Background: We performed a nationwide analysis to evaluate the impact of the early coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on emergency department (ED) visits by adult cancer patients having COVID-like symptoms. Methods: We analyzed the National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS) data on ED visits by adult cancer patients who presented with chief complaints of fever or respiratory symptoms (FRS) indicative of COVID-19, from 2016 to 2020. An interrupted time series analysis with a quasi-Poisson regression model was performed, adjusting for seasonality and time, to evaluate whether underlying trends for monthly ED visits and the in-hospital mortality rate (%) per month changed with the pandemic among these patients.We also estimated the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of in-hospital deaths among cancer patients using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results: ED visits by cancer patients with FRS decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic (relative risk [RR] with 95% confidence interval [CI]: slope change, 0.99 [0.98–1.00] and step change, 0.84 [0.76–0.92]). However, the in-hospital mortality rate (%) for these patients was increased (slope change, 1.14 [1.04–1.25] and step change, 0.99 [0.98–1.01]). Factors such as urgent triage status, ambulance use, and treatment in hospitals with fewer than 300 staffed beds significantly contributed to increased aOR of in-hospital deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period. Conclusion Further studies are needed to highlight the importance of ED service preparation in planning and managing resources for cancer patients during future pandemics.

Objectives: Excess mortality associated with long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) has been documented. However, research on the disease burden following short-term exposure is scarce. We investigated the cause-specific mortality burden of short-term exposure to PM2.5 by considering the potential non-linear concentration–response relationship in Korea. Methods: Daily cause-specific mortality rates and PM2.5 exposure levels from 2010 to 2019 were collected for 8 Korean cities and 9 provinces. A generalized additive mixed model was employed to estimate the non-linear relationship between PM2.5 exposure and cause-specific mortality levels. We assumed no detrimental health effects of PM2.5 concentrations below 15 μg/m3. Overall deaths attributable to short-term PM2.5 exposure were estimated by summing the daily numbers of excess deaths associated with ambient PM2.5 exposure. Results: Of the 2 749 704 recorded deaths, 2 453 686 (89.2%) were non-accidental, 591 267 (21.5%) were cardiovascular, and 141 066 (5.1%) were respiratory in nature. A non-linear relationship was observed between all-cause mortality and exposure to PM2.5 at lag0, whereas linear associations were evident for cause-specific mortalities. Overall, 10 814 all-cause, 7855 non-accidental, 1642 cardiovascular, and 708 respiratory deaths were attributed to short-term exposure to PM2.5. The estimated number of all-cause excess deaths due to short-term PM2.5 exposure in 2019 was 1039 (95% confidence interval, 604 to 1472). Conclusions Our findings indicate an association between short-term PM2.5 exposure and various mortality rates (all-cause, non-accidental, cardiovascular, and respiratory) in Korea over the period from 2010 to 2019. Consequently, action plans should be developed to reduce deaths attributable to short-term exposure to PM2.5.

Objective: We aimed to identify the expectations and preferences for medication and medical decision-making in patients with major psychiatric disorders. Methods: A survey was conducted among patients with major psychiatric disorders who visited psychiatric outpatient clinics at 15 hospitals between 2016 and 2018 in Korea. The survey consisted of 12 questions about demographic variables and opinions on their expectations for medication, important medical decision-makers, and preferred drug type. The most preferred value in each category in the total population was identified, and differences in the preference ratio of each item among the disease groups were compared. Results: A total of 707 participants were surveyed. In the total population, patients reported high efficacy (44.01%±21.44%) as the main wish for medication, themselves (37.39%±22.57%) and a doctor (35.27%±22.88%) as the main decision makers, and tablet/capsule (36.16%±30.69%) as the preferred type of drug. In the depressive disorders group, the preference ratio of high efficacy was significantly lower, and the preference ratio of a small amount was significantly higher than that of the psychotic disorder and bipolar disorder groups. The preference ratio of a doctor as an important decision maker in the bipolar disorder group was higher compared to the other groups. Conclusion This study revealed the preference for medications and showed differences among patients with psychiatric disorders. Providing personalized medicine that considers a patient’s preference for the drug may contribute to the improvement of drug compliance and outcomes.

Purpose: Previous studies have suggested that serum phosphate concentration is a prognostic factor in critically ill patients. However, the association between changes in serum phosphate levels and prognosis of patients with trauma remains unclear. Materials and Methods: This study included patients with severe trauma who were treated at the emergency department. Delta phosphate (Δ phosphate) was defined as the difference between serum phosphate concentrations measured at baseline and after 24 hours from the initial measurement. Patients were divided into five groups according to their Δ phosphate levels: group I (Δ phosphate <-2 mg/dL), group II (Δ phosphate -2 to -0.5 mg/dL), group III (Δ phosphate -0.5 to 0.5 mg/dL), group IV (Δ phosphate 0.5 to 2 mg/dL), and group V (Δ phosphate ≥2 mg/dL). Results: Overall, 1905 patients with severe trauma were included in the analysis. The 30-day mortality was the lowest in group III and tended to increase in groups with a larger Δ phosphate in both the positive and negative directions (group I: 13.7%, group II:6.8%, group III: 4.6%, group IV: 6.6%, and group V: 26.8%). In multivariable analysis with group III as the reference group, the odds ratios (ORs) of mortality were statistically significant in group IV [OR, 1.92; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.05–3.56] and group V (OR, 5.28; 95% CI, 2.47–11.24). Conclusion An increase in serum phosphate concentrations 24 hours after the initial measurement could be considered as an independent prognostic factor in patients with severe trauma.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge, awareness and performance of COVID-19 infection control among physical therapists and to identify the impact factors on performance Methods: Data were collected from March 16th to March 24th in 2022 from the physical therapist’s in Busan. Data analysis was conducted on 170 surveys, after excluding 27 surveys that were found to be unsuitable for data analysis. Results When correlating the study variables, knowledge and awareness were found to have a positive, meaningful correlation with performance. Performance of COVID-19 personal infection control regression analysis showed that the working department (clinic and long-term care hospital), clinical experience, the more knowledgeable, the awareness (personal), and the more clinical experience had significant positive impacts on the performance of COVID-19 infection control. Performance of COVID-19 treatment room infection control regression analysis showed that the working department (long-term care hospital), educational experience, the awareness (treatment room) had significant positive impacts on the performance of COVID-19 infection control Conclusion: The results of this study may be used as basic data for educating physical therapist’s working at the COVID-19 response department. This study suggests that physical therapist’s need educational programs to improve their knowledge and awareness and performance of infection control against infectious diseases such as COVID-19. Differentiated physical therapists practice education curricula must be developed and provided after understanding the varying characteristic of physical therapist’s with different levels of work experience.

Purpose: The association of the initial serum ammonia level with in-hospital mortality in patients with acute glufosinate-ammonium herbicide poisoning was studied. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted between March 2012 and August 2019 in the emergency department after glufosinate-ammonium herbicide poisoning. Survivors and non-survivors were analyzed using a Mann-Whitney U test and Fisher’s exact test. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the independent risk factors for mortality. Results: One hundred and six patients were enrolled; 11 died, yielding a mortality of 10.4%. The serum bicarbonate level was significantly lower in the non-survival group than the survival group. Age, serum ammonia, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine levels, SOFA score, and APACHE II score were significantly higher in the non-survival group than the survival group. Age, serum ammonia, and creatinine level were independent risk factors for mortality in multivariate logistic regression analysis. Conclusion The initial serum ammonia level is associated with mortality in patients with acute glufosinate herbicide poisoning.

Purpose: The association of the initial serum ammonia level with in-hospital mortality in patients with acute glufosinate-ammonium herbicide poisoning was studied. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted between March 2012 and August 2019 in the emergency department after glufosinate-ammonium herbicide poisoning. Survivors and non-survivors were analyzed using a Mann-Whitney U test and Fisher’s exact test. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the independent risk factors for mortality. Results: One hundred and six patients were enrolled; 11 died, yielding a mortality of 10.4%. The serum bicarbonate level was significantly lower in the non-survival group than the survival group. Age, serum ammonia, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine levels, SOFA score, and APACHE II score were significantly higher in the non-survival group than the survival group. Age, serum ammonia, and creatinine level were independent risk factors for mortality in multivariate logistic regression analysis. Conclusion The initial serum ammonia level is associated with mortality in patients with acute glufosinate herbicide poisoning.

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to assess the applicability of the Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (AEP) for public hospitals in Korea. METHODS: In May 2016, 1500 admission claims were collected from Korean public district hospitals using stratified random sampling. Of these claims, 560 admissions to 37 hospitals were retrieved for analysis. Medical records administrators determined the appropriateness of admission using the criteria detailed in the AEP, and a physician separately assessed the appropriateness of admission based on her clinical judgment. To examine the applicability of the AEP, the concordance of the decisions made between a pair of AEP reviewers and between an AEP reviewer and a physician reviewer was compared. RESULTS: The results showed an almost perfect inter-rater agreement between the AEP reviewers and a moderate agreement between the AEP reviewers and the physician. The sensitivity and specificity of the AEP were calculated as 0.86 and 0.56, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that the AEP could potentially be applied to Korean public hospitals as a reliable and valid instrument for assessing the appropriateness of admissions.

OBJECTIVE: The National Early Warning Score (NEWS) is used widely to detect deteriorating patients in a range of clinical situations. This study examined the ability of the NEWS to predict poor outcomes in trauma patients. METHODS: This was a retrospective observational study using a dataset collected prospectively from trauma patients who visited the emergency department of a tertiary referral center in the southern area of the Republic of Korea. The area under the receiver operating curves (AUC) of the Revised Trauma Score (RTS) and NEWS were compared. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: Among 17,661 patients finally enrolled, 66.3% were male, and the median age was 49 (34-64). The AUC of the NEWS and RTS were 0.878 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.873–0.883) and 0.827 (95% CI, 0.821–0.833) (AUC difference, 0.051; 95% CI, 0.025–0.077; P<0.01), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the NEWS were 74.0% and 91.2%, respectively, at a cutoff of four, and those of the RTS were 67.7% and 96.1%, respectively, at 7.55. CONCLUSION The NEWS showed better performance in predicting the in-hospital mortality of patients with trauma compared to the RTS.

BACKGROUND: The objective of the study was to determine the impact of continuous care on health outcomes and cost of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Korea.METHODS: A nationwide retrospective, observational case-control study was conducted. Continuity of treatment was measured using Continuity of Care (COC) score. Information of all patients newly diagnosed with T2DM in 2004 was retrieved from the National Health Insurance database for the period of 2002 to 2013. The study examined 2,373 patients after applying exclusion criteria, such as for patients who died from conditions not related to T2DM. Statistical analyses were performed using frequency distribution, simple analysis (t-test and chi-squared test), and multi-method analysis (simple linear regression, logistic regression, and survival analysis).RESULTS: The overall COC score was 0.8±0.24. The average incidence of diabetic complications was 0.39 per patient with a higher COC score, whereas it was 0.49 per patient with a lower COC score. In both survival and logistic analyses, patients who had high COC score were significantly less likely to have diabetic complications (hazard ratio, 0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.54 to 0.88). The average medical cost was approximately 3,496 United States dollar (USD) per patient for patients with a higher COC score, whereas it was 3,973 USD per patient for patients with a lower COC score during the 2006 to 2013 period, with a difference of around 477 USD, which is statistically significant after adjusting for other factors (β=−0.152).CONCLUSION: Continuity of care for diabetes significantly reduced health complications and medical costs from patients with T2DM.
Case-Control Studies ; Cohort Studies ; Continuity of Patient Care ; Diabetes Complications ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Linear Models ; Logistic Models ; National Health Programs ; Retrospective Studies ; United States