Purpose: This study aimed to identify the factors influencing nurses’ perceptions of the disclosure of patient safety incidents in tertiary hospitals. Methods: As a descriptive study, data were collected from 315 nurses working in two tertiary hospitals in Busan via structured self-report questionnaires from June 28 to September 3, 2023, through an online survey. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and hierarchical regression analysis with SPSS/WIN 27.0. Results: Analysis was conducted by controlling for the characteristics of the study participants, which revealed significant differences in their perceptions of the disclosure of patient safety incidents. Ethical nursing competence (β=.30, p<.001) and patient safety culture (β=.15, p=.012) were significant influencing factors on the perception of such disclosure, and the explanatory power of the regression model was 21.0% (F=14.63, p<.001). Conclusion To enhance the aforementioned perception among nurses in tertiary hospitals, healthcare institutions should provide learning opportunities to improve their ethical nursing competence. Fostering an organizational culture that promotes and encourages open disclosure of patient safety incidents is also essential.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the factors influencing nurses’ perceptions of the disclosure of patient safety incidents in tertiary hospitals. Methods: As a descriptive study, data were collected from 315 nurses working in two tertiary hospitals in Busan via structured self-report questionnaires from June 28 to September 3, 2023, through an online survey. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and hierarchical regression analysis with SPSS/WIN 27.0. Results: Analysis was conducted by controlling for the characteristics of the study participants, which revealed significant differences in their perceptions of the disclosure of patient safety incidents. Ethical nursing competence (β=.30, p<.001) and patient safety culture (β=.15, p=.012) were significant influencing factors on the perception of such disclosure, and the explanatory power of the regression model was 21.0% (F=14.63, p<.001). Conclusion To enhance the aforementioned perception among nurses in tertiary hospitals, healthcare institutions should provide learning opportunities to improve their ethical nursing competence. Fostering an organizational culture that promotes and encourages open disclosure of patient safety incidents is also essential.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the factors influencing nurses’ perceptions of the disclosure of patient safety incidents in tertiary hospitals. Methods: As a descriptive study, data were collected from 315 nurses working in two tertiary hospitals in Busan via structured self-report questionnaires from June 28 to September 3, 2023, through an online survey. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and hierarchical regression analysis with SPSS/WIN 27.0. Results: Analysis was conducted by controlling for the characteristics of the study participants, which revealed significant differences in their perceptions of the disclosure of patient safety incidents. Ethical nursing competence (β=.30, p<.001) and patient safety culture (β=.15, p=.012) were significant influencing factors on the perception of such disclosure, and the explanatory power of the regression model was 21.0% (F=14.63, p<.001). Conclusion To enhance the aforementioned perception among nurses in tertiary hospitals, healthcare institutions should provide learning opportunities to improve their ethical nursing competence. Fostering an organizational culture that promotes and encourages open disclosure of patient safety incidents is also essential.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the factors influencing nurses’ perceptions of the disclosure of patient safety incidents in tertiary hospitals. Methods: As a descriptive study, data were collected from 315 nurses working in two tertiary hospitals in Busan via structured self-report questionnaires from June 28 to September 3, 2023, through an online survey. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and hierarchical regression analysis with SPSS/WIN 27.0. Results: Analysis was conducted by controlling for the characteristics of the study participants, which revealed significant differences in their perceptions of the disclosure of patient safety incidents. Ethical nursing competence (β=.30, p<.001) and patient safety culture (β=.15, p=.012) were significant influencing factors on the perception of such disclosure, and the explanatory power of the regression model was 21.0% (F=14.63, p<.001). Conclusion To enhance the aforementioned perception among nurses in tertiary hospitals, healthcare institutions should provide learning opportunities to improve their ethical nursing competence. Fostering an organizational culture that promotes and encourages open disclosure of patient safety incidents is also essential.

Background: While individuals exposed to radiation in hospitals are typically registered as radiation workers, with regulated exposure levels, many interns and residents who are not registered as radiation workers are occupationally exposed to radiation. This study aimed to assess the current status and awareness of radiation exposure and related protective practices among interns and residents. Methods: An online survey was conducted nationwide from June 3 to June 16, 2023, engaging 262 interns and 799 residents. Descriptive analyses were conducted to summarize the status of occupational radiation exposure and radiation protection practices. Results: Approximately 6% of interns and 18% of residents reported receiving personal dosimeters, and 6% and 20%, respectively, were registered as radiation workers. In contrast, compliance with personal radiation protection equipment, such as lead aprons and thyroid shields, exceeded 85% during tasks involving radiation exposure. On average, interns spent 7 months (standard deviation [SD], 2.1) and residents 8.1 months (SD, 4.8) in main departments with potential radiation exposure. While overall safety performance showed improvement, the provision of personal dosimeters and radiation worker registration remained low (14.7%, 16.6%). Conclusion Despite improvements in radiation protection education and the provision of personal protective equipment, the registration rate for radiation workers among interns and residents remains low. Ensuring these medical professionals are registered and managed as radiation workers is crucial for prioritizing their safety and well-being.

Background: Chronic atrophic gastritis causes hypochlorhydria, hypergastrinemia, and malabsorption of nutrients, leading to lower bone mineral density. The few studies that investigated the association between chronic atrophic gastritis and bone mineral density have reported inconsistent findings. As such, the present study assessed the association between chronic atrophic gastritis and bone mineral density among a large sample of women >40 years of age in Korea. Methods: Data from 8,748 women >40 years of age who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy and bone densitometry were analyzed. Chronic atrophic gastritis was diagnosed using esophagogastroduodenoscopy. Bone mineral density of the lumbar vertebrae (L), femur neck, and femur total, measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, were the primary outcome variables. Low bone mineral density, which could be diagnosed as osteoporosis or osteopenia, was defined and analyzed as a secondary outcome. Linear regression was used to calculate adjusted mean values of bone mineral density. The association between low bone mineral density and chronic atrophic gastritis was analyzed using multiple logistic regression. Results: The adjusted mean bone mineral density for L1–L4 was 1.063±0.003, femur neck (0.826±0.002), and femur total (0.890±0.002) were significantly lower in patients with chronic atrophic gastritis than others (1.073±0.002, 0.836±0.001, 0.898±0.002, respectively; all P<0.01). Women with chronic atrophic gastritis exhibited an increased likelihood for osteopenia or osteoporosis, even after adjusting for age and other confounding factors (odds ratio, 1.25; 95% confidence interval, 1.13–1.40; P<0.01). However, subgroup analysis revealed statistical significance only in postmenopausal women (odds ratio, 1.27; P<0.001). Conclusion Chronic atrophic gastritis was associated with lower bone mineral density and a higher risk for osteopenia or osteoporosis among postmenopausal women.

Objectives: Aquatic therapy is a significant intervention method for both patients and healthy individuals. However, in clinical practice, quantitative measurements are rarely applied in aquatic therapy due to the disadvantages of submerging expensive instruments in water. In this study, we used readily available smartphones and armbands to measure leg segments and joint angles during aquatic gait and evaluated the reliability of these measurements. Methods: Waterproof smartphones were strapped to the trunk, thighs, and shanks of 19 healthy young adults using armbands. The angles of the trunk, thigh, and shank segments were measured during aquatic gait. The measurements were repeated 1 day later. The data were analyzed to obtain the angles of the hip and knee joints. Results: Measurement repeatability, calculated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), was the highest for the shank segment range of motion (ROM) (first 46.79° ± 5.50°, second 50.12° ± 9.98°, ICC = 0.78). There was high agreement in trunk segment ROM (first 6.36° ± 1.42°, second 4.29° ± 1.83°, ICC = 0.73), thigh segment ROM (first 33.49° ± 5.18°, second 37.31° ± 8.70°, ICC = 0.62), and knee joint ROM (first 52.43° ± 11.26°, second 62.19° ± 16.65°, ICC = 0.68) and fair agreement in hip joint ROM (first 34.60°±4.71°, second 37.80° ± 7.84°, ICC = 0.59). Conclusions Smartphones can be used to reliably measure leg segments and joint angles during aquatic gait, providing a simpler method for obtaining these measurements and enabling the wider use of aquatic motion analysis in clinical practice and research.

In this study, the Search Your Mind (S.Y.M., 心) project aimed to collect prospective digital phenotypic data centered on mood and anxiety symptoms across psychiatric disorders through a smartphone application (app) platform while using both centralized and decentralized research designs: the centralized research design is a hybrid of a general prospective observational study and a digital platform-based study, and it includes face-to-face research such as informed written consent, clinical evaluation, and blood sampling. It also includes digital phenotypic assessment through an application-based platform using wearable devices. Meanwhile, the decentralized research design is a non-face-to-face study in which anonymous participants agree to electronic informed consent forms on the app. It also exclusively uses an application-based platform to acquire individualized digital phenotypic data. We expect to collect clinical, biological, and digital phenotypic data centered on mood and anxiety symptoms, and we propose a possible model of centralized and decentralized research design.

Objective: Among various causes of insomnia, stress is the most common and representative cause. Insomnia is also known to negatively affect the quality of life (QoL). The objective of this study was to explore the effect of stress on QoL and the mediating role of insomnia symptoms in the relationship between stress and QoL. Methods: In this study, the mediating effect of insomnia symptoms on the relationship between stress and QoL was analyzed by enrolling 3,714 participants from the Ansung and Ansan cohorts of the Korea Association Resource project from 2001 to 2004. These cohort participants were asked about how much they felt stressed during their everyday life. Insomnia symptoms were evaluated by asking participants whether they had trouble sleeping such as difficulty in falling asleep, disrupted sleep, and early morning awakening due to the lack of a validated questionnaire for this cohort. QoL was evaluated using the World Health Organization QoL Scale Brief Version. Results: In total, stress was positively associated with insomnia symptoms, which in turn predicted QoL. The same result could be derived from subgroup analysis according to sex, and it was confirmed that insomnia symptoms acted as a mediating factor more significantly in female than in male. Conclusion In this study, insomnia symptoms were confirmed to act as a significant mediating factor between stress and QoL, suggesting that insomnia symptoms should be actively identified and controlled to alleviate the negative effect of stress on QoL in clinical practice.