Objectives: Presenteeism is known to be a much more economically damaging social cost than disease rest while going to work despite physical pain. Since COVID-19, social discussions on the sickness benefit have been taking place as a countermeasure against presenteeism, and in particular, farmers and fishermen do not have an institutional mechanism for livelihood support when a disease other than work occurs. This study attempted to examine the relationship between agricultural, fishing, and forestry workers and presenteeism using the 6th Korean Work Conditions Survey. Methods: From October 2020 to January 2021, data from the 6th working conditions survey conducted on 17 cities and provinces in Korea were used, and a total of 34,981 people were studied. Control variables were gender, age, self-health assessment, education level, night work, shift work, monthly income, occupation, working hours per week, and employment status. Results: As a result of the analysis, farmers and fishermen showed the characteristics of the self-employed and the elderly, and as a result of the regression analysis, when farmers and fishermen analyzed the relationship with presenteeism tendency compared to other industry workers, farmers and fishermen increased by 23% compared to other industry groups. Conclusion This study is significant in that it has representation by utilizing the 6th working conditions survey and objectively suggests the need for a sickness benefit for farmers and fishermen who may be overlooked in the sickness benefit.

Objectives: Presenteeism is known to be a much more economically damaging social cost than disease rest while going to work despite physical pain. Since COVID-19, social discussions on the sickness benefit have been taking place as a countermeasure against presenteeism, and in particular, farmers and fishermen do not have an institutional mechanism for livelihood support when a disease other than work occurs. This study attempted to examine the relationship between agricultural, fishing, and forestry workers and presenteeism using the 6th Korean Work Conditions Survey. Methods: From October 2020 to January 2021, data from the 6th working conditions survey conducted on 17 cities and provinces in Korea were used, and a total of 34,981 people were studied. Control variables were gender, age, self-health assessment, education level, night work, shift work, monthly income, occupation, working hours per week, and employment status. Results: As a result of the analysis, farmers and fishermen showed the characteristics of the self-employed and the elderly, and as a result of the regression analysis, when farmers and fishermen analyzed the relationship with presenteeism tendency compared to other industry workers, farmers and fishermen increased by 23% compared to other industry groups. Conclusion This study is significant in that it has representation by utilizing the 6th working conditions survey and objectively suggests the need for a sickness benefit for farmers and fishermen who may be overlooked in the sickness benefit.

Objectives: Presenteeism is known to be a much more economically damaging social cost than disease rest while going to work despite physical pain. Since COVID-19, social discussions on the sickness benefit have been taking place as a countermeasure against presenteeism, and in particular, farmers and fishermen do not have an institutional mechanism for livelihood support when a disease other than work occurs. This study attempted to examine the relationship between agricultural, fishing, and forestry workers and presenteeism using the 6th Korean Work Conditions Survey. Methods: From October 2020 to January 2021, data from the 6th working conditions survey conducted on 17 cities and provinces in Korea were used, and a total of 34,981 people were studied. Control variables were gender, age, self-health assessment, education level, night work, shift work, monthly income, occupation, working hours per week, and employment status. Results: As a result of the analysis, farmers and fishermen showed the characteristics of the self-employed and the elderly, and as a result of the regression analysis, when farmers and fishermen analyzed the relationship with presenteeism tendency compared to other industry workers, farmers and fishermen increased by 23% compared to other industry groups. Conclusion This study is significant in that it has representation by utilizing the 6th working conditions survey and objectively suggests the need for a sickness benefit for farmers and fishermen who may be overlooked in the sickness benefit.

Whether advanced age is associated with poor outcomes of elderly patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) requiring continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is controversial. This study aimed to evaluate age effect and predictors for mortality in elderly AKI patients undergoing CRRT. Methods: Data of 480 elderly AKI patients who underwent CRRT were retrospectively analyzed. Subjects were stratified into two groups according to age: younger-old (age, 65–74 years; n = 205) and older-old (age, ≥75 years; n = 275). Predictors for 28-day and 90-day mortality and age effects were analyzed using multivariable Cox regression analysis and propensity score matching. Results: Urine output at the start of CRRT (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.99; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.99–1.00; p = 0.04), operation (aHR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.30–0.93; p = 0.03), and use of an intra-aortic balloon pump (aHR, 3.60; 95% CI, 1.18–10.96; p = 0.02) were predictors for 28-day mortality. Ischemic heart disease (aHR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.02–2.98; p = 0.04) and use of a ventilator (aHR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.36–0.89; p = 0.01) were predictors for 90-day mortality. The older-old group did not exhibit a higher risk for 28- day or 90-day mortality than the younger-old group in multivariable or propensity score-matched models. Conclusion: Advanced age was not a risk factor for mortality among elderly AKI patients undergoing CRRT, suggesting that advanced age should not be considered for therapeutic decisions in critically ill elderly patients with AKI requiring CRRT.

Background: The clinical significance of low-level donor-specific anti-HLA antibody (low-DSA) remains controversial. We investigated the impact of low-DSA on posttransplant clinical outcomes in kidney transplant (KT) recipients. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 1,027 KT recipients, namely, 629 living donor KT (LDKT) recipients and 398 deceased donor KT (DDKT) recipients, in Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital (Seoul, Korea) between 2010 and 2018. Low-DSA was defined as a positive anti-HLA-DSA result in the Luminex single antigen assay (LABScreen single antigen HLA class I - combi and class II - group 1 kits; One Lambda, Canoga Park, CA, USA) but a negative result in a crossmatch test. We compared the incidence of biopsy-proven allograft rejection (BPAR), changes in allograft function, allograft survival, patient survival, and posttransplant infections between subgroups according to pretransplant low-DSA. Results: The incidence of overall BPAR and T cell-mediated rejection did not differ between the subgroups. However, antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) developed more frequently in patients with low-DSA than in those without low-DSA in the total cohort and the LDKT and DDKT subgroups. In multivariate analysis, low-DSA was identified as a risk factor for ABMR development. Its impact was more pronounced in DDKT (odds ratio [OR]: 9.60, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.79–51.56) than in LDKT (OR: 3.76, 95% CI: 0.99–14.26) recipients. There were no significant differences in other outcomes according to pretransplant low-DSA. Conclusions Pretransplant low-DSA has a significant impact on the development of ABMR, and more so in DDKT recipients than in LDKT recipients, but not on long-term outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Dietary patterns have a significant impact on prognosis, recurrence, and survival in patients with cancer. This study investigated dietary patterns using the Diet Quality Index-International (DQI-I) in cancer survivors compared to those in the general population without cancer.METHODS: Using the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey VI data, cancer survivors were defined as those diagnosed with cancer more than 1 year before the survey. The associations between possible predictors and the DQI-I score were examined using t-tests and analysis of variance. Adjusted multiple linear regression analysis was performed to compare the differences in DQI-I scores between cancer survivors and controls.RESULTS: In univariate analysis of 9,351 subjects (433 cancer survivors and 8,918 controls), age, sex, body mass index, marital status, education level, income, residential area, smoking status, and alcohol consumption were associated with the DQI-I score (each P-value < 0.05). After adjustment, cancer survivors showed higher DQI-I scores than the controls (67.40±8.90 vs. 65.50±9.40, P-value=0.007). In subgroup analysis, cancer survivors within 5 years after cancer diagnosis showed higher DQI-I scores than the controls (68.70±8.30 vs. 65.50±9.40, P-value=0.034), whereas those who survived beyond 5 years post-diagnosis did not show significant differences from the controls (66.70±9.20 vs. 65.50±9.40, P-value=0.063).CONCLUSION: Cancer survivors within 5 years of cancer diagnosis showed better dietary patterns than those in the general population. However, the differences were not observed after 5 years post-diagnosis. To reduce the risks of second primary cancer and mortality, targeted inventions for dietary habits are necessary for long-term survivors of cancer.
Alcohol Drinking ; Body Mass Index ; Diagnosis ; Diet ; Education ; Food Habits ; Humans ; Inventions ; Korea ; Linear Models ; Marital Status ; Mortality ; Neoplasms, Second Primary ; Nutrition Surveys ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Survivors

A 58-year-old man had been diagnosed with non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCMP) according to echocardiography findings 16 years ago. Echocardiography showed ischemic cardiomyopathy (CMP)-like features with decreased systolic function but a non-dilated chamber. Coronary angiography was performed but showed a normal coronary artery. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed multifocal transmural and subepicardial delayed-enhancing areas at the anteroseptal, septal, and inferoseptal left ventricular (LV) wall, and wall thinning and decreased motion of the anteroseptal LV wall. Findings of ischemic CMP-like features by echocardiography suggested microvascular dysfunction. This late stage of HCMP carries a high risk of sudden death. Cardiac MRI evaluation may be necessary in cases of ischemic CMP-like features in HCMP. In this case, the diagnosis of end-stage HCMP with microvascular dysfunction was confirmed by using cardiac MRI after a follow-up period of more than 16 years.
Cardiomyopathies ; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic* ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Vessels ; Death, Sudden ; Diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Middle Aged

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Intestinal involvement with bleeding and perforation is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with Behcet's disease (BD); however, the clinical course of intestinal BD has not been defined. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical course of intestinal BD based on the characteristics of ulcers visualized during colonoscopy. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and colonoscopic findings of 41 patients with intestinal BD. All patients were classified into subgroups according to ulcer depth, size, and number, and we analyzed the clinical manifestations, subset type of BD, medications, surgical procedures, and relapse rate among the subgroups. RESULTS: The median age at the time of diagnosis was 38 years (range, 18-74 years); 25 patients were females (M:F=1:1.56). Abdominal pain (n=40), diarrhea (n=27), and RLQ tenderness (n=21) were common symptoms. The number of complete, incomplete, and suspected types was 3, 17, and 21, respectively. In an analysis according to ulcer depth, the rate of steroid use and intestinal surgeries was more frequent in the deep ulcer group compared with the aphthous and shallow ulcer groups (50.0% vs. 0% vs. 17.6%; P=0.012; 42.9% vs. 0% vs. 23.5%: P=0.013) The rate of steroid use and relapse tended to be higher as the size of the ulcer increased; however, there was no difference in the rates of steroid use, surgeries, and relapse based on the number of intestinal ulcers. CONCLUSIONS: The prognosis was worse in patients with intestinal BD who have deeper and larger ulcers. Therefore, we suggest that such patients need to be treated aggressively.
Abdominal Pain ; Colonoscopy ; Diarrhea ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Ulcer

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Intestinal involvement with bleeding and perforation is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with Behcet's disease (BD); however, the clinical course of intestinal BD has not been defined. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical course of intestinal BD based on the characteristics of ulcers visualized during colonoscopy. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and colonoscopic findings of 41 patients with intestinal BD. All patients were classified into subgroups according to ulcer depth, size, and number, and we analyzed the clinical manifestations, subset type of BD, medications, surgical procedures, and relapse rate among the subgroups. RESULTS: The median age at the time of diagnosis was 38 years (range, 18-74 years); 25 patients were females (M:F=1:1.56). Abdominal pain (n=40), diarrhea (n=27), and RLQ tenderness (n=21) were common symptoms. The number of complete, incomplete, and suspected types was 3, 17, and 21, respectively. In an analysis according to ulcer depth, the rate of steroid use and intestinal surgeries was more frequent in the deep ulcer group compared with the aphthous and shallow ulcer groups (50.0% vs. 0% vs. 17.6%; P=0.012; 42.9% vs. 0% vs. 23.5%: P=0.013) The rate of steroid use and relapse tended to be higher as the size of the ulcer increased; however, there was no difference in the rates of steroid use, surgeries, and relapse based on the number of intestinal ulcers. CONCLUSIONS: The prognosis was worse in patients with intestinal BD who have deeper and larger ulcers. Therefore, we suggest that such patients need to be treated aggressively.
Abdominal Pain ; Colonoscopy ; Diarrhea ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Ulcer