PURPOSE: This study was done to identify the impact of physical activity on healthcare utilization among Korean adults. METHODS: Drawing from the 2008 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES IV-2), data from 6,521 adults who completed the Health Interview and Health Behavior Surveys were analyzed. Association between physical activity and healthcare utilization was tested using the chi2-test. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to calculate the odds ratios of using outpatient and inpatient healthcare for different levels of physical activity after adjusting for predisposing, enabling, and need factors. A generalized linear model applying a negative binomial distribution was used to determine how the level of physical activity was related to use of outpatient and inpatient healthcare. RESULTS: Physically active participants were 16% less likely to use outpatient healthcare (OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.74-0.97) and 23% less likely to use inpatient healthcare (OR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.63-0.93) than physically inactive participants. Levels of outpatient and inpatient healthcare use decreased as levels of physical activity increased, after adjusting for relevant factors. CONCLUSION: An independent association between being physically active and lower healthcare utilization was ascertained among Korean adults indicating a need to develop nursing intervention programs that encourage regular physical activity.
Adult ; Aged ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; *Delivery of Health Care ; Female ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Motor Activity ; Nutrition Surveys ; Odds Ratio ; Questionnaires ; Republic of Korea ; Young Adult

This study was aimed at knowing the recognition of teachers' nutrition knowledge and nutrition education at day-care centers in Seong-nam. Teachers were all female, most of whom were in the 20, and their careers were less than 3 years. And 76.2% of the teachers graduated from high school and junior college. The score of the nutrition knowledge was average 14.3 +/- 2.2 (out of 20). It shows that they are lack of general information of nutrition. As the teachers had higher education, they scored higher nutrition knowledge levels (p<0.01). It also says that there was meaningful interrelationship between the nutrition knowledge and the number of children they had (p<0.05). 93% of the teachers said that nutrition education should be given when children are three years old, at least and most of the teachers thought that nutrition education is necessary and should be taught in a separate course. 50.4% of the teachers thought that nutrition education for early childhood should be taught by a nutritionist, but 35.2% of them thought that the teachers themselves should be in charge of it. About 60% of the teachers thought that 'Cooking Activity for Early Childhood' course should be established and it is desirable that the nutrition education should be in the area of cooking activity for childhood at daycare centers. The teachers thought that dietary habit is the most important subject in nutrition education and they got more information from the internet rather than in the class related to nutrition.
Child ; Cooking ; Education* ; Female ; Food Habits ; Humans ; Internet ; Nutritionists

Purpose: Hospital-acquired infections, common in developing countries, are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. This study was done to examine the effects of organizational culture and awareness of infection control on nursing practice of infection control by nurses working in emergency departments. Methods: This descriptive correlational study was conducted with 135 nurses from the emergency department of a hospital. Data were collected from December 23, 2019, to January 14, 2020, using a structured questionnaire. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression analysis with SPSS/WIN 18.0. Results: The mean score of organizational culture, awareness, nursing practice of infection control were 5.56±0.78 out of 7, 4.66±0.36 out of 5 and 4.51±0.38 out of 5, respectively. The multiple regression analysis demonstrated that awareness and organizational culture of infection control accounted for 43% of the nursing practice of infection control. Conclusion Study findings showed that there is a significant correlation between organizational culture, awareness, and nursing practice of infection control in the emergency department. Therefore, to improve nursing practices infection control in the emergency department, efforts should be made to promote infection control by developing education programs that can improve infection control awareness as well as strategies for a positive organizational culture.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of aroma hand massage on stress, fatigue, and sleep in sophomore nursing students. METHODS: This study was a quasi-experimental design with a nonequivalent control group and a pre-post test was used. Thirty-seven sophomore nursing students were recruited. The experimental group (n=18) underwent 40 minutes aroma hand massage which was provided by the research assistant. The research assistant was trained with a video clip for aroma hand massage that was developed by Korea Aroma Association. Aroma oil contained lavender essential oil and sweet orange oil mixed with a jojoba oil base. The control group (n=19) did not receive any other treatments related aroma and massage. RESULTS: Significant improvements were exhibited in scores for stress (t=−2.61, p=.013) and fatigue in the experimental group (t=−2.05, p=.047) compared to the control group. However, differences in sleep between two groups were not statistically significant (t=1.23, p=.277) between two groups. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that aroma hand massage could be useful to decrease stress and fatigue levels for sophomore nursing students. Therefore, results of this study can be used as a basis of health care programs for reducing stress of nursing students.
Aromatherapy ; Citrus sinensis ; Delivery of Health Care ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Fatigue ; Hand ; Humans ; Korea ; Lavandula ; Massage ; Nursing ; Students, Nursing

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop a substantive theory of case management (CM) practice by investigating the experience of nurse case managers caring for Medical Aid enrollees in Korea. METHODS: A total of 12 nurses were interviewed regarding their own experience in CM practice. Data were recorded and analyzed using grounded theory. RESULTS: Empowerment was the core category of CM for Medical Aid enrollees. The case managers engaged in five phases as follows, phase of inquiring in advance, building a relationship with the client, giving the client critical mind, facilitating positive changes in the client's use of healthcare services, and maintaining relationship bonds. These phases moved gradually and were circular if necessary. Also, they were accelerated or slowed depending on factors including clients' characteristics, case managers' competency level, families' support level, and availability of community resources. CONCLUSION: This study helps understand what CM practice is and how nurses are performing this innovative CM role. It is recommended that nurse leaders and policy makers integrate empowerment as a core category and the five critical CM phases into future CM programs.
Adult ; Case Management/*organization & administration ; Community Health Nursing ; Female ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Korea ; Managed Care Programs ; Nurse-Patient Relations ; Nursing Staff/*organization & administration ; Power (Psychology)

PURPOSE: This study was done to investigate differences in health behaviors by job stress level in male and female workers in a large-sized company. METHODS: Participants were 576 male and 228 female workers who completed questionnaires. Job stress was measured using the 'Short Form Korean Occupational Stress Scale (SF-KOSS)'. Health behaviors included smoking, alcohol consumption, regular exercise, and diet. Frequency, mean, SD, chi-square test, and multivariate logistic regression using SAS version 9.1 were used to analyze data. RESULTS: Smoking, drinking and regular exercise rates were not different by job stress level in male or female workers. Only regular diet was significantly different by job stress level in male and female workers. From multivariate analysis, the alcohol consumption rates for female workers differed by marital status. Regular exercise rate was significantly related to age for male workers and type of employment for female workers. After adjusting for demographic and work-related characteristics, regular diet significantly differed by shift work for male workers and marital status and shift work for female workers. CONCLUSION: The findings of the study indicate that nursing interventions should be developed to manage job stress to improve diet habits for male and female workers in large-sized companies.
Adult ; Alcohol Drinking ; Diet ; Employment ; Exercise ; Female ; *Health Behavior ; Humans ; Industry ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Occupational Health ; Questionnaires ; Smoking ; *Stress, Psychological ; Workplace/*psychology

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to measure imaging utilization rates and the negative appendectomy rate (NAR) in metropolitan Seoul, Korea. The study included 2321 adolescents and adults (> or =15 yr; median [interquartile range] age, 37 [27-50] yr; 46.7% female) undergoing appendectomy in 2011 at eight tertiary and three secondary hospitals. Imaging utilization rate was 99.7% (95% confidence interval, 99.4%-99.9%). CT and ultrasonography utilization rates as an initial imaging modality were 93.1% (92.0%-94.1%), and 6.5% (5.6%-7.6%), respectively. The NAR in patients undergoing CT only, complementary ultrasonography following CT, ultrasonography only, and complementary CT following ultrasonography were 3.3% (2.6%-4.1%), 27% (14%-44%), 9% (4%-16%), and 8% (2%-20%), respectively. The use of ultrasonography instead of CT as the initial imaging modality was significantly associated with higher NAR (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 2.28 [1.22-4.27]; risk difference, 4.4 [0-8.8] percentage points), however, the population attributable risk was 0.3 [0-0.6] percentage points. We observed a very high CT utilization rate and a low NAR in metropolitan Seoul. Although the use of CT was significantly associated with the lower NAR, CT utilization rate already has reached the level that increase in CT utilization from the status quo would hardly decrease the NAR further.
Acute Disease ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Appendicitis/*diagnosis/radiography/ultrasonography ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Diagnostic Imaging/instrumentation/*utilization ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Young Adult

Infection is a known complication of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), occurring in up to 1.5% of cases. However, it is important to realize that true incidence may be underestimated because infection may go unnoticed. Post-ERCP infections are considered to be endogenous infections arising from the intestinal bacteria of the patient and introduction of exogenous bacteria through inadequately reprocessed duodenoscopes. During the past years, carbapenem resistance has become a major concern for public health. The infection outbreaks after ERCP are linked to breaches in adherence to disinfection manual and complex design of duodenoscopes difficult to reprocess. The most important risk factor for ERCP-related cholangitis is inadequate biliary drainage. To minimize the risk of post-ERCP infection it would be helpful that the volume of contrast injected into the biliary tree has to be minimized to obtain adequate cholangiogram. In patients with bile duct obstruction and failed drainage of infected bile via ERCP, every effort should be made to achieve prompt decompression of an obstructed biliary system. Antibiotic prophylaxis is recommended only in patients with biliary obstruction in which there is a possibility that complete drainage may not be achieved at the ERCP.
Antibiotic Prophylaxis ; Bacteria ; Bile ; Biliary Tract ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Cholangitis ; Cholecystitis ; Cholestasis ; Decompression ; Disease Outbreaks ; Disinfection ; Drainage ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; Duodenoscopes ; Humans ; Incidence ; Public Health ; Risk Factors

Infection is a known complication of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), occurring in up to 1.5% of cases. However, it is important to realize that true incidence may be underestimated because infection may go unnoticed. Post-ERCP infections are considered to be endogenous infections arising from the intestinal bacteria of the patient and introduction of exogenous bacteria through inadequately reprocessed duodenoscopes. During the past years, carbapenem resistance has become a major concern for public health. The infection outbreaks after ERCP are linked to breaches in adherence to disinfection manual and complex design of duodenoscopes difficult to reprocess. The most important risk factor for ERCP-related cholangitis is inadequate biliary drainage. To minimize the risk of post-ERCP infection it would be helpful that the volume of contrast injected into the biliary tree has to be minimized to obtain adequate cholangiogram. In patients with bile duct obstruction and failed drainage of infected bile via ERCP, every effort should be made to achieve prompt decompression of an obstructed biliary system. Antibiotic prophylaxis is recommended only in patients with biliary obstruction in which there is a possibility that complete drainage may not be achieved at the ERCP.
Antibiotic Prophylaxis ; Bacteria ; Bile ; Biliary Tract ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Cholangitis ; Cholecystitis ; Cholestasis ; Decompression ; Disease Outbreaks ; Disinfection ; Drainage ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; Duodenoscopes ; Humans ; Incidence ; Public Health ; Risk Factors

Brachytherapy was developed to treat prostate cancer 50 years ago. Current advanced techniques using transrectal ultrasonography were established 25 years ago. Transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) has enabled the prostate to be viewed with improved resolution with the use of modern ultrasound machines. Moreover, the development of software that can provide images captured in real time has improved treatment outcomes. Other new radiologic imaging technologies or a combination of magnetic resonance and TRUS could be applied to brachytherapy in the future. The therapeutic value of brachytherapy for early-stage prostate cancer is comparable to that of radical prostatectomy in long-term follow-up. Nevertheless, widespread application of brachytherapy cannot be achieved for several reasons. The treatment outcome of brachytherapy varies according to the skill of the operator and differences in patient selection. Currently, only three radioactive isotopes are available for use in low dose rate prostate brachytherapy: I-125, Pd-103, and Cs-131; therefore, more isotopes should be developed. High dose rate brachytherapy using Ir-192 combined with external beam radiation, which is needed to verify the long-term effects, has been widely applied in high-risk patient groups. Recently, tumor-selective therapy or focal therapy using brachytherapy, which is not possible by surgical extraction, has been developed to maintain the quality of life in selected cases. However, this new application for prostate cancer treatment should be performed cautiously because we do not know the oncological outcome, and it would be an interim treatment method. This technique might evolve into a hybrid of whole-gland treatment and focal therapy.
Brachytherapy ; Chimera ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Isotopes ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Patient Selection ; Prostate ; Prostatectomy ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Quality of Life ; Radioisotopes ; Treatment Outcome