Purpose: We aimed to derive insights by analyzing the results of a patient safety awareness survey conducted by the Regional Patient Safety Center of the Korean Medical Association. Methods: Survey questions were developed in three domains: sociodemographic characteristics, patient safety awareness, and patient safety education needs. An online anonymous survey targeting Korean physicians was conducted annually from 2021 to 2023. Chi-square tests were used to verify differences in responses by year and sociodemographic characteristics. Results: A total of 774 physicians participated in the survey over the three-year period. Approximately half of the participants were still assessed to have insufficient knowledge about patient safety, and no clear year-over-year improvement was observed. Additionally, while patient safety incidents appeared common, the proportion of respondents who reported incidents remained around 20%. However, participants showed high levels of agreement or engagement in patient participation activities related to patient safety (over 90%), with 60% having previously received patient safety-related education, and nearly 90% expressing willingness to participate in future education. The findings also highlighted a particular urgency in improving patient safety awareness among clinic-based physicians. Conclusion Promoting awareness of patient safety incident reporting methods and encouraging clinic-based physicians to report incidents should be prioritized. The study’s findings will provide a foundation for more effectively fostering physician engagement in patient safety improvement activities.

Purpose: We aimed to derive insights by analyzing the results of a patient safety awareness survey conducted by the Regional Patient Safety Center of the Korean Medical Association. Methods: Survey questions were developed in three domains: sociodemographic characteristics, patient safety awareness, and patient safety education needs. An online anonymous survey targeting Korean physicians was conducted annually from 2021 to 2023. Chi-square tests were used to verify differences in responses by year and sociodemographic characteristics. Results: A total of 774 physicians participated in the survey over the three-year period. Approximately half of the participants were still assessed to have insufficient knowledge about patient safety, and no clear year-over-year improvement was observed. Additionally, while patient safety incidents appeared common, the proportion of respondents who reported incidents remained around 20%. However, participants showed high levels of agreement or engagement in patient participation activities related to patient safety (over 90%), with 60% having previously received patient safety-related education, and nearly 90% expressing willingness to participate in future education. The findings also highlighted a particular urgency in improving patient safety awareness among clinic-based physicians. Conclusion Promoting awareness of patient safety incident reporting methods and encouraging clinic-based physicians to report incidents should be prioritized. The study’s findings will provide a foundation for more effectively fostering physician engagement in patient safety improvement activities.

Purpose: We aimed to derive insights by analyzing the results of a patient safety awareness survey conducted by the Regional Patient Safety Center of the Korean Medical Association. Methods: Survey questions were developed in three domains: sociodemographic characteristics, patient safety awareness, and patient safety education needs. An online anonymous survey targeting Korean physicians was conducted annually from 2021 to 2023. Chi-square tests were used to verify differences in responses by year and sociodemographic characteristics. Results: A total of 774 physicians participated in the survey over the three-year period. Approximately half of the participants were still assessed to have insufficient knowledge about patient safety, and no clear year-over-year improvement was observed. Additionally, while patient safety incidents appeared common, the proportion of respondents who reported incidents remained around 20%. However, participants showed high levels of agreement or engagement in patient participation activities related to patient safety (over 90%), with 60% having previously received patient safety-related education, and nearly 90% expressing willingness to participate in future education. The findings also highlighted a particular urgency in improving patient safety awareness among clinic-based physicians. Conclusion Promoting awareness of patient safety incident reporting methods and encouraging clinic-based physicians to report incidents should be prioritized. The study’s findings will provide a foundation for more effectively fostering physician engagement in patient safety improvement activities.

A standardized protocol for the isolation of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is lacking. Therefore, we established a cfDNA isolation protocol optimized for clinical CSF specimens, integrating acceptable modifications and using artificial CSF generated from remnant CSF spiked with reference cell-free tumor DNA (ctDNA). We compared the isolation yields of in vitro diagnostic (IVD)-certified column-based (CB) and magnetic beadbased (MB) isolation. Furthermore, we modified both methods, including pre- and postelution steps. To confirm ctDNA integrity and quantify the variant allele frequency after isolation, we performed droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) targeting IDH1 R132C in the reference ctDNA. MB isolation had a higher yield than CB isolation (P < 0.0001), and post-isolation vacuum increased the final concentration in both methods, with little effect on cfDNA integrity. Our study provides a protocol to maximize CSF-ctDNA concentrations in IVD testing and future studies.

Background: To precisely build a healthcare delivery system at regional levels, local patients’ healthcare service utilization patterns must be examined. Hence, this study utilized trend analysis of the relevance index of each disease of each essential medical service field at the municipal and provincial levels. Methods: This study analyzed customized databases released by the National Health Insurance Service from 2016–2020. Diseases defined in the Korean National Burden of Disease (KNBD) study were categorized into the following essential medical service fields:trauma care, cardiocerebrovascular, maternal and neonatal, mental health, infection, cancer, older adults’ care and rehabilitation, and others. Relevance index, the percentage of medical service utilization in a region by the residents of that region relative to their total medical service utilization, was examined by region (17 municipal and provincial regions) and disease area. The relevance index was determined based on the number of patients and the total outof-pocket expenses.Result: Eight of the 17 regions showed over a 90.0% relevance index in the infection area. In the cancer area, 14 regions (not including Seoul, Daegu, and Busan) had a relevance index lower than 75.0%. Throughout the analysis period (2016–2020), there were no significant variations in the relevance index. Diseases such as bone and connective tissue cancer (39.0%), neural tube defects (16.7%), and autism (57.1%) had low relevance index in the essential medical service fields. In all 17 regions, the relevance index of inpatients was lower than that of outpatients, and that for out-of-pocket expenses was lower than that based on the number of patients. Conclusion The relevance index of major diseases of each essential medical service field calculated in this study can provide good indicators for monitoring the level of an independent regional healthcare delivery system.

Background: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to restrictions on daily living including social distancing. These restrictions had an impact on the individual's healthy lifestyle and health status. We investigated the associated factors with changes of metabolic abnormalities among general population in COVID-19. Methods: The participants were 43,639 people who received health check-ups twice in 2019 and 2021 during COVID-19 pandemic, at 16 health promotion centers. Metabolic abnormalities were identified according to the third report of the cholesterol education program criteria. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to confirm the factors related to changes of metabolic abnormalities during COVID-19. Results: Metabolic syndrome and metabolic abnormalities increased overall during the COVID-19 pandemic. This increase was mostly appeared in males. The occurrence of metabolic syndrome during COVID-19 was associated with 50s and older age (odds ratio [OR], 1.130; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.019-1.254), attempt to quit smoking (OR, 1.467; 95% CI, 1.171-1.839), start smoking (OR, 1.251; 95% CI, 1.110-1.412), decrease in aerobic exercise (OR, 1.328; 95% CI, 1.162-1.517), and increase in strength exercise (OR, 0.704; 95% CI, 0.592-0.838). Conclusions The metabolic syndrome is closely related to smoking experience and lack of exercise during COVID-19.

Since the emergence of neonatal infant orthodontics for treatments of cleft lip and palate with or without Robin sequence (RS) in Europe in the 1950s, advancements in design and scope of its application have been remarkable. As the first institution to adopt orthodontic airway plate (OAP) treatment in the United States in 2019, we saw a need for innovation of the original design to streamline the most labor-intensive and time-consuming aspects of OAP utilization. A solution is introduced using a systematic split expansion mechanism to re-size the OAP periodically to accommodate the neonate’s maxillary growth. To date, seven RS patients have received this modified treatment protocol at our institution. Each patient completed full treatment using only one OAP. This innovative utilization method is aptly named the split orthodontic airway plate (S-OAP). Details of the S-OAP and its modifications from conventional OAP are reported.

Objectives: We investigated the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on tuberculosis (TB) management in the Republic of Korea (ROK). Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study used nationwide ROK TB notification data (98,346 cases) from 2017 to 2020. The median time from the onset of TB symptoms to treatment initiation and the compliance rates with the required timing for notification and individual case investigations were measured and compared across periods and regions affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. Results: TB diagnosis during the COVID-19 pandemic was delayed. The median time to TB treatment initiation (25 days) in 2020 increased by 3 days compared to that of the previous 3 years (22 days) (p<0.0001). In the outbreak in Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi province during August, the time to TB diagnosis was 4 days longer than in the previous 3 years (p=0.0303). In the outbreak in Daegu and Gyeongbuk province from February to March 2020, the compliance rate with the required timing for individual case investigations was 2.2%p points lower than in other areas in 2020 (p=0.0148). For public health centers, the rate was 13%p lower than in other areas (80.3% vs. 93.3%, p=0.0003). Conclusion TB diagnoses during the COVID-19 pandemic in the ROK were delayed nationwide, especially for patients notified by public-private mix TB control hospitals. TB individual case investigations were delayed in regional COVID-19 outbreak areas (Daegu and Gyeongbuk province), especially in public health centers. Developing strategies to address this issue will be helpful for sustainable TB management during future outbreaks.