Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the influence of health literacy and insight on medication adherence in mental illness.
Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive correlational study design was used. Participants were 135 adults diagnosed with mental disorders and living in D city. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation, and hierarchical multiple regression with SPSS 26.0.
Results: On multiple regression analysis, clinical insight (β=.32, p<.001) and reading response (β=.23, p=008) were statistically significant factors for medication adherence and showed a total explanatory power of 20%.
Conclusion In order to enhance medication adherence, strategies and programs are needed to improve the insight and health literacy among patients with severe mental illness.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the influence of health literacy and insight on medication adherence in mental illness.
Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive correlational study design was used. Participants were 135 adults diagnosed with mental disorders and living in D city. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation, and hierarchical multiple regression with SPSS 26.0.
Results: On multiple regression analysis, clinical insight (β=.32, p<.001) and reading response (β=.23, p=008) were statistically significant factors for medication adherence and showed a total explanatory power of 20%.
Conclusion In order to enhance medication adherence, strategies and programs are needed to improve the insight and health literacy among patients with severe mental illness.

BACKGROUND: Korea has shown a rapid pace of aging and has become an aged society in a shorter period than Western countries. Therefore, it is important that middle-aged workers maintain their ability to work in the industrial field at the maximum level while maintaining their health. The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors affecting work ability and to use this data to maintain the working ability of middle-aged workers in the future.METHODS: From 2015 to 2017, we surveyed 371 street cleaners who visited a health center for health promotion in a metropolitan city. The relationship between the general characteristics of the survey subjects and the Work Ability Index (WAI) was confirmed by a univariate analysis. Statistically significant (p<0.2) factors were selected and a multiple linear regression analysis was conducted with WAI scores as a dependent variable.RESULTS: Age, body mass index, body fat percentage, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Korea (AUDIT-K) scores, the Psychosocial Well-Being Index-Short Form (PWI-SF) scores, maximal oxygen consumption (VO(2max)), and hypertension showed statistically significant correlations with the WAI in the univariate analysis. In the multivariate analysis, the VO(2max), AUDIT-K scores, and PWI-SF scores were included in the regression equation. VO(2max) had the greatest effect on the standardization coefficient indicating the relative contribution of independent variables, followed by the AUDIT-K scores and the PWI-SF scores.CONCLUSION: Programs to increase workers’ physical work ability and alleviate psychosocial stress and drinking habits should be developed and implemented in the future.
Adipose Tissue ; Aging ; Body Mass Index ; Drinking ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Linear Models ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Oxygen Consumption ; Physical Endurance

BACKGROUND: Noise-induced hearing loss is an occupational disease, and workplace noise exposure is a major hazard in Korea. Although hearing protectors effectively reduce a worker's exposure to noise, their success is compromised by the wearer's inability to fit the protectors correctly, and there are no proper training methods for using hearing protectors in small-scale industries. This study aims to evaluate the effect of earplug training on hearing protection using field microphone-in-real-ear (F-MIRE) and prevent noise-induced hearing loss. METHODS: The study population comprised 172 noise-exposed manufacturing workers who visited occupational health facilities in Daegu, South Korea, between July 2014 and September 2017. Personal attenuation ratings (PARs) were calculated with F-MIRE. Paired t-tests were used to compare the differences in PAR (dB) before and after training, and generalized estimating equations (GEEs) were used to compare the differences in PAR according to the number of trainings. RESULTS: Mean PARs increased after the first and second training, and the differences were statistically significant. Among the 30 participants who received all 4 trainings, PARs were significantly higher after each training than before the training. As the number of training increased, the differences in PARs significantly increased. When comparing pretraining PARs for each training session, we found statistically significant differences between the first and second training and between the second and third training, but not between the third and fourth training. CONCLUSION In this study, the short- and long-term effects of earplug training were statistically significant. In particular, the PAR before and after the fourth training showed the greatest increase, and the PARs continued to increase during each training.

We constructed an age-to-age infection matrix to characterize the household transmission pattern of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Korea. Among 4,048 household clusters, within-age group infection dominated the overall household transmissions. Transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 was more common from adults to children than from children to adults.

BACKGROUND: Korea has shown a rapid pace of aging and has become an aged society in a shorter period than Western countries. Therefore, it is important that middle-aged workers maintain their ability to work in the industrial field at the maximum level while maintaining their health. The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors affecting work ability and to use this data to maintain the working ability of middle-aged workers in the future. METHODS: From 2015 to 2017, we surveyed 371 street cleaners who visited a health center for health promotion in a metropolitan city. The relationship between the general characteristics of the survey subjects and the Work Ability Index (WAI) was confirmed by a univariate analysis. Statistically significant (p<0.2) factors were selected and a multiple linear regression analysis was conducted with WAI scores as a dependent variable. RESULTS: Age, body mass index, body fat percentage, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Korea (AUDIT-K) scores, the Psychosocial Well-Being Index-Short Form (PWI-SF) scores, maximal oxygen consumption (VO(2max)), and hypertension showed statistically significant correlations with the WAI in the univariate analysis. In the multivariate analysis, the VO(2max), AUDIT-K scores, and PWI-SF scores were included in the regression equation. VO(2max) had the greatest effect on the standardization coefficient indicating the relative contribution of independent variables, followed by the AUDIT-K scores and the PWI-SF scores. CONCLUSION Programs to increase workers’ physical work ability and alleviate psychosocial stress and drinking habits should be developed and implemented in the future.

We constructed an age-to-age infection matrix to characterize the household transmission pattern of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Korea. Among 4,048 household clusters, within-age group infection dominated the overall household transmissions. Transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 was more common from adults to children than from children to adults.

BACKGROUND: Thyrotoxic periodic paralysis (TPP) is a rare complication of thyrotoxicosis characterized by acute attacks of muscle weakness and hypokalemia. Recently, variation in several genes was suggested to be associated with TPP. This study evaluated the genetic predisposition to TPP in terms of the β2-adrenergic receptor (ADRB2), androgen receptor (AR), and γ-aminobutyric acid receptor α3 subunit (GABRA3) genes. METHODS: This study enrolled 48 men with Graves disease (GD) and TPP, and 48 GD patients without TPP. We compared the frequencies of candidate polymorphisms between the two groups. RESULTS: The frequency of the Gly16/Gly16 genotype in ADRB2 was not significantly associated with TPP (P=0.32). More CAG repeats (≥26) in the AR gene were not correlated with TPP (odds ratio [OR], 2.46; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.81 to 8.09; P=0.08). The allele frequency of the TT genotype in the GABRA3 gene was not associated with TPP (OR, 1.83; 95% CI, 0.54 to 6.74; P=0.41). CONCLUSION: The polymorphisms in the ADRB2, AR, and GABRA3 genes could not explain the genetic susceptibility to TPP in Korean men with GD.
Gene Frequency ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genotype ; Graves Disease* ; Humans ; Hypokalemia ; Male ; Muscle Weakness ; Paralysis* ; Receptors, Androgen ; Thyrotoxicosis

BACKGROUND: Transcriptional activating mutations of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) are associated with more aggressive thyroid cancer. We evaluated the significance of TERT promoter mutations in Korean patients with classic papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). METHODS: Genomic DNA was isolated from four thyroid cancer cell lines and 35 fresh-frozen PTC tissues. TERT promoter mutations (C228T and C250T) and the BRAF V600E mutation were evaluated by polymerase chain reaction amplification and direct sequencing. RESULTS: The CC228229TT mutation in the TERT promoter was detected in BCPAP cells and the C250T mutation was found in 8505C cells. No TERT promoter mutation was observed in Cal-62 or ML-1 cells. The C228T mutation was found in only 1 of 35 (2.8%) PTCs and no C250T mutations were detected in any of the study subjects. The BRAF V600E mutation was found in 20 of 35 (57.1%) PTCs. One patient with the C228T TERT mutation also harbored the BRAF V600E mutation and developed a recurrence. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of somatic TERT promoter mutations was low in Korean patients with classic PTC. Therefore, the prognostic role of TERT promoter mutations might be limited in this patient cohort.
Cell Line ; Cohort Studies ; DNA ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence* ; Recurrence ; Telomerase ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms*

BACKGROUND: Glucometers are widely used for self-monitoring and point-of-care testing in diabetes management. We evaluated the performance of the recently developed Wisecheck Glucose Monitoring System (Wisemeditech, Korea) compared to that of 2 other well-known glucometer systems. METHODS: The Wisecheck glucometer was evaluated for precision, linearity, and carryover rate. One-hundred fifty samples samples were tested, and the results obtained from the Wisecheck glucometer, ACCU-CHEK Performa (Roche Diagnostics, Germany) and SD GlucoLink (SD Diagnostics, Korea) were compared to those obtained using the laboratory reference method from the Toshiba 200FR (Toshiba, Japan), according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. RESULTS: The coefficient of variation (CV) values for within-run imprecision at low, middle, and high levels were 2.06%, 1.02%, and 2.02%, respectively, and the CV values for total-run imprecision at low, middle, and high levels were 2.98%, 2.41%, and 1.88%, respectively. In the linearity test, the coefficient of determination (R2) was 0.9985 in glucose concentration ranging from 48.6 mg/dL to 428 mg/dL (P<0.0001). The results obtained using the Wisecheck glucometer were well correlated with those obtained using the Toshiba 200FR (R2=0.980, P<0.0001). The carryover rate was 0.12%. CONCLUSIONS: The Wisecheck glucometer showed good precision, linearity, and correlation with the reference method. It provided rapid and reliable measurements of blood glucose levels and seemed appropriate for use in diabetes management.
Blood Glucose ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Glucose* ; Methods