Cancer Statistics in Korea: Incidence, Mortality, Survival, and Prevalence in 2020 / Journal of the Korean Cancer Association, 대한암학회지

Purpose@#The current study provides national cancer statistics and their secular trends in Korea, including incidence, mortality, survival, and prevalence in 2020. @*Materials and Methods@#Incidence, survival, and prevalence rates of cancer were calculated using the Korea National Cancer Incidence Database, from 1999 to 2020, with survival follow-up until December 31, 2021. Deaths from cancer were assessed using causes-of-death data obtained from Statistics Korea. @*Results@#The number of new cancer diagnoses in 2020 decreased by 9,218 cases (3.6%) compared to 2019. In 2020, newly diagnosed cancer cases and deaths from cancer were reported as 247,952 (age-standardized rate [ASR], 262.2 per 100,000) and 82,204 (ASR, 69.9 per 100,000), respectively. The overall cancer incidence rates increased by 3.3% annually from 1999 to 2012, and decreased by 5.0% annually from 2012 to 2015, thereafter, followed by nonsignificant changes. Cancer mortality rates have been decreasing since 2002, with more rapid decline in recent years. The 5-year relative survival between 2016 and 2020 was 71.5%, which contributed to prevalent cases reaching over 2.2 million in 2020. @*Conclusion@#In 2020, the number of newly diagnosed cancer patients decreased due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, but the overall trend is on the rise. Cancer survival rates have improved over the past decades. As the number of cancer survivors increases, a comprehensive cancer control strategy should be implemented in line with the changing aspects of cancer statistics. The long-term impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on cancer statistics needs to be investigated in the future.

Significant Domains of Life Satisfaction That Affect Suicidal Behavior in Adolescents

Objectives@#Adolescent suicide is a serious national issue in Korea. Recently, life satisfaction has been recognized as a major factor related to this issue. The main purpose of this study was to identify the domains of life satisfaction that affect suicidal behavior in adolescence. @*Methods@#Data were collected from eight middle schools in Incheon, Korea. A total of 1297 students answered questions regarding their demographic characteristics, happiness, self-related life satisfaction domains (appearance, leisure time, physical health, and mental health), depressive symptoms, and suicidal behavior. @*Results@#In the Spearman correlation analysis, female sex, perceived socioeconomic status (SES), happiness, and all four self-related satisfaction scores showed significant correlations with depression and suicidality. Multivariate regression analysis suggested that suicidality was significantly affected by perceived SES, satisfaction with appearance, mental health satisfaction, and depression. Finally, depression was identified as a partial mediator of the association between mental health satisfaction and suicidality, and a complete mediator of the association between female sex and suicidality. @*Conclusion@#Perceived SES, satisfaction with appearance, and mental health satisfaction significantly affected students’ suicidality, with or without the effect of depression. Health authorities, educators, and family members must be aware of this to identify adolescents at suicide risk earlier.

Significant Domains of Life Satisfaction That Affect Suicidal Behavior in Adolescents

Objectives@#Adolescent suicide is a serious national issue in Korea. Recently, life satisfaction has been recognized as a major factor related to this issue. The main purpose of this study was to identify the domains of life satisfaction that affect suicidal behavior in adolescence. @*Methods@#Data were collected from eight middle schools in Incheon, Korea. A total of 1297 students answered questions regarding their demographic characteristics, happiness, self-related life satisfaction domains (appearance, leisure time, physical health, and mental health), depressive symptoms, and suicidal behavior. @*Results@#In the Spearman correlation analysis, female sex, perceived socioeconomic status (SES), happiness, and all four self-related satisfaction scores showed significant correlations with depression and suicidality. Multivariate regression analysis suggested that suicidality was significantly affected by perceived SES, satisfaction with appearance, mental health satisfaction, and depression. Finally, depression was identified as a partial mediator of the association between mental health satisfaction and suicidality, and a complete mediator of the association between female sex and suicidality. @*Conclusion@#Perceived SES, satisfaction with appearance, and mental health satisfaction significantly affected students’ suicidality, with or without the effect of depression. Health authorities, educators, and family members must be aware of this to identify adolescents at suicide risk earlier.

Important Consideration in Choosing Antipsychotics in the Treatment of Patients with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome: Risk of Convulsion

The prevalence of epilepsy and psychosis in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) is higher than in the general population. Recent study on adults with 22q11.2DS reported that the most common trigger for provoked seizures was the use of antipsychotics and antidepressants. In this paper, blonaserin was used because aripiprazole, quetiapine, paliperidone were not effective. The patient had convulsion on the fourth day of taking blonaserin. Neurological and cardiac examination was carried out, and lamotrigine was added at the advice of neurologist. Than the patient didn’t have any convulsions and the symptoms gradually improved. When treating patients with 22q11.2DS, the medicine should be chosen carefully, and the patient should be observed closely, paying attention to the possibility of convulsions.

Association between Perceived Parenting Style and Adolescents’ Attitudes toward Suicide

Objectives@#Adolescent suicide, a major cause of adolescent death, is affected by various factors, including attitudes toward suicide.This study investigated the association between parenting style and adolescents’ attitudes toward suicide and the mediating role of attitude toward suicide between parenting style and suicidal ideation. @*Methods@#We surveyed 1,071 adolescents from eight middle schools in Incheon, Korea. The survey included sociodemographic information, attitudes toward suicide, perception of parenting style, depression severity, and suicidality. @*Results@#Students in the authoritarian parenting group had a more permissive attitude toward suicide compared with the democratic and permissive parenting groups. These students considered that suicide is justified in certain situations and that choosing suicide is an individual’s right. They also had a negative attitude toward talking about suicide or intervening in others’ suicide. This association remained statistically significant after adjusting for the impact of confounding factors that could affect attitudes toward suicide, except for suicidal processes and preparedness to prevent suicide. In the mediation analysis, we observed that some factors of the attitudes toward suicide mediated between authoritarian parenting attitudes and suicidal ideation, namely, suicide as a right, preventability, suicide as normal/common, preparedness to prevent suicide, and resignation. @*Conclusion@#This study revealed the significant impact of parenting style on children’s attitudes toward suicide. Educating parents about the appropriate parenting attitudes–sympathetic and rational–can help prevent youth suicide.

The Influence of Depression and School Life on the Quality of Life of Korean Child and Adolescent Patients with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Comparison of the Perspectives of the Patients and Their Caregivers

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to compare the quality of life reported by patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to the patients' quality of life as reported by their caregivers. In addition, it aimed to examine how emotional problems, including depression and anxiety, and the severity of the symptoms affect the quality of life reported by the patients and their caregivers. METHODS: The patients' quality of life and their degree of depression and anxiety were measured using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) 4.0 Child Self-Report, the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), and the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, respectively. The caregivers' perception of the patients' quality of life and severity of the ADHD symptoms were measured using the PedsQL 4.0 Parent Proxy Report and the Conners' Parent Rating Scale (CPRS), respectively. A total of 66 participants completed the survey. The independent-samples t-test, Pearson's correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis were conducted. RESULTS: The mean score of the PedsQL 4.0 Child Self-Report was significantly higher than the mean score of the PedsQL 4.0 Parent Proxy Report. However, for school function, the PedsQL 4.0 Child Self-Report score was significantly lower than that of Parent Proxy Report. The correlation between the PedsQL 4.0 Child Self-Report and PedsQL 4.0 Parent Proxy Report scores was significant only for emotional function and social function. The multiple regression analysis showed that the PedsQL 4.0 Child Self-Report and PedsQL 4.0 Parent Proxy Report scores were significantly predicted by the CDI and CPRS scores, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that there are clear differences between the quality of life reported by the patient themselves and that reported by their caregivers. In addition, the findings suggest that it is critical to treat the patients' accompanying depressive symptoms.