The purpose of this study was to examine if Likert scales had been properly utilized in community nutrition research. A total of 527 research articles published in the 32 issues of Korean Journal of Community Nutrition from the volume 5, issue 1 in 2000 to the volume 10, issue 2 in 2005 were screened and 55 articles were found to have utilized one or more Likert scales for the studies. Therefore, 109 Likert scales used in the 55 studies were reviewed regarding the name, statement and response items, reliability and validity check, and analysis method. The scales were mostly referred as Likert scales (60%) or Likert-type scales (27%). Some scales were found to be referred as Likert scales although they were Likert-type scales when judged based on the information given in the respective articles. However some scales couldn't be judged for the rightness of the names because the information given for the scales in the articles was not enough. About 23% of the scales consisted of items less than 6 or more than 30, and therefore found to be inappropriate. The percentage of the scales listing all the statement items in the articles was only 25%. Most of the scales (85%) included 5 response items, and the rest included 4 (7%), 7 (6%), or 3 (2%). The percentages of the scales including appropriate center and end items were only 2% and 22%, respectively. Less than half of the scales (41%) were found to have been checked for reliability and only one scale was reported to have been checked for validity. In some scales (6%), the responses were scored improperly for analysis. The responses to the scales were frequently found to have been analyzed by parametric statistics such as mean, ANOVA, t-test, and Pearson's correlation, which might be a problem depending on the size and distribution of study samples. In conclusion, there is much room for improvement in the use of Likert scales in community nutrition research.
Reproducibility of Results ; Weights and Measures

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to investigate Chinese female marriage immigrants' dietary life after immigration to Korea, focusing on comparison between Han-Chinese (traditional Chinese) and Korean-Chinese (Chinese of Korean descent). METHODS: An in-person survey was conducted with women married to Korean men, having one child or more aged 1-6 years old, and having resided in Korea for at least one year before the survey. The data were collected from the 309 respondents comprising 151 Han-Chinese and 158 Korean-Chinese in the summer of 2013. RESULTS: Overall, there was no significant difference in dietary practice, dietary acculturation, dietary behavior, dietary habits, and food intake between the Han-Chinese and the Korean-Chinese respondents. Over 50% of the respondents ate Korean food every day. The overall level of dietary acculturation was about 3.5 out of 5 points. The average score of healthy dietary behavior was a little bit higher than 3 out of 5 points. Approximately 3/4 of the respondents showed increasing frequency of eating out. The respondents reporting increase food diversity were over 70%. Decreased frequency of skipping meal was about 60% of the respondents. Over 50% of the respondents showed increasing consumption of Kimchi, vegetables, fruit, and meat. CONCLUSIONS: Dietary life of Korean-Chinese female marriage immigrants was similar to that of Han-Chinese female marriage immigrants after immigration to Korea. The results from this study suggest that not only Han-Chinese but also Korean-Chinese should be targeted in various diet-related acculturation support programs as important multicultural populations in Korea.
Acculturation ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Child ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Eating ; Emigrants and Immigrants ; Emigration and Immigration* ; Female ; Food Habits ; Fruit ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Marriage* ; Meals ; Meat ; Vegetables

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between the levels of foodservice management activities and job satisfaction of the dietitians in elementary schools. Out of 130 questionnaires distributed to elementary school dietitians in In-cheon, 127 were returned and analyzed (98% response rate). The questionnaire included two multipleitem scales for measuring foodservice management activities and job satisfaction, respectively. All the items in the scales were coded 1 to 5 for 'certainly no', 'no', 'neutral', 'yes', and 'certainly yes' and grouped by using factor analyses. Most of the responding dietitians were working for schools in urban areas and have independently managed on-site kitchens. The 19 items on food service management activities were grouped into 6 factors and the mean scores of the levels of Personnel Hygiene Management, Education & Training, Sanitation & Safety Management, Menu Quality Management, Service Management, and Environment Management were 4.76, 4.26, 4.24, 4.05, 3.61 and 3.39, respectively. The 23 items on job satisfaction were grouped into 4 factors and the mean scores of the satisfaction levels of Systematic Environment, Job Duty, Job Condition, and Physical Environment were 3.38, 2.83, 2.53, and 2.08, respectively. Overall, the levels of food service management activities and job satisfaction were positively associated with a correlation coefficient of 0.254 (p < 0.01). In particular, satisfaction levels on job duty itself and systematic environment were positively associated with the levels of overall management activities. The results suggest that improving dietitians' job satisfaction could increase the levels of management activities of school foodservice dietitians, resulting in quality improvement of school food service.
Education ; Food Services ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Incheon ; Job Satisfaction* ; Nutritionists ; Quality Improvement ; Safety Management ; Sanitation ; Weights and Measures

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the students' levels of involvement in school lunch service and their satisfaction levels with the service. A survey was conducted with 5th and 6th grade elementary students eating school lunches. Out of 1,680 questionnaires distributed to the students from 14 schools, 1,254 complete questionnaires (74.6%) were analyzed. The questionnaire included two 5-point multi-item scales for measuring levels of involvement in and satisfaction with school lunch service, respectively. A factor analysis grouped 20 items measuring school lunch satisfaction into three factors: 'food satisfaction', 'nutrition & sanitation satisfaction', and 'service & environment satisfaction'. As a result of multiple regression analyses controlling the influence of such variables as students' grades, gender, school location, years and places of eating school lunches, students' levels of involvement in school lunch service was proven to be positively associated with levels of school lunch satisfaction overall, as well as satisfaction levels in regard to 'food', 'nutrition & sanitation', and 'service & environment', respectively. It was suggested that efforts such as nutrition education to increase students' levels of involvement in school lunches could be a useful strategy to improve students' satisfaction with school lunch service.
Eating ; Education ; Humans ; Lunch* ; Sanitation ; Weights and Measures

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to detect the levels of M30-antigens as a biomarker of apoptosis in cells and their culture media after treatments with anticancer drugs as a preclinical study. METHODS: After HeLa and OVCAR-3 cells were treated respectively with paclitaxel, cisplatin, and camptothecin, the harvested cells were stained sequentially with M30 monoclonal antibodies and propidium iodide (PI). Afterwards, they were analyzed using a FACScan flow cytometer and observed under an immunofluorescence microscope for M30-FITC immunofluorescences. Levels of M30 antigens were also detected in their culture media using M30-Apoptosense ELISA kit. RESULTS: The levels of M30-FITC immunofluorescences were elevated in both cell lines after each drug treatments compared with those of control cells. The levels of M30 antigens detected by ELISA in media culturing each cell line treated with each of drugs were elevated compared with those of control cells. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that M30-antigens representing chemotherapy induced apoptosis may be a useful biomarker for predicting and monitoring the response of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with gynecologic cancers.
Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Antineoplastic Agents ; Apoptosis ; Camptothecin ; Cell Line ; Cisplatin ; Culture Media ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Flow Cytometry ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Humans ; Paclitaxel ; Propidium

This study compared the nutritional quality of Korean adults's consumption of lunch prepared at home, commercial places, and institutions. The one day food intake data collected via 24-hour recall in the 2001 National Health and Nutrition Survey were analyzed. Individuals with 19 . 64 years of age were selected (n = 5,756). Sampling weights in the Survey were used to generate nationally representative estimates. Lunch was categorized into three groups according to the place where the lunch was prepared: home, commercial places, and institutions such as schools and work places. Comparison among the three groups was made for 19 . 39 years old men (n = 1,387) and women (n = 1,572) and 40 . 64 years old men (n = 1,364) and women (1,433), respectively. The lunch prepared away from home contained more calories. The lunch prepared commercially was higher in calories percentages from fat than that prepared either at home or at institutions. Across the age and gender groups, lunch prepared at home contribute a high level of sodium intake. Among individuals with 40 . 64 years of age, but not those with 19 . 39 years of age, lunch prepared commercially was as sodium dense as that prepared at home. Among individuals with 19 . 39 years of age, the sodium density of lunch prepared commercially was about the same as that prepared at institutional food service of which the menus were planned by dieticians. Such differences in nutritional quality among meals prepared at home, commercial places, and institutions should be considered and applied for the content development of nutrition education and policy.
Adult ; Eating ; Education ; Female ; Food Services ; Humans ; Lunch* ; Male ; Meals ; Middle Aged ; Nutrition Surveys* ; Nutritionists ; Nutritive Value* ; Sodium ; Weights and Measures ; Workplace

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between the levels of job satisfaction and self-evaluated foodservice quality of dietitians in elementary schools. Out of 130 questionnaires distributed to the elementary school dietitians in In-cheon, 127 were returned and analyzed (98% response rate). The questionnaire included two multipleitem scales for measuring job satisfaction and foodservice quality, respectively. All the items in the scales were coded 1 to 5 for certainly no, no, neutral, yes, and certainly yes and grouped by using factor analyses. Most of the responding dietitians were working for schools in urban areas and had independently-managed on-site kitchens. The 23 items measuring job satisfaction were grouped into 4 factors: Job Duty, Job Condition, Physical Work Environment, and Organizational Environment. The satisfaction score was the highest for Organizational Environment with a value of 3.38 and the least for Physical Work Environment with a value of 2.08. The 22 items measuring foodservice quality were grouped into 5 factors and the mean scores of the levels of Cleanliness, Internal Food quality, External Food quality, Intangible Service Environment and Tangible Service Environment were 4.20, 3.89, 3.54, 3.45 and 2.64, respectively. The levels of job satisfaction and foodservice quality were positively associated with a correlation coefficient of 0.288 (p < 0.01). In particular, the level of job satisfaction was positively associated with foodservice quality in the aspect of Cleanliness, Internal Food Quality, and Intangible Service Environment. The results show that improving dietitians' job satisfaction could contribute to increasing the levels of foodservice quality of elementary schools.
Food Quality ; Humans ; Incheon ; Job Satisfaction* ; Nutritionists ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Weights and Measures

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to observe the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy and the effects of maternal 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25-[OH]D) levels on fetal bone growth. METHODS: Five hundred twenty-three Korean pregnant women were randomly recruited and serum 25-(OH)D level was measured. During pregnancy, fetal ultrasonography and serum 25-(OH)D measurements were carried out 3 times in 275 of 523 pregnant women. Fetal biparietal and occipitofrontal diameter, head and abdominal circumference, and femur and humerus length were measured through fetal ultrasonography. RESULTS: The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (25-[OH]D<20 ng/mL) based on the 1st serum measurement of 25-(OH)D was 88.9%. There was no association between maternal serum 25-(OH)D level and fetal bone growth. In 275 pregnant women who completed study design, the mean value of 25-(OH)D was 12.97+/-5.93, 19.12+/-9.82, and 19.60+/-9.98 ng/mL at 12 to 14, 20 to 22, and 32 to 34 weeks of pregnancy, respectively and there was an association between the difference of serum 25-(OH)D level between 12 to 14 and 20 to 22 weeks and growth velocity of fetal biparietal diameter between 20 to 22 and 32 to 34 weeks of pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in Korean pregnant women and the change of serum 25-(OH)D levels is related with the growth of fetal biparietal diameter, however other parameters are not associated with serum 25-(OH)D levels.
Bone Development* ; Female ; Femur ; Fetal Development ; Head ; Humans ; Humerus ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnant Women ; Prevalence ; Ultrasonography ; Ultrasonography, Prenatal ; Vitamin D ; Vitamin D Deficiency

PURPOSE: Acute pancreatitis is one of the potentially lethal complications that occurs after cardiac surgery. We tried to identify risk factors for and the prognosis of acute pancreatitis after cardiac valve surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed a database of consecutive patients who underwent cardiac valve surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass between January 2005 and April 2010 at our institution. Patients were classified as having acute pancreatitis based on serum lipase concentration and clinical symptoms (lipase > or =180 U/L or > or =60 U/L with relevant symptoms). RESULTS: Of the 986 patients who underwent cardiac valve surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass, 58 (5.9%) patients developed post-operative pancreatitis. Post-operative hospital stay was significantly longer (29.7+/-45.6 days vs. 12.4+/-10.7 days, p=0.005) and in-hospital mortality rate was higher (15.5% vs. 2.0%, p<0.001) in patients with post-operative pancreatitis than those without. Hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and peri-operative use of norepinephrine were identified as independent risk factors for developing pancreatitis after cardiac valve surgery. CONCLUSION: We found that acute pancreatitis after cardiac valve surgery requires longer hospitalization and increases the in-hospital mortality rate. Clinicians should be aware that patients could develop pancreatitis after cardiac valve surgery, especially in patients with hypertension and chronic kidney disease treated with norepinephrine.
Acute Disease ; Adult ; Aged ; Cardiac Surgical Procedures/adverse effects ; Cardiopulmonary Bypass ; Female ; Heart Valve Diseases/*complications/*surgery ; Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation/*adverse effects ; Humans ; Lipase/blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Norepinephrine/therapeutic use ; Pancreatitis/*diagnosis/*etiology ; Postoperative Period ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors

Eyelid tumors, including metastatic lid tumors, present clinically as recurrent chalazia, multicentric nodules, ul cerated lesions, diffuse swelling, or chronic blepharocon juntivitis. Lid tumors consist of benign lesions(69%) and malignant lesions(31%). Basal cell carcinoma and squa mous cell carcinoma account for 92% of the malignant lesions. Metastatic lid disease was found to be of rare occurence, accounting for 0.1% of all lid lesions and 0.3% of malignant lid lesions. We report a case of metastatic lid carcinoma of sto mach cancer. A 60-year-old man developed a painless, slow-growing nodular lesion of his right lower eyelid. Excisional biopsy revealed metastatic undifferentiated ade nocarcinoma. We believe this is the first case in Korean literature.
Biopsy ; Carcinoma, Basal Cell ; Chalazion ; Eyelids ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Stomach Neoplasms* ; Stomach*