Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives

[This corrects the article on p. 278 in vol. 9, PMID: 30402384.].

[This corrects the article on p. 255 in vol. 9, PMID: 30402381.].

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of injection laryngoplasty (IL) with hyaluronic acid in patients with vocal fold paralysis (VFP). Methods: A total of 50 patients with VFP participated in this study. Pre- and post-IL assessments were performed, which included analyzing the sustained vowel /a/ phonation, and the patient reading 1 Korean sentence from the "Walk" passage that comprised 25 syllables in 10 words. To investigate the effect of IL on vocal fold function, acoustic analysis (acoustic voice quality index, cepstral peak prominence, maximum phonation time, speaking fundamental frequency) was conducted and auditory-perceptual (grade and overall severity), visual judgment (gap), and self-questionnaire (voice handicap index-10) assessments were performed...

Objectives: This study was conducted to determine whether essential oils had anti-influenza A/WS/33 virus activity and whether there were specific compounds associated with this activity. Methods: There were 63 essential oils evaluated for anti-influenza (A/WS/33 virus) activity using a cytopathic effect reduction method. The chemical composition of the anti-influenza essential oils was phytochemically analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Results: The antiviral assays demonstrated that 11 of the 62 essential oils (100 μg/mL) possessed anti-influenza activity, reducing visible cytopathic effects of influenza A/WS/33 virus activity by > 30%...

Objectives: The aim of this research was to determine intra-oral factors that affect halitosis in young women. Methods: This study was performed between March 2014 to May 2014, and included 35 women in their 20s with good oral health. Correlation and logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the change in halitosis immediately, and 1 hour after scaling. Results: In both oral gas (OG) and extraoral gas (EG) groups, halitosis was reduced after scaling compared to before scaling...

Objectives: Human rhinoviruses (HRVs) are the major cause of the common cold. Currently there is no registered, clinically effective, antiviral chemotherapeutic agent to treat diseases caused by HRVs. In this study, the antiviral activity of dexamethasone (DEX) against HRV1B was examined. Methods: The anti-HRV1B activity of DEX was assessed by sulforhodamine B assay in HeLa cells, and by RT-PCR in the lungs of HRV1B-infected mice. Histological evaluation of HRV1B-infected lungs was performed and a histological score was given...

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the presence of IMP and OXA genes in clinical strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ( P. aeruginosa ) that are carriers of the ampC gene. Methods: In this study, 105 clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa were collected. Antibiotic resistance patterns were determined using the disk diffusion method. The strains carrying AmpC enzymes were characterized by a combination disk method. Multiplex-PCR was used to identify resistance and virulence genes, chi-square test was used to determine the relationship between variables...

Objectives: 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. Methods: 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...

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the cranial vertebral angle (CVA) and the range of motion (ROM) was different between participants with a forward head posture (FHP), with or without pain. Methods: Forty-four participants who had FHP participated in this study. The FHP was assessed digitally by measuring a lateral view the CVA for each subject. A cervical ROM device measured the cervical ROM. The volunteers were allocated to either, with pain ( n = 22), or without pain ( n = 22) groups, and pain was evaluated using the Numeric Pain Rating Scale...

Objectives: We aimed to examine health-related nutritional knowledge and dietary behavior related to caffeine intake among high school students ( n = 310) in the Yongin region of Korea. Methods: Data were collected using a face-to-face survey, and analyzed using chi-square test, t - test, and logistic regression analysis. Results: The level of caffeine intake in respondents was divided into low (< 30 mg/d; n = 208) and high caffeine intake groups (> 30 mg/d; n = 102)...

Objectives: To describe the distribution of social factors, lifestyle habits and anthropometric measurements according to hypertension and Type-2 diabetes. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Gaza City, Palestine that included 379 patients (20-60 years) who had hypertension and/or diabetes. Three groups of patients were involved; 106 hypertensive (HT), 109 diabetic (T2DM) and 164 hypertensive diabetics (HT + T2DM). Results: The HT + T2DM group were older and had a higher body mass index compared to HT and T2DM groups...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

[This corrects the article on p. 16 in vol. 9, PMID: 29503801.].

Objectives: Vaccinations against diphtheria and tetanus are essential in providing immunity against these bacterial infections. The potency of diphtheria and tetanus toxoid vaccines can be measured using the in vivo toxin neutralization assay. The limit of potency of this assay was determined only for children. Therefore, we assessed the potency of adult vaccines using this assay to identify the feasibility of limit for adult vaccines. Methods: Fifteen lots of tetanus-reduced diphtheria and tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis vaccines were used...

Objectives: 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. Methods: 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...

Objectives: A questionnaire was designed to determine public understanding of early and late complications of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in participants who were selected using a multi-stage sampling method and a standard questionnaire of 67 questions was proposed. An expert panel selected 53 closed-ended questions for content validity to be included in the questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire was tested using Cronbach's alpha coefficient giving a score of 0...

Objectives: Imported systemic mycoses is a severe fungal infection that can cause diseases in healthy people. However, there is a serious lack of epidemiological data about imported systemic mycoses. Therefore, an epidemiological characterization of imported systemic mycoses in Korea was performed. Methods: We collected health insurance data between 2008 and 2012 from the Health Insurance Corporation and analyzed the data to determine the prevalence and treatment management of imported systemic mycoses...

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

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors involved in the success of smoking cessation in heavy smokers enrolled in an intensive care smoking cessation camp program. Methods: Heavy smokers enrolled in the program were classified into a success ( n = 69) or failure ( n = 29) group, according to whether they maintained smoking cessation for 6 months after the end of the program. Demographics, smoking behaviors, and smoking cessation-related characteristics were analyzed...

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