OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the performance of the 18-item Korean version of the World Health Organization adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder self-report scale (ASRS) with the six-item ASRS Screener for predicting attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) group. METHODS: The study sample included 51 adult patients with ADHD and 158 normal controls. All participants completed the ASRS and were interviewed individually using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to compare the ASRS (ASRS-18) with the ASRS Screener (ASRS-6) in Korean samples. RESULTS: The ADHD group had higher ASRS and ASRS subscale scores than those of the control group. ROC curve analysis revealed the ASRS was more powerful to predict ADHD group than the ASRS Screener, but the ASRS Screener also had strong concordance with clinician diagnoses. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the 18-question ASRS outperforms the six-question ASRS Screener. However, the weighted Screener is also a valid and useful screening instrument both in epidemiological surveys and in clinical settings.
Adult* ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; ROC Curve ; World Health Organization

In all enterprises of Korea employing workers more than five, employees have a duty of conducting a periodic health screening for improvement and maintaining healthful living and working conditions of employees. The health screening is performed annually in line workers and biennially in table workers under the supervision of the government. But there are some argument to the health screening programme in view of effectiveness, efficiency, reliability and etc. In order to obtain basic reference materials for increasing the efficiency of periodic health screening programme for workers and understand the attitude of health screening institutions and enterprises toward the periodic health screening, mail questionnaire survey was conducted in July 1987. The questionnaire went to 950 health screening institutions and 700 enterprises in whole land but they were returned from 254 health institutions and 187 enterprises, which were analyzed. The results were as follows: 1) The attitude of the respondents toward the necessity and benefit of the periodic health screening was showed highly positive responses in both of screening institutions and enterprises, and it was more positive in screening institutions. The attitude toward the affirmative and the contentment was showed less positive than that of the necessity and benefit. 2) The respondent recognized may problems on regard to the screening programme. The health screening institutions lie in the state of competition with other institutions for undertaking the screening programme. 3) One of major complaints from enterprises was the lack of sincerity in performing the screening programme. They wanted more practical and reliable health screening examination rather than showy one. 4) Health screening institutions and enterprises showed some mutual contradictions in the matter of screening fee, and so the screening fee should be adjusted to the appropriate cost.
Surveys and Questionnaires ; Fees and Charges ; Korea* ; Mass Screening* ; Mortuary Practice ; Organization and Administration ; Postal Service ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Breast cancer is the second most common malignancy among Korean women. The 2002 National Cancer Center screening guideline breast cancer was revised via an evidence-based approach to provide medical personnel with a standard protocol of screening breast cancer. There is moderate-level evidence that biennial screening mammography in asymptomatic women aged 40 to 69 reduces breast cancer mortality, while low-level evidence suggests that screening mammography in women 70 years or older does not reduce breast cancer mortality. The committee concluded that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the benefits and harms of either ultrasonography or clinical breast examination as screening modalities for breast cancer. Future researches about the benefits and harms of the National Breast Cancer Screening Program in Korea are strongly required because the characteristics of breast cancer in Korea are different from those in the West, especially regarding dense breast. In conclusion, the committee recommends biennial screening mammography in asymptomatic women aged 40 to 69 years (grade B recommendation). The committee recommends selective screening mammography in women 70 years or older according to individual risk and preference (grade C recommendation). The committee neither recommends nor opposes ultrasonography and clinical breast examination as screening modalities (grade I recommendation). Symptomatic and high-risk women, however, should be offered complementary measures including ultrasonography and clinical breast examination under clinical supervision.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Mammography ; Mass Screening* ; Mortality ; Organization and Administration ; Ultrasonography

HIV Infections ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; organization & administration ; Morbidity ; trends ; Singapore ; epidemiology

The introduction of tandem mass spectrometry technology expands newborn screening and permits early diagnosis of inborn errors of metabolism. Through measurement of a number of acyl carnitines, amino acids and associated ratios, infants at risk of inborn errors of metabolism can be detected. However the increasing availability of the technology places new challenges to areas with established programmes, as well as those without existing newborn screening programmes. Once the technical aspects of tandem mass spectrometry operation are overcome, the initial challenge lies in determination of whether a borderline result is abnormal. Participation in quality assurance and international collaborative programmes is critical to optimise sensitivity and specificity. Some conditions are readily detected, others are more problematic. All positive results must be confirmed with formal testing but the tests required will vary with the disorder. Even after confirmed diagnosis, the significance of the diagnosis for that child may not be clear, as mild forms of disorders, previously thought to be rare, are being recognised by newborn screening programmes. Parents should be provided with easy to understand written information and a management plan. Education of health professionals who may not be familiar with these conditions raises another challenge. Treatment should be supervised by an expert centre and outcome data must be collected to determine the effectiveness of the screening programme in each area.
Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Neonatal Screening ; organization & administration ; Program Development ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

No abstract available.
Cerebral Infarction ; Global Health ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Retrospective Studies ; World Health Organization

BACKGROUND: Early detection of metabolic syndrome (MS) is important to prevent complications. Yet, there is no internationally agreed definition for MS. This study was performed to compare the diagnostic criteria of MS using various definitions and agreements, and to find better definition for screening high risk group of coronary heart disease. METHODS: The participants were 426 men above forty years old who had visited to have health screening in a general hospital in Daegu from March to December in 2007. The diagnostic criteria of MS and Kappa statistic were calculated according to the following five diagnostic definitions; modified World Health Organization (WHO), National Cholesterol Education Program Third Adult Treatment Panel (NCEP-ATP III), International Diabetes Federation (IDF), American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (AHA/NHLBI) and NCEP-ATP III modified waist circumference > or = 90 cm (modified NCEP-ATP III). The sensitivity and specificity of each definition of MS were calculated with respect to high risk group by Framingham risk score (FRS). RESULTS: The diagnostic criteria of MS were 6.6% by IDF, 7.7% by WHO, 10.6% by NCEP-ATP III, 18.1% by modified NCEP-ATP III and 22.3% by AHA/NHLBI. The kappa satistic ranged from 0.30 to 0.87. The sensitivity of each definition with respect to FRS was 8.3% in IDF, 13.4% in WHO, 15.3% in NCEP-ATP III, 27.4% in modified NCEP-ATP III and 32.5% in AHA/NHLBI. CONCLUSION: There was great difference in the diagnostic criteria of MS according to diagnostic definitions. The author suggests that AHA/NHLBI or modified NCEP-ATP III definition may be better for screening high risk group of coronary heart disease than others.
Adult ; Cholesterol ; Coronary Disease ; Heart ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Lung ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Waist Circumference ; World Health Organization

Life expectancy in Korea has increased, and the number of screening colonoscopies in the elderly has also dramatically increased. The net benefit of colonoscopy in the very elderly (> or =80 years of age as defined by the World Health Organization) may be reduced because of the competing risk of mortality due to other diseases. Therefore, the decision to perform screening colonoscopy may be more complex in this age group. As the potential increase in life expectancy due to screening colonoscopy is significantly reduced in the very elderly, this procedure should be limited to those among the very elderly who have substantial life expectancies. Furthermore, considering the common major complications associated with colonoscopy, poor bowel preparation, and the possibility of incomplete colonoscopies in the very elderly, the performance of screening colonoscopy in the very elderly may not be an ideal recommendation. In terms of providing the greatest benefit to the most number of people, patients with the highest potential gain in terms of life expectancy, relative to the diagnostic yield, should be targeted for colonoscopy screening. This review addresses the unique considerations regarding screening colonoscopy in the very elderly and the individualized approach, which involves the weighing of the risks and benefits for each individual with consideration of their overall health status.
Aged* ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Colonoscopy* ; Humans ; Korea ; Life Expectancy ; Mass Screening* ; Mortality ; Risk Assessment ; World Health ; World Health Organization

Nationwide neonatal mass screening for inherited metabolic diseases has started in Japan since 1977. At least 8000 children have probably been spared from handicaps resulting from such diseases over the past 30 years. Recently remarkable changes have been made to the evolving neonatal screening system. Declining birth rate and economic problems in Japan have demanded a more effective neonatal screening system. Development of new innovative screening methods and treatment tools, e.g. tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) technology and enzyme replacement therapy for mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS), have facilitated expansion of target diseases in neonatal screening. We have carried out pilot screening using MS/MS in 6 laboratories in Japan. The incidence of inherited metabolic diseases was found to be 1 in 9330 (65 cases out of 606,380 babies screened) during the period between 1997 and 2007. The incidence was lower than those of Europe or USA (about 1 in 4000 to 5000). The disease frequency between unscreened symptomatic cases and asymptomatic cases detected through MS/MS screening were also found to be different. In MS/MS screening, the most common organic acidemia was propionic acidemia, whereas in symptomatic cases, methylmalonic acidemia was the most common. Further study of ethnic diversity in severity of propionic academia is required. The outcomes of patients detected in the MS/MS screening were significantly favourable. The results showed the benefits of MS/ MS screening. The diagnostic support network for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/ MS) analysis and enzyme determination has also been developed. We have developed an automated system of GC/MS data processing and auto-diagnosis which allowed the GC/MS data processing to be extremely fast and simple. Enzyme evaluation for diagnostic support for screening, including a method using peripheral blood and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and another method of in-vitro probe assay using cultured cells and MS/MS. Furthermore, re-location of screening laboratories for a more efficient screening network will be required such that at least 30,000 samples can be analysed in each laboratory.
Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Japan ; Metabolism, Inborn Errors ; diagnosis ; Neonatal Screening ; methods ; organization & administration ; standards ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Human echinococcosis is an infectious disease caused by tapeworms belonging to the species Echinococcus. This parasite has a worldwide distribution and is considered a neglected tropical disease by the World Health Organization. Due to the diversity of Echinococcus spp. hosts, as well as variation in geographical, climatic, and socio-ethnic conditions, the question of the strains or genotypes of Echinococcus spp. that are involved in human infections is important. The aim of this study was to provide a summary of the available data on genotypes of Echinococcus obtained from the Iranian population. Four international databases (PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and Web of Science) and 4 Persian databases (Magiran, Scientific Information Database, Iran Medex, and IranDoc) were searched for cross-sectional studies that reported the genotypes of Echinococcus spp. in human echinococcosis cases using molecular methods in Iran through July 2018. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the quality of the selected studies. A total of 559 cases of human cystic echinococcosis were reported in the 21 included articles. The majority of cases belonged to genotype G1 (89.2%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 80.1 to 95.8), genotype G6 (8.2%; 95% CI, 2.8 to 15.9), and genotype G3 (2.3%; 95% CI, 1.1 to 3.9). Since genotype G1 of Echinococcus appears to be the most prevalent genotype affecting humans in Iran, disease control initiatives aimed at sheep intermediate hosts may be the most beneficial. In addition, educational programs and serological screening in individuals may help reduce the national impact of the disease.
Cestoda ; Communicable Diseases ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Echinococcosis ; Echinococcus ; Genotype ; Humans ; Iran ; Mass Screening ; Parasites ; Sheep ; World Health Organization