BACKGROUND: The incidence of colorectal polyps have been reported to be increasing in those aged 30-40 years who consume fast food, have low physical activity, and use alcohol and cigarettes. We analyzed the characteristics and risk factors of colorectal polyps in asymptomatic adults in Jeju Island. METHODS: Data on 1700 individuals who underwent a screening colonoscopy from 1 July, 2010 to 30 June, 2012 were analyzed based on age, gender, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, blood tests, and behavioral habits including alcohol use, smoking, and exercise. RESULTS: The prevalence of colorectal polyps, including adenomatous and hyperplastic, is 43.1% and is higher in males (P<0.001). The prevalence according to age group shows increasing by age (P for trend<0.001). The most common histologic type of polyp is adenomatous in the <50 years and >50 years age groups, 27.3% and 45.3% respectively. And the percentage of adenomatous polyps has shown an increasing trend along with increasing number and size of polyps (P for trend<0.001). BMI, waist circumference (WC), fasting blood sugar, and triglyceride were higher in males with polyps than males in the control group. BMI and WC were higher and HDL-cholesterol was lower in females with polyps. The incidence of colorectal polyps was higher in male and female smokers (P<0.001 and P=0.035 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that older age, male gender, obesity, and smoking are risk factors for colorectal polyps. The prevalence of colorectal adenomatous polyps is 27.3% in <50 yrs, 33.4% in the 40s. For early detection and treatment, we recommend a screening colonoscopy for those with risk factors.
Adenomatous Polyps ; Adult ; Blood Glucose ; Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; Colonoscopy ; Fast Foods ; Fasting ; Female ; Hematologic Tests ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Motor Activity ; Obesity ; Polyps* ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors* ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Tobacco Products ; Triglycerides ; Waist Circumference

Purpose: This study attempted to develop clinical guidelines to help patients use hospice and palliative care (HPC) at an appropriate time after writing physician orders for lifesustaining treatment (POLST) by identifying the characteristics of HPC use of patients with terminal cancer. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted to understand the characteristics of HPC use of patients with terminal cancer through decision tree analysis. The participants were 394 terminal cancer patients who were hospitalized at a cancer-specialized hospital in Seoul, South Korea and wrote POLST from January 1, 2019 to March 31, 2021. Results: The predictive model for the characteristics of HPC use showed three main nodes (living together, pain control, and period to death after writing POLST). The decision tree analysis of HPC use by terminal cancer patients showed that the most likely group to use HPC use was terminal cancer patients who had a cohabitant, received pain control, and died 2 months or more after writing a POLST. The probability of HPC usage rate in this group was 87.5%. The next most likely group to use HPC had a cohabitant and received pain control; 64.8% of this group used HPC. Finally, 55.1% of participants who had a cohabitant used HPC, which was a significantly higher proportion than that of participants who did not have a cohabitant (1.7%). Conclusion This study provides meaningful clinical evidence to help make decisions on HPC use more easily at an appropriate time.

Purpose: This study attempted to develop clinical guidelines to help patients use hospice and palliative care (HPC) at an appropriate time after writing physician orders for lifesustaining treatment (POLST) by identifying the characteristics of HPC use of patients with terminal cancer. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted to understand the characteristics of HPC use of patients with terminal cancer through decision tree analysis. The participants were 394 terminal cancer patients who were hospitalized at a cancer-specialized hospital in Seoul, South Korea and wrote POLST from January 1, 2019 to March 31, 2021. Results: The predictive model for the characteristics of HPC use showed three main nodes (living together, pain control, and period to death after writing POLST). The decision tree analysis of HPC use by terminal cancer patients showed that the most likely group to use HPC use was terminal cancer patients who had a cohabitant, received pain control, and died 2 months or more after writing a POLST. The probability of HPC usage rate in this group was 87.5%. The next most likely group to use HPC had a cohabitant and received pain control; 64.8% of this group used HPC. Finally, 55.1% of participants who had a cohabitant used HPC, which was a significantly higher proportion than that of participants who did not have a cohabitant (1.7%). Conclusion This study provides meaningful clinical evidence to help make decisions on HPC use more easily at an appropriate time.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Given the increasing proportion of the Korean population that is aged 65 years and older, the present study analyzed the relationship between diet quality and sarcopenia in elderly persons by using data from the 2008–2011 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). SUBJECTS/METHODS: Data for 3,373 persons aged 65 years and over (men: 1,455, 43.1%) were selected from the 2008–2011 KNHANES. Sarcopenia assessments are based on a formula that divides a subject's appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) by their weight (wt) and multiplies that result by 100 ([ASM/wt] × 100). Sarcopenia is present if the subject's result was less than one standard deviation (SD) below the sex-specific mean for a young reference group. For evaluation of diet quality, data obtained via the 24-hour recall method were used to calculate the Diet Quality Index for Koreans (DQI-K). A general linear model was applied in order to analyze general information and nutritional intake according to sarcopenia status. For analysis of the relationship between diet quality and sarcopenia, a binominal logistic regression analysis was undertaken. RESULTS: The sarcopenia prevalence rate among the study subjects aged 65 years and over was 37.6%. The DQI-K of those without sarcopenia was 3.33 ± 0.04 points, while that of those with sarcopenia was 3.45 ± 0.04 points (P < 0.05). The relationship between diet quality and sarcopenia revealed that subjects aged 75 and older had a poor diet quality, and their odds ratio (OR) of sarcopenia presence was significantly higher (OR: 1.807, 95% confidence interval: 1.003–3.254, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS This study revealed that poor diet quality was related to sarcopenia presence in Koreans aged 75 and older. In order to improve the diet quality of the elderly (aged 75 and older), it is necessary to develop dietary improvement guidelines.

Objectives: Children and adolescents have a high prevalence of dental caries, primarily due to negligent oral care, frequent snack intake, and inadequate attention to oral disease prevention.Therefore, ensuring oral care and preventing dental caries during this period is essential. Economic barriers, particularly in low- and middle-income countries like the Philippines, limit access to dental care, highlighting the need for national oral health programs. Methods: This study aimed to investigate the oral health status of children in selected areas of the Philippines and to generate basic data for effective oral health promotion programs. We compared the oral health statuses of enrolled and newly enrolled students in schools with school-based dental clinics. Results: The results indicated that the prevalence of caries and the average number of carious permanent teeth were lower in enrolled students than in new students. Conclusions This finding suggests that school-based oral healthcare programs effectively improve children’s oral health and that introducing school-based dental clinics and establishing efficient systems are essential for improving oral health in low- and middle-income countries.

No abstract available.
Anemia, Dyserythropoietic, Congenital*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the most appropriate shelf life for sterilized products according to their packaging material. METHODS: Samples were prepared to target six nursing units in one general hospital in Seoul. After steam and E.O gas sterilization, sterilized product, samples were supplied to wards. Data collection was conducted for 3 months, after the expiration date of 3 months had passed for samples packaged with crepe paper and nonwoven wraps. For samples packaged with paper-plastic pouches, data collection conducted for 3 months when the expiration date of 9 months had passed. The sterilized products were collected and tested for microbial contamination. Identification of the storage environment was done as samples were collected. RESULTS: This study confirmed that the storage environment met international standards such as CDC, except for temperature. For steam sterilized crepe paper packaging samples and steam and E.O gas sterilized for nonwoven packaging samples no contamination in all products was found for 3 months past the expiration date. However, in the E.O gas sterilized paper-plastic pouch packaging sterile samples, Gram-positive bacilli were detected in one sample from a surgical intensive care unit at 45 weeks and another sample from an operating room at 47 weeks. Furthermore, the results did not show any microorganisms for up to 52 weeks in all products. CONCLUSION According to the results of this study, sterilized product packaging made with crepe paper and nonwoven wraps is better able an extended shelf life from 3 months to 6 months, reducing unnecessary costs.

The PHIS(Public Health Information System) has been developed, and installed in public health centers nationwide since 1994. Ironically, however, even though infrastructures have been modernized, there is scant published material that has investigated the determinants of success of the PHIS. Therefore, these were evaluated in relation to the concern of user satisfaction, which was composed of overall satisfaction, usability, convenience and satisfaction for the supportive system. These satisfaction factors were also compared according to general user characteristics. The questionnaire response rate was 81.5%. The overall satisfaction and total Likert's scores, 3.078 +/- 0.634 and 3.005 +/- 0.563, respectively, showed that the end-users were relatively satisfied with the PHIS. Also, the overall satisfaction correlated most strongly with the convenience attribute. However, dissatisfaction strongly correlated with the supportive system, i.e. education and training facilities. This article describes our progress, and reports on the lessons learned, which will guide future work in this field.
Education ; Factor Analysis, Statistical* ; Information Systems* ; Iron ; Public Health* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The purposes of this study were to investigate one portion size of menus served and to evaluate nutrient intake of lunch at three elderly care facility food services located in Seoul. A weighed plate method was employed to measure plate wastes and consumption of the menus served. Yield factors were calculated from cooking experiments based on standardized recipes, and were used to evaluate nutrient intake. One hundred elderly participated in this study for measuring plate waste and were asked to complete questionnaire. Nutrient analyses for the served and consumed meal were performed using CAN program. The yield factors of rice dishes after cooking are 2.4 regardless of rice dish types, 1.58 for thick soups, 0.60 to 0.70 for meat dishes, and 1.0 to 1.25 branched vegetable. Average consumption quantity of dishes were 235.97 g for rice, 248.53 g for soup, 72.83 g for meat dishes, 39.80 g for vegetables and 28.36 g for Kimchi. On average the food waste rate is 14.0%, indicating the second highest plate waste percentage of Kimchi (26.2%), and meat/fish dish (17.3%). The evaluation results of NAR (Nutrition Adequacy Ratio) showed that iron (0.12), calcium (0.64), riboflavin (0.80), and folic acid (0.97) were less than 1.0 in both male and female elderly groups, indicating significant differences of NAR among three facilities. Compared to the 1/3 Dietary Reference Intake (DRIs) for the elderly groups, nutrient intake analysis demonstrated that calcium (100%) and iron (100%), followed by riboflavin, vitamin A, and Vitamin B6 did not met of the 1/3 EAR (Estimated Average Requirement). For the nutritious meal management, a professional dietitian should be placed at the elderly care center to develop standardized recipes in consideration of yield factors and the elderly's health and nutrition status.
Aged ; Calcium ; Cooking ; Ear ; Female ; Folic Acid ; Food Services ; Humans ; Iron ; Lunch ; Male ; Meals ; Meat ; Nutritional Status ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Riboflavin ; Vegetables ; Vitamin A ; Vitamin B 6

PURPOSE: This study aimed to measure the bilateral differences of facial lines in spherical coordinates from faces within a normal range of asymmetry utilizing cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: CBCT scans from 22 females with normal symmetric-looking faces (mean age 24 years and 8 months) were selected for the study. The average menton deviation was 1.01+/-0.66 mm. The spherical coordinates, length, and midsagittal and coronal inclination angles of the ramal and mandibular lines were calculated from CBCT. The bilateral differences in the facial lines were determined. RESULTS: All of the study subjects had minimal bilateral differences of facial lines. The normal range of facial asymmetry of the ramal and mandibular lines was obtained in spherical coordinates. CONCLUSION: The normal range of facial asymmetry in the spherical coordinate system in this study should be useful as a reference for diagnosing facial asymmetry.
Cone-Beam Computed Tomography ; Facial Asymmetry ; Female ; Humans ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Reference Values