The Big Data Research Committee of the Korean Society of Gastroenterology conducted activities and researches with three goals. First, it provides the basis for proper and cost-effective treatment of digestive diseases in Korea. Second, it carries out population-level global research by establishing a system of big data analysis related to gastroenterology. Third, it provides the members of the Korean Society of Gastroenterology with the opportunity to plan and assess the public interest related to big data. The studies published by the committee members in this paper were carried out under these objectives, and the findings are believed to have achieved the public interest goals that may be helpful in the current medical and health policy. The construction of the big data infrastructure for digestive drugs is also underway, and we expect to see meaningful results pertaining to important digestive drugs. Research using public health medical big data, such as the National Health Insurance Corporation data base, should ultimately provide a basis for reflecting public messages and policies for the public. To this end, it is necessary for Korean researchers to lead efforts to lower the barriers and to approach relevant information and opportunities using big data research.
Committee Membership ; Gastroenterology ; Health Policy ; Korea ; National Health Programs ; Public Health ; Statistics as Topic

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to achieve expert consensus for the evaluation of Emergency medical system operation fund (EMSOF) support projects using the Delphi method in Korea. METHODS: The Delphi study was performed in June 2018. Experts who are members of the policy committee of the Korean Society of Emergency Medicine (KSEM) participated in the study. Respondents were asked to express their level of agreement of appropriateness for the following 6 categories for 21 projects: project contents, amount of support, indicators, performance, overall evaluation, and need to maintain. With a possible score of 9 points, the project categories were classified into 3 groups, inappropriate, moderate and appropriate, based on the median score of the respondents' ratings in each question. RESULTS: Sixteen of the 18 policy committee members participated in the survey. Their average professional work years were 8.2 years. All 21 projects were evaluated as appropriate for content. Amount of support and indicators were evaluated as moderate. Only 5 out of the 21 projects were evaluated as having appropriate indicators. No projects were evaluated as ineffective. Comprehensive evaluation of the projects was evaluated as moderate, and no project was evaluated as inappropriate in fund support. CONCLUSION: Overall, the contents of the EMSOF assistance project were rated high; however, there was a disagreement on the amount of support and evaluation indicators for each project. The results of this study are expected to be used as basic data to improve the use of EMSOF.
Committee Membership ; Consensus ; Delphi Technique ; Emergencies ; Emergency Medicine ; Financial Management ; Korea ; Methods ; Resource Allocation ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Since after 2006 when the first edition of practice guidelines for gynecologic oncologic cancer treatment was released, the Korean Society of Gynecologic Oncology (KSGO) has published the following editions on a regular basis to suggest the best possible standard care considering updated scientific evidence as well as medical environment including insurance coverage. The Guidelines Revision Committee was summoned to revise the second edition of KSGO practice guidelines, which was published in July 2010, and develop the third edition. The current guidelines cover strategies for diagnosis and treatment of primary and recurrent ovarian cancer. In this edition, we introduced an advanced format based on evidence-based medicine, collecting up-to-date data mainly from MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library CENTRAL, and conducting a meta-analysis with systematic review. Eight key questions were raised by the committee members. For every key question, recommendations were developed by the consensus meetings and provided with evidence level and strength of the recommendation.
Committee Membership ; Consensus* ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Evidence-Based Medicine ; Insurance Coverage ; Korea* ; Ovarian Neoplasms*

Clinical practice guidelines for gynecologic cancers have been developed by many organizations. Although these guidelines have much in common in terms of the practice of standard of care for uterine corpus cancer, practice guidelines that reflect the characteristics of patients and healthcare and insurance systems are needed for each country. The Korean Society of Gynecologic Oncology (KSGO) published the first edition of practice guidelines for gynecologic cancer treatment in late 2006; the second edition was released in July 2010 as an evidence-based recommendation. The Guidelines Revision Committee was established in 2015 and decided to produce the third edition of the guidelines as an advanced form based on evidence-based medicine, considering up-to-date clinical trials and abundant qualified Korean data. These guidelines cover screening, surgery, adjuvant treatment, and advanced and recurrent disease with respect to endometrial carcinoma and uterine sarcoma. The committee members and many gynecologic oncologists derived key questions from the discussion, and a number of relevant scientific literatures were reviewed in advance. Recommendations for each specific question were developed by the consensus conference, and they are summarized here, together with other details. The objective of these practice guidelines is to establish standard policies on issues in clinical areas related to the management of uterine corpus cancer based on the findings in published papers to date and the consensus of experts as a KSGO Consensus Statement.
Committee Membership ; Consensus* ; Delivery of Health Care ; Drug Therapy ; Endometrial Neoplasms ; Evidence-Based Medicine ; Female ; Humans ; Insurance ; Korea* ; Mass Screening ; Sarcoma ; Standard of Care

Clinical practice guidelines for gynecologic cancers have been developed by academic society from several countries. Each guideline reflected their own insurance system and unique medical environment, based on the published evidence. The Korean Society of Gynecologic Oncology (KSGO) published the first edition of practice guidelines for gynecologic cancer treatment in late 2006; the second edition was released in July 2010 as an evidence-based recommendation. The Guidelines Revision Committee was established in 2015 and decided to develop the third edition of the guidelines in an advanced format based on evidence-based medicine, embracing up-to-date clinical trials and qualified Korean data. These guidelines cover strategies for diagnosis and treatment of primary and recurrent cervical cancer. The committee members and many gynecologic oncologists derived key questions through discussions, and a number of relevant scientific literature were reviewed in advance. Recommendations for each specific question were developed by the consensus conference, and they are summarized here, along with the details. The objective of these practice guidelines is to establish standard policies on issues in clinical practice related to the management in cervical cancer based on the results in published papers to date and the consensus of experts as a KSGO Consensus Statement.
Committee Membership ; Consensus* ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Evidence-Based Medicine ; Insurance ; Korea* ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: There is a growing emphasis on quality management in endoscope reprocessing. Previous surveys conducted in 2002 and 2004 were not practitioner-oriented. Therefore, this survey is significant for being the first to target actual participants in endoscope reprocessing in Korea. METHODS: This survey comprised 33 self-filled questions, and was personally delivered to nurses and nursing auxiliaries in the endoscopy departments of eight hospitals belonging to the society. The anonymous responses were collected after 1 week either by post or in person by committee members. RESULTS: The survey included 100 participants. In the questionnaire addressing compliance rates with the reprocessing guideline, the majority (98.9%) had a high compliance rate compared to 27% of respondents in 2002 and 50% in 2004. The lowest rate of compliance with a reprocessing procedure was reported for transporting the contaminated endoscope in a sealed container. Automated endoscope reprocessors were available in all hospitals. Regarding reprocessing time, more than half of the subjects replied that reprocessing took more than 15 minutes (63.2%). CONCLUSIONS: The quality management of endoscope reprocessing has improved as since the previous survey. A national survey expanded to include primary clinics is required to determine the true current status of endoscope reprocessing.
Anonyms and Pseudonyms ; Committee Membership ; Compliance ; Endoscopes* ; Endoscopy ; Humans ; Korea ; Nurses' Aides ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND/AIMS: For decades, thiopurines have been the mainstay of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treatment and will play an important role in the future. However, complex metabolism and various side effects limit the use of these potent drugs in clinical practice. The Korean Association for the Study of Intestinal Diseases developed a set of consensus statements with the aim of guiding clinicians on the appropriate use of thiopurines in the management of IBD. METHODS: Sixteen statements were initially drafted by five committee members. The quality of evidence and classification of recommendation were assessed according to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation system. The statements were then circulated to IBD experts in Korea for review, feedback, and then finalized and accepted by voting at the consensus meeting. RESULTS: The consensus statements comprised four parts: (1) pre-treatment evaluation and management strategy, including value of thiopurine S-methyltransferase screening, dosing schedule, and novel biomarkers for predicting thiopurine-induced leukopenia; (2) treatment with thiopurines with regards to optimal duration of thiopurine treatment and long-term outcomes of combination therapy with anti-tumor necrosis factors; (3) safety of thiopurines, especially during pregnancy and lactation; and (4) monitoring side effects or efficacy of therapy using biomarkers. CONCLUSIONS: Thiopurines are an effective treatment option for patients with IBD. Management decisions should be individualized according to the risk of relapse and adverse events.
Appointments and Schedules ; Biomarkers ; Classification ; Committee Membership ; Consensus* ; Female ; Humans ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases* ; Intestinal Diseases* ; Korea ; Lactation ; Leukopenia ; Mass Screening ; Metabolism ; Necrosis ; Politics ; Pregnancy ; Recurrence

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to identify the roles, duties and tasks of elementary health teachers. Required knowledge, skills, and worker behaviors were also examined. METHODS: Elementary health teachers' jobs were analyzed by DACUM workshop. First, the health teachers' roles and related jobs were described, and then the jobs were divided into duties and subordinate tasks. The identified roles, duties and tasks were reviewed and refined, and then were organized in a DACUM chart. DACUM committee members discussed not only general knowledge, skills and work behaviors but also future trends and concerns. RESULTS: The DACUM chart for elementary health teachers consisted of 8 duties and 52 tasks. Required knowledge, skills and worker behaviors were also listed. CONCLUSION: Elementary health teachers play roles as health manager, health care provider, and teacher in school. Their roles, duties and tasks are being changed. Thus, their jobs need to be redefined legally, politically, and institutionally.
Committee Membership ; Education ; Health Personnel ; Humans ; Job Description ; School Health Services ; Task Performance and Analysis

BACKGROUND: Compliance with hand hygiene protocols is one of the simplest ways to prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Hand hygiene is influenced by individual habits and beliefs, as well as by local organizational culture practices. This study was performed in order to increase the rate of compliance to hand hygiene through changes in the organizational culture. METHODS: From 2009 through 2011, this study was performed in a 2,000-bed tertiary-care university hospital with more than 6,000 employees. The program was implemented mainly by team activities, and the leadership and hand hygiene steering committee members supported them. Goals for planning, intervention, and evaluation of the compliance rate for hand hygiene were made annually in the hospital. RESULTS: The rate of compliance to hand hygiene increased significantly each year (43.8% in 2008, 75.3% in 2009, 80.7% in 2010, and 83.2% in 2011). The detection rate of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) and the incidence of healthcare-associated Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia decreased. CONCLUSION: The rate of compliance to hand hygiene was remarkably improved, and it continuously increased through systematic and continuous changes in the organizational culture. In addition, the detection rate of VRE and incidence of S. aureus bacteremia decreased. These results show that hand hygiene is an important factor for preventing HAIs.
Bacteremia ; Committee Membership ; Compliance ; Enterococcus ; Hand Hygiene ; Incidence ; Organizational Culture ; Staphylococcus aureus

OBJECTIVE: Evidence-based medicine (EBM) became an important framework to help clinicians judge and decide on what is better or desirable practice under National Insurance Scheme. Clinical trials contribute to building the data for EBM. We tried to investigate the characteristics of clinical trials which had been published in Korean psychiatry journals and constructed them as database form. METHODS: We reviewed all original articles about clinical drug trials regarding human in twenty Korean psychiatric journals published from 1995 to 2010. Inclusion criteria were randomized clinical trials (RCT), controlled clinical trials (CCT), non-controlled clinical trials (NCCT), non-trial naturalistic trials (NTN) including pharmacological intervention. Case reports and case series were excluded. Initial review and classification has been done by EBM researcher and expert review was followed by insurance committee members of Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology. RESULTS: Total number of clinical trials was 328 and all the articles were classified according to patients subtype and intervention. Among them, NCCT was 151 (46%), NTN was 78 (23.7%), RCT was 59 (17.9%), and CCT was 36 (10.9%). In this study, the articles in The Korean Journal of Psychopharmacology were 130 (39.63%) and the proportion of RCT was the most in Journal of the Korean Neuropsychiatric Association (19.84%). The schizophrenia came with 158 (47.02%), followed by major depressive disorder and other depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, dementia, panic disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. The proportion of Institutional Review Board approved study and study with research grant has increased. CONCLUSION: In this study, we investigated the characteristics of clinical trials for psychotropic drugs and finished to construct clinical trial database for psychotropic drugs in Korea. We hope this database should be used for researchers who want to collect clinical evidence data and make clinical guidelines for Korean psychiatric patients. In future, supplementation and management of clinical trial database for psychotropic drugs and quality control of articles are needed.
Anxiety Disorders ; Bipolar Disorder ; Committee Membership ; Dementia ; Depressive Disorder ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Ethics Committees, Research ; Evidence-Based Medicine ; Financing, Organized ; Humans ; Insurance ; Korea ; Panic Disorder ; Porphyrins ; Psychopharmacology ; Psychotic Disorders ; Psychotropic Drugs ; Quality Control ; Schizophrenia