PURPOSE: The study analyzed and categorized the colorectal cancers related medical journals published in Korea by the name of the journal, research materials, study method, statistical method and by content of study for the quality improvement of colorectal cancers related studies. METHODS: The authors reviewed a total of 567 colorectal cancer-related studies published in the Korean medical journals during the period 1967 and 2004 and kept in the National Assembly Library. The distribution of research materials, study method, statistical method and content of these studies were analyzed by the 5 year publication interval. RESULTS: By study period, the number of published studies steeply increase during the period between 2000 and 2004. As the research materials, hospital patients(64.6%) and In-vitro(16.6%) were the most prevalently used research materials, but health adults were the lowest research materials by only taking up 0.4%. In study methods, patient follow up studies(28.7%) and human in vitro experimental(27.9%) were prevalent, and human in vitro experimental were relatively the most popular performed studies during the years of 1990-1994. As the statistical method, life table and survival analysis(27.0%) were the mostly performed methods, and the use of statistical method was applied in nearly all studies. The contents of the studies mainly focused on the patient prognostic estimations(27.6%) of therapeutic safety & efficacy(25.6%), but only the 4.1% of risk factors studies. Among the 109 studies which analyzed the survival term 78.9% of the studies mainly used the 5 year term in the analysis of survival rates. CONCLUSION: The results of the study could be utilized as the basic data for the quality improvement of further colorectal cancers related studies.
Adult ; Colorectal Neoplasms* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Korea ; Life Tables ; Publications ; Quality Improvement ; Research Design ; Risk Factors ; Survival Rate

PURPOSE: This study aims to examine how elementary, middle and high school health teachers in Gyeonggi province react to infectious disease like MERS. METHODS: This is a descriptive study using a convenience sample of 1,267 school health teachers. RESULTS: When MERS was an epidemic, school health teachers who took the ‘leading’ role were 92.4%. A school heath teacher's countermeasures against infectious diseases showed a high score during MERS outbreak (3.81) compared to regular days (3.59). CONCLUSION: Based on such results, it has been determined that schools need to keep two types of procedures manual, such as ‘countermeasures on a regular basis’ and ‘countermeasures in the event of a pandemic disease outbreak’ manual in the staff offices so that anyone can view them at any time. It is necessary to prepare regulations to strengthen their authority so that school health teachers can take the role of control tower, in a professional capacity, when communicable disease is spreading. In order to prevent any confusion and chaos, there should be a unitary reporting system at each school when dealing with an epidemic. School health teachers need to get continuous training to reinforce their abilities to react to communicable diseases.
Communicable Diseases ; Coronavirus Infections ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Pandemics ; School Health Services ; School Nursing ; Social Control, Formal

OBJECTIVE: The loudness dependence of the auditory evoked potential (LDAEP) has been known as an indicator of central serotonergic neurotransmission. Nicotine increases the release of serotonin levels. The current study investigated whether cigarette smoking would make difference in LDAEP among male patients with major depressive disorder. METHODS: Twenty-four non-smoking and 20 smoking male patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) were recruited. There was no significant difference in severity of MDD symptoms between the two groups. The age of participants ranged from 20 to 65 years old. Event-related potentials (ERP) N100 were measured on 5 different sounds (55, 65, 75, 85, 95 dB) and on 5 electrodes (Fz, Cz, Pz, C5, C6). The N1/P2 peak to peak amplitudes and amplitude slope according to 5 different sounds were calculated. RESULTS: LDAEP was significantly weaker in the smoking group in comparison to the non-smoking group (p<0.05). Among non-smoking group LDAEP was negatively correlated with a core depression subscale of Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) (r=-0.41, p<0.05). CONCLUSION: LDAEP of the smoking patients with MDD group was weaker than the non-smoking patient with MDD group's. This result suggests that smoking may have increased the release of serotonergic neurotransmission in patients with MDD. Future studies need to examine LDAEP changes before and after tobacco use among smoking patients.
Depression ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Electrodes ; Evoked Potentials ; Evoked Potentials, Auditory ; Humans ; Male ; Nicotine ; Serotonin ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Synaptic Transmission ; Tobacco

Free radicals are known as an important factor which may act on reperfusion injury after transient or permanent brain ischemia. Numerous studies about cytotoxic function of free radical have been done. Most of these studies demonstrate the function of free radical in reperfusion injury by using radical scavenger or antioxidant as inhibitor of radicals. We used a modification of Karnovsky's Mn2 /diaminobenzidine (DAB) technique to demonstrate intravascular free radicals following transient occlusion and reperfusion of one middle cerebral artery in Sprague-Dawley rats. The MCA was occluded for 2 hours using an intraluminal suture method. The reperfusion time after transient ischemia was 1 hour, 6 hours, and 24 hours, respectively. Animals were perfused transcardially with solution containing Mn2 and DAB. After DAB perfusion, the brains were removed promptly, sectioned in frozen, and stained with methylene blue for light microscopic examination. Upon light microscopic examination, free radicals were confined within intravascular lumen and the amount of deposits increased according to the duration of reperfusion. Upon electron microscopic examination, free radicals were located in nuclear membrane and membrane of mitochondria and RER, and demonstrated as electron dense deposits. In addition, cell processes of the neuron revealed an electron dense deposits beneath the inner side of the membrane. In conclusion, free radicals demonstrated in the reperfusion injury area indicate that free radical acts as an important cytotoxic factor. Intracellular localization of free radicals may explain the relationship between free radical and delayed neuronal injury.
Animals ; Brain Ischemia* ; Brain* ; Free Radicals* ; Ischemia ; Membranes ; Methylene Blue ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; Mitochondria ; Neurons ; Nuclear Envelope ; Perfusion ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury* ; Reperfusion* ; Sutures

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to examine the effect of occurrence and reoccurrence of catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) on transition to poverty and persistence of poverty in South Korea. METHODS: The data of the year 2008-2011 from the Korea Health Panel were used. CHE was defined as the share of total health expenditure in a household out of a household's total income at various threshold levels (more than 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%). The effect of catastrophic expenditure on transition to poverty and persistence of poverty was analyzed through multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: The shares of households facing CHE at various threshold levels have increased gradually with 37.7%, 21%, 13.1%, and 9.5% in 2011. Households facing CHE were more likely to experience transition to poverty at thresholds level of more than 5% and 20% in 2010 set. Households facing CHE seemed to experience persistence of poverty, but it was not statistically significant. About 40% of households facing CHE in 2009 encountered another shock of CHE in 2010. Households without CHE seemed to experience more transition to poverty and persistence of poverty, but it was not statistically significant. For household with multiple CHE, those with medical aid were more likely to experience transition to poverty with statistical significance, but the statistical significance disappeared in case of persistence of poverty. CONCLUSION: The Korean health system needs to be improved to serve as a social security net for addressing transition to poverty and persistence of poverty due to facing CHE.
Family Characteristics ; Health Expenditures* ; Korea* ; Logistic Models ; Poverty* ; Republic of Korea ; Shock ; Social Security

No abstract available.
Eosinophilia ; Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia

No abstract available.
Eosinophilia ; Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to examine and explain the extent of income-related inequity in health care utilization and expenditures to compare the extent in 2005 and 2010 in Korea. METHODS: We employed the concentration indices and the horizontal inequity index proposed by Wagstaff and van Doorslaer based on one- and two-part models. This study was conducted using data from the 2005 and 2010 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We examined health care utilization and expenditures for different types of health care providers, including health centers, physician clinics, hospitals, general hospitals, dental care, and licensed traditional medical practitioners. RESULTS: The results show the equitable distribution of overall health care utilization with pro-poor tendencies and modest pro-rich inequity in the amount of medical expenditures in 2010. For the decomposition analysis, non-need variables such as income, education, private insurance, and occupational status have contributed considerably to pro-rich inequality in health care over the period between 2005 and 2010. CONCLUSIONS: We found that health care utilization in Korea in 2010 was fairly equitable, but the poor still have some barriers to accessing primary care and continuing to receive medical care.
Adult ; Aged ; Delivery of Health Care/economics/*statistics & numerical data ; Health Expenditures/*statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Nutrition Surveys ; Republic of Korea ; Young Adult

Although many wearable devices are used to assess sleep, their accuracy remains controversial. This study aimed to investigate the accuracy of the Actiwatch, a research-grade device, and the Fitbit, a consumer-grade device, against sleep diaries to assess sleep patterns. Methods: Twenty participants wore Fitbit and Actiwatch for two weeks and tracked their sleep patterns using sleep diaries. Total sleep time (TST), time-in-bed (TIB), sleep efficiency (SE), sleep onset latency (SOL), and wake after sleep onset (WASO) from the two devices and sleep diaries were analyzed using analysis of variance and Bland-Altman analysis. Results: The TIB measured by the sleep log, Fitbit, and Actiwatch were 420.9 minutes, 417.3 minutes, and 567.4 minutes, respectively. Compared to the sleep log, the Fitbit underestimated TST, TIB, and SE, with significant differences observed for TST (p<0.001) and SE (p<0.001), but not for TIB. The Actiwatch overestimated TIB (p<0.001) and TST (p=0.02) and underestimated SE (p<0.001) compared to the sleep log. The difference between the Fitbit and Actiwatch was significant for TST, TIB, and SE (all p<0.001). Conclusions: The Fitbit showed a smaller difference than the Actiwatch when compared with the sleep logs. The Fitbit could be used as a tool to assess sleep patterns in the clinic as well as in daily life.