The purpose of this investigation was to provide an analysis of pregnancy outcomes among all married eligible women in a rural community. The target areas chosen were two townships on Kang Wha island. The study period lasted 24 months from April 1975 through March 1977. This paper presents the results of 1) a retrospective study 2) a prospective pregnancy followup study 3) a life table which provides the probabilities of pregnancy termination and estimated probabilities of fetal mortality. To obtain information on early pregnancies, all married eligible women were interviewed on their LMP at two months intervals. This enabled us to detect more pregnancies and fetal losses in earlier stages than would have been possible through customary reports from hospitals, registers of vital statistics and retrospective studies. All pregnancies reported in this study were identified through regular menstruation followup and subsequent confirmation of pregnancy in all cases where there was an amenorrhea for six weeks and more after the LMP using the pregnosticon test or other methods of pregnancy verification. All pregnancy terminations, losses to follow-up and continuing pregnancies at the end of the study period were then evaluated. Out of 1,106 pregnancies, 3l cases were lost to follow-up, 158 cases were pregnant at the end of the study period and 917 cases ended in deliveries during the study period. The estimates of the probability of normal pregnancy termination (pregnancy termination rates) are based on the number of terminations occurring in pregnancies exposed to termination risk during successive weeks of pregnancy. The pregnancy wastage rate turned out to be 23.6% in the retrospective study, 30.1% in the longitudinal study, and 34.5% in the life table. The estimated induced abortion rates were found to be negatively correlated with gestation period. The highest levels of induced abortion observed were 129 per 1,000 pregnancies under observation during the first 8 weeks of gestation and l47 induced abortions during the 9th-12th week of gestation. It could be shown by life table methodology that 87.1% of pregnancies continued beyond the 8th week and 72.7% beyond the l2th week. There after no remarkable change occured until the 37th-40th week, at the end of which period however, only 21.4% of the pregnancies continued. The life table technique allowed us to estimate that the cumulative rate of 1ive births from LMP to the end of pregnancy was 65.5%, induced abortion rate 29.5%, and stillbirth (including spontaneous abortion) rate was 5.0%. Also it appeared that, pregnancies which had continued throughout 8 weeks from LMP can be expected to continue on the average for 6.8 more months.
Abortion, Induced ; Actuarial Analysis ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Birth Rate ; Female ; Fetal Death/epidemiology ; Human ; Korea ; Pregnancy* ; Prospective Studies ; Retrospective Studies ; Rural Population

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to study the clinical outcome for patients with metastases of the adrenal gland treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-six patients were studied retrospectively. The dose prescription was 40 Gy in four fractions. Dosimetric analysis was performed using the dose volume histograms while clinical outcome was assessed using actuarial analysis with determination of the overall survival (OS) and local control (LC) rates. RESULTS: The planning objectives were met for all patients. With a median follow-up period of 7.6 months, at the last follow-up 42 patients (91.3%) were alive and four had died because of distant progression. The actuarial mean OS was 28.5±1.6 months, the median was not reached. One-year and 2-year OS were 87.6±6.1%. None of the risk factors was significant in univariate analysis. Actuarial mean LC was 14.6±1.8 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 11.0 to 18.2) and median LC was 14.5±2.0 months (95% CI, 10.5 to 18.5). One-year and 2-year LC were 65.5±11.9% and 40.7±15.8%, respectively. A mild profile of toxicity was observed in the cohort of patients. Forty patients (86.9%) showed no complication (grade 0); two patients reported asthenia, six patients (13.1%) reported either pain, nausea, or vomiting. Of these six patients, five patients (10.9%) were scored as grade 1 toxicity while one patient (2.2%) was scored as grade 2. CONCLUSION: Stereotactic body radiation therapy treatment provided an adequate clinical response in the management of adrenal gland metastases.
Actuarial Analysis ; Adrenal Glands ; Asthenia ; Cohort Studies ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Nausea ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Prescriptions ; Radiosurgery ; Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Vomiting

OBJECTIVETo provide an easy computational tool for evaluating the health condition of local residents.

METHODSAn abridged life table was programmed by applying mathematical functions and formula in Excel program and tested with the real study data to evaluate the results computed.

RESULTSThe Excel was capable of computing group death probability of age in the life table ((n)q(x)), number of survivors (l(x)), number of death ((n)d(x)), survival per person-year ((n)L(x)), survival total per person-year (T(x)) and life expectancy (e(x)). The calculated results were consistent with those by SAS.

CONCLUSIONThe abridged life table constructed using Microsoft Excel can conveniently and accurately calculate the relevant indices for evaluating the health condition of the residents.

OBJECTIVES: The main goal of this study was to find the incidence of the dimethylacetamide (DMAc) induced toxic liver injury among workers who were exposed to DMAc for about 5 years in a synthetic fiber factory. METHODS: In our investigation, total 1,021 workers had been exposed to DMAc from 1st February, 2000 to 30th June, 2004. Among them, 24 workers who had initial abnormal hepatic enzyme level or was viral hepatitis B carrier were excluded. Finally, 997 DMAc exposed workers were followed up for their incidence of toxic liver injury. To find out DMAc induced toxic liver injury case, we carried out regular examinations including liver enzyme tests such as AST and ALT. RESULTS: We followed up 997 workers and among them 72 cases coincided with our case definition. Incidence density method was 6.05 per 100 person-year. and, a cumulative incidence by life table method was 0.0965 within a year. The incidence of the DMAc-induced toxic liver injury peaked at 4 to 5 in weeks after employment. There was no toxic liver injury case within second week after exposure to DMAc. Five new cases developed in 2th to 3th week, 25 cases in 4th to 5th week, 14 cases in 6th to 7th week, 12 cases in 8th to 9th week, 5 cases in 10th to 11th week, 4 cases in 12th to 13th week, 4 cases in 14th to 15th week, 1 case in 16th to 17th week, 1 case in 30th to 31th week, and there was one case in 48th to 49th week. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence rate of toxic liver injury was considerably high during the 1st year after a worker is placed. So it is needed to take careful monitoring of hepatic enzyme level for newly exposed worker.
Employment ; Hepatitis B ; Incidence* ; Life Tables ; Liver*

Aged ; China ; Health Status ; Humans ; Life Expectancy ; Life Tables

As the population of senior people has been increased rapidly during the past 30 years in Koera, the health policy and related research in this field are strongly demanded to manage various problems which can be derived from the gerontic phenomenon. We estimated the death rates up to 2010 using the annual mortality data published by the National Statistical Office from 1970 to 1995 by time series analysis and calculated the survival curves, life expectancy by life table method with modified Graville's formular and proposed several measures which can be used in describing the theory of retangularization of survival curves and compression of mortality hypothesis. According to the results, the relative and absolute rectangularization and the convergency of survival curves were observed, and all the Keyfitz's H, NH, SD, and CV decreased while the life expectancy increased in the period of 1970 to 2010. So we conclude that the hypothesis of mortality compression suggested by Fries explains the changing pattern of aged population in Korea very well.
Health Policy ; Korea ; Life Expectancy ; Life Tables ; Mortality*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: In order to provide a complete obstacle to tumoral growth, we designed a new self-expandible metal stent fully covered with polyurethane membrane. The purpose of the study was to compare the safety and effectiveness of a new membrane-covered Niti-S stent versus conventional uncovered Wallstent. METHODS: In a prospective trial, 59 patients with malignant extrahepatic biliary obstruction received either a newly developed covered metal stent (Niti-S stent, 30 cases) or an uncovered metal stent (Wallstent, 29 cases) by the endoscopic transpapillary route. RESULTS: Effective biliary decompression was achieved in all patients initially, and short-term results were similar in both groups. Stent failure was observed in 4 of the 30 patients (13%) after a median period of 165 days in the Niti-S group and in 8 of the 29 patients (28%) after a median period of 152 days in the Wallstent group. The reasons of stent failure were occlusion (n=3) and migration (n=1) in the covered Niti-S stent group and occlusion (n=8) in uncovered Wallstent group. According to the Kaplan-Meier life table analysis, the patency rates after 90, 180, and 360 days were 100%, 90%, and 74% in covered Niti-S stent group and 100%, 73%, and 61% in uncovered Wallstent group respectively. The occluded membrane-covered Niti-S stent was easily removed endoscopically and a new Niti-S stent was reinserted in one patient. CONCLUSIONS: The new, membrane-covered Niti-S stent has a lower stent failure rate and a tendency toward long-term patency rate compared to uncovered Wallstent. The covering may effectively prevent tumor ingrowth and it is sometimes possible to remove an occluded Niti-S stent.
Decompression ; Humans ; Life Tables ; Membranes ; Polyurethanes ; Prospective Studies ; Stents*

Neuroblastoma is a malignant neoplasm which arises from primitive sympathetic neuroblasts. It is the second most common solid tumor in young children, exceeded in incidence only by brain tumors. This tumor shows immunological features and spontaneous regression. But, in spite of recent advances in multimodality therapy survival rate has not been improved much. We reviewed 33 patients with neuroblastoma who had been diagnosed and treated between 1974 and 1980, and calculated survival rate by life table method
Brain Neoplasms ; Child ; Humans ; Incidence ; Life Tables ; Neuroblastoma* ; Survival Rate

Health-Adjusted Life Expectancy (HALE) is a summary measurement that estimates the average number of years that a person at a given age can expect to live an equivalent of full health. HALE has not been previously reported at national or regional levels in Korea. This study aimed to measure HALE from 2005 to 2011 in Korea at both the national and regional levels as part of the Korean National Burden Study of 2012. To measure life expectancy (LE) and HALE, we used the life table method and an approach proposed by Sullivan. We used three main data sets to estimate HALE: probability of death, prevalence of disease, and disability weights. Overall, LE and HALE have increased from 2005 to 2011. For example, in 2011, LE and HALE at birth in males were 77.6 and 65.8 years, respectively, and 84.4 and 68.9 in females. It might be assumed that the overall health status of Korean population has been increasing. However, we confirmed that a gap between LE and HALE still exists. Additionally, we found out that there was a significant difference between LE and HALE among various sub-regions. This study is the first to measure HALE using our own database, including disability weight that reflected Korean preferences. Finally, the Korean government and society should make an effort to reduce the gap between LE and HALE and to reduce regional differences.
Dataset ; Female ; Humans ; Korea* ; Life Expectancy* ; Life Tables ; Male ; Parturition ; Prevalence ; Republic of Korea ; Weights and Measures

BACKGROUND: The life span of leprosy was shorter than general populations prior to sulfone therapy. OBJECTIVE: This study set out to determine the life length of leprosy patients in comparison with general populations. METHODS: The subject of this study was the dead leprosy patients from January 1970 to December 1991, registered in Taegu Fatima hospital Leprosy Clinic, Korea. The data were obtained by analyzing medical records of dead leprosy patients and simutaneously life tables. After the age of onset(Xi), the life expectancy of Xi in the life table(Ex) and the age of death(X) were examined, and then a real life expectancy(rEx) was computed by X-Xi-Ex (rEx=X-Xi-Ex). RESULTS: The average life span of leprosy patients was 60.80+/-14.11 years in comparison with 67.04years of general populations. In regard to real life expectancy, patients were -4.98+/-13.5years; that is, the patients' life expectancy is shorter tan general populations by about 5yerars. For the span of life by disease type was 59.26+/-13.9years, PB type 62.42+/-14.1(p>0.1). For those whose age of onset occured before(n=77) and after (n=244) 20-years: average life span 54.57+/-14.9, 62.77+/-13.2(p<0.01) : real life expectancy -6.53+/-17.3, -4.49+/-12.1(p>0.1). In MB type between before(n=40) and after(n=124) age 20 : average life span 52.40+/-13.9, 61.47+/-13.2(p<0.01) : real life expectancy -83+/-17.3, -5.71+/-12.1(p>0.1). In PB type between before(n=37) and after(n=119) age 20 : average life span 56.92+/-15.7, 64.13+/-13.2(p<0.05); real life expectancy -4.59+/-17.1, -3.15+/-12.1(p>0.1). For those whose death year occured before(n=158) and after(n=163) 1981: average life span 58.31+/-13.99+/-13.85(p<0.01): real life expectancy -8.48+/-11.97, -1.59+/-14.15(p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The average life span of leprosy patients was shorter than general populations was shorter than general populations by about 5years.(
Age of Onset ; Daegu ; Humans ; Korea ; Leprosy* ; Life Expectancy ; Life Tables ; Medical Records ; Triacetoneamine-N-Oxyl