Elderly adults are the demographic most likely to utilize emergency medical services (EMS). This study aimed to examine the difference in EMS utilization in subgroups of the elderly population by assessing the predictors for using EMS.

Using both descriptive and logistic regression analyses, this study analyses data from the 2014 Korean Health Panel Survey (n = 3,175).

It was observed that certain predisposing factors such as age, sex, and marital status were significant predictors of EMS utilization. However, differences in EMS need do not fully account for the original differences observed between subgroups of elderly Koreans. While health status and disability were important predictors of elderly Koreans using EMS, place of residence did not account for subgroup differences. Nonetheless, place of residence remained particularly important predictors of EMS utilization for the elderly.

Emergency needs and resource availability are 2 main determinants for elderly Koreans using EMS. In addition, it was observed that the demographic subgroup profile of unmarried/divorced/separated/widowed men who were aged 75 and older was least likely to utilize EMS. Improving their resource availability to meet their EMS needs should be a top priority for national policy making to narrow elderly population subgroup differences.

This study was performed to test the association between lung function and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Korean patients.

Data from the 6^th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013 to 2015) was used in this study. There were 3,466 individuals aged between 40 and 80 years, with T2DM, who had a smoking and alcohol status listed, and blood analysis (including blood pressure), were included in this study. Lung function, measured by spirometer ventilatory dysfunction was categorized into 3 patterns: normal, restrictive ventilatory dysfunction, and obstructive ventilatory dysfunction (OVD).

Based on multivariate logistic regression analysis, individuals with restrictive ventilatory dysfunction had an increased odds ratio (OR 1.615, 95% CI 1.137–2.294) for T2DM compared with individuals with normal ventilatory function, whereas OVD had no increase in the odds ratio (OR 1.169, 95 % CI 0.857–1.594). Model 1, which adjusted for age and gender, showed that the probability of having restrictive disorder was 1.559 times (95% CI 1.617–2.082) higher for prediabetes patients, and 2.320 times (95% CI 1.611–3.343) higher for T2DM patients, compared to normal individuals. For Model 4, which was fully adjusted for variables, the probability of having a restrictive disorder was 1.837 times higher for T2DM patients (95% CI 1.260–2.679).

Restrictive ventilatory dysfunction, but not OVD, was associated independently with T2DM.

To estimate the number and risk of imported infections resulting from people visiting Asian and Latin American countries.

The dataset of visitors to 5 Asian countries with dengue were analyzed for 2016 and 2017, and in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, imported cases of zika virus infection were also reported. For zika virus, a single imported case was reported from Brazil in 2016, and 2 imported cases reported from the Maldives in 2017. To understand the transmissibility in 5 Southeast Asian countries, the estimate of the force of infection, i.e., the hazard of infection per year and the average duration of travel has been extracted. Outbound travel numbers were retrieved from the World Tourism Organization, including business travelers.

The incidence of imported dengue in 2016 was estimated at 7.46, 15.00, 2.14, 4.73 and 2.40 per 100,000 travelers visiting Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, respectively. Similarly, 2.55, 1.65, 1.53, 1.86 and 1.70 per 100,000 travelers in 2017, respectively. It was estimated that there were 60.1 infections (range: from 16.8 to 150.7 infections) with zika virus in Brazil, 2016, and 345.6 infections (range: from 85.4 to 425.5 infections) with zika virus in the Maldives, 2017.

This study emphasizes that dengue and zika virus infections are mild in their nature, and a substantial number of infections may go undetected. An appropriate risk assessment of zika virus infection must use the estimated total size of infections.

This study was performed to examine the effects of the Korean medicine healthcare program on stroke-related factors and self-care enhancement.

This study was a quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest nonequivalent control group design study (N = 58 participants), with 28 in the treatment group (Korean medicine health care program) and 30 in the control group (no intervention). The program was conducted twice a week for 2 hours, for a total of 12 weeks.

There were statistically significant differences in systolic (p = 0.005) and diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.006), cholesterol (p < 0.001), blood glucose (p < 0.001), self-esteem (p = 0.001), self-efficacy (p < 0.001), health perception (p < 0.001), and the health behavior (p < 0.001) between the experimental group and the control group.

Thus, the Korean medicine healthcare program was effective in managing stroke-related factors and enhancing self-care, and should be actively used to develop community health promotion strategies to prevent strokes and prepare long-term measures.

The aim of this study was to analyze research and development projects in mental health services in Korea, using priority evaluation of mental health promotion policies to determine direction of the service.

An online survey was conducted that targeted experts in the mental health service regarding promotion of mental health in Korea in 2016. The survey was based on 32 policy projects that resulted from 12 strategies according to 4 policy objectives.

Analysis of 32 mental health projects were assessed regarding the possibility of technology development success, magnitude of the ripple effect, and necessity of a national response. It was observed that 3 policy projects relevant to suicide, had a high relative priority. This was followed by policies for improvement of health insurance and the medical benefit cost system, and policies for reinforcement of crisis psychological support such as those for disaster victims.

The prioritization of mental health services should place an emphasis on promotion of a healthy mental lifestyle, rehabilitation support for patients with serious mental illness, and reinforcement of social safety networks for suicide prevention.

The aim of this study was to gather information about Korean Army soldiers’ attitude towards tuberculosis to enable the development of an informed educational program and potential intervention plans.

There were 500 male soldiers serving in the Korean Army who responded to questionnaires regarding knowledge of, attitudes towards, and preventive behavior towards tuberculosis. The questionnaires were collected between September 10 until October 1, 2014. Participants’ characteristic that influenced differences in knowledge, attitudes, and preventive behavior towards tuberculosis were compared by t test. Variables that influenced preventive behavior were identified by multiple regression analysis.

The mean scores assessing knowledge of, attitude, and preventive behavior towards tuberculosis were 11.64 (± 4.03) out of 20 points, 3.21 (± 0.38) out of 4 points, and 2.88 (± 0.42) out of 4 points, respectively. Non-smokers were more knowledgeable about tuberculosis than smokers. Participants who had family or friends with tuberculosis had better knowledge and a more productive attitude to tuberculosis. Participants who were educated or obtained information about tuberculosis, received better scores in all areas of knowledge, attitude and preventive behavior compared to other participants. Non-smoking, family or friends who have had tuberculosis, obtaining information about tuberculosis, and positive attitudes towards treatment and preventive education had an explanatory power of 24.6% with regard to preventive behavior against tuberculosis.

More relatable, systemized education should be provided regularly to improve soldiers’ knowledge of, attitudes towards, and prevention against tuberculosis in the Republic of Korea Army.

To investigate the chronological patterns of diseases in Northern Gyeonggi-do province, South Korea, and compare these with national data.

A National Health Insurance cohort based on the National Health Information Database (NHID Cohort 2002–2013) was used to perform a retrospective, population-based study (46,605,433 of the target population, of which 1,025,340 were randomly sampled) to identify disease patterns from 2002 to 2013. Common diseases including malaria, cancer (uterine cervix, urinary bladder, colon), diabetes mellitus, psychiatric disorders, hypertension, intracranial hemorrhage, bronchitis/bronchiolitis, peptic ulcer, and end stage renal disease were evaluated.

Uterine cervix cancer, urinary bladder cancer and colon cancer had the greatest rate of increase in Northern Gyeonggi-do province compared with the rest of the country, but by 2013 the incidence of these cancers had dropped dramatically. Acute myocardial infarction and end stage renal disease also increased over the study period. Psychiatric disorders, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and peptic ulcers showed a gradual increase over time. No obvious differences were found for intracranial hemorrhage or bronchitis/bronchiolitis between the Northern Gyeonggi-do province and the remaining South Korean provinces. Malaria showed a unique time trend, only observed in the Northern Gyeonggi province, peaking in 2004, 2007 and 2009 to 2010.

This study showed that the Northern Gyeonggi-do province population had a different disease profile over time, compared with collated data for the remaining provinces in South Korea. “Big data” studies using the National Health Insurance cohort database can provide insight into the healthcare environment for healthcare providers, stakeholders and policymakers.

This study aimed to develop a high-risk drinking scorecard using cross-sectional data from the 2014 Korea Community Health Survey.

Data were collected from records for 149,592 subjects who had participated in the Korea Community Health Survey conducted from 2014. The scorecard model was developed using data mining, a scorecard and points to double the odds approach for weighted multiple logistic regression.

This study found that there were many major influencing factors for high-risk drinkers which included gender, age, educational level, occupation, whether they received health check-ups, depressive symptoms, over-moderate physical activity, mental stress, smoking status, obese status, and regular breakfast. Men in their thirties to fifties had a high risk of being a drinker and the risks in office workers and sales workers were high. Those individuals who were current smokers had a higher risk of drinking. In the scorecard results, the highest score range was observed for gender, age, educational level, and smoking status, suggesting that these were the most important risk factors.

A credit risk scorecard system can be applied to quantify the scoring method, not only to help the medical service provider to understand the meaning, but also to help the general public to understand the danger of high-risk drinking more easily.

There is evidence to suggest that sedentary behavior is associated with a higher risk of metabolic disease. The aim of this study was to investigate cross-sectional joint associations of physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST), with the risk of obesity in Korean adults.

The Korea Media Panel Study consisted of a household interview and a self-administered diary survey on media usage over 3 days. ST (hours/day) was defined as the reported daily average hours spent watching television, computing (i.e., desktop, notebook, netbook, tablets), smartphone and video game console use. Cross-sectional associations of obesity (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m²) and the amount of daily ST and PA were examined by logistic regression models adjusting for other possible confounders including alcohol consumption, smoking, depressive symptoms and demographic information. There were 7,808 participants included in the analyses.

Increased ST was significantly associated with the risk of obesity (controlling for other possible confounders), but PA level was not found to be significantly linked. Participants who engaged in screen time > 6 hours per day had a higher incidence of obesity.

This study provides evidence of the association between ST and the increased incidence of obesity measured by BMI, independent of PA amongst Korean adults.