Irregular menstruation is an important indicator of current and potential health problems. A woman's health is greatly influenced by her socioeconomic status. The purpose of this study was to examine ...the prevalence of irregular menstruation by socioeconomic status among South Korean women. Secondary data analyses were conducted among 4,709 women, aged 19-54 years, using raw data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V (2010-2012), a nationally representative survey. Compared to women who graduated from university, the adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for those who graduated from elementary school or lower, middle school, and high school were 3.256 (1.969-5.385), 2.857 (1.866-4.376), and 1.607 (1.261-2.048), respectively. Compared to women with a medium-high income level, the adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for women with the highest household income level was 1.409 (1.091-1.819). Irregular menstruation was prevalent among adult women and appeared to be associated with socioeconomic status, especially in terms of education and household income. This study's findings suggest that attention must be paid to women with low educational levels or high household incomes, to ensure early diagnosis and the provision of medical attention for irregular menstruation.
The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) is a national surveillance system that has been assessing the health and nutritional status of Koreans since 1998. Based on the ...National Health Promotion Act, the surveys have been conducted by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). This nationally representative cross-sectional survey includes approximately 10 000 individuals each year as a survey sample and collects information on socioeconomic status, health-related behaviours, quality of life, healthcare utilization, anthropometric measures, biochemical and clinical profiles for non-communicable diseases and dietary intakes with three component surveys: health interview, health examination and nutrition survey. The health interview and health examination are conducted by trained staff members, including physicians, medical technicians and health interviewers, at a mobile examination centre, and dieticians' visits to the homes of the study participants are followed up. KNHANES provides statistics for health-related policies in Korea, which also serve as the research infrastructure for studies on risk factors and diseases by supporting over 500 publications. KCDC has also supported researchers in Korea by providing annual workshops for data users. KCDC has published the Korea Health Statistics each year, and microdata are publicly available through the KNHANES website (http://knhanes.cdc.go.kr).
There has been an increasing interest in the long-term impact of long COVID. However, only a few studies have investigated the clinical manifestations of long COVID after 24 months of acute ...infection. In this study, prospective online surveys were conducted in adults previously diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in South Korea between February 13 and March 13, 2020, at 6, 12, and 24 months after COVID-19. We investigated self-reported symptoms and the EuroQol-5-dimension index. Among 900 individuals enrolled initially, 150 completed all 3 surveys. After excluding the cases of COVID-19 reinfection, 132 individuals were included in the final analysis. Among the 132 participants, 94 (71.2%) experienced symptoms of long COVID. The most frequently reported symptoms were fatigue (34.8%), amnesia (30.3%), concentration difficulties (24.2%), insomnia (20.5%), and depression (19.7%). Notably, no significant differences were noted in the incidence of long COVID at 24 months in terms of the number of vaccinations received. Although the neuropsychiatric quality of life improved over time, it continued to affect 32.7% of participants. Symptoms of long COVID, particularly neuropsychiatric symptoms, tend to persist over time, and COVID-19 vaccination or the number of vaccinations received may not significantly affect the incidence of long COVID.
Standardization of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) testing processes is necessary to obtain clinically reliable results. The pre-analytical phase of cfDNA testing greatly influences the results because of the ...low proportion and stability of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). In this review, we provide evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for pre-analytical phase procedures of plasma epidermal growth factor receptor gene (
) variant testing. Specific recommendations for pre-analytical procedures were proposed based on evidence from the literature and our experimental data. Standardization of pre-analytical procedures can improve the analytical performance of cfDNA testing.
This pilot study aims to investigate the differences between varying lengths of bundles in structure and function by comparing the 100 most frequent three-, four-, and five-word bundles in a ...self-built corpus of dissertations which contains about 3.5 million words. The findings reveal considerable variances between bundles of different lengths in terms of both structure and function. In general, the variances between three-and four-word bundles are greater than those between four-and five-word bundles, and three-and five-word bundles. Structurally, three-and four-word bundles differ significantly in all six main categories. Four-and five-word bundles vary in five categories, while three-and five-word bundles are only different in four categories. Functionally, noticeable variances were observed in research-, text- and participant-oriented bundles between three-and four-word bundles, and three-and five-word bundles. However, four-and five-word bundles only differ significantly in text- and participant-oriented bundles. Interestingly, bundles of varying lengths also vary in patterns that are used to perform the same functions. The results of this study might inform researchers that they need to take bundle lengths into consideration when making generalizations of their findings or comparing bundles between various studies.
Spatial visitation patterns and its features on nature-based tourism are difficult to assess using only a field-based survey, which is costly and labor intensive. However, understanding of a ...protected area's visitation status is critical, as it can strongly influence the sustainability of natural resources. Hence, it is important to identify ‘where people visit’ and ‘why people visit,’ to evaluate the features attractive to tourists. In this regard, we proposed and applied social big data to investigate nature-based tourism in an ASEAN Heritage Park. Overall, our research was able to effectively illustrate spatial patterns of visitation using 10 years of Flickr geo-tagged photographs. Hotspots of high visitation were identified, while revealing the local spatial impact of distributed attributes. This study offers insights into the applicability of social big data to protected-area management and its potential in reinforcing existing field-based participatory approaches.
•Provided first study on the applicability of social big data for tourism management in ASEAN Heritage Parks.•Geotagged photographs shown to be a powerful tool to evaluate spatial patterns in visitation.•Impact of attractions and supporting artifacts on visitation were identified.•Potential and limitations of using social big data in management were suggested.•There was complementarity among big data and field-based approaches.
As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to progress, awareness about its long-term impacts has been growing. To date, studies on the long-term course of symptoms, factors ...associated with persistent symptoms, and quality of life after 12 months since recovery from acute COVID-19 have been limited.
A prospective online survey (First: September 8, 2020-September 10, 2020; Second: May 26, 2021-June 1, 2021) was conducted on recovered patients who were previously diagnosed with COVID-19 between February 13, 2020 and March 13, 2020 at Kyungpook National University Hospital. Responders aged between 17 and 70 years were included in the study. Overall, 900 and 241 responders were followed up at 6 and 12 months after recovery from COVID-19 in the first and second surveys, respectively. Clinical characteristics, self-reported persistent symptoms, and EuroQol-5-dimension (EQ5D) index score were investigated for evaluating quality of life.
The median period from the date of the first symptom onset or COVID-19 diagnosis to the time of the survey was 454 (interquartile range IQR 451-458) days. The median age of the responders was 37 (IQR 26.0-51.0) years, and 164 (68.0%) responders were women. Altogether, 11 (4.6%) responders were asymptomatic, and 194 (80.5%), 30 (12.4%), and 6 (2.5%) responders had mild, moderate, and severe illness, respectively. Overall, 127 (52.7%) responders still experienced COVID-19-related persistent symptoms and 12 (5.0%) were receiving outpatient treatment for such symptoms. The main symptoms were difficulty in concentration, cognitive dysfunction, amnesia, depression, fatigue, and anxiety. Considering the EQ5D index scores, only 59.3% of the responders did not have anxiety or depression. Older age, female sex, and disease severity were identified as risk factors for persistent neuropsychiatric symptoms.
COVID-19-related persistent symptoms improved over time; however, neurological symptoms can last longer than other symptoms. Continuous careful observation of symptom improvement and multidisciplinary integrated research on recovered COVID-19 patients are required.
Handgrip strength is used as an important indicator of health in older adults. We aimed to explore the association between stress, depression, and suicidal ideation and handgrip strength among older ...adults. We conducted this cross-sectional study involving 1254 individuals (aged ≥65 years), using data from the 2015 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey VI. We used logistic regression analysis to examine associations between handgrip strength and mental health. Among mental health factors, a significant difference was noted between stress and handgrip strength among the older adults. After adjusting for confounding factors, the odd ratio (OR) of stress among older adults with low handgrip strength was statistically significant in Models 1 (1.61 (95% CI: 1.01–2.57)) and 2 (1.59 (95% CI: 1.01–2.52)) but not in Model 3 (1.52 (95% CI: .96–2.43)). No significant association was found between depression or suicidal ideation and handgrip strength. The risk of stress was 1.59-1.61 times higher in older adults with low handgrip strength, compared to that in older adults with normal handgrip strength. It is necessary to develop strategies aimed at managing stress among older adults with low handgrip strength and educating them about the importance of handgrip strength and exercises that increase handgrip strength.
This prospective cohort study aimed to identify characteristics of long COVID and any potential mitigating effects of COVID-19 vaccinations in patients 24 months following COVID-19 infection. Adult ...patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between February 17, 2020, and March 24, 2020, were scheduled to visit the study hospital four times (6, 12, 18, and 24 months after infection) to assess their symptoms, quality of life, and mental health. Among the 235 patients, 121 (51.5%) completed the study visits. Of these, 59.5% were female, with a median age of 52 years. Mild to moderate disease severity were identified in 101 (83.4%) patients. A total of 75 participants (62.0%) were still experiencing long COVID symptoms 24 months after acute infection. Fatigue, amnesia, difficulty concentrating, and insomnia were the most common symptoms. The frequency of neuropsychiatric symptoms did not differ based on vaccination status or the number of doses received. Quality of life improved over time for the participants, but 32.2% of respondents still reported anxiety/depression at the end of the study. Overall, our cohort demonstrates that long COVID can persist up to 24 months after COVID-19 infection, affecting mental health and quality of life.
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