ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and a major source of workers' compensation claims in Korea. Since 2000 the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA), working through local occupational health institutions, has supported cardiovascular disease prevention programs at a number of companies in Korea. The purpose of this study was to assess the short-term effects of this effort. METHODS: A total of 11,077 workers at risk were enrolled in the workplace cardiovascular disease prevention program and 5,902 workers (53.3%) completed the 1-year course during 2007. The program consisted of a medical checkup and health counseling for the workers by occupational health nurses. The guidelines for this prevention program were adopted from KOSHA Code H-11-2004. To determine the program's effectiveness, the workers' risks for cardiovascular disease were assessed before and one year after completion of the program. RESULTS: The intervention led to significant reductions in the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures of 4.9 mmHg and 3.1 mmHg, respectively. Mean total cholesterol and BMI were also reduced significantly by 8.4 g/dl and 0.1 kg/m2. The rate of smoking was decreased by 6.0% and the percentage of workers engaging in regular exercise was increased by 23.1%. Of the 3,530 workers with the low risk and above, the overall cardiovascular risk was improved in 1,734 (49.1%) of them. CONCLUSIONS: The cardiovascular disease prevention program supported by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency reduces cardiovascular diseases risks among workers and may improve the health status of workers in Korea.
Subject(s)
Cardiovascular Diseases , Cause of Death , Cholesterol , Counseling , Government Programs , Health Promotion , Korea , Occupational Health , Smoke , Smoking , Workers' CompensationABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of QiGong gymnastics exercise program in the physiopsychological parameter inessential hypertension. The design of the research was a one group pretest-posttest design. A total of 20 patients with hypertension who were from forty to sixty-five years old participated in the study. The Qi Gong gymnastics program was carried out twice a week for thirty minutes or forty minutes for six weeks from 22, Sep. to 31, Oct. in 1997. In order to evaluate the effect of the QiGong gymnastics program physiological parameter(blood pressure, pulse rate, FVC, FEV1, Epinephrine, Norepinephrine, Cortisol) and psychological parameter(self-efficacy, Life satisfaction) were measured before and after the exercise program. Collected data was analyzed by the paired t-test with SAS package. The result are as follows: 1) There were significant decrease in systolic blood pressure and diastolic pressure, but there was no significant change in pulse rate. 2) There were no significant difference in FVC and FEV1. 3) There were significant decrease in epinephrine, norepinephrine and cortisol. 4) There were significant improved in general self-efficacy and life satisfaction. 5) The effect of QiGong gymnastics program by measurement time on blood pressure and pulse rate were as follows: In a systolic blood pressure was gradually significant decreased from 1 week to 6 weeks and diastolic blood pressure was significantly decreased after 4 weeks. But there was no significant in pulse rate. This results suggest that QiGong gymnastics are an appropriate nursing intervention for clients with hypertension. For further research is necessary to reevaluate the effect with a letter experimental design and longer period than 8 weeks for the QiGong gymnastics program.
Subject(s)
Humans , Blood Pressure , Epinephrine , Gymnastics , Heart Rate , Hydrocortisone , Hypertension , Norepinephrine , Nursing , Qi , Qigong , Research DesignABSTRACT
This paper presented a case of athyrotic cretinism in a 4 months old female infant. Durring neonatal 7 period she suffered from prolonged jaundice for about 50 days On admission, elinical manifestations suggesting of hypothyroidism were umbilical hernia, feeding problems due to large tongue, respiratory difficulty, lethargy and skin changes Roengenogram of the long bone series revealed the absence of epiphyseal centers of capitates and hamates in the hands, and cuboids in the feet. Thyroid function test also showed 6.5% and 4.1% at 6 hours and 24 hours after I131 uptake respectively, and T 3 value of 25.1ug/dl and T4 of 3.0ug/dl. On thyroid scan, no evidence of activity of thyroid gland was noted. Complete absence of thyroid tissues on autopsy of this baby confirmed the diagnosis of athyrotic cretinism. The review of the literature Concerning the Congenital hypothyroidism were made briefly.