OBJECTIVES: This study adopted a qualitative method to explore the layman's beliefs and experience concerning high blood pressure and its management in order to develop a strategy to increase adherence to proper medical treatment. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews that focused on personal experiences with hypertension and its management were conducted with 26 hypertensive patients. The participants were selected according to a BP above 140/90 mmHg (hypertension stage 1), based on the seventh report of the Joint National Committee on prevention, detection, evaluation and treatment of high blood pressure (JNC-VII). The interviews lasted for approximately 30 minutes (range: 20-60 minutes). The resulting questions were formulated into open-ended questions. The interview questionnaire was composed 17 items to examine non-adherence to treatment and 19 items to examine adherence to treatment. RESULTS: Most participants recognized that the direct cause of high blood pressure was unhealthy behavior rather than inheritance. Thus, the hypertensive patient believed they could recover their blood pressure to a normal level through removing the direct cause of hypertension (weight reduction, diet, exercise) instead of taking drugs. The reasons for these statements were that the drugs for controlling hypertension are not natural or they are artificial, and they may have side effects, and drugs are not treatment for the root cause of hypertension. Most of the hypertensive patients chose to manage their behaviors as soon as they knew their blood pressure was high. Therefore, we should not divide the subjects into two groups according to their taking drugs or not, but they should be divided into two groups according to their willingness or not to manage their condition. CONCLUSIONS: For developing a strategy for an individual approach to hypertension management, we need to develop a client-centered attitude and strategy. That is, we need to tailor our approach to individual cases to avoid generalizations and stereotyping when developing an adherence increasing strategy.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Antihypertensive Agents/therapeutic use ; Blood Pressure ; Diet ; Exercise ; Female ; *Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Hypertension/drug therapy/physiopathology/*therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Qualitative Research ; Socioeconomic Factors

This study was performed to investigate satisfaction of 119 rescue users and to know how much different in perception around emergency circumstance between 119 rescuers and users. We reviewed emergency care records of users who were transported by 119 rescue of six agencies in Chungnam province from July 13, 1998 to August 8, 1998, and in order to find real utilization pictures and users' satisfaction, we analysed 113 mail questionnaires with perfect address and answers at January, 1999. The difference about perception around emergency circumstances between users and rescuers were as follows, degree of coincidence about mental state was 28.6% in alert, 61.9% in stupor, 28.6% in coma. Also, the degree of coincidence about patient 's severity was 50.0% in emergent, 64.1% in urgent, 19.4% in nonurgent. Difference between rescuers and users about duration from 119 call receipt to scene arrival The reason of satisfaction about 119 rescue service was 94.7% in kindness, 79.6% in equipment and facilities. Factors about dissatisfaction were delayed time(25.0%), insufficient equipment(19.2%), etc.
Chungcheongnam-do ; Coma ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Medical Services ; Humans ; Postal Service ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Stupor

OBJECTIVES: To analyse the psychosocial factors associated with hypertension management(drug treatment and life style modification) of newly detected cases and to understand and assess their behavioral intention or behaviors. METHODS: The survey area was a combined urban and rural area in Chungnam province, Korea, and the sampling method was cluster sampling. Study subjects included 541 newly detected cases of hypertension rated above stage 2 by JNC-VI from a community survey. The first survey was applied to 383 of these patients in order to discern their psychosocial characteristics. A follow-up survey was given to 345 persons with an 11-month interval following monthly telephone counseling concerning medication and life style modification by trained nurses. The final study subjects for analysis comprised 271 persons after excluding cases of incomplete data and change of address. RESULTS: Among the 85(33.2%) new patients who had intended to undergo drug treatment, 30(35.3%) persons were treated with antihypertensive agent after 11- month interval, while among the patients with no intention to receive treatment, only 36(21.1%) persons were treated. Hypertensive patients with a high intention score revealed a high score in life style modification compliance as well. Seventy three percent of the variance of behavioral intention to undergo hypertension management was explained by the patients attitude toward performing the behavior and subjective norm associated with behaviors related to the theory of reasoned action in structural modeling. Actual behaviors related positively with behavioral intention. The coefficient of determination was 0.255. CONCLUSION: Improving the compliance level of hypertensive patients in respect to drug treatment or life style modification requires a build up of positive behavioral intention, and caregivers must pay more attention to eventually converting behavioral intention to actual behaviors.
Caregivers ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Compliance* ; Counseling ; Data Collection ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Intention* ; Korea ; Life Style ; Models, Structural ; Psychology ; Telephone

OBJECTIVES: This study used data of urban and rural elderly living alone to compare the general characteristics of the elderly who have had suicidal ideation, and to investigate the suicidal ideation of urban-rural elderly with varying degrees of emotional support status, health status, and health behavior. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The research participants included 2,750 elderly aged 65 or above, of which 1,487 were from dong unit and 1,263 were from eup·myeon units according to the raw data of 2011 Survey on Elderly Status. All collected data were analyzed using cross tabulation of SPSSWIN(ver 21.0) program and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: The results were as follows. First, the factors that influenced the suicidal ideation of urban and rural elderly living alone included degree of depression, experience of abuse, and nutritional management status. Second, the suicidal ideation of urban elderly living alone was affected by the emotional support of their children who live apart and their grandchildren. Third, the suicidal ideation of rural elderly living alone was affected by the emotional support of their kin (including siblings).
Aged* ; Child ; Depression ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Suicidal Ideation*

OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to find the differences in physical activity according to general characteristics and factors related to physical activity between the elderly over 65 with hypertension living rural and urban areas. METHODS: This study included 681 participants (221 rural, 460 urban) with hypertension from The Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES V). The collected data were analyzed through an chi2-test to examine the differences in physical activity and multiple logistic regression to assess factors related to physical activity between the elderly over 65 with hypertension living rural and urban areas. RESULTS: The significant statistical factors related with physical activities for the urban hypertension group were education level, activities of daily living, and quality of life. However, the related factors for rural residents were activities of daily living and limitation of activity. CONCLUSIONS: The study results indicated that the factors that affected the level of physical activity revealed difference in case hypertension between the urban and rural groups. An awareness of the importance of physical activity will have a positive influence on improving the physical function and quality of life for elderly people with hypertension.
Activities of Daily Living ; Aged* ; Education ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Motor Activity* ; Nutrition Surveys ; Quality of Life

PURPOSE: During the 2017–2018 season, influenza vaccination among elementary, middle, and high school students was not supported by the government. As vaccines that are not included in the national immunization schedule are not registered in the computerized national immunization registry, vaccination rates in these groups during this season remain unknown. Thus, the aim of this study was to estimate the vaccination rate among elementary, middle, and high school students during the 2017–2018 influenza season. METHODS: A total of 1,910 student's parents (690 elementary school students; 611 middle school students; 609 high school students) participated in this survey. The survey involved a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI). The following information related to participants' 2017–2018 seasonal influenza vaccination status were collected: date, type, provider, and data source. Other data collected included student's sex, grade, area of residence, and birth order, and parent's age, educational level, and job status. RESULTS: The influenza vaccination rate for the 2017–2018 season was 70.1%, 48.9%, and 35.9% for elementary, middle, and high school students, respectively. Factors that were significantly related to the influenza vaccination rate in the 2017–2018 season were student's sex, grade, area of residence and birth order, and parent's age, educational level, and job status. CONCLUSION In the future, it will be necessary to conduct regular assessments of the rate of seasonal influenza vaccination to inform national policy development regarding seasonal influenza infectious diseases control or as an evaluation tool for vaccine programs.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to analyze whether there are differences in medical expenses according to medical security type in the use of medical services with high disease burden such as coronary intervention. METHODS: Chi-square test and covariance analysis(ANCOVA) were conducted to identify the differences in the characteristics and costs according to medical security type of 1,904 patients who underwent coronary intervention in a university hospital from 2011 to 2012. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to determine whether the cost affects medical expenses. RESULTS: In the medical aid group, the proportion of women, those without a job, those without a spouse, and those who received hemodialysis was high, length of stay was high, patients using the emergency room and those who died was high. The medical aid patients were significantly higher in the non-benefit medical expenses, optional medical expenses, physician and admission, meals, medications and injections. National health insurance patients were significantly higher in procedure. The medical security type was found to be significant as a variable affecting the medical expenses. CONCLUSIONS Provision of medical expenses should be managed in advance by providing prevention and education services for the vulnerable, and care services in the region should be provided to suppress the occurrence of medical expenses due to the increase in the number of days spent. In addition, it is necessary to support medical expenses to prevent unsatisfactory medical services from occurring for non-benefit and optional care.

Objectives: This study aimed to identify the vaccination rate for pneumococcus among aged 65 or older, and at the same time to determine the reasons for vaccination or non-vaccination. Methods: The population of this study was aged 65 or older, with a total of 1,150 subjects to be analyzed and a computer assisted telephone interviewing was used. The survey included pneumococcal vaccination status, reasons of vaccination, sources of information on vaccination, reasons for not vaccination, and other related factors. Results: The vaccination rate for pneumococcus among aged 65 or older was 56.2 percent, lower than 69.0 percent in the U.S. (2017), and 69.2 percent in the U.K. (2019). Among the factors related to the pneumococcal vaccination, the groups with the high vaccination rate were women, low age groups, residents of urban areas, people without a job, people with high education, medical insurance subscribers, married people, and people who have family members. In addition, the groups with high vaccination rates were those with high awareness, those who received recommendations from doctors, those who had vaccination records, those who believed in vaccination effects, and those who saw public service advertisements. Conclusions In the future, it is necessary to develop alternatives to accurately manage vaccination records for adults who are not eligible for state support, and regular adult vaccination rates should be calculated so that they can be used as evidence for the country's infection control policy.

Objectives: This study aimed to identify the vaccination coverage for hepatitis B among aged 19 or older, and at the same time to determine the reasons for vaccination or non-vaccination. Methods: The survey was conducted through a Mixed-Mode Random Digit Dialing Survey (RDD) method. The survey included hepatitis B vaccination status, reasons of vaccination and non-vaccination, sources of information on vaccination, and other related factors. Results: The vaccination coverage for hepatitis B among adults 19 years of age and older were 38.0%, 32.5%, and 26.9% for the first, second, and third doses. A related factors with high rate of hepatitis B vaccination was women, younger than 65 years of age, rural residents, having a job, highly educated, health insurance subscribers, living with spouse, family members living together. In addition, the vaccination rate was higher in those who was aware of the states recommended adult vaccination, were explained by a doctor about the need for adult vaccination, kept their vaccination records, and recognized that it helped prevent infectious diseases, and had seen promotional materials. Conclusions In the future, it is necessary to check the antibody retention rate along with the hepatitis B vaccination coverage of adults on a regular basis. In addition, in order to accurately and quickly identify the hepatitis B vaccination coverage, it is necessary to prepare a plan to improve the computerized registration rate to manage adult vaccination records.

Objectives: This study aims to reveal the relationship between social relations and physical activity in the young-old and old-old elderly. Methods: Data from 2020 National survey of Older Koreans were used, and a total of 10,097 subjects over the age of 65 were included in analysis. The dependent variable was physical activity, and the independent variables were social relations barrier and motivational factors. x2 -test and binary logistic regression were performed for data analysis. Results: The physical activity rate in the elderly were 40.8% in the young-old and 29.2% in the old-old. The socio-demographic characteristics affecting physical activity were the young-old elderly were sex, residential area, employment status and household income, and the old-old elderly were sex, age, residential area, education level and household income. The social relations barrier factors affecting physical activity were the young-old elderly were number of close friends, family care, exercise information search and video viewing, and the old-old elderly were household type, number of close friends, participation in exercise education, exercise information search and video viewing. The social relations motivational factors affecting physical activity were the young-old elderly were call with children/relative/friend, participation in sports activity, access time from home to parks, and the old-old elderly were call with children/relative/friend, participation in sports activity, satisfaction with green spaces. Conclusions It was found that social relations barrier and motivational factors of the elderly are important factors to consider when developing physical activity promotion strategy, and there are also difference between the age of the elderly.