PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to provide a trend analysis of the prevalence of diabetes relative to the socioeconomic, lifestyle, and physiologic risk factors among Korean adults aged over 30 years for a 10-year period using data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. METHODS: Prevalence difference and the slope index of inequality were calculated for each risk factors using binomial regression by considering the repeated cross-sectional features of the data. The prevalence ratio and the relative index of inequality were calculated using log-binomial regression. Linear trend tests were performed using SAS 9.2. RESULTS: Crude prevalence of diabetes increased over the 10-year period, and was higher for men than for women. It was very high for adults 60 years or over, consistently increasing over time. The prevalence among unemployed men, women with higher level of stress, women with hypertension, and adults with serum triglyceride levels over 135 mg/dL increased over the 10-year period in comparison with the respective control group. CONCLUSION: Considering the rapid economic development and associated lifestyle changes in Korea, action should be taken to control the prevalence of diabetes by both preventing and consistently monitoring these identified risk factors using a public-health approach.
Adult ; Aged ; Alcohol Drinking ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Body Mass Index ; Cholesterol/blood ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/*epidemiology/pathology ; Exercise ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension/epidemiology ; Life Style ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nutrition Surveys ; Prevalence ; Republic of Korea ; Risk Factors ; Smoking ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Stress, Psychological ; Triglycerides/blood ; Unemployment

No abstract available.
Prune Belly Syndrome*

No abstract available.
Prune Belly Syndrome*

PURPOSE: The study was to explore the level of low back pain and characteristic factors influencing low back pain (LBP) and mental health during pregnancy. METHODS: The subjects were a total of 383 healthy pregnant women in S City and K-Do. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation. RESULTS: 82.5% of the pregnant women answered the existence of LBP and 19.7% of them had high LBP. The preferred method of controlling LBP was 'Just endure' (42.3%). There were significant differences in pregnancy level (p < .05) and discomfort condition related to pregnancy (p < .01) according to low back pain. There were significant differences in pain intensity according to mental health. The correlation between pain level and pregnancy weeks (p < .001) and BMI in previous pregnancy (p < .001) was significant. The correlation between mental health and age was significant (p < .001). CONCLUSION: The majority of the pregnant women experienced LBP during pregnancy. However, they were not offered the best method of controlling the pain. Thus, for preventing LBP during pregnancy, we recommend regular exercises and BMI control.
Exercise ; Female ; Humans ; Low Back Pain* ; Mental Health* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women*

Objectives: This study uses the short-form Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) to screen for depression among Korean career soldiers, aiming to protect mental health and ensure military stability. Methods: The study involves 2922 career soldiers who completed online self-report questionnaires assessing suicidality, depression, anxiety, and social support. Diagnosis of major depressive episodes (MDEs) using the Korean version of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (K-MINI) was confirmed through Pearson correlation analysis of the 20 CES-D items. The top three correlated items form the Depression Screening Questionnaire for Korean Career soldiers (DSQ-KC). Receiver operating characteristic curves and area under the curve (AUC) values were obtained, with the DSQ-KC total score as the explanatory variable and MDEs as the response variable. Independent t-tests were performed to determine whether suicidality, anxiety, and social support differed based on the cut-off scores of the DSQ-KC. Results: In the analysis of each CES-D item with an MDE diagnosis, items 4, 6, and 3 were obtained. The AUC value was 0.958. At a cut-off score of 2, sensitivity and specificity were 93.9% and 89.9%, respectively, with positive and negative predictive values of 14.7% and 99.6%, respectively. Conversely, at a cut-off score of 3, sensitivity and specificity were 83.7% and 94.4%, respectively, with positive and negative predictive values of 27.7% and 98.9%, respectively. Associations with suicidality, anxiety, and use of social networks from cut-off scores of 2 or 3 were examined. Conclusion The DSQ-KC, developed with three reliable items, is user-friendly and can be utilized in suicide prevention projects for career soldiers.

Objectives: We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to investigate the therapeutic effects of mindfulnessbased interventions on depressive symptoms in patients with major depressive disorder. Methods: In February 2021, we searched Embase, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and AMED. Under the guidance of the corresponding author, two evaluators independently reviewed and selected articles based on predetermined selection criteria. Results: Based on the selection criteria, we systematically screened and included a total of 12 randomized controlled trials comprising 720 cases for the final analysis. Utilizing a random-effects model for data analysis, we determined the Hedges’ g value to be 0.787, indicating a medium-sized effect according to Cohen’s interpretation. The 95% confidence interval for the effect size ranged from 0.414 to 1.160 (p-value < 0.0001). Conclusions This study reveals the potential effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions in treating depressive symptoms among patients with major depressive disorder.

Purpose: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is the standard treatment for early gastric cancer (EGC) with a low risk of lymph node metastasis. In Korea, ESD was included in the National Health Insurance (NHI) coverage in 2011, which was expanded in 2018. In the present study, we investigated the status and trends of ESD for EGC over the past decade since its incorporation into the NHI system. Materials and Methods: We analyzed the data from the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) database from 2011 to 2021, focusing on patient characteristics, number of ESD procedures, in-hospital length of stay (LOS), and total medical cost (TMC) per admission. In addition, we conducted an interrupted time series analysis to assess the impact of changes in insurance coverage on these variables. Results: Overall, 95,348 cases of ESD for EGC were identified. A consistent annual increase in ESD procedures was observed, particularly in tertiary care hospitals and among patients aged >60 years. The overall median LOS and TMC were 4 days and 2,123,000 KRW, respectively. The 2018 insurance coverage expansion did not significantly affect the number of ESD procedures or LOS; however, the TMC increased significantly. Conclusions Our study illustrates decade-long trends in the ESD for EGC in Korea. The policy needs to be revised continuously to optimize ESD use and improve resource allocation within healthcare systems.

BACKGROUND: Asian dust is known to have harmful effects on the respiratory system. Respiratory conditions are also influenced by environmental conditions regardless of the presence of pollutants. The same pollutant can have different effects on the airway when the air is dry compared with when it is humid. We investigated hospital visits for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma in relation to the environmental conditions. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study using the Korean National Health Insurance Service claims database of patients who visited hospitals in Chuncheon between January 2006 and April 2012. Asian dust, haze, mist, and fog days were determined using reports from the Korea Meteorological Administration. Hospital visits for asthma or COPD on the index days were compared with the comparison days. We used two-way case-crossover techniques with one to two matching. RESULTS: The mean hospital visits for asthma and COPD were 59.37 +/- 34.01 and 10.04 +/- 6.18 per day, respectively. Hospital visits for asthma significantly increased at lag0 and lag1 for Asian dust (relative risk [RR], 1.10; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.19; p<0.05) and haze (RR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.06-1.22; p<0.05), but were significantly lower on misty (RR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.80-0.99; p<0.05) and foggy (RR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.84-0.93; p<0.05) days than on control days. The hospital visits for COPD also significantly increased on days with Asian dust (RR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.05-1.59; p<0.05), and were significantly lower at lag4 for foggy days, compared with days without fog (RR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.75-0.97; p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Asian dust showed an association with airway diseases and had effects for several days after the exposure. In contrast to Asian dust, mist and fog, which occur in humid air conditions, showed the opposite effects on airway diseases, after adjusting to the pollutants. It would require more research to investigate the effects of various air conditions on airway diseases.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Asthma ; Dust* ; Gangwon-do ; Humans ; Korea ; National Health Programs ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Respiratory System ; Retrospective Studies ; Weather*

BACKGROUND: Postoperative pruritus following the administration of epidural narcotics is a very common and undesirable side effect. Therefore, we evaluated the use of a combination of naloxone and sufentanil via patient controlled epidural analgesia to determine if the incidence of pruritus was decreased when compared to the use of sufentanil alone. METHODS: Patients scheduled for subtotal gastrectomy under general anesthesia were enrolled in a prospective, double-blinded and randomized trial. All patients received a 20 microgram epidural bolus of sufentanil in 5 ml of 0.2% ropivacaine. Following administration of the epidural, patients in the sufentanyl group (S) received a continuous epidural comprised of sufentanil (0.75 microgram/ml) in 0.2% ropivacaine, whereas patients in the naloxone group (N) received an epidural infusion comprised of naloxone (4 microgram/ml) and sufentanil (0.75 microgram/ml) in 0.2% ropivacaine. The infusion rate, demand dose and lockout interval were 5 ml/hr, 0.5 ml and 15 minutes respectively. Next, the occurrence of postoperative analgesia and side effects were evaluated by blinded observers. RESULTS: The incidence of pruritus (47.4% versus 20.0%, P = 0.013) and nausea (42.1% versus 20.0%, P = 0.043) were lower in group N than in group S. In addition, there were no significant differences observed in the visual analogue scale, the incidence of vomiting or the incidence of sedation. Furthermore, epidural infusion of naloxone at 0.25-0.4 microgram/kg/hr did not affect the requirement for postoperative sufentanil. CONCLUSIONS: Epidural naloxone reduces epidural sufentanil induced pruritus and nausea without reversing its analgesic effects.
Analgesia ; Analgesia, Epidural ; Analgesia, Patient-Controlled ; Anesthesia, General ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Incidence ; Naloxone* ; Narcotics ; Nausea ; Prospective Studies ; Pruritus* ; Sufentanil* ; Vomiting

Emergency surgical patients are more frequently in critical state than elective patients and they have not enough time for physical and laboratory examinations. The evaluation of perio-perative data will improve the outcome of emergency operation. We analyzed 1053 anesthesias for emergency operation which were performed at the department of anesthesiology, Anam Hospital from September 1992 to August 1993 clinically and statistically according to age, sex, physical status, department, anesthetic duration, method and agent, types of trauma, amount of transfusion, etc. The results were as follows; 1) The percent of emergency surgery cases was 13.6 of total surgical patients. 2) The ratio of male to female was 1.15:1. 3) About 61.1% of all emergency patients were in the 21-40 years age group. 4) According to the ASA classification of physical status, the percent of patients in emergency class 1 and 2 was 86.2 of the total patients. 5) The most common operation was Cesarean section (19.9%), and appendectomy (13.8%) the next. 6) The most common anesthetic method for emergency operation was general anesthesia with enflurane. 7) The obstetric cases were most common and the general surgery cases were the next. 8) The percent of the cases which took less than 2 hours duration was 82.4 of total operation. 9) The transfusion was done in 108 cases (10.3%) and less than 2 units was transfused most frequently. 10) The transference to ICU was done in 144 (13.7%) cases and the patients of general surgery were transfered to ICU most frequently. 11) The majority of injuries were classified as blunt trauma (86.6%) while 13.4% were classified as penetrating trauma. 12) The lagest number of injuries involved the upper extremity (47.8%) and the next was the head & neck (31.9%).
Anesthesia* ; Anesthesia, General ; Anesthesiology ; Appendectomy ; Cesarean Section ; Classification ; Emergencies* ; Enflurane ; Female ; Head ; Humans ; Male ; Neck ; Pregnancy ; Upper Extremity