Purpose: Forming a patient safety culture is the first step in addressing patient safety issues. This study therefore examines the patient safety culture among healthcare professionals in South Korea. It also identifies the factors influencing patient safety culture and related activities. Methods: Among the survey studies conducted in South Korea, we reviewed those that measured patient safety culture using the Korean version of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture 1.0. We identified the level of patient safety culture, the relationship between patient safety culture and patient safety activities, and the factors affecting patient safety culture. Results: A total of 640 studies were identified through searches of seven domestic and international databases, with 58 included in the analysis. Studies targeting nurses accounted for 96.6%. The general characteristics of patient safety culture included length of service, age, working hours, department of work, hospital size, conflict occurrence, unreported incidents, and subjective safety management evaluations. A statistically significant correlation between patient safety culture and patient safety activities was confirmed in 84.5% of studies. Patient safety culture was the most frequently reported factor influencing patient safety activities. Conclusion Strategies to enhance patient safety culture can promote patient safety activities in South Korean healthcare institutions. Considering organizational and organizational members characteristics when devising these strategies can enhance their effectiveness.

Purpose: Forming a patient safety culture is the first step in addressing patient safety issues. This study therefore examines the patient safety culture among healthcare professionals in South Korea. It also identifies the factors influencing patient safety culture and related activities. Methods: Among the survey studies conducted in South Korea, we reviewed those that measured patient safety culture using the Korean version of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture 1.0. We identified the level of patient safety culture, the relationship between patient safety culture and patient safety activities, and the factors affecting patient safety culture. Results: A total of 640 studies were identified through searches of seven domestic and international databases, with 58 included in the analysis. Studies targeting nurses accounted for 96.6%. The general characteristics of patient safety culture included length of service, age, working hours, department of work, hospital size, conflict occurrence, unreported incidents, and subjective safety management evaluations. A statistically significant correlation between patient safety culture and patient safety activities was confirmed in 84.5% of studies. Patient safety culture was the most frequently reported factor influencing patient safety activities. Conclusion Strategies to enhance patient safety culture can promote patient safety activities in South Korean healthcare institutions. Considering organizational and organizational members characteristics when devising these strategies can enhance their effectiveness.

Purpose: Forming a patient safety culture is the first step in addressing patient safety issues. This study therefore examines the patient safety culture among healthcare professionals in South Korea. It also identifies the factors influencing patient safety culture and related activities. Methods: Among the survey studies conducted in South Korea, we reviewed those that measured patient safety culture using the Korean version of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture 1.0. We identified the level of patient safety culture, the relationship between patient safety culture and patient safety activities, and the factors affecting patient safety culture. Results: A total of 640 studies were identified through searches of seven domestic and international databases, with 58 included in the analysis. Studies targeting nurses accounted for 96.6%. The general characteristics of patient safety culture included length of service, age, working hours, department of work, hospital size, conflict occurrence, unreported incidents, and subjective safety management evaluations. A statistically significant correlation between patient safety culture and patient safety activities was confirmed in 84.5% of studies. Patient safety culture was the most frequently reported factor influencing patient safety activities. Conclusion Strategies to enhance patient safety culture can promote patient safety activities in South Korean healthcare institutions. Considering organizational and organizational members characteristics when devising these strategies can enhance their effectiveness.

Background/Aims: The purpose of the current study was to examine the anti-inflammatory effects of CKD-506, a novel histone deacetylase 6 inhibitor, on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and CD4+ T cells and to explore the relationship between CKD-506 and gut epithelial barrier function. Methods: Lipopolysaccharide-stimulated human PBMCs from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients were treated with CKD-506, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α expression was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The proliferation of CD4+ T cells from IBD patients was evaluated using flow cytometric analysis. The effects of CKD-506 on gut barrier function in a cell line and colon organoids, based on examinations of mRNA production, goblet cell differentiation, and E-cadherin recovery, were investigated using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, immunofluorescence, and a fluorescein isothiocyanatedextran permeability assay. Results: Secretion of TNF-α, a pivotal pro-inflammatory mediator in IBD, by lipopolysaccharidetriggered PBMCs was markedly decreased by CKD-506 treatment in a dose-dependent manner and to a greater extent than by tofacitinib or tubastatin A treatment. E-cadherin mRNA expression and goblet cell differentiation increased significantly and dose-dependently in HT-29 cells in response to CKD-506, and inhibition of E-cadherin loss after TNF-α stimulation was significantly reduced both in HT-29 cells and gut organoids. Caco-2 cells treated with CKD-506 showed a significant reduction in barrier permeability in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusions The present study demonstrated that CKD-506 has anti-inflammatory effects on PBMCs and CD4 T cells and improves gut barrier function, suggesting its potential as a smallmolecule therapeutic option for IBD.

Objectives: The household secondary attack rate (SAR) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an important indicator for community transmission. This study aimed to characterize transmission by comparing household SARs and identifying risk factors during the periods of Delta and Omicron variant predominance in Republic of Korea. Methods: We defined the period of Delta variant predominance (Delta period) as July 25, 2021 to January 15, 2022, and the period of Omicron variant predominance (Omicron period) as February 7 to September 3, 2022. The number of index cases included was 214,229 for the Delta period and 5,521,393 for the Omicron period. To identify the household SARs and risk factors for each period, logistic regression was performed to determine the adjusted odds ratio (aOR). Results: The SAR was 35.2% for the Delta period and 43.1% for the Omicron period. The aOR of infection was higher in 2 groups, those aged 0 to 18 years and ≥75 years, compared to those aged 19 to 49 years. Unvaccinated individuals (vs. vaccinated individuals) and individuals experiencing initial infection (vs. individuals experiencing a second or third infection) had an increased risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2. Conclusion: This study analyzed the household SARs and risk factors. We hope that the results can help develop age-specific immunization plans and responses to reduce the SAR in preparation for emerging infectious diseases or potential new variants of SARS-CoV-2.

Background: Daratumumab is a human monoclonal antibody targeting CD38 used widely in various related conditions. Caution is advised when interpreting the pretransfusion tests in daratumumab-treated patients because they may show nonspecific reactions with red blood cells. This paper provides experimental evidence for the false-positive interference phenomena induced by daratumumab in in-vitro and ex-vivo experiments and experimental support for resolving it using dithiothreitol (DTT). Methods: Fifteen crossmatching pairs, four cardiac amyloidosis (CA) patients treated with daratumumab, and three healthy individuals were included. The flow cytometry crossmatch (FCMXM) was conducted with negatively selected T and B cells. After spiking the sera with 500 μg/mL daratumumab, the T and B cells were treated with DTT. The prospective FCMXM was conducted with the sera of CA patients treated with daratumumab. The CD38 expression levels in T, B, and NK cells were measured without and with a DTT or pronase treatment. Results: Five hundred μg/mL of daratumumab spiking was sufficient to elicit a false positive effect in T cell FCMXM. In particular, the administration of 0.1 M DTT efficiently resolved the induced false positivity in flow cytometry. Moreover, DTT caused a decrease in the CD38 expression levels in T, B, and NK cells. Conclusion A typical therapeutic dose of daratumumab causes false-positive FCMXM, which was effectively addressed by a DTT treatment. Therefore, information about the patient’s medical condition and the use of immunotherapeutics, such as daratumumab, is needed, given its impact on diverse CD38-expressing cells.