Distribution and Correlates of Obesity in a Korean Rural People / 한국역학회지

OBJECTIVE: The aim of present study was to assess the distribution and correlates of obesity in a Korean rural people using both body mass index(BMI) and body fat percent. METHODS: A total of 1,243 participants were recruited using a two-staged stratified sampling. A structured questionnaire was used to ask their sociodemographics (gender, age, marital status, educational background, and etc.) and health-related behaviors (smoking, drinking, and regular exercise etc.). The data of weight-for height, and body fat percent were also collected by physical examination. For the estimation and analysis of correlates of obesity, we used BMI(>or=25kg/m2) and body fat percent(male>or=25%, female>or=30) as a cut-point of obesity. All analyses were stratified to three age groups(>20, 20-39, 40>or=). RESULTS: The prevalence of obesity in this study was higher than that in previous studies. This study showed that 32.6% (male: 33.7%, female: 31.7%) of participants according to BMI, and 45.6% (male: 43.8%, female: 47.4%) of them according to body fat percent were obese group. Logistic regression analysis showed that, in the criteria of BMI, while obesity was associated with female and low educational background under the age of 40, prevalence of obesity was higher in non smokers over the age of 40. In case of body fat percent crteria, single(unmarried, divorced, separated, widowed) were more likely to be obese in male aged 20 to 39 years. In the group aged 40 years and over, risk of obesity was higher in female than in male. CONCLUSION: This result suggests that obesity is common in Korean rural areas, especially among adolescents and female aged 40 years or over, and the risk factors for obesity were different by age. It is required that health management program focusing on obesity and its adverse outcomes should be developed in a community setting.

Smoking Status and Smoking Cessation Activity among Physicians in a Community / 예방의학회지

OBJECTIVES: The purposes of this study were to assess the smoking status, knowledge and attitude related to smoking and smoking cessation activity of the physicians in a community, and to identify their predictors of smoking cessation activity. METHOD: All physicians employed by various health facilities in a community were surveyed using a structured questionnaire. Of the physicians surveyed, 523 (69.6%) returned completed questionnaires. RESULTS: The smoking rate of physicians was 29.3% (34.2% in males, 3.6% in females) and the knowledge and attitude scores to smoking were 22.5+/-2.4 and 65.4+/-6.9, respectively. The self-efficacy score was 3.4+/-1.0 and the smoking cessation activity score was 65.4+/-6.9. The smoking cessation activity was statistically significant with working place, specialty, knowledge and attitude to smoking and self-efficacy. In stepwise multiple regression, smoking cessation activity was predicted by doctors' working place, specialty, attitudes related to smoking issues, and self-efficacy of counseling knowledge and skills. CONCLUSION: Physicians need to participate routinely and actively in smoking cessation activity. For doctors to effectively counsel and intervene in patients regarding smoking cessation, it is essential to integrate education on smoking cessation intervention into curricula in formal education and to offer continuing education including smoking cessation intervention.

A Meta-analysis on the Association between Bladder Cancer and Glutathione S transferase mu Genetic Polymorphism / 대한산업의학회지

This study was conducted to integrate the results of studies which assess the relationship between bladder cancer and Glutathione S transferase mu genetic polymorphism. We retrieved the literatures using MEDLINE search, with bladder cancer and Glutathione S transferase as key words, which were reported from 1980 to October 1998. The criteria for quality evaluation were as follows; 1) The paper should have histologically confirmed bladder cancer as case definition. 2) The paper should use the GSTM1 gene typing as method for analysis. Among 59 retrieved articles, fourteen studies were selected for quantitative meta-analysis. The overall effect size of the risk of bladder cancer due to GSTM1 was calculated by common odds ratio. Before the integration of each effect sizes into common effect sizes, the homogeneity test were conducted. All studies were case control design and cases were transitional cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma of bladder. And only four papers used matching technique. Homogeneity of studies were rejected by Breslow-Day test(P<0.01), so random effect model was used for evaluation of odds ratio. The overall odds ratio of GSTM1 associated with bladder cancer was 1.55 (95% confidence interval 1.27 to 1.90) and cumulative odds ratio became more stable when the study subjects were over 1,500. Our result suggested that positive association be found between GSTM1 genetic polymorphism and bladder cancer.