Kwangmo Yang

Introduction: Trust is built on the belief that promises will be honored. In biodata research, public trust is established when researchers conduct studies as promised and utilize the research outcomes in accordance with the stated objectives. Participants, particularly those contributing sensitive data, often demand a detailed explanation regarding how their data will be utilized and governed, which forms the foundation of trust. The National Project of Bio-Big Data (NPBBD) was conceived upon this premise. Within this framework, participants recognize the necessity of biobanks, the state ensures trustworthy governance through institutional safeguards, and researchers uphold these commitments—thereby sustaining a cycle of trust. Although prior studies have examined public attitudes toward biobanks and general willingness to participate, less is known about their perspectives on consent models, governance structures, benefit-sharing mechanisms, and motivations for engagement. Persistently low participation rates highlight the need for systematic analysis of underlying barriers and strategies to strengthen public involvement. Considering the NPBBD’s goal of building a nationwide cohort of one million individuals, this study seeks to identify the motivating factors that can foster improved public participation. By assessing public awareness and participation drivers, we aim to delineate the conditions of trust from the participants’ perspectives and offer guidance for data-driven policies grounded in medical, ethical, legal, and social legitimacy. Methods: Between August 22–30, 2024, a web- and mobile-based survey was conducted among 1,027 adults aged 19–64 years, residing across 17 provinces and metropolitan cities in Korea, selected via proportional allocation. The questionnaire, developed with reference to prior studies including ethical, legal, and social implications, comprised 19 items across six domains, and 16 sociodemographic questions. Results: Overall, 15.1% of the respondents were aware of the NPBBD, and 35.1% had heard of it, as compared to 49.1% who recognized the term “biobank.” Willingness to participate varied by incentive: 60.9% expressed willingness to participate when personal benefits were offered, 29.9% were motivated by public interest, and 9.3% declined participation altogether. Among the non-participants, 18.9% agreed to participate when presented with a rare disease scenario. Anticipated benefits included early detection and prevention (mean score: 78.3), treatment for rare or incurable diseases (76.5), and advancement of research (75.4). Key concerns centered on data breach (77.0), third-party misuse (76.1), and unconsented data use (75.6). Participation drivers included contribution to science (74.6), support for future generations (72.5), and personal benefits (68.1), with access to professional consultation (78.6) emerging as the most influential factor. The most desired information was genetic risk prediction (62.8%). Respondents favored receiving updates on sanctions for misuse (82.0%), supervisors assigned to monitor data use (80.3%), and ongoing research use (75.0%), through text messages (41.0%) and email (36.1%). Regarding additional data, 39.6% were willing to share information about their health, lifestyle, and habits; 38.0% preferred to share health information only; and 13.2% were ready to give biospecimens only. While the majority of participants favored reinvesting profits into drug and treatment development, others preferred receiving benefits through partial coverage of treatment costs (64.1%). In terms of governance, most respondents preferred a shared model involving government, public, and private institutions (44.7%). Consent preferences leaned toward dynamic (57.8%) over broad consent (35.2%). Discussion: Public perception of biodata collection reflected a mix of anticipated personal and public benefits, alongside concerns regarding data disclosure. Willingness to participate was influenced more by personal benefits (60.9%) than by public interest (29.9%). While personal incentives such as treatment cost coverage were valued, participation was also driven by a desire to contribute to research and support drug development, reflecting a blend of self-interest and altruistic motivation. Concerns centered on data leakage, with dynamic consent emerging as a key condition of trust, alongside public governance and the right to information. To secure public trust and increase participation in the NPBBD, tailored strategies must be used to balance personal and public benefits with transparent governance, information provision, and consent procedures.

This study aimed to investigate the association between glucose dysregulation and delirium after non-cardiac surgery. Among a total of 203,787 patients who underwent non-cardiac surgery between January 2011 and June 2019 at our institution, we selected 61,805 with available preoperative blood glucose levels within 24 h before surgery. Patients experiencing glucose dysregulation were divided into three groups: hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, and both. We compared the incidence of postoperative delirium within 30 days after surgery between exposed and unexposed patients according to the type of glucose dysregulation. The overall incidence of hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, and both was 5851 (9.5%), 1452 (2.3%), and 145 (0.2%), respectively. The rate of delirium per 100 person-months of the exposed group was higher than that of the unexposed group in all types of glucose dysregulation. After adjustment, the hazard ratios of glucose dysregulation in the development of delirium were 1.35 (95% CI, 1.18–1.56) in hyperglycemia, 1.36 (95% CI, 1.06–1.75) in hypoglycemia, and 3.14 (95% CI, 1.27–7.77) in both. The subgroup analysis showed that exposure to hypoglycemia or both to hypo- and hyperglycemia was not associated with delirium in diabetic patients, but hyperglycemia was consistently associated with postoperative delirium regardless of the presence of diabetes. Preoperative glucose dysregulation was associated with increased risk of delirium after non-cardiac surgery. Our findings may be helpful for preventing postoperative delirium, and further investigations are required to verify the association and mechanisms for the effect we observed.

Background: Machine-learning techniques are useful for creating prediction models in clinical practice. This study aimed to construct a prediction model of postoperative 30-day mortality based on an automatically extracted electronic preoperative evaluation sheet. Methods: We used data from 276,341 consecutive adult patients who underwent non-cardiac surgery between January 2011 and December 2020 at a tertiary center for model development and internal validation, and another dataset from 63,384 patients between January 2011 and October 2021 at another center for external validation. Postoperative 30-day mortality was 0.16%. We developed an extreme gradient boosting (XGB) prediction model using only variables from preoperative evaluation sheets. Results: The model yielded an area under the curve of 0.960 and an area under the precision and recall curve of 0.216, which were 0.932 and 0.122, respectively, in the external validation set. The optimal threshold calculated by Youden’s J statistic had a sensitivity of 0.885 and specificity of 0.914. In an additional analysis with balanced distribution, the model showed a similar predictive value. Conclusion: We presented a machine-learning prediction model for 30-day mortality after non-cardiac surgery using preoperative variables automatically extracted from electronic medical records and validated the model in a multi-center setting. Our model may help clinicians predict postoperative outcomes.

Background: The sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score has been validated in various clinical situations. However, it has not been investigated during a short stay in the intensive care unit (ICU). This study aimed to evaluate the association between the SOFA score and outcomes in patients who were monitored for less than one day after non-cardiac surgery. Methods: From a total of 203,787 consecutive adult patients who underwent non-cardiac surgery between January 2011 and June 2019, we selected 17,714 who were transferred to the ICU immediately after surgery and stayed for less than 24 h. Patients were divided according to quartile value and change between the initial and follow-up levels of SOFA score. Results: Three-year mortality tended to increase with a higher initial SOFA score (11.7%, 11.8%, 15.1%, and 17.8%, respectively). The patients were divided according to changes in the SOFA score at the midnight postoperative follow-up check: 16,176 (91.3%) in the stable group and 1538 (8.7%) in the worsened group. The worsened group showed significantly higher three-year mortality and complications (13.2% vs. 18.6%; HR [hazard ratio]: 1.236; 95% CI [confidence interval]: 1.108–1.402; p ≤ 0.0021 for three-year mortality and 3.8% vs. 9.1%; HR: 2.13; 95% CI: 1.73–2.60; p < 0.001 for acute kidney injury). Conclusions: The SOFA score during a short stay in the ICU after non-cardiac surgery showed an association with mortality. The change in SOFA score may need to be considered at discharge from the ICU.

Studies have reported conflicting results on the association between the use of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) inhibitors and cancer development. We compared the incidence of cancer between patients using RAAS inhibitors and other antihypertensive drugs. This retrospective observational cohort study used data from seven hospitals in Korea that were converted for use in the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership Common Data Model. A total of 166,071 patients on antihypertensive therapy across the databases of the seven hospitals were divided into two groups according to the use of RAAS inhibitors. The primary outcome was the occurrence of cancer. A total of 166,071 patients across the databases of the seven hospitals was included in the final analysis; 26,650 (16%) were in the RAAS inhibitors group and 139,421 (84%) in the other antihypertensive drugs group. The meta-analysis of the whole cohort showed a lower incidence of cancer occurrence in the RAAS inhibitor group (9.90 vs. 13.28 per 1000 person years; HR, 0.81; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.75–0.88). After propensity-score matching, the RAAS inhibitor group consistently showed a lower incidence of cancer (9.90 vs. 13.28 per 1000 person years; HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.81–0.91). The patients using RAAS inhibitors showed a lower incidence of cancer compared with those using other antihypertensive drugs. These findings support the association between the use of RAAS inhibitors and cancer occurrence.

Elevated cardiac troponin (cTn) showed associations with mortality even in stable patients, but management has not been established. We aimed to investigate whether consultation to cardiologists could reduce mortality of stable patients with cTn elevation at admission. We identified 1329 patients with elevated cTn level at hospitalization from outpatient clinic to any department other than cardiology or cardiac surgery between April 2010 and December 2018. The patients were divided into two groups according to cardiologist consultation at admission. For primary outcome, mortality during one year was compared in the crude and propensity-score-matched populations. In 1329 patients, 397 (29.9%) were consulted to cardiologists and 932 (70.1%) were not. Mortality during the first year was significantly lower in patients consulted to cardiologists compared with those who were not (9.8% vs. 14.2%; hazard ratio (HR), 0.50; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.35–0.72; p < 0.001). After propensity-score matching, 324 patients were in the cardiologist consultation group and 560 patients were in the no cardiologist consultation group. One-year mortality was consistently lower in the cardiologist consultation group (10.5% vs. 14.6%; HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.39–0.86; p = 0.01). Cardiologist consultation may be associated with lower mortality in stable patients with cTn elevation at admission. Further studies are needed to identify effective management strategies for stable patients with elevated cTn.

Background: Hyperglycemia in surgical candidates is associated with increased mortality and morbidity. We aimed to evaluate the effect of intraoperative blood glucose level on the incidence of myocardial injury after non-cardiac surgery (MINS) in diabetic patients. Methods: Diabetic patients with available intraoperative blood glucose measurement during non-cardiac surgery were enrolled in this study. Based on the highest intraoperative blood glucose level, patients were stratified into two groups: the blood sugar glucose (BST) < 180 group (intraoperative peak glucose < 180 mg/dL) and BST ≥ 180 group (intraoperative peak glucose ≥ 180 mg/dL). The primary outcome was the incidence of MINS, and secondary outcomes were in-hospital and 30-day mortalities. Results: Of the 11,302 diabetic patients, 8337 were in the BST < 180 group (73.8%) and 2965 in the BST ≥ 180 group (26.2%). After adjustment with inverse probability weighting, MINS was significantly higher in the BST ≥ 180 group (24.0% vs. 17.2%; odds ratio (OR), 1.26; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.14–1.40; p < 0.001). In addition, in-hospital and 30-day mortalities were also higher in the BST ≥ 180 group compared to the BST < 180 group (4.2% vs. 2.3%, hazard ratio (HR), 1.39; 95% CI, 1.07–1.81; p = 0.001, and 3.1% vs. 1.8%; HR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.31–2.36; p < 0.001, respectively). Receiver-operating characteristic plots showed that the threshold of glucose level associated with MINS was 149 mg/dL. Conclusion: Intraoperative hyperglycemia was associated with an increased MINS incidence and postoperative mortality in diabetic patients. Close monitoring of intraoperative blood glucose level may be helpful in detection and management of MINS.

Contradictory findings exist about association of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEi) and angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) with lung cancer development. This was a retrospective observational cohort study that used data from 7 hospitals in Korea, converted to the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership Common Data Model. The primary outcome was occurrence of lung cancer. A total of 207,794 patients across the 7 databases was included in the final analysis; 33,230 (16%) were prescribed ACEi and 174,564 (84%) were prescribed ARB. Crude analysis adjusted for sex and age showed higher incidence of lung cancer in the ACEi group compared to the ARB group (hazard ratio [HR], 1.46; 95% confidence rate [CI], 1.08–1.97). After propensity-score matching, 30,445 pairs were generated, and there was no difference in incidence of lung cancer between the two groups (HR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.64–1.35). Patients prescribed ACEi showed no difference in incidence of lung cancer development compared to those using ARB. This finding provides evidence on the association between ACEi and occurrence of lung cancer.

Background: Oxygen demand–supply mismatch is supposed to be one of the major causes of myocardial injuries after noncardiac surgery (MINS). Impaired tissue oxygenation during the surgery can lead to intraoperative hyperlactatemia. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between intraoperative lactate level and MINS. Methods: A total of 1905 patients divided into groups according to intraoperative hyperlactatemia: 1444 patients (75.8%) into normal (≤2.2 mmol/L) and 461 patients (24.2%) into hyperlactatemia (>2.2 mmol/L) groups. The primary outcome was the incidence of MINS, and all-cause mortality within 30 days was compared. Results: In the crude population, the risks for MINS and 30-day mortality were higher for the hyperlactatemia group than the normal group (17.7% vs. 37.7%, odds ratio [OR]: 2.83, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.24–3.56, p < 0.001 and 0.8% vs. 4.8%, hazard ratio [HR]: 5.86, 95% CI: 2.9–12.84, p < 0.001, respectively). In 365 propensity score-matched pairs, intraoperative hyperlactatemia was consistently associated with MINS and 30-day mortality (21.6% vs. 31.8%, OR: 1.69, 95% CI: 1.21–1.36, p = 0.002 and 1.1% vs. 3.8%, HR: 3.55, 95% CI: 1.71–10.79, p < 0.03, respectively). Conclusion: Intraoperative lactate elevation was associated with a higher incidence of MINS and 30-day mortality.