Publications by authors named "Beom Seuk Hwang"

Article Synopsis
  • A study was conducted to explore Korean clinicians' knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to using neuromodulators and psychiatric treatments for functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs).
  • The survey included 451 clinicians from various hospital tiers, revealing that while a high percentage recognized the need for these treatments, many were unfamiliar with prescribing neuromodulators and referred few patients for psychiatric care.
  • Results indicated a significant gap in knowledge and prescribing practices between primary care clinicians and gastroenterologists, highlighting the need for further education on this topic.
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Article Synopsis
  • This study evaluated how non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) during the COVID-19 pandemic affected the incidence of certain infectious diseases in South Korea from 2018 to 2021.
  • Significant decreases in diseases like varicella, mumps, and scarlet fever were observed after NPIs were implemented, indicating a strong correlation due to their respiratory transmission.
  • Conversely, other illnesses, such as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales and hepatitis infections, showed little to no significant change with NPIs, highlighting the complexity of controlling different types of infections.
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Article Synopsis
  • * Results revealed a 42.4% drop in asthma patients from 2019 to 2020, alongside a 26.3% decline in subway users, indicating a strong correlation between reduced subway usage and lower asthma prevalence.
  • * The findings suggest that social distancing strategies to combat COVID-19 may also contribute to fewer asthma cases and exacerbations, highlighting the potential benefits of non-pharmaceutical interventions.
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Background/aims: For patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who require supplemental oxygen, the evidence of the optimal duration of corticosteroid is limited. This study aims to identify whether long-term use of corticosteroids is associated with decreased mortality.

Methods: Between February 10, 2020 and October 31, 2021, we analyzed consecutive hospitalized patients with COVID-19 with severe hypoxemia.

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Increasing evidence suggests an association between SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Nevertheless, little is understood about the contributing risk factors and clinical characteristics of GBS post SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. In this prospective surveillance study of 38,828,691 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine doses administered from February 2021 to March 2022 in the Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, 55 cases of GBS were reported post vaccination.

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Objective: Facial affect recognition is associated with neuropsychological status and psychiatric diseases. We hypothesized that facial affect recognition is associated with psychological status and perception of other affects.

Methods: A total of 80 images depicting facial affect, including 20 Neutral, 20 Angry, 20 Fear, and 20 Sad, were screened for use in our research.

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Background: This study aimed to investigate the association between e-cigarette (EC) use and development of acute severe pneumonia in the Korean population using a national database.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis using linkage of data between the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) and the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) administrative claims database. The primary endpoint of this study was development of severe pneumonia requiring hospital admission according to EC use during the study period.

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We sought to determine the minimum number of observations needed to determine hand hygiene (HH) compliance among healthcare workers. The study was conducted at a referral hospital in South Korea. We retrospectively analyzed the result of HH monitoring from January to December 2018.

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Objective: Despite the fracture risk associated with both antidepressant (AD) medication and benzodiazepines (BDZs), they are commonly prescribed simultaneously. However, studies elucidating the effects of concurrent use of BDZs and ADs on the risk fracture are scant. The objective of this study was to evaluate the risk of fracture associated with concurrent use of BDZs in AD users, using a self-controlled case-series analysis.

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In analysis of diagnostic data with multiple tests, it is often the case that these tests are correlated. Modeling the correlation explicitly not only produces valid inference results but also enables borrowing of information. Motivated by the Physician Reliability Study (PRS) that investigated the diagnostic performance of physicians in diagnosing endometriosis, we construct a correlated modeling framework to estimate ROC curves and the associated area under the curves.

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In application of diagnostic accuracy, it is possible that a priori information may exist regarding the test score distributions, either between different disease populations for a single test or between multiple correlated tests. Few have considered constrained diagnostic accuracy analysis when the true disease status is binary; almost none when the disease status is ordinal. Motivated by a study on diagnosing endometriosis, we propose an approach to estimating diagnostic accuracy measures that can incorporate different stochastic order constraints on the test scores when an ordinal true disease status is in consideration.

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Motivated by the Longitudinal Investigation of Fertility and the Environment (LIFE) Study that investigated the association between exposure to a large number of environmental pollutants and human reproductive outcomes, we propose a joint latent risk class modeling framework with an interaction between female and male partners of a couple. This formulation introduces a dependence structure between the chemical patterns within a couple and between the chemical patterns and the risk of infertility. The specification of an interaction enables the interplay between the female and male's chemical patterns on the risk of infertility in a parsimonious way.

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Background: Ambient air pollutants may increase preterm birth (PTB) risk, but critical exposure windows are uncertain. The interaction of asthma and pollutant exposure is rarely studied.

Objective: We sought to assess the interaction of maternal asthma and air pollutant exposures in relation to PTB risk.

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In estimating ROC curves of multiple tests, some constraints may exist, either between the healthy and diseased populations within a test or between tests within a population. In this paper, we proposed an integrated modeling approach for ROC curves that jointly accounts for stochastic and variability orders. The stochastic order constrains the distributional centers of the diseased and healthy populations within a test, while the variability order constrains the distributional spreads of the tests within each of the populations.

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Objective: Preterm birth is a leading cause of infant morbidity and mortality. Little is known about the contextual effect of U.S.

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Purpose: To examine whether maternal asthma contributes to racial/ethnic differences in obstetrical and neonatal complications.

Methods: Data on white (n = 110,603), black (n = 50,284), and Hispanic (n = 38,831) singleton deliveries came from the Consortium on Safe Labor. Multilevel logistic regression models, with an interaction term for asthma and race/ethnicity, estimated within-group adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, pre-eclampsia, placental abruption, premature rupture of membranes, preterm delivery, maternal hemorrhage, neonatal intensive care unit admissions, small for gestational age, apnea, respiratory distress syndrome, transient tachypnea of the newborn, anemia, and hyperbilirubinemia after adjustment for clinical and demographic confounders.

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Many dose-response studies collect data on correlated outcomes. For example, in developmental toxicity studies, uterine weight and presence of malformed pups are measured on the same dam. Joint modeling can result in more efficient inferences than independent models for each outcome.

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Shorter telomeres have been associated with poor health behaviors, age-related diseases, and early mortality. Telomere length is regulated by the enzyme telomerase, and is linked to exposure to proinflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress. In our recent randomized controlled trial, omega-3 (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) supplementation lowered the concentration of serum proinflammatory cytokines.

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Observational studies have linked lower levels of omega-3 (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) with inflammation and depression. This study was designed to determine whether n-3 supplementation would decrease serum cytokine production and depressive symptoms in 138 healthy middle-aged and older adults (average age=51.04, SD=7.

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Depression is a risk factor for morbidity and mortality, and immune dysregulation may be partially responsible for this link. Proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 6 (IL-6) are reliable predictors of quality of life, morbidity, and many causes of mortality. The current study evaluated relationships between depressive symptoms, as assessed by the CES-D, and stress-induced inflammation.

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To address the mechanisms underlying hatha yoga's potential stress-reduction benefits, we compared adiponectin and leptin data from well-matched novice and expert yoga practitioners. These adipocytokines have counter-regulatory functions in inflammation; leptin plays a proinflammatory role, while adiponectin has anti-inflammatory properties. Fifty healthy women (mean age=41.

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Fatigue is a notable clinical problem in cancer survivors, and understanding its pathophysiology is important. This study evaluated relationships between fatigue and both sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system activity in breast cancer survivors. Norepinephrine and heart rate variability (HRV) were evaluated at rest, as well as during and after a standardized laboratory speech and mental arithmetic stressor.

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