It has been demonstrated that risk-appropriate perinatal and obstetric care can improve perinatal morbidity and mortality. Recently, various studies focus on the importance of evaluation for maternal conditions and allocation of high risk pregnant women to highly qualified facilities. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the conceptualized framework for levels of obstetric care and establish the guidelines for the situations that should be cared in each level of facility. In this review article, we reviewed several classifications of obstetric care in eastern and western countries, and conditions in which transfer should be recommended depending on the risk and capacity of centers.
Classification ; Female ; Humans ; Mortality ; Pregnancy, High-Risk ; Pregnant Women ; Referral and Consultation

In vitro ethylene-diamine-tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) dependent satellitism and phagocytosis of platelets by neutrophils have been considered to be rare phenomena. It is associated with pseudothrombocytopenia, abnormal histogram of platelets and pseudoleukocytosis on complete blood cell count (CBC) by automated blood cell counter, but these findings are not found in heparinized or sodium citrated blood. It has no clinical significance such as bleeding tendency or abnormal platelet function. EDTA dependent platelet satellitosis and phagocytosis must be differentiated from true thrombocytopenia. We report a case of EDTA dependent platelet phagocytosis by neutrophils in a 68 year-old male patient who was diagnosed as mycosis fungoides. His EDTA blood smear showed frequent phagocytosis of platelets by neutrophils and occasional platelet satellitism. The bood cell counts were within normal limits without pseudothrombocytopenia. Phagocytized platelets were confirmed by immunohistochemistry using GpIIb/IIIa antibody and transmission electron micrographs.
Aged ; Blood Cell Count ; Blood Platelets* ; Cell Count ; Edetic Acid* ; Hemorrhage ; Heparin ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Mycosis Fungoides* ; Neutrophils* ; Phagocytosis* ; Sodium ; Thrombocytopenia

OBJECTIVES: Socioeconomic status plays an important role in health care and disease prevention. This study aimed to examine the association between socioeconomic status, measured by education levels and household income, and gastric cancer screening. METHODS: A total of 21,220 community-dwelling adults aged 40 to 69 years within a defined geographic area participated in a community health survey in 2009 and 2010. The survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire by trained investigators who visited the subjects' households directly. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between self-reported participation in gastric cancer screening and socioeconomic variables (education and household income). RESULTS: The gastric cancer screening rate was 52.1% for subjects in their forties, 63.7% for those in their fifties, and 67.3% for those in their sixties. In multivariate analysis, higher education and income levels were associated with higher rates of gastric cancer screening (high school vs. elementary school: odds ratio [OR] 1.41, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.26-1.58; highest income quartile vs. lowest income quartile: OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.44-1.84). The gradient between income and screening rate was more pronounced in the population aged 40 to 49 years than in the other age groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that lower socioeconomic status is associated with decreased participation in gastric cancer screening. Our findings suggest that the screening program should be focused on low-income and less-educated populations, especially among younger adults, to reduce health disparities.
Adult ; Delivery of Health Care ; Education ; Family Characteristics ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Mass Screening* ; Multivariate Analysis ; Odds Ratio ; Research Personnel ; Social Class* ; Stomach Neoplasms* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Background: Female farmers have a high prevalence of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) in South Korea. Femoral bowing has been reported to be related to KOA by increasing load on the mechanical axis. This study aimed to investigate factors related to femoral bowing in Korean female farmers. Methods: We analyzed the legs of 264 female farmers registered with the Korea farmers' knee cohort of Jeonnam Center for Farmers' Safety and Health. A structured questionnaire was used to determine sociodemographic variables, agricultural career, cumulative squatting working time (CSWT), and cumulative heavy lifting working time. Femoral bone density was measured and Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grades were obtained from the knee radiographs.Mechanical axis angle (MAA), femoral bowing angle (FBA), anatomical lateral distal femoral angle (aLDFA), anatomical medial proximal tibial angle (aMPTA), and condylar-plateau angle (CPA) were measured. We examined the relationship between the FBA and related factors by using multiple linear regression. Results: The proportion of individuals with radiographic KOA (≥ KL grade 2) in this study was 37.9%. As KL grades increased, MAA, FBA, and CPA increased, whereas aLDFA and aMPTA decreased. FBA increased with age. Multiple linear regression analyses using FBA as a dependent variable showed relationship with higher age, lower height, higher BMI, lower bone mineral density, longer CSWT, and longer agricultural careers. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that external factors related to agricultural work in female farmers was associated with femoral bowing, in addition to internal factors such as age, bone density, height, and obesity.

Background: Female farmers have a high prevalence of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) in South Korea. Femoral bowing has been reported to be related to KOA by increasing load on the mechanical axis. This study aimed to investigate factors related to femoral bowing in Korean female farmers. Methods: We analyzed the legs of 264 female farmers registered with the Korea farmers' knee cohort of Jeonnam Center for Farmers' Safety and Health. A structured questionnaire was used to determine sociodemographic variables, agricultural career, cumulative squatting working time (CSWT), and cumulative heavy lifting working time. Femoral bone density was measured and Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grades were obtained from the knee radiographs.Mechanical axis angle (MAA), femoral bowing angle (FBA), anatomical lateral distal femoral angle (aLDFA), anatomical medial proximal tibial angle (aMPTA), and condylar-plateau angle (CPA) were measured. We examined the relationship between the FBA and related factors by using multiple linear regression. Results: The proportion of individuals with radiographic KOA (≥ KL grade 2) in this study was 37.9%. As KL grades increased, MAA, FBA, and CPA increased, whereas aLDFA and aMPTA decreased. FBA increased with age. Multiple linear regression analyses using FBA as a dependent variable showed relationship with higher age, lower height, higher BMI, lower bone mineral density, longer CSWT, and longer agricultural careers. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that external factors related to agricultural work in female farmers was associated with femoral bowing, in addition to internal factors such as age, bone density, height, and obesity.

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy will likely increase in the unvaccinated general population because of several vaccine safety issues that arose during priority vaccination.To investigate the potential rate of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the unvaccinated population and evaluate factors that affect the attitude towards vaccine acceptance, a cross-sectional survey was performed. A telephone survey was conducted in 1,357 people older than 18 years; 99 were excluded from the analysis because they had already been vaccinated (n=58) or hesitated (n=41) after an official call. The COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy rate was 21.9% and was highest among those aged under 30 years (33.4%) and lowest among those aged 65 years and over (8.7%). Age, occupation, and perceived confidence in vaccine safety and efficacy were associated with vaccine hesitancy. These findings suggest that public health authorities should strengthen the spread of correct information, especially in the younger population, to increase vaccination rates.

BACKGROUND: Apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene polymorphism is associated with neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. Although the effects of the gene differ by ethnic group, few studies have examined Asians. Therefore, the association between APOE polymorphism and mortality in Koreans was evaluated in this study. METHODS: This study population included participants from the Dong-gu and Namwon Studies. APOE genotypes were categorized as E2 (E2/E2 and E2/E3), E3 (E3/E3), and E4 (E3/E4 and E4/E4). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were constructed using the E3 allele as a reference. RESULTS: In the model adjusting for study site, age, gender, and lifestyle, the hazard ratio (HR) of mortality for those with the E4 allele was 1.08 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.97–1.20), while that for those with the E2 allele was 0.84 (95% CI, 0.74–0.96). After adjusting for blood lipids to evaluate their mediating effects, the HRs of mortality for those with E4 and E2 alleles were 1.08 (95% CI, 0.97–1.20) and 0.80 (95% CI, 0.70–0.92), respectively. These associations were more evident in younger groups, with HRs of 0.70 (95% CI, 0.52–0.92) for the E2 allele and 1.25 (95% CI, 1.03–1.53) for the E4 allele. CONCLUSION: In two large population-based cohort studies, the E2 allele was associated with a lower risk of mortality compared with the E3 allele, whereas the E4 genotype was not associated with mortality in Koreans.
Alleles ; Apolipoproteins E ; Apolipoproteins ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cohort Studies ; Ethnic Groups ; Genotype ; Humans ; Jeollabuk-do ; Life Style ; Mortality ; Negotiating ; Proportional Hazards Models

Background: Several studies have reported conflicting results regarding the relationship between alcohol consumption and cortisol levels. However, the causality between alcohol consumption and cortisol levels has not been evaluated. Methods: This study examined 8,922 participants from the Dong-gu Study. The aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) rs671 polymorphism was used as an instrumental variable for alcohol consumption. The association between the genetically predicted alcohol consumption and cortisol level was evaluated with Mendelian randomization (MR) using two-stage least squares regression. Results: Alcohol consumption was positively associated with the serum cortisol level in both sexes in the observational analysis. In the MR analysis, the genetically predicted alcohol consumption was positively related to the cortisol level in men, with cortisol levels increasing by 0.18 µg/dL per drink per day. However, there was no relationship in women in the MR analysis. Conclusion The predicted alcohol consumption according to the ALDH2 rs671 polymorphism was positively related to the cortisol levels, suggesting a causal relationship between alcohol consumption and cortisol levels.

BACKGROUND: Elevated blood pressure is a major preventable cause of cardiovascular diseases. Alcohol consumption is a well-known risk factor of elevated blood pressure. The aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) polymorphism is common in Eastern Asians, and inactive ALDH2 genotypes are associated with both avoiding alcohol consumption and aldehyde accumulation. Therefore, this study assessed the associations between alcohol consumption and hypertension and blood pressure according to the ALDH2 genotypes.METHODS: This study consists of 8,526 participants in the Dong-gu Study. Multivariate logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) according to alcohol consumption after stratifying by gender and ALDH2 genotypes. Multivariate linear regression was performed to estimate the systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) according to the amount of alcohol consumed.RESULTS: In men, alcohol consumption was positively associated with both SBP and DBP in active ALDH2 carriers, but not in inactive ALDH2 carriers. In active ALDH2 carriers, compared to non-drinkers, the OR of hypertension was 1.16 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.91–1.49) for < 1 drink/day, and 1.44 (95% CI, 1.15–1.80) for ≥ 1 drink/day in men. With each 1 drink/day increase, SBP and DBP increased by 3 and 1 mmHg in men, respectively. There was no significant association between ALDH2 genotypes and hypertension and blood pressure in women.CONCLUSION: ALDH2 genotype modified the association between alcohol consumption and blood pressure in men. There was a positive relationship between alcohol consumption and blood pressure in active ALDH2 carriers, but no significant relationship in inactive ALDH2 carriers.
Acetaldehyde ; Alcohol Drinking ; Aldehyde Dehydrogenase ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Blood Pressure ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Linear Models ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Odds Ratio ; Oxidoreductases ; Risk Factors

Background and Objectives: Previous observational studies presented a positive association between alcohol and atrial fibrillation (AF). However, previous studies using genetic polymorphisms on the causal relationship between alcohol consumption and AF have reported conflicting results. This study aimed to evaluate the causality between alcohol consumption and AF using the aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) rs671 polymorphism, which is the genetic variant with the most potent effect on drinking behavior. Methods: A total of 8,964 participants from the Dong-gu Study were included in the present study. The causal association between alcohol consumption and AF was evaluated through a Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis using the ALDH2 rs671 polymorphism as an instrumental variable. Results: No significant relationship between alcohol consumption and AF was found in the observational analysis. However, the genetic analysis using the ALDH2 polymorphism showed a significant association in men. In the MR analysis, genetically predicted daily alcohol consumption was positively related to AF. Conclusions MR analysis revealed a significant association between the amount of alcohol consumption and AF, which suggests that the association may be causal.