Hosihn Ryu

The socioeconomic status (SES) and health behaviors of workers are associated with the risks of developing obesity, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and other cardiovascular diseases. Herein, we investigated the factors influencing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk based on the SES of male and female workers. This cross-sectional analysis used the National Health Information Database to assess the associations between gender, SES (income level, residential area), health behaviors, and CVD-related health status of workers, through multinomial logistic regression. Upon analysis of a large volume of data on workers during 2016, the smoking and drinking trends of male and female workers were found to differ, causing different odds ratio (OR) tendencies of the CVD risk. Also, while for male workers, higher ORs of obesity or abdominal obesity were associated with higher incomes or residence in metropolitan cities, for female workers, they were associated with lower incomes or residence in rural areas. Additionally, among the factors influencing CVD risk, lower income and residence in rural areas were associated with higher CVD risk for male and female workers. The study findings imply the importance of developing gender-customized intervention programs to prevent CVD, due to gender-specific associations between CVD-related health status and health behaviors according to SES.

Park BM, et al. J Korean Acad Nurs. 2019 Apr;49(2):203-214. https://doi.org/10.4040/jkan.2019.49.2.203

Yang EJ, et al. Korean J Adult Nurs. 2019 Feb;31(1):28-37. https://doi.org/10.7475/kjan.2019.31.1.28

This study examined the influence of health behaviors and occupational stress on the prediabetic state of male office workers, and identified related risks and influencing factors. The study used a cross-sectional design and performed an integrative analysis on data from regular health checkups, health questionnaires, and a health behavior-related survey of employees of a company, using Spearman’s correlation coefficients and multiple logistic regression analysis. The results showed significant relationships of prediabetic state with health behaviors and occupational stress. Among health behaviors, a diet without vegetables and fruits (Odds Ratio (OR) = 3.74, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.93–7.66) was associated with a high risk of prediabetic state. In the subscales on occupational stress, organizational system in the 4th quartile (OR = 4.83, 95% CI = 2.40–9.70) was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of prediabetic state. To identify influencing factors of prediabetic state, the multiple logistic regression was performed using regression models. The results showed that dietary habits (β = 1.20, p = 0.002), total occupational stress score (β = 1.33, p = 0.024), and organizational system (β = 1.13, p = 0.009) were significant influencing factors. The present findings indicate that active interventions are needed at workplace for the systematic and comprehensive management of health behaviors and occupational stress that influence prediabetic state of office workers.

This paper aims to develop and analyze the effects of a socio-ecological model-based intervention program for preventing metabolic syndrome (MetS) among office workers. The intervention program was developed using regular health examinations, a “health behavior and need” assessment survey among workers, and a focus group study. According to the type of intervention, subjects took part in three groups: health education via an intranet-based web magazine (Group 1), self-monitoring with the U-health system (Group 2), and the target population who received intensive intervention (Group 3). The intervention programs of Group 1 and Group 2, which relied on voluntary participation, did not show significant effects. In Group 3, which relied on targeted and proactive programs, showed a decrease in waist circumference and in fasting glucose (p < 0.001). The MetS score in both males (−0.61 ± 3.35 versus −2.32 ± 2.55, p = 0.001) and females (−3.99 ± 2.05 versus −5.50 ± 2.19, p = 0.028) also showed a statistically significant decrease. In light of the effectiveness of the intensive intervention strategy for metabolic syndrome prevention among workers used in this study, companies should establish targeted and proactive health care programs rather than providing a healthcare system that is dependent on an individual’s voluntary participation.

Since 2011, the Seoul Metabolic Syndrome Management (SMESY) program has been employed as a community-wide, lifestyle modification intervention in Seoul, Korea. We aimed to determine if the SMESY intervention would be significantly associated with improvements in metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk factors. This retrospective database study included data from 25,449 participants aged 30–64 years between 1 January 2013 and 30 June 2013. In the SMESY program, 3 risk-stratified groups by the number of MetS factors were followed for 12 months with different intensity and timeframe of intervention. Among the high-(n = 7116) and moderate-risk groups (n = 14,762), all MetS factors (except triglycerides among the moderate-risk group) as well as MetS z-scores significantly improved over 12 months (all p < 0.05). Among the low-risk group (n = 3571), all factors aggravated significantly over 12 months (all p < 0.05). We observed temporal associations between the implementation of the SMESY program and improvements in MetS risk factors. However, such improvements differed by risk-stratified group, being most robust for the high-risk group, modest for the moderate-risk group, and aggravated for the low-risk group. Thus, more intensive interventions targeting different risk-stratified groups are needed, given a better understanding of the increase in risk factors observed in the low-risk group.

Policy Implications for Home-Visit Nursing(HVN) of the Korean Long Term Care Insurance through the implications of the Japanese HVN Home-visit nursing;Political implications;Long-term care insurance;Korea;Japan; Due to lack of an information system regarding the status of using home-visit nursing (HVN), it has barriers of providing improvement of the HVN for management of elderly health care in Korea. The twofold aims of the current review are to expose the existing agendas for HVN and to suggest the political implications for HVN of Korea based on the transition process and revised HVN system of Japan. This review suggests that an information evaluation system has to precede for HVN services in detail. And, the service provided per manpower should be assessed by separating the code of manpower (registered nurse, nurse aide, dental hygienist) as well as securing detailed and precise information on the HVN services. The other suggestion, development of a community-based home health care nursing model in order to provide necessary services for long-term health insurance beneficiaries. In addition, a master plan for health care for elderly should be established at the national level in order to establish an effective home health nursing delivery system.

The purpose of this study is to compare of the research trends for home care services in Japan and the Republic of Korea (Korea). In particular, it was compared as the research design, the method of data collection, and key words by literature review.