The association between celebrity suicide and subsequent increase in suicide rates among the general population has been suggested. Previous studies primarily focused on celebrity suicides in the 2000s. To better understand the association, this study examined the impacts of celebrity suicides on subsequent suicide rates using the data of Korean celebrity suicides between 1990 and 2010. Nine celebrity suicides were selected by an investigation of media reports of suicide deaths published in three major newspapers in Korea between 1990 and 2010. Suicide mortality data were obtained from the National Statistical Office of Korea. Seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average models with intervention analysis were used to test the impacts of celebrity suicides, controlling for seasonality. Six of the 9 celebrity suicides had significant impacts on suicide rates both in the total population and in the same gender- or the same age-subgroups. The incident that occurred in the 1990s had no significant impact on the overall suicide rates, whereas the majority of the incidents in the 2000s had significant influences for 30 or 60 days following each incident. The influence of celebrity suicide was shown to reach its peak following the suicide death of a renowned actress in 2008. The findings may suggest a link between media coverage and the impact of celebrity suicide. Future studies should focus more on the underlying processes and confounding factors that may contribute to the impact of celebrity suicide on subsequent suicide rates.
Adult ; Aged ; *Famous Persons ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Newspapers as Topic ; Republic of Korea ; Suicide/psychology/*statistics & numerical data ; Young Adult

The print media is still one of major sources for health-related information. To shed light on how the media accurately delivers information for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we searched the newspaper articles and analyzed their contents for accuracy in the description of symptoms, causes, and treatment of PTSD. The articles featuring PSTD were searched from the very first available to 2010 at on-line search systems of three major Korean newspapers. A total of 123 articles appeared and the first article appeared in 1984. The number of articles steadily increased till the early 2000s but we found the robust increase in the late 2000s. Among the mentioned symptoms of PTSD: re-experience (39%) was most common, followed by avoidance or numbing (28%) and hyperarousal (22%). Of the 29 articles mentioning treatment of PTSD, 13 mentioned psychotherapy only and 11 mentioned both psychotherapy and medication equally. However, the psychotherapies mentioned were non-specific and only five articles mentioned any empirically supported therapies. The number of articles on PTSD in Korean newspapers has continually increased during the last three decades. However, the quality of information on the treatment of PTSD was questionable.
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; *Information Dissemination ; Newspapers/*statistics & numerical data ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/*epidemiology

OBJECTIVES: The mass media play a crucial role in risk communication regarding climate change. The aim of this study was to investigate the trend in journalistic reports on climate change in the daily newspapers of Korea. METHODS: We selected 9 daily newspapers in Korea, which according to the ABC Association, represented 77% of newspaper circulation, out of a total of 44 Korean daily newspapers. The collected articles were from 2009 to 2011. All of the articles were sorted into the following 8 categories: greenhouse gas, climate change conventions, sea level rise, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change synthesis reports, expected damage and effect, use of fossil fuels, global warming, and mitigation or adaptation. A chi-squared test was done on the articles, which were counted and classified into cause, effect, and measurement of climate change according to the newspaper's majority or minority ownership structure. RESULTS: From the 9 selected newspapers, the number of articles on climate change by month was greatest in December 2009. Generally, the articles vague about climate change (lack of precise data, negative or skeptical tone, and improper use of terminology) were much more common than the articles presenting accurate knowledge. A statistical difference was found based on ownership structure: the majority-owned newspapers addressed the cause of climate change, while the minority-owned newspapers referred more to climate change measurement. CONCLUSIONS: Our investigation revealed that generally Korean daily newspapers did not deliver accurate information about climate change. The coverage of the newspapers showed significant differences according to the ownership structure.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; *Climate Change ; Global Warming ; Greenhouse Effect ; Humans ; Newspapers/*trends ; *Ownership ; Republic of Korea

This paper tried to collect, classify and analyse the discourse about abortion in 1920~1930. In Korea, modern medical abortion operation started in 1920~30s. At that time abortion was prohibited by the Japanese Government-General of Korea, because the Japanese Government-General of Korea needed large population which was used for labor and exploitation. Hence, the Empire of Japan de-penalized Japanese criminal law related to birth control but Korean law was not revised between 1910~1945. Nevertheless, there were quite a few women who wanted abortion when they had children born in sin or they were too poor to raise their children, so they had abortion secretly. At that time the women generally had abortion through toxic drugs or foods and violence (dropping from a high place or beating their stomach). But high class women did it by medical operation. In 1920s, there was few Korean (modern) medical doctors who could operate for abortion, instead Japanese immigrant medical doctors did it--as the newspaper of that time showed(there were many pieces of news that Japanese doctor who helped abortion was arrested by the police). As time went by Korean doctors got their say about the technique and various knowledge of abortion in newspapers, magazines, and academic Journals; this was especially the case starting in 1930. It is worth noting that they were sometimes arrested for illegal abortion operations. Furthermore, from the late 1920s the insist that abortion should be permitted for women and poor people, appeared. This insist was affected by Japan, the Soviet Union and other countries which was generous with abortion.
Abortion, Criminal ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Child ; Contraception ; Criminal Law ; Diphtheria Toxoid ; Emigrants and Immigrants ; Female ; Haemophilus Vaccines ; Humans ; Hypogonadism ; Japan ; Jurisprudence ; Korea ; Mitochondrial Diseases ; Newspapers ; Ophthalmoplegia ; Periodicals as Topic ; USSR ; Vaccines, Conjugate ; Violence

Heo Yongsuk (1897-1975) was the second female medical doctor to study Western medicine in a foreign country, the second female journalist, and the one of the representative 'new modern woman' in Korea. She is unfamiliar, however, to Korean people. Few historians of medicine and few researchers of the history of literature recall her for her own achievements, instead remembering her as a wife who saved her husband, Yi Gwangsu (1892~1950), the great novelist, from his dreadful tuberculosis. Removing her from the shadow of Yi Gwangsu, this paper tries to uncover her life and her contribution to Korean society during the Japanese colonial period. As a pioneer, she went to Japan to study medicine in 1914 for the purpose of breaking down the long-established custom of female patients, who abhorred showing their bodies to male doctors. After acquiring her license, she opened in Korea for women and children, though this clinic had a brief span of only two years owing to her devotion to caring for her husband as his disease worsened. She became a reporter in place of her husband for about two years. However, with her efforts, she gave women a considerable amount of useful medical information. She wrote many enlightening articles to awaken Korean women's 'nationalistic spirit' against Japanese colonial oppression. She is worthy of a favorable evaluation as the second female reporter and the first who specialized in medicine in the history of newspapers in Korea. As a 'new modern woman,' she presented her own thinking about the best role model for married females, by saying, "Be good mother and good wife in the family household, it is the best way to strengthen Korean race." When she became pregnant, she resigned her job as a reporter. She exerted herself by bringing up her children and nursing her sick husband, gaining fame as the representative of the conservative women's movement. Medical knowledge was always behind her various activities. She can be evaluated successfully as a medical doctor; after studying newly developed medical theory and skills for about two years in Japan, she established first the specialized hospital for delivery in 1937 and had great success. As a successful female doctor, she projected a positive image of a new modern woman who was loyal to her family household, unlike many famous modern females who pursued women's liberation during the Japanese colonial period.
Achievement ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Child ; Family Characteristics ; Female ; General Practitioners ; Humans ; Hypogonadism ; Japan ; Korea ; Licensure ; Male ; Mitochondrial Diseases ; Mothers ; Newspapers ; Ophthalmoplegia ; Spouses ; Thinking ; Tuberculosis ; Women's Rights

This paper deals with social history of carbon monoxide poisoning in Korea in 1960s. From the mid 1950s, Korean society began to use coal briquettes (Yeontan) for fuel for cooking and heating in the winter, especially in urban area. As the use of coal briquettes replaced fire woods which had been used as fuel in traditional Korean society for centuries, incidence and deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning increased dramatically during the 1960s. The coal briquettes were used to heat the living rooms through "Ondol" arrangement. The coal briquettes at the kitchen place make the heated air and smoke, which pass through the horizontal space under a stone floor of the room and escape through chimney at the opposite site of the kitchen. This Ondol system could make leakage of carbon monoxide easily and thereby kill people who sleep in the room. In the 1960s, carbon monoxide poisoning by briquettes gas was a serious health problem to kill more people than all of the infectious diseases. It was a unique and very serious health hazard in 1960s Korea. No other place in the world has experienced such a high mortality and incidence from the briquettes gas as in Korea. Employing newspaper articles and epidemiological papers, this paper analyzes how the Korean society experienced and perceived carbon monoxide poisoning (CO poisoning) in 1960s. It also follows how the perception changed over time and how the changes affected social responses to CO poisoning. In the early 1960s, the CO poisoning was perceived as an accident due to carelessness of the people who did not fix the leakages of the Ondol system or that of the people who built the Ondol improperly. Mostly CO poisoning was the casualty caused by carelessness and ignorance of the poor class. The prevention measure was mainly education which would enlighten the ignorant so that they care about CO poisoning and their lives. It was the victims who were to be blamed, for they caused the their poisoning with their own carelessness. Since CO poisoning was perceived as preventable with a good care, people were optimistic about the prevention of the CO poisoning. In the late 1960s, however, the perception of CO poisoning changed as the epidemiological studies demonstrated meteorological, social, economical, and cultural factors were related to the poisoning. As CO poisoning was regarded not as an accident due to carelessness but as a social disease, the Korean government began to take various measures for its control including surveillance and punishment, education and certification of those who made Ondol, and funding research for detoxification of the poisoning. In spite of the state's intervention, the number of CO poisoning cases drastically increased every year. At the end of 1960s, in contrast to the optimism of the early 1960s, the outlook of CO poisoning control was grim. It was merely a beginning of huge epidemic of CO poisoning in 1970s and 1980s in Korea.
Carbon ; Carbon Monoxide ; Carbon Monoxide Poisoning ; Certification ; Coal ; Communicable Diseases ; Cooking ; Financial Management ; Fires ; Floors and Floorcoverings ; Heating ; Hot Temperature ; Hypogonadism ; Incidence ; Korea ; Mitochondrial Diseases ; Newspapers ; Ophthalmoplegia ; Punishment ; Smoke ; United Nations ; Wood

OBJECTIVES: This study investigates whether Korean news media pay more attention to emerging diseases than chronic ones, and whether they closely follow the changes in the magnitude of health risks of chronic or well-known diseases. These two features are expected to appear as the result of surveillance function served by health journalism that should be the main source of the public's risk perception. METHODS: The number of stories published in 10 newspapers containing the words, 'SARS,' 'Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy,' 'Avian Influenza,' and 'Influenza A virus' was compared with the number of stories on chronic or well-known diseases. We also counted the annual number of stories, published in a 12-year period, containing following terms: 'cancer,' 'diabetes,' 'hypertension,' 'pneumonia,' and 'tuberculosis.' The number was compared with the actual mortality of each disease. RESULTS: Although cancer represented the primary cause of mortality, the newspapers covered key emerging diseases more than cancer or other well-known diseases. Also, media coverage of 'pneumonia' and 'tuberculosis' did not vary in accordance with changes in the mortality of each disease. However, the news media coverage did vary in accordance with the mortality of 'cancer,' 'diabetes,' and 'hypertension.' CONCLUSIONS: Korean health journalism was found to have both strong and weak points. The news media reduced the relative level of attention given to pneumonia and tuberculosis. Bearing in mind the major influence of news coverage on risk perception, health professionals need to be more proactive about helping to improve Korean health journalism.
*Access to Information ; Bibliometrics ; *Chronic Disease ; *Disease Outbreaks ; Humans ; *Journalism, Medical ; Newspapers ; Population Surveillance ; Public Health ; Republic of Korea ; *Risk Assessment

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop an environmental education program using newspaper articles in education (NIE) and to evaluate changes in concern and practice for environmental protection after NIE. METHODS: The design was a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The participants were university students in nursing, of which 31 were assigned to the experimental group and 43 to the control group. The education was carried out for 2 hr, once a week for 7 weeks. Data were analyzed with SPSS WIN 14 program, and included chi-square test, independent t-test, and repeated measure ANOVA. RESULTS: NIE showed significant differences in the changes of attitude toward environment (F=4.461, p=.036). CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that this NIE in environmental education was effective in changing students' attitudes toward the environment. Therefore this NIE is recommended for inclusion in education for university students in nursing.
Adult ; Attitude ; Data Interpretation, Statistical ; Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate ; *Environmental Pollution ; Humans ; *Newspapers ; Students, Nursing/psychology

BACKGROUND: There has been increasing concern about dermatological health information among the general population. Despite the substantial amount of dermatological articles in the mass media, little is known about their credibility. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the credibility of dermatological articles in free newspapers, one of the recently popular mass media. METHODS: Articles including dermatological information were selected from 5 free newspapers from July 2006 to February 2007. They were classified according to theme and type of consultant and were evaluated for their credibility. RESULTS: A total of 361 articles were identified. Articles about self skin care (26.6%) were most frequent, followed by cosmetic therapy (18.7%), acne (17.1%), hair (16.5%) and atopic dermatitis (6.3%). As the consultants, dermatologists (38.0%) were most common, followed by oriental medical doctors (21.5%), non-medical consultants doctors (13.3%) and other medical specialists (13.0%). There were also articles without consultant input (14.6%). Credibility assessment revealed that 213 (67.4%) articles were credible, but 91 (28.8%) were incredible and 12 (3.8%) could not be evaluated based on the dermatological references. While most of the information from dermatologists and other medical specialists were credible, those from the other types of consultants or without consultant input showed a much higher proportion of incredible information. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that there are many incredible dermatological articles in free newspapers, most of which are consulted from those other than dermatologists or other medical specialists. Therefore we suggest that dermatologists need to increase their public health role in the mass media.
Acne Vulgaris ; Consultants ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Hair ; Humans ; Mass Media ; Newspapers* ; Public Health ; Skin Care ; Specialization

PURPOSE: This study aimed to compare differences on sexual satisfaction between non-smokers and smokers of Korean adult males. METHOD: The subjects of this study were 304 current smokers and 331 current non-smokers(stop smokers, never smokers) (58.0%). Because of the nature of the study, the participants were recruited through a home page advertisement of a brand newspaper company in Korea, and the survey was done through Internet system. The tool to measure participant's sexual satisfaction was adopted from the Arizona Sexual Experience Scale-Male. RESULT: Participant's age ranged from 20 to 49, mostly in their 30s-40s(96.1%). They were smoking average of 15 cigarettes per day. There were no significant difference on sexual satisfaction between current smokers and non- smokers(t=-.55, p>.05). However, there were significant difference on sexual satisfaction between ever smokers(n=481) and never smokers(n=154) (t=2.10, p<.05). There were significant differences an erectile and orgasm satisfaction according to number of cigarettes they smoked per day. 54.5% smokers who said that they have difficulty in keeping erectile state considered on smoking cessation within 30 days whereas 24.2% in those who said that keeping erectile state was easy. CONCLUSION: Informing about the high risk of sexual dysfunction with cigarette smoking should become a important part of smoking cessation education and for smoking adolescents.
Adolescent ; Adult* ; Arizona ; Education ; Humans ; Internet ; Korea ; Male* ; Newspapers ; Orgasm ; Periodicals ; Smoke* ; Smoking Cessation ; Smoking* ; Tobacco Products