Prevalence of Depressive Disorder of Outpatients Visiting Two Primary Care Settings / 예방의학회지

OBJECTIVES: Although the prevalence of depressive disorders in South Korea's general population is known, no reports on the prevalence of depression among patients who visit primary care facilities have been published. This preliminary study was conducted to identify the prevalence of depressive disorder in patients that visit two primary care facilities. METHODS: Among 231 consecutive eligible patients who visited two primary care settings, 184 patients consented to a diagnostic interview for depression by psychiatrists following the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV criteria. There were no significant differences in sociodemographic characteristics such as gender, age, or level of education between the groups that consented and declined the diagnostic examination. The prevalence of depressive disorder and the proportion of newly diagnosed patients among depressive disorder patients were calculated. RESULTS: The prevalence of depressive disorder of patients in the two primary care facilities was 14.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 9.1 to 19.2), with major depressive disorder 5.4% (95% CI, 2.1 to 8.7), dysthymia 1.1% (95% CI, 0.0 to 2.6), and depressive disorder, not otherwise specified 7.6% (95% CI, 3.7 to 11.5). Among the 26 patients with depressive disorder, 19 patients were newly diagnosed. CONCLUSIONS: As compared to the general population, a higher prevalence of depressive disorders was observed among patients at two primary care facilities. Further study is needed with larger samples to inform the development of a primary care setting-based depression screening, management, and referral system to increase the efficiency of limited health care resources.

Perception and Experience of CAM Education for Family Practice Residents by Family Practice Training Faculty in South Korea

BACKGROUND: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is popular and current trend suggests a demand for CAM education during residency training. Our objective was to assess perception, the need and experience of CAM education for family practice residents by training faculty. METHODS: A questionnaire was administered to family physicians (n=262) who were registered in the Korean Academy of Family Medicine as residency training faculty between February and May 2006. RESULTS: One hundred and seven (40.8%) of 262 faculty completed the questionnaires. Eighty three (77.6%) respondents recognized the need of CAM education during residency training and fifty two (46.8%) respondents have already educated some kind of CAM. Thirty nine (36.4%) respondents replied that partial CAM educational contents were given out at conferences. Seventy eight (72.9%) respondents recognized the need for educating residents on the general outlines of CAM along with education on verified CAM. Sixty six (61.7%) respondents replied that the Korean Academy of Family Medicine should host such education. CONCLUSION: Most family practice training faculty recognized the need for providing CAM education for family practice residents during residency training, but about an half of family practice training faculty did not have experiences of CAM education.

Cut-off Value of Visceral Fat Area at Risk of Obesity-related Disorders in Korean Adult Population

BACKGROUND: Recently, obesity has become an important health problem in Korea. In 2000, the WHO Western Pacific Region recommended an obesity diagnostic criteria for Asian population. But among Asians, each ethnic group had their own anthrometric characteristics and so it was difficult to apply the same criteria to different ethnic groups. Thus, the aim of this study was to study the appropriate cut-off value of visceral fat area (VFA) and waist circumference (WC) which increases the risk of obesity-related disorders and to validate the diagnostic criteria of abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome in Korean adult population. METHODS: A total of 278 of subjects (101 men and 177 women) were included for this study. The subjects were selected among Korean adults who visited the Department of Family Medicine, St. Mary's Hospital from January 1999 to August 2005. Three obesity-related disorders were defined to hypertension, hyperglycemia, and dyslipidemia. RESULTS: The cut-off value of visceral fat area which increased the risk of obesity-related disorders by ROC curve was 114.3 cm2 (sensitivity 76.3%, specificity 65.9%, P<0.005), and the waist circumference corresponding to a VFA of 114.3 cm2 by simple regression analysis was 74.2 cm in men and 87.37 cm in women (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this study, the visceral fat area which increased the risk of obesity-related disorders was 114.3 cm2 and the WC corresponding to this VFA was 74.2 cm in men and 87.37 cm in women. For appropriate diagnostic criteria of abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome in Korean adult population, further studies are required.