). Method: A retrospective study design was used through the collection of physiological and physical health, and psychosocial functions. Results: Of the 100 participants, fifty-nine(59%) reported one or more falls and seventy-one(71%) reported one or more near-falls. Anaverage 34.7 falls and 150.3 near-falls were reported in the previous year per person. Stage of PD, foot problems, balance, fear of falling, and activities of daily living were significantly associated with an increased risk of falls. Conclusion: The findings confirm the high risk of falling in PD patients. Also these results have implications for developing fall prevention programs for PD patients.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.107-117
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• 2001

Falls are the most serious health problems in elderly population. They are a major cause of premature death, physical injury, immobility, psychosocial dysfunction, and nursing home placement. To reduce the alarming rate of falls and related excessive mortality and morbidity, efforts must be made to detect persons at risk of falling and to prevent or reduce the frequency of falls. To facilitate such approaches, it is essential to find the cause of falling (and under what conditions) of the elderly and the factors that are associated with risk of falling. This study was aimed at designing interventions that minimize risk of falling by ameliorating contributing factors while maintaining or improving patient's mobility.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.259-265
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• 2012

The intent of this article was to analyze the potential hazards and risks involved in persons exposed to prosthodontic practice. These risks include exposure to physical and chemical hazards, dental materials, infectious environment, inappropriate working pattern and psychosocial stress. The potential harm of these hazards and its prevention is highlighted. Prosthodontists, students, dental technicians, and others working in the prosthodontic clinics and laboratory should be aware of the specific risk factors and take measures to prevent and overcome these hazards.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.1483-1490
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• 2004

Community-based centres were surveyed to determine the frequency of and risk factors for falls among elderly Koreans. We examined fall-related risk factors, including physiological and physical health, psychosocial functions, self-reported physical capacity and activity, vision, and the use of medication, among 351 elderly people aged 65 years or older, with ambulatory. Forty-two per cent of elderly Korean subjects reported at least one episode of falling in the previous 12 months, $38\%$ of whom had consequences that required either the attention of a physician or hospitalization. Factors significantly associated with an increased risk of falling were a restricted activity during the previous five years (adjusted OR 1.3), use of alternative therapy (adjusted OR 2.7), low knee flexor and extensor-muscle strength (adjusted OR 1.21 and 1.20), and poor balance with closed eyes (adjusted OR 8.32). We conclude that falls among older persons living in the community are common in Korea and that indicator of bad health and frailty or variables directly related to neuromuscular impairment are significant predictors of the risk of falling.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.858-870
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• 2001

Purpose: This study was to compare changes in health behaviors, motivational factors, cardiovascular risk factors, and functional status (SIP) after implementing the 6-month motivation-enhancing program to institutionalized elderly women. Methods: Sixty-four elderly women participated. Face to face interviews with blood sampling and anthropometric assessment were conducted at the pretest, 10 weeks and 6 months during the program. Results: 1. The program participants showed significantly better health behaviors over 6 months. The mean motivational level was also significantly improved, especially for perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and emotional salience. 2. The mean of cardiovascular risk factors for the participants was 21.8 at the level of low to moderate risk. After completing the program, total risk score was significantly decreased to 18.7 at 10 weeks, and further to 17.7 at 6 months. A significant reduction was also found in HDL and LDL-cholesterol levels, blood pressure, obesity, inactivity, and stress. 3. The functional status (SIP) was 11% at the baseline and significantly changed in positive direction at 10 weeks(M=9.3) and at 6 month(M=6.3). The significant improvement was also found in physical and psychosocial dimensions and sleep/rest dimension. Conclusion: The motivation enhancing program was effective to reduce cardiovascular risks and to improve the functional status of institutionalized elderly women by motivating them to perform better health behaviors.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.595-607
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• 2002

The objectives of this study were to identify the phenomena of school health nursing at schools in Korea and to contribute to building a school health domain of International Classification for Nursing Practice. A retrospective method was used in this study to develop ICNP during the period from July to October 200l. The procedure of the study involved choosing nursing phenomena using preliminary terms from the reports on the field of school health nursing practice documented by nursing students in 10 different nursing colleges. The detail procedures of the study were as follows. 1) Choosing nursing phenomena by using preliminary terms 2) Choosing the characteristics of school health nursing practice from the selected nursing phenomena 3) In order to make a consensus regarding the appropriate characteristics of phenomena. 15 study group members re-categorized the nursing phenomena through 5 times of cyber meetings and 3 times of formal meetings. 4) To verify each characteristic, 5 community nursing faculties and 25 school health nurses participated in the procedure to give scores on nursing characteristics. 5) Classification of the definite nursing phenomena and characteristics. Following the 5 step procedures, school health nursing phenomena were categorized into human and environmental domains. Human domains were classified into human behavioral and functional domains. Environmental domains were classified into physical and psychosocial domains. The essential characteristics of each phenomena were selected when it obtains the mean score of 3.0 or over at the related characteristics. The human behavioral domain consisted of 7 phenomena including risk for spinal disorder, inadequate dietary habit, inadequate weight control, smoking and substance abuse, inadequate stress management, inadequate sex related coping strategies and inadequate accident management. The human functional domain consisted of 6 phenomena including inadequate eye care and visual management, risk for respiratory disorder, inadequate dental health care, inappropriate infectious disease control, risk for gastrointestinal disorder, and lack of sexual identity. The physical environmental domain consisted of 6 phenomena including risk for incident at inside classroom, risk for incident at outside classroom, risk for incident around school, risk for exposure to hazardous facilities around school. inadequate garbage and disposal management, and inadequate physical environment for learning. The psychosocial domain included impaired social interaction at school. Each phenomenon was composed of 2 to 8 characteristics and all phenomena will include a total number of 85 characteristics. The phenomena of school health nursing in Korea partially confirmed school health architecture of ICNP. Further study on verification of school health nursing phenomena in Korea needs to be done to support the findings of this study through review of literature on nursing classifications or field studies.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.259-267
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• 2016

Work-related musculoskeletal injuries and disorders (WMSD) are a significant issue in the health care sector. Allied Health professionals (AHP) in this sector are exposed to physical and psychosocial factors associated with increased risk of developing a WMSD. Clarification of relevant hazard and risk factors for AHP is needed to improve understanding and inform WMSD risk management. A systematic analysis of the literature was undertaken to determine prevalence and risk factors for WMSD in AHP. Databases of Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL (EBSCO), EMBASE and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were reviewed. This quality of articles was low. Outcome measures were varied, with prevalence rates of WMSD reported from 28% to 96% over a one-year time period. The lower back was the most commonly affected body part. Relevant factors identified with the development of WMSD included inexperience in the role and area of employment. Future research needs to focus on undertaking high quality prospective studies to determine the factors associated with WMSD development in AHP.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.10033-10038
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• 2014

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of tobacco use, beliefs and risk awareness and psychosocial correlates of tobacco use among university students in 24 low, middle and emerging economy countries. Using anonymous questionnaires, data were collected from 16953 undergraduate university students (mean age 20.9, SD=2.9) from 25 universities in 24 countries across Asia, Africa and the Americas. Results indicate that overall 13.3% of the university students were current tobacco users, 22.4% for men and 6.6% for women, ranging from 3.8% in Singapore to 32.5% in Cameroon. The risk awareness of the smoking lung cancer link was 83.6%, while the risk awareness of the smoking heart disease link was 46.5%. Multivariate logistic regression found that older age, male gender, having a wealthy family background, living in a low income country, residing off campus on their own, poor beliefs in the importance not to smoke, awareness of the smoking heart disease link, hit by a sexual partner, depressive symptoms, and substance use (binge drinking and illicit drug use) were associated with current tobacco use.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.86 no.2
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• pp.102-110
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• 2023

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a major health burden worldwide, with over 600 million confirmed cases and 6 million deaths by 15 December 2022. Although the acute phase of COVID-19 management has been established, the long-term clinical course and complications due to the relatively short outbreak is yet to be assessed. The current COVID-19 pandemic is causing significant morbidity and mortality around the world. Interestingly, epidemiological studies have shown that fatality rates vary considerably across different countries, and men and elderly patients are at higher risk of developing severe diseases. There is increasing evidence that COVID-19 infection causes neurological deficits in a substantial proportion to patients suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome. Furthermore, lack of physical activity and smoking are associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) susceptibility. We should therefore explore why lack of physical activity, smoking, etc causing a population more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and mechanism involved. Thus, in this review article, we summarize epidemiological evidence related to risk factors and lifestyle that affect COVID-19 severity and the mechanism involved. These risk factors or lifestyle interventions include smoking, cardiovascular health, obesity, exercise, environmental pollution, psychosocial social stress, and diet.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.14-19
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• 2007

Advances in neonatal care have been responsible for the improved survival of prematurity but have not resulted in decreased morbidity. Once the high-risk infants is discharged from the hospital, his or her many special care needs do not cease. A well-coordinated multidisciplinary approach is essential in the follow-up care of these infants. Special attention must be given to their growth and nutrition, immunization, vision and hearing, and sequelae of illnesses experienced during the neonatal period. The role of pediatrician in helping these infants attain their full physical, neurodevelopmental, emotional, and psychosocial potential by providing optimal care is invaluable.