The Health Interview Survey in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey is a major source for planning and evaluating the national health promotion policy. The aim of the study is to find the areas for improvement of the current Health Interview Survey in light of its stated purpose and to propose possible means for the improvement. In terms of the survey content, there were several areas that needed improvement: the lack of comparability across the waves, the limit of the number of questions due to the Nutrition Survey and the Examination Survey, non-availability of seasonal statistics, and the dearth of evidence on socioeconomic position variables. To make improvements in the survey content, there is a need to clarify the purpose of the HIS in the KNANES. Second, more items need to be developed to produce the indicators of the Health Plan 2010. Third, core questions and elective questions should be defined. Fourth, multi-level socioeconomic position indicators need to be developed. In terms of the survey methods, the difficulty of managing interviewers and the inefficiency of data input and processing were found to be the areas for improvement. Possible solutions include a survey through the year and the introduction of the CAPI system. In addition, we suggest that a two-year survey period to better synchronize with the local health interview surveys which should be the major data source for the community health promotion plan.
Information Storage and Retrieval ; Health Promotion ; Health Surveys ; Nutrition Surveys ; Seasons

Congenital agenesis of the seminal vesicle is commonly associated with mullerian duct cysts and frequently combined with anomalies of the vas deferens or urinary tract. We report a case of a 29 year-old man with congenital agenesis of the seminal vesicle without any associated anomaly of the urogenital organs. He had infertility for 2 years and two semen analyses revealed azoospermia. There was no abnormal finding in physical examination of the testis, epididymis, or vas deferens. However, we could not locate the seminal vesicles in a transrectal ultrasound and computed tomography. We referred him to an infertility clinic for assisted reproductive technology.
Azoospermia ; Epididymis ; Humans ; Infertility ; Male ; Physical Examination ; Semen Analysis ; Seminal Vesicles ; Testis ; Urinary Tract ; Vas Deferens

Congenital agenesis of the seminal vesicle is commonly associated with mullerian duct cysts and frequently combined with anomalies of the vas deferens or urinary tract. We report a case of a 29 year-old man with congenital agenesis of the seminal vesicle without any associated anomaly of the urogenital organs. He had infertility for 2 years and two semen analyses revealed azoospermia. There was no abnormal finding in physical examination of the testis, epididymis, or vas deferens. However, we could not locate the seminal vesicles in a transrectal ultrasound and computed tomography. We referred him to an infertility clinic for assisted reproductive technology.
Azoospermia ; Epididymis ; Humans ; Infertility ; Male ; Physical Examination ; Semen Analysis ; Seminal Vesicles ; Testis ; Urinary Tract ; Vas Deferens

We surveyed 343 female bank clerks to find out associations between stress and a variety of factors including general, menstruation and reproductive characteristics of the participants. Unmarried women composed the majority of younger, lower income and lower education groups than married did. They also showed higher. though not significantly higher, scores for psychosocial well being index(PWJ) and the first three items of the stress survey. And married women scored slightly higher only in the fourth item of the stress survey. Among the subgroups of married and unmarried women, many factors contributed to a higher stress score in two or more items of the stress survey; in unmarried women, lower education level, little physical exercise, and large family inhabitants, in contrast married women, higher monthly income and greater working hours were related to higher stress scores. According to the menstruation factors, subgroups with dysmenorrhea or irregular cycle and scanty bleedig volume in unmarried women and subgroups with dysmenorrhea in married women showed higher stress scores in PWI. In married women, the proportion of those who have been pregnant was 77.2% and the proportion of those who have experienced spontaneous abortion was 24.1%. Those who have ever experienced two or more spontaneous abortion showed higher, though not statistically significantly higher. scores for PWI. In conclusion, dysmenorrhea was associated with high stress score in two groups. And the other factors related to higher score of PWJ were different between unmarred and married women, which should be considered in a management plan for mental health promotion.
Abortion, Spontaneous ; Dysmenorrhea ; Education ; Exercise ; Female ; Humans ; Menstruation ; Mental Health ; Pregnancy ; Single Person ; Women, Working*

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to improve the Korean influenza management system and to determine the status of influenza vaccination in some community health centers through a survey of the officers in charge of influenza vaccination. METHODS: The authors conducted a questionnaire survey by e-mail for the officers in charge of influenza vaccination of 8 community health centers in Daegu-si, 5 community health centers in Ulsan-si and 25 community health centers in Gyeongsangbuk-do. The authors developed a questionnaire including selection methods of the influenza vaccination objects, results of influenza vaccination in 2002, problems of influenza vaccination, the population within the respondents`jurisdiction and so on. RESULTS: The proportion of influenza vaccination at community health centers among all residents in the 2002-2003 influenza season was 3.8% in Daegu-si, 14.8% in Ulsan-si, 15.1% in urban Gyeongsangbuk-do and 24.9% in rural Gyeongsangbuk-do. The proportion of influenza vaccination at community health centers among priority cases for vaccination was 12.9% in Daegu-si, 43.1% in Ulsan-si, 39.3% in urban Gyeongsangbuk and 41.6% in rural Gyeongsangbuk-do. The officers in charge of influenza vaccination stated that the problems of influenza vaccination were deficiencies in preparatory examination such as manpower shortage. Twenty-five persons stated as a problem that influenza vaccinations conducted in the hospitals were hardly reported, and fifteen of these clarified that this was due to hospital indifference. CONCLUSIONS: The authors examined all community health centers of Daegu-si, Ulsan-si, and Gyeongsangbuk-do, and investigated the vaccination states and problems that health officers were dealing with. Therefore, this study is meaningful with its basic data for the management of domestic influenza vaccination.
Community Health Centers* ; Electronic Mail ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Humans ; Influenza, Human* ; Seasons ; Vaccination* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to estimate the incidence of injuries and to identify their causes by classifying injuries according to various categories including age, sex, mechanism of injury, body parts injured, and place of injury. METHODS: This study used data from the Korea National Hospital Discharge In-depth Injury Survey (KNHDIS) from 2004 to 2016. The KNHDIS is conducted annually by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and its survey population includes all hospitalized patients discharged from medical institutions that have 100 or more beds, such as hospitals, general hospitals, and secondary community health centers. The number of injured cases is weighted and estimated using the mid-year estimated population of each year. RESULTS: The injury discharge rate steadily increased since 2004 (1,505 per 100,000 population in 2004, 2,007 per 100,000 population in 2016) and most injuries were unintentional (annual average of 94.7%). On average, during the 13-year study period, the injury rate for males was 1.5 times as high as for females. The 2 main causes of injury were consistently traffic accidents and falls. Notably, the rate of injuries resulting from falls rose by 1.7-fold from 463 to 792 per 100,000 people, and exceeded the rate of traffic accidents in 2016. CONCLUSIONS The incidence of injuries steadily increased after the survey was first conducted, whereas mortality resulting from injuries mostly remained unchanged. This suggests that effective strategies and interventions should be reinforced to reduce unintentional injuries.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to estimate the incidence of injuries and to identify their causes by classifying injuries according to various categories including age, sex, mechanism of injury, body parts injured, and place of injury. METHODS: This study used data from the Korea National Hospital Discharge In-depth Injury Survey (KNHDIS) from 2004 to 2016. The KNHDIS is conducted annually by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and its survey population includes all hospitalized patients discharged from medical institutions that have 100 or more beds, such as hospitals, general hospitals, and secondary community health centers. The number of injured cases is weighted and estimated using the mid-year estimated population of each year. RESULTS: The injury discharge rate steadily increased since 2004 (1,505 per 100,000 population in 2004, 2,007 per 100,000 population in 2016) and most injuries were unintentional (annual average of 94.7%). On average, during the 13-year study period, the injury rate for males was 1.5 times as high as for females. The 2 main causes of injury were consistently traffic accidents and falls. Notably, the rate of injuries resulting from falls rose by 1.7-fold from 463 to 792 per 100,000 people, and exceeded the rate of traffic accidents in 2016. CONCLUSIONS The incidence of injuries steadily increased after the survey was first conducted, whereas mortality resulting from injuries mostly remained unchanged. This suggests that effective strategies and interventions should be reinforced to reduce unintentional injuries.

Objectives: This study aimed to identify potential safety signals and adverse events following the primary Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination series among children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 years in the Republic of Korea. Methods: Adverse events reported through the COVID-19 vaccination management system (CVMS, a web-based passive vaccine safety surveillance system) and adverse events and health conditions collected from a text message-based survey were analyzed. Results: A total of 14,786 adverse events among 5 to 17-year-old children and adolescents were reported in the CVMS; 14,334 (96.9%) were non-serious and 452 (3.1%) were serious, including 125 suspected cases of acute cardiovascular injury and 101 suspected cases of anaphylaxis. The overall reporting rate was lower in 5 to 11-year-old children (64.5 per 100,000 doses) than in 12 to 17-year-old adolescents (300.5 per 100,000 doses). The text message survey identified that local and systemic adverse events after either dose were reported less frequently in 5 to 11-year-old children than in 12 to 17-year-old adolescents (p < 0.001). The most commonly reported adverse events were pain at the injection site, myalgia, headache, and fatigue/tiredness. Conclusion The overall results are consistent with the results of controlled trials; serious adverse events were extremely rare among 5 to 17-year-old children and adolescents following Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination. Adverse events were less frequent in children aged 5 to 11 years than in adolescents aged 12 to 17 years.

Background: In some patients, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is accompanied by loss of smell and taste, and this has been reportedly associated with exposure to air pollutants. This study investigated the relationship between the occurrence of chemosensory dysfunction in COVID-19 patients and air pollutant concentrations in Korea. Methods: Information on the clinical symptom of chemosensory dysfunction, the date of diagnosis, residential area, age, and sex of 60,194 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency from January 20 to December 31, 2020 was collected. In addition, the daily average concentration of air pollutants for a week in the patients’ residential area was collected from the Ministry of Environment based on the date of diagnosis of COVID-19. A binomial logistic regression model, using age and gender, standardized smoking rate, number of outpatient visits, 24-hour mean temperature and relative humidity at the regional level as covariates, was used to determine the effect of air pollution on chemosensory dysfunction. Results: Symptoms of chemosensory dysfunction were most frequent among patients in their 20s and 30s, and occurred more frequently in large cities. The logistic analysis showed that the concentration of particulate matter 10 (PM 10 ) and 2.5 (PM 2.5 ) up to 2 days before the diagnosis of COVID-19 and the concentration of sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone (O 3) at least 7 days before the diagnosis of COVID-19 affected the development of chemosensory dysfunction. In the logistic regression model adjusted for age, sex, standardized smoking rate, number of outpatient visits, and daily average temperature and relative humidity, it was found that an increase in the interquartile range of PM 10 , PM 2.5 , SO 2 , NO 2 , and CO on the day of diagnosis increased the incidence of chemosensory dysfunction 1.10, 1.10, 1.17, 1.31, and 1.19-fold, respectively. In contrast, the O 3 concentration had a negative association with chemosensory dysfunction. Conclusion High concentrations of air pollutants such as PM 10 , PM 2.5 , SO 2 , NO 2 , and CO on the day of diagnosis increased the risk of developing chemosensory dysfunction from COVID-19 infection. This result underscores the need to actively prevent exposure to air pollution and prevent COVID-19 infection. In addition, policies that regulate activities and products that create high amounts of harmful environmental wastes may help in promoting better health for all during COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: We aimed to describe the epidemiological characteristics of carbapenemaseproducing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) outbreaks in healthcare settings in the Republic of Korea between 2017 and 2022. Methods: Under the national notifiable disease surveillance system, we obtained annual descriptive statistics regarding the isolated species, carbapenemase genotype, healthcare facility type, outbreak location and duration, and number of patients affected and recommended interventions. We used epidemiological investigation reports on CPE outbreaks reported to Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency from June 2017 to September 2022. Results: Among the 168 reports analyzed, Klebsiella pneumoniae (85.1%) was the most frequently reported species, while K. pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC, 82.7%) was the most common carbapenemase genotype. Both categories increased from 2017 to 2022 (p < 0.01). General hospitals had the highest proportion (54.8%), while tertiary general hospitals demonstrated a decreasing trend (p < 0.01). The largest proportion of outbreaks occurred exclusively in intensive care units (ICUs, 44.0%), and the frequency of concurrent outbreaks in ICUs and general wards increased over time (p < 0.01). The median outbreak duration rose from 43.5 days before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (2017–2019) to 79.5 days during the pandemic (2020–2022) (p = 0.01), and the median number of patients associated with each outbreak increased from 5.0 to 6.0 (p = 0.03). Frequently recommended interventions included employee education (38.1%), and 3 or more measures were proposed for 45.2% of outbreaks. Conclusion In the Republic of Korea, CPE outbreaks have been consistently dominated by K. pneumoniae and KPC. The size of these outbreaks increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings highlight the need for continuing efforts to control CPE outbreaks using a multimodal approach, while considering their epidemiology.