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Young Soo Shin 22 Articles
Estimating the Burden of Psychiatric Disorder in Korea.
Jae Hyun Park, Seok Jun Yoon, Hee Young Lee, Hee Sook Cho, Jin Yong Lee, Sang Jun Eun, Jong Hyock Park, Yoon Kim, Yong Ik Kim, Young Soo Shin
J Prev Med Public Health. 2006;39(1):39-45.
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OBJECTIVES
This study estimated the burden of disease especially caused by psychiatric disorders in Korea by using DALY, a composite indicator that was recently developed by the Global Burden of Disease study group. METHODS: First, 11 of the major psychiatric disorders in Korea were selected based on the ICD-10. Second, the burden of disease due to premature death was estimated by using YLLs (years of life lost due to premature death). Third, for the calculation of the YLD (years lived with disability), the following parameters were estimated in the formula: the incidence rate, the prevalence rate and the disability weight of each psychiatric disorder. Last, we estimated the DALY of the psychiatric disorders by adding the YLLs and YLDs. RESULTS: The burden of psychiatric disorder per 100,000 people was attributed mainly to unipolar major depression (1,278 person-years), schizophrenia (638 person-years) and alcohol use disorder (287 person-years). For males, schizophrenia (596 person-years) and alcohol use disorder (491 person-years) caused the highest burden. For females, unipolar major depression (1,749 person-years) and schizophrenia (680 person-years) cause the highest burden. As analyzed by gender and age group, alcohol use disorder causes a higher burden than schizophrenia in men aged 40 years and older. For females, unipolar major depression causes the highest burden in all age groups. CONCLUSIONS: We found that each of the psychiatric disorders that cause the highest burden is different according to gender and age group. This study's results can provide a rational basis to plan a national health policy regarding the burden of disease caused by psychiatric disorders.
Summary
Disability Weights for Diseases in Korea.
Jung Kyu Lee, Seok Jun Yoon, Young Kyung Do, Young Hoon Kwon, Chang Yup Kim, Kidong Park, Yong Ik Kim, Young Soo Shin
Korean J Prev Med. 2003;36(2):163-170.
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OBJECTIVES
This study aimed to develop an evaluation protocol of disability weights using person trade-off, and to test the reliability of the developed protocol in a Korean context. METHODS: To develop the valuation protocol, the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) and the Dutch studies were replicated and modified. Sixteen indicator conditions were selected from the Korean version of disease classification, which was based on that of the GBD Study, and the person trade-off method referred to the Dutch method. RESULTS: The disability weights were valued in a two step panel study. The first step was a carefully designed group process by three panels, using person trade-off to establish the disability weights for sixteen selected indicator conditions. The second step consisted of interpolation of the remaining diseases, on a disability scale, by the individual members of three panels. The members of three panels were all medical doctors, with sufficient knowledge of the consequences of a broad variety of diseases. The internal consistency of the Korean disability weights was satisfactory. Considerable agreement existed within each panel and among the panels. CONCLUSIONS: It was feasible to use a modified evaluation protocol from those used in GBD and Dutch studies. This would provide a rational basis for an international comparative study of disability weights.
Summary
Study of Disability-Adjusted Life Expectancy(DALE) Using National Health Interview Survey in Korea.
Young Hoon Kwon, Jung Kyu Lee, Young Kyung Do, Seok Jun Yoon, Chang Yup Kim, Yong Ik Kim, Young Soo Shin
Korean J Prev Med. 2002;35(4):331-339.
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OBJECTIVES
To measure DALE (Disability-Adjusted Life Expectancy) in Korea to find out how long Koreans live in a state of full heath. METHODS: DALE was calculated using the life table of 1999 and the disability prevalence from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), which was conducted with a sample of 13,523 households in 1998. The disability prevalence was measured using the annual prevalence of the long-term limitation of activities, which were divided into classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 according to the severity of the limitation. The disability weights were measured for each 6 class by conducting a survey of 16 healthcare professionals. The severity-adjusted disability prevalence was calculated by multiplying the disability prevalence of each class by the disability weights respectively. Healthy life years lost due to disability was calculated by multiplying the life expectancy by the severity-adjusted disability prevalence. Finally DALE was measured as the life expectancy minus healthy life years lost due to disability. RESUJLTS: DALE for 1999, which refers to the expectation of equivalent years of good health, were 72.5, 69.5 and 75.3 years, for total, for males and for females, respectively. The percentages for DALE out of the life expectancy were 95.8, 96.6 and 94.4% for total, for males and for females, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: DALE is a newly developed indicator, which could effectively show the healthy life expectancy of populations. A greater notice and use of DALE would be expected as life expectancies increase and the quality of life changes in Korea.
Summary
Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Theory of Reasoned Action to Predicting Cervix Cancer Screening Behavior.
Kun Sei Lee, Yong Ik Kim, Chang Yup Kim, Young Soo Shin
Korean J Prev Med. 2001;34(4):379-388.
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BACKRGROUND: Cervix cancer is the most common form of cancer among Korea women. In spite of proof that cervical cancer screening could reduce death rates substantially, the screening rates reported by previous Korean studies remain stubbornly very low. Behavioral studies to increase the cervix cancer screening rate are essential in order to develop the cancer screening program. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the factors which are related to the intention and behavior for cervix cancer screening using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). METHODS: The survey was conducted from July 21st to 26th in 1998. Of 3,218 women, 393(12.2%) between 30 and 65 years old, voluntarily participated in the survey in the 3 Myeons in Choongju city. Charge-free cervix cancer screening was provided for the subjects 3 months later. RESULTS: The R-square of both TPB and TRA to the intention (30% and 42%, respectively) was greater than the actual behavior (21% and 13%, respectively. TPB and TRA were found to provide an appropriate framework for the study of cervix cancer screening behavior. However, TRA was more powerful in explaining the intention, not only because the perceived behavioral control component exhibited lower reliability and validity than other components(attitude and subjective norm), but also because there may have been a few limitations in this study design. Consequently, the use of TRA is preferred in attempting to explain intention and actual behavior in this study. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that a successful intervention program should focus on changing attitudes and reducing psychologic barriers, rather than on just providing information. Physician recommendations, and the support of family members and friends are also very important factors in cervix cancer program participation. Physicians, friends, family members, and opinion leaders in rural areas, all of whom could affect the individual subjective norm, may all have the potential to play great roles as facilitators.
Summary
Changes in Quality of Care for Cesarean Section after Implementation of Diagnosis-Related Groups/Prospective Payment System.
Jun Yim, Young Hun Kwon, Du Ho Hong, Chang Yup Kim, Yong Ik Kim, Young Soo Shin
Korean J Prev Med. 2001;34(4):347-353.
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OBJECTIVES
To determine the impacts of Diagnosis-Related Groups/Prospective Payment System (DRG/PPS) on the quality of care in cases of Cesarean section and to describe the policy implications for the early stabilization of DRG/PPS in Korea. METHODS: Data was collected from the medical records of 380 patients who had undergone Cesarean sections in 40 hospitals participating in the DRG/PPS Demonstration Program since 1999. Cesarean sections were performed in 122 patients of the FFS(Fee-For-Service) group and 258 patients of the DRG/PPS group. Measurements of quality used included essential tests of pre- and post-operation, and the PPI(Physician Performance Index) score. The PPI was developed by two obstetricians. RESULTS: Univariate analysis demonstrated significant differences in PPI scores according to the payment systems. With respect to the mean of PPI scores, a higher score was found in the DRG/PPS group than in the FFS group. However, the adjusted effect did not show significant differences between the FFS group and the DRG/PPS group. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that the problem of poor quality may not be related to the implementation of DRG/PPS in Cesarean section. However, this study did not consider the validity and reliability of the process measurement, and it did not exclude the possibility of data omission in medical records.
Summary
An Application of Delphi Method to the Assessment of Current Status of Cancer Research.
Young Ho Khang, Seok Jun Yoon, Gil Won Kang, Chang Yup Kim, Keun Young Yoo, Young Soo Shin
Korean J Prev Med. 1998;31(4):844-856.
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Globally, cancer research has been considered one of the most important field of biomedical researches. Recently, in Korea, there are increasing concerns about cancer research and the development of national cancer control programme. For the efficient investment in cancer research at the national level, strategic approach is needed based on the nationwide information about current status of research. However even the basic data on cancer research have not been systematically collected, and are not available when necessary. The aim of this study is to assess current status of cancer research. For this purpose, this study applied two round Delphi method in which fifteen experts in cancer research fields participated. They rated each items on the initial list at the first round, and modified their responses at the second round. Panels responded that pathogenesis of cancer, research and development of cancer drug, and oncogene, etc. are the most urgent and important research fields. They assessed national level of cancer research as being 49.6% of the world highest level. Coefficient of variation tended to be lowered with the iteration. Predictive stability was evaluated to be lower in items of urgency than in items of importance and research level. Although this study shares the same limitations in the selection of the experts with many other Delphi studies, it provides a primary data that would be required to plan the national strategy of the cancer research.
Summary
Medical Care Utilization of Tuberculosis Patients in Private Sector.
Gil Won Kang, Seok Jun Yoon, Chang Yup Kim, Young Soo Shin
Korean J Prev Med. 1998;31(4):814-827.
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In this study we analyzed the insurance claims data to investigate the medical care utilization pattern of tuberculosis patients in private sector. We selected the claims of principal or secondary diagnosis with tuberculosis from claims database of National Federation of Medical Insurance, from December 1995 to November 1996. Both spell-based analysis and person-based analysis were carried out. In spell-based analysis, type and location of treatment facilities, distribution of diagnoses, number of outpatient/inpatient treatments were analyzed. Additionally in person-based analysis, number of tuberculosis patients, demographic characteristics, number of treatments per person, frequency and pattern of change in source of care were analyzed. The results were as follows 1. The number of treatments with tuberculosis was 863,641 from 1 December 1995 to 30 November 1996. The number of patients was 313.964. 2. Most of tuberculosis patients in private sector were treated in general hospital(45.8%) and clinics(42.2%) 3. About 77.7% of tuberculosis patients who were treated more than two times did not change the source of carey. 18,9% of tuberculosis patients changed source of care only once. Even when we limited tuberculosis patient to those who were treated more than five times and whose treatment period were longer than six months, 94.7% of patients did not change source of care at all, or changed treatment facility only once. 4. The probability of change in source of care was higher in pulmonary tuberculosis, in twenties, and in rural area respectively than other tuberculosis. In conclusion, healer shopping of tuberculosis patients was not serious as expected. However special attention is needed to pulmonary tuberculosis in twenties and rural area
Summary
Burden of disease of major cancers assessment using years of lives with disability in Korea.
Seok Jun Yoon, Hye Jung Chang, Young Soo Shin
Korean J Prev Med. 1998;31(4):801-813.
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This study was carried out for the burden of disease of major cancers assessment using years of lives with disability in Korea. With the years of lives with disability, this indicator was applied in order to estimate burden of major cancer disease. For this work, We also estimated incidence rate, remission rate, case fatality rate, average age of onset, expected duration with disability in each cancer disease. As sources of information, national health insurance data and national mortality registration data were analyzed. The results of the study are as follows; The top five causes of the burden of major cancer disease are evaluated as stomach cancer, liver cancer, colon and rectum cancer , esophageal cancer, lung cancer in male. The top five causes of the burden of major cancer disease are evaluated as stomach cancer, esophageal cancer, liver cancer, uterine cervix cancer ovarian cancer in female. The process of evaluating the burden disease of major cancers in Korea has not finished with this paper. This study should be seen as the first in a series in Korea. It is necessary to analyse with more accuracy the assumptions behind the methodology.
Summary
Performance Evaluation of Emergency Medical Center.
Chul Hwan Kang, Yoon Kim, Pyung Soo Lee, Young Dae Kwon, Chang Yup Kim, Young Soo Shin
Korean J Prev Med. 1997;30(4):884-892.
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Currently, there are 100 community emergency centers which expect to provide professional emergency care like Level 1 trauma centers in U.S.A. To evaluate Performance of emergency center, most studies have been widely adopted death rate based methods such as Trauma and Injury Severity Score(TRISS) and A Severity Characterization of Trauma(ASCOT). However, these methods are only applicable in situation where registration process of trauma patients is well established. Therefore, an alternative method should be applied to evaluate performance of emergency centers in Korea which does not have well-developed registration scheme. This study aims to develop new performance measures which are applicable to Korea and evaluate performance of 35 community emergency centers through new measures. The new measures are included that 'W-statistic' ; death rate calculated on the basis of International Classification based Injury Severity Score(ICISS), and 'the degree of severity' ; rate of severe trauma patients of each emergency medical centers. The study results can be summarized as follows. First, about 34% of sample emergency centers show they provide proper care in terms of their function. Second, tertiary hospitals, university hospitals, and hospitals located in Seoul show higher severity degree of patients and lower severity-adjusted death rate.
Summary
Adoption and Its Determining Factors of Computerized Tomography in Korea.
Seok Jun Yoon, Sun Mean Kim, Chul Hwan Kang, Chang Yup Kim, Young Soo Shin
Korean J Prev Med. 1997;30(1):195-207.
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High price equipment is one of the major factors that increases national health expenditure in developed countries. Computerized Tomography(CT), one of the important high price equipment, has been concerns of health service researchers and policy makers in many countries. In Korea, CT, first introduced in 1984, have spreaded nationwide with rapid speed. Though the Committee for Approving Import of High Price Medical Equipment, founded in 1981, tried to regulate the introduction of high price medical equipment including CT, the effort resulted in failure. The exact situation of diffusion of the high price equipment, however, was not yet investigated. We aimed at the description of the diffusion of CT in Korea and analysis of influencing factors in hospitals for the adoption of CT. We mainly used the database of CT, made in 1996 by the National Federation of Medical Insurance for the purpose of insurance payment for CT. Also characteristics of hospitals were gathered from yearbooks published by the central and local governments and by the Korean Hospital Association. We calculated the cumulative number of the CT per one million population year by year. In turn, multiple linear logistic regression was done to fine out the contributing factors for the adoption of CT by each hospital. In the logistic regression model, it is regarded as dependent factor whether a hospital retained CT or not in 1988 and 1993. The major categories of the independent factors were hospital characteristics, environmental factors and competitive conditions of hospitals at the period of the adoption. The results are as follows : Numberof CT scanners per one million persons in Korea marked more higher level compared with those of most OECD countries. Major influencing factors on the adoption of CT scanners were hospital characteristics, such as hospital referral level, and competitive condition of hospitals, such as number of CT scanners per 10,000 persons in each district where the hospital was located. In Korea, CT diffused with rather rapid speed, comparable with those of the United States and Japan. The major factors contributing on the adoption of CT for hospitals were competitive condition and hospital characteristics rather than regional health care need for Ct. In conclusion, a kind of regulating mechanism would be necessary for the prevention of the indiscreet adoption and inefficient use of high price equipment including CT.
Summary
The epidemiology of delays in a teaching hospital.
Yoon Kim, Kun Sei Lee, Chang Yup Kim, Yong Ik Kim, Young Soo Shin, Sang Il Lee
Korean J Prev Med. 1993;26(4):650-660.
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This study aims to describe the causes of medically unnecessary hospital stay at a teaching tertiary hospital, using modified version of Delay Tool in which the causes of delay are divided into six major categories ; delay related to test scheduling, test results, surgery, medical staff, patient/family, and administration. For the analysis of hospital stay, 6,479 inpatient-days were reviewed in two medical and four surgical departments for one month. Initially inappropriate hospital stays were identified using Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol(AEP), and causes of delay listed in Delay Tool were assigned to each of them. In both medical and surgical services, the most important cause of delay was related to medical staffs, ranging from 3.6% to 51.6% of total inpatient days. Next important category was delay related to test scheduling in medical services(4.7~9.2%), and delay related to surgery in surgical services(7.3~15.0%). Among subcategories of delay related to medical staffs, delay due to conservative care was the most important cause of inappropriate hospital stay(2.9~46.4%). Each clinical departments had different distribution among delay categories, which could not be fully justified by their clinical characteristics. The Delay Tool would be helpful in exploring factors related to the inefficient use of hospital beds. As a measurement tool of inappropriate hospital stay, however, the Delay Tool should be refined in the definitions of categories and its contents.
Summary
An analysis an dassessment of diagnostic and therapeutic process in some freqent admissions and operations.
Chang Yup Kim, Yoon Kim, Young Dae Kwon, Yong Ik Kim, Young Soo Shin
Korean J Prev Med. 1993;26(3):400-411.
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AbstractAbstract PDF
The aim of this study is to analyze the variations among hospitals and hospital groups in resource use and procedures of diagnostic and therapeutic process, such as laboratory tests, radiologic examinations, tissue diagnosis, timing of surgery after admission, the time required for operation. The study was performed for five procedures including cesarean section(C/S), appendectomy, cholecystectomy, cataract extraction, and pediatric pneumonia. The 2,316 subjects were selected from medical insurance claims list, and from this list 413 cases were sampled for medical record review. The patterns of resource utilization and process of treatment were described according to hospitals and characteristics of hospital groups. The major results were as follows: 1. The numbers of laboratory and radiologic tests showed significant difference among hospitals and hospital groups. In case of hospital groups, we could find tendencies of more tests with increasing hospital bed size. 2. In general, the proportion of operative cases evaluated by tissue diagnosis postoperatively among all operations ranged from 28.3% to 1005. The proportion varied among hospital groups, of which general hospital A group(more than 15 specially) showed the highest proportion. 3. Post-admission delay until operation and the time required for operative procedure were not invariable among hospitals and hospital groups. The duration of operation in tertiary hospitals was slightly shorter than general hospitals, with varying statistical significance. We could find that probably there were differences of quality among hospitals in some components of procedures, which suggested that the implementation of quality assurance activities would be mandatory. In this study, we simply described the patterns of resource utilization and some features of clinical process, with institution of the need for advanced studies with in-depth analyses for each component of diagnosis and treatment procedures.
Summary
Development And Evaluation Of Korean Diagnosis Related Groups: Medical Service Utilization Of Inpatients.
Young Soo Shin, Young Seong Lee, Ha Young Park, Yong Kwon Yeom
Korean J Prev Med. 1993;26(2):293-309.
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AbstractAbstract PDF
With expanded and extended coverage of the national medical insurance and fast growing health care expenditures, appropriateness of health service utilization and quality of care are concerns of both health care providers and insurers as well as patients. An accurate patient classification system is a basic tool for effective health care policies and efficient health services management. A classification system applicable to Korean medical information-Korean Diagnosis Related Groups (K-DRGs)-was developed based on the U. S. Refined DRGs, and the performance of the developed system was assessed in this study. In the process of the development, first the Korean coding systems for diagnoses and procedures were converted to the systems used in the definition of the U. S. Refined DRGs using the mapping tables formulated by physician panels. Then physician panels reviewed the group definition, and identified medical practice patterns different in two countries. The definition was modified for the difference in K-DRGs. The process resulted in 1,199 groups in the system. Several groups in Refined DRGs could not be differentiated in K-DRGs due to insufficient medical information, and several groups could not be defined due to procedures which were not practiced in Korea. However, the classification structure of Refined DRGs was retained in K-DRGs. The developed system was evaluated for its performance in explaining variations in resource use as measured by charges and length of stay(LOS), for both all and non-extreme discharges. The data base used in this evaluation included 373,322 discharges which was a random sample of discharges reviewed ad payed by the medical insurance during the five-month period from September 1990. The proportion of variance in resource use which was reduced by classifying patients into K-DRGs-r-square-was comparable to the performance of the U. S. Refined DRGs: .39 for charges and .25 for LOS for all discharges, and .53 for charges and .31 for LOS for non-extreme discharges. Another measure analyzed to assess the performance was the coefficient of variation of charges within individual K-DRGs. A total of 966 K-DRGs (87.7%) showed a coefficient below 100%, and the highest coefficient among K-DRGs with more than 30 discharges was 159%.
Summary
An Appropriateness Evaluation of Cesarean Section, Cholecystectomy, and Admission in Pediatric Pneumonia.
Chang Yup Kim, Hyeong Sik Ahn, Young Seong Lee, Young Dae Kwon, Yong Ik Kim, Young Soo Shin
Korean J Prev Med. 1992;25(4):413-428.
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The aim of this study was to evaluate the appropriateness of some kinds of surgery and admission, such as cesarean section (C/S), cholecystectomy, and pediatric pneumonia. For appropriateness evaluation, we ourselves developed some criteria, which were included in the category of explicit and linear criteria, with the assistance of specialists of relevant clinical field. The evaluation of appropriateness was performed by two family physicians. The major findings were as follows: 1. For ceserean section, 77.6% of deliveries were determined to be 'appropriate', but the level of appropriateness was not significantly different among hospitals between hospital groups by size. The most frequent indication of C/S was repeated operation, followed by cephalopelvic disproportion(CPD). The labor trials for vaginal delivery among repeated C/S and CPD cases were performed in 24.5% of pertinent deliveries. 2. About 73.8% of cholecystectomy cases was appropriate to one of the surgical indications, without significant differences among hospitals. Of surgical indications, 'sufficiently frequent and intense symptom recurrence' was the most frequent, and 'confirmed acute cholecystitis' was the second. 3. Of children admitted due to pneumonia, only 57.4% of cases satisfied admission criteria, and the level of appropriateness of admission was different among hospitals. The common reasons for admission were 'failure to initial treatment', 'suspected bacterial pnermonia', 'young infant', etc. We could find that there were differences of quality among hospitals in some procedures, especially in the pediatric pneumonia and labor trial before C/S, which suggested that the implementation of quality assurance activities would be necessary in this country. In this study, we used some simple and primitive research tools and the numbers of subjects and tracer procedures were limited. So advanced studies with plentiful subjects and more representative diseases or procedures should be tried.
Summary
A Study on the Insurance Contribution and Health Care Utilization of the Regional Medical Insurance Scheme.
Sang Il Lee, Hyun Rim Choi, Hyeong Sik Ahn, Yong Ik Kim, Young Soo Shin
Korean J Prev Med. 1989;22(4):578-590.
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This study was conducted to assess the equity in the regional insurance scheme through analysis of the computerized data from one regional insurance society and National Federation of Medical Insurance. We analysed the insurance contribution and benefit by the classes based on total and income-related contribution per household. The major findings of this study are as follows: 1. The average proportion of income-related contribution among the total was 39.2% and the upper classes show higher proportion of the income-related contribution. 2. The upper classes show higher health care utilization rate than the lower classes. It suggests that the lower classes have relatively large unmet medical needs. 3. The analysis through the Lorenz curve reveals that there exists transference of contributions from the upper to lower classes. But the cumulative percentage of insurance benefit is smaller than that of the number of the insured. It implies that regional medical insurance scheme in Korea has still some inequity in the context of social security principles.
Summary
A Study on the Regional Function of Health Care by the Disease Pattern of the Inpatients.
Huyn Rim Choi, Sang Il Lee, Young Soo Shin, Yong Ik Kim
Korean J Prev Med. 1988;21(2):390-403.
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The objectives of the study were to provide the basic informations needed in the development of balanced medical services throughout the nation. As the national health care system was expanding rapidly along with the economic growth, quantitative re-evaluation of the system is of great need. For that reason, characteristics of the admitted patients were analyzed for the case-mix and patients' flow within and through regions. Materials were 421,530 cases of inpatients, who were reported through Medical Insurance Corporation(KMIC) for insurance claim, during the period of March 1, 1985 through February 28, 1987. Korean Diagnosis Related Groups(K-DRGs) classification system was adopted for the study of case-mix and 189 cities and countries were classified into 5 district groups by factor analysis results of K-DRGs. The major findings of this study were as follows ; 1) Factor analysis of case-mix, employing K-DRG system, revealed 5 distinct functional district groups. Group A(18 district) was prominent for tertiary medical care. In group B(36 districts), rather simple procedures were prevalent. Group C(26 districts) was distinctive for the medical care of well organized internal medicine practices with qualified clinical laboratories. Group D(17 districts) was characterized by relatively high balanced medical care. Group E (92 districts) was with very low level of medical care. 2) Analysis of the case-flow through the districts showed 3 types of flow patterns ; inflow, outflow, and balanced types. Inflow type of case-flow was found in Group A, C and D while Group B and E showed outflow type. Inflow was most prominent in Group A and Group E was of typical outflow type. Group B was consistently the outflow type except for Major Diagnostic Category XX regardless of the disease treaders, but Group C and D were inflow or outflow types according to the disease tracers.
Summary
A Study on the Incidence of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning.
Soo Hun Cho, Young Soo Shin, Doek Hyoung Lee, Yong Ik Kim, Dork Ro Yun
Korean J Prev Med. 1985;18(1):1-11.
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AbstractAbstract PDF
A decade ago a survey on the population-base incidence rate of anthracite coal gas(mainly carbon monoxide) poisoning in Seoul area was investigated, resulting in the incidence rate of 306/10,000 risk population and 1 death/10,000. Another survey on the carbon monoxide poisoning was investigated during 1 year period from Apr. 1983 to Mar. 1984. Total subjects of risk population were 67,740 households covering 353,287 persons. The major findings of this survey are as follows: 1. Household-base incidence rate was 8.4%; spell-base 10.4%. 2. The incidence rate was the highest in houses having each of slate roof, cement wall, vinyl floor of bedroom and direct 'ondol' heating system. 3. Average 2.1 person was attacked from one incidence of the poisoning; severity-wise person-base incidence rates per 10,000 were 352 in mild poisoning, 54 in severe poisoning and 1.4 in death-overall incidence rate 407. Several facts were identified which supported that this figure was moderately underestimated. As the incidence of the poisoning is affected by socioeconomic and environmental factors, it is natural that one expects the incidence will decrease in proportion to general improvement of the above factors. Thus the results of these two surveys seemed preposterous. But further study suggested that the incidence rate (306/10,000) decade before had been significantly underestimated and corrected-rate should have been 478/10,000 level. 4. Age and sex distribution by the degree of the poisoning was uniform with little statistical difference; overall incidence rates by sex were 339/10,000 in male and 475/10,000 in female with significant statistical difference(p<.01). 5. 5.3% of the patients were treated at hospital or local clinic; 3.0% of the patients were hospitalized. Admission rate in comatose patient(severe poisoning) was 14.2%. In conclusion, carbon monoxide poisoning remains a major health problem by now.
Summary
An Epidemiological Study on the Neurological Sequelae of Acute Carbon Monoxide Poisoning.
Byung Joo Park, Soo Hun Cho, Yoon Ok Ahn, Young Soo Shin, Dork Ro Yun
Korean J Prev Med. 1984;17(1):5-24.
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AbstractAbstract PDF
There has been an immense need for elaborate studies on the complications and the neuological sequelae generated by acute carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning which is highly prevalent in Korea due to widespread adoption of the anthracite coal briquette as domestic fuel for heating and for cooking. For this epidemiological study, a total of 444 subjects who received hospital emergency care for acute CO poisoning during the period of March 1982 February 1983 were randomly selected from the emergency patients's lists of 13 general hospitals in Seoul area. Informations on the neurological sequelae were elucidated by means of home visiting with prearranged questionnaire consisting questions and concise neurological examination. The findings obtained were summarized as follows; 1. The complications were found in 18% of the surveyed and acute decubitus was comprised 67.5% of the complications. 2. The total cumulative incidence of the neurological sequelae was 41.2 per 100 patients and the absolute incidence rate regardless of the duration after poisoning was 40.8%. 3. The incidence of the neurological sequelae was higher in the older age than in the younger and also higher in female than in male. Twice higher incidence was observed in the admitted patients than in the non-admitted patients and the incidence became higher in proportion to the duration of CO exposure, coma and admission. The poorer the consciousness level of patients found, at emergency room and at discharge, the higher the incidence. The incidence of the neurological sequelae by emergency care was higher in hyperbaric oxygen therapy group(51.9%) than in 100% O2 group(38.0%). 4. A total of five variables significantly associated with the occurrence of the neurological sequelae were selected by the stepwise discriminant analysis. The variables were following course of emergency care, age, consciousness level at discharge, admission duration, and consciousness level at emergency room in their sequence of discriminant power. Eight variables were selected as those associated with the degree of the neurological sequelae through the stepwise multiple regression analysis. Of these variables, the acute decubitus alone explained 21.1% of the total variation and all the eight variables could explain 36.5% of the same. The remaining seven variables listed in the order of their relative importance were: age, consciousness level at discharge, admission duration, coma duration and consciousness level at emergency room. 5. It was postulated that unexpectedly high incidence of the neurological sequelae of the CO poisoning in this epidemiological study was mainly due to the inadequate emergency care and the lack of efficient and sophisticated treatment measure. In the effort to minimize the incidence of grave neurological sequelae of acute CO poisoning, new guidelines for the emergency care and treatment should be pursued with efficient ways.
Summary
A Stochastic Study for the Emergency Treatment of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in Korea.
Yong Ik Kim, Dork Ro Yun, Young Soo Shin
Korean J Prev Med. 1983;16(1):135-152.
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AbstractAbstract PDF
Emergency medical service is an important part of the health care delivery system, and the optimal allocation of resources and their efficient utilization are essentially demanded. Since these conditions are the prerequisite to prompt treatment which, in turn, will be crucial for life saving and in reducing the undesirable sequelae of the event. This study, taking the hyperbaric chamber for carbon monoxide poisoning as an example, is to develop a stochastic approach for solving the problems of optimal allocation of such emergency medical facility in Korea. The hyperbaric chamber, in Korea, is used almost exclusively for the treatment of acute carbon monoxide poisoning, most of which occur at home, since the coal briquette is used as domestic fuel by 69.6 percent of the Korean population. The annual incidence rate of comatous and fatal carbon monoxide poisoning is estimated at 45.5 per 10,000 of coal briquette-using population. It offers a serious public health problem and occupies a large portion of the emergency outpatients, especially in the winter season. The requirement of hyperbaric chambers can be calculated by setting the level of the annual queueing rate, which is here defined as the proportion of the annual number of the queued patients among the annual number of the total patients. The rate is determined by the size of the coal briquette-using population which generate a certain number of carbon monoxide poisoning patients in terms of the annual incidence rate, and the number of hyperbaric chambers per hospital to which the patients are sent, assuming that there is no referral of the patients among hospitals. The queueing occurs due to the conflicting events of the "arrival" of the patients and the "service" of the hyperbaric chambers. Here, we can assume that the length of the service time of hyperbaric chambers is fixed at sixty minutes, and the service discipline is based on "first come, first served". The arrival pattern of the carbon monoxide poisoning is relatively unique, because it usually occurs while the people are in bed. Diurnal variation of the carbon monoxide poisoning can hardly be formulated mathematically, so empirical cumulative distribution of the probability of the hourly arrival of the patients was used for Monte Carlo simulation to calculate the probability of queueing by the number of the patients per day, for the cases of one, two or three hyperbaric chambers assumed to be available per hospital. Incidence of the carbon monoxide poisoning also has strong seasonal variation, because of the four distinctive seasons in Korea. So the number of the patients per day could not be assumed to be distributed according to the Poison distribution. Testing the fitness of various distributions of rare event, it turned out to be that the daily distribution of the carbon monoxide poisoning fits well to the Polya-Eggenberger distribution. With this model, we could forecast the number of the poisonings per day by the size of the coal-briquette using population. By combining the probability of queueing by the number of patients per day, and the probability of the number of patients per day in a year, we can estimate the number of the queued patients and the number of the patients in a year by the number of hyperbaric chambers per hospital and by the size of coal briquette-using population. Setting 5 percent as the annual queueing rate, the required number of hyperbaric chambers was calculated for each province and for the whole country, in the cases of 25, 50, 75 and 100 percent of the treatment rate which stand for the rate of the patients treated by hyperbaric chambers among the patients who are to be treated. Findings of the study were as follows. 1. Probability of the number of patients per day follows Polya-Eggenberger distribution. Hourly arrival pattern of the patients turned out to be bimodal, the large peak was observed in 7:00~8:00 a.m., and the small peak in 11:00~12:00 p.m. 2. In the cases of only one or two hyperbaric chambers installed per hospital, the annual queueing rate will be at the level of more than 5 percent. Only in case of three chambers, however, the rate will reach 5 percent when the average number of the patients per day is 0.481. 3. According to the results above, a hospital equipped with three hyperbaric chambers will be able to serve 166, 485, 83, 242, 55, 495 and 41, 620 of population, when the treatment rate are 25, 50, 75 and 100 percent. 4. The required number of hyperbaric chambers are estimated at 483, 962, 1,441 and 1,923 when the treatment rate are taken as 25, 50, 75 and 100 percent. Therefore, the shortage are respectively turned out to be 312, 791, 1,270 and 1,752. The author believes that the methodology developed in this study will also be applicable to the problems of resource allocation for the other kinds of the emergency medical facilities.
Summary
Variation of Hospital Costs and Product Heterogeneity.
Young Soo Shin
Korean J Prev Med. 1978;11(1):123-127.
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The major objective of this research is to identify those hospital characteristics that best explain cost variation among hospitals and to formulate linear models that can predict hospital costs. Specific emphasis is placed on hospital output, that is, the identification of diagnosis related patient groups (DRGs) which are medically meaningful and demonstrate similar patterns of hospital resource consumption. A casemix index is developed based on the DRGs identified. Considering the common problems encountered in previous hospital cost research, the following study requirements are established for fulfilling the objectives of this research: 1. Selection of hospitals that exercise similar medical and fiscal practices. 2. Identification of an appropriate data collection mechanism in which demographic and medical characteristics of individual patients as well as accurate and comparable cost information can be derived. 3. Development of a patient classification system in which all the patients treated in hospitals are able to be split into mutually exclusive categories with consistent and stable patterns of resource consumption. 4. Development of a cost finding mechanism through which patient groups' costs can be made comparable across hospitals. A data set of Medicare patients prepared by the Social Security Administration was selected for the study analysis. The data set contained 27,229 record abstracts of Medicare patients discharged from all but one short-term general hospital in Connecticut during the period from January 1, 1971, to December 31, 1972. Each record abstract contained demographic and diagnostic information, as well as charges for specific medical services received. The "AUTOGRP System" was used to generate 198 DRGs in which the entire range of Medicare patients were split into mutually exclusive categories, each of which shows a consistent and stable pattern of resource consumption. The "Departmental Method" was used to generate cost information for the groups of Medicare patients that would be comparable across hospitals. To fulfill the study objectives, an extensive analysis was conducted in the following areas: 1. Analysis of DRGs: in which the level of resource use of each DRG was determined, the length of stay or death rate of each DRG in relation to resource use was characterized, and underlying pattern of the relationships among DRG costs were explained. 2. Exploration of resource use profiles of hospitals; in which the magnitude of differences in the resource uses or death rates incurred in the treatment of Medicare patients among this study hospitals was explored. 3. Casemix analysis; in which four types of casemix-related indices were generated, and the significance of these indices in the explanation of hospital costs was examined. 4. Formulation of linear models to predict hospital costs of Medicare patients; in which nine independent variables(i.e., casemix index, hospital size, complexity of service, teaching activity, location, casemix-adjusted death rate index, occupancy rate, and casemix-adjusted length of stay index) were used for determining factors in hospital costs. Results from the study analysis indicated that: 1. The system of 198 DRGs for Medicare patient classification was demonstrated not only as a strong tool for determining the pattern of hospital resource utilization of Medicare patients, but also for categorizing patients by their severity of illness. 2. The weighted mean total case cost(TOTC) of the study hospitals for Medicare patients during the study years was $1127.02 with a standard deviation of $117.20. The hospital with the highest average TOTC ($1538.15) was 2.08 times more expensive than the hospital with the lowest average TOTC ($745.45). The weighted mean per total cost (DTOC) of the study hospitals for Medicare patients during the study years was $107.98 with a standard deviation of $15.18. The hospital with the highest average DTOC ($147.23) was 1.87 times more expensive than the lowest average DTOC($78.49). 3. The linear models for each of the six types of hospital costs were formulated using the casemix index and the eight other hospital variables as the determinants. These models explained variable to the extent of 68.7 percent of total case cost (TOTC), 63.5 percent of room and board cost (RMC), 66.2 percent of total ancillary service cost (TANC), 66.3 percent of per diem total cost (DTOC), 56.9 percent of per diem room and board cost (DRMC), and 65.5 percent of per diem ancillary service cost (DTANC). The casemix index alone explained approximately one half of inter-hospital cost variation; 59.1 percent for TOTC and 44.3 percent for DTOC. These results demonstrate that the casemix index is the most important determinant of inter-hospital cost variation. Future research and policy implications in regard to the results of this study is envisioned in the following three areas: 1. Utilization of casemix-related indices in the Medicare data systems. 2. Refinement of data for hospital cost evaluation. 3. Development of a system for reimbursement and cost control in hospitals.
Summary
A study on the Physique and Bodily Strength of the Enlisted Men of Marine Corps in Korea.
Young Soo Shin
Korean J Prev Med. 1973;6(1):87-100.
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The purposeof this project is offering fundamental and proper informations for the better health control and personnel management of the enlisted men of Marine corps. Korea. Survey has been done under 1,001 marine enlisted men for the purpose of understanding their condition of physique, vital capacity, and bodily strength. 1. Under the subject of physique, 7 items, body weight, chest-girth, relative body weight, relative chest-girth, Vervaeck index, and Roethrer index are listed, and under the subject of vital capacity, BTPS vital capacity and percent predicted vital capacity are listed, and under the subject of bodily strength, 7 items, grasping power, chining-up, throwing a hanp-grenade, forward jumping, sitting-up, 100 meter sprinting, are listed. The total items are 16 and mean score of each one is as follow. 1) physique. a. Height : 168+/-0.15cm. b. Body weight : 62.7+/-0.17kg. c. Chest-grith : 91.4+/-0.16cm. d. Relative body-girth : 37.2+/-0.09. e. Relative Chest-girth : 54.3+/-0.10. f. Vervaeck index : 91.6+/-0.15. g. Roehere index : 1.31+/-0.003. 2) Vital capacity. a. BTPS vital capacity : 4470+/-20cc. b. %Predicted vital capacity : 150+/-5.1% 3) Bodily strength. a. Grasping Power : 41.4+/-0.26kg. b. Chining-up : 5.7+/-0.10. c. Throwing a hand-grenade : 39.7+/-0.20m. d. Forward jumping : 214+/-0.58cm. e. Sitting-up : 19.1+/-0.25. . Pushing-up : 22.1+/-0.18. g. 100 meter sprinting : 16.1+/-0.04sec. 2. Comparative analysis has been done about the conditional classes of marine enlisted men with the results of above mentioned 16 items. 7 classes according to the branches, 3 according to the ranks, 9 according to the length of service are adopted respectively.
Summary
A Study on Public Nuisance in Seoul, Pusan and Daegu Cities: Part 1. Survey on Air Pollution and Noise Level.
Chul Hwan Cha, Young Soo Shin, Young Il Lee, Kwang Soo Cho, Chong Yoo Choo, Kyo Sung Kim, Dug Il Choi
Korean J Prev Med. 1971;4(1):41-64.
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During the period from July 1st to the end of November 1970, a survey on air pollution and noise level was made in Seoul, Pusan and Taegu, the three largest cities in Korea. Each city was divided into 4-6 areas : the industrial area, the semi-industrial area, the commercial area, the residential area, the park area and the downtown area. Thirty eight sites were selected from each area. A. Method of Measurement : Dustfall was measured by the Deposit Gauge Method, sulfur oxides by PbO2 cylinder method, suspended particles by the Digital Dust Indicator, Sulfur dioxide (SO2) and Carbon Monoxide (CO) by the MSA & Kitakawa Detector and the noise levels by Rion Sound Survey meter. B. Results: 1. The mean value of dustfall in 3 cities was 30.42 ton/km2/month, ranging from 8.69 to 95.44. 2. The mean values of dustfall by city were 33.17 ton/km2/month in Seoul, 32.11 in Pusan and 25.97 in Taegu. 3. The mean values of dustfall showed a trend of decreasing order of semi-industrial area, downtown area, industrial area, commercial area, residential area, and park area. 4. The mean value of dustfall in Seoul by area were 52.32 ton/km2/month in downtown, 50.54 in semi-industrial area, 40.37 in industrial area, 24,19 in commercial area, 16.25 in park area and 15.39 in residential area in order of concentration. 5. The mean values of dustfall in Pusan by area were 48.27 ton/km2/month in semi-industrial area, 36.68 in industrial area 25.31 in commercial area, and 18.19 in residential area. 6. The mean values of dustfall in Taegu by area were 36.46 ton/km2/month in downtown area, 33.52 in industrial area, 20.37 in commercial area and 13.55 in residential area. 7. The mean values of sulfur oxides in 3 cities were 1.52mg SO3/day/100cm2 PbO2, ranging from 0.32 to 4.72. 8. The mean values of sulfur oxides by city were 1.89mg SO3/day/100cm2 PbO2, in Pusan, 1.64 in Seoul and 1.21 in Taegu. 9. The mean values of sulfur oxides by area in 3 cities were 2.16mg SO3/day/100cm2 PbO2 in industrial area, 1.69 in semi-industrial area, 1.50 in commercial area, 1.48 in downtown area, 1.32 in residential area and 0.94 in the park area, respectively. 10. The monthly mean values of sulfur oxides contents showed a steady increase from July reaching a park in November. 11. The mean values of suspended particles was 2.89mg/m3, ranging from 1.15 to 5.27. 12. The mean values of suspended particles by sity were 3.14mg/m3 in Seoul, 2.79 in Taegu and 2.25 in Pusan. 13. The mean values of noise level in 3 cities was 71.3 phon, ranging from 49 to 99 phon. 14. The mean values of noise level by city were 73 phon in Seoul, 72 in Pusan and 69 in Taegu in that order. 15. The mean values of noise level by area in 3 cities showed a decrease in the order of the downtown area, commercial area, industrial area and semi-industrial area, park area and residental area. 16. The mean values of noise level by area in 3 cities indicated that the highest level was detected in the downtown area in Seoul and Taegu and in the industrial area in Pusan. 17. The daily average concentration o sulfur dioxides (SO2) in 3 cities was 0.081 ppm, ranging from 0.004 to 0.196. 18. The daily average concentration of sulfur dioxides by city were 0.092 ppm in Seoul, 0.089 in Pusan and 0.062 in Taegu in that order. 19. the weekly average concentration of carbon monoxides (CO) was 27.59 ppm. 20. The daily average concentration of carbon monoxides by city were 33.37 ppm. in Seoul, 25.76 in Pusan and 23.65 in Taegu in that order. 21. The concentration of SO2 and CO reaches a peak from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. 22. About 3 times probably the daily average concentration of CO could be detected in the downtown area probably due to heavy traffic emission in comparison with that in the industrial area. 23. As for daily variation of the concentration of SO2 and CO it was found that the concentration maintains relatively higher value during weekdays in the industrial area and on the first part of the week in the downtown area.
Summary

JPMPH : Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health