Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is now accepted as an important clinical marker of ovarian reserve and is increasingly measured as an initial evaluation at infertility clinics. The aim of this study was to establish reference values for the revised second generation (Gen II) assay using population-based data. In this population-based cohort study, AMH data from unselected infertile women aged 25–45 years from June 2013 to June 2014 (n = 15,801) were collected. The AMH values were measured using the revised Gen II assay. We established and validated 5 AMH-age regression models. Based on the optimal AMH-age model, reference values and centile charts were obtained. The quadratic model (log AMH = 0.410 × age − 0.008 × age²− 3.791) was the most appropriate for describing the age-dependent decrease in AMH measured using the revised Gen II assay. This is the largest population-based study to establish age-specific reference values of AMH using the revised Gen II assay. These reference values may provide more specific information regarding the ovarian reserve estimation of infertile women.
Biomarkers ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Infertility ; Ovarian Reserve ; Reference Values*

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe cleaning workers' working experiences in Korea. METHODS: The data were collected in two focus-group interviews with 9 cleaning workers. The phenomenological analytic method suggested by Colaizzi was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Five theme clusters and thirteen themes emerged from the analysis. The first theme clusters, 'Dead-end choice' included Limits of elderly women workers, Financial difficulties, Lowered self-esteem. The second theme clusters, 'Facing with discriminatory working environments' included Fear and unfair working conditions. The third theme clusters, 'Potential health problems' included Physical overload, Repeated exposure to hazardous substances and Emotional labor. The fourth theme clusters, 'Excluded from protection of the law' included Gloomy reality and Sexual harassment. The fifth theme clusters, 'Desire to get out of social isolation' included Efforts to maintain the status, Desire to live confidently and Desire to change social recognition. CONCLUSION: The findings of the study provide understanding on cleaning workers' working experiences to explain by their vision and language and should ensure proper working conditions and environment to live a better life.
Aged ; Female ; Focus Groups ; Hazardous Substances ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Korea ; Occupational Health Nursing ; Qualitative Research ; Sexual Harassment ; Women, Working

BACKGROUND: Primary human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection during pregnancy is a major cause of congenital malformation. We detected primary CMV infection in pregnant Korean women by using an algorithm that comprises CMV IgG, IgM, and IgG avidity tests. METHODS: During a 2-month period, 744 pregnant women who were at 10-19 weeks of gestation were consecutively enrolled in this study. Human anti-CMV IgG and IgM levels in their sera were determined by chemiluminescence immunoassays. Serum samples from the women who were positive for CMV IgG and IgM were assayed by the ARCHITECT CMV IgG avidity test in order to distinguish primary from non-primary CMV infection. Gross examination of the neonates of the women who were positive for CMV IgM was conducted. RESULTS: The seroprevalence of CMV IgG and IgM was estimated to be 98.1% and 1.7%, respectively. The samples from all the women who were positive for CMV IgM or with grey zone results contained high avidity CMV IgG. Seven women with positive CMV IgG and IgM results who completed follow-up up to delivery showed no gross evidence of in utero CMV transmission. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal primary CMV infection was not detected in any of the pregnant women included in this study cohort. CMV IgG avidity test enabled the identification of women who were at a low risk of transmitting CMV infection and provided informative for subsequent pregnancy outcomes. Compared to previous studies, the seroprevalence of CMV IgG antibody across pregnant Korean women remained unchanged.
Adult ; Antibodies, Viral/*blood ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Chemiluminescent Measurements ; Cytomegalovirus/*immunology ; Cytomegalovirus Infections/*diagnosis/epidemiology ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G/*blood ; Immunoglobulin M/blood ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/*diagnosis/epidemiology ; Republic of Korea ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to evaluate the nutrition quotient (NQ) by mother's parenting style which may influence the NQ in preschool children. METHODS: Subjects were 310 mothers and their 4-6 year old children. The questionnaire composed of demographic characteristics, mother's parenting style at meal time and eating behavior as measured by NQ questions. The NQ questions consisted of 19 food behavior checklist items and all items were grouped into 5 factors: balance, diversity, moderation, regularity, and practice. Mother's parenting style was classified by using words for nutrition education at meal time. All data were statistically analyzed by SPSS program (Ver. 23) and the statistical differences in variables were evaluated by Student's t-test, χ²-test, One-way ANOVA. RESULTS: We observed that in children whose mothers use the parenting style at meal time of ‘explanation’ and ‘compliment & cheer up’ had high dietary regularity, diversity, practice. The children of mothers who use the parenting style at meal time of ‘persuasion’ and ‘reward’ were found to have a lower degree of balance, diversity, and practice. Especially, children of ‘reward’ style mothers had lower moderation of dietary life. On the other hand, among the parenting style at meal time of ‘comparison & demand’, ‘treating’ and ‘faire’, there was no significant difference in the NQ factor by each group. NQ grade was higher among those who used more explanation (p < 0.001) and persuasion (p < 0.01) and with use of less persuasion (p < 0.01) and reward (p < 0.01). The positive association observed between the frequency of dietary education of mothers and higher NQ grade indicated the degree of dietary practices of those children. On the other hand, the children of mothers who rarely practice the dietary education at home had lower NQ grade (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In order to promote children's proper dietary behaviors, it is important to provide nutrition education to children as well as provide guidance on parenting style at meal time.
Checklist ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Education ; Feeding Behavior ; Hand ; Humans ; Meals* ; Mothers ; Parenting* ; Parents* ; Persuasive Communication ; Reward

Blood pressure (BP) measurement plays a pivotal role in veterinary medicine for diagnosing cardiovascular disorders and monitoring anesthesia of animals. Although indirect BP measurement has been widely applied to monitor BP because of its convenience and non-invasiveness, it is still unclear whether indirect BP measurement is compatible with direct BP measurement in minipigs. In addition, the effect of animal posture during BP measurement is not well understood in minipigs despite its importance to cardiovascular performance. Therefore, both systolic and diastolic arterial BPs in minipigs were measured via femoral artery catheterization for direct BP measurement and using a compressive cuff as an indirect BP measurement under the dorsal or right lateral recumbent postures. Numerical values were processed by the Bland-Altman method to calculate the bias ± SD and the limits of agreement (LOA). In accordance with the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine guidelines, the results between direct and indirect BP measurements were determined as apparent disagreements in both systolic and diastolic arterial BPs under all postures because of large bias ± SD and wide LOA. The results of the present will help prevent misinterpretation of the anesthetized patient's condition during monitoring of BP by indirect measurement.
Anesthesia ; Animals ; Bias (Epidemiology) ; Blood Pressure ; Catheterization ; Catheters ; Diagnosis ; Femoral Artery ; Internal Medicine ; Loa ; Methods ; Posture ; Swine, Miniature ; Veterinary Medicine

This study investigated the healthcare status of South Korea and member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). By employing the position value for relative comparison index, healthcare status was measured through the following components: demand, supply, accessibility, quality, and cost. Statistical analysis was conducted through the Mann-Kendall test from analyzing trends from 2000 onwards. Results showed that while Korea, on average, scores higher than the OECD average in most of the investigated components, it is below average in certain indexes including primary care and mental health care. Considering the various health issues that have been raised about these indexes, it is important these components be improved upon by policy-makers.
Delivery of Health Care ; Health Policy ; Korea ; Mental Health ; Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development ; Primary Health Care

Polyneuritis cranialis (PNC), a variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), is a very rare disorder of multiple cranial nerve palsies without any peripheral nerve involvement or ataxia. While pain is frequent in GBS, headache is not known in the patient with PNC. We report a 72-year-old man who presented acute bilateral multiple cranial neuropathy, including neuropathies of cranial nerve III-XII and severe and prolonged headache. The brain MRI, cerebrospinal fluid examination, and peripheral nerve conduction studies showed no abnormalities. The headache improved in five weeks. All cranial neuropathies resolved completely 8 months later. We suggest that headache should be considered as an additional cardinal feature of PNC along with multiple cranial neuropathies

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate partnerships with nurses, social support and readiness for discharge among mothers of premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and to examine the factors associated with readiness for discharge.METHODS: A survey was conducted among 85 mothers of premature infants hospitalized in a NICU in Seoul, Korea. The collected data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, the t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson' correlation coefficients, and multiple linear regression using SPSS version 25.0.RESULTS: The results of the regression analysis showed that partnerships with nurses (β=.32, p=.011) and parenting experience (β=.32, p=.001) were significantly associated with readiness for discharge.CONCLUSION: To improve the readiness for discharge among mothers of premature infants, developing strategies to strengthen their partnership with nurses and to provide family-centered care will be needed.
Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Intensive Care Units, Neonatal ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Korea ; Linear Models ; Mothers ; Parenting ; Parents ; Patient Discharge ; Seoul

Purpose: To analyze the clinical features and visual prognosis of retinal vein occlusion (RVO) in patients under 50 years of age. Methods: A retrospective analysis of medical records of 36 patients under 50 years of age diagnosed with RVO from January 2016 to October 2021. Results: The mean age was 39.53 ± 9.98 years and 50%, 44.4%, and 5.6% had branch, central, and hemi-central RVO, respectively. Before the RVO diagnosis, systemic disease had been diagnosed in 38.9%. Further, 13.89% of the cases had a new systemic disease diagnosed after the diagnosis of RVO. Hypercholesterolemia was observed in 47.6%. The initial visual acuity (VA), best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and central subfield thickness (CST) showed significant correlations with the final VA, BCVA, and CST. Conclusions In patients with RVO under the age of 50 years, the initial VA and CST can be used as indicators to determine whether treatment is necessary by reflecting the final VA and CST. The initial VA and CST can also be used to predict the visual prognosis. Even at a young age, if complications occur, the visual prognosis of RVO may be poor, so an evaluation of the patient’s general condition is essential, especially the blood cholesterol level.

Blood pressure (BP) measurement plays a pivotal role in veterinary medicine for diagnosing cardiovascular disorders and monitoring anesthesia of animals. Although indirect BP measurement has been widely applied to monitor BP because of its convenience and non-invasiveness, it is still unclear whether indirect BP measurement is compatible with direct BP measurement in minipigs. In addition, the effect of animal posture during BP measurement is not well understood in minipigs despite its importance to cardiovascular performance. Therefore, both systolic and diastolic arterial BPs in minipigs were measured via femoral artery catheterization for direct BP measurement and using a compressive cuff as an indirect BP measurement under the dorsal or right lateral recumbent postures. Numerical values were processed by the Bland-Altman method to calculate the bias ± SD and the limits of agreement (LOA). In accordance with the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine guidelines, the results between direct and indirect BP measurements were determined as apparent disagreements in both systolic and diastolic arterial BPs under all postures because of large bias ± SD and wide LOA. The results of the present will help prevent misinterpretation of the anesthetized patient's condition during monitoring of BP by indirect measurement.