ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Concerns over behavioral and emotional problems caused by excessive internet usage have been developed. This study intended to develop and a standardize questionnaire that can efficiently identify at-risk internet users through their internet usage habits. METHODS: Participants (n=158) were recruited at six I-will-centers located in Seoul, South Korea. From the initial 36 questionnaire item pool, 28 preliminary items were selected through expert evaluation and panel discussions. The construct validity, internal consistency, and concurrent validity were examined. We also conducted Receiver Operating Curve (ROC) analysis to assess diagnostic ability of the Internet Overuse Screening-Questionnaire (IOS-Q). RESULTS: The exploratory factor analysis yielded a five factor structure. Four factors with 17 items remained after items that had unclear factor loading were removed. The Cronbach’s alpha for the IOS-Q total score was 0.91, and test-retest reliability was 0.72. The correlation between Young’s internet addiction scale and K-scale supported concurrent validity. ROC analysis showed that the IOS-Q has superior diagnostic ability with the Area Under the Curve of 0.87. At the cut-off point of 25.5, the sensitivity was 0.93 and specificity was 0.86. CONCLUSION: Overall, this study supports the use of IOS-Q for internet addiction research and for screening high-risk individuals.
Subject(s)
Internet , Korea , Mass Screening , Reproducibility of Results , ROC Curve , Sensitivity and Specificity , SeoulABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the Richmond Compulsive Buying Scale (RCB-K). METHODS: Participants (n=598) included patients recruited through an online panel survey. For the semantic adaptation step, the scale was translated into Korean and then back-translated to English by one psychologist, one public health professional, one psychiatrist who could speak both Korean and English, and one professional translator, without communication between those involved. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed to test whether the factor structure of the RCB-K was consistent with the English version. Convergent validity was assessed by correlating the RCB-K scores with those of other scales (i.e., O'Guinn & Faber's Compulsive Buying Scale, Problem Gambling Inventory). RESULTS: The factor structure of the RCB-K was consistent with the two-factor structure established for the original RCB. Cronbach's α was high (0.906), indicating that the reliabilities of the items in each subscale were satisfactory. The RCB-K score was significantly correlated with those for the O'Guinn & Faber's Compulsive Buying Scale (r=0.7) and the Problem Gambling Inventory (r=0.422). CONCLUSION: The results of the present study indicate that the RCB-K is an effective and valid scale for evaluating the severity of compulsive buying. The findings suggest that the RCB-K is a promising assessment tool for use in the treatment and study of online compulsive buying behavior.
Subject(s)
Humans , Gambling , Psychiatry , Psychology , Psychometrics , Public Health , Reproducibility of Results , Semantics , Weights and MeasuresABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B is a leading cause of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocelluar carcinoma. It is a well-known fact that Korea is one of the hyperenedemic areas of Hepatitis B virus among East Asian countries. Many pnst reports have shown that positive rate of HBsAg in Korea was about 6-14%. But precise data for Yongdong area of Kwangwon Province in Korea was lacking. Here authors report on the prevalence of viral markers of hepatitis B among adults in this area. method: Sera were collected from 7469 residents in Yongdong area of Kwangwon Province who visited the Health Care Center, Asan Kangnung Hospital from September 11th to August 31th. HBsAg, AntiHBc-IgG, and AntiHBs were tested by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: Positive rate of HBsAg of total study subjects was 8.5%, and was significantly decreased as age increased, and higher in males(10.2%) than in females(6.6%). Positive rate for one or more markers among HBsAg, AntiHBc-IgG, and AntiHBs was 84%, and was significantly increased as age increased, and higher in males(86.2%) than in females(81.2%). All negative rate for HBsAg, AntiHBc-IgG, and AntiHBs was 16.0% and all positive rate was 0.5%. Positive rate of AntiHBc-IgG without HBsAg and AntiHBs was 15.7% Positive rate of AntiHBs without HBsAg and AntiHBc-IgG was 11.7%. Positive rate of AntiHBc-IgG and AntiHBs was 72.1% and 60.2%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: There was no significant difference in positive rate of HBsAg between this study for residents in Yongdong area of Kwangwon Province and past many reports. 84% of the total study subjects showed serological evidence of previous exposure to hepatitis B virus (HBV) naturally exposed or by vaccine immunization. 16% of the total study subjects was a proper candidate for hepatitis B vaccination.
Subject(s)
Adult , Humans , Asian People , Biomarkers , Delivery of Health Care , Epidemiology , Fibrosis , Hepatitis B Surface Antigens , Hepatitis B virus , Hepatitis B , Hepatitis , Hepatitis, Chronic , Immunization , Korea , Prevalence , Radioimmunoassay , Seroepidemiologic Studies , VaccinationABSTRACT
No abstract available.