To understand the possible hazards to health from the environmental pollution in Korea, the articles reported in 16 daily newspapers were collected and analyzed. From 1980 to 1991, ninety three cases were reported. Statistics show that, during the last 2 years, there has been a remarkable increases of health problems reported. The main sources of pollution were plants and the transportation facilities. Except the noise, the exact causative factors were, for the most part, not clearly described. Although many residents complained of neurological symptoms, the exact effects on health were not clearly investigated. The responses of the residents were diverse in the contents of the demand and the method of its pushing, however, the government did not show immediate and consistent counterplans.
Environmental Pollution ; Korea ; Newspapers* ; Noise ; Transportation ; Periodicals

The purpose of this study was to take the right direction and meet the requirements of newspaper function about child health through evaluation of child health information articles in newspapers. Data were collected 4 main daily newspaper by selecting child health information articles during 1 year from January 1 to December 31, 1998. The results of this study are as follows. The frequency according to health category, disease treatment(47.7%) topped followed by health maintenance?promotion(28.8%), growth?development(12.1%), disease prevention(11.4%). The frequency according to WHO international disease classification, infectious disease (23.6%) take most. In evaluation area of child health information, practical usage(3.78) topped followed by accuracy(3.68), comprehensiveness(3.64), clearness (3.48), concreteness(3.33).
Child ; Child* ; Classification ; Communicable Diseases ; Humans ; Newspapers* ; Child Health* ; Periodicals

The purpose of this study was to take the right direction and meet the requirements of newspaper function about child health through evaluation of child health information articles in newspapers. Data were collected 4 main daily newspaper by selecting child health information articles during 1 year from January 1 to December 31, 1998. The results of this study are as follows. The frequency according to health category, disease treatment(47.7%) topped followed by health maintenance?promotion(28.8%), growth?development(12.1%), disease prevention(11.4%). The frequency according to WHO international disease classification, infectious disease (23.6%) take most. In evaluation area of child health information, practical usage(3.78) topped followed by accuracy(3.68), comprehensiveness(3.64), clearness (3.48), concreteness(3.33).
Child ; Child* ; Classification ; Communicable Diseases ; Humans ; Newspapers* ; Child Health* ; Periodicals

BACKGROUND: There has been increasing concern about dermatological health information among the general population. Despite the substantial amount of dermatological articles in the mass media, little is known about their credibility. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the credibility of dermatological articles in free newspapers, one of the recently popular mass media. METHODS: Articles including dermatological information were selected from 5 free newspapers from July 2006 to February 2007. They were classified according to theme and type of consultant and were evaluated for their credibility. RESULTS: A total of 361 articles were identified. Articles about self skin care (26.6%) were most frequent, followed by cosmetic therapy (18.7%), acne (17.1%), hair (16.5%) and atopic dermatitis (6.3%). As the consultants, dermatologists (38.0%) were most common, followed by oriental medical doctors (21.5%), non-medical consultants doctors (13.3%) and other medical specialists (13.0%). There were also articles without consultant input (14.6%). Credibility assessment revealed that 213 (67.4%) articles were credible, but 91 (28.8%) were incredible and 12 (3.8%) could not be evaluated based on the dermatological references. While most of the information from dermatologists and other medical specialists were credible, those from the other types of consultants or without consultant input showed a much higher proportion of incredible information. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that there are many incredible dermatological articles in free newspapers, most of which are consulted from those other than dermatologists or other medical specialists. Therefore we suggest that dermatologists need to increase their public health role in the mass media.
Acne Vulgaris ; Consultants ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Hair ; Humans ; Mass Media ; Newspapers* ; Public Health ; Skin Care ; Specialization

The purpose of this study was to provide basic data in child health education or counselling through content analysis related to child health in newspaper articles. Data were collected 8 daily newspaper by selecting health articles from neonate to adolescent period during 1 year from January 1 to December 31 in 1998. The data were analyzed in the framework of content analysis method and the reliability degree was 98% by the method of Holsti. The results of this study are as follows. 1. The frequency according to health category, disease treatment(46.7%) topped followed by health maintenance . promotion(28.0%), disease prevention(14.7%), growth? development(10.6%). 2. The frequency according to season, summer(36. 4%) rank first. 3. The frequency according to WHO international disease classification, infectious disease(29.6%) take most. 4. According to child developmental age, similar frequency showed from infant to adolescent except neonate. 5. 201 themes, 43 category, 4 health categories were confirmed in the content analysis. 6. Health maintence . promotion occupy 28.0% of health category include 14 categories. 7. Growth . development include 6 category occupying 10.6% of the whole health category. 8. Disease prevention occupy 14.7%0 of health category and contain 6 categories. 9. Disease treatment take top of health category by the rate of 46.7% and contain 17 categories.
Adolescent ; Child ; Child Development ; Child Health* ; Child* ; Classification ; Education ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Newspapers* ; Seasons ; Periodicals

OBJECTIVES: The mass media play a crucial role in risk communication regarding climate change. The aim of this study was to investigate the trend in journalistic reports on climate change in the daily newspapers of Korea. METHODS: We selected 9 daily newspapers in Korea, which according to the ABC Association, represented 77% of newspaper circulation, out of a total of 44 Korean daily newspapers. The collected articles were from 2009 to 2011. All of the articles were sorted into the following 8 categories: greenhouse gas, climate change conventions, sea level rise, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change synthesis reports, expected damage and effect, use of fossil fuels, global warming, and mitigation or adaptation. A chi-squared test was done on the articles, which were counted and classified into cause, effect, and measurement of climate change according to the newspaper's majority or minority ownership structure. RESULTS: From the 9 selected newspapers, the number of articles on climate change by month was greatest in December 2009. Generally, the articles vague about climate change (lack of precise data, negative or skeptical tone, and improper use of terminology) were much more common than the articles presenting accurate knowledge. A statistical difference was found based on ownership structure: the majority-owned newspapers addressed the cause of climate change, while the minority-owned newspapers referred more to climate change measurement. CONCLUSIONS: Our investigation revealed that generally Korean daily newspapers did not deliver accurate information about climate change. The coverage of the newspapers showed significant differences according to the ownership structure.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; *Climate Change ; Global Warming ; Greenhouse Effect ; Humans ; Newspapers/*trends ; *Ownership ; Republic of Korea

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop an environmental education program using newspaper articles in education (NIE) and to evaluate changes in concern and practice for environmental protection after NIE. METHODS: The design was a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The participants were university students in nursing, of which 31 were assigned to the experimental group and 43 to the control group. The education was carried out for 2 hr, once a week for 7 weeks. Data were analyzed with SPSS WIN 14 program, and included chi-square test, independent t-test, and repeated measure ANOVA. RESULTS: NIE showed significant differences in the changes of attitude toward environment (F=4.461, p=.036). CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that this NIE in environmental education was effective in changing students' attitudes toward the environment. Therefore this NIE is recommended for inclusion in education for university students in nursing.
Adult ; Attitude ; Data Interpretation, Statistical ; Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate ; *Environmental Pollution ; Humans ; *Newspapers ; Students, Nursing/psychology

PURPOSE: This study aimed to compare differences on sexual satisfaction between non-smokers and smokers of Korean adult males. METHOD: The subjects of this study were 304 current smokers and 331 current non-smokers(stop smokers, never smokers) (58.0%). Because of the nature of the study, the participants were recruited through a home page advertisement of a brand newspaper company in Korea, and the survey was done through Internet system. The tool to measure participant's sexual satisfaction was adopted from the Arizona Sexual Experience Scale-Male. RESULT: Participant's age ranged from 20 to 49, mostly in their 30s-40s(96.1%). They were smoking average of 15 cigarettes per day. There were no significant difference on sexual satisfaction between current smokers and non- smokers(t=-.55, p>.05). However, there were significant difference on sexual satisfaction between ever smokers(n=481) and never smokers(n=154) (t=2.10, p<.05). There were significant differences an erectile and orgasm satisfaction according to number of cigarettes they smoked per day. 54.5% smokers who said that they have difficulty in keeping erectile state considered on smoking cessation within 30 days whereas 24.2% in those who said that keeping erectile state was easy. CONCLUSION: Informing about the high risk of sexual dysfunction with cigarette smoking should become a important part of smoking cessation education and for smoking adolescents.
Adolescent ; Adult* ; Arizona ; Education ; Humans ; Internet ; Korea ; Male* ; Newspapers ; Orgasm ; Periodicals ; Smoke* ; Smoking Cessation ; Smoking* ; Tobacco Products

The print media is still one of major sources for health-related information. To shed light on how the media accurately delivers information for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we searched the newspaper articles and analyzed their contents for accuracy in the description of symptoms, causes, and treatment of PTSD. The articles featuring PSTD were searched from the very first available to 2010 at on-line search systems of three major Korean newspapers. A total of 123 articles appeared and the first article appeared in 1984. The number of articles steadily increased till the early 2000s but we found the robust increase in the late 2000s. Among the mentioned symptoms of PTSD: re-experience (39%) was most common, followed by avoidance or numbing (28%) and hyperarousal (22%). Of the 29 articles mentioning treatment of PTSD, 13 mentioned psychotherapy only and 11 mentioned both psychotherapy and medication equally. However, the psychotherapies mentioned were non-specific and only five articles mentioned any empirically supported therapies. The number of articles on PTSD in Korean newspapers has continually increased during the last three decades. However, the quality of information on the treatment of PTSD was questionable.
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; *Information Dissemination ; Newspapers/*statistics & numerical data ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/*epidemiology

OBJECTIVES: This study investigates whether Korean news media pay more attention to emerging diseases than chronic ones, and whether they closely follow the changes in the magnitude of health risks of chronic or well-known diseases. These two features are expected to appear as the result of surveillance function served by health journalism that should be the main source of the public's risk perception. METHODS: The number of stories published in 10 newspapers containing the words, 'SARS,' 'Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy,' 'Avian Influenza,' and 'Influenza A virus' was compared with the number of stories on chronic or well-known diseases. We also counted the annual number of stories, published in a 12-year period, containing following terms: 'cancer,' 'diabetes,' 'hypertension,' 'pneumonia,' and 'tuberculosis.' The number was compared with the actual mortality of each disease. RESULTS: Although cancer represented the primary cause of mortality, the newspapers covered key emerging diseases more than cancer or other well-known diseases. Also, media coverage of 'pneumonia' and 'tuberculosis' did not vary in accordance with changes in the mortality of each disease. However, the news media coverage did vary in accordance with the mortality of 'cancer,' 'diabetes,' and 'hypertension.' CONCLUSIONS: Korean health journalism was found to have both strong and weak points. The news media reduced the relative level of attention given to pneumonia and tuberculosis. Bearing in mind the major influence of news coverage on risk perception, health professionals need to be more proactive about helping to improve Korean health journalism.
*Access to Information ; Bibliometrics ; *Chronic Disease ; *Disease Outbreaks ; Humans ; *Journalism, Medical ; Newspapers ; Population Surveillance ; Public Health ; Republic of Korea ; *Risk Assessment