BACKGROUND: This study intends to clear that the current cost reimbursement system of Korean medical insurance of health care. METHODS: By using insured medical record of Federation of Korean Medical Insurance Societies used in the demand tendency research of the type of services from feburary 1st to 28th of the year 1990, authors analyze the characterist,ic of components of charges per case in the type of health care facilities. RESULTS: The charge per case in the out-patient care of primary health care facility is 13,498 won, which is 54.6% by comparison with the secondary health care facility and 30.7 % by comparison wit,h the tertiary health care facility. Among these charges the amount of the cost for medical examinations and oral drugs are 73.9% in the primary health care facility and 71.8% in the secondary and 67.5% in the tertiary. Consequently, the services in the primary care are chiefly composed with the medical examinations and oral drugs. In addition to this point the author also finds that the charge per case is 3.5 times, the cost for oral drugs is 5.6 times larger than those of primary care, and therefore tertiary health care facility conduct various diagnostic examinations and prescript more expensive. CONCLUSIONS: There is a difference of basic medical cost ratio between primary, secondary and tertiary health care facility. These points can be lead to the presumption that the diseases under the structure of current medical insurance are overlapped irrespective of the charact.erisitcs of the type of health care facilites, and this is profitable to the tertiary health care facilities which can conduct various types of services. In conclusion, the frame a policy is needed to encourage primary care which are nothing but simple structure of charges.
Delivery of Health Care ; Humans ; Insurance* ; Medical Records ; Outpatients ; Primary Health Care

OBJECTIVES: Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) mutation are commonly associated with hyperhomocysteinemia, and through their defects in homocysteine metabolism, they have been implicated as a risk factor for recurrent spontaneous abortion. Recent report describe that 28-bp tandem repeat polymorphism in thymidylate synthase enhancer region (TSER) that influence enzyme activity would affect plasma homocysteine level. We have investigated the relationship between TSER genotype and plasma homocysteine level in 54 patients with recurrent spontaneous abortion. METHODS: Plasma homocysteine level was measured by fluorescent polarizing immunoassay. MTHFR mutation (C677T and A1298C) was identified by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism assay and TSER mutation was analyzed by PCR method. The data were analyzed using the program SAS 8.2 for Windows. RESULTS: Total homocysteine level was significantly higher in MTHFR 677TT genotype (9.80+/-3.87 mumol/L) than MTHFR 677CC genotype (8.14+/-1.74 mumol/L) in Korean patients with unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (p=0.0143). However, the plasma homocysteine level was not significantly different in the MTHFR 1298AA (8.42+/-2.65 mumol/L) and 1298CC (6.09+/-0.32 mumol/L; p=0.2058) and, TSER 2R2R (8.61+/-1.68 mumol/L) and 3R3R (8.05+/-2.81 mumol/L; p=0.9319) mutant genotypes, respectively. In this study, we found the combination effects of TSER and MTHFR C677T genotypes. Plasma homocysteine levels were the highest (11.47+/-4.66 mumol/L) in individuals with TSER 3R3R (8.05+/-2.81 mumol/L) and MTHFR 677TT (9.80+/-3.87 mumol/L) genotypes. Individuals with a combination of both TSER 2R2R/2R3R and MTHFR 677CC/CT genotypes (7.69+/-1.77 mumol/L) had lower plasma homocysteine levels than TSER 2R2R (8.61+/-1.68 mumol/L) and MTHR 677CC (8.14+/-1.74 mumol/L) genotypes, respectively. The effect of MTHFR polymorphism in the homocysteine metabolism appears to be stronger than that of TSER polymorphism. CONCLUSION: Although statistically not significant, we found the elevated level of plasma homocysteine in combined genotypes with TSER and MTHFR (C677T and A1298C) in Korean patients with unexplained habitual abortion. In this study, we reported the possibility that TSER polymorphism is a genetic determinant of plasma homocysteine levels in the Korean patients as well as MTHFR C677T polymorphism. A large prospective study is needed to verify our findings.
Abortion, Habitual ; Abortion, Spontaneous* ; Female ; Genotype ; Homocysteine* ; Humans ; Hyperhomocysteinemia ; Immunoassay ; Metabolism ; Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (NADPH2) ; Plasma* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Pregnancy ; Risk Factors ; Tandem Repeat Sequences ; Thymidylate Synthase*

No abstract available.
Gangwon-do* ; Hepacivirus* ; Hepatitis C* ; Hepatitis* ; Liver Diseases* ; Liver* ; Prevalence*

No abstract available.
Gestational Age* ; Humans ; Infant*

No abstract available.
Amnion* ; Dinoprostone*

PURPOSE: This study was designed to describe the burnout experiences of nurses counseling people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in hospital-based counseling services in Korea. METHODS: A qualitative research technique with focus group interviews was used and the data were collected in 2012. Participants were 13 counseling nurses from 16 medical hospitals in South Korea who had worked full-time for more than six months as a counseling nurse for PLWHA. The 13 nurses made up 68.4% of all 19 official HIV counseling nurses in South Korea. Data were collected using focus group interviews and analyzed with the content analysis methodology of Downe-Wamboldt. RESULTS: Burnout experience of counseling nurses for PLWHA was analyzed for two domains-causes of, and effects of burnout. Each domain was classified into three categories; personal, job-related, and relationships. Further 17 sub-categories and 47 concepts were discovered. CONCLUSION: In this study various causes and effects of burnout experienced by nurses counseling PLWHA were identified. These findings can be used in developing effective strategies for nurses, administrators, and health policy makers to solve the burnout of counseling nurses. Further research is required to develop detailed and practical job description for nurses counseling PLWHA.
Administrative Personnel ; Counseling ; Focus Groups ; Health Policy ; HIV ; Humans ; Job Description ; Qualitative Research ; Republic of Korea

PURPOSE: This purpose of this study was to develop and validate a Self-Efficacy Scale for Self-Management of Breast Cancer (SESSM-B). METHODS: The SESSM-B was developed and validated as follows: Item generation, pilot study, and tests of validity and reliability. Twenty-one items were developed through evaluation by 10 experts and 13 items were finally confirmed through item analysis and factor analysis. Psychometric testing was performed with a convenience sample of 303 women with breast cancer. Data were analyzed using factor analysis, Pearson correlation coefficients, and Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: Five factors evolved from the factor analysis, which explained 69.8% of the total variance. The first factor 'coping with psycho-informational demand' explained 17.2%, 2nd factor 'maintenance of healthy lifestyle' 14.5%. 3rd factor 'management of side-effects' 13.3%, 4th factor 'therapeutic compliance' 12.8%, and 5th factor 'sexual life' 11.9%. SESSM-B also demonstrated a concurrent validity with health-related quality of life scale, EORTC QLQ-C30 & BR23. The internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha, was .78, and reliability of the subscales ranged from .61 to .79. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that the SESSM-B is an easy, reliable, and valid instrument to measure self-efficacy for self-management of breast cancer.
Adaptation, Psychological ; Adult ; Breast Neoplasms/*psychology ; Factor Analysis, Statistical ; Female ; Health Status ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Pilot Projects ; Program Development ; Psychometrics ; Quality of Life ; Questionnaires ; *Self Care ; *Self Efficacy

Hepatolithiasis is common in east Asia, but rare in the Western world. Recently, epidemiologic study on Korea gallstone disease showed that the portion of patients with hepatolithiasis among total gallstone patients is 14.1%. Hepatolithiasis is the cause of recurrent cholangitis and it is that risk factor of liver abscess, hepatic failure, or sepsis. Also, biliary cirrhosis and cholangiocarcinoma were developed from hepatolithiasis. The incidence of cholangiocarcinoma associated with hepatolithiasis is about 2.4~10% . We present three cases of unresectable cholangiocarcinoma diagnosed after removal of hepatolithiases by percutaneous transhepatic cholangioscopy.
Cholangiocarcinoma* ; Cholangitis ; Far East ; Gallstones ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Liver Abscess ; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary ; Liver Failure ; Risk Factors ; Sepsis ; Western World

A Clinical observation was made on five patients with ruptured aortic sinus of Valsalva who visited Seoul National university hospital during the period of May, 1975~Jan., 1980. 1. Age distribution was from 19 to 32 years and four patients were male and the rest one case was female. 2. Chief complaints on admission were dyspnea in 3 cases and chest pain in 2 cases. Onset of symptoms was abrupt in 4 cases. 3. Continuous murmur was heard at third and fourth intercostal space along left sternal border with thrill in all cases. 4. Cardiac catheterization and aortography showed regurgitant flow from aorta to right ventricle in all cases. 5. Operation was done successfully in 3 cases, of which aortic insufficiency was persistent in one case.
Age Distribution ; Aorta ; Aortography ; Cardiac Catheterization ; Cardiac Catheters ; Chest Pain ; Dyspnea ; Female ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Male ; Seoul ; Sinus of Valsalva*