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Purpose@#This study offers a comprehensive analysis comparing human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination status between Korean and foreign patients. @*Methods@#The analysis used data from 30,216 patients treated at Seoul National University Hospital from January 2017 to June 2023. It examines variations in the rate of vaccine administration by nationality, sex, age, and vaccination date. @*Results@#Despite observing an overall increase in HPV vaccination rates in both Korean and foreigners, the study found the impact of COVID-19 was significantly more severe on foreign patients, particularly those over the age of 30. Additionally, a larger sex discrepancy in HPV vaccine uptake was noticed among foreign patients compared to Korean. A considerable number of foreign vaccine recipients were in their 20s, suggesting a predisposition to seek health care abroad. @*Conclusion@#The study emphasizes the importance of further research and policy adjustments to encourage HPV vaccination uptake across diverse demographics. The value of multi-institutional studies is also highlighted to improve the applicability of these findings.
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Purpose@#Aviation medical exams are pivotal for health management in aviation professionals, ensuring safety. Despite their importance, a gap exists in literature detailing the dynamics of these exams, especially during the COVID-19 era. @*Methods@#Longitudinal data assessed distribution and trends based on sex, age, and qualification. A segment analyzed the pandemic’s influence, and a correlation between pilot age and disqualification rate was evaluated. @*Results@#Males represented 95.5% (124,751) of total applicants; females 4.5% (5,861).Age distribution: under 40 (53.2%), 40s (26.4%), 50s (16.1%), and over 60 (4.2%).The majority (94.7%) had class 1 type. The fit rate was 87.4%, with conditional fit at 11.9%. Exams increased from 2,529 in 2000 to 15,149 in 2019, then decreased during COVID-19, with an expected recovery in 2023. Pilots’ trend mirrored this, with projections to exceed 12,000 exams in 2023. Of the pilots, 0.15% were deemed unfit, with age correlating with disqualification. @*Conclusion@#This study illuminates the evolution and impact of aviation medical examinations over 24 years, accentuating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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In Vol. 33, No. 2, our journal prepared 1 original article and 2 review articles. A Delphi survey with 20 flight instructors identified internal factors that influence student pilots during flight training: mental and psychological stability, physical condition management, and knowledge and preparation for flight. External factors included organizational culture and the relationship between instructors and students. Environmental factors included weather conditions and understanding of flight instruments. Meditation and singing bowls were reviewed as potential tools for health management among aviation professionals. Meditation promotes stress and anxiety management, while singing bowls aid in meditation through sound synchronization with brainwaves. Various countries have established flight data collection and analysis systems for flight safety. South Korea utilizes a flight data analysis system, with cases including analysis of unstable approaches at Gimhae Airport and a takeoff accident at a US Air Force base, revealing habits of pilots based on their home base.
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In Vol. 33, No. 1, our readers will find a diverse and engaging selection of content, featuring two insightful review articles and three original research articles that cover a broad range of interesting topics. While we are proud of the variety and depth offered in this issue, we also recognize the need for more submissions to continue providing our readers with high-quality, thought-provoking articles. We encourage researchers and professionals in various fields to contribute to our publication, helping us maintain and expand the rich array of subjects and perspectives we strive to showcase.
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In Vol. 32, No. 3, our journal prepared 1 original article, 2 review articles, and 1 brief report. Space science need to be considered not only from the point of intellectual curiosity, but also from the profit. Space medicine is one of the core of national competitiveness, and gravity and cosmic radiation are major research areas in this field. The aftereffects of corona virus infection can affect aviation safety. An evaluation of this is essential before returning to the workplace. The first International Conference of Aerospace medicine 2022 was held in Paris. Various topics were discussed in depth. In particular, the inequality of corona virus vaccines supply, the application of digital health to tracking infected people, and the development of corona virus infection prediction algorithms were impressive. Japan and South Korea were compared for the current status of Zika virus. This difference appears to be mainly due to preferred travel destinations and their climates.
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In Vol. 32, No. 2, our journal prepared 3 original articles, 3 review articles, and 1 brief report. A Survey of the laboratory tests item was conducted during aviation medical examination based on the 27 hospitals. The following items were implemented in all institutions, but other items was different by institution. Urine test, ophthalmic test (except fundus test), fasting blood sugar, complete blood cell count, electrocardiogram, electoencephalography, chest X-Ray, pure tone audiometry, and total cholesterol. The impact of COVID-19 on the flight training of student pilots was analyzed through a survey. On the positive side, fewer commercial flights and fewer flights mean more opportunities for students to train. Fewer face-to-face classes have freed up more time for self-care. In other words, students were able to plan and control their exercise, self-study, rest, and sleep time on their own. On the negative side, social distancing prevented them from riding in the back seat, leaving them less chance to get used to the cockpit.
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Purpose@#The objective of this study was to develop a model for predicting the positivity of hepatitis A antibody based on nationwide health information using a machine learning technique. @*Methods@#We used a data set that included the records of 4,626 samples. the data was randomly divided into a training set 80% (3,701) and validation set 20% (925).Customized sequential convolutional neural network (CNN) model was used to predict the positivity of hepatitis A antibody. The loss and accuracy of this model was calculated. @*Results@#This model has 12-input and 2-concatenate and 3-dense layers. The total parameters of this model were 1,779. The accuracy quickly reached to over 85% validation accuracy in 50 epochs. The train loss, train accuracy, validation loss and validation accuracy of this model were 25.4%, 89.5%, 29.0%, and 87.2%, respectively. @*Conclusion@#The model derived from the sequential CNN model exhibited a high level of accuracy. This model is a useful tool for predicting the positivity of hepatitis A antibody.
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Purpose@#As it becomes difficult to move between countries due to the spread of COVID-19, it can be expected that the number of foreign patients entering Korea for treatment will decrease significantly. The purpose of this study is to investigate the current status of hospitalization of foreign patients over the past 6 years and the impact of COVID-19. @*Methods@#The sex, age, nationality, and histories of foreign patients who visited the International Medical Center from 2016 to 2021 were collected. A total of 25,569 subjects were analyzed. @*Results@#For six years from 2016 to 2021, the number of foreign patients increased steadily before COVID-19 but decreased significantly after COVID-19. Overall, it was analyzed that the average annual growth rate of foreign patients from 2016 to 2019 was about 6%. However, due to the impact of COVID-19, the number of patients in 2020 decreased by about 57% compared to the previous year and by about 1% in 2021 compared to the previous year. @*Conclusion@#It is believed that the decrease in foreign patients in a situation such as Corona 19 is due not only to the risk of infection, but also to the difficulty of moving between countries. In other words, it can be said that the driving force for the movement due to the medical skill gap still exists. Therefore, if this situation improves, it is judged that the phenomenon of moving abroad in search of medical care is inevitable.
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In Vol. 32, No. 1, our journal prepared 1 review article, 4 original articles, and 2 case reports. First, the Biomathematical Models for Aviation Fatigue Risk Management were introduced. Among the four original articles, it is possible to get insights into the management of cancer diseases in aviation workers, and it is expected to solve various problems in aerospace medicine through a research case using machine learning techniques. A similar trend was observed in the medical tourism along with the decrease of the aviation industry due to COVID-19. Hepatitis E infection can be occurred in both the public and aviation workers, and the management system was established in 2020 as a second-grade legal infectious disease in Korea. In two case reports, we introduced a case of the Phakic intraocular lenses insertion and a case of the acute myocardial infarction and pericardial effusion.
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Purpose@#The United States of America have pre-migration screening program are mandated through legislation. The one of purpose of this program is to prevent the importation of certain communicable diseases. Examinations of migration applicants are performed by panel physicians who are licensed physicians in the countries of origin that have agreements with the government departments of the country of destination to undertake this activity. In recent decades, the number of US migrants has increased, however COVID-19 impacted this trend of international migrants. The Aim of this study is to examine trends of US applicants and outcomes of tuberculosis and sexual transmitted infections (STIs) screening in South Korean applicants for US visa. Methods: A total of 4,442 applicants participated in US visa health check-up in 2016 to 2020. @*Results@#The numbers of applicant for US visa in males and females was 1,814 and 2,628. The positive results in tuberculosis and STIs screening was noted with 0.66% in nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), 0.03% in tuberculosis, 0.03% in gonorrhea, 0.08% in syphilis, and 0.74% in chlamydia. The age groups of 2 to 14 years showed higher positive rate (13.89%) in tuberculin skin test (TST) tests compared to the rate of interferon gamma release assay (IGRA) tests (0.44%, P<0.001). The positive ratio of NTM and abnormal chest X-ray (CXR) which required sputum tests among the applicants over 15 years old has trends to increase with age. The age groups of over 70 years showed high positive rate in NTM and abnormal CXR (4.10%, 20.51%). However, ages 15 to 49 years groups showed 0.00% to 0.30% in NTM and 1.08% to 3.91% in abnormal CXR. In the study population, the positive rates of STIs were 0.03%, 0.08%, and 0.74% in gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia, respectively. Among the participants who underwent sputum smears and cultures were just 1 case of active tuberculosis (0.03%) and 25 cases of NTM infection (0.66%). @*Conclusion@#This study found that rate of positivity in tuberculosis and STIs screening among South Korean applicants for US visa in 2016 to 2020. Regarding tuberculosis, the positivity of CXR among the aged 15 to 59 years applicants was lower than that among over 60 years old. Among 2 to 14 years, positivity of IGRA was very low. And IGRA test can reduce effort of further evaluation compared to TST test in South Korea, so IGRA test among young adults can be useful. High positive rates in STI among young adult could result in high active sexuality, especially chlamydia infection is most common. Therefore Chlamydia polymerase chain reaction should be considered formal protocol among the Korean applicant for US visa.
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Purpose@#Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination schedule is recommended by Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization of World Health Organization to achieve high efficacy and immunogenicity. However, the patients often cannot keep up their schedule for several reasons. @*Methods@#Monthly numbers of visitors for HPV vaccination between 2019 and 2021 were analyzed to measure the impact of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) outbreak which was the main cause of this delay. @*Results@#In February 2020, the number of foreign patients vaccinated with HPV was dropped suddenly due to COVID-19. Prior to this impact, the average patients per month for HPV vaccination was 160 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 143–176). It was then 30 (95% CI: 20–40). However recent trends show a gradual recovery. @*Conclusion@#If a woman is pregnant after starting the HPV vaccine series, the reminder doses should be delayed until she is no longer pregnant. If this series is interrupted for any length of time, it can be resumed without restarting the series. HPV vaccine series need to be administered with a minimum interval of 14 days before or after administration of COVID-19 vaccines.
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This paper describes a community effort to improve earlier versions of the full-text corpus of Genomics & Informatics by semi-automatically detecting and correcting PDF-to-text conversion errors and optical character recognition errors during the first hackathon of Genomics & Informatics Annotation Hackathon (GIAH) event. Extracting text from multi-column biomedical documents such as Genomics & Informatics is known to be notoriously difficult. The hackathon was piloted as part of a coding competition of the ELTEC College of Engineering at Ewha Womans University in order to enable researchers and students to create or annotate their own versions of the Genomics & Informatics corpus, to gain and create knowledge about corpus linguistics, and simultaneously to acquire tangible and transferable skills. The proposed projects during the hackathon harness an internal database containing different versions of the corpus and annotations.
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This paper describes a community effort to improve earlier versions of the full-text corpus of Genomics & Informatics by semi-automatically detecting and correcting PDF-to-text conversion errors and optical character recognition errors during the first hackathon of Genomics & Informatics Annotation Hackathon (GIAH) event. Extracting text from multi-column biomedical documents such as Genomics & Informatics is known to be notoriously difficult. The hackathon was piloted as part of a coding competition of the ELTEC College of Engineering at Ewha Womans University in order to enable researchers and students to create or annotate their own versions of the Genomics & Informatics corpus, to gain and create knowledge about corpus linguistics, and simultaneously to acquire tangible and transferable skills. The proposed projects during the hackathon harness an internal database containing different versions of the corpus and annotations.
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BACKGROUND: Underweight is associated with increased mortality, relative to the normal weight category. The importance of managing underweight patients has not yet been recognized seriously in South Korea, and little information is available on the prevalence of underweight and its associated risk factors. This study aims to investigate changes in the prevalence of underweight by gender and age and analyze its trend.METHODS: Data were obtained from individuals aged >20 years, from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1995 and 2015. The subjects of this study included 134,613 adults (male, 61,152; female, 73,461). The prevalence of underweight was determined as defined by the Asia-Pacific Perspective, and socioeconomic factors associated with a predisposition to underweight were analyzed using the chi-squared test and multiple logistic regression analysis.RESULTS: Among Korean adults, the age-adjusted prevalence of underweight (body mass index < 18.5 kg/m²) was 3.1% in men and 6.3% in women. Overall, a U-shaped relationship was established between the prevalence of underweight by gender and age. There was no significant difference in socioeconomic factors related to the prevalence of underweight in men and women in their twenties. The prevalence of underweight in women aged 20–59 years showed an increasing trend (P for trends < 0.05).CONCLUSION: In individuals aged 20–29 years, the prevalence of being underweight was higher in women than in men. Recently, there has been an increasing trend in the prevalence of underweight young women of reproductive age. This requires national public health attention.
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Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Body Mass Index , Korea , Life Style , Logistic Models , Mortality , Nutrition Surveys , Prevalence , Public Health , Risk Factors , Social Class , Socioeconomic Factors , ThinnessABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The prevalence of obesity, abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome is important for health policies and clinical practice. The aim of study is to estimate the prevalence of obesity, abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome among older than 65 years in general population and identify the differences by gender. Additionally, we examined the prevalence of the abnormality of metabolic components by sex. METHODS: We analyzed data from the Fourth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES IV) 2007. The subjects of this study include persons over 65 years. We used data about demographics, chronic diseases, medications and blood laboratory results. RESULTS: The prevalence of obesity, abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome in elderly women was 46.9%, 56.3% and 46.7% (International Diabetes Federation [IDF] criteria) respectively. In elderly men, 23.1%, 26.6% and 21.7% (IDF criteria). The prevalence of metabolic syndrome by modified ATP III was 63.2% in elderly women and 41.7% in elderly men. The prevalence of these was significantly higher in women elderly other in men elderly (P < 0.001). The abnormality of HDL-C among the individual metabolic components was significantly higher in women elderly than in men elderly. The prevalence of HDL-C abnormality in women elderly reached 79.9%. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of obesity, abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome was higher in Korea than US and Europe, and higher among women elderly than men elderly. Recent increase in prevalence of these might be a public health problem.
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Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Adenosine Triphosphate , Chronic Disease , Demography , Europe , Health Policy , Korea , Nutrition Surveys , Obesity , Obesity, Abdominal , Prevalence , Public HealthABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The chronic liver disease is a relatively common health problem in primary care in Korea. But there are few studies of the prevalence and management status of chronic liver disease in Korea. The aim of this study is to estimate the ratio of health relative behavior among the patients of chronic liver disease, and analyse the association of chronic liver disease with health related behaviors such as private insurance, liver cancer screening examination, smoking, drinking, and exercise. METHODS: We analyzed data from the third Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNANES III) 2005. The subjects of this study included the persons over 40 years. We used data about demographics, chronic liver disease, and health behavior data. RESULTS: The prevalence of chronic liver disease was 2.4%. The ratios of private insurance, liver cancer screening examination among the patients of chronic liver disease were 72.6%, 44.2% respectively. The ratios of no smoking, abstinence from drinking, and exercise were 70.0%, 52.6%, and 33.8% respectively. After adjusted with demographic data, the odds ratio of liver cancer screening among the patients of chronic liver disease was 8.4 (P < 0.001), that of abstinence from drinking was 1.2 (P = 0.434). Adjusted odds ratio of private insurance, no smoking and exercise were 1.3 (P = 0.425), 1.2 (P = 0.578), 0.6 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The primary prevention is less satisfactory than secondary prevention among the patients with chronic liver disease in Korea. In primary care, it is necessary for them not only to check liver cancer screening examination but also encourage no smoking, abstinence from drinking, and exercise.
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Humans , Demography , Drinking , Health Behavior , Insurance , Korea , Liver , Liver Diseases , Liver Neoplasms , Mass Screening , Nutrition Surveys , Odds Ratio , Prevalence , Preventive Medicine , Primary Health Care , Primary Prevention , Republic of Korea , Secondary Prevention , Smoke , SmokingABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Pneumococcal vaccination among elderly is important for prevention of pneumonia and invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). There are few studies of pneumococcal vaccination among elderly in South Korea. The aim of study is to examine the pneumococcal vaccination rate for people aged over 65 in South Korea and identify the proportion of the high risk group. METHODS: We analyzed data from The Third Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES III) 2005. The subjects of this study include persons over 65 years. We used questionnaires about demographics, chronic diseases and individual health behavioral risk factors, which were needed to indentify the high risk group. RESULTS: There were 1,097 persons of observation. The rate of pneumococcal vaccination among 65 years and over was 0.8%. The proportion of the men and women with one more risk factors was 77.3%, 62.8% respectively. Chronic cardiovascular diseases and diabetes were major risk factors among targets recommended vaccination. In men, the proportion of smoke and chronic alcoholism (33.2%, 12.3%) was higher compare to 7.4%, 0.3% in women (p<0.001, p<0.001). The proportion of chronic cardiovascular diseases (48.0%) in women was higher than (38.7%) in men (p=0.012). CONCLUSION: The rate of pneumococcal vaccination among elderly in South Korea was seriously very low compared to that of influenza vaccination. That might be due to unawareness of the necessity to vaccinate. Clinicians should encourage the vaccination as well take a leading role in government health policy
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Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Alcoholism , Cardiovascular Diseases , Chronic Disease , Demography , Health Behavior , Health Policy , Influenza, Human , Korea , Nutrition Surveys , Pneumococcal Infections , Pneumococcal Vaccines , Pneumonia , Surveys and Questionnaires , Republic of Korea , Risk Factors , Smoke , VaccinationABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Influenza vaccine coverage among the elderly is important for informed vaccination policies and programs. There are few studies that define influenza coverage in the elderly in South Korea. The aim of this study is to examine influenza vaccination coverage among those 65 years old and older in South Korea over the 2004-2005 influenza season and to identify the socioeconomic and clinical factors associated with vaccination. METHODS: We analyzed data retrieved from The Third Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES III) 2005 conducted by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Subjects included in this study were older than 65 years. We used questionnaires to obtain information regarding demographics, chronic diseases, and individual health behavioral risk factors. Univariate analysis, logistic regression, and trend test were performed. RESULTS: There were 1,097 persons included in this study. Influenza vaccination among those 65 years old and older was 77.2 %. There was no difference of coverage by sex, education level, and income status. For elderly females, the moreunheal thy lifestyle (currently smoking, heavy alcohol use, and no exercise) that was practiced, the less likely they wereto be vaccinated (p for trend=0.007). CONCLUSION: The influenza vaccination coverage rate among the elderly in South Korea during the 2004-2005 flu season was relatively high compared to that of Europe (19.3-26.5 %) during the same season. Nevertheless, the coverage rate in elderly women with unhealthy lifestyle was not satisfactory causing them to be more vulnerable to related illnesses than those who practiced a healthy lifestyle. To prevent influenza related illnesses, clinicians should, in particular, encourage vaccination in those with an unhealthy lifestyle, as well as, lifestyle modification.