PURPOSE: This study was conducted to compare the rates of industrial accidents in workplaces that adopted the 2011 Workplace Health Promotion Subsidy Scheme before and after the implementation. METHODS: The study analyzed the raw data of industrial accidents of 304 workplaces which received subsidies for health promotion activities in 2011. The raw data covered the period from February 2010 to July 2012, based on the dates of industrial accidents. RESULTS: Workplaces subsidized for health promotion activities reported fewer occurrences in staff injuries and illnesses than before the subsidization, as the total number of industrial accident victims dropped from 0.35 to 0.24. The rate of industrial accidents also dropped from 0.49 to 0.35, with the number of working days decreased from 35,433 to 23.867, about 33%. CONCLUSION: The study showed that financial support for health-promoting activities contributed to the decease in industrial accidents, which is an important indication advocating the need for corporate and government investment on workers health promotion programs. Furthermore, this study is also significant as it is the first research conducted in Korea to examine the impact of a workers health promotion project using a direct indicator, the rate of industrial accidents.
Accidents, Occupational ; Financial Support ; Health Promotion ; Investments ; Korea

No abstract available.
Female ; Humans ; Prevalence*

BACKGROUND: Recently preventive clinical care has been proved important to the health. A number of recommendations or programs for preventive health services have been developed. The government made laws for health promotion of the people and for medical check-up for the insured in the district medical insurance association, who had been alienated from reimbursement for periodic health examination. As a result, above 95% of Korean people could took the periodic health check-up by this legislation. According to the national data, however, about 20% of the insured participated in the health screening program which was carried for the first time by the district medical insurance association in 1995. The reason that the compliance of health screening program was much lower than expected has not been clear yet. The purpose of this study is to define the facors affecting on the compliance of the health screening program. METHODS: Two hundreds of compliers and as many non-compliers of the health screening program was selected by the stratified sampling in one district medical insurance association which consisted of one town and eight township within the National Capital region. The telephone survey was performed from June 1 to 15 in 1996. The questionnaire was framed by health belief model with other demographic data. The data was analyzed by chisquare test, wilcoxon rank sums test, and logistic regression for the comparison of the characteristics between compliers and non-compliers. RESULTS: There was no difference of demographic data and medical history of chronic disease between compliers and non-compliers. 73.3% of the subjects knew they had been the expectant examinee of the health examination, and among them, 68% took the health examination. However, 53% of non-compliers did not know that they had been the expectant examinee. The most common reason that non-compliers didnt took the health examination was they didnt know(43.5%). Among 73 families of compliers which had more than 2 expectant examinees of the health screening program, 44 families(60.3%) had more complier other than study subjects. In contrast, among 74 families of non-compliers, only 7 famiies(9.5%) had more complier other than study subjects. Compliers showed lower reliability of the health screening program than non-compliers. Non-compliers had more perception about the severity of the target disease for the examination and had more confidence about self health status than compliers. There was no difference of the answer about the benefit of the health examination, perceived susceptibility about target disease, cue to action, and perceived barriers. The odds ratio of compliance of other family member was 21.2, perceived severity, 0.70, and cue to action, 1.36. CONCLUSIONS: The main reason of low compliance of health screening program for the insured in the district mecical insurance association was lack of public information. By the fact that non-compliers had more perception about the severity of the target disease and there was no difference of perceived benefit of the health examination between two groups, public information should be focused on the benefit and efficacy of periodic health check-up than severity and susceptibility of target disease. Because the health screening program on study subjects was carried for the firt time, only compliers had experience of the examination. The fact that compliers relied on the examination less than noncompliers meant that the examinees was satisfied much less than expected. Therefore, further study of the expectation of the examinees about the health examination is expected.
Chronic Disease ; Compliance* ; Cues ; Emigrants and Immigrants ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Insurance* ; Jurisprudence ; Logistic Models ; Mass Screening* ; Odds Ratio ; Preventive Health Services ; Telephone ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Sjögren-Larsson syndrome(SLS) is a rare hereditable disease characterized by congenital ichthyosis, spastic diplegia and mental retardation. Along with the typical triad of symptoms, many patients with this disease have short stature, kyphosis and glistening dots in the retina of the eye. The pathogenesism is unknown but recent studies suggest that SLS might be, at least in part, a disorder of fatty acid metabolism. We describe a patient with a pathognomonic finding in the fundus and with the classic features of SLS.
Cerebral Palsy ; Humans ; Ichthyosis ; Intellectual Disability ; Kyphosis ; Metabolism ; Retina ; Sjogren-Larsson Syndrome*

A 23-year-old woman visited our clinic for the evaluation of a small bean-sized mass in the right lower eyelid. She noticed a mass in the right lower eyelid 6 years ago. The mass was treated with incision and curettage under the impression of chalazion twice at the local clinic, but recurred soon after the operation. On examination, the visual acuity was 1.0 in both eyes. A firm, non-tender, smooth, movable and small bean-sized mass was palpable in the right lower eyelid. A white scar from the previous operation was seen on the palpebral conjunctiva of the right lower eyelid. The mass was excised through the conjunctiva. The histopathological diagnosis of the excised mass was benign mixed tumor. The patient was recommended of further radical excision. The pentagon-shaped excision of the right lower eyelid under frozen section control was done 2 weeks after the first operation. The patient is doing well as of now. The benign mixed tumor of the lower eyelid can arise from either ectopic lacrimal gland or accessory lacrimal gland.
Chalazion ; Cicatrix ; Conjunctiva ; Curettage ; Diagnosis ; Eyelids* ; Female ; Frozen Sections ; Humans ; Lacrimal Apparatus ; Visual Acuity ; Young Adult

No abstract available.

The development of colorectai cancer following pelvic irradiation has been a much less common event. A 58-years-old woman presented with tenesmus for 5 months. She had a stage IIb, carcinoma of the cervix for which she underwent radiation therapy in 27 years before. Colonscopic findings revealed polypoid mass and irregular ulceration on the rectum and proctitis associated with stricture that was compatible with her previous history of radiation. Histoyathological examination of the polypectomy specimen disclosed adenocarcinoma. So we reported a case of radiation induced carcinoma of reotum which might be the first case in Korean literature. It therefore, behooves the clinician who follows patients whose carcinoma of the cervix or corpus uteri has been cured by radiation therapy to be vigilant for the subsequent development of colon and rectal cancer.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Cervix Uteri ; Colon ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Female ; Humans ; Proctitis ; Rectal Neoplasms ; Rectum ; Ulcer ; Uterus

Background: Levothyroxine is an essential drug for the treatment of hypothyroidism or related diseases. Several studies have reported an association between the effects of levothyroxine treatment and time of administration, which can be inconsistent. Objective: This study was conducted to compare the levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone or free thyroxine between morning and nighttime dosing of levothyroxine. Methods: We reviewed previously reported relevant articles and conducted a meta-analysis. Results: In total, five studies were included in this meta-analysis. Results showed that thyroid-stimulating hormone (standard difference in means [SE]=0.321; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.016 to 0.657) and free thyroxine (SE= −1.367; 95% CI, -2.943 to 0.210) levels did not differ significantly between morning (before breakfast) and nighttime (before bedtime) administration. Conclusion This is the first meta-analysis to evaluate the effects of time of administration on levothyroxine levels in patients with hypothyroidism. Based on our results, we suggest considering patients’ lifestyles or daily routines when counselling them on the optimal time of administration for levothyroxine.

Mastoparan is an amphiphilic tetradecapeptide derived from wasp venom which activates G-proteins. Several secondary effects have been attributed to this peptide, including activation of phospholipase and phosphatidylinositol kinase. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of mastoparan on vascular contractility. Rabbit aortic rings were cut and mounted on a force transducer to record isometric tension on a polygraph. The effects of mastoparan were then investigated on the contractile responses in the isolated rabbit aorta with or without endothelium. The results were summarized as follows; 1. Mastoparan caused biphasic response, a transient relaxation followed by a further contraction, in norepinephrine (NE)-precontracted ring with endothelium. These effects were not observed in the aorta in the absence of endothelium. 2. Mastoparan-induced transient relaxation was significantly inhibited by treatment with a N-omega-nitro-L-arginine or methylene blue. 3. When an inhibitor of phospholipase C, neomycin was added to the precontracted aortic ring with NE, the transient relaxation induced by mastoparan was inhibited, but sustained contraction was not inhibited. 4. When an inhibitor of phospholipase A2, quinacrine and inhibitor of the cyclooxygenase pathway, indomethacin, were added to a precontracted ring with NE, the transient relaxation induced by mastoparan was not inhibited, but sustained contraction was inhibited. 5. Mastoparan induced a contraction of the aorta either with or without endothelium. Indomethacin and nifedipine inhibited mastoparan-induced contraction. From the above results, we concluded that mastoparan acts on the endothelium and modifies the release of endothelium-derived relaxing factors such as nitric oxide and also endothelium-derived contracting factors such as metabolites of arachidonic acid.
Animal ; Aorta/*drug effects/physiology ; Arginine/analogs & derivatives/pharmacology ; Calcium/metabolism ; In Vitro ; Indomethacin/pharmacology ; Neomycin/pharmacology ; Nitroarginine ; Quinacrine/pharmacology ; Rabbits ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Vasoconstriction/*drug effects ; Wasp Venoms/*pharmacology

With the exception of choriocarcinoma, the central nervous system (CNS) is rarely associated with metastases from gynecological malignancy. Cerebral involvement in ovarian carcinoma is generally regarded as occurring in 1% of cases. Overall incidence of cerebellar metestases is 27% of CNS metastases. However higher rates have been reported following initial platinum-based chemotherapy. We experienced a cerebellar metastatic cancer patient treated with craniectomy and radiation therapy. So we report the case with a brief review of literature.
Central Nervous System ; Choriocarcinoma ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Pregnancy