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Background@#The Korean Red Cross has conducted serologic tests for C, c, E, e antigens and found 18 D-- donors.In this study, we performed RHCE genotyping to identify the molecular characteristics of the serologic D-- blood type in Korean blood donors. @*Methods@#We performed RHCE-specific PCR-based electrophoresis to check the amplification pattern of each exon.Sanger sequencing was conducted to find the variants in the nucleotide sequence. We determined the RHCE genotype based on the electrophoresis and Sanger sequencing results. @*Results@#Total eight out of 18 D-- donors were participated in this research. In the PCR-based electrophoresis tests, RHCE exons 3, 4, and 6 were not amplified in samples #4, #6, and #8. Also, sample #2 showed an abnormal band pattern of RHCE exon 9. The Sanger sequencing results showed that the nucleotide sequences of the RHCE exons 5, 7, and 8 in samples #4, #6 and #8 corresponded to the nucleotide sequences of RHD exons 5, 7, and 8, respectively, suggesting the possibility of a RHCE-RHD(3-8)-RHCE hybrid allele. The nucleotide sequences of RHCE exons 7 and 8 in sample #2 were the same as the nucleotide sequences of RHD exons 7 and 8, respectively.In samples #1, #3, #5, and #7, no specific variants known to cause D-- phenotype were found. @*Conclusion@#RHCE genes partially replaced by the RHD genes were found in four out of eight participants and three of them were identified as ?RHCE*02N.07, which is known as the RHCE null allele. A further study with complete RHCE sequencing could be helpful for an understanding of the molecular mechanisms of samples in which no significant variants were identified.
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This study aimed to investigate the concentrations of nonpersistent endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in human milk through a literature review and to affirm the association between EDCs and lifestyle factors based on the reviewed literature. We analyzed studies reporting EDC concentrations in breast milk from literature published on Google Scholar and PubMed between 2000 and 2022. In Korea, most EDC concentrations in breast milk were comparable to or lower than those in other countries. However, the concentrations of PFAS in breast milk, especially perfluorooctanoic acid, have shown an increasing trend compared to the past in Korea. Considering the potential risks of EDCs, breastfeeding mothers should take measures to minimize their exposure to these chemicals.
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Purpose@#This study aims to explore mothers’ experiences of anger while raising a child in South Korea based on a qualitative descriptive approach. @*Methods@#A total of ten mothers of children aged 1-3 years participated in the study. In-depth individual interviews were conducted from August to September 2019 to collect data, which were then subjected to thematic analysis. @*Results@#A total of 4 main themes and 10 subthemes were identified. The 4 themes were “individual and environmental factors that influence anger,” “a vicious cycle of anger expression and guilt,” “being a little bit more mature as a mother,” and “need for anger management.” This study described various causes, ways of expressing, and effects of anger, as well as the mother’s coping strategies. These experiences were viewed as milestones along the journey to becoming a real parent and helped mothers develop empathy for other children and mothers. The participants expressed support for expanding the social support system for child-rearing and providing psychological programs for mothers. @*Conclusion@#Mothers of children aged 1-3 years experienced anger owing to various factors, but adapted by developing coping skills. This study recommends family-based support interventions to help mothers manage their emotions and parenting roles.
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Each country is providing various community care services owing to the increasingly aging population. Therefore, Korea needs to develop multiple approaches to the healthcare utilization system that can reflect the complex needs of older adult patients.Current Concepts: Considering the characteristics of older adult patients, it is essential to connect the treatment at medical institutions with home or nursing facilities. Some patients need medical and long-term healthcare simultaneously. Currently, healthcare services for older adult patients in Korea are fragmented across various service areas. Therefore, healthcare service plans need to be explored to provide integrated and long-term healthcare for older adult patients.Discussion and Conclusion: We propose to establish a healthcare information linkage center to provide comprehensive information on the appropriate services needed by patients. The healthcare information linkage center would refer patients to their local community or local primary healthcare provider if they want home services. Through this process, doctors and healthcare teams would visit the patient’s residence to provide services and perform a comprehensive assessment of their condition to create a personalized care plan. The core of this proposal lies in the establishment of a single point of contact in the region to link and integrate healthcare. Consequently, information on services appropriate to the needs of the target population would be appropriately linked in one place and overlapping services would be coordinated to improve operational efficiency.
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Background@#Many countries need help with the problem of an unbalanced distribution of physicians and hospitals. Moreover, various policies and strategies have been proposed to solve this problem. This study aimed to examine the determinants of the unbalanced distribution of physicians. @*Methods@#From the 2020 Korean Physician Survey data, 4,181 physicians practicing in Korea were limited to the subjects of the study. We analyzed the factors influencing physicians’ choice of practice location and their willingness to change their practice location from an urban to a rural area. @*Results@#The region of physicians’ hometown, medical school, and residency training hospitals determined their choice of practice location. The type of affiliated healthcare organization and the location of physicians’ hometown, medical school, and residency training hospitals affected their willingness to change their practice location from an urban to a rural area. Furthermore, the concordance rate of the regions of physicians’ hometown, medical school, and residency training hospitals with the region of their practice location was 24.9%. @*Conclusion@#In South Korea, policies for doctors have been designed without considering why they are reluctant to work in rural hospitals. To have a balanced distribution of physicians and hospitals, it is necessary to accurately analyze the status of medical resources based on regions and identify the current and future medical demand. The social situation, such as future demographic change and regional extinction, must also be fully considered. Furthermore, policies should be implemented that encourage physicians to work in rural hospitals.
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Purpose@#Several predictive models have been developed to predict the pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC); however, few are broadly applicable owing to radiologic complexity and institution-specific clinical variables, and none have been externally validated. This study aimed to develop and externally validate a machine learning model that predicts pCR after NAC in patients with breast cancer using routinely collected clinical and demographic variables. @*Methods@#The electronic medical records of patients with advanced breast cancer who underwent NAC before surgical resection between January 2017 and December 2020 were reviewed. Patient data from Seoul National University Bundang Hospital were divided into training and internal validation cohorts. Five machine learning techniques, including gradient boosting machine (GBM), support vector machine, random forest, decision tree, and neural network, were used to build predictive models, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was compared to select the best model. Finally, the model was validated using an independent cohort from Seoul National University Hospital. @*Results@#A total of 1,003 patients were included in the study: 287, 71, and 645 in the training, internal validation, and external validation cohorts, respectively. Overall, 36.3% of the patients achieved pCR. Among the five machine learning models, the GBM showed the highest AUC for pCR prediction (AUC, 0.903; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.833–0.972).External validation confirmed an AUC of 0.833 (95% CI, 0.800–0.865). @*Conclusion@#Commonly available clinical and demographic variables were used to develop a machine learning model for predicting pCR following NAC. External validation of the model demonstrated good discrimination power, indicating that routinely collected variables were sufficient to build a good prediction model.
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Objective@#To develop an evidence-based guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of antipsychotic-induced hyperprolactinemia by adapting existing high-quality clinical guidelines with a view to improve the clinical symptoms and long-term quality of life of patients by providing appropriate management. @*Methods@#This guideline was developed according to the ADAPTE methodology. The adaptation process included determining key health questions, systematically searching and screening guidelines, evaluating the quality and contents of these guidelines, deriving recommendations for key questions, and performing a peer review. The selection criteria for the guideline search were (1) evidence-based guidelines, (2) published within the last 5 years, and (3) written in English or Korean. @*Results@#After evaluating the quality and content, we finally selected three guidelines for adaptation. The final output of the development process was 25 recommendations for 10 key questions. We adopted the Agency for Health Research Quality methodology and presented the level of evidence from levels I to IV. In addition, we defined the recommendation grades from grade A (strongly recommended) to D (no recommendation) based on the level of evidence and clinical significance of the recommendation. @*Conclusion@#The development and dissemination of the adapted guideline is expected to increase the certainty of medical decision making and improve the quality of medical care. Further studies on the effectiveness and applicability of the developed guideline are necessary.
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Background@#Recent reports have suggested that pneumonitis is a rare complication following vaccination against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).However, its clinical features and outcomes are not well known. The aim of this study was to identify the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with vaccine-associated pneumonitis following vaccination against SARS-CoV-2. @*Methods@#In this nationwide multicenter survey study, questionnaires were distributed to pulmonary physicians in referral hospitals. They were asked to report cases of development or exacerbation of interstitial lung disease (ILD) associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine. Vaccine-associated pneumonitis was defined as new pulmonary infiltrates documented on chest computed tomography within 4 weeks of vaccination and exclusion of other possible etiologies. @*Results@#From the survey, 49 cases of vaccine-associated pneumonitis were identified between February 27 and October 30, 2021. After multidisciplinary discussion, 46 cases were analyzed. The median age was 66 years and 28 (61%) were male. The median interval between vaccination and respiratory symptoms was 5 days. There were 20 (43%), 17 (37%), and nine (19%) patients with newly identified pneumonitis, exacerbation of pre-diagnosed ILD, and undetermined pre-existing ILD, respectively. The administered vaccines were BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1 nCov-19/AZD1222 each in 21 patients followed by mRNA-1273 in three, and Ad26.COV2.S in one patient. Except for five patients with mild disease, 41 (89%) patients were treated with corticosteroid. Significant improvement was observed in 26 (57%) patients including four patients who did not receive treatment. However, ILD aggravated in 9 (20%) patients despite treatment. Mortality was observed in eight (17%) patients. @*Conclusion@#These results suggest pneumonitis as a potentially significant safety concern for vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. Clinical awareness and patient education are necessary for early recognition and prompt management. Additional research is warranted to identify the epidemiology and characterize the pathophysiology of vaccine-associated pneumonitis.
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Background and Objectives@#Fewer studies are available on geriatric patients’ gustatory dysfunction than on their olfactory dysfunction. Here we aimed to evaluate the relationship between subjective gustatory dysfunction and subjective or objective olfactory dysfunction according to cognitive function in geriatric patients.Subjects and Method We prospectively enrolled patients who underwent both cognitive function test and olfactory function test between August 2018 and May 2019. The correlation between subjective gustatory dysfunction and subjective olfactory dysfunction or conventional olfactory function scores was evaluated for geriatric patients with or withhout cognitive dysfunction. Participants with a threshold-discrimination-identification (TDI) score (<21) on the YSK olfactory function test were diagnosed with olfactory dysfunction. Subjective gustatory function and olfactory function were evaluated using the visual analog scale. The Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Packet and Mini-Mental State Examination were administered to all participants. Overall, 120 patients (27 male, 93 female; mean age, 73.00±7.50 years) were enrolled. @*Results@#We found that the subjective gustatory function score did not correlate with the threshold, discrimination, identification, or the summation of TDI scores of the olfactory function test but was significantly associated with the subjective olfactory function score (p<0.001). Further, there was no significant correlation between the subjective gustatory function score and cognitive function. @*Conclusion@#The subjective olfactory function score was the only factor significantly correlated with the subjective gustatory function score. Based on these results, we suggest evaluating gustatory function in geriatric patients with olfactory dysfunction.
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Background@#The objective of this study was to investigate whether alcohol consumption might affect the quality of life (QOL), depressive mood, and metabolic syndrome in patients with obstructive lung disease (OLD). @*Methods@#Data were obtained from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2014 and 2016. OLD was defined as spirometry of forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity <0.7 in those aged more than 40 years. QOL was evaluated using the European Quality of Life Questionnaire-5D (EQ-5D) index. Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to assess the severity of depressive mood. Alcohol consumption was based on a history of alcohol ingestion during the previous month. @*Results@#A total of 984 participants with OLD (695 males, 289 females, age 65.8±9.7 years) were enrolled. The EQ-5D index was significantly higher in alcohol drinkers (n=525) than in non-alcohol drinkers (n=459) (0.94±0.11 vs. 0.91±0.13, p=0.002). PHQ- 9 scores were considerably lower in alcohol drinkers than in non-alcohol drinkers (2.15±3.57 vs. 2.78±4.13, p=0.013). However, multiple logistic regression analysis showed that alcohol consumption was not associated with EQ-5D index or PHQ-9 score. Body mass index ≥25 kg/m2, triglyceride ≥150 mg/dL, high-density lipoprotein <40 mg/dL in men and <50 mg/dL in women, and blood pressure ≥130/85 mm Hg were significantly more common in alcohol drinkers than in non-alcohol drinkers (all p<0.05). @*Conclusion@#Alcohol consumption did not change the QOL or depressive mood of OLD patients. However, metabolic syndrome-related factors were more common in alcohol drinkers than in non-alcohol drinkers.
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Objective@#Menopause symptoms can vary in type, duration, and severity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the key factors predicting severe symptoms among Korean perimenopausal women with various demographic data, obstetric and psychiatric histories, and menopausal symptoms screening scale scores. @*Methods@#Data were collected from 1,060 women, and 4 latent classes were identified using latent profile analysis, with 6 major categories of menopausal complaints. Among the 4 classes, we selectively used data from the “all unimpaired” and “all impaired” groups. Menopause rating scale (MRS), sociodemographic, obstetric, and psychiatric factors were assessed, and hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted with the “all impaired” group as a dependent variable. @*Results@#Marital status and scores on the psychological and somatic subscales of the MRS were statistically related to being in the “all impaired” group. Otherwise, family history of menopausal symptoms, menarche age, and history of other psychiatric disorders were not statistically significant predictors of being in the “all impaired” group. @*Conclusion@#The psychological and somatic subscales of the MRS predict the severity of perimenopausal syndrome better than obstetric and psychiatric history do among Korean perimenopausal women. Psychological and somatic symptoms as well as genitourinary symptoms in menopausal patients should be closely evaluated.
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Objective@#Aerobic exercise may be associated with changes in brain activity within the default mode network (DMN) and dorsal attention network (DAN). We hypothesized that changes in functional connectivity (FC) within the DMN and DAN might be most effectively activated by moderate-intensity exercise. @*Methods@#Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans and visuospatial attention tests after resting were performed before and after each of moderate- and high-intensity aerobic exercises (10 min each) in 15 healthy male volunteers. @*Results@#The reaction time during the attention test increased significantly, and the rate of correct responses decreased from moderate-intensity exercise condition to high-intensity exercise condition. FC within the DMN under high-intensity exercise condition was higher than that under pre-exercise and moderate-intensity exercise conditions. FC within the DAN under moderate-intensity exercise condition was the highest, whereas FC between the DMN and DAN under moderate-intensity exercise condition was the lowest. Changes in cognitive domain functions were associated with changes in FC between the DMN and DAN. @*Conclusion@#Our results support the inverted-U hypothesis of maximum arousal efficacy during moderate exercise. Both cognitive domains, namely, the attention system and brain activity domains, may be better under moderate-intensity exercise than under high-intensity exercise.
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Background@#Emotion recognition is essential to the social adjustment and social interaction of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs). Given that music is a medium for expressing and conveying human emotion, we conducted this preliminary study to identify musical passages representing the basic human emotions of happiness, sadness, and anger, with the goal of developing a music-based emotion perception scale for IDDs. @*Methods@#To identify musical passages for emotion perception, 20 certified music therapists evaluated 100 selected musical passages and established 60 pieces that yielded the highest agreement for each emotion category. During the second phase of this study, 300 neurotypical participants rated 60 passages in terms of the perceived type and intensity of emotions expressed. @*Results@#The 60 passages showed high reliability and were statistically classified into three factors: happiness, sadness, and anger. The k-means cluster analysis yielded a cut-off score of 41 for the low emotion perception group (F = 1120.63, P < 0.001). The hierarchical logistic regression analysis revealed that only model 3 (musical passages) was significantly associated with low emotion perception (step χ 2 = 227.8, P < 0.001). @*Conclusion@#The selected musical passages demonstrated high reliability and established three factors for identifying perceptions of happiness, sadness, and anger. Neither psychological status nor individual demographic characteristics affected the emotion perception results.
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Depression is a neuropsychiatric disorder associated with persistent stress and disruption of neuronal function. Persistent stress causes neuronal atrophy, including loss of synapses and reduced size of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. These alterations are associated with neural dysfunction, including mood disturbances, cognitive impairment, and behavioral changes. Synaptic plasticity is the fundamental function of neural networks in response to various stimuli and acts by reorganizing neuronal structure, function, and connections from the molecular to the behavioral level. In this review, we describe the alterations in synaptic plasticity as underlying pathological mechanisms for depression in animal models and humans. We further elaborate on the significance of phytochemicals as bioactive agents that can positively modulate stress-induced, aberrant synaptic activity. Bioactive agents, including flavonoids, terpenes, saponins, and lignans, have been reported to upregulate brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression and release, suppress neuronal loss, and activate the relevant signaling pathways, including TrkB, ERK, Akt, and mTOR pathways, resulting in increased spine maturation and synaptic numbers in the neuronal cells and in the brains of stressed animals. In clinical trials, phytochemical usage is regarded as safe and well-tolerated for suppressing stress-related parameters in patients with depression. Thus, intake of phytochemicals with safe and active effects on synaptic plasticity may be a strategy for preventing neuronal damage and alleviating depression in a stressful life.
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Background@#A bill for the mandatory installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) in operating rooms, still likely in breach of the constitution, was approved. When a bill infringing on individuals’ fundamental rights is drafted, alternative means of minimizing the infringement of the offender’s rights should be considered ahead of the draft. To this end, alternatives on the bill identified through the consciousness of the offender would be most realistic and much more effective. Thus, this study examined doctors’ consciousness on the mandatory installation of CCTV in operating rooms, the appropriateness of punishment for members who commit immoral and unethical behaviors, and doctors’ alternative ideas to CCTV installation in operating rooms. @*Methods@#The online survey was conducted for a week from July 9, 2021, to July 16, 2021, by the Korean Medical Association Doctors News, and 2,345 doctor members responded to the investigation. @*Results@#According to the survey, the following alternatives to CCTV installation in operating rooms were proposed: strengthening punishment for performing ghost surgery (38.3%), placing cameras at the entrance of the operating room (21.8%), mandatory written consent (pledge) (13.7%) to prevent ghost surgery for medical staff participating in the surgery, promoting self-purification (whistle-blowing) (11.5%), and a biometrics function for entering operating rooms (8.8%). @*Conclusion@#The revised medical law delegated legislative devices to subordinate statutes for minimizing infringement. Thus, new regulations should be set to reduce infringement of fundamental rights. It is hoped that doctors’ consciousness on new law could be preliminary data to regulate new rules in discussing lower statutes.
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Objectives@#The purpose of this study was to explore and evaluate the characteristics and quality of infant and maternal sleep (total sleep time, sleep efficiency, and wakefulness after sleep onset) using an actigraph. @*Methods@#The characteristics and quality of sleep were assessed in 22 dyads of mothers and infants aged 3–12 months. The quality of infant and mother sleep was collected using an actigraph for 12 consecutive days; this was repeated three times at 4-week intervals, and characteristics of infant sleep were measured using the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire-Revised. @*Results@#Bedsharing with infants at 7–12 months of age was higher (12.5%) than with those at 3–6 months of age (50.0%). Regarding the sleeping position, half of the infants aged 3–6 months adopted the lateral (25.0%) and prone (25.0%) positions, and the remaining half (50.0%) aged 7–12 months adopted the lateral position. It was found that 45.5% of mothers of infants used breastfeeding and pacifiers to induce sleep in infants and to help their babies go back to sleep when they woke up. The total sleep time and sleep efficiency of infants and mothers were 434.68 minutes per day and 73.1% and 379.53 minutes per day and 82.8%, respectively, indicating that both infants and mothers had low sleep quality. @*Conclusions@#To safeguard infants’ sleep, it is necessary to provide appropriate information and education to parents and necessary interventions for resolving sleep problems and improving the quality of sleep for both infants and mothers.
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Objective@#The optimal imaging approach for evaluating pathological nipple discharge remains unclear. We investigated the value of adding ductography to ultrasound (US) for evaluating pathologic nipple discharge in patients with negative mammography findings. @*Materials and Methods@#From July 2003 to December 2018, 101 women (mean age, 46.3 ± 12.2 years; range, 23–75 years) with pathologic nipple discharge were evaluated using pre-ductography (initial) US, ductography, and post-ductography US. The imaging findings were reviewed retrospectively. The standard reference was surgery (70 patients) or > 2 years of followup with US (31 patients). The diagnostic performances of initial US, ductography, and post-ductography US for detecting malignancy were compared using the McNemar’s test or a generalized estimating equation. @*Results@#In total, 47 papillomas, 30 other benign lesions, seven high-risk lesions, and 17 malignant lesions were identified as underlying causes of pathologic nipple discharge. Only eight of the 17 malignancies were detected on the initial US, while the remaining nine malignancies were detected by ductography. Among the nine malignancies detected by ductography, eight were detected on post-ductography US and could be localized for US-guided intervention. The sensitivities of ductography (94.1% [16/17]) and post-ductography US (94.1% [16/17]) were significantly higher than those of initial US (47.1% [8/17]; p = 0.027 and 0.013, respectively). The negative predictive value of post-ductography US (96.9% [31/32]) was significantly higher than that of the initial US (83.3% [45/54]; p = 0.006). Specificity was significantly higher for initial US than for ductography and post-ductography US (p = 0.001 for all). @*Conclusion@#The combined use of ductography and US has a high sensitivity for detecting malignancy in patients with pathologic nipple discharge and negative mammography. Ductography findings enable lesion localization on second-look post-ductography US, thus facilitating the selection of optimal treatment plans.
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Purpose@#To examine the mediating effects of parental efficacy on the relationship between participating in online parenting communities and health-promoting behaviors for children among first-time mothers with infants and toddlers. @*Methods@#The participants were 174 first-time mothers who used online parenting communities. Data were collected through self-report online questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, independent t-test, 1-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression analysis were performed. The significance of the mediating effect was verified using the Sobel test and PROCESS macro. @*Results@#Significant predictors for health-promoting behaviors for children among first-time mothers were maternal age, maternity leave, monthly income, weekly use of online communities, daily use of online communities, satisfaction with online communities, and parental efficacy, which explained 51.0% of maternal health-promoting behaviors for children. Parental efficacy partially mediated the relationship between mothers’ satisfaction with using online communities and their health-promoting behaviors for children. @*Conclusion@#Interventions to enhance satisfaction with online parenting communities and parental efficacy should be developed to promote the health of infants and toddlers. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the needs of mothers for child rearing and health care, and develop online parenting communities that can provide qualitative health information and enable safe online interactions between mothers.
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Purpose@#This study aims to describe the experiences of parenting children with spinal muscular atrophy. @*Methods@#Participants consisted of 11 parents of children diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, more than 6 months prior to the study. Data were collected through one-on-one interviews and between 1 and 3 interviews were conducted per participant, between August and November 2021. Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis was used to analyze collected data. @*Results@#This study described that the experience of parenting children with spinal muscular atrophy was based on four major themes: “a difficult journey from diagnosis to acceptance,” “changed life while parenting children,” “comfort even in the difficult parenting,” and “preparing for child's future happiness.” @*Conclusion@#There is a need to provide comprehensive information about child rearing problems experienced by parents of children with spinal muscular atrophy. It is also necessary to develop supportive healthcare and social-welfare interventions to support the needs of children and families with spinal muscular atrophy.
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In order to encourage physicians to work in medically-underserved areas, it is imperative to provide financial incentives and appropriate supportive systems. This paper reviews the concept of medically-underserved areas in Korea is welestablished with reasonable criteria and that the budget and the policy direction of the manpower support are effective.Current Concepts: Some recommendations may be needed to expand the supportive policy for medically-underserved areas. First, the selection criteria for medically-underserved areas should be revised and the evaluation index improved. Second, it is imperative to secure consistency in the legal system by containing overall contents on the definition, criteria, designation procedure, and support matters of medically-underserved areas through the revision of the Public Health and Medical Service Act. This consistency may designate and support medically-underserved areas according to the subject and type through health care resources distribution and condition at the national level. Third, an integrated regional medical service plan should be prepared through the construction of an inter-medical institution cooperation system, effort, and cooperation among parties having diverse interests. Fourth, the incentive system should be improved to secure medical personnel in medically-underserved areas. Fifth, the introduction of untact medical services and related governmental support to the area having insufficient medical personnel is needed.Discussion and Conclusion: The Korean government should seek new supportive measures and models for physicians to continue working in medically-underserved areas.