Search

Purpose: To investigate trends in contact lens usage in a nationally representative sample of the Korean population in 2021., Methods: For this retrospective study, we analyzed data of 3,601 Korean participants aged 10-59 years, from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES 2021 version), who underwent eye examination, of whom 1,136 individuals (274 men and 862 women) were contact lens users. The demographic trend among Korean contact lens wearers was examined using statistical analyses to investigate the changes in their contact lens-wearing experience, duration of lens use, type of lens used, location of purchase, presence of an Eye Care Practitioner(ECP)'s prescription, lens-related ophthalmic complications, and type of lenses worn at the time of complications, according to sex. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the association of each variable with the rate of complications and use of soft lenses., Results: The average age of the contact lens users was 33.42±0.33 years, with 70.36% (weighted percentage) of users being women who used contact lenses for significantly longer periods than men (p<0.001). Additionally, only wearing of cosmetic lenses was significantly correlated with the occurrence of complications (p = 0.006), and 6.76% of users purchased lenses without a prescription. Multivariate analysis among the contact lens users revealed a significant relationship between the complication rate and female sex (p = 0.002), pre-existing eye disease diagnosed by ECPs (p = 0.0288), and duration of contact lens use (p<0.0001)., Conclusion: We identified sex differences in contact lens usage trends in Korea. The main changes observed were an increase in middle-aged lens users and a decrease in female users compared to that in the early 2000s. In addition, contact lens complications were significantly associated with sex and pre-existing eye disease. Therefore, those wearing contact lenses for extended periods should exercise caution and consult eye care specialists in the presence of any symptoms., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Kim et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Insufficient research has compared the impact of subtle and overt discrimination on somatic symptom disorder (SSD) among young adults with immigrant backgrounds in South Korea, a country that is becoming increasingly racially and ethnically diverse. Therefore, this study sought to examine this. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in January 2022 involving 328 young adults aged 25 to 34 years who had at least one foreign-born parent or were foreign-born immigrants. We used ordinary least squares (OLS) regression with SSD as the dependent variable. The results showed that subtle and overt discrimination were positively associated with SSD among young immigrant adults. Subtle discrimination seems more strongly related to SSD among Korean-born immigrant adults (N = 198) than foreign-born immigrant young adults (N = 130). This result partially supported the theory that both forms of discrimination were differently related to increased SSD tendencies by place of birth.

The goal of the present study is to examine the psychology of working framework/theory with a sample of Korean workers. This study examined the structural model of sociocultural factors (i.e., economic constraints and social marginalization), psychological variables (i.e., work volition and career adaptability), and outcomes of decent work based on the psychology of working framework. This study assumed that decent work helps all workers attain a sense of self-respect, dignity, experience freedom and security in the work environment and provides an opportunity for workers to contribute to society. Data were collected from 420 Korean workers, with an average age of 39.13 years (SD = 9.26). We used a hypothesis model that did not assume a direct path from economic constraints and social marginalization to decent work and work volition and career adaptation to job satisfaction and life satisfaction. We also employed an alternative model that assumed all of its paths and compared the models' goodness of fit based on prior studies. Results indicated that alternative models have higher goodness of fit than hypothesis models. All path coefficients were significant except for the direct path from social marginalization to work volition and career adaptability to life satisfaction. Additionally, work volition and career adaptability mediated both the relationship between social marginalization and job satisfaction and between marginalization and life satisfaction. This study enabled the comprehensive examination of the relevance of various social environments and psychological and occupational characteristics that should be considered when exploring job or life satisfaction in the process of career counseling.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Abeliophyllum distichum Nakai (AD), called Miseon, is one of Korea's monotypic endemic species. As a folk remedy, the AD has been used to treat inflammatory disease, stomachaches, diarrhea, and gynecologic disease in Korea. Some researchers have reported that the AD has anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant effects. But the protective effect of AD leaf for osteoporosis has not been reported yet., Aim of the Study: This study aimed to analyze the effects and mechanism of AD-ethyl acetate fraction (EA) extract on the osteoporosis, one of the gynecologic disease., Materials and Methods: The RAW 264.7 cells were used as a model for RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis. We measured the TRAcP activity, expressions of NFATc1, c-fos, and MAPK to investigate the effect of AD-EA. OVX-induced osteoporosis rat model was used as menopausal osteoporosis. After both ovaries were removed through a surgical procedure, and AD-EA or 17b-estradiol was orally administered for 8 weeks. BMD of femurs was measured as well as the bone morphometric parameter, such as BV/TV, trabecular thickness, number and surface using a micro CT., Results: AD-EA significantly inhibited TRAcP activity, actin ring formation, pit formation and the expressions of osteoclast-related genes in a dose-dependent manner through the inhibition of the MAPK and c-fos/NFATc1 pathway. In addition, low dose administration of AD-EA improved the deterioration of trabecular bone microarchitecture caused by OVX through the inhibition of bone resorption by TRAcP and CTK., Conclusions: These results suggest that AD-EA may contribute to the therapy of osteoporosis caused by menopause in women., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)