Biomedical subjects

Woo-Jin Chung

Publications and source records attributed to Woo-Jin Chung.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Periciliary Y-V epicanthoplasty.

The epicanthal fold is a semilunar flap of eyelid skin on the medial aspect of the eye. Many surgical techniques have been described to eliminate the epicanthal fold, which is a feature uniquely predominant among the Asian population. However, many surgeons avoid epicanthoplasty because of the fear of visible scar formation. From January of 2002 to April of 2004, 118 patients with medial epicanthal folds underwent epicanthoplasty using a periciliary Y-V advancement procedure for the prevention of visible scar formation. The mean age of the patients was 25.2 years (range, 16 years to 56 years). The median follow-up period was 6 months (range, 2 weeks to 2 years). We performed periciliary Y-V epicanthoplasty only when a patient had wide interepicanthal distance (over 32 mm) or a completely eclipsed lacrimal caruncle. Most of the patients attained satisfactory results, and there were few complications in our cases. Scarring of the medial canthal area has not been a problem with this technique because we designed incisions along the eyelashes and skin-mucosal junctions. We have found that our periciliary Y-V epicanthoplasty is a very reliable and effective method for eliminating the epicanthal fold with minimal scar formation.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

[Socioeconomic costs of alcohol drinking in Korea].

OBJECTIVES: We wanted to estimate the annual socioeconomic costs of alcohol drinking in Korea. METHODS: The costs were classified as direct costs, indirect costs and the other costs. The direct costs consisted of direct medical costs, indirect medical costs and subsidiary medical costs. Particularly, the medical costs and population attributable fraction for disease were considered to reflect the calculation of the direct medical costs. The indirect costs were computed by the extent to which the loss of productivity and loss of the workforce might have occurred due to changes in mortality and morbidity according to alcohol drinking. The other costs consisted of property loss, administration costs and costs of alcoholic beverage. RESULTS: The annual costs, which seemed to be attributable to alcohol drinking, were estimated to be 149,352 hundred million won (2.86% of GDP). In case of the latter, the amount includes 9,091 hundred million won for direct costs (6.09%), 62,845 hundred million won for the reduction and loss of productivity (42.08%), 44,691 hundred million won for loss of the workforce (29.92%), and the other costs (21.91%). CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms that compared with the cases of Japan (1.9% of GNP) and the other advanced countries (1.00-1.42% of GDP), alcohol drinking incurs substantial socioeconomic costs to the Korean society. Therefore, this study provides strong support for government interventions to control alcohol drinking in Korea.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

[Factors affecting breastfeeding rate and duration].

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to examine the factors affecting the rate and duration of breastfeeding. METHODS: We analyzed the data from the year 2000 Korea National Fertility Survey that was collected through direct interviews. In particular, the mothers who delivered their last child and the child was under 1 year of age from January 1998 to June 2000 (N=1,066) were analyzed via a logistic model to assess the factors affecting the breastfeeding rate. Among the study subjects, those who had initiated breastfeeding (N=740) were analyzed through Cox's proportional hazard model to evaluate the factors affecting the duration of breastfeeding. RESULTS: The multivariate logistic model showed that the delivery type and the baby's birth-weight have a statistically significant influence on the breastfeeding rate. Women who delivered their babies through Cesarean section were less likely than others to breastfeed. In contrast, the women whose babies weighed 2.5 Kg or more were more likely than others to breastfeed. The results obtained from the survival analysis are as follows : the higher the mother's education level, the shorter is the breastfeeding duration. The mother's work status played a significant role in the early termination of breastfeeding. Women aged 35 or older showed a longer breastfeeding duration than the younger age groups, whereas the maternal age was not a significant factor in affecting whether or not a mother would breastfeed. CONCLUSIONS: Reducing the cases of operative delivery (Cesarean section) and low weight births, enlightening young and highly educated women on breastfeeding and improving the environment for breastfeeding on the job are important strategies to encourage women to breastfeed.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

[Out-of-pocket health expenditures by non-elderly and elderly persons in Korea].

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the sociodemographic and health characteristics on the out-of-pocket health spending of the individuals aged 20 and older in Korea. METHODS: We used the data from the 2001 National Public Health and Nutrition Survey. The final sample size was 26,154 persons. Multiple linear regression models were used according to the age groups, that is, one model was used for those people under the age of sixty-five and the other was used for those people aged sixty-five and older. In these analyses, the expenditures were transformed to a logarithmic scale to reduce the skewness of the results. RESULTS: Out-of-pocket health expenditures for those people under the age of 65 averaged 14,800 won per month, whereas expenditures for those people aged 65 and older averaged 27,200 won per month. In the regression analysis, the insurance type, resident area, self-reported health status, acute or chronic condition and bed-disability days were the statistically significant determinants for both age groups. Gender and age were statistically significant determinants only for the non-elderly. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study show that the mean out-of-pocket health expenditures varied according to the age groups and also several diverse characteristics. Thus, policymakers should consider the out-of-pocket health expenditure differential between the elderly and non-elderly persons. Improvement of the insurance coverage for the economically vulnerable subgroups that were identified in this study should be carefully considered. In addition, it is necessary to assess the impact of out-of-pocket spending on the peoples' health care utilization.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Nonincisional blepharoplasty using the debulking method.

As more women work outside home, a growing number of women who want to have a natural-looking double eyelid choose the method with a short healing time and less pain. Thus blepharoplasty by the nonincisional method is performed frequently. This technique uses 7-0 nylon for simple triple ring-shaped or center doubled triple ring-shaped suture, with removal of subcutaneous fat, pretarsal muscle, and orbital septum through small incisions. This prevents the possibility that the folds will be loosened. By creation of a scar adhesion between the wider portion of the dermis and the tarsal plate after debulking of the soft tissue, the nonincisional method can be applied to a very thin eyelid without any difficulty.A retrospective review of the data for 327 patients who underwent nonincisional blepharoplasty using the debulking method from November 24, 2000 through March 9, 2003 is presented. Except for four cases, the procedures were successful. Two complications of conjunctivitis occurred, requiring removal of the buried suture, and two patients reported a mild scar.

Adipose Tissue↗