Objective: To compare theeffectiveness of the use of electronic media and the use of printed media in obtaining a higher general weighted average (GWA) among 1st to 3rd year medical students at Centro Escobar University (CEU), A.Y. 2021—2022 Research Design: Cross sectional Setting: Centro Escolar University, San Miguel, Manila Patient/Subject Selection: The 140 subjects were selected by stratified random sampling design. Those currently enrolled full—time as regular CEU medical students and attending a complete number ofunits in the year level were included in the selection. Methods: The GWA of the participants were obtained from the Administrative Office of CEU— School of Medicine, while data fortheindependent variables were collected using questionnaires patterned after the Academic Reading Format International Study (ARFIS) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Ethical considerations of the questionnaires were approved prior to the study proper. Both the questionnaires were administered using Google Forms. Outcome Measures Hypothesis testing and RxC contingency table were utilized to determine any significant difference and association among the groupswho use printed and electronic on GWA.
Mass Media

Contrast Media ; Gadolinium ; Glomerular Filtration Rate ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Mass Screening

media thickness (CIMT) and cardiovascular (CV) disease in asymptomatic patients has been criticized for the high costs and large number of patients required for detecting one patient with coronary artery disease (CAD). In order to overcome the low cost-effectiveness thereof, we investigated the feasibility of an economic wireless handheld ultrasound (WHUS) device for CIMT measurement in symptomatic patients.MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 100 consecutive patients with cardiac symptoms were enrolled. CIMT was measured in all patients. Coronary angiography was performed in 75 patients indicated for the exam.RESULTS: The mean of maximal CIMT measured from left/right common carotid artery and bulb (max-CIMT) by the WHUS device showed excellent agreement [intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)=0.960] with a standard ultrasound device and great interobserver repeatability (ICC>0.9 between all observers). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the predictive power for CAD was improved when max-CIMT and plaque information (plaque≥2) was added [area under the curve (AUC): 0.838] to the traditional clinical CV risk factors (AUC: 0.769). The cutoff values for CAD prediction with the standard device and the WHUS device were 1.05 mm (AUC: 0.807, sensitivity: 0.78, specificity: 0.53) and 1.10 mm (AUC: 0.725, sensitivity: 0.98, specificity: 0.27), respectively.CONCLUSION: max-CIMT measured by a WHUS device showed excellent agreement and repeatability, compared with standard ultrasound. Combined max-CIMT and plaque information added predictive power to the traditional clinical CV risk factors in detecting high-risk CAD patients.]]>
Carotid Artery, Common ; Carotid Intima-Media Thickness ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Risk Factors ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Ultrasonography ; Wireless Technology

BACKGROUND: Steroid injections are commonly used in pain clinics to relieve pain and treat inflammation. In Korea, these steroid injections are well known as ‘ppyeojusa’, which means to inject into the bone in Korean. Some patients often have a negative perception of this treatment method due to inaccurate information about the treatment and side effects of steroids. The purpose of this study is to investigate patients’ perception and knowledge of ppyeojusa. METHODS: A questionnaire about ppyeojusa was completed by patients who visited one of the pain clinics in nine university hospitals, from August 1 to September 10, 2017. RESULTS: Three-hundred seventy-four patients completed the survey. Eighty-five percent of patients had had ppyeojusa, and 74% of the respondents had heard of ppyeojusa from the mass media, friends or relatives. Only 39% of the patients answered that this injection was safe without side effects if properly spaced. Of the patients surveyed, 21% responded that ppyeojusa are “injections into the bone”; while 15% responded that ppyeojusa are “terrible injections that melted ‘the bone if used a lot’”. Half of the patients did not know what the active constituent is in ppyeojusa. If steroid injections are advised by the pain specialists, 89% of the patients would consent. CONCLUSIONS: Most pain clinic patients have heard of ppyeojusa. Most patients obtained information about ppyeojusa from mass media, rather than their physicians. Therefore, it is likely that most patients have inaccurate knowledge.
Friends ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Korea ; Mass Media ; Methods ; Pain Clinics ; Specialization ; Steroids ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive material that is formed as the decay product of uranium and thorium, and is estimated to contribute to approximately half of the average annual natural background radiation. When inhaled, it damages the lungs during radioactive decay and affects the human body. Through many epidemiological studies regarding occupational exposure among miners and residential exposure among the general population, radon has been scientifically proven to cause lung cancer, and radon exposure is the second most common cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking. However, it is unclear whether radon exposure causes diseases other than lung cancer. Media reports have often dealt with radon exposure in relation to health problems, although public attention has been limited to a one-off period. However, recently in Korea, social interest and concern about radon exposure and its health effects have increased greatly due to mass media reports of high concentrations of radon being released from various close-to-life products, such as mattresses and beauty masks. Accordingly, this review article is intended to provide comprehensive scientific information regarding the health effects of radon exposure.
Background Radiation ; Beauty ; Beds ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Human Body ; Inhalation Exposure ; Korea ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms ; Masks ; Mass Media ; Miners ; Occupational Exposure ; Radon ; Smoking ; Thorium ; Uranium

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the effects of dietary education experience (home, school, and mass media) on food consumer information literacy. METHODS: The study subjects were 454 adult consumers who answered a structured questionnaire. The questionnaires addressed the subjects' demographics, dietary education experience (home, school, and mass media), and food consumer information literacy. The data were analyzed through frequency analysis, mean, standard deviation, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation, and multiple regression analysis using SPSS Win 24.0. RESULTS: First, the scores of mass media education experience were 3.41 ± 0.64, which was the highest, and 3.15 ± 0.74 for school education experience, which was the lowest. Second, the level of sub-literacies (task definition, information seeking strategy, location and access, use of information, synthesis, and evaluation) showed scores of 3.20 ± 0.72 ~ 3.47 ± 0.68, which were slightly higher than the median. The synthesis literacy was the highest, as opposed to the information seeking strategy literacy, which was the lowest. The location and access and synthesis literacy were higher in women. Third, a significant positive(+) relationship was observed between all sub-literacies and each of three dietary education experiences (home, school and mass media). According to multiple regression analysis, the major variables influencing the sub-literacies of food consumer information literacy were home education, mass media, and school education in that order. CONCLUSIONS: The dietary education experience was the highest through mass media. The factor that showed the highest food consumer information literacy was synthesis. The factors influencing the food consumer information literacy were dietary education experience through home, school, and mass media.
Adult ; Demography ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Information Literacy ; Literacy ; Mass Media

BACKGROUND: Serum uric acid (UA) has been found to be associated with hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia, and metabolic syndrome; however, its role as an independent risk factor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is still controversial. There have been very few studies reporting an association between UA levels and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), especially in women.METHODS: The study included 245 subjects whose CIMT was evaluated between February 2016 and December 2017 at a health promotion center. We divided the population into two groups on the basis of menopausal status: premenopausal women (n=78) and postmenopausal women (n=167). We measured blood pressure, serum lipid profile, fasting blood glucose (FBG), and creatinine and UA levels. CIMT was measured using high-resolution B-mode ultrasonography.RESULTS: UA levels and CIMT were higher in postmenopausal women (P=0.029, P < 0.001). In premenopausal women, age (r=0.438), body mass index (r=0.373), UA (r=0.205), and FBG (r=0.336) were associated with CIMT, whereas in postmenopausal women, age (r=0.326), body mass index (r=0.167), UA (r=0.166), systolic blood pressure (r=0.200), and HDL-cholesterol (r=−0.140) were associated with CIMT. The UA level was independently associated with CIMT in premenopausal women (β=0.208, P=0.031), whereas age was the only factor independently associated with CIMT in postmenopausal women (β=0.253, P=0.002). Women in the highest tertile of uric acid level exhibited a higher CIMT than did those in the lowest tertile after age adjustment (P for trend < 0.001).CONCLUSION: UA may be an independent risk factor for CIMT, suggesting that UA is a risk factor for the early detection of CVD, especially in premenopausal women.
Blood Glucose ; Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Carotid Intima-Media Thickness ; Creatinine ; Dyslipidemias ; Fasting ; Female ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Menopause ; Obesity ; Risk Factors ; Ultrasonography ; Uric Acid

PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the process from occurrence of a hospital nurse's suicide to workers' compensation approval, responses of the parties involved, issues debated during approval deliberations, and significant policy changes resulting from the incident.METHODS: We conducted in-depth interviews with involved parties and collected various documents, including newspaper articles, forum proceedings, and the agency report on determination of workers' compensation. Content analysis was performed on the collected data.RESULTS: A Joint Task Force continuously reported its progress and findings through mass media such as newspaper, radio, and TV. These activities exerted pressure on a government agency to conduct an occupational disease review and significantly impacted the workers' compensation approval. The agency recognized associations between the hospital's inadequate nurse training and the suicide but did not confirm the excessive overtime and workplace harassment experienced by the nurse as causes of the suicide. This case's media coverage and impact resulted in a law prohibiting workplace harassment and a hospital system dedicating at least one nurse to training activities.CONCLUSION: This incident had a significant social impact as the first case of workers' compensation approval for a hospital nurse's suicide. However, the case produced no structural changes in nurses' working conditions such as heavy workloads.
Advisory Committees ; Government Agencies ; Joints ; Jurisprudence ; Mass Media ; Occupational Diseases ; Occupational Health ; Social Change ; Suicide ; Teaching ; Workers' Compensation

Suicide is the fifth-leading cause of death in Korea, accounting for 4.4% of all deaths. Therefore, suicide is a serious medical problem, as well as a social problem. In this paper, we provide a social psychiatric perspective on suicide and recommend suicide prevention strategies based on programs with roots in the Gwangju mental health pilot project and an analysis of suicide patterns in Seoul. First, early intervention and active case management are mandatory to prevent suicide among individuals with mental illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia, and alcohol use disorder. To this end, mental health and welfare centers, addiction management centers, suicide prevention centers, and care program after a suicide attempt in the emergency department of general hospitals should collaborate via a multidisciplinary approach. Second, crisis intervention should be provided in collaboration with the police, government officials, and mental health agencies to people who are at immediate risk of suicide. Additionally, case management services should be expanded for individuals who are treated at hospitals for psychiatric illness. Third, social welfare services should be offered to low-income individuals at risk of suicide. Fourth, the mass media should restrict reporting about suicide and follow the relevant reporting guidelines. Finally, access to methods of committing suicide, such as charcoal for burning and agrichemical poisoning, should be regulated by the government. Proactive psychosocial strategies implemented with government support will prevent suicide-related deaths and decrease the suicide rate in Korea.
Burns ; Case Management ; Cause of Death ; Charcoal ; Cooperative Behavior ; Crisis Intervention ; Depression ; Early Intervention (Education) ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Gwangju ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Korea ; Mass Media ; Mental Health ; Occupational Groups ; Pilot Projects ; Poisoning ; Police ; Schizophrenia ; Seoul ; Social Problems ; Social Welfare ; Suicide

European Medicines Agency withdrew valsartan from European market in July 2018 because it was contaminated with carcinogen, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA). Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency also found the same contamination and withdrew it from England market. US Food and Drug Administration followed the action after confirming its contamination. Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) conducted testing all the valsartans at Korean market and withdrew some of them from market after confirming the contamination with NDMA. MFDS provided the pharmaceutical companies and laboratory institutions with the manual for testing both NDMA and NDEA and educated relevant personnels. MFDS also evaluated the health impact of the contaminated valsartan on the hypertensive patients who took the valsartan, which was shown to be very low risk of additional cancer incidence. MFDS pronounced strengthening of the safety management for the raw materials of the medicines. For guaranteeing the safety of medicines, more comprehensive drug safety management system from developing new drugs to consuming the medicines should be established. For achieving such a goal, active participation of all the stakeholders of the medicines including governmental agencies including MFDS and Ministry of Health and Welfare, the National Assembly, healthcare professionals, pharmaceutical companies, mass media, and general population including patients should be needed.
Antihypertensive Agents ; Delivery of Health Care ; Diethylnitrosamine ; Dimethylnitrosamine ; England ; Humans ; Incidence ; Mass Media ; Safety Management ; United States Food and Drug Administration ; Valsartan