PURPOSE: School screening allows for early detection and early treatment of scoliosis, with the purpose of reducing the number of patients requiring surgical treatment. Children between 10 and 14 years old are considered as good candidates for school screening tests of scoliosis. The purpose of the present study was to assess the epidemiological findings of idiopathic scoliosis in 11-year-old Korean adolescents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 37856 11-year-old adolescents were screened for scoliosis. There were 17110 girls and 20746 boys. Adolescents who were abnormal by Moire topography were subsequently assessed by standardized clinical and radiological examinations. A scoliotic curve was defined as 10degrees or more. RESULTS: The prevalence of scoliosis was 0.19% and most of the curves were small (10degrees to 19degrees). The ratio of boys to girls was 1:5.5 overall. Sixty adolescents (84.5%) exhibited single curvature. Thoracolumbar curves were the most common type of curve identified, followed by thoracic and lumbar curves. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of idiopathic scoliosis among 11-year-old Korean adolescents was 0.19%.
Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Prevalence ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Scoliosis/*epidemiology

No abstract available.
Airway Obstruction/*epidemiology ; Humans ; Malnutrition/*epidemiology ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Smoking/*epidemiology

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study introduces methods for estimating the cost of liver disease and presents useful and reliable sources of data. The available evidence on the costs associated with liver disease is also discussed. METHODS: Costing methodology can be used to identify, measure, and value relevant resources incurred during the care of patients with liver diseases. It adjusts for discounting, skewed distribution, and missing or censored cost data. The human capital approach for productivity cost assumes that deceased patients would have lived to a normal expected life expectancy, and have earned a salary in line with the current age profile of wages, in order to measure potential earnings lost due to premature death or job loss. EVIDENCE: The number of deaths due to liver cancer (C22) increased from 6,384 in 1983 to 11,405 in 2013, while deaths due to other liver diseases (K70-K76) increased from 12,563 in 1983 to 13,458 in 1995, and then declined to 6,665 in 2013. According to the Global Burden of Disease study conducted by the World Health Organization, liver cancer caused 325,815 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), and cirrhosis of the liver caused 206,917 DALYs in 2012. The total cost of liver disease was estimated at 1,941 billion Korean won in 2001 and 5,689 billion Korean won in 2008. Much of this cost is attributable to productivity cost, and especially that of economically active men. CONCLUSIONS: The economic burden of liver disease is immense because of the associated high mortality and morbidity, especially among the economically active population. This indicates the need to prioritize the development of appropriate health interventions.
Cost of Illness ; Humans ; Liver Diseases/*economics/epidemiology/mortality ; Liver Neoplasms/*economics/epidemiology/mortality ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology

Surveys on helminthic fauna of the nutria, Myocastor coypus, have seldom been performed in the Republic of Korea. In the present study, we describe Strongyloides myopotami (Secernentea: Strongyloididae) recovered from the small intestine of feral nutrias. Total 10 adult nutrias were captured in a wetland area in Gimhae-si (City), Gyeongsangnam-do (Province) in April 2013. They were transported to our laboratory, euthanized with ether, and necropsied. About 1,300 nematode specimens were recovered from 10 nutrias, and some of them were morphologically observed by light and scanning electron microscopies. They were 3.7-4.7 (4.0+/-0.36) mm in length, 0.03-0.04 (0.033) mm in width. The worm dimension and other morphological characters, including prominent lips of the vulva, blunted conical tail, straight type of the ovary, and 8-chambered stoma, were all consistent with S. myopotami. This nematode fauna is reported for the first time in Korea.
Animals ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Rodent Diseases/epidemiology/*parasitology ; Rodentia ; Strongyloides/*isolation & purification ; Strongyloidiasis/epidemiology/parasitology/*veterinary

Humans ; Adolescent ; Pandemics ; Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology* ; Smoking ; Ethanol ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology* ; Alcohol Drinking/epidemiology*

The incidence of cancer is sharply increasing. Cancer is a leading cause of death as well as a significant burden on society. The incidence of urological cancer has shown a higher than average increase and will become an important concern in the future. Therefore, an overall and accurate understanding of the incidence of urological cancer is essential. In this study, which was based on the Korea National Cancer Incidence Database, annual incident cases, age-standardized incidence rates, annual percentage change (APC), and distribution by age group were examined in kidney, bladder, and prostate cancers, respectively. From 1999 to 2011, the total number of each type of urological cancer was as follows: kidney cancer (32,600 cases, 25.5%), bladder cancer (37,950 cases, 29.7%), and prostate cancer (57,332 cases, 44.8%). The age-standardized incidence rates of prostate cancer showed a significant increase with an APC of 12.3% in males. Kidney cancer gradually increased with an APC of 6.0% for both sexes and became the second most frequent urological cancer after 2008. Bladder cancer showed no significant change with an APC of -0.2% for both sexes and has decreased slightly since 2007. The distribution of kidney cancer according to age showed two peaks in the 50- to 54-year-old and 65- to 69-year-old age groups. Bladder and prostate cancers occurred mostly in the 70- to 74-year-old age group. The proportions of male to female were 2.5:1 in kidney cancer and 5.6:1 in bladder cancer. We have summarized the incidence trends of kidney, bladder, and prostate cancers and have provided useful information for screening and management of these cancers in the future.
Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Kidney Neoplasms/epidemiology ; Male ; Prostatic Neoplasms/epidemiology ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/epidemiology ; Urogenital Neoplasms/*epidemiology

Autochthonous human gnathostomiasis had never been reported in the Republic of Korea. We report here a case of Gnathostoma spinigerum infection in a 32-year-old Korean woman, presumed to have been infected via an indigenous route. The patient had experienced a painful migratory swelling near the left nasolabial fold area of the face for a year, with movement of the swelling to the mucosal area of the upper lip 2 weeks before surgical removal of the lesion. Histopathological examinations of the extracted tissue revealed inflammation with heavy eosinophilic infiltrations and sections of a nematode suggestive of a Gnathostoma sp. larva. The larva characteristically revealed about 25 intestinal cells with multiple (3-6) nuclei in each intestinal cell consistent with the 3rd-stage larva of G. spinigerum. The patient did not have any special history of travel abroad except a recent trip, 4 months before surgery, to China where she ate only cooked food. The patient is the first recorded autochthonous case of G. spinigerum infection in Korea.
Adult ; Animals ; Female ; Gnathostoma/*classification ; Gnathostomiasis/epidemiology/parasitology/*pathology/surgery ; Humans ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology

The epidemiology, genetics, and clinical manifestations of Crohn's disease (CD) vary considerably among geographic areas and ethnic groups. Thus, identifying the characteristics of Korean CD is important for establishing management strategies appropriate for Korean patients. Since the mid-2000s, many studies have investigated the characteristic features of Korean CD. The incidence and prevalence rates of CD have been increasing rapidly in Korea, especially among the younger population. Unlike Western data, Korean CD shows a male predominance and a lower proportion of isolated colonic disease. Perianal lesions are more prevalent than in Western countries. Genome-wide association studies have confirmed that genetic variants in TNFSF15, IL-23R, and IRGM, but not ATG16L1, are associated with CD susceptibility in the Korean population. Studies of the associations between genetic mutations and the clinical course of CD are underway. Although it has been generally accepted that the clinical course of Korean CD is milder than that in Western countries, recent studies have shown a comparable rate of intestinal resection in Korean and Western CD patients. An ongoing nationwide, hospital-based cohort study is anticipated to provide valuable information on the natural history and prognosis of Korean CD in the near future.
*Crohn Disease/diagnosis/epidemiology/therapy ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Prognosis ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology

BACKGROUND: This study was perfomed to estimate the incidence of hip fractures of people older than 50 years in South Korea. METHODS: Information of patients over 50 years of age who had sustained a hip fracture were obtained from the records of eight hospitals in Jeju Island between 2002 and 2006 to calculate the incidence of hip fractures in this age group. RESULTS: There were 820 hip fractures during the study period. The mean age of the patients at the time of fracture was 77.8 years (71.3 years in 181 men, 79.7 years in 639 women). The crude incidence was 128/100,000 (66.1/100,000 in men, 174.4/100,000 in women). The age-specific incidence according to the 10-year age groups increased from 19.3/100,000 for those 50 to 59 years of age to 1,095.4/100,000 for those over 90 years of age (18.9/100,000-960.4/100,000 in men and 19.7/100,000-1112.1/100,000 in women). The standardized incidence of hip fracture to the Caucasian population in the United States in 1990 was 100/100,000 for men and 207/100,000 for women. CONCLUSIONS: Hip fractures will become an important socioeconomic problem in South Korea due to the rapid aging of the population.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Hip Fractures/*epidemiology ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology

OBJECTIVES: The epidemiological characteristics of breast cancer incidence by age group in Korean women are unique. This systematic review aimed to investigate the association between hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and breast cancer risk in Korean women. METHODS: We searched electronic databases such as KoreaMed, KMbase, KISS, and RISS4U as well as PubMed for publications on Korean breast cancer patients. We also conducted manual searching based on references and citations in potential papers. All of the analytically epidemiologic studies that obtained individual data on HRT exposure and breast cancer occurrence in Korean women were selected. We restricted the inclusion of case-control studies to those that included age-matched controls. Estimates of summary odds ratio (SOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using random effect models. RESULTS: One cohort and five case-control studies were finally selected. Based on the heterogeneity that existed among the six studies (I-squared=70.2%), a random effect model was applied. The summary effect size of HRT history from the six articles indicated no statistical significance in breast cancer risk (SOR, 0.983; 95% CI, 0.620 to 1.556). CONCLUSIONS: These facts support no significant effect of HRT history in the risk of breast cancer in Korean women. It is necessary to conduct a pooled analysis.
Breast Neoplasms/epidemiology/*etiology ; Databases, Factual ; Female ; *Hormone Replacement Therapy ; Humans ; Incidence ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk