PURPOSE: This study was designed to examine the relation of trait anger and anger expression to blood pressure, cholesterol, and depression in middle-aged Korean women. METHODS: This descriptive correlational design was conducted using a convenient sample taken from the health center of K University Hospital located in Kyungki province, Korea. The subjects were 252 women aged 40 to 64 years. Spielberger's state trait anger expression inventory - Korean version and Beck's depression inventory were used for measuring trait anger, state anger, anger expression and depression. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, Pearson correlation, two-way ANOVA, and cluster analysis using a pc-SAS program. RESULTS: The anger expression types by cluster analysis were Anger out/in type, Low anger expression type, and Anger control type. The level of cholesterol and depression were significantly higher in women with high anger in and high trait anger. In addition, the level of depression was significantly higher in women with a high anger temperament. CONCLUSIONS: Trait anger and anger in might be related to cholesterol and depression in women. However, this study does not reveal the relation between blood pressure and trait anger and anger expression.
Middle Aged ; Humans ; Female ; *Expressed Emotion ; Depressive Disorder/physiopathology/*psychology ; *Blood Pressure ; Anger/*physiology ; Adult

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different remineralization agents on the shear bond strength (SBS) on enamel and to confirm remineralization capacity through quantitative light-induced fluorescence (QLF). Sixty non-carious human third molars were divided into eight groups based on remineralization agents agents (control, Tooth Mousse plusTM, Apapro, BGS-7 bioglass) and application time (24 h, 2 weeks). Enamel surfaces were prepared and treated with agents, followed by demineralization and remineralization. Quantitative Light-induced Fluorescence (QLF) assessed fluorescence loss and recovery. After adhesive application and composite restoration, shear bond strength (SBS) was measured. Statistical analysis included Shapiro-Wilk, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, paired t-tests, Wilcoxon rank tests, and multiple comparison tests. SBS values did not show a significant difference between the groups according to the type and application time of the remineralization agents. QLF measurement, in the 24 h groups, showed no significant difference in the recovery amount between the groups. In the 2 week groups, a statistically significant difference was observed and the value was significantly higher in the BG group than that in the control group. There were no significant differences in the values based on the application time. Within the limitations of this study, bioactive glass showed higher remineralization ability than all the other experimental agents. The SBS was not affected by the remineralizing agent.

This erratum is being published to correct the printing error on page 517 of the article. Corrections for Fig. 1 and main text in page 519 are needed. The authors apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD) and late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) have different clinical and neuroimaging characteristics, but memory decline is usually present in both types. However, there have been few functional studies focused on the hippocampus in Alzheimer's disease. We therefore investigated the functional connectivity between the hippocampus and other brain regions using resting-state fMRI and compared the findings between EOAD and LOAD. METHODS: We recruited 13 patients with EOAD and 19 patients with LOAD at the early disease stage. Twenty-one young controls and ten old controls were also recruited. Each participant completed a standardized neuropsychological battery of tests and underwent T1-weighted structural MRI. fMRI data were acquired during the resting state using 3-T MRI. The functional connectivity to the hippocampus was calculated based on automated anatomical labeling templates. RESULTS: The functional connectivity from the hippocampus to other brain regions differed between patients with EOAD and LOAD. The LOAD patients showed decreased hippocampal connectivity to cortical regions, such as to the middle temporal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, postcentral cortex, supramarginal cortex, and rolandic operculum. In contrast, EOAD patients showed smaller functional changes of the cortical regions connected to the hippocampus, such as the middle frontal cortex. CONCLUSIONS: EOAD and LOAD patients exhibited different hippocampal connectivity. The memory decline in EOAD may be due to brain areas other than the hippocampus.
Alzheimer Disease* ; Brain ; Frontal Lobe ; Hippocampus* ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Memory ; Neuroimaging ; Prefrontal Cortex ; Temporal Lobe

This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of antimicrobial prescribing for acute upper respiratory tract infections (URI) among pediatric outpatients and to identify the national patterns of its use from 2009 to 2011 in Korea. Using National Patients Sample database from 2009 to 2011, we estimated the frequency of antibiotics prescribing for URI in pediatric outpatients with diagnoses of acute nasopharyngitis (common cold), acute sinusitis, acute pharyngitis, acute tonsillitis, acute laryngitis/tracheitis, acute obstructive laryngitis/epiglottitis, and acute upper respiratory infections of multiple and unspecified sites. The proportions of each antibiotic class were calculated by year and absolute and relative differences were estimated. Also, we investigated daily amount of prescribed antibiotics per defined population according to the type of medical care institution, physician specialty, and geographic region. The overall antibiotic prescribing proportion was 58.7% and its annual proportion slightly decreased (55.4% in 2011 vs. 60.5% in 2009; adjusted odds ratio, 0.82; 95% confidence interval, 0.82-0.83). Variations by the type of medical care institution were observed. Tertiary hospitals (45.0%) were less likely to prescribe antibiotics than primary care clinics (59.4%), hospitals (59.0%), and general hospitals (61.2%); they showed different tendencies in choosing antibiotics. Variations by physician specialty and region were also observed. Prevalence of antimicrobial prescribing for pediatric URI is still considered higher than that of western countries and varies by the type of medical care institution, physician specialty, and geographic region.
Acute Disease ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/*therapeutic use ; Databases, Factual ; Drug Prescriptions/*statistics & numerical data ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Odds Ratio ; Physicians/trends ; Practice Patterns, Physicians' ; Republic of Korea ; Respiratory Tract Infections/*drug therapy

PURPOSE: This study was done to examine the relation of self-reported adult attachment style, perceived parental rearing styles and anger in undergraduate students. METHOD: The six hundred and fifty undergraduate students participating in this descriptive correlational design study were conveniently sampled from K University and S College located in Seoul, Korea. The instruments were Spielberger's state-trait anger expression inventory - Korean version(Chon, Han, Lee & Spielberger, 1997), the instrument for measuring attachment styles by Hazen and Shaver (1987), and Hong's instrument for measuring parental rearing style(2001). Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, chi-square-test, ANOVA, and cluster analysis using pc-SAS(version 8.0e) program. RESULTS: The mean scores for trait anger and anger-in were higher in undergraduate students with insecure and ambivalent attachment style compared to students with a secure attachment style. The mean score for anger-control was highest in undergraduate students with a secure attachment style. The parental rearing styles by cluster analysis were grouped as Neglect, Permissive, Democratic, and Protective-control. The mean scores for trait anger, anger-in, and anger-out were higher in undergraduate students with 'Neglect' parental rearing style than in those with 'Democratic' and 'Protective-control' rearing styles. CONCLUSION: Trait anger and anger expression might be related to an attachment style and/or a parental rearing style.
Adult* ; Anger* ; Humans ; Korea ; Parenting ; Parents* ; Seoul

This study investigated the secular trend of anthropometric parameters of 2,153 high school students in one urban and one rural area in Korea. The cross-sectional data was collected in 1996 and 2005 in Seoul and Gyung-gi province. As a result, the height of boys has increased by 2cm, whereas the weight has increased by 6.3kg from 1996 to 2005. By contrast, those parameters, including height or weight, did not change in girls. The prevalence of obesity has been more than doubled from 9.3% in 1996 to 20.5% in 2005 in boys; while that of girls was almost same for the same period (1998, 11.1%; 2005, 11.4%). In particular, the greater increase of obesity among boys was found in urban, which implicates the importance of environmental factor in determining weight gains among adolescents. This result emphasizes that the tailored intervention is strongly warranted, in particular among boys residing in urban area.
Adolescent* ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Obesity ; Prevalence ; Seoul ; Weight Gain

PURPOSE: Seasonal variations in asthma exacerbation (AE) are associated with respiratory virus outbreaks and the return of children to school after vacation. This study aims to elucidate the period, phase, and amplitude of seasonal cycles of AE in 5 different age groups with regard to rhino- and influenza virus epidemics in Korea. METHODS: The number of daily emergency department (ED) visits for AE in all age groups of Korea and the nationwide weekly incidence of rhino- and influenza virus, were obtained for 2008-2012. Fourier regression was used to model rhythmicity, and the Cosinor method was used to determine the amplitude and phase of the cycles in each age group. The cross-correlation function (CCF) between AE and the rhino- and influenza virus epidemics was also calculated. RESULTS: There were 157,559 events of AE (0.62 events/1,000 individuals/year) during the study period. There were spring and fall peaks of AE in children and adults, but only 1 winter peak in the elderly. The amplitude of the AE peak in infants was higher in spring than in fall (9.16 vs 3.04, P<0.010), and the fall peak was approximately 1 month later in infants than in school children (October 11 vs November 13, P<0.010). The association between AE and rhinovirus was greatest in school children (rho=0.331), and the association between AE and influenza virus was greatest in those aged ≥60 years (rho=0.682). CONCLUSIONS: The rhythmicity, amplitude, and phase of the annual cycle of AE differed among different age groups. The patterns of AE were related to the annual rhino- and influenza virus epidemics.
Adult ; Aged ; Asthma* ; Child ; Disease Outbreaks ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Influenza, Human* ; Korea ; Methods ; Orthomyxoviridae* ; Periodicity ; Rhinovirus ; Seasons*

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: South Korean's sodium consumption level is more than twice the upper limit level suggested by the WHO. Steep increases in the prevalence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease in Korea necessitate more effective sodium reduction programs. This study was conducted in order to compare sodium intake-related eating behaviors and key psychosocial factors according to age group and gender. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Using an online survey, a total of 1,564 adults (20-59 years old) considered to be geographically representative of South Korea were recruited and surveyed. The major outcomes were perceived behaviors, knowledge, intentions, and self-efficacy related to sodium intake. RESULTS: The results show that perceived behavior and level of self-efficacy related to low sodium consumption differed by age and gender. Female participants showed better behavior and intention towards low sodium intake than male counterparts. Young participants in their 20s showed the lowest intention to change their current sodium intake as well as lowest self-efficacy measures. CONCLUSIONS: Future sodium reduction interventions should be developed with tailored messages targeting different age and gender groups. Specifically, interventions can be planned and implemented at the college level or for workers in their early career to increase their intention and self-efficacy as a means of preventing future health complications associated with high sodium intake.
Adult ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Feeding Behavior ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Intention ; Korea ; Male ; Prevalence ; Psychology ; Social Marketing ; Sodium*

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of a sodium reduction program at local restaurants through nutrition education and examination of the health of restaurant owners and cooks. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The study was a single-arm pilot intervention using a pre-post design in one business district with densely populated restaurants in Seoul, South Korea. The intervention focused on improving nutrition behaviors and psychosocial factors through education, health examination, and counseling of restaurant personnel. Forty-eight restaurant owners and cooks completed the baseline survey and participated in the intervention. Forty participants completed the post-intervention survey. RESULTS: The overweight and obesity prevalences were 25.6% and 39.5%, respectively, and 74.4% of participants had elevated blood pressure. After health examination, counseling, and nutrition education, several nutrition behaviors related to sodium intake showed improvement. In addition, those who consumed less salt in their baseline diet (measured with urine dipsticks) were more likely to agree that providing healthy foods to their customers is necessary. This study demonstrated the potential to reduce the sodium contents of restaurant foods by improving restaurant owners' and cooks' psychological factors and their own health behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: This small pilot study demonstrated that working with restaurant owners and cooks to improve their own health and sodium intake may have an effect on participation in restaurant-based sodium reduction initiatives. Future intervention studies with a larger sample size and comparison group can focus on improving the health and perceptions of restaurant personnel in order to increase the feasibility and efficacy of restaurant-based sodium reduction programs and policies.
Blood Pressure ; Commerce ; Counseling ; Diet ; Education ; Health Behavior ; Health Education ; Korea* ; Nutrition Policy ; Obesity ; Overweight ; Pilot Projects* ; Prevalence ; Psychology ; Restaurants* ; Sample Size ; Seoul ; Sodium* ; Surveys and Questionnaires