Association between Relative Handgrip Strength and C-Reactive Protein in Adults / 대한스포츠의학회지

Purpose@#The purpose of this study was to investigate whether obesity indicators are mediated in the association between muscle strength and inflammation levels, and further confirm the association between muscle strength level by sex and age and inflammatory levels. @*Methods@#In this study, 3,234 adults living in rural areas were surveyed from 2007 to 2015 and the data was finally analyzed on 2,149 adults. To identify that obesity indicators are mediated in relation to the association between relative grip strength and C-reactive protein (CRP) level, odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using logistic regression analysis (p＜ 0.05). @*Results@#As confounding variables were adjusted, the odds ratio for high inflammatory conditions was lower at a high (OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.40–0.85) or medium (OR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.46–0.90) level of relative grip strength than a low level of relative grip strength. However, there were no significant results if the body fat percentage was added for the confounding variable. When the association between relative grip strength and inflammatory conditions was divided by sex, for women, the odds ratio about high inflammatory conditions was gradually decreased as the relative grip level increased (medium level: OR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.35–0.87; high level: OR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.30–0.82). The association of relative grip strength with inflammatory conditions was shown differently in age groups. @*Conclusion@#In conclusion, improvement of muscle strength is a factor that can lower the level of inflammation, and it is important to lower the level of inflammation that can cause cardiovascular disease through resistance exercise differentiated by age and sex.

Sociodemographic Factors Related to Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Men: A Korean Community Health Survey / 대한배뇨장애요실금학회지

PURPOSE: This study estimated the prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in Korean men and the conditions for being diagnosed with or treated for LUTS/benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). METHODS: We analyzed cross-sectional data collected from 69,851 Korean men who were 40 years of age or older and had participated in the Korean Community Health Survey performed in 2011. Interviewers performed face-to-face surveys that included sociodemographic questions, the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), and questions regarding whether the subjects had been diagnosed with or treated for LUTS/BPH. We estimated the prevalence of LUTS and assessed whether the subjects had been diagnosed with or treated for LUTS/BPH. RESULTS: Moderate to severe LUTS, storage symptoms, and voiding symptoms increased with age. The IPSS quality of life score was 1.5±0.004 in the mild LUTS group (n=57,701), 3.3±0.01 in the moderate LUTS group (n=9,203), and 4.3±0.02 in the severe LUTS group (n=2,947) (P<0.0001). The prevalence of moderate to severe LUTS in those who had not been diagnosed with LUTS/BPH was 64.5% (7,847 of 12,150), and the prevalence of moderate to severe LUTS in those who had been diagnosed with LUTS/BPH but had not been treated was 23.5% (2,853 of 12,150). CONCLUSIONS: The severity of LUTS in Korean men increased with age, and the IPSS quality of life score increased with the severity of LUTS. Many Korean men with moderate to severe LUTS had not been diagnosed or treated for LUTS/BPH. Socioeconomic conditions played an important role in health-seeking behavior among patients with LUTS/BPH.

Psychosocial, Physical, and Autonomic Correlates of Depression in Korean Adults: Results from a County-Based Depression Screening Study

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the prevalence and psychosocial and neurophysiological correlates of depression in a large county-based cohort of Korean adults. METHODS: We recruited 2355 adults from a rural county-based health promotion program. The following psychometric scales were used: the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D) was used to assess depression, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) was used to evaluate stress, and the Medical Outcome Study Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS) was used to determine perceived social support. Heart rate variability (HRV) was used to assess neurophysiological properties. The psychosocial and neurophysiological variables of adults with depression (CES-D score > or =25) and without depression (CES-D score <25) were statistically compared. A logistic regression model was constructed to identify factors independently associated with depression. RESULTS: We estimated that 17.7% of the subjects had depression, which was associated with old age, being female, being single, less religious affiliation, high education, low body mass index (BMI), low levels of aerobic exercise, low social support, and a low HRV triangular index. The explanatory factors of depression included high education, less religious affiliation, low levels of current aerobic exercise, low BMI, and low social support. CONCLUSION: Given the relatively high prevalence of overall depression, subsyndromal depression should also be regarded as an important issue in screening. The independent factors associated with depression suggest that practical psychosocial intervention, including brief psychotherapy, aerobic exercise, and other self-help methods should be considered. In addition, the HRV results suggest that further depression screening accompanied by neurophysiological features would require fine methodological modifications with proactive efforts to prevent depressive symptoms.

Immunogenicity and Protective Effectiveness of Japanese Encephalitis Vaccine: A Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study / 소아감염

PURPOSE: This study aimed to study the antibody response of Japanese encephalitis vaccination in children using different kinds of vaccines (inactivated vaccine, live attenuated vaccine or interchanged) and evaluate the effectiveness of the vaccines to provide the basis of efficient immunization schedule of Japanese encephalitis. METHODS: Measurement of the neutralization antibody (NTAb) titers following Japanese encephalitis vaccination using different vaccines for 170 children, 2-6 year of age, who visited six university hospitals and are confirmed by immunization records. RESULTS: Among 170 children who were given primary immunization on Japanese encephalitis, 103 children were given inactivated vaccine, 64 children were given live attenuated vaccine and 3 children were given interchangeably. NTAb titers were more than 1:10 in all children of three groups. The geographic mean antibody titer was 322 in inactivated vaccine group and 266 in live attenuated vaccine group. However, there was no significant difference between two groups. In both groups, the NTAb titer showed the peak at 1-4 months after the third immunization and declined. The NTAb titers of three children who were given two kinds of vaccines alternately were 1:135, 1:632, and 1:2511, respectively. CONCLUSION: According to the results of this study in children younger than 6 years old, there is no significant difference in effectiveness between inactivated and live attenuated vaccines. However, further studies for the changes of antibody titers for a longer period of time on larger population are required.

The changing epidemiology of hepatitis A in children and the consideration of active immunization in Korea

Currently, Korea is a low endemicity country for HAV, especially in children. However, recent reports of hepatitis A outbreaks show that there has been a shift of disease incidence to adolescents and young adults, with 2 cases of acute liver failure in one reported outbreak. We need to study the immune status for HAV in order to provide information for the establishment of preventive measures and possible consequences of HAV in Korea. A total of 334 infants, children and adolescents less than 20 years of age living in rural areas of Kyonggi Province, Korea were evaluated for anti-HAV immune status in 1996. Five hundred and eighty-four primary school children living in the same area were separately evaluated for the natural seroconversion rate between 1993 and follow-up samples taken in 1996. Anti-HAV IgG antibody was measured by enzyme immunoassay (HAVAB EIA kit, Abbott Laboratories, Chicago, Illinois, USA). In comparison with previous reports of seroprevalence rates, our data confirmed a dramatic drop in seroprevalence rates among children and adolescents under 20 years of age living in rural areas, from over 63.8% two decades ago to 4.6% in 1996. Natural acquisition of HAV antibody in primary school children rarely occurs, registering only 0.5% during three years. Several outbreaks in young adults during 1996-1998 suggested that immunity against HAV in this population is so low that massive outbreaks are unavoidable. Teenagers and young adults, especially soldiers, who are likely to be exposed to contaminated food or water, would also have a greater risk of hepatitis A. Immunizing children with HAV vaccine as a routine schedule should also be considered in Korea in the future, particularly if the disease burden could be estimated and the cost-effectiveness of the vaccine could be proved.

Changes of Curricula of Medical Course between 1984 and 1993 / 한국의학교육

We looked for and discussed the changes of curricula of medical course of 31 medical schools during the period of 1984 and 1993. The data used in this study were Educational State Report of Korean Med ical Schools published from Dean Association of Korean Medical Schools in 1984 and 1992-1993. The significant findings were as follows. 1. There were great variability in number of subjects and in time for lecture and exercise in each subject among 31 medical schools. 2. There were a great deal of changes during the period of 1984 and 1993. There were increased tendency in number of subjects and especially block lectures. Schools which had 1-4 subjects vanished in curriculum were most frequent among 22 schools during 9 years. Name of most frequent subjects in block lecture were clinico-patholo gical conference, reproductive medicine, hematology, oncology and cardiology in 1993. 3. Subjects which were transferred to pre-medical program were classified to two groups. One group was traditional basic medical subjects such anatomy, physiology and biochemistry, the other group was newly introduced subjects such as molecular biology and cell biology as basic medical subjects. 4. The data were suggested that long time was needed to stabilized in newly introduced subjects of clinical medicine such as neurology and plastic surgery. Time for lecture and exercise of these subjects shows increasing tendency in schools established before 1978, but decreasing tendency in schools established after 1978.

A Survey on the Changing Patterns of Student Status in Medical School / 한국의학교육

No abstract available.