Purpose: Workers in special employment relationship (WSERs) are workers in nonstandard employment arrangements who lack worker protection accorded in standard employment arrangements. This study aimed to describe self-rated health (SRH) and depressive symptoms (DS) among Korean WSERs in comparison to regular wage workers (RWW) and identify associations between working conditions and those outcomes. Methods: In this study, secondary data analysis using the 5th Korean Working Conditions Survey was used. The sample totaled 29,120, including 1,538 WSERs and 27,564 RWWs. Sociodemographic and work-related characteristics were employed as explanatory variables and SRH and DS as dependent variables. Using multiple logistic regression, the determinants of fair/poor SRH and DS were identified. Results: The prevalence rates for fair/poor SRH and DS in WSERs were 25.2% and 28.3%, respectively, and 20.7% and 25.0% in RWWs, respectively. Compared to RWWs, WSERs had 31% (aOR=1.31, 95% CI=1.14~1.49) and 20% (aOR=1.20, 95% CI=1.06~1.36) higher odds of SRH and DS, respectively.Some factors, such as a lack of rest guarantee and sickness presenteeism, had a larger influence in the WSER than in the RWW group. Conclusion Compared to RWWs, WSERs reported having poorer working conditions and were more likely to report poor general and mental health. Therefore, in Korea, public health policymakers should consider measures to protect the working conditions and health of WSERs, a growing segment of the working population. The study produced new epidemiological evidence regarding the relationships between employment arrangements and health.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this research was to identify the relationship of empathy, communication style, and coping type with students exhibiting a attention deficit disorder hyperactivity (ADHD). METHODS: Participants were 238 elementary school teachers living in 5 cities in Korea. The teacher's answered questions about their empathy level, communication style and coping type when teaching students with ADHD. Data were analyzed using t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficients with SPSS 21.0. RESULTS: Teachers' cognitive and emotional empathy were at the same level. For communication styles used by the teachers, reception-encouragement was the most widely used and nonreception-commanding style was the least widely used. With regard to how to deal with student with ADHD, passive coping type was most widely used and active and negative coping followed in that order. Teachers with higher levels of empathy, used more active coping. For communication, the correlation between reception-encouragement and passive coping had the highest level. CONCLUSION: These result suggest the necessity of developing and providing empathy boosting programs about students with ADHD as well as special workshops to increase communication efficacy and coping skills with school-aged ADHD students.
Adaptation, Psychological ; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity* ; Education ; Empathy* ; Humans ; Korea

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of nursing work environment and job stress on health problems of hospital nurses. METHODS: The subjects were 200 nurses working in S general hospital in Gyeongnam, and the data were collected using organized questionnaire from Jan 10 to 25, 2015. The Korean version of the practice environment scale of nursing work index, the instrument for job stress, and the Korean version of Todie Health Index for health problem were used for measurement. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation, and multiple regression. RESULTS: The nursing work environment was found to be slightly negative, and the job stress was found to be high. There were significant correlation among nursing work environment, job stress, and health problems. In addition, it showed that the nursing work environment and job stress of nurses were factors affecting their health problems. CONCLUSION: The nursing work environment and job stress are influencing factors on the health problems of hospital nurses. Multi-faceted efforts to create a positive nursing work environment are required. Further researches related to association between the nursing work environment and health problem of nurses are needed.
Hospitals, General ; Nursing*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the migration patterns of new nurses and experienced nurses and to identify the factors influencing inter-regional migration for solving regional imbalances of clinical nurses in South Korea. METHODS: This study involved a secondary analysis of data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: New nurses tended to migrate from Kyunggi to Seoul. However, experienced nurses tended to migrate from Seoul and Chungchung to Kyunggi. Significant predictors of inter-regional migration among new nurses were location and nurse staffing grade of hospitals. Significant predictors of inter-regional migration among experienced nurses were location, hospital type, nurse staffing grade, ownership of hospitals and age of nurses. CONCLUSION: Inter-regional migration occupied a small portion of total hospital movement among clinical nurses. The regional imbalances of nurses were not caused by the migration from non-metropolitan areas to Seoul. Nurse shortage problems in the small and medium hospitals of the non-metropolitan area can be solved only through improvement of work environment.
Geography ; Gyeonggi-do ; Health Care Rationing ; Human Migration ; Insurance, Health ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Ownership ; Personnel Turnover ; Seoul

Heart rate variability (HRV) is a useful marker for predicting mortality and cardiovascular events in cardiac diseases. Various time- and frequency-domain parameters are used for assessing HRV. The time-domain measures include standard deviation of the NN intervals (SDNN), standard deviation of the average NN interval, root mean square of the successive differences SDNN index, NN50 count, and pNN50, while the power spectrum that is used the most widely in frequency-domain analyses is divided into low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), LF norm, HF norm, and LF/HF. The HF band is modulated by the parasympathetic nervous system, while the LF band is modulated by both the sympathetic and parasympatheticnervous systems. Altered or reduced HRV parameters have been shown to be related to cardiovascular events in patients with various neurological disorders, such as parkinsonian syndromes, dementia, cerebrovascular disorder, and epilepsy. Furthermore, analyses of HRV have attempted to distinguish different diseases and evaluate the degree of disability. This article discusses the clinical use of HRV in the neurological field.
Cerebrovascular Disorders ; Dementia ; Epilepsy ; Heart Diseases ; Heart Rate* ; Heart* ; Humans ; Mortality ; Nervous System Diseases* ; Parasympathetic Nervous System ; Parkinsonian Disorders

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine social capital and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of residents who were living in the three regions(Masan, Jinhae, and Changwon) of integrated Changwon and to analyze the effect of social capital on HRQoL. METHODS: This study used the Masan, Jinhae and Changwon data of the 2013 Community Health Survey. The social capital questionnaire consisted of three subdomains (trust, participation, and network). HRQoL was measured with the Korean-version EQ-5D. The effect of social capital on HRQoL was analyzed using multiple regression with controlling for general characteristics and health behavior. RESULTS: The trust level of Masan citizen was highest among the three regions. Jinhae citizen showed the highest level of participation and network out of the three regions. Trust was not a significant influencing factor in any of the three models. Participation was a significant influencing factor in all of the three models. Network was a significant influencing factor only in the Masan model. CONCLUSION: Participation was the most important factor for health among the three social capital subdomains. Strategies for encouraging social participation are needed for health promotion for the residents of integrated Changwon.
Gyeongsangnam-do* ; Health Behavior ; Health Promotion ; Health Surveys* ; Quality of Life* ; Social Determinants of Health ; Social Participation

Laryngomalacia is the most common congenital anomaly that causes inspiratory stridor and airway obstruction in the newborn. Symptoms begin to appear after weeks of age, become worse at 4-8 months, improve between 8-12 months, and usually heal naturally at 12-18 months. Despite these common natural processes, the symptoms of the disease can be very diverse and, in severe cases, require surgical treatment. The diagnosis can be made by suspicion of clinical symptoms and direct observation of the larynx with the spontaneous breathing of the child. Typical laryngeal features include omega-shaped epiglottis, retroflexed epiglottis, short aryepiglottic fold, poor visualization of the vocal folds, and edema of the posterior glottis, including inspiratory supra-arytenoid tissue prolapse. In this review, we discuss the classification and treatment based on symptoms and laryngoscopic findings in patients with laryngomalacia.
Airway Obstruction ; Child ; Classification* ; Comorbidity ; Diagnosis ; Edema ; Epiglottis ; Glottis ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Laryngomalacia* ; Larynx ; Prolapse ; Respiration ; Respiratory Sounds ; Vocal Cords

PURPOSE: This study aims to investigate the cross-sectional association of company size and self-rated health using representative data on Korean workers. METHODS: We used the data from 2,884 wage workers collected by Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (17th). The association between company size and self-rated health was analyzed using logistic regression with covariates including demographic characteristics, work environment, job satisfaction, and health-related behaviors. RESULTS: Odds ratio (OR) for better health status among workers in large-sized company was 1.351 (CI. 1.054~1.731), compared to workers in small-sized company. We performed three separate models stratified by firm size (small, medium, and large companies). Occupation variables showed different effect on health depending on firm sizes. OR for better health of white-color job (referred to blue-color job) was 1.693 in medium-sized company model but it was 0.615 in large company model. OR for better health of the workers working shift work showed 0.606 in large company model but it was not significant in small and medium company models. CONCLUSION: We found that small-sized company workers have significantly poor self-rated health compared to large-sized firm workers. This study revealed that there exist differences among health related factors depending on firm sizes.
Health Promotion ; Job Satisfaction ; Logistic Models ; Occupational Health Nursing ; Occupations ; Odds Ratio ; Salaries and Fringe Benefits

PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine health problems experienced by workers in special employment relationships (WSER) and identify coping strategies used when such problems occur. METHODS: This qualitative study used the focus group interview method. Thirteen study participants included five home-visit tutors, five insurance salespersons, and three credit card recruiters. The interviews were conducted from November 2018 through January 2019, with each occupational group interview lasting about 2 hours. Analysis based on phenomenological research was independently performed by two researchers. RESULTS: Most participants had common health problems involving vocal cord symptoms, and stress related to emotional labor and traffic accidents. The unique health problems included cystitis, musculoskeletal, and digestive symptoms in home-visit tutors; reduced vision and hearing in insurance salespersons; and mental distress in credit card recruiters. There was no protection system for their health coverage, and the company emphasized their self-employed status to avoid taking responsibility for them. Twelve participants did not purchase occupational accident insurance owing to both not having adequate information and economic burden concerning premium status. CONCLUSION WSER experienced both physical and mental health problems. These problems were caused by their unstable employment status, and the social security system for their coverage being non-functioning.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between professional self-concept and job satisfaction of nurses working in long-term care hospitals and to consider strategies to improve these factors. Methods: Data were collected using structured questionnaires given to 135 nurses working at six long-term care hospitals in C City. The data were analyzed with SPSS 23.0 by descriptive statistics, Cronbach’s ⍺, t-test, one-way ANOVA, a Scheffé test, and with Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: The average score for professional self-concept was 2.78 points (out of 4 points), and the average score for job satisfaction was 3.11 points (out of 5 points). Significant differences were found for professional self-concept according to age, marriage status, total work experience, number of patients per nurse, and position, while job satisfaction showed significant differences depending on age and the number of patients in the ward. Professional self-concept and job satisfaction showed a significant positive correlation (r=.46, p<.001). Conclusion In long-term care hospitals, it is necessary to provide education programs about nursing practice, communication, and leadership to enhance the professional self-concept of nurses. With regard to job satisfaction for nurses, it is imperative to improve the work environment of long-term care hospitals.