PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to investigate the social perceptions of the baby box and infant abandonment. METHODS: The study included a survey on social perceptions of infant abandonment, including the baby box and permissiveness of infant abandonment. F-tests and t-tests were performed to clarify the differences in permissiveness of infant abandonment based on general characteristics. RESULTS: First, it was found that awareness of the baby box was high, and positive perceptions were slightly higher than negative perceptions due to the value placed on the abandoned child's life and safety, the unavoidable reasons for not rearing a child, and the child's quality of life after abandonment. However, the reasons for negative attitudes toward the baby box included the increase in infant abandonment and the decrease in parental responsibility toward the child. Second, the permissiveness of infant abandonment was generally low; however, the level of permissiveness differed according to age, education level, status, and marital status. For people who are in their 30s or older, hold a graduate or higher level degree, are employed, and are married, the permissiveness of infant abandonment was lower than that of others. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the current support policy for unmarried mothers should be changed to improve the economic and social conditions of child care. Furthermore, we must strive to improve the social perceptions of various family structures, including unmarried parents and their children.
Child ; Child Abuse ; Child Care ; Education ; Humans ; Illegitimacy ; Infant ; Marital Status ; Parents ; Permissiveness ; Quality of Life ; Single Person ; Social Conditions ; Social Perception

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to analyze the barriers affecting the utilization of antenatal care (ANC) among Senegalese mothers. METHODS: Health facility staffs were surveyed to examine the availability coverage of ANC (infrastructural capacity of health posts to handle maternal and newborn healthcare). A total of 113 women of childbearing age were surveyed to identify factors associated with the accessibility coverage (physical, economic, and information accessibility factors), acceptability coverage (socio-cultural features, social acceptance, and language), and effectiveness coverage (ratio of mothers having completed 4 visits) of ANC. Further, to identify the socio-cultural factors and the specific characteristics of the barriers, 5 focus group discussions were conducted with women of childbearing age, their husbands and mothers-in-law, community health workers, and health facility staff. The effectiveness coverage of ANC was analyzed by reviewing materials from the District Health Information System 2 of Senegal. RESULTS: Key barriers of ANC utilization were associated with acceptability coverage. ANC during early pregnancy was avoided owing to the negative social stigma surrounding miscarriage. The survey results indicated an extremely high miscarriage rate of 30.9% among the participants. The social stigma towards unmarried mothers caused them to hide their pregnancy, which deterred ANC utilization. The husband was the final decision maker and social supporter on ANC utilization. CONCLUSION: To promote the utilization of ANC services among pregnant women in Senegal, it is important to alleviate the social stigma towards miscarriages and unmarried mothers, and to provide greater social support for pregnancies and newborn deliveries within family.
Abortion, Spontaneous ; Community Health Workers ; Female ; Focus Groups ; Health Facilities ; Health Information Systems ; Humans ; Illegitimacy ; Infant Health ; Infant, Newborn ; Maternal Health ; Mothers ; Patient Acceptance of Health Care ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women ; Senegal ; Social Distance ; Social Stigma ; Spouses

The revised Mental Health Act, in which the legal status and role of “the committee for the appropriateness of hospitalization” as an administrative committee, which has been launched since June 2017, is discussed. The German and British laws were reviewed in comparison with the Korean laws, focusing on the similarities and differences among the laws and which parts require revision. This study reported that patient care should be considered not only from a constitutional point of view, but also from a health care point of view. Self-determination and medical paternalism are both important but generally incompatible values. In recent days, objective and fair diagnosis from medical experts have been challenging. The current Mental Health Act was inevitably revised to actively accept the decisions of the Constitutional Court and apparently guarantee the basic rights of people in the future. The pros and cons of “the committee for the appropriateness of hospitalization” and which parts need to be revised to perform its role properly as a guardian of the admission procedure are assessed. This should reflect the current reality of the mental health medical community. In addition, a face-to-face examination should be made in principle. Nevertheless, the basic rights of the mentally ill are not guaranteed based on current law because of the shortage of budget and human resources. The final option maybe the introduction of a judicial system on involuntary admission. Legitimacy and professionalism are engagements that should be adhered to when treating psychiatric patients.
Budgets ; Delivery of Health Care ; Diagnosis ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Illegitimacy ; Jurisprudence ; Mental Health ; Mentally Ill Persons ; Paternalism ; Patient Care ; Professionalism

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions, precedent tasks, positive and negative effects, and expandable professional tasks regarding the inclusion of dental hygienists (DHs) in the category of medical personnel. This study involved a survey of 259 DHs and 128 dentists. The findings were as follows: 94.2% of DHs and 46.9% of dentists were aware of inclusion in the category of medical personnel; 95.0% of DHs and 64.1% of dentists supported the idea; and 84.9% of DHs and 51.6% of dentists recognized its legitimacy. As for precedent tasks for inclusion in the category of medical personnel, both DHs and dentists scored high points in professional consciousness in the area of occupation. Both DHs and dentists scored the highest points in the quality management of DH education and the lowest points in the unification of school systems in the area of institution. In the area of society, DHs scored high points in the persuasion of the central government, whereas dentists scored high points in collaboration among concerned organizations. Regarding the positive effects of inclusion in the category of medical personnel, both DHs and dentists scored the highest points in the expanded perception of DHs. As for its negative effects, DHs scored high points in the aggravation of salary increase, whereas dentists scored high points in the aggravation of salary increase. Regarding expandable professional tasks after the inclusion of DHs in the category of medical personnel, the management of independent periodontal care programs recorded the highest percentage both in DHs and dentists. These findings highlight the need for adequate discussions about the meanings of the inclusion of DHs in the category of medical personnel and will hopefully contribute to the rational adjustment and legalization of DHs' works with regard to their inclusion in the category of medical personnel.
Consciousness ; Cooperative Behavior ; Dental Hygienists* ; Dentists ; Education ; Humans ; Illegitimacy ; Occupations ; Persuasive Communication ; Salaries and Fringe Benefits

PURPOSE: To identify factors affecting parenting stress of unmarried mothers. METHODS: The subjects were 108 unmarried women who were parenting their children under the age of six. The data was collected from December 15, 2016 to March 5, 2017. The instruments consisted of self-reported questionnaires that included93 items: 21 on depression, 16 on social support, 20 on health perception, and 36 on parenting stress. The collected data were analyzed by t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlations, and hierarchical multiple regression. RESULTS: The factors influencing parenting stress were health perception (β=−.55, p < .001), evaluative support (β=−.42, p=.005), informative support (β=−.35, p=.040), emotional support (β=−.24, p=.045), partner support (β=−.20, p=.048), and depression (β=.14, p=.033), and the explanatory power was 57%. CONCLUSION: In order to alleviate the parenting stress of unmarried mothers, it is necessary to develop programs considering the physical, psychological, and social factors of unmarried mothers. Their subjective assessment of their health can increase or decrease their parenting stress, so it is necessary to develop parenting-stress intervention focusing on health perception.
Child ; Depression* ; Female ; Humans ; Illegitimacy ; Parenting* ; Parents* ; Single Parent ; Single Person* ; Stress, Psychological

PURPOSE: This study primarily aimed to investigate the short- and long-term remission rates of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in patients who underwent surgical treatment for gastric cancer, especially patients who were non-obese, and secondarily to determine the potential factors associated with remission. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of patients with T2D who underwent radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer, from January 2008 to December 2012. RESULTS: T2D improved in 39 out of 70 (55.7%) patients at the postoperative 2-year follow-up and 21 of 42 (50.0%) at the 5-year follow-up. In the 2-year data analysis, preoperative body mass index (BMI) (P=0.043), glycated hemoglobin (A1C) level (P=0.039), number of anti-diabetic medications at baseline (P=0.040), reconstruction method (statistical difference was noted between Roux-en-Y reconstruction and Billroth I; P=0.035) were significantly related to the improvement in glycemic control. Unlike the results at 2 years, the 5-year data analysis revealed that only preoperative BMI (P=0.043) and A1C level (P=0.039) were statistically significant for the improvement in glycemic control; however, the reconstruction method was not. CONCLUSIONS: All types of gastric cancer surgery can be effective in short- and long-term T2D control in non-obese patients. In addition, unless long-limb bypass is considered in gastric cancer surgery, the long-term glycemic control is not expected to be different between the reconstruction methods.
Body Mass Index ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Gastrectomy* ; Gastroenterostomy ; Glycemic Index ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated ; Humans ; Illegitimacy* ; Methods ; Retrospective Studies ; Statistics as Topic ; Stomach Neoplasms*

The National Health Promotion Fund has grown as the increase of tax on tobacco consumption, but more than half of the fund was spent on health insurance supporting. It is important to use the fund appropriately to keep legitimacy and sustainability of health promotion. Therefore, services regarding health promotion should be a priority in spending health promotion fund, and operation system should be established to manage and administer the fund properly.
Financial Management ; Health Promotion ; Illegitimacy ; Insurance, Health ; Korea ; Taxes ; Tobacco Use

BACKGROUND: Newborn screening (NBS) detects genetic and metabolic conditions that may be present in a newborn before clinical symptoms manifest. Early detection and treatment prevents catastrophic health outcomes. It was introduced into the public health delivery system with the enactment of the Newborn Screening Act of 2004. However, there still seems to be a trend of noncompliance.
OBJECTIVE: The study sought to determine the prevalence of NBS compliance in Quezon City lying-in clinics (LICs) between 2010-2015 and the factors that are associated with compliance of mothers with NBS.
METHODS: An analytic cross sectional study design was utilized. Records of 710 mothers who gave birth in Quezon City LICs were randomly selected. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine if the mothers' age, civil status, PhilHealth membership, gravidity, and parity were associated with NBS compliance.
RESULTS: A 6-year prevalence of NBS compliance of 36.6% was found. PhilHealth members were more likely to comply with newborn screening (AOR=4.1; 95%CI: 2.9 - 6.0). Moreover, the odds of compliance among married mothers were higher than unmarried mothers (AOR=1.6; 95%CI: 1.1 - 2.3). Finally, primiparous mothers were more likely to comply than multiparous mothers (AOR=1.5; 95%CI: 1.0 - 2.1). Age and gravidity were not found to have statistical association with NBS compliance.
CONCLUSION: The higher odds of compliance among PhilHealth members was expected since they can avail of NBS for free. Ninety-five percent of primiparous mothers included in the study were primigravid; they are more likely to go to prenatal checkups when NBS information is given, according to literature.

Human ; Female ; Pregnancy ; Infant, Newborn ; Gravidity ; Parity ; Illegitimacy ; Prevalence ; Mothers ; Public Health ; Maternal Age ; Parturition ; Neonatal Screening ; Marriage

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to identify relationships among knowledge and attitudes of unmarried mothers toward emergency contraceptive pills. METHODS: Data were collected through structured questionnaires from 135 unmarried mothers enrolled in 7 single mothers' facilities nationwide. Data were analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 17.0 program for descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Scheffe-test, and Pearson correlation coefficients. RESULTS: For knowledge about emergency contraceptive pills, there were significant differences among who live with her before pregnancy, experience of past pregnancies, state of present pregnancy and preparation in using contraceptives. For attitude toward emergency contraceptive pills, there were significant differences according to age, education level and religion. There were significant positive relationships between knowledge and attitudes toward emergency contraceptive pills. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that unmarried women should be better informed about emergency contraceptive pills, and reassured about their safety. Efforts are needed to disseminate up-to-date information to experts in sex education including nurses.
Contraception ; Contraceptive Agents ; Emergencies ; Female ; Humans ; Illegitimacy ; Pregnancy ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Sex Education ; Single Person

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify mental health of parents in single parent families according to sociodemographic variables and then to identify analyzed sociodemographic factors affecting their mental health. METHODS: The study participants included 291 parents in single parent families registered at Yangcheon-gu. They accomplished a self-report questionnaire, which included sociodemographic characteristics and self-rating scales ; Global Assessment of Recent Stress (GARS), The Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D), Scale for Suicidal Ideation (SSI-Beck), and The Korean Version of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT-K). First, we identified mental health of parents in single parent families according to sociodemographic variables by independent T test or ANOVA. Second, ANCOVA was used for determination of sociodemographic variables affecting mental health of parents in single parent families after adjusting other significant sociodemographic variables. RESULTS: Among sociodemographic variables, structure of family, age, occupation, type of residence, and monthly income had a significant effect on mental health of parents in single parent families. In families with an unmarried mother and unemployed, scores for GARS, CES-D, SSI-Beck, and AUDIT-K were significantly higher, while these scores were significantly lower in subjects whose monthly income was over 3 million won. CONCLUSION: Results of this study demonstrate that parents in single parent families were vulnerable to mental health problems, especially unmarried mothers, families, and unemployed. We should try to provide practical support in order to reduce social burden and provide earlier psychological interventions in order to reduce distress for single parent families.
Humans ; Illegitimacy ; Mental Health ; Occupations ; Parents ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Single Parent ; Single-Parent Family ; Suicidal Ideation ; Weights and Measures