Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationships between the characteristics of nurses’ work schedules, health outcomes, and work–life balance. Methods: This was a secondary data analysis that included 422 nurses in Korean hospitals. Descriptive analysis, independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression analysis were used to identify the associated factors. Results: Multiple linear regression analysis showed that work–life balance was lower when atypical work was performed (β = -.14, p = .010). Nurses who did not work overtime showed a higher level of work–life balance than those who worked overtime infrequently (β = -.11, p = .002) or frequently (β = -.28, p < .001). The work–life balance level increased when nurses had better subjective health status (β = .16, p < .001) or higher sleep quality (β = .29, p < .001). It was verified that the work–life balance level was higher for single-person households than for households with two (β = -.18, p = .003), three to four (β = -.16, p = .022), or five or more (β = -.21, p < .001) persons. Conclusion This study suggests that government and hospital organizations should provide high-quality care and consideration to nurses who do atypical or overtime work as well as their subjective health status and sleep quality. Further research should focus on the development of a policy that improves the work–life balance of nurses, especially for those who work during atypical hours.

Purpose: This study compared COVID-19 vaccination intentions in those with and without chronic diseases (CDs and non-CDs) in South Korea. We hypothesized that the factors associated with COVID-19 vaccination intentions would differ between CDs and non-CDs in South Korea. Methods: Using survey data collected through a Korean online panel in June 2021, we conducted a crosssectional secondary data analysis. Of the 2292 participants, 411 had at least one chronic disease. To construct a comparable dataset, we selected non-CDs via a 1:1 case-control matching for age and gender.We then utilized a multivariable binary logistic regression model to explore the factors contributing to COVID-19 vaccination intentions in CDs and non-CDs. Results: All told, over 75% of participants in both groups indicated that they intended to vaccinate against COVID-19. In both groups, those who mistrusted general vaccine benefits reported significantly lower COVID-19 vaccination intentions. Regarding factors associated with vaccination intentions, CDs identified anxiety regarding coronavirus and exposure to COVID-19 vaccination promotions at the community level, while non-CDs highlighted hesitancy regarding vaccines and confidence in government/health services. Conclusion Improving vaccination acceptance will require the development and implementation of tailored approaches for CDs and non-CDs and efforts to minimize general vaccine mistrust.

Purpose: This study compared COVID-19 vaccination intentions in those with and without chronic diseases (CDs and non-CDs) in South Korea. We hypothesized that the factors associated with COVID-19 vaccination intentions would differ between CDs and non-CDs in South Korea. Methods: Using survey data collected through a Korean online panel in June 2021, we conducted a crosssectional secondary data analysis. Of the 2292 participants, 411 had at least one chronic disease. To construct a comparable dataset, we selected non-CDs via a 1:1 case-control matching for age and gender.We then utilized a multivariable binary logistic regression model to explore the factors contributing to COVID-19 vaccination intentions in CDs and non-CDs. Results: All told, over 75% of participants in both groups indicated that they intended to vaccinate against COVID-19. In both groups, those who mistrusted general vaccine benefits reported significantly lower COVID-19 vaccination intentions. Regarding factors associated with vaccination intentions, CDs identified anxiety regarding coronavirus and exposure to COVID-19 vaccination promotions at the community level, while non-CDs highlighted hesitancy regarding vaccines and confidence in government/health services. Conclusion Improving vaccination acceptance will require the development and implementation of tailored approaches for CDs and non-CDs and efforts to minimize general vaccine mistrust.

Purpose: This study compared COVID-19 vaccination intentions in those with and without chronic diseases (CDs and non-CDs) in South Korea. We hypothesized that the factors associated with COVID-19 vaccination intentions would differ between CDs and non-CDs in South Korea. Methods: Using survey data collected through a Korean online panel in June 2021, we conducted a crosssectional secondary data analysis. Of the 2292 participants, 411 had at least one chronic disease. To construct a comparable dataset, we selected non-CDs via a 1:1 case-control matching for age and gender.We then utilized a multivariable binary logistic regression model to explore the factors contributing to COVID-19 vaccination intentions in CDs and non-CDs. Results: All told, over 75% of participants in both groups indicated that they intended to vaccinate against COVID-19. In both groups, those who mistrusted general vaccine benefits reported significantly lower COVID-19 vaccination intentions. Regarding factors associated with vaccination intentions, CDs identified anxiety regarding coronavirus and exposure to COVID-19 vaccination promotions at the community level, while non-CDs highlighted hesitancy regarding vaccines and confidence in government/health services. Conclusion Improving vaccination acceptance will require the development and implementation of tailored approaches for CDs and non-CDs and efforts to minimize general vaccine mistrust.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to study the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on adolescents’ mental health in Korea. METHODS: We used data from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2018-2021 with 227,139 students aged 12-18 years. We estimated the differences in depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and stress perception before (2018-2019) and during (2020-2021) the pandemic, as well as before (2019), the first year (2020) of, and the second year (2021) of the pandemic. We also examined whether COVID-19 is statistically associated with mental health. RESULTS: In both male and female adolescents, the prevalence of depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and stress perception was higher in the “not living with family,” “low household economic status,” and “self-rated unhealthy status” subgroups. The prevalence of depressive symptoms and stress perception was higher in middle school students. Adolescents were less likely to experience depressive symptoms (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.83 to 0.89), suicidal ideation (aOR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.76 to 0.83), and stress perception (aOR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.74 to 0.79) in 2020 than in 2019. However, there were more depressive symptoms (aOR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.09), suicidal ideation (aOR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.10 to 1.21), and stress perception (aOR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.16 to 1.23) in 2021 than in 2020. CONCLUSIONS The COVID-19 pandemic had positive impacts on mental health of adolescents in its early stages but has had negative impacts as the pandemic continues. Attention should be paid to adolescents who are particularly vulnerable to the mental health effects of the pandemic.

Background: Determination of inter-method differences between clinically available volumetry methods are essential for the clinical application of brain volumetry in a wider context.Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the inter-method reliability and differences between the Siemens morphometry (SM) software and the NeuroQuant (NQ) software. Materials and Methods: MR images of 86 subjects with subjective or objective cognitive impairment were included in this retrospective study. For this study, 3D T1 volume images were obtained in all subjects using a 3T MR scanner (Skyra 3T, Siemens). Volumetric analysis of the 3D T1 volume images was performed using SM and NQ. To analyze the inter-method difference, correlation, and reliability, we used the paired t-test, Bland-Altman plot, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and effect size (ES) using the MedCalc and SPSS software. Results: SM and NQ showed excellent reliability for cortical gray matter, cerebral white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid; and good reliability for intracranial volume, whole brain volume, both thalami, and both hippocampi. In contrast, poor reliability was observed for both basal ganglia including the caudate nucleus, putamen, and pallidum. Paired comparison revealed that while the mean volume of the right hippocampus was not different between the two software, the mean difference in the left hippocampus volume between the two methods was 0.17 ml (P < 0.001). The other brain regions showed significant differences in terms of measured volumes between the two software. Conclusion SM and NQ provided good-to-excellent reliability in evaluating most brain structures, except for the basal ganglia in patients with cognitive impairment.Researchers and clinicians should be aware of the potential differences in the measured volumes when using these two different software interchangeably.

Growth hormone (GH) is crucial for childhood growth and body composition. In pediatric GH deficiency (pGHD), the pituitary gland fails to produce sufficient GH, which affects linear growth in childhood. pGHD is conventionally treated with daily recombinant human GH (rhGH); however, because GH therapy lasts throughout childhood, adherence to daily rhGH treatment can be low, resulting in suboptimal effectiveness. Somatrogon is a long-acting GH analog designed to address the challenges associated with daily GH therapy for pGHD. Somatrogon administered once per week is a potential alternative to daily GH therapy. The use of somatrogon is supported by phase II and III clinical trials demonstrating that once-weekly injections are noninferior to once-daily somatropin injections in terms of efficacy, safety, and tolerability and have the advantage of reduced treatment burden. This review summarizes the clinical trials of somatrogon and discusses the therapeutic profile and effects of treating pGHD with reduced injection frequency.

Growth hormone (GH) is crucial for childhood growth and body composition. In pediatric GH deficiency (pGHD), the pituitary gland fails to produce sufficient GH, which affects linear growth in childhood. pGHD is conventionally treated with daily recombinant human GH (rhGH); however, because GH therapy lasts throughout childhood, adherence to daily rhGH treatment can be low, resulting in suboptimal effectiveness. Somatrogon is a long-acting GH analog designed to address the challenges associated with daily GH therapy for pGHD. Somatrogon administered once per week is a potential alternative to daily GH therapy. The use of somatrogon is supported by phase II and III clinical trials demonstrating that once-weekly injections are noninferior to once-daily somatropin injections in terms of efficacy, safety, and tolerability and have the advantage of reduced treatment burden. This review summarizes the clinical trials of somatrogon and discusses the therapeutic profile and effects of treating pGHD with reduced injection frequency.

Growth hormone (GH) is crucial for childhood growth and body composition. In pediatric GH deficiency (pGHD), the pituitary gland fails to produce sufficient GH, which affects linear growth in childhood. pGHD is conventionally treated with daily recombinant human GH (rhGH); however, because GH therapy lasts throughout childhood, adherence to daily rhGH treatment can be low, resulting in suboptimal effectiveness. Somatrogon is a long-acting GH analog designed to address the challenges associated with daily GH therapy for pGHD. Somatrogon administered once per week is a potential alternative to daily GH therapy. The use of somatrogon is supported by phase II and III clinical trials demonstrating that once-weekly injections are noninferior to once-daily somatropin injections in terms of efficacy, safety, and tolerability and have the advantage of reduced treatment burden. This review summarizes the clinical trials of somatrogon and discusses the therapeutic profile and effects of treating pGHD with reduced injection frequency.

beta-Lapachone has drawn increasing attention as an anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer drug. However, its oral bioavailability has not been yet assessed, which might be useful to develop efficient dosage forms possibly required for non-clinical and clinical studies and future market. The aim of the present study was thus to investigate pharmacokinetic properties of beta-lapachone as well as its first-pass metabolism in the liver, and small and large intestines after oral administration to measure the absolute bioavailability in rats. A sensitive HPLC method was developed to evaluate levels of beta-lapachone in plasma and organ homogenates. The drug degradation profiles were examined in plasma to assess the stability of the drug and in liver and intestinal homogenates to evaluate first-pass metabolism. Pharmacokinetic profiles were obtained after oral and intravenous administration of beta-lapachone at doses of 40 mg/kg and 1.5 mg/kg, respectively. The measured oral bioavailability of beta-lapachone was 15.5%. The considerable degradation of beta-lapachone was seen in the organ homogenates but the drug was quite stable in plasma. In conclusion, we suggest that the fairly low oral bioavailability of beta-lapachone may be resulted from the first-pass metabolic degradation of beta-lapachone in the liver, small and large intestinal tracts and its low aqueous solubility.
Administration, Intravenous ; Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Biological Availability* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Dosage Forms ; Intestines ; Liver ; Metabolism* ; Pharmacokinetics ; Plasma ; Rats* ; Solubility