OBJECTIVE: Through a large sample group, the prevalence and risk factors of Chlamydia and Gonorrhea infection in low risk Korean women were examined. METHODS: Among patients visited the department of obstetrics and gynecology of the secondary and tertiary hospital between September 2005 to January 2006, 2,410 women older than 18 years were selected as the determination sample recruitment method. In addition to their disease history and parity, the living standard, a vaginal specimen, it was examined by a polymerase chain reaction test method. Statistical analysis was performed with Chi-square and Fisher's test were used. RESULTS: Chlamydia infection was found to be closely associated with age (P=0.0485), the marital status (P=0.0086), smoking (P=0.0148), and drinking (P=0.0077), and additionally, the number of sex partners (P=<0.0001). Gonorrhea infection showed a significant difference according to the past history of venereal diseases (P=0.036), and a higher incidence was shown in the group with the past history of venereal diseases. The incidence of the simultaneous infection of Chlamydia and gonorrhea showed a significantly higher incidence in the cases with the past history of venereal diseases (P=0.0454), and a higher frequency of sexual intercourse (P=0.0306) and a larger number of sex partners (P=0.0009). CONCLUSION: It is thought that the urgent improvement of the lack of knowledge on Chlamydia and the early management considering the fact that the age of sexual contact is decreasing gradually are required, and based on the selected high risk factors, not only treatments in a wide range but also its prevention should be carried out simultaneously.
Chlamydia Infections ; Chlamydia trachomatis* ; Chlamydia* ; Coitus ; Drinking ; Female ; Gonorrhea* ; Gynecology ; Humans ; Incidence ; Marital Status ; Neisseria* ; Obstetrics ; Parity ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence* ; Risk Factors* ; Sexually Transmitted Diseases ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Tertiary Care Centers

PURPOSE: Acute appendicitis is the most common cause of an acute abdomen that needs an emergency operation. However, the preoperative diagnosis is difficult. The purpose of this study is to assess the diagnostic efficacy of the Alvarado score by a comparison with CT and to determine the indication of CT evaluation. METHODS: From August 2006 to October 2006, 111 consecutive patients were admitted to Chung-Ang University hospital under the impression of acute appendicitis, and a CT scan was done. The Alvarado score, which consists of migration, anorexia, nausea-vomitig, tenderness, rebound tenderness, fever, leukocytosis, and left shift, was applied to the patients. RESULTS: Of the 111 patients, 85 patients underwent an operation, and 26 were discharged without an operation on the basis of the CT finding. The negative appendectomy rate were 4.7%. CT showed a sensitivity, of 0.90 a specificity of 0.97 and an accuracy rate of 0.92. Tenderness and leukocytosis were confirmed as the most important tests and showed accuracy rates of 0.73 and 0.70, respectively. The sensitivity was 0.90 at score 5 and 0.85 at score 7. Therefore, there was no single cut-off score that satisfied all diagnostic values. CONCLUSIONS: The Alvarado score alone is not a satisfactory diagnostic method acute appendicitis. Of the appendicitis patients, 90% might be included in the diagnosis for Alvarado scores above 5, and the negative appendectomy could be as high as 15% for Alvarado scores above 7, which is the score generally accepted for a diagnosis of appendicitis.
Abdomen, Acute ; Anorexia ; Appendectomy ; Appendicitis ; Emergencies ; Fever ; Humans ; Leukocytosis ; Sensitivity and Specificity

PURPOSE: To investigate the current status of adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) regimens in Korea and the difference in efficacy of AC administered by surgical and medical oncologists in patients with stage II or III gastric cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective observational study among 1,049 patients who underwent curative resection and received AC for stage II and III gastric cancers between February 2012 and December 2013 at 29 tertiary referral university hospitals in Korea. To minimize the influence of potential confounders on selection bias, propensity score matching (PSM) was used based on binary logistic regression analysis. The 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates were compared between patients who received AC administered by medical oncologists or surgical oncologists. RESULTS: Between February 2012 and December 2013 in Korea, the most commonly prescribed AC by medical oncologists was tegafur/gimeracil/oteracil (S-1, 47.72%), followed by capecitabine with oxaliplatin (XELOX, 16.33%). After performing PSM, surgical oncologists (82.74%) completed AC as planned more often than medical oncologists (75.9%), with statistical significance (P=0.036). No difference in the 3-year DFS rates of stage II (P=0.567) or stage III (P=0.545) gastric cancer was found between the medical and surgical oncologist groups. CONCLUSIONS: S-1 monotherapy and XELOX are a main stay of AC, regardless of whether the prescribing physician is a medical or surgical oncologist. The better compliance with AC by surgical oncologists is a valid reason to advocate that surgical oncologists perform the treatment of AC for stage II or III gastric cancers.
Capecitabine ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant* ; Compliance ; Disease-Free Survival ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Korea* ; Logistic Models ; Observational Study ; Propensity Score ; Referral and Consultation ; Retrospective Studies* ; Selection Bias ; Stomach Neoplasms*