OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to explore the use of mobile applications about pregnancy, birth, and child care among pregnant women and to review the characteristics, contents, and credibility of the applications used by these women. METHODS: This study was cross-sectional and was conducted using a survey method. One hundred and ninety-three pregnant women participated in this study. The questionnaire was developed to examine the pattern and reasons for pregnancy-related application usage. The 47 mobile apps used by participants were reviewed and categorized based on functions and developers. The credibility of the information provided by the mobile applications was evaluated using a structured measurement. RESULTS: Fifty-five percent of the participants were using mobile apps related to pregnancy, birth, and/or child care. First-time mothers used the apps significantly more often than women who were pregnant for the second time. Women who had used a smartphone for a longer period of time were more likely to use apps related to pregnancy, birth, and/or child care. The most frequently-used information concerned signs of risk and disease during pregnancy. Experts' quick opinions and Q&A formats related to diet and medication administration during pregnancy were the women's most cited need for content in applications. Information was the most common function of the apps. In the evaluation of information credibility, the 'information source' category had the lowest score. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that applications related to pregnancy, birth, and child care have become an important information source for pregnant women. To fulfill the needs of users, credible applications related to pregnancy, birth, and child care should be developed and managed by qualified healthcare professionals.
Child Care* ; Child* ; Delivery of Health Care ; Diet ; Female ; Humans ; Mobile Applications* ; Mothers ; Parturition* ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnant Women ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Frequency-lowering (FL) algorithms improve the audibility of high-frequency sounds by shifting inaudible high-frequency components to audible low-frequency regions. However, the FL algorithm has yielded mixed findings. This study involved two experiments. The first experiment investigated whether objective and subjective auditory outcomes would be enhanced by activating frequency composition (Fcomp), which is a type of FL technique. The second experiment determined whether auditory training with Fcomp activation would provide perceptual benefits to older hearing aid users. Subjects and Methods: Twelve older hearing aid users with moderate to profound high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss participated in this study. In Experiment I, all participants received a 4-week adaptation period to Fcomp before the measurement, and then the influence of Fcomp was evaluated. In Experiment II, among the 12 participants in Experiment I, five received 8-week phoneme-based auditory training while activating Fcomp, whereas the remaining seven did not receive training but continued to use Fcomp as non-trained controls. Results: In Experiment I, 4-week passive accli­matization period to Fcomp did not improve speech-in-quiet recognition or self-perceived sound quality. In Experiment II, active pho­neme-based training enhanced recognition of consonants and words as well as better speech-quality ratings for trained participants. The consecutive use of Fcomp did not lead to any differences for non-trained participants. Conclusions: Overall, phoneme-based auditory training would allow older hearing aid users to relearn frequency-lowered speech sounds and reduce phonetic confusion. However, the analytical training approach did not lead to transfer to sentence recognition or overall satisfaction with the hearing aids.

Frequency-lowering (FL) algorithms improve the audibility of high-frequency sounds by shifting inaudible high-frequency components to audible low-frequency regions. However, the FL algorithm has yielded mixed findings. This study involved two experiments. The first experiment investigated whether objective and subjective auditory outcomes would be enhanced by activating frequency composition (Fcomp), which is a type of FL technique. The second experiment determined whether auditory training with Fcomp activation would provide perceptual benefits to older hearing aid users. Subjects and Methods: Twelve older hearing aid users with moderate to profound high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss participated in this study. In Experiment I, all participants received a 4-week adaptation period to Fcomp before the measurement, and then the influence of Fcomp was evaluated. In Experiment II, among the 12 participants in Experiment I, five received 8-week phoneme-based auditory training while activating Fcomp, whereas the remaining seven did not receive training but continued to use Fcomp as non-trained controls. Results: In Experiment I, 4-week passive accli­matization period to Fcomp did not improve speech-in-quiet recognition or self-perceived sound quality. In Experiment II, active pho­neme-based training enhanced recognition of consonants and words as well as better speech-quality ratings for trained participants. The consecutive use of Fcomp did not lead to any differences for non-trained participants. Conclusions: Overall, phoneme-based auditory training would allow older hearing aid users to relearn frequency-lowered speech sounds and reduce phonetic confusion. However, the analytical training approach did not lead to transfer to sentence recognition or overall satisfaction with the hearing aids.

Frequency-lowering (FL) algorithms improve the audibility of high-frequency sounds by shifting inaudible high-frequency components to audible low-frequency regions. However, the FL algorithm has yielded mixed findings. This study involved two experiments. The first experiment investigated whether objective and subjective auditory outcomes would be enhanced by activating frequency composition (Fcomp), which is a type of FL technique. The second experiment determined whether auditory training with Fcomp activation would provide perceptual benefits to older hearing aid users. Subjects and Methods: Twelve older hearing aid users with moderate to profound high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss participated in this study. In Experiment I, all participants received a 4-week adaptation period to Fcomp before the measurement, and then the influence of Fcomp was evaluated. In Experiment II, among the 12 participants in Experiment I, five received 8-week phoneme-based auditory training while activating Fcomp, whereas the remaining seven did not receive training but continued to use Fcomp as non-trained controls. Results: In Experiment I, 4-week passive accli­matization period to Fcomp did not improve speech-in-quiet recognition or self-perceived sound quality. In Experiment II, active pho­neme-based training enhanced recognition of consonants and words as well as better speech-quality ratings for trained participants. The consecutive use of Fcomp did not lead to any differences for non-trained participants. Conclusions: Overall, phoneme-based auditory training would allow older hearing aid users to relearn frequency-lowered speech sounds and reduce phonetic confusion. However, the analytical training approach did not lead to transfer to sentence recognition or overall satisfaction with the hearing aids.

Frequency-lowering (FL) algorithms improve the audibility of high-frequency sounds by shifting inaudible high-frequency components to audible low-frequency regions. However, the FL algorithm has yielded mixed findings. This study involved two experiments. The first experiment investigated whether objective and subjective auditory outcomes would be enhanced by activating frequency composition (Fcomp), which is a type of FL technique. The second experiment determined whether auditory training with Fcomp activation would provide perceptual benefits to older hearing aid users. Subjects and Methods: Twelve older hearing aid users with moderate to profound high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss participated in this study. In Experiment I, all participants received a 4-week adaptation period to Fcomp before the measurement, and then the influence of Fcomp was evaluated. In Experiment II, among the 12 participants in Experiment I, five received 8-week phoneme-based auditory training while activating Fcomp, whereas the remaining seven did not receive training but continued to use Fcomp as non-trained controls. Results: In Experiment I, 4-week passive accli­matization period to Fcomp did not improve speech-in-quiet recognition or self-perceived sound quality. In Experiment II, active pho­neme-based training enhanced recognition of consonants and words as well as better speech-quality ratings for trained participants. The consecutive use of Fcomp did not lead to any differences for non-trained participants. Conclusions: Overall, phoneme-based auditory training would allow older hearing aid users to relearn frequency-lowered speech sounds and reduce phonetic confusion. However, the analytical training approach did not lead to transfer to sentence recognition or overall satisfaction with the hearing aids.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to use decision tree analysis to explore the factors associated with pressure ulcers (PUs) among elderly people admitted to Korean long-term care facilities. METHODS: The data were extracted from the 2014 National Inpatient Sample (NIS)—data of Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA). A MapReduce-based program was implemented to join and filter 5 tables of the NIS. The outcome predicted by the decision tree model was the prevalence of PUs as defined by the Korean Standard Classification of Disease-7 (KCD-7; code L89*). Using R 3.3.1, a decision tree was generated with the finalized 15,856 cases and 830 variables. RESULTS: The decision tree displayed 15 subgroups with 8 variables showing 0.804 accuracy, 0.820 sensitivity, and 0.787 specificity. The most significant primary predictor of PUs was length of stay less than 0.5 day. Other predictors were the presence of an infectious wound dressing, followed by having diagnoses numbering less than 3.5 and the presence of a simple dressing. Among diagnoses, “injuries to the hip and thigh” was the top predictor ranking 5th overall. Total hospital cost exceeding 2,200,000 Korean won (US $2,000) rounded out the top 7. CONCLUSIONS: These results support previous studies that showed length of stay, comorbidity, and total hospital cost were associated with PUs. Moreover, wound dressings were commonly used to treat PUs. They also show that machine learning, such as a decision tree, could effectively predict PUs using big data.
Aged ; Bandages ; Classification ; Comorbidity ; Data Mining ; Decision Trees* ; Diagnosis ; Hip ; Hospital Costs ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Insurance, Health ; Length of Stay ; Long-Term Care* ; Machine Learning ; Pressure Ulcer* ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Suppuration ; Wounds and Injuries

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to provide basic data to develop safety education programs in elementary school. METHOD: Analysis is made based on textbooks for 1st-6th-grade elementary school students published by Korea Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development. RESULTS: 1) Among the textbooks. only , , , and courses dealt with safety education. 2) The contents of safety education included traffic safety, water safety, indoor and outdoor safety, fire, emergency measures, misuse and abuse of drug, smoking, toy safety, sports safety, leasure safety and disasters. However, the contents were theoretical, fragmentary, local and limited. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the consents of safety education must be strengthened, and more practical and more behavior-oriented in consideration of activities.
Disasters ; Education* ; Emergencies ; Fires ; Humans ; Korea ; Play and Playthings ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Sports ; Staff Development

To evaluate iron nutritional status of female college students, fasting blood samples were taken from 76 female students of Kangnung National University. Hemoglobin(Hb), hematocrit(Hct), serum iron(Fe), total iron binding capacity(TIBC) and serum ferritin concentrations were measured and transferrin saturation was calculated. Mean values for Hb, Hct, Fe, TIBC, TS and serum freeitin were 13.64+/-1.42g/dl, 40.99+/-4.31%, 103.0+/-33.3 microgram/dl, 395.3+/-9.07 microgram/dl, 26.58+/-9.07%and 26.76+/-17.5ng/ml, respectively. Prevalence of iron deficiency greatly varied by indices from 6.8% when judged by Hct to 26.0% by serum ferritin concentration. The Hb concentration was positively correlated with hematocrit (r=0.5402), serum iron(r=0.2819) and transferrin saturation(r=0.2777)(p<0.05). on the other hand, serum ferritin concentration showed significantly negative correlation with TIBC(r=-0.3196). Two-day dietary intake records were collected from subjects to estimate mean daily iron intake and bioavailability of dietary iron. Mean daily intake of iron was 13.15 mg and heme iron intake was 0.83 mg which was 6.4% of total iron intake. Total absorbable iron calculated by the method of Monsen was 1.27 mg and bioavailability of dietary iron was 9.6%. In the light of high prevalence of iron deficiency based of serum ferritin concentration and low bioavailability of iron in the diet, guidelines about diet should be made to increase the content and bioavailability of iron in the diet if female college students.
Biological Availability ; Diet ; Fasting ; Female* ; Ferritins ; Hand ; Hematocrit ; Heme ; Humans ; Iron* ; Iron, Dietary ; Nutritional Status* ; Prevalence ; Transferrin

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to describe mother's child-rearing attitudes and problem conduct of children as perceived by children and to examine correlation between maternal nurturing attitudes and child problem behavior. METHOD: The participants were 338 fifth and sixth graders who attended two randomly selected elementary schools in the city of G, Gangwon province. Child-rearing attitudes of the mother were rated on a 5-pointed scale that developed by Schaefer and added by Oh & Lee(1982). Problem conduct of children were rated on a 3-pointed scale of the K-YSR by Oh Kyung-Ja et al.(1997). The data were gathered from October 2 to October 28, 2004, and the collected data were analyzed with SPSS 10.0 program. RESULTS: For the children's perception of mother's child-rearing attitude, student had a relatively high mean scores of 3.70+/-0.44. Correlations between the mother's child-rearing attitude and general characteristics of the children showed statistically significantly different according to grade, father-mother relations, type of residence and extent to which father shared household chores. The mean score for problem conducts of children was 0.47+/-0.25.The average for their internal behavior problems was 0.52+/-0.33, and for external behavior problems was 0.44+/-0.24. There were statistically significantly differences in the behavior problem scores of the children according to the general characteristics of grade, education, occupation, mother-father relations, extent to which father shared in household chores and religion. As to correlation between mother's child-rearing attitude and their problem conduct, every type of attitude had a significantly moderate reverse correlation to every type of behavior problem of the children(r=-.431, p=.000). CONCLUSION: Mother's child-rearing attitudes might affect the problem conduct of children, and mother should try to treat their children with affection and respect, to maintain good relations with father, and to bring their children up coherently in an autonomous, permissive, positive and democratic manner.
Child* ; Education ; Family Characteristics ; Fathers ; Gangwon-do ; Humans ; Mothers ; Occupations ; Child Health

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of five different recording electrodes on the various parameters of sensory nerve action potentials (SNAPs). METHOD: Median sensory nerve conduction study was performed in 50 normal subjects using different five types of recording electrodes-disc electrode, ring electrode, bar electrode and two kinds of felt-tip bar electrodes (type 1 and 2). The interelectrode distances between active and reference electrodes were set at 4 cm for the disc and ring electrodes. The bar electrode, felt-tip electrodes type 1 and 2 were fixed at interelectrode distances of 3 cm, 3.7 cm and 2.3 cm, respectively. Onset and peak latency, onset to peak amplitude, peak to peak amplitude and duration of negative spike of SNAPs were measured. These parameters were compared using ANOVA test. RESULTS: Onset and peak latencies of SNAPs recorded from five different electrodes were not different (p>0.05). Onset to peak and peak to peak amplitudes of SNAPs recorded from felt-tip type 2 electrode were significantly reduced compared to other electrodes (p<0.05). Onset to peak amplitude of SNAPs was also reduced when the ring electrode was used (p<0.05). The negative spike durations of SNAPs recorded from felt-tip type 2 and bar electrodes were shorter than other electrodes recording (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Onset and peak latencies of SNAPs were not affected by the types of electrodes used. Shortening of interelectrode distance may be a main cause of reduction of peak to peak amplitude and negative spike duration of SNAPs.
Action Potentials* ; Electrodes* ; Neural Conduction