• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• /
• v.35
• /
• pp.4.1-4.11
• /
• 2023

Background: Shift work has been shown to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) based on several evidences. The classic risk factors of CVD include age, hypertension, smoking, obesity and diabetes. Recently, the serum homocysteine level has been reported to be a valuable indicator of CVD risk. This study aimed to determine the variation in serum homocysteine level as a cardiovascular risk indicator among female workers according to shift work. Methods: The data of regular health examination of workers at an electronic manufacturing services company in Yeongnam region, South Korea in 2019 were examined in this study. The investigation was based on a cross-sectional study conducted on 697 female workers (199 day workers and 498 shift workers). The sociodemographic and biochemical characteristics were compared between day workers and shift workers. Through a logistic regression analysis, the odds ratio (OR) of the increased serum homocysteine level in relation to shift work was determined. Results: Compared to female day workers, female shift workers showed significantly higher level of serum homocysteine (8.85 ± 2.16 vs. 9.42 ± 2.04 μmol/mL; p = 0.001). The OR of day workers against shift workers was 1.81 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.25-2.63). With the adjustment of variables that may influence the level of serum homocysteine, the adjusted OR was 1.68 (95% CI: 1.09-2.60). Conclusions: The serum homocysteine level was significantly higher in shift workers than in day workers. It is thus likely to be a useful predictor of CVD in shift workers.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.135-144
• /
• 2018

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to identify the differences of demographic and clinical characteristics between child-adolescents who received medical inpatient care and non-hospitalized adolescents after suicide attempts. Methods : The study included 35 child-adolescents who were hospitalized (Admission group) and 114 child-adolescents who were not hospitalized (Non-Admission group) as a result of a suicide attempt from 2009 to 2015. We compared sociodemographic, clinical, and suicide attempt-related characteristics through a chi-square test and logistic regression analysis to evaluate the differences between the two groups. Results : Child-adolescents of this study most commonly attempted suicide by poisoning, and for motivation of interpersonal problems. Admission group had significantly fewer attempts through injury by sharp objects (${\chi}^2=4.374$, p=0.037) and attempted suicide with a higher chance of actually dying when compared to Risk-Rescue Rating Scale (t=1.981, p=0.049). In addition, Admission group had relatively common motivation for academic problems (${\chi}^2=12.082$, p=0.001) and less motivation for interpersonal difficulties. (${\chi}^2=9.869$, p=0.002) Psychiatric diagnosis at the time of visiting the emergency department showed higher rates of depression in the admission group than Non-Admission group (${\chi}^2=8.649$, p=0.003). The results of logistic regression showed that depression affects hospitalization (OR=2.783, 95% CI 1.092-7.089, p=0.032). Conclusions : This study is meaningful in that it revealed the social and clinical characteristics of all child-adolescents who were hospitalized at a university hospital after attempting suicide. This study identified differences in motivation, methods, and psychiatric diagnosis of hospitalized adolescents and those who were not. Therefore, the results may help adolescent suicide attempters to get a discriminatory approach based on their admission.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.121-129
• /
• 2014

Objectives : This study was to assess the prevalence and its correlates of restless legs syndrome(RLS) in outpatients with bipolar disorder. Methods : A total of 100 clinical stabilized bipolar outpatients were examined. The presence of RLS and its severity were assessed using the International Restless Legs Sydrome Study Group(IRLSSG) diagnostic criteria. Beck's Depression Inventory(BDI), Spielberg's State Anxiety Inventory(STAI-X-1), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index(PSQI), Korean version Drug Attitude Inventory(KDAI-10), Subjective Well-Beings under Neuroleptic Treatment Scale-Short Form(SWN-K) and Barnes Akathisia Rating Scale(BARS) were used to evaluate the depressive symptomatology, level of anxiety, subjective quality of sleep, subjective feeling of well-being, drug attitude, presence of akathisia, respectively. Results : Of the 100 bipolar outpatients, 7(7%) were met to full criteria of IRLSSG and 36(36%) have at least one of the 4 IRLSSG criterion. Because of relatively small sample size, non-parametric analysis were done to compare the characteristics among 3 groups(full-RLS, 1 ${\geq}$positive RLS-symptom and Non-RLS). There were no significant differences in sex, age, and other sociodemographic and clinical data among 3 groups. BDI, STAI-X-1 and PSQI are tended to be impaired in RLS and 1 ${\geq}$positive RLS-symptom groups. Conclusions : This is the first preliminary study for studying the prevalence and its correlates of RLS in bipolar disorder. The results shows that relatively small proportion of RLS was present in bipolar disorder patients when compared to patients with schizophrenia. Same tendencies shown in schizophrenic patients were found that bipolar patients with RLS had more depressive symptoms, state anxiety and poor subjective sleep quality. Further systematic studies may be needed to find the characteristics of RLS in bipolar patients.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.116-125
• /
• 2020

Objectives : Self-poisoning is the leading cause of visits to the emergency departments after a suicide attempts. This study is aimed to compare the patient characteristics according to the category of drugs ingested by the patients who attempted suicide. Methods : All medical charts were retrospectively reviewed from patients who visited the emergency center, at Seoul Medical Center, due to intentional self-poisoning from April of 2011 to July of 2019. We investigated the information regarding the subtype and quantity of the intoxication drug, how it was obtained, suicidal history, and psychiatric history, as well as, sociodemographic information. Variables were compared between prescription drug (PD) and non-prescription drug (NPD) poisoning groups. Results : The mean age of the NPD poisoning group was significantly lower than that of the PD poisoning group. The patient ratio of those enrolled in national health insurance and living with spouses were significantly higher in the NPD poisoning group. Compared to the NPD poisoning group, the PD poisoning group had a higher incidence of mental illnesses, underlying diseases and ratio of involuntary visit to the emergency department. Among the prescription drugs, the benzodiazepine poisoning group had a higher rate of self-prescription than the non-poisoning group, while the zolpidem poisoning group had a higher rate of the using someone else's prescription than other drugs. Each single drug poisoning group (benzodiazepine, zolpidem, and antidepressant single-agent) had a higher rate of no mental illness than each of the mixed-poisoning group. Conclusions : Guidelines for regulating non-prescription drugs are needed as a matter of suicide prevention. Also, this study suggests that clinicians need to be careful when issuing prescriptions and should suicidal risk according to patients' characteristics, duration of follow-up and type of drug packaging.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.97-117
• /
• 2005

This study was designed to compare the differences m results of supervisor and subordinate rating. Data was collected from personnel evaluation and subordinate rating results for middle managers(n=68) in hospital from 3rd January to 20th March in 2004. Supervisor rating consisted of performance, ability and attitude evaluation. Subordinate rating consisted of leadership, ability and attitude evaluation. Collected data included sociodemographic characteristics, work department, work level, years of work, years at present level and whether working in a patient serving department. The difference of standardized supervisor and subordinate rating score was used to define groups as 'higher in supervisor rating group'. Groups were defined in total score, ability score and attitude score. Main results were as follows: 1. In total score, sectional chiefs were apt to be 'higher in subordinate rating group' while chief clerks were apt to be 'similar group' or 'higher in supervisor rating group'. Staffs in patient serving department were likely to be 'higher in supervisor rating group' and staffs in non-patient serving department were likely to be 'higher in subordinate rating group'. All these results were statistically significant. 2. In ability score, there were no statistically significant differences in age, sex, years of education, work department, work level, years of work and whether working in a patient serving department among 'higher in supervisor rating group', 'similar group' and 'higher in subordinate rating group'. 3. In attitude score, staffs in the department of medical affairs and the department of administration were apt to be 'higher in subordinate rating group'. Staffs in the department of nursing were apt to be 'higher in supervisor rating group'. Staffs in a patient serving department were likely to be 'higher in supervisor rating group' and staffs in a non-patient serving department were likely to be 'higher in subordinate rating group'. All these results were statistically significant. 4. Logistic analysis about total score showed that sectional chiefs had higher Odds Ratio(OR) to be in 'higher in subordinate rating group'. Staffs in a non-patient serving department had higher OR to be in 'higher in subordinate rating group'. Both these results were statistically significant. 5. Logistic analysis about ability score showed that sectional chiefs had higher OR to be in 'higher in subordinate rating group'. Staffs in a non-patient serving department had higher OR to be in 'higher in subordinate rating group'. These results were not statistically significant. 6. Logistic analysis about total score showed that sectional chiefs had higher OR to be in 'higher in subordinate rating group', but the difference was not statistically significant. Staffs in a non-patient serving department had significantly higher OR to be in 'higher in subordinate rating group'. In conclusion, there is no clear superiority between supervisor and subordinate rating in personnel evaluation. It would be better to use a mixed model. It's also suggested to use an intervening rate of application or scores considering work levels and work department in personnel evaluation. These results would be helpful for hospitals planning a supervisor and subordinate rating system for personnel evaluation.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.65-73
• /
• 2009

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the clinical and polysomnographic characteristics of Korean patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), especially in relation to differences due to age and gender. Methods: All subjects were consecutive patients who were proven to have OSAS with nocturnal polysomnography. They were interviewed with a structured interview format including sociodemographic information, past medical history, medication, and sleep-related history. Simultaneously, they were also given Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) to answer in order to check subjective sleep quality and subjective sleepiness. Results: Mean age of the 308 subjects was $49.5{\pm}$13.3 years, with 77.6% of the subjects being males and 22.4% of the subjects being females. The aging effects on the sleep architecture in Korean OSAS corresponded with normal aging, but with the effect of OSAS itself superimposed, the extent of aging effects was more marked than that of normal aging. The severity of Korean patients of OSAS was not correlated with age. When divided into age subgroups, significant correlation was found between RDI and BMI in patients of each subgroup of those in the 4th to 7th decades. The oldest subgroup (>70 years) described their subjective sleep quality as poorer than any other age subgroups, despite of less subjective drowsiness. The severity of OSAS and the change of sleep architecture of male subjects turned out to be severer than those of female ones. The female/male ratio of the subjects tended to increase with aging. Conclusions: The aging effect on the sleep architecture in Korean OSAS seems to be a mixture of the changes by normal aging and sleep disorder per se. The severity of OSAS was not correlated with age, but highly correlated with BMI. The severity of OSAS and the change of sleep architecture of male patients were severer than those of female ones.

• Korean Security Journal
• /
• no.14
• /
• pp.69-87
• /
• 2007

Study results on the perception of organization justice and organization member behavior of private security are as below. Primarily, organization justice showed variation according to socio-demographic characteristics which include age, the period the person has stayed in the current workplace, total period of working and monthly income. As for age, in aspect of the perception of distribution justice, the 36 or older age group prevailed, and the 31 to 35 age group prevailed in the perception of procedure justice. So, perception of organization justice increased accordingly with age. According to the period the person has stayed in the current workplace category, showed high levels in the perception of distribution justice and perception of procedure justice in the $3\;{\sim}\;5$ years group. As for total period of working, both perception of distribution justice and the perception of procedure justice proved greatest in the 5 years or more group and according to monthly income, the KRW 1800,000 or more group showed high levels of perception of distribution justice and the perception of procedure justice. Secondly, organization member behavior showed variation according to sociodemographic characteristics. In organization member behavior, loyal behavior increased along with age and inter-personal relationship behavior and altruistic behavior prevailed in the age group 31-35 According to period the person has worked at the current workplace and in case of total period of working, loyal behavior, inter-personal relationship behavior and altruistic behavior proved to be high. As for monthly income, an increase in monthly income resulted in a high figure in loyal behavior, inter-personal relationship behavior and altruistic behavior. Thirdly, after regression analysis of the relationship of the perception of organization justice and organization member behavior, perception of procedure justice was analyzed to have relatively high influence. Therefore, the hypothesis presented in this study was all chosen after the regression analysis results. This shows that the enhancement of organization member behavior can be improved. by enhancing the perception of organization justice. Thus, it can be concluded that if a private guard recognizes his justice, organization member behavior can be enhanced.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.134-141
• /
• 2017

This study examined 191 pregnant women before delivery in an obstetrics and gynecology clinic in North Gyeongsang Province from May to September 2016 by using a questionnaire after obtaining informed consent for voluntary participation in the study. The study was performed to investigate the association of depression with sociodemographic characteristics, pregnancy-related characteristics, social support, sleep quality and Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) in pregnant women. The prevalence of depression among the pregnant women was 25.1% in the healthy group and 74.9% in the depression group. The depression level was significantly higher in women in the depression group who were unsatisfied with their marriage life, had no occupation, had lower social support, had poor sleep quality and had higher OHIP scores. The results of the logistic regression analysis indicated that, the risk ratio for more severe depression was significantly higher in the group with no experience of miscarriage and induced childbirth than in the group with childbirth experience. Conversely, the risk ratio for more severe depression was significantly lower in the group with high social support than in the group with low social support. Depression in the respondents significantly positively correlated with sleep quality and OHIP score but significantly negatively correlated with social support. The multiple regression analysis revealed that the depression level was significantly higher by 22.3% among pregnant women with lower marital satisfaction, no childbirth experience, lower social support and higher OHIP scores. In summary, depression was related to marital satisfaction, childbirth experience, social support, and OHIP score, among others, in pregnant women in this study. Therefore, further investigation is warranted to construct programs and measures that will help build positive thinking by designing and verifying a three-dimensional study model by taking into consideration various variables to reduce the incidence of depression in pregnant women.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.137-148
• /
• 2003

Introduction: This research was performed to contract the attitude of dietary restriction and the psychological problems such as depressive mood and perceived stress and to investigate the relationship of these and obesity in women who visited the obesity clinic. Methods: During May 2001, sociodemographic variables, physical characteristics, Three Factor Eating Questionnaire(TFEQ), Symptom Check List-90-R(SCL-90-R) and Perceived Stress Scale were assessed from 150 female who visited the obesity clinics which were located at downtown, Seoul and the Hospital of Ajou University, Medical College. Hamilton depression rating scale(HDRS) was estimated by author. And then 116 female cases who filled up the questionnaire faithfully were included. Results: Obese group more than Body Mass Index(BMI) $25.0kg/m^2$ was 50% of the total subjects. BMI was increased as the age goes up(p<0.001). The frequency of unmarried cases in the under normal weight group was high rate of 48.8% while it in the obese group was 13.8%(p<0.001). There was no significant difference in the rate of smoking and alcohol drinking among subjects by BMI. There was no significant difference of TFEQ among subjects by BMI and the percent of body fat. Factor 2(r=0.27, p<0.01) and Factor 3(r=0.24, p<0.01) were significantly correlated with Global Severity Index(GSI). Only the paranoia scale among each estimated mean value of T scores of SCL-90-R by BMI was the significant difference between the overweight group and the obese group(p<0.05). T scores of scales of SCL-90-R were less than 50, but T scores of the under normal weight group and the obese group were higher than overweight group. GSI was significantly correlated with HDRS(r=0.75, p<0.01) and Perceived Stress Scale(r=0.32, p<0.01). Depressive mood in the obese group was significantly higher than non-obese group that HDRS was compared to two groups by the percent of body fat(p<0.05). Perceived Stress Scale was no significant correlation with BMI and the percent of body fat. All of the subject were in trouble of high stress. Stress affected dietary restriction owing that perceived stress had a relation with Factor 2(r=0.29, p<0.01) and Factor 3(r=0.37, p<0.01). Also, it affected psychological characteristics owing that perceived stress had a relation with the depression scale, GSI and HDRS(r=0.33, r=0.32, r=0.34, p<0.01). Conclusion: Obese women have more psychological difficulties including depression and high perceived stress, which closely related with the attitude of dietary restriction. Psychiatric intervention and aggressive assessment of psychological problems will be needed to the people who visit the obesity clinic in the future.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.95-107
• /
• 2015

Objective : To use and its affecting factors of patients' outpatient treatment that have single and multiple chronic illnesses Method : We used the 2011 study by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, "Report on Usage and Consumption of Korean Medicine." This report was conducted on outpatients and inpatients that visited Korean traditional medicine, from August 25th, 2011, to September 30th, 2011. Our research was based on 1729 patients with chronic diseases aged 30 and over who received outpatient treatment during the last three months. Results : There were 1365 patients with non-complex chronic diseases, while there were 364 patients with complex chronis diseases. Patients had 1 - 8 chronic diseases, and the average number (standard deviation) was 1.26 (0.59). There were statistically significant differences by sex(P<0.0001), age(p=0.0045), marriage (p=0.0060), education level(p<0.0001), income level(P=0.0063), and types of health insurance(p=0.0023). The diseases most common among patients with non-complex chronic diseases were: low back pain, arthritis, gastrointestinal disorder, frozen shoulder, side effects from motor accidents, high blood pressure, fracture, stroke, diabetes, cancer, atopic dermatitis, and asthma. The diseases most common among patients with non-complex chronic diseases were: arthritis+low back pain, low back pain+gastrointestinal disorder, low back pain+side effects from motor accidents, low back pain+frozen shoulder, arthritis+gastrointestinal disease, gastrointestinal disease+frozen shoulder, arthritis+low back pain+gastrointestinal disease, high blood pressure+arthritis, arthritis+low back pain+frozen shoulder, arthritis+fracture, and arthritis+side effects from motor accidents. There were statistically significant differences among the usage of medical clinics by: frequently used clinic (p<0.0001), number of treatment (p<0.0001), the cost of outpatient treatment (p=0.0073), the satisfaction rate (p=0.0171), whether the clinic is the preferred clinic (p=0.0040). In model 1, men than women, people who had local benefits instead of type 1 medical aid, and patients with complex chronic diseases were more likely to use Korean medical clinics. In model 2, men than women, people who had local benefits than people with types 1 and 2 medical aids, people who went to pharmacies and Korean medicine pharmacies than people who went to hospitals, people who went to get treatment 1-10 times than people who visited 11-20 times and more than 41 times, and people who spent less than ten thousand Korean won than people who spent 1 to 2 million Korean won, and people without complex chronic diseases were more likely to use Korean medical treatment. Conclusion : There were differences in sociodemographic characteristics and the usage of medical clinics between patients with non-complex chronic diseases and patients with complex chronic diseases. Among patients with complex chronic diseases, women, patients with types 1 and 2 medical aid, patients who used Korean medical clinics, patients who were treated 11-20 times and more than 41 times, and patients who spent 1 million to 2 million Korean won on outpatient treatment used less treatment than patients with non-complex chronic diseases. However, patients with complex chronic diseases used pharmacies and Korean medicine pharmacies more.