Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies during the third wave of COVID-19 in the Seoul metropolitan area of Korea.

Objectives: After the third wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), by mid-February 2021, approximately 0.16% of the Korean population was confirmed positive, which appeared to be among the lowest rates worldwide at that time. However, asymptomatic transmission is challenging for COVID-19 surveillance.

Association among the exposure to giving knowledge, attitude and practice for handwashing in people residing in Seoul, South Korea: a retrospective cross-sectional study.

Objectives: Handwashing is known as the most preventive method for various infectious diseases. Health authorities have conducted various campaigns and public relations targeting the general population but few evaluations of these long-term interventions. This study aimed to investigate the association between experience of educational events or public relations (EXEP), attitude towards the effectiveness of handwashing (AEHW) and handwashing practice (HWP).

Healthcare quality assessments: no guarantees of same outcomes for different socio-economic stroke patients.

Background: Healthcare quality assessment is being conducted in many countries. Although improving health equity is one of the major objectives of medical quality assessment, it is not clear whether different socio-economic statuses show the same health outcomes even in the same medical quality hospitals. No study has directly compared the health outcomes of different socio-economic statuses in the same hospitals nationwide.

Municipal Residence Level of Long-Term PM Exposure Associated with Obesity among Young Adults in Seoul, Korea.

Background: long-term effects of ambient pollutants used to be defined in cohort studies using biomarkers. Health effects on young adults from long-term exposure to particulate matters (PM) in residential ambiance have received less attention.

Methods: using the data of population-representative aged 19-29 in Seoul, the relationship between obesity and PM levels of the living district was examined.

Searching for the Culprit Drugs for Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis from a Nationwide Claim Database in Korea.

Background: Ethnic differences exist in relation to culprit drugs for Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). We wanted to determine culprit drugs for SJS and TEN in Korean population.

Objective: To evaluate culprit drugs for SJS and TEN by applying an algorithm for assessment of drug causality for epidermal necrolysis (ALDEN) in a nationwide administrative database.

Synoptic approach to evaluate the effect of temperature on pediatric respiratory disease-related hospitalization in Seoul, Korea.

Background: The spatial synoptic classification (SSC) scheme is a daily weather-type classification scheme that is widely used in climatological and epidemiological investigations. We investigated the modification effect of temperature on respiratory disease-related hospital admissions (RAs) in children based on the SSC type.

Methods: Data on RAs among children aged ≤19 years were collected from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database between 2011 and 2015 in Seoul, Korea.

Temperature as a risk factor of emergency department visits for acute kidney injury: a case-crossover study in Seoul, South Korea.

Background: Previous studies show that escalations in ambient temperature are among the risk factors for acute kidney injury (AKI). However, it has not been adequately studied in our location, Seoul, South Korea. In this study, we aimed to examine the association between ambient temperatures and AKI morbidity using emergency department (ED) visit data.

Particulate Matter Mortality Rates and Their Modification by Spatial Synoptic Classification.

Air pollution levels are highly correlated with temperature or humidity, so we investigated the relationship between PM and the spatial synoptic classification (SSC) scheme on daily mortality, according to age group and season. Daily death data for 2000-2014 from Seoul, Korea, were acquired, and time-series analysis was applied with respect to season and to each of seven distinct SSC types: dry moderate (DM); dry polar (DP); dry tropical (DT); moist moderate (MM); moist polar (MP); moist tropical (MT); and transition (T). Modification effects were estimated for daily, non-accidental, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality between PM and SSC types.

Pre-Existing Disability and Its Risk of Fragility Hip Fracture in Older Adults.

: Hip fracture is one of the significant public concerns in terms of long-term care in aging society. We aimed to investigate the risk for the incidence of hip fracture focusing on disability among older adults. : This was a population-based retrospective cohort study, focusing on adults aged 65 years or over who were included in the Korean National Health Insurance Service⁻National Sample from 2004 to 2013 ( = 90,802).

Prevalence of Pressure Injuries Nationwide from 2009 to 2015: Results from the National Inpatient Sample Database in Korea.

This study aimed to investigate the prevalence pattern of pressure injuries (PIs), or 'sores', in South Korea and investigate the factors affecting its development. We estimated the annual prevalence of PIs using the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) data extracted from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) database from 2009 to 2015. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to examine the association between hospitalization and socio-demographic characteristics, such as sex, age, type of health insurance, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), and plegia comorbidity.

Risk Factors for Vertebral, Hip, and Femoral Fractures Among Patients With Parkinson's Disease: A 5-Year Follow-up in Korea.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence and incidence of Parkinson's disease (PD) and provide evidence for preventive strategy of vertebral, hip, and femoral fractures (VF, HF, and FF) in PD patients.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting And Participants: Using a nationwide medical service utility database from 2009 to 2014, we enrolled PD patients with diagnosis of G20 as per ICD-10 who used medical services.

Incidence, inhospital mortality, and readmission among patients with alcoholic hepatitis in Korea: A nationwide study.

Background And Aim: Alcoholic hepatitis (AH) ranks among the most costly diseases in South Korea. However, accurate hospitalization incidence rates, mortality rates, and contributing factors have not been investigated in South Korea. This study aimed to provide the nationwide incidence of hospitalization, inhospital mortality, and readmission rates for South Korean patients with AH.

Emergency department utilization among people with disabilities in Korea.

Background: According to prior studies, it is possible to consider the emergency care utilization due to ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) as a proxy measure of access to primary care but there was no confirmed study among people with disabilities.

Objective/hypothesis: We examined overall emergency department (ED) utilization patterns among people with disabilities compared with the general population and estimated factors affecting ED utilization. Additionally, we examined whether there were any differences in ED visits due to ACSCs according to type and severity of disability.

The association of ambient temperature with incidence of cardiac arrhythmias in a short timescale.

The body response time and an association between the exposure to outdoor temperature and cardiac arrhythmia were not fully understood. Hence, we further investigated the association between ambient temperature and the exacerbations of arrhythmia symptoms on a short timescale using the emergency department (ED) visit data. We used a total of 17,088 arrhythmia-related ED visits in Seoul, from 2008 to 2011 and fitted the model adjusting for other meteorological variables and air pollutants under the case-crossover analysis with the same year-month time stratification.

Demographic and Environmental Factors Associated with Mental Health: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Relevant demographic and environmental conditions need to be understood before tailoring policies to improve mental health. Using community health survey data from 25 communities in Seoul, 2013, cross-sectional associations between mental health and community level environments were assessed. Mental health outcomes (self-rated stress levels (SRS) and depressive symptoms (DS)) were analyzed.

Incidence and factors associated with mortality in 2,476 patients with variant angina in Korea.

This study investigated the incidence and risk factors of mortality in 2,476 patients with variant angina (VA) using the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort between 2004 and 2011. The risk factors of all-cause and cardiac mortality were investigated using Cox proportional hazards model. Most patients (69.

Incidence of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis: A Nationwide Population-Based Study Using National Health Insurance Database in Korea.

Background: Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) are life-threatening diseases; however, it is hard to estimate their incidence due to the rarity of these diseases. We evaluated the incidence of SJS and TEN using a nationwide administrative database.

Methods: We used a national medical insurance review system (Health Insurance Review and Assessment) database which contained the claim data of the entire nation from 2009 to 2013 to estimate the accurate incidence of SJS and TEN in Korea.

Influence of ambient temperature and diurnal temperature range on incidence of cardiac arrhythmias.

We investigated the association between ambient temperature and diurnal temperature range (DTR) and the exacerbation of arrhythmia symptoms, using data from 31,629 arrhythmia-related emergency department (ED) visits in Seoul, Korea. Linear regression analyses with allowances for over-dispersion were applied to temperature variables and ED visits, adjusted for various environmental factors. The effects were expressed as percentage changes in the risk of arrhythmia-related ED visits up to 5 days later, with 95 % confidence intervals (CI), per 1 °C increase in DTR and 1 °C decrease in mean temperature.

The association between wind-related variables and stroke symptom onset: A case-crossover study on Jeju Island.

Background: Although several studies have investigated the effects of ambient temperature on the risk of stroke, few studies have examined the relationship between other meteorological conditions and stroke. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the association between wind-related variables and stroke symptoms onset.

Methods: Data regarding the onset of stroke symptoms occurring between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2007 on Jeju Island were collected from the Jeju National University Hospital stroke registry.

Incidence and Risk Factors Associated With Hospitalization for Variant Angina in Korea.

This study aimed to determine the incidence and the risk factors of hospitalization for variant angina (VA) in Korean patients. Using the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database, manufactured and released by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) in Korea, the incidence of hospitalization and rehospitalization for VA were calculated. The numbers of patients hospitalized for VA were estimated to be 14,362 in 2009, 17,492 in 2010, and 20,592 in 2011.

Prevalence and Incidence of Osteoporosis and Osteoporotic Vertebral Fracture in Korea: Nationwide Epidemiological Study Focusing on Differences in Socioeconomic Status.

Study Design: A cross-national study.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and incidence of osteoporosis (OP) and osteoporotic vertebral fracture (OVF) in Korea and to investigate if socioeconomic status has an effect.

Summary Of Background Data: As life expectancy increases, OP and related fragility fractures are also increasing.

Comprehensive approach to understand the association between diurnal temperature range and mortality in East Asia.

An adverse association between diurnal temperature range (DTR) and mortality has been suggested, but with variable relationships in different cities. Comprehensive approaches to understanding the health effects of DTR using multinational data are required. We investigated the association between DTR and cause-specific mortality in an age-specific population and assessed the dependency of the health effects of DTR on geographic and climatic factors.

Hourly differences in air pollution on the risk of asthma exacerbation.

We investigated the association between hourly differences in air pollution and asthma exacerbation in Korea using asthma-related emergency department data and verified seasonality and demographic modifiers with an hourly temporal resolution. We applied time-stratified case-crossover adjusted for weather and influenza; the lag was stratified as 1-6, 7-12, 13-18, 19-24, 25-48, and 49-72 h. Odds ratios (95% confidence interval) per interquartile range increase were 1.

Outdoor temperature changes and emergency department visits for asthma in Seoul, Korea: A time-series study.

Background: Extreme temperatures and temperature changes are known indicators of climate change, and large temperature variations for several consecutive days may affect human health such as exacerbating respiratory symptoms. The objective of this study was to determine the association between outdoor temperature change and asthma-related emergency department visits. In particular, this study examined seasonality and identified susceptible populations, such as the elderly.