BACKGROUND: A kids café is a popular indoor playground in Korea that combines a playground for young children and a café for their caregivers. There have been no national reports about kids café-related injuries in Korea. This study investigated kids café-related injuries in Korea registered in a multicenter injury surveillance database and analyzed the risk factors for significant kids café-related injuries.METHODS: A multicenter cross-sectional study was performed using the Emergency Department-based Injury In-depth Surveillance registry in Korea between 2011 and 2016. Significant injury was defined as an injury requiring hospitalization or surgery. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to obtain the adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for factors associated with significant kids café-related injuries.RESULTS: Among 1,537,617 injured patients, we extracted 891 patients who were injured in kids cafés. Of these, 46 (5.2%) were admitted, and 39 (4.4%) underwent surgery. The most common injured anatomical site, injury type, and mechanism were lower extremity (28.2%), superficial injury (27.2%), and slip (27.1%), respectively. Among injury-inducing factors, significant injuries were most commonly caused by a trampoline (28.1%), and rock climbing equipment was the only risk factor in a kids café that led to significant injury after adjusting for age, sex, injury mechanism, and injured anatomical sites (aOR, 14.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.51–147.72).CONCLUSION: The rock climbing equipment in a kids café can cause serious injury to children. Establishing safety regulations for rock climbing equipment in kids cafés may have the greatest impact in reducing significant injuries requiring hospitalization or surgery.
Caregivers ; Child ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Emergencies ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Lower Extremity ; Odds Ratio ; Play and Playthings ; Risk Factors ; Social Control, Formal ; Wounds and Injuries

One person dies every six seconds from a smoking-related disease and this problem is likely to worsen. While many people try to quit smoking on their own or with using medicinal products, many of them fail. There is an ongoing debate within the public health community about e-cigarettes on whether they have a potential role in smoking cessation, whether their use can reduce harm for individual users, whether the widespread use of these devices has the potential to reduce or increase population-level harm, and how best to regulate e-cigarette use to minimize both individual and population-level harm. Although the long-term effects of e-cigarette use among smokers and non-smokers are not known, nicotine aerosol produced from a solution, rather than from burning tobacco, releases fewer harmful substances than cigarette smoke does. Some experts advocate wider availability and softer regulations regarding e-cigarette use and perceive them as having the potential to help smokers quit or switch to a harm-reducing means of consuming nicotine. Based on scientific evidence on e-cigarettes, this article explores its pros and cons to public health in order to guide practice, policy, and regulation through reviews of debate articles. ‘Quit or die’ is no longer the only option for those who cannot quit. Safer nicotine products offer another way. There is substantial international and independent evidence that these products are safer than cigarettes.
Burns ; Electronic Cigarettes ; Harm Reduction ; Humans ; Nicotine ; Public Health ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Smoking Cessation ; Social Control, Formal ; Tobacco ; Tobacco Products

PURPOSE: This study aimed to identify the degree of accident prevention behavior, self-esteem, self-regulation ability, and social support among middle-school students, and investigate factors influencing their practice of accident prevention behaviors.METHODS: The participants were 174 students from two middle schools located in J city. Data were collected from December 28, 2017 to February 9, 2018 using self-reported questionnaires.RESULTS: The mean score were 3.08±0.37 of 4 for practice of accident prevention behaviors, 3.07±0.57 of 4 for self-esteem, 3.69±0.48 of 5 for self-regulation ability, and 3.38±0.75 of 5 for social support. Positive correlations were found among self-regulation ability, self-esteem, social support, and practice of accident prevention behaviors. The factors influencing the practice of accident prevention behaviors were personality (being ‘haste’) (β=−.20, p=.003), self- regulation ability (β=.48, p<.001), and social support (β=.23, p<.001). These factors explained 39.0% of the variance in practice of accident prevention behaviors.CONCLUSION: It was found that the middle-school students engaged in prevention behavior to an extent that was insufficient to prevent accidents. Therefore, it is necessary to develop intervention strategies to improve the practice of accident prevention behavior among middle-school students, considering self-regulation ability, social support, and personality, which affect the practice of accident prevention behaviors.
Accident Prevention ; Humans ; Self Concept ; Self-Control ; Social Control, Formal

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation between a flexible parental visiting environment and parental stress in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs).METHODS: The study participants included 60 parents of premature infants in NICUs. Structured questionnaires and interviews, as well as observations by researchers using a caregiving behavior checklist, were used to measure the flexibility of the parental visiting environment and parents' stress levels. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected concurrently and were initially analyzed as separate data sets. Data collection extended from March 11, 2018 to June 30. 2018 and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation coefficients.RESULTS: There was a negative correlation (r=−.30, p=.021) between parental stress and the total number of visits in 7 days. We also found that the average duration of each visit and the number of caregiving behaviors performed by parents were positively correlated (r=.73, p<.001).CONCLUSION: When designing a flexible visiting environment for parents, parents should be encouraged to visit their babies. By doing so, stress can be reduced both for babies and for parents. Therefore, it is suggested that the related polices and regulations in South Korea should be changed to provide more a flexible visiting environment to promote better parent-child attachment and family adjustment.
Checklist ; Data Collection ; Dataset ; Family Nursing ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Intensive Care Units, Neonatal ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Korea ; Parents ; Pliability ; Social Control, Formal ; Stress, Psychological ; Visitors to Patients

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop a structural model for patient safety management activities and to identify the influencing factors of organizational and individual dimensions that promote patient safety management activities and to suggest effective intervention plans.METHODS: A structured self-report questionnaire was used to measure organizational factor, attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavior control, and patient safety management activities. The questionnaires were distributed to 300 nurses and 275 were included in the analysis. SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 21.0 were used to analyze the model fitness, indirect effect, and direct effect of the model.RESULTS: The hypothetical model for patient safety management activities was appropriate. Among the 8 pathways, 6 direct pathways were significant. Organizational factor affected individual attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control. Perceived behavior control, and subjective norm affected behavioral intention. Behavioral intention affected patient safety management activities. Perceived behavior control did not affect patient safety management activities.CONCLUSION: Organizations and individuals must change together to promote patient safety management activities. The organization should establish practical education and training, systems and regulations. Individuals should increase behavioral intention by strengthening perceived behavioral control and subjective norm.
Behavior Control ; Education ; Humans ; Intention ; Models, Structural ; Nurse Clinicians ; Patient Safety ; Safety Management ; Social Control, Formal

OBJECTIVE: The act on decisions on life-sustaining treatment, the well-dying law (WDL), has been implemented in Korea since February of 2018 so that a patient may die with dignity in his or her death bed. On the other hand, there has been an increase in in-hospital cardiac arrest patients, resulting in poor outcomes due to strict regulations of withdrawal of life support. This study examined the survival of in-hospital cardiac arrest patients before and after implementation of the WDL. METHODS: The in-hospital cardiac arrest data registry from the authors' in-hospital cardiac arrest committee and electronic medical records were reviewed retrospectively. The baseline characteristics, cardiac arrest variables, and cardiac arrest outcomes were compared before and after implementation of the WDL. Multivariate logistic regression was conducted to analyze the association of the implementation of the WDL and return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) of in-hospital cardiac arrest patients. RESULTS: This study analyzed 183 patients before and 346 patients after the implementation of the WDL. The ROSC (115 [62.8%] vs. 158 [45.7%]), 24-hour survival (53 [29.0%] vs. 60 [17.3%]), and survival discharge (25 [13.7%] vs. 29 [8.4%]) were higher in the before period than in the after period. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the WDL was associated with a lower ROSC (odds ratio [OR], 0.56; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.37–0.85; P<0.01) and lower survival at 24 hours (OR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.31–0.93; P=0.03), but not a lower survival discharge (OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.39–1.83; P=0.67). CONCLUSION: The implementation of the WDL has been associated with a lower ROSC and lower survival at 24 hours in in-hospital cardiac arrest patients.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation ; Electronic Health Records ; Hand ; Heart Arrest ; Humans ; Jurisprudence ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Resuscitation ; Retrospective Studies ; Social Control, Formal

BACKGROUND: Although the importance of pharmaceutical care service has been growing to meet the needs of customers with the improvement of clinical and humanistic outcomes, there was not a systematic strategy to promote research in Korea. The aim of this study was to suggest the core agendas for pharmaceutical care services research and development (R&D) considering priorities. METHODS: Based on desk researches, we developed R&D agendas for the needs of improving pharmaceutical care services in the area of institution, community, and public health. To determine the priority of agendas in developing pharmaceutical care service, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) analysis was performed by the 14 experts. Criteria and subcriteria were assessed for significance by pairwise comparisons. Then, agendas were evaluated for importance according to each subcriteria, and rank ordered considering the weight calculated by multiplying the importance scores of the criteria and the subcriteria. RESULTS: We derived 25 agendas including 13 for institutional pharmaceutical care service, 8 for community pharmaceutical care service, and 4 for public-health related pharmaceutical care service. AHP model was constructed based on 4 criteria and 8 subcriteria by a hierarchical structure. From the AHP survey, the ‘Development of pharmaceutical care service for metabolic and chronic disease’ agenda accounted for the highest priority. CONCLUSION: We have developed the R&D agendas of the pharmaceutical care service which should be promoted. The results should be utilized by the government to nationally support the development of the standards and relevant regulations related to pharmaceutical care services in Korea.
Korea ; Pharmaceutical Services ; Public Health ; Social Control, Formal

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although poor hearing outcomes have been associated with acute noise-induced hearing loss (ANIHL), only limited studies exist on this issue. This study evaluated the prognosis of ANIHL in comparison to idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) and investigated the types of noise causing these disorders. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss due to noise exposure were included in the ANIHL group if the threshold shift was more than 30 dB in three or more consecutive frequencies within the study period (from January 2010 to December 2016). The ANIHL group included 19 patients. As a matched-control group, treated patients with ISSNHL (n=95) were selected as a way of controlling the known prognostic factors that were evenly distributed between groups. Selected prognostic variables used for matching included age, sex, the degree of initial hearing loss, the number of days before the start of treatment, and treatment method. RESULTS: The overall hearing recovery rate of ANIHL was 11% and that of the control group was 80% (p<0.001). Noise exposure in military service (37%) and leisure activities (37%) was the most prominent cause of ANIHL. CONCLUSION: The hearing outcome of ANIHL was worse than that of ISSNHL. It is thus necessary to establish national guidelines for environmental noise regulations and to raise awareness of hazardous noise exposure.
Hearing Loss ; Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; Hearing Loss, Sudden ; Hearing ; Humans ; Leisure Activities ; Methods ; Military Personnel ; Noise ; Prognosis ; Social Control, Formal

BACKGROUND: Increasing workplace health-care perception has become a major issue in the world. Most of the health-related problems are faced because of the lack of health management instruments. The level of health care can be improved through workplace health well-being regulations. The aim of the present study is to formulate a conceptual model of physical checkup. METHODS: This study applied conceptual theories and figures and used secondary data from articles and relevant websites for evaluating the validity of the study. RESULTS: Annual health checkup increases health-care awareness perception of states, organizations, employees, and their families and manages the annual health record of employees, organizations, and states. CONCLUSIONS: Health care and awareness perception of states, organizations, employees, and families improves with annual health checkup, and annual health checkup also prevents unhealthy acts.
Delivery of Health Care ; Health Status ; Humans ; Social Control, Formal

BACKGROUND: Painters in the automotive sector are routinely exposed to volatile organic solvents, and the levels vary depending on the occupational health and safety controls enforced at the companies. This study investigates the levels of exposure to organic vapors and the existence of controls in the formal economy sector in southern Colombia. METHODS: This is an exploratory study of an observational and descriptive character. An analysis of solvents is conducted via the personal sampling of painters and the analysis of samples using the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 1501 method. The amount of solvents analyzed varied according to the budget allocated by the companies. The person in charge of the occupational safety and health management system was interviewed to learn about the exposure controls implemented at the companies. RESULTS: A medium exposure risk for toluene was found in one company. Another presented medium risk for carbon tetrachloride, xylene, ethylbenzene, and n-butanol. The others showed low risk of exposure and that the controls implemented were not sufficient or efficient. CONCLUSION: These results shed light on the working conditions of these tradespeople. The permissible limits established by Colombian regulations for the evaluated chemical contaminants were not exceeded. However, there were contaminants that exceeded the limits of action. The analysis of findings made it possible to propose improvements in occupational safety and health management systems to allow the optimization of working conditions for painters, prevent the occurrence of occupational diseases, and reduce costs to the country's health system.
1-Butanol ; Carbon Tetrachloride ; Colombia ; Humans ; Methods ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U.S.) ; Occupational Diseases ; Occupational Health ; Social Control, Formal ; Solvents ; Toluene ; Xylenes