PURPOSE: This study was to examine the influences of working conditions and health status on absence due to sickness in health and medical related workers. METHODS: Data from the Third Korean Working Condition Survey was used. Study participants included 929 workers who have been working in the medical and healthcare fields. Descriptive analysis, independent t-test, χ² test, Fisher's exact test and logistic regression analyses were performed using SPSS 21.0 statistical program. RESULTS: Absence due to sickness was found in 7.8% of health and medical related workers. Absence due to sickness differed significantly depending on monthly income, company size, work-related musculoskeletal risk factors, job control, physical health problems and subjective health status would be important factors affecting absence. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidences that predictors of absence due to sickness in workers of medical and healthcare fields are identified. Therefore, we need the active support for health care service promotion and prevention for predictors of absence due to sickness.
Delivery of Health Care ; Diagnostic Self Evaluation ; Logistic Models ; Risk Factors ; Sick Leave

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to investigate the influence of emotional expressivity, emotional intelligence, affectivity, job autonomy, social support, and emotional labor on clinical nurses' individual well-being and to provide guidelines for interventions and strategies for its improvement. METHODS: The sample consisted of 207 nurses recruited from a general hospital in Korea. The participants completed a structured self-report questionnaire comprising measures of emotional expressivity, emotional intelligence, positive affectivity, negative affectivity, job autonomy, supervisor support, coworker support, deep acting, surface acting, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. Data were analyzed using SPSS statistics 22.0 and AMOS 22.0. RESULTS: The final model was a good fit for the data based on the model fit indices. In the path analysis, surface acting, negative affectivity, supervisor support, and coworker support had statistically significant effects on emotional exhaustion, explaining 29.0% of the variance. Deep acting, emotional exhaustion, positive affectivity, and emotional intelligence had statistically significant effects on job satisfaction, explaining 43.0% of the variance. CONCLUSION Effective strategies to improve clinical nurses' individual well-being should focus on surface acting, deep acting, affectivity, social support, and emotional intelligence. The results of this study can be utilized as base data to manage emotional labor and improve clinical nurses' individual well-being.

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to investigate the influence of emotional expressivity, emotional intelligence, affectivity, job autonomy, social support, and emotional labor on clinical nurses' individual well-being and to provide guidelines for interventions and strategies for its improvement. METHODS: The sample consisted of 207 nurses recruited from a general hospital in Korea. The participants completed a structured self-report questionnaire comprising measures of emotional expressivity, emotional intelligence, positive affectivity, negative affectivity, job autonomy, supervisor support, coworker support, deep acting, surface acting, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. Data were analyzed using SPSS statistics 22.0 and AMOS 22.0. RESULTS: The final model was a good fit for the data based on the model fit indices. In the path analysis, surface acting, negative affectivity, supervisor support, and coworker support had statistically significant effects on emotional exhaustion, explaining 29.0% of the variance. Deep acting, emotional exhaustion, positive affectivity, and emotional intelligence had statistically significant effects on job satisfaction, explaining 43.0% of the variance. CONCLUSION: Effective strategies to improve clinical nurses' individual well-being should focus on surface acting, deep acting, affectivity, social support, and emotional intelligence. The results of this study can be utilized as base data to manage emotional labor and improve clinical nurses' individual well-being.
Emotional Intelligence ; Hospitals, General ; Job Satisfaction ; Korea

Purpose: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a leading cause of death with a prevalence rate of 12.4% in South Korea. Self-management is crucial for patients with DM, because many studies have reported that self-management intervention based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) is effective. The purpose of this study was to investigate the current state of HBM based intervention studies and the components and effects of the theories used in the study for diabetes patients. Methods: A systematic review was conducted using the Pubmed, Cochrane Library and Embase databases from January 2009 to May 2019. We reviewed characteristics of intervention based on the HBM in randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs), quasi-experimental study intervention. Results: Eight studies published in English between 2009 and 2019 were included in this review. The key components of the health behavior promotion program applied to the DM patients were perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers and self-efficacy. The intervention based on these components has reported to significantly increase the health behavior change, likelihood of taking health action and improve physiological indicators (HbA1c, and fasting blood sugar etc.). Conclusion This study highlighted the importance of intervention programs based on the HBM for DM patients.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to explore personal as well as occupational factors and health status associated with work-life balance in Korean registered nurses. METHODS: This study was a secondary data analysis using cross-sectional nationally representative data from the Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS) in 2014. Study participants included 450 registered nurses in South Korea. Descriptive analysis, Independent t-test, χ² test, and Logistic regression analyses were performed using the SPSS 21.0 statistical program. RESULTS: Work-life balance was reported in 70.6% individuals with 85.7% being male and 70.0% being female nurses. Logistic regression analysis revealed that being male good health state, having less than 40-hour working week, lower number of night duty, policy on flexible work arrangement were significant predictors of work-life balance. CONCLUSION: This study provided evidence that identify predictors of work-life balance in registered nurses in South Korea. Therefore, we need the actively support health care service promotion and prevention for work-life balance predictors.
Delivery of Health Care ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Nurses* ; Statistics as Topic ; Work Schedule Tolerance

Background: Although patients with non-traumatic spinal cord injury (NTSCI) have distinct epidemiological characteristics compared to those with traumatic spinal cord injury, no previous study has reported the incidence of NTSCI on a national scale in Korea.In this study, we examined the trend in incidence of NTSCI in Korea and described the epidemiological characteristics of patients with NTSCI using nationwide insurance data. Methods: National Health Insurance Service data were reviewed for the period from 2007 to 2020. The International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, was used to identify patients with NTSCI. Inpatients with newly diagnosed NTSCI on their first admission during the study period were included. Crude incidence was calculated using the annual number of NTSCI cases divided by the mid-year population estimates. Age-specific incidence was calculated by dividing the number of cases in 10-year age groups by the total number of individuals in that age group. Age-adjusted incidence was calculated using direct standardization. Annual percentage changes were calculated using Joinpoint regression analysis. The Cochrane-Armitage trend test was conducted to examine the trends of NTSCI incidence according to the types or etiologies of NTSCI. Results: The age-adjusted incidence of NTSCI increased continuously from 24.11 per million in 2007 to 39.83 per million in 2020, with a significant annual percentage change (4.93%, P < 0.05). The age-specific incidence for those in their 70s and 80s or older was the highest and rapidly increased from 2007 to 2020. According to the types of paralysis in NTSCI, the proportion of tetraplegia decreased, whereas those of paraplegia and cauda equina increased significantly from 2007 to 2020. The proportion of degenerative diseases was the largest among all etiologies and increased significantly during the study period. Conclusion The annual incidence of NTSCI in Korea is increasing significantly, particularly among older adults. As Korea is one of the countries with most rapidly aging population in the world, these results have significant implications, indicating that preventive strategies and sufficient rehabilitation medical services are warranted for the population of older adults.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) has been recognized as a medically complex and life-disrupting condition. As the aging of the population accelerates, the trend of SCI has changed. This review aimed to provide comprehensive statistics and recent epidemiological changes in SCI and rehabilitation in Korea. All three insurance databases (National Health Insurance Service [NHIS], automobile insurance [AUI], and industrial accident compensation insurance [IACI]) were considered. These nationwide databases provide data on the current trends in term of incidence, etiology, and rehabilitation of SCI. Traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) was more frequent among the elderly in the NHIS compared to working age individuals in the AUI and IACI. In all three trauma-related insurance databases, male with TSCI outnumbered female. TSCI incidence per year was approximately 17 times higher among males than females, on average, in IACI. In all three insurances, the cervical level of TSCI was the most frequent. Although the ratio of SCI patients receiving rehabilitation treatment at primary and secondary hospitals increased for nine years, the increase in training on activities of daily living (ADL training) was found to be relatively small. This review provides a broader and comprehensive understanding of the incidence, etiology, and rehabilitation treatment of SCI in Korea.

Background: To examine the incidence of traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) from all etiologies, we measured and compared the incidence of TSCI from three national or quasinational databases in South Korea, namely, the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), automobile insurance (AUI), and Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance (IACI). Methods: We reviewed patients with TSCI reported in the NHIS database between 2009 and 2018, and in the AUI and IACI databases between 2014 and 2018. TSCI patients were defined as those first admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of TSCI according to the International Classification of Diseases (10th revision) criteria. Age-adjusted incidence was calculated using direct standardization using the 2005 South Korean population or the 2000 US population as the standard population. The annual percentage changes (APC) of TSCI incidence were calculated. The Cochrane–Armitage trend test was performed according to the injured body region. Results: In the NHIS database, age-adjusted TSCI incidence using the Korean standard population increased significantly from 2009 to 2018 (from 33.73 per million in 2009 to 38.14 per million in 2018, APC = 1.2%, P = 0.014). Contrarily, age-adjusted incidence in the AUI database significantly decreased from 13.88 per million in 2014 to 11.57 per million in 2018 (APC = – 5.1%, P = 0.009). In the IACI database, the age-adjusted incidence showed no significant difference, while crude incidence showed a significant increase (from 22.02 per million in 2014 to 28.92 per million in 2018, APC = 6.1%, P = 0.038). According to the age group, all the three databases showed high incidences of TSCI in those in their 60s and 70s or older. Among those in their 70s or older, the incidence of TSCI increased dramatically in the NHIS and IACI databases, while no significant trend was found in AUI database. In 2018, the number of TSCI patients was the highest among those over 70 years of age in the NHIS, whereas among those in their 50s were the highest in both AUI and IACI. The proportion of patients with cervical spinal cord injury was the most common in all these databases. Conclusions The differences in trends in the incidence of TSCI may be due to the different etiologies and different characteristics of subjects depending on insurance type. These results imply the need for tailored medical strategies for the different injury mechanisms represented by three national insurance services in South Korea.

Acquired brain injury (ABI) is a leading cause of serious long-term disability resulting in substantial economic costs for post-ABI care. This study was conducted to estimate the socioeconomic burden of persons with ABI in Korea. We used a prevalence-based approach and societal perspective to estimate the direct medical, non-medical costs and indirect costs of ABI, including stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and non-traumatic ABI (anoxia, brain tumor, encephalitis, meningitis, hydrocephalus, and other brain disorders) from 2015 to 2017. The study population included patients with ABI over 20 years of age and analyzed according to insurance types encompassing National Health Insurance and automobile insurance. The socioeconomic burden of ABI was 4.67, 5.18, and 5.73 trillion KRW (approximately 4,162, 4,612, and 5,106 million USD) from 2015 to 2017 and around 0.3% of Korea's GDP annually. Estimating by disease, the socioeconomic cost was 72.4% for stroke, 18.6% for TBI, and 9.0% for non-traumatic ABI. Calculated by cost component, medical costs and non-medical costs showed a slight increase every year. Through this study, establishment of rehabilitation systems maximizing the health and quality of life for injured persons remain the key public health strategy for ABI to reduce socioeconomic burden and financial policies to support patients should be needed.

BACKGROUND: Hypoplastic acute leukemia is rare and most cases reported were of older age group. We reviewed our cases of hypoplastic acute leukemia and their hematologic and clinical findings. METHOD: The bone marrow biopsy slides and the reports of patients diagnosed as having acute leukemia during recent ten years were reviewed. The medical records of patients who had blast cells of greater than 30% and marrow cellularity less than or equal to 50% were reviewed. RESULTS: Of 308 patients analyzed, 17 (5.5%) fulfilled the above mentioned criteria. Ten patients were women and seven men. The median age was 44 with a range of 18-71. Chief complaints were fever, headache, general weakness and abdominal pain. Two patient presented hepatomegaly. One patient was diagnosed as granulocytic sarcoma. Ten patients were pancytopenic with median leukocyte count of 1,500/ L, hemoglobin of 8.3 g/dL, and platelet count of 27,000/ L. Circulating blast cells were 0-76%. FAB classification revealed one to be M0, three M1, seven M2, three M4, one M5, one M6 and one L1. Seven patients were not followed, and three were treated conservatively. Of seven patients receiving chemotherapy, four achieved durable complete remission. One achieved complete remission by using G-CSF. CONCLUSION: Most cases of reported hypoplastic acute leukemia were acute myelogenous leukemia of older age but our cases included leukemia of younger age and one acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Of seven patients who received chemotherapy, four achieved complete remission and one showed complete remission only by G-CSF.
Abdominal Pain ; Biopsy ; Bone Marrow ; Classification ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Fever ; Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor ; Headache ; Hepatomegaly ; Humans ; Leukemia* ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; Leukocyte Count ; Male ; Medical Records ; Platelet Count ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; Sarcoma, Myeloid