• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.675-684
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• 2017

Provider-oriented weather information has been rapidly changing to become more customer-oriented and personalized. Given the increasing interest in wellness and health topics, the demand for health weather information, and biometeorology, also increased. However, research on changes in the human body according to weather conditions is still insufficient due to various constraints, and interdisciplinary research is also lacking. As part of an effort to change that, this study surveyed medical practitioners at an actual treatment site, using questionnaires, to investigate what kind of weather information they could utilize. Although there was a limit to the empirical awareness that medical staff had about weather information, most respondents noted that there is a correlation between disease and weather, with cardiovascular diseases (coronary artery disease (98.5%) and hypertension (95.9% ), skin diseases (atopic dermatitis (100%), sunburn (93.8%)) being the most common weather-sensitive ailments. Although there are subject-specific differences, most weather-sensitive diseases tend to be affected by temperature and humidity in general. Respiratory and skin diseases are affected by wind and solar radiation, respectively.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.330-347
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• 2023

Purpose: This study identified words closely associated with the keyword "dietary supplement" (DS) using big data in Korean social media and investigated consumer perceptions and trends related to DSs before (2019) and after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (2021). Methods: A total of 37,313 keywords were found for the 2019 period, and 35,336 keywords were found for the 2021 period using blogs and cafes on Daum and Naver. Results were derived by text mining, semantic networking, network visualization analysis, and sentiment analysis. Results: The DS-related keywords that frequently appeared before and after COVID-19 were "recommend", "vitamin", "health", "children", "multiple", and "lactobacillus". "Calcium", "lutein", "skin", and "immunity" also had high frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) values. These keywords imply a keen interest in DSs among Korean consumers. Big data results also reflected social phenomena related to DSs; for example, "baby" and "pregnant woman" had lower TD-IDF values after the pandemic, suggesting lower marriage and birth rates but higher values for "joint", indicating reduced physical activity. A network centered on vitamins and health care was produced by semantic network analysis in 2019. In 2021, values were highest for deficiency and need, indicating that individuals were searching for DSs after the COVID-19 pandemic due to a lack an awareness of the need for adequate nutrient intake. Before the pandemic, DSs and vitamins were associated with healthcare and life cycle-related topics, such as pregnancy, but after the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer interests changed to disease prevention and treatment. Conclusion: This study provides meaningful clues regarding consumer perceptions and trends related to DSs before and after the COVID-19 pandemic and fundamental data on the effect of the pandemic on consumer interest in dietary supplements.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.51-60
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• 2016

Consumers who use mobile applications for their skin care are increasing due to increasing interest in skin care and smart phone use. A survey was conducted to select popular skin care mobile applications to be installed in the smart phone targeting 1,000 men and women in South Korea who are interested in their skin care. Questioned items included skin care awareness and recognition, skin care type, and the intention of using skin health care mobile services. The respondents thought the best skin as 'Flawless skin (52.3%)'. Also, 'Skin trouble' and 'Skin aging' were their major concerns. 47.1% of the respondents used mobile skin care applications, and 56.6% intended to try new mobile skin care services. The results on interesting field of skin care showed significant difference depending on gender, marital status, and annual average household income. Moreover, the results on effort made for skin care showed significant difference depending on age, gender, and marital status. They wanted the functions such as 'Review on cosmetic products by brand (23.8%)', 'Self skincare method (16.8%)', 'Continuous monitoring service (16.2%)', 'Information on cosmetic products (13.4%)'. The result of this study would be reliable as basic material for skincare mobile service area. Further studies could be focused on developing application in accordance with needs and how it should be applied.