Objectives: A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the associations between food groups and hearing loss. Methods: Data of 1,312 individuals were used from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013. Hearing loss was determined with a pure tone average (PTA) of greater than 25 dB in either ear. The PTA was measured as the average hearing threshold at speech frequencies of 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz. The dietary intake was examined with a food frequency questionnaire with 112 food items. The food items were classified into 25 food groups. A weighted logistic regression was used to investigate the association. Results: Individuals in the highest tertile of vegetables and nuts food groups were less likely to have hearing loss than those in the lowest tertile [Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.58 (95% Confidence interval (CI) 0.38-0.91), P = 0.019; OR = 0.59 (95% CI 0.39-0.90), P = 0.020, respectively], after adjusting for confounding variables of age, sex, body mass index, drinking, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and physical activity. Conclusions In this cross-sectional study, we observed that high intake of vegetables and nuts food groups revealed significant inverse associations with hearing loss, after adjusting for confounding variables among 1,312 participants.

Objectives: A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the associations between food groups and hearing loss. Methods: Data of 1,312 individuals were used from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013. Hearing loss was determined with a pure tone average (PTA) of greater than 25 dB in either ear. The PTA was measured as the average hearing threshold at speech frequencies of 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz. The dietary intake was examined with a food frequency questionnaire with 112 food items. The food items were classified into 25 food groups. A weighted logistic regression was used to investigate the association. Results: Individuals in the highest tertile of vegetables and nuts food groups were less likely to have hearing loss than those in the lowest tertile [Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.58 (95% Confidence interval (CI) 0.38-0.91), P = 0.019; OR = 0.59 (95% CI 0.39-0.90), P = 0.020, respectively], after adjusting for confounding variables of age, sex, body mass index, drinking, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and physical activity. Conclusions In this cross-sectional study, we observed that high intake of vegetables and nuts food groups revealed significant inverse associations with hearing loss, after adjusting for confounding variables among 1,312 participants.

OBJECTIVES: The concept of natural head position (NHP) was first introduced by Broca in 1862, and was described as a person's stable physiologic position “when a man is standing and his visual axis is horizontal.” NHP has been used routinely for clinical examination; however, a patient's head position is random during cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) acquisition. To solve this problem, we developed an accelerometer to record patients' NHP and reproduce them for CBCT images. In this study, we also tested the accuracy and reproducibility of our accelerometer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 15 subjects participated in this study. We invented an accelerometer that measured acceleration on three axes and that could record roll and pitch calculations. Recorded roll and pitch data for each NHP were applied to a reoriented virtual image using three-dimensional (3D) imaging software. The data between the 3D models and the clinical photos were statistically analyzed side by side. Paired t-tests were used to statistically analyze the measurements. RESULTS: The average difference in the angles between the clinical photograph and the 3D model was 0.04° for roll and 0.29° for pitch. The paired ttests for the roll data (P=0.781) and the pitch data (P=0.169) showed no significant difference between the clinical photographs and the 3D model (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: By overcoming the limitations of previous NHP-recording techniques, our new method can accurately record patient NHP in a time-efficient manner. Our method can also accurately transfer the NHP to a 3D virtual model.
Acceleration ; Cone-Beam Computed Tomography ; Diagnostic Techniques, Surgical ; Head* ; Humans ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Methods

PURPOSE: To evaluate the outcomes of a hybrid prophylactic strategy to prevent cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease in pediatric liver transplantation (LT) patients. METHODS: CMV DNAemia was regularly monitored by quantitative nucleic acid amplification test (QNAT) and was quantified in all children. CMV infection and disease were defined according to the International Consensus Guidelines. The hybrid strategy against CMV infection consisted of universal 3-week prophylaxis and preemptive treatment of intravenous ganciclovir regardless of the recipient's serostatus. RESULTS: A total of 143 children who underwent living donor LT were managed using the hybrid strategy. The overall incidence of CMV infection by QNAT was 48.3% (n=69/143). The highest CMV DNAemia positivity was observed in 49.2% (n=60/122) of children in the D+/R+ group, followed by 46.7% (n=7/15) in the D+/R− group. CMV disease was noted in 26.1% (n=18/69) patients. Forty-three (62.3%) children had undergone preemptive therapy consisting of intravenous ganciclovir. No symptomatic patients developed tissue-invasive disease, resulting in no CMV-associated mortality. CONCLUSION: The incidence of CMV infection was high in pediatric LT patients despite the hybrid strategy. However, tissue-invasive disease in pediatric LT did not occur.
Child ; Consensus ; Cytomegalovirus Infections* ; Cytomegalovirus* ; Ganciclovir ; Humans ; Incidence ; Liver Transplantation* ; Liver* ; Living Donors ; Mortality ; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques

PURPOSE: Although innovative interventions using technologies have been introduced in long-term care settings, available evidence is still anecdotal. The purpose of this study is to investigate and synthesize the outcomes of interventions using technologies delivered to nursing home residents. METHODS: Published clinical trials were identified through PubMed, CINHAL, Cochrane and PsycINFO databases and manually hand-searching. Eligible studies were articles published between 1997–2016 in English or Korean with a randomized controlled trial or quasi-experimental design in which interventions using technologies were delivered to nursing home residents. RESULTS: A total of 20 studies were selected for this review. Types of interventions using technologies were classified into the electronic documentation technology (n=1), the clinical decision support system (n=1), the safety technology (n=1), the health and wellness technology (n=10), and the social connectedness technology (n=7). Overall resident outcomes indicated that interventions using technologies improved behavioral symptoms and psycho-social outcomes, but mixed results were shown in the aspects of physical function, cognitive function, social relationship and quality of service. CONCLUSION: This review demonstrates that incorporating technologies into nursing home care have positive effects on residents' psycho-social outcomes and behavioral symptoms. To disseminate the effectiveness of interventions using technologies, further research is needed to determine what mechanisms underlying such relationships exist.
Adult ; Behavioral Symptoms ; Cognition ; Decision Support Systems, Clinical ; Humans ; Long-Term Care ; Nursing Homes

The prognostic role of resting pulmonary hyperinflation as measured by residual volume (RV)/total lung capacity (TLC) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains poorly understood. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the factors related to resting pulmonary hyperinflation in COPD and to determine whether resting pulmonary hyperinflation is a prognostic factor in COPD. In total, 353 patients with COPD in the Korean Obstructive Lung Disease cohort recruited from 16 hospitals were enrolled. Resting pulmonary hyperinflation was defined as RV/TLC > or = 40%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that older age (P = 0.001), lower forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) (P < 0.001), higher St. George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) score (P = 0.019), and higher emphysema index (P = 0.010) were associated independently with resting hyperinflation. Multivariate Cox regression model that included age, gender, dyspnea scale, SGRQ, RV/TLC, and 6-min walking distance revealed that an older age (HR = 1.07, P = 0.027), a higher RV/TLC (HR = 1.04, P = 0.025), and a shorter 6-min walking distance (HR = 0.99, P < 0.001) were independent predictors of all-cause mortality. Our data showed that older age, higher emphysema index, higher SGRQ score, and lower FEV1 were associated independently with resting pulmonary hyperinflation in COPD. RV/TLC is an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality in COPD.
Aged ; Dyspnea/diagnosis/physiopathology ; Exercise Test ; Exercise Tolerance ; Female ; Forced Expiratory Flow Rates/physiology ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Lung/*physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/*diagnosis/mortality/physiopathology ; Pulmonary Emphysema/*diagnosis/mortality/physiopathology ; Republic of Korea ; Residual Volume/*physiology ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Total Lung Capacity/*physiology ; Vital Capacity ; Walking/physiology