Biomedical subjects

Sungjin Hong

Publications and source records attributed to Sungjin Hong.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

HIV/AIDS knowledge, women's education, epidemic severity and protective sexual behaviour in low- and middle-income countries.

A fundamental public health strategy to reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS is to increase levels of awareness and knowledge about the disease. Although knowledge about HIV/AIDS and protective sexual behaviour are linked theoretically, relatively little is known about their empirical relationship. Using Demographic and Health Survey data from 23 low- and middle-income countries, this study used multilevel logistic regression models: to examine cross-national variability in the relationship between HIV/AIDS knowledge and protective behaviour (condom use and restricted sex); to investigate the moderating influences of women's educational attainment on this relationship; and to test the extent to which severity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic accounts for cross-national variability in the association between HIV/AIDS knowledge and protective behaviour. There was an association between increased knowledge of HIV/AIDS and condom use that varied in strength and form cross-nationally. This cross-national variation was accounted for partially by the socioeconomic characteristics of women resident in the study countries and between-country differences in the severity of the HIV epidemic. While education modified the association between HIV/AIDS knowledge and protective behaviour--stronger associations at lower levels of education--epidemic severity exerted a stronger influence on behaviour than any other characteristic. Finally, this study indicates that protective sexual practices are disturbingly low. In eight of 23 countries, overall levels of condom use to prevent STDs and HIV/AIDS were less than 5.0%. Waiting for the spread of HIV/AIDS infection to change sexual practices in low- and middle-income countries will result in dramatic unnecessary suffering.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

PubMed2006

The influence of economic development level, household wealth and maternal education on child health in the developing world.

This study estimates the relative importance to child health (indicated by weight and height for age) of economic development level [gross domestic product (GDP) converted to international dollars using purchasing power parity (PPP) rates: GDP-PPP], household wealth and maternal education and examines the modifying influence of national contexts on these estimates. It uses information collected from mothers aged 15-49-years participating in Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) conducted in 42 developing countries. In multilevel regression models, the three study variables exhibited strong independent associations with child health: GDP-PPP accounted for the largest amount of unique variation, followed by maternal education and household wealth. There was also substantial overlap (shared variance) between maternal education and the other two study variables. The regressions of child health on household wealth and maternal education exhibited substantial cross-national variation in both strength and form of association. Although higher education levels were associated with disproportionately greater returns to child health, the pattern for household wealth was erratic: in many countries there were diminishing returns to child health at higher levels of household wealth. We conclude that there are inextricable links among different strategies for improving child health and that policy planners, associating benefits with these strategies, must take into account the strong moderating impact of national context.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Bootstrap scree tests: a Monte Carlo simulation and applications to published data.

A non-parametric procedure for Cattell's scree test is proposed, using the bootstrap method. Bentler and Yuan developed parametric tests for the linear trend of scree eigenvalues in principal component analysis. The proposed method is for cases where parametric assumptions are not realistic. We define the break in the scree trend in several ways, based on linear slopes defined with two or three consecutive eigenvalues, or all eigenvalues after the k largest. The resulting scree test statistics are evaluated under various data conditions, among which Gorsuch and Nelson's bootstrap CNG performs best and is reasonably consistent and efficient under leptokurtic and skewed conditions. We also examine the bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap method for these statistics, and the bias correction is found to be too unstable to be useful. Using seven published data sets which Bentler and Yuan analysed, we compare the bootstrap approach to the scree test with the parametric linear trend test.

Humans↗

PubMed2004

Chronic physical health conditions and disability among Canadian school-aged children: a national profile.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to provide a national health and disability profile of Canadian school-aged children based on the World Health Organization's definitions of health condition and disability that would facilitate international comparisons of child health data. METHODS: Data were used from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, a 1994 - 95 population-based sample of 22 831 children. FINDINGS: An estimated total of 30.3% of Canadian children aged 6 to 11 had one or more chronic physical health conditions/impairments, while 3.6% had activity-limiting conditions/impairments. Children living with one parent were significantly more likely to have activity-limiting conditions/impairments than those living with two parents. Children with conditions/impairments, particularly those with activity limitations, were significantly more likely than children without health problems to have experienced mental health conditions and learning disabilities, missed school days, received special education, visited health professionals, been hospitalized, and used prescription medication. CONCLUSION: Important differences were found among children in a number of areas as a function of overall physical health status. The findings emphasize the importance of measuring activity limitations distinctly from chronic conditions and impairments, and, perhaps, of measuring impairments distinctly from chronic conditions, and of comparing children with such health problems to children without health problems in order to obtain a more accurate picture of the impact of health on children's lives. The World Health Organization's distinct definitions of health condition and disability facilitate a dimensional approach for describing child health that can serve to clarify this field of study and improve comparability of data across countries.

Absenteeism↗