The number of North Korean adolescent defectors entering South Korea has been increasing. The health behavior, including mental health-related behavior, and factors associated with depression in North Korean adolescent defectors residing in South Korea were investigated.
Data obtained from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey (2011–2014) dataset were utilized. In total, 206 North Korean adolescent defectors were selected, and for the control group, 618 matched South Korean adolescents were selected. Frequency analysis was used to determine the place of birth and nationality of the parents, chi-square tests were used to compare the general characteristics of the North and South Korean subjects, and multivariate logistic regressions were conducted to compare the health behavior of the two sets of subjects. To determine the factors associated with depression in the North Korean subjects, a logistic regression was performed.
The North Korean adolescents reported higher current smoking (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.48 to 4.35), current drinking (aOR, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.15 to 2.99), and drug use rates (aOR, 10.99; 95% CI, 4.04 to 29.88) than did the South Korean adolescents. The factors associated with depression in the North Korean adolescents were current smoking (aOR, 6.99; 95% CI, 1.62 to 30.06), lifetime drinking experience (aOR, 5.32; 95% CI, 1.51 to 18.75), and perceived stress (aOR, 4.74; 95% CI, 1.74 to 12.90).
There were differences in health behavior between the North and South Korean adolescents. A specialized approach for North Korean adolescent defectors is required to promote proper health behavior and adaptation to South Korean society.
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Body mass index is widely regarded as an important predictor of mortality. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between body mass index and mortality and to compare community-dwelling elderly people in South Korea according to sex.
Data were collected from the 2008 and 2011 Living Profiles of Older People Surveys, which comprised 10,613 community-living South Korean men and women aged 65 years or older. The participants were stratified into five groups according to body mass index as defined by the World Health Organization guidelines. The sociodemographic characteristics of participants and mortality rates were compared across the body mass index groups.
The highest survival rates were observed in men with a body mass index of 25.0–29.9 kg/m2. A similar trend was observed in women, but it was not statistically significant. After adjusting for covariates, this association was also found in men across all BMI index groups, but not in women.
This study supports previous findings that overweight or mild obesity is associated with the lowest mortality and suggests that the current categories of obesity require revision. Furthermore, the absence of statistically significant findings in the female cohort suggests that body mass index is not a suitable predictor of mortality in women and that an alternative is required.
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The association between daily protein intake and osteoporosis is still controversial and only a few studies have explored the issue in Korea. This study investigated the relationship between daily protein intake and the prevalence of osteoporosis in Korean adults.
This study analyzed data extracted from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 4. Participants were aged 19 years or older and had never been treated for osteoporosis. The percentage of calories coming from protein intake was assessed by 24-hour recall method, and participants were divided into three groups according to recommended daily dietary protein intake as a proportion of total daily calories (i.e., <10%, 10%-20%, and >20%). A lumbar or femur neck bone mineral density T-score less than -2.5 was indicative of the presence osteoporosis. The influence of daily protein intake on the prevalence of osteoporosis was analyzed.
In both sexes, the group with the highest protein intake had significantly lower odds of developing lumber osteoporosis when compared to the group with the lowest protein intake, after adjusting for associated factors (females: odds ratio [OR], 0.618; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.610 to 0.626; P for trend <0.001; males: OR, 0.695; 95% CI, 0.685 to 0.705; P for trend <0.001).
Sufficient daily protein intake lowered the prevalence of osteoporosis in Korean adults. Further prospective studies are necessary to verify the preventive effect of adequate protein intake on osteoporosis.
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Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, and contains caffeine and phenolic compounds. Many studies on the association between coffee consumption and risk of stroke have been reported, however, more research is needed to further explore many studies' inconsistent results. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to verify the relationship between coffee consumption and stroke.
We searched MEDLINE (PubMed), EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library, using the keywords "coffee" or "caffeine" for the exposure factors, and "transient ischemic attack" or "stroke" or "acute cerebral infarction" or "cardiovascular events" for the outcome factors. We included prospective cohort and case-control studies published between 2001 and July 2011 in this review. The search was limited to English language.
Among 27 articles identified for this review, only 9 studies met the inclusion criteria, all of which were cohort studies. When using all cohort studies, the pooled relative risk (RR) of stroke for the highest vs. lowest category of coffee consumption was 0.83 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.76 to 0.91). When subgroup analysis was performed, for Europeans, increased coffee drinking showed a preventive effect on stroke occurrence with RR 0.82 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.92); RR for women 0.81 (95% CI, 0.70 to 0.93); for ischemic stroke 0.80 (95% CI, 0.71 to 0.90); and for those drinking 4 cups or more per day 0.83 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.91).
We found that coffee consumption of 4 cups or more per day showed a preventive effect on stroke in this meta-analysis.
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There has been a rapid increase in the number of part-time workers in Korea with little information available on associated changes in quality of life. This study was designed to compare part-time and full-time workers in terms of the quality of life and related factors.
Data were extracted from the 4th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted in 2008. Of the 1,284 participants selected, 942 were females (range, 20 to 64 years). Based on the information provided by self-administered questionnaire, subjects were categorized according to the working pattern (full-time and part-time) and working hours (<30 and ≥30 hours). Differences in socio-demographic characteristics, health-related behaviors, and job characteristics were assessed by t-test and chi-square test. EuroQol-five dimensions (EQ-5D) index was implemented in order to measure the quality of life. Differences in the EQ-5D index scores between the groups were compared by t-test, stepwise multivariate logistic regression analyses.
Quality of life did not differ by work patterns. In males, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development part-time group was associated with poorer quality of life (odds ratio [OR], 0.49; P = 0.028). For both sexes, the non-stress group was linked with superior quality of life in comparison to the stress group (OR, 2.64; P = 0.002; OR, 2.17; P < 0.001). Female employees engaged in non-manual labor had superior quality of life than those engaged in manual labor (OR, 1.40; P = 0.027).
This study concludes that working less than 30 hours per week is related to lower quality of life in comparison to working 30 hours or more in male employees in Korea.
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