Recent changes in the cause of death among the Korean population seem to be systematic and significant. Data on cause of death from the medically certified death certificates provide at least four types of evidence: a sudden increase in recent years in the numbers of death due to cerebrovascular disease or circulatory diseases including rheumatic fever and chronic heart disease and althersclerosis; increasing steadily in the numbers of death due to malignant neoplasm of various sites, and death due to accident; decreasing steadily in the numbers of death due to communicable diseases or parasite diseases; and a large number of deaths with unspecified symptoms and ill-defined conditions. The lack of complete registration of the occurred or the incomplete description on the cause of death reported suggests that statistical information of cause if death form the medically certified death records is meaning in interpreting changing patterns.
Cause of Death* ; Certification* ; Communicable Diseases ; Death Certificates ; Heart Diseases ; Parasites ; Rheumatic Fever

Pattern of changes in hospital morbidity rates, calculated from medical records were presented for the inpatients population, who were admitted to Severance Hospital and were discharged from March 1, 1970 to February 28, 1978. Diseases were classified according to the International Classification of Diseases and Injuries of the World Health Organization. Infectious diseases, such as bacillary and amebic dysenteries, parasitic diseases and respiratory tuberculosis have decreased, and non-infectious diseases, such as malignant neoplasms, congenital anomalies, diabetes mellitus, and hypertensive heart diseases have increased.
Hospital Records ; Human ; Korea ; Morbidity*

The purpose of this study was to verify whether small intestinal peristalsis could be observed and quantitatively assessed using pulsed-Doppler ultrasound. Pulsed-Doppler ultrasound was used to evaluate small intestinal peristalsis after a meal in ten normal dogs and ten sedated dogs. The small intestinal peristalses were measured 0, 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 hours after a 24-hour fast and after feeding. The number of small intestinal peristalsis were 0.133/min, 0.100/min, 0.033/min, 0.167/min, 0.070/min, 0.067/min, and 0.100/min in the fasted dogs, and 1.667/ min, 0.933/min, 1.133/min, 1.234/min, 1.933/min, 1.533/ min, and 0.533/min in fed dogs, respectively. In the dogs sedated with xylazine HCl, the number of small intestinal peristalsis was significantly reduced (p<0.01). However, in the dogs treated with ketamine HCl and acepromazine, the number of small intestinal peristalsis remained unchanged. Therefore, it can be concluded that pulsed-Doppler ultrasound allows graphic visualization of the intestinal movements, which can be subjected to qualitative and quantitative analysis, and may be suitable for a non-invasive study of small intestinal motility.
Acepromazine/pharmacology ; Animals ; Dogs ; Dopamine Antagonists/pharmacology ; Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists/pharmacology ; *Gastrointestinal Motility/drug effects ; Intestine, Small/drug effects/*physiology/ultrasonography ; Ketamine/pharmacology ; Peristalsis/drug effects/*physiology ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Pulsed/methods/*veterinary

No abstract available.
Comparative Study ; Death Certificates ; Human ; Korea ; Life Expectancy ; Mortality* ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVES: Breast cancer has been the most prevalent female cancer in South Korea since 2001. Early detection of this disease is the most effective strategy for reducing mortality. The objective of this study was to identify factors which could predict advanced stage at diagnosis of breast cancer. METHODS: Participants who were initially diagnosed with breast cancer and referred to the Stress Clinic of the Breast Cancer Center at Kyungpook National University Hospital were included. Through a semi-structured interview, the authors investigated psychosocial variables such as the extent of marital and family functioning and emotional-economic family burden as well as sociodemographic and health behavior-, health characteristic- and cancer-related variables. RESULTS: Data were collected from 219 participants. One hundred and twenty(54.8%) subjects were diagnosed with advanced-stage breast cancer. Variables that were significantly different between the advanced-stage and early-stage groups included : monthly breast self examination(p<0.000), annual mammographic screening(p< 0.000), mode of tumor detection(p<0.000), nature of the first symptoms(p<0.000), time to treatment after di-agnosis(p<0.000), overloaded economic and family burden(p=0.018), marital functioning(p<0.000) and family functioning(p<0.00). Logistic regression analysis indicated that irregular annual mammography screening(OR=7.431 ; 95% CI 2.407-22.944) or a lack of screening(OR=25.299 ; 95% CI 7.855-81.482) and a dysfunctional marital relationship(OR=4.772 ; 95% CI 2.244-10.145) were significantly associated with advanced stage at diagnosis of breast cancer. CONCLUSIONS: We reconfirmed screening behavior to be a risk factor for delayed diagnosis of breast cancer. Our findings also emphasized the importance of psychosocial factors such as marital functioning in early detection of breast cancer. Psychiatric consultation in the area of martial functioning could be beneficial for increasing early detection in breast cancer.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Delayed Diagnosis* ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Humans ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Mammography ; Marriage* ; Mass Screening ; Mortality ; Psychology* ; Risk Factors ; Time-to-Treatment

Brass' theoretical model of fertility was applied to the tabulated data of the specific demographic sampling survey (BOS, 1966) in order to assess and to estimate fertility rates in Korea. The estimated total fertility rate, age pattern of fertility rate and other related findings are summarized as follows: 1) In estimating fertility rates throughout the model, the ratios of estimated average parity (Bi) to cumulative current fertility (Fi) showed that the model is only applicable to the data from sub-sample 2 of the rural area. 2) The level of fertility in terms of the total fertility rate in the rural area was in the range of 6.49 to 6.62, remaining at this high level until 1966. 3) The corrected age (grouped in five years)specific birth rates in the rural area by the model were fl=0.015, f2=0.243, f3=0.427, f4=0.278, f5=0.232, f6=0.093 and f7=0.011. These rates followed the general shape of age specific fertility schedule but the level in each age group (except 15-19) was higher than that of such countries as rural Japan (Aoki, 1967), rural Taiwan (Lu, 1967) and Ryukyu (Gov. of Ryukyu, 1967) respectively. 4) In the urban area, every Bi/Fi ratio was above 1.000. This indicated that if "reference period" error was small the current fertility had been downward in recent years against the estimated average panty. 5) Errors due to either recall lapse or interviewer's bias in reporting birth events during the "reference period" was found for older women. However, the errors seemed to be small because recall period during which live births occurred was for the preceeding eighteen instead of twelve months. Out of these eighteen-month events only twelve month births were counted and tabulated. 6) Sub-sample 2 showed a less distorted degree of non-sampling error in comparison to sub-sample 1 in terms of Bi/Fi. 7) Both in the urban and rural areas fertility started relatively late (fl/f2=0.072, f2/f3=0.449 in the rural area; fl/f2=0.063, f2/f3=0.572 in the urban area).
Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Birth Rate ; Demography* ; Family Planning ; Female ; Fertility* ; Human ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Korea ; Middle Age ; Models, Theoretical ; Mortality ; Pregnancy ; Rural Population ; Urban Population

This study presents some of the first statistical findings of the Severance Hospital discharge survey. The purpose of this study described in this report was twofold: 1) The underlying consideration was model building for the distribution of short-stay hospitalized patients; and 2) The immediate target was a better understanding of the impact of certain measurement probability discharged as cured present in the survey of medical records. In building up the duration-of-stay model, the conditional probabilities of discharge on a particular day were computed for the January-December, 1967 in order to obtain an appropriate theoretical distribution. The rise and fall of these conditional probabilities as duration of stay increased was characteristic of the log-normal distribution. Therefore, the log-normal distribution, ... was fitted to the available duratin-of-stay data. The parameters found for the distribution were estimated as mu=1.834 and delta=0.675 in 1967. As for measuring the probability of patient discharged as cured, life table model was adopted. Discharge as cured including improved patient and death including transferred to other hospital without improved are takan as the two attrition factors for decrement of a single population. The probabilities of being discharged as cured during the first week after hospitalization were found .as P0=0.41877 in 1967, P0=0.44113 in 1968 and P0=0.47387 in 1969. The average expectations of post discharge life were e0=2.048 weeks in 1967, e0=2.160 weeks in 1968 and e0=1.961 weeks in 1969. During the first fourteen days after hospitalization the probabilities as cured were 2P0=0.6814 in 1967, 2P0=0.7056 in 1968 and 2P0=0.7352 in 1969, which showed the rate has been steadly increased.
Hospitalization* ; Human ; Korea ; Length of Stay ; Medical Records ; Models, Theoretical ; Probability

This study deals with the projection of Korean female population of childbearing ages from 1970 to 1976 Korea. The underlying consideration of this study is to provide information regarding the size of Korean female population and its growth by calendar year for the next few years. Procedures for estimating the future number of women of childbearing age are from the method of estimating survival ratios with the use of model life tables when mortality rates are steadly declining in the future. Computation of the women are grouped according to five year increments. Estimates resulted from estimating the current levels and future trends of survival ratios with the use of model life tables are 4,572,139 in 1970, 4,691,642 in 1971, 4,811,145 in 1972, 4,930,647 in 1973, 5,050,149 in 1974, 5,169,653 in 1975 and 5,344,853 in 1976 respectively.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Female ; Human ; Korea ; Middle Age ; Population Growth* ; Pregnancy ; Statistics ; Women*

Purpose: This study examined the effects of early stabilization exercise focused on the scapulothoracic joint on the recovery of surgical patients due to rotator cuff tear. Methods: The subjects were 30 patients divided randomly into two groups. Group I consisted of 15 patients who practiced shoulder joint stabilization exercises, including glenohumeral joint movement. Group II consisted of 15 patients who practiced scapulothoracic joint stabilization exercises, excluding glenohumeral joint movement. The duration of stabilization exercise was 30 minutes for one day, five days a week, and five weeks. To measure the dependent variables, the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire, range of motion (ROM), dynamometer of measured grip were used. Results: The DASH, ROM, and grip power were compared. A significant difference was observed before the intervention in each group (p<0.05), and there was no significant difference between group I and group II (p>.05). Conclusion Both shoulder joint and scapulothoracic joint stabilization exercises were effective after the intervention compared to pre-intervention, but there was no difference between the two groups. Unlike many recent studies on the initiation of stabilization exercises, this study allays the concerns between the advantages of ‘early exercise’ and oppositions of previous studies about ‘early exercise’. Nevertheless, further research regarding these subjects is needed.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of depression, anxiety, somatization disorder, and adjustment disorder in older patients diagnosed with exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and to evaluate the relationship between exudative AMD and psychological disease. Methods: The 2016 Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service-Aged Patient Sample was applied in this study. The subjects were divided into two groups: AMD patients undergoing intravitreal injection treatment and a control group. Comorbidities were evaluated using the Charlson Comorbidity Index. Results: A total of 1,319,052 subjects were selected, of which 3,134 were in the exudative AMD group receiving intravitreal injections. The average age of the subjects was 74.7 ± 6.7 years, and 41.8% were male. In patients with exudative AMD, the prevalence of depression, anxiety, somatization disorder, and adjustment disorder were 16%, 20%, 0.5%, and 0.4%, respectively; in particular, the prevalence of depression and adjustment disorder were significantly higher than in the control group. In multivariate regression analysis, exudative AMD was a significant factor of depression (odds ratio [OR] 1.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.08-1.31, p < 0.001) and adjustment disorder (OR 2.47, 95% CI 1.47-4.18, p < 0.001). However, the association between AMD and anxiety or somatization disorder was not statistically significant. Conclusions Exudative AMD showed a significant association with psychiatric disease, such as depression, and requires close clinical attention.