Objectives This study described 10-year trends in the prevalence of 5 metabolic syndrome (MetS) components and examined age- and sex-specific patterns in the Republic of Korea using aggregated national health screening statistics from 2014 to 2023.
Methods This repeated cross-sectional study used publicly available aggregated data from the National Health Screening Statistical Yearbook of the National Health Insurance Service. Annual prevalence estimates were summarized overall and by age group and sex. Linear regression descriptively summarized temporal trends. Because of a marked reduction in examinees in 2018 and a discontinuity around the 2018–2019 transition, sensitivity analyses excluding 2018 were performed.
Results From 2014 to 2023, the prevalence of abdominal obesity increased from 21.0% to 25.5%, hyperglycemia from 34.7% to 40.1%, and hypertension from 42.3% to 45.1%. Hypertriglyceridemia and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol appeared to decrease over the same period but showed a marked discontinuity between 2018 and 2019. Prevalence generally increased across older age groups, particularly for hypertension and hyperglycemia. Men had a higher prevalence of 4 MetS components, whereas women had a higher prevalence of low HDL cholesterol.
Conclusion MetS components showed heterogeneous temporal, age-specific, and sex-specific patterns in Korean national health screening statistics. Increases in abdominal obesity and hyperglycemia support the need for earlier age- and sex-tailored cardiometabolic prevention, whereas apparent declines in lipid-related indicators should be interpreted cautiously due to the 2018–2019 discontinuity. Because this study used aggregated repeated cross-sectional data, individual-level longitudinal studies are needed to clarify cardiometabolic risk trends in the Republic of Korea.
Objectives Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is prevalent among older adults and may progress to dementia. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a game-based brain exercise program in reducing MCI among older adults.
Methods A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 2 groups of older participants in Pathum Thani Province, Thailand. A total of 96 individuals with Thai mental state examination (TMSE) scores between 12 to 23, indicating MCI but no dementia diagnosis, were recruited. Using multi-stage sampling, participants were divided into an intervention group (n=48) and a control group (n=48). The intervention group participated in a 6-week game-based brain exercise program, while the control group received a self-administered brain exercise manual. Face-to-face interviews assessed outcomes at baseline, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and repeated-measures analysis of variance.
Results Significant differences were observed in mean TMSE scores and MCI knowledge between the intervention and control groups at the 3-month follow-up (p<0.001). The intervention group showed significant increases in TMSE scores and MCI knowledge post-intervention and at 3-month follow-up (p<0.001).
Conclusion The findings suggest that a game-based brain exercise program can improve cognitive function in older adults. Healthcare professionals can implement such programs to reduce MCI by addressing planning, management, and related issues in the future.
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Objectives We aimed to estimate the impact of the national hepatitis B immunization program on the incidence of acute hepatitis B infection among adolescents in South Korea.
Methods We estimated the counterfactual incidence rate of reported acute hepatitis B among adolescents from 2016 to 2020 compared to the assumption that the national hepatitis B immunization program for children had not been implemented since 1995. The impact of the national hepatitis B immunization program for adolescents was measured by estimating the absolute risk reduction and averted acute hepatitis B infections among adolescents from 2016 to 2020 attributed to the national immunization program.
Results The relative risk reduction of acute hepatitis B among adolescents was estimated to be 83.5% after implementing the national hepatitis B immunization program. The incidence rate of reported acute hepatitis B infections among adolescents decreased from 0.39 to 0.06 per 100,000 person-years, and 43 acute hepatitis B infections, including 17 symptomatic cases, were averted annually from 2016 to 2020 by the national hepatitis B immunization program.
Conclusion The national hepatitis B immunization program for children was effective in preventing acute hepatitis B infection among adolescents in South Korea.
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<sec>
<title>Objectives</title>
<p>This study aimed to identify the educational needs of people with type 2 diabetes according to risk perceptions and the level of severity of complications.</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Methods</title>
<p>There were 177 study participants who were outpatients of the internal medicine department at a university hospital located in the Republic of Korea, who consented to participate in the survey from December 10, 2016 to February 10, 2017. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, ANOVA with post-hoc comparison, and multiple regression analysis. Type 2 diabetes complications were classified into 3 groups: no complications, common complications, and severe complications.</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Results</title>
<p>There were statistically significant positive correlations between educational needs and comparative risk perceptions, and the level of complication and comparative risk perception. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the factor predicting educational needs of type 2 diabetes people was their comparative risk perceptions, rather than the severity of diabetes complications or sociodemographic variables.</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Conclusion</title>
<p>Since risk perception is the factor that indicates the educational needs of people with type 2 diabetes, there is a need to explore factors which increase risk perception, in order to meet educational needs. The findings suggest that a more specific and individualized educational program, which focuses on each person's risk perceptions, should be developed.</p></sec>
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<sec><title>Objectives</title><p>Many economically advanced countries have attempted to minimize public expenditures and pursue privatization based on the principles of neo-liberalism. However, Korea has moved contrary to this global trend. This study examines why and how the Korean health care system was formed, developed, and transformed into an integrated, single-insurer, National Health Insurance (NHI) system.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>We describe the transition in the Korean health care system using an analytical framework that incorporates such critical variables as government economic development strategies and the relationships among social forces, state autonomy, and state power. This study focuses on how the relationships among social forces can change as a nation’s economic development or governing strategy changes in response to changes in international circumstances such as globalization.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>The corporatist Social Health Insurance (SHI) system (multiple insurers) introduced in 1977 was transformed into the single-insurer NHI in July 2000. These changes were influenced externally by globalization and internally by political democratization, keeping Korea’s private-dominant health care provision system unchanged over several decades.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>Major changes such as integration reform occurred, when high levels of state autonomy were ensured. The state’s power (its policy capability), based on health care infrastructures, acts to limit the direction of any change in the health care system because it is very difficult to build the infrastructure for a health care system in a short timeframe.</p></sec>
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