• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.185-192
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• 2006

This study was performed to investigate factors affecting sensitivity and preference for salty tastes of Korean adult females. Sensitivity and preference for salty tastes were determined as detection threshold concentration of NaCl solution and the optimally-preferred NaCl concentration of the bean sprout soup, respectively. A self-administered questionnaire was used to obtain the information regarding general characteristics, self diagnosis of stress, health-related lifestyle practices, dietary habits and food preferences. Dietary intake using 24-hours recall and blood pressure were measured. Salty taste detection thresholds and optimally-preferred NaCl concentrations were 0.0197% and 0.357%, respectively. There was a significant positive correlation between the optimally-preferred salt concentration and age, despite no significant correlation between either sensitivity or preference for salty taste and sodium intake, which was 3,605mg/day. Those who had bread or cereal with milk as breakfast instead of a traditional Korean meal and those who preferred jjigae to soup had significantly higher NaCl preferences for bean sprout soup. Going to bed after midnight and skipping meals (${\geq}3/week$) decreased salty taste sensitivity without reaching statistical significance. Self awareness of one's own health, recent weight changes, family history of hypertension, sleep quality, getting-up time, rate of eating and other food preferences did not affect either perception. Stress level, TV watching, BMI and sodium intake did not have significant correlation to sensitivity or preference. Further research including a large number of well-controlled subjects and more accurate measurement of sodium intake should be directed to find other factors affecting salt preference and sensitivity in order to decrease Na intake and related diseases.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.135-145
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• 2017

Objectives : The study is to investigate clinical trial for efficacy and safety with acupuncture & suction in nasal cavity on snoring patients. Methods : 24 subjects were recruited from the patients received a hospital visit to the Semyung University Chungju oriental medical center and Jaechon oriental medical center from 1 October 2014 to 31 December 2014. According to the clinical protocol, we treated the patients with acupuncture and suction in the nasal cavity 8 times for 4 weeks. We compared their symptoms between before and after treatment. Results and Conclusions : 1. There was no significant decrease in the mechanical measurement of the reduction of snoring in the effectiveness of snoring patients, but there was a significant effect on the improvement of sleep quality and it was effective in improving the symptoms such as eye fatigue. 2. The safety of nasal treatment for snoring patients was normal in pre- and post-treatment Lab tests, and there was no adverse reaction before and after treatment. Acupuncture & suction in nasal cavity on snoring patients is efficient and safe.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.538-549
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• 2019

Purpose: This study aimed to explore and compare the knowledge structure of pain management nursing research, between Korea and other countries, applying a text network analysis. Methods: 321 Korean and 6,685 international study abstracts of pain management, published from 2004 to 2017, were collected. Keywords and meaningful morphemes from the abstracts were analyzed and refined, and their co-occurrence matrix was generated. Two networks of 140 and 424 keywords, respectively, of domestic and international studies were analyzed using NetMiner 4.3 software for degree centrality, closeness centrality, betweenness centrality, and eigenvector community analysis. Results: In both Korean and international studies, the most important, core-keywords were "pain," "patient," "pain management," "registered nurses," "care," "cancer," "need," "analgesia," "assessment," and "surgery." While some keywords like "education," "knowledge," and "patient-controlled analgesia" found to be important in Korean studies; "treatment," "hospice palliative care," and "children" were critical keywords in international studies. Three common sub-topic groups found in Korean and international studies were "pain and accompanying symptoms," "target groups of pain management," and "RNs' performance of pain management." It is only in recent years (2016~17), that keywords such as "performance," "attitude," "depression," and "sleep" have become more important in Korean studies than, while keywords such as "assessment," "intervention," "analgesia," and "chronic pain" have become important in international studies. Conclusion: It is suggested that Korean pain-management researchers should expand their concerns to children and adolescents, the elderly, patients with chronic pain, patients in diverse healthcare settings, and patients' use of opioid analgesia. Moreover, researchers need to approach pain-management with a quality of life perspective rather than a mere focus on individual symptoms.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.101-111
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to investigate using and evaluative criteria for purchasing of sleepwear in winter. Subjects were 523 males and females aged from twenties to fifties, living in Chongju and Taejon. For data analysis, frequency, descriptive analysis, t-test, and F-test were used. The results are as follows. First, the ownership of sleepwear was sweat suits with zippered top, pajamas, T-shirts/pants, underwear, and nightgown in order. The mean of using sweat suits was used the highest, and subjects used more home wear than sleepwear in winter. Second, the using or sleepwear had a significant difference in cold-sensitiveness and body types. Cold-sensitive group used sweat suit and T-shirts/pants more than cold-insensitive group. Also, groups who are thin wore sweat suit the most while groups who are corpulent, used underwear the most when they slept. Third, subjects, who are married women and use bed, used nightgown, but pajamas were used by groups who are older, married, and professional. Sweat suits and T-shirts/pants were used the most by single aged twenties. Forth, consumers considered the wearing comfort when they purchased sleepwear for winter, and they evaluated washing/management, fabric, design/style, economic, service, brand, and others' response in order, for judging the quality of sleepwear. Also, the evaluative criteria had a significant difference in demographic variables such as sex, occupation, and marital state. These results implied that sleepwear would be needed for winter in terms of behavioral temperature regulation. Especially, cold-sensitive and thin group would wear knitted and two-piece sleepwear for thermal comfort when they sleep in winter. Also, Using and evaluative criteria of sleepwear would be different in demographic characteristics. For winter, sleepwear should be develop based on physiologic as well as demographic variables.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.536-543
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• 2021

Background: Sickness absenteeism is an area of concern in nursing and is more concerning given the recent impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare. This study is one of two meta-analyses that examined sickness absenteeism in nursing. In this study, we examined demographic, lifestyle, and physical health predictors. Methods: We reviewed five databases (CINAHL, ProQuest Allied, ProQuest database theses, PsycINFO, and PubMed) for our search. We registered the systematic review (CRD de-identified) and followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Additionally, we used the Population/Intervention/Comparison/Outcome Tool to improve our searches. Results: Following quality testing, 17 articles were used for quantitative synthesis. Female employees were at higher risks of sickness absenteeism than their male counterparts (OR = 1.73; 95% CI: 1.33-2.25). Nursing staff who rated their health as poor had a greater likelihood of experiencing sickness absence (OR = 1.38; 95% CI: 1.19-1.60). Also, previous sick leave predicted future leaves (OR = 3.35; 95% CI: 1.37-8.19). Moreover, experiencing musculoskeletal pain (OR = 2.41 95% CI: 1.77-3.27) increased the likelihood of sickness absence with greater odds when it is a back pain (OR = 3.05; 95% CI: 1.66-5.62). Increased age, physical activity, and sleep were not associated with sick leave. Conclusion: Several variables were statistically associated with the occurrence of sickness absenteeism. One primary concern is the limited research in this area despite alarming rates of sick leave in healthcare. More research is required to identify predictors of sickness absence, and thereby, implement preventative measures.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.193-200
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• 2021

Background: Local anesthetic infiltration at the site of a surgical wound is commonly used to control postoperative pain. In this study, we examined the effectiveness of continuous local infiltration at an abdominal surgical site in patients undergoing anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) surgery. Methods: Sixty-one patients who underwent ALIF surgery were enrolled. For thirtyone of them, a continuous local anesthetics infiltration system was used at the abdominal site. We collected data regarding the patients' sleep quality; satisfaction with pain control after surgery; abilities to perform physical tasks and the additional application of opioids in the postoperative 48 hours. Results: The On-Q system group showed reduced visual analogue scale scores for pain at the surgical site during rest and movement at 0, 12, 24, and 48 hours; and more was satisfied with pain control management at the first postoperative day (7.0 ± 1.2 vs. 6.0 ± 1.4; P = 0.003) and week (8.1 ± 1.6 vs. 7.0 ± 1.8; P = 0.010) than the control group. The number of additional patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) bolus and pethidine injections was lower in the On-Q group (PCA: 3.67 ± 1.35 vs. 4.60 ± 1.88; P = 0.049 and pethidine: 2.09 ± 1.07 vs. 2.73 ± 1.38; P = 0.032). Patients who used the On-Q system performed more diverse activity and achieved earlier ambulation than those in the control group. Conclusions: Continuous wound infiltration with ropivacaine using an On-Q system may be effective for controlling postoperative pain after ALIF surgery.

• Journal of Sasang Constitution and Immune Medicine
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.12-26
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• 2024

Objectives We aimed to identify the incidence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its clustering components according to constitution type and lifestyle risk factors in Korean adults. Methods This study included 1,978 adults aged 30-55 years from the Korean Medicine Daejeon Citizen Cohort (KDCC) study. We defined lifestyle factors including smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, sleep, dietary quality, and weight status. Total lifestyle scores were created based on the six lifestyle factors (ranging from 0 to 5 factors) and classified into two groups: unhealthy (0-2 factors), or healthy (3-5 factors). Cox proportional hazard regression was used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of primary endpoints: MetS events and their clustering components. Results During a median follow-up of 2.2 years, we documented 125 new onsets of MetS. Compared with participants with healthy, the HR of unhealthy participants was 2.401 (95% CI: 1.497-3.851) for MetS incidence. After adjusting for covariates, TE type with unhealthy was higher HR values of abdominal obesity (HRs: 1.499, 95%CI: 1.061-2.117) and hypertension (HRs: 1.840, 95%CI: 1.032-3.277), respectively. Conclusion Unfavorable lifestyle factors were highly associated with the prevalence of MetS and its clustering such as abdominal obesity and hypertension in Korean adults with TE. Tailored health management is needed to consider individual traits and healthy lifestyles to prevent cardiometabolic diseases.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.201-210
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• 2013

Objectives : To review the recent trend of randomized controlled clinical trials on insomnia and to provide information for future clinical trials. Methods : A total of 667 pieces of literature were searched using the key words 'insomnia' and 'randomized controlled trial' and using the title 'insomnia' with the topic 'trial or trials', published from 2008 to 2012 through Web of Science. Studies including randomized controlled clinical trials were sorted from the search result and finally 104 pieces of the literature were selected and examined. Results : Besides 104 clinical trials, 14 trials related to CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine) were also reviewed. On average, 20 trials were annually conducted and they showed a growing trend. Participants were between 31 and 90 (34.6%), and were observed for less than 30 days (28.8%) in most trials. As intervention methods for clinical trials, non-pharmaceutical methods were used in 59 studies (56.7%), pharmaceutical drug in 43 studies (41.3%) and combinations in 2 studies (1.9%). In 60 studies, only insomnia without any underlying diseases was examined and other 44 studies involved other diseases. As diagnosis assessment tools, Sleep diary and Polysomnography were used. Conclusions : Randomized controlled trials relevant to insomnia were on the increase, but only a small number of clinical trials on Oriental Medicine have been performed. Larger scientific and well-founded randomized controlled trials are required for developing Oriental Medicine and establishing high-quality guideline going forward.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.113-134
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• 2015

In new housing demand, proportion of occupied multi-housing is 89.9% (statistics from 2013). In this way, with many generations living together, apartment noise disputes between the neighbors are continuously rising. The apartment noise problem in Korea is at a very serious level worldwide (about 88% of the population is experiencing stress due to apartment noise). On the other hand, the government has strengthened the regulations (such as the thickness of the floor and floor impact sound reduction performance, etc.) and promoted a resolution of its own for each multi-housing estates for mediating disputes on apartment noise. However, such physical regulations and passive management policies still presents a limit to the dispute mitigation of apartment noise. Also, in order to improve the quality of life in living spaces, policy on health effects of apartment noise should be provided. Therefore, we investigated a case study of the noise exposure-human body reaction to analyze the effect of noise on health. On the basis of this, the health effects according to the exposure period of apartment noise were considered.

• Journal of Sasang Constitution and Immune Medicine
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.146-160
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• 2021

Introduction This study is the first to report a significant improvement of Soyangin patients with persistent night sweats through herbal medicine treatment. Methods We reviewed the total of 6 Soyangin patients with moderate to severe persistent night sweats who visited the outpatient clinic. The patients received herbal medicine treatment alone for 4 to 9 weeks. We evaluated the treatment outcome using Night Sweats Degree criteria, developed by Lea and Aber(1985), every other 2 to 4 weeks. In addition, we recorded the treatment period from the first visit to symptom alleviation. Results Persistent night sweats improved significantly in all 6 Soyangin patients, and 4 out of 6 patients had better sleep quality after the treatment. It took 1 to 3 weeks until the symptom alleviated from moderate or severe to mild, and 3 to 7 weeks until the patients have no sign of night sweating. The progression of persistent night sweats and treatment period until no sign of symptom varied according to the Soyangin External and Internal disease diagnosis. Discussion The Soyangin patients having persistent night sweats treated with herbal medicines showed a significant improvement in their symptoms. This result proposes the possibility of using herbal medicine in primary care patients experiencing persistent night sweats.