• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.559-569
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• 2003

Purpose: The purpose was to investigate nurse staffing levels and patient outcomes(nosocomial infection, patient fall, pressure ulcer). Method: The subjects of this study were 305 nurses from 20 general hospitals who worked at 39 medical and surgical wards. Self-reporting questionnaire which was developed by the writer through preceding study was used. In data analysis, SPSS WIN 10.0. program was utilized for descriptive statistics, ANOVA. Result: The mean of patient-to-nurse ration was 5.2:1. 65% among 20 hospitals was over 300 beds, 90 was located in urban area and 55 was private hospitals. Patient-to-nurse ration of hospitals in under 300 beds or rural area or private ownership was lower than hospitals in 300 beds or urban area or public ownership. 89.9 among 39 wards was medical or surgical wards. The mean of length of stay, 8-14 days got a majority and showed higher patient-to-nurse ration. Of the general characteristics, rural was significantly hight to patient fall(F=3.205, p<.05), medical unit was significantly high to patient fall, pressure ulcer(patient fall: F=8.890, p<.001, pressure ulcer: F=3.399, p<.05) and over 15 days was significantly higher than under 14 days of the mean of length of stay. And there was significant relationship between over 6.0:1 and over 4.0:1 to less than 5.0:1(F=4.817,p<.01). Conclusion: This study has shown a relationship between patient-to-nurse ration and patient fall using not objective research tool but self-reporting questionnaire. Therefore further research is needed to study using objective research tool. Based on this study, the effect of nurse staffing levels on patient outcome also has to be studied.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.559-567
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• 2003

Background: We first launched the case management program for diabetic patients who were registered in NHIC (National Health Insurance Corporation) in Korea and conducted this study to assess the effectiveness of the program. Methods: During the period from October in 2002 to March in 2003, 30 case managers performed the program for 71 diabetic patients. We evaluated the effectiveness of the program based on the results of fasting blood sugar level, two hour post-prandial blood sugar level, knowledge for diabetes, difficulty index in diabetes management, and the health risk factor changes of them. We analyzed results related to these factors through $x^2$ test and paired t-test. Results: The ave rage age of the subjects was 58.9. and the numbers of women and men were 43 and 28 respectively. The fasting blood sugar level and two hour post-prandial blood sugar level decreased from 164.3mg/dl to 146.5mg/dl and from 224.0mg/dl to 203.0mg/dl respectively. The knowledge for diabetes and difficulty index in diabetes management changed from 8.13 to 9.10 and from 3.52 to 2.91 respectively, and these changes were the positive. We observed improvement in self-test of sugar level, foot management, oral hygiene and proper medication but not in self-test of nutritional management. Conclusions: This study revealed that the case management program for diabetic patients who were registered in NHIC is significantly effective. However, the program need to study further to understand its long-term effects.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.2269-2277
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• 2012

Background: Health risks associated with unhealthy behaviours in adolescent and university students contribute to the development of health problems in later life. During the past twenty years, there has been a dramatic increase in public, private, and professional interest in preventing disability and death through changes in lifestyle and participation in screening programs. The aim of the study was to evaluate university students' health-promoting lifestyle behaviour for cancer prevention. Method: This study was carried out on university students who had education in sports, health and social areas in Celal Bayar University, Manisa, Turkey. The health-promoting lifestyles of university students were measured with the "health-promoting lifestyle profile (HPLP)" The survey was conducted from March 2011 to July 2011 and the study sample consisted of 1007 university students. T-test, ANOVA and multiple regression analyses were used for statistical analyses. Results: In the univariate analyses, the overall HPLP score was significantly related to students' school, sex, age, school grades, their status of received health education lessons, place of birth, longest place of residence, current place of residence, health insurance, family income, alcohol use, their status in sports, and self-perceived health status. Healthier behaviour was found in those students whose parents had higher secondary degrees, and in students who had no siblings. In the multiple regression model, healthier behaviour was observed in Physical Education and Sports students, fourth-year students, those who exercised regularly, had a good self-perceived health status, who lived with their family, and who had received health education lessons. Conclusion: In general, in order to ensure cancer prevention and a healthy life style, social, cultural and sportive activities should be encouraged and educational programmes supporting these goals should be designed and applied in all stages of life from childhood through adulthood.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.165-172
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• 2008

Objectives : Despite various government initiatives, including the expansion of national health insurance coverage, health inequality has been a key health policy issue in South Korea during the past decade. This study describes and compares the extent of the total health inequality and the income-related health inequality over time among Korean adults. Methods : This study employs the 1998, 2001 and 2005 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANESs). The self-assessed health (SAH) ordinal responses, measured on a five-point scale, resealed to cardinal values to measure the health inequalities with using interval regression. The boundaries of each threshold for the interval regression analysis were obtained from the empirical distribution of the EuroQol-5 Dimension (EQ-5D) valuation weights estimated from the 2005 KNHANES. The final model predicting the individuals' health status included age, gender, educational attainment, occupation, income, and the regional prosperity index. The concentration index was used to measure and analyze the health inequality. Results : The KNHANES data showed an unequal distribution of the total health inequality in favor of the higher income groups, and this is getting worse over time (0.0327 in 1998, 0.0393 in 2001 and 0.0924 in 2005). The income-related health inequality in 2005 was 0.0278, indicating that 30.1% of the total health inequality can be attributed to income. Conclusions : The findings indicate there are health inequalities across the sociodemographic and income groups despite the recent government's efforts. Further research is warranted to investigate what potential policy actions are necessary to decrease the health inequality in Korea.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.140-149
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• 2021

Background: The aim of these two (pre COVID-19 pandemic) public health studies in Amsterdam were to promote the profession of the oral hygienist and to increase oral health care awareness among (pregnant) women and young mothers, who were visitors of public consumer's exhibitions. Methods: Two cross-sectional studies were carried out. In 2018, during the first study, 1,765 visitors of the Household Fair completed a questionnaire. In 2020, during Study 2, 304 visitors of the Nine-Month Fair completed a semi-structured online questionnaire. At both fairs a team of 'outspoken' oral hygienists, i.e., members of the Foundation 'Goed Gebekt', provided the visitors with tailored advices about general health related to adults, mothers', and their children' oral health, using natural routine interviewing, that was based on their own professional daily practical experience. Results: In Study 1, just over half (53.5%) of a total of 1,742 visitors, (85.7% female) was younger than 45 years old. In Study 2, 210 visitors with a mean age of 30.7 years were included. Most women reported their self-perceived oral health as 'good' (mean=8.0, standard deviation=1.3; range 3~10). Qualified (self) employed oral hygienists seem to be known among the visitors, but still only visited upon referral of the dentists. Up to the age of 18 reimbursements by the basic insurance is still unknown to the public. Conclusion: The Foundation 'Goed Gebekt' encourages other oral hygienists to make their own initiatives and experiences public and to share it. Public awareness is needed for oral health promotion and the development of optimally targeted interventions among (pregnant) women and young mothers by oral hygienists.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.51-59
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to estimate the mediating effect of subjective unmet healthcare needs on poor health. The mediating effect of unmet needs on health outcomes was estimated. Methods: Cross-sectional research method was used to analyze Korea Health Panel data from 2011 to 2015, investigating the mediating effect for each annual dataset and lagged dependent variables. Results: The magnitude of the effect of low income on poor health and the mediating effect of unmet needs were estimated using age, sex, education level, employment status, healthcare insurance status, disability, and chronic disease as control variables and self-rated health as the dependent variable. The mediating effect of unmet needs due to financial reasons was between 14.7% to 32.9% of the total marginal effect, and 7.2% to 18.7% in lagged model. Conclusions: The fixed-effect logit model demonstrated that the existence of unmet needs raised the likelihood of poor self-rated health. However, only a small proportion of the effects of low income on health was mediated by unmet needs, and the results varied annually. Further studies are necessary to search for ways to explain the varying results in the Korea Health Panel data, as well as to consider a time series analysis of the mediating effect. The results of this study present the clear implication that even though it is crucial to address the unmet needs, but it is not enough to tackle the income related health inequalities.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.29-37
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• 2020

Purposes: This study purposed to identify influence of postpartum care services on health-related quality of life in women after birth. Methodology: Korea Health Panel Survey 2009-2015 provided by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs and National Health Insurance Service was used for the analysis. The health-related quality of life evaluate as a EuroQoL-5D(EQ-5D-3L, used the weight of the CDC) was used as dependent variables. Postpartum care services was used as independent variable. Demographic factors(education, economic activity, region, house income), health related variable(presence of chronic disease, self-rated health), birth related variable(birth-related problem, childbirth, pregnancy of advanced maternal age) used as covariates. Regression analysis was used. Findings: The rate of use of postpartum care services is increasing year by year. Postpartum care services and self-rated health positively influence on the health-related quality of life in women after birth and chronic disease and birth-related problem negatively influence on. Practical Implications: Therefore, it is necessary that the government's policy of the postpartum care service be expanded and systematized to increase accessibility on. There are rare studies on the health-related quality of life of women after childbirth, adjusted for birth-related variables. So this study has significance.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.70-107
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• 1992

This study was intended to assess the need of home nursing care and analyze the effect of home nursing care, and find out the problems during the performance of home nursing care for the chronic patients among the low-income people in urban area. Data collection by interview was carried out from Nov. 1991 to Jul. 1992. The main results were as follows; 1) Total subjects for the need assessment of home nursing care were 123 households wi th 488 persons in a urban poor area. Over half of households $(57.7\%)$ was teenage family. The overall living conditions were poor and the average monthly income was 580 thousands won. $74.8\%$ of subjects was covered by medical care insurance and only $4.7\%$ was covered by public assistance. The morbidity rate was $8.2\%$ among 488 subjects and $27.5\%$ of them was not treated at all, $30\%$ was treated in utilizing pharmacies or local clinics. 2) The subjects of home nursing care were 46 with Hypertension or DM who agreeded the participation of study among registered patients at a public health center in Incheon. Home visiting was performed at intervals per one month for one year. Most of them were the elder(mean age=61 years) and long term patients(7.8 years continued). Home nursing care was effective. That is, blood pressure(including systolic and diastolic pressure) was significantly reduced (t(n=22)=2.31, P=.031, t(n=24)=4.16, P=.000 respectively) and knowledge of disease(t(N=46)=-7.63, P=.000), attitude of disease (t(N =46) = -4.92, P=.000), and self-care(t(N =46) = -4.89, P= .000) were significantly improved through home nursing care. But there was no difference in blood sugar for diabetics between the beginning and the end of visits. At the beginning of visit for home nursing care, sex$(\beta=-0414,\;t=-3.012)$ and nursing need({3=.310, t=2.164) were influencing self-care, and duration of disease$(\beta=.297,\;t=2.106)$ and nursing need $(\beta=.385, t=20417)$ were influencing blood pressure, blood sugar level. Namely, the subjects who were male and had higher nursing need showed better self-care and the longer duration of disease and the higher nursing need were relationship with the better blood pressure and blood sugar level. At the end of visit for home nursing care after one year, the blood pressure and blood sugar level was influenced by age $(\beta.320,\;t= 2.242)$, duration of disease ($(\beta.352,\;t= 2.395)$ and nursing need $(\beta=.350,\;t=2.623)$ and self-care had no influencing factor. The higher age and the longer duration of disease and the higher nursing need were relationship with the better blood pressure and blood sugar level. 3) The problems that were found out during the performance of home nursing care were the absent of useful protocols for services and the clear evaluation base, and the difficulty of teaching elders who were the major part of our subjects.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.30
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• pp.2.1-2.9
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• 2015

Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the association between presence of depression symptoms and the exposure level to insecticides among aged population in rural area, determined via measured levels of urinary 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (3-PBA), after controlling for socioeconomic confounding factors. Methods Using a cross-sectional study design, we randomly recruited participants for our study (161 male and 239 female) from rural areas of Asan, Chungnam, Korea. Environmental risk factor exposure was assessed using a questionnaire, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to analyze urinary 3-PBA levels. We used a logistic regression analysis to assess the association of urinary 3-PBA levels with the presence of self-reported depression symptoms. Results After controlling for creatinine levels, the median (interquartile range) concentration of 3-PBA was approximately 1.5 times (p<0.05) higher among female (1.54 [0.90 to 2.35]) ${\mu}g/g$) than among male (1.06 [0.64 to 1.81] ${\mu}g/g$). Our study found that among female participants, the unit increase in 3-PBA levels exhibited a likely positive association (odds ratio, 1.12; 95% confidence interval, 1.00 to 1.25) with an increased risk of presence of self-reported depression symptoms, after adjusting for socioeconomic insurance type, daily physical condition, marital status, smoking status, and age. Conclusions Given our finding of a potential association between the presence of self-reported depression symptoms and 3-PBA levels, precautions should be considered to minimize exposure to insecticides and thus protect the health of aged residents in rural areas.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.275-286
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand and analyze the current status of dementia management and rehabilitation services in Busan, South Korea, in response to the rapid increase of people with dementia due to the aging of the population. Methods: To investigate the current status of dementia rehabilitation in Busan, a survey was disseminated to dementia safety centers and day- and night-care centers in 16 districts/counties in Busan. Of the 209 day- and night-care centers, 23 institutes were registered in the National Health Insurance Service and received the highest grade (Grade A) in the institute evaluation that was implemented in each district. A telephone interview was conducted, and survey questions were related to the existence of an ongoing dementia rehabilitation program, program presenter, number of participants, progress method, program time, program duration, program contents, and participation path. Results: Dementia safety centers were implementing dementia prevention program, cognitive enhancing program, dementia program, self-help meeting and education program for family of dementia patient. The majority of the presenters of all four dementia-related programs were occupational therapists. The highest number of participants in the dementia prevention program was 15, and the highest number of participants in the cognitive enhancing program, dementia program, self-help meeting and education program for family of dementia patient was 10. All institutes' programs delivered group therapy. As for the time and frequency of the program, most dementia program included three-hour sessions five times a week. Most dementia prevention program, cognitive enhancing program, self-help meeting and education program for family of dementia patient included 60-minute sessions once a week. The most frequently observed program duration for the dementia prevention program and cognitive enhancing program was six months, and the most frequently observed duration for the dementia program was three months. Lastly, study participants most often reported that self-help meeting and education program for family of dementia patient lasted for two months. Among day- and night-care centers in Busan, programs related to cognition were implemented in 18 institutes, and the majority of the program presenters were social workers. Conclusion: In response to the rapidly growing number of dementia patients due to the aging of the population, this study examined the current status of dementia rehabilitation in Busan. The study results underscore the need to develop systems that consider the circumstances in Busan and continuously and systematically support dementia programs.