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Background: Sedentary behavior is considered an independent cause of cardio-metabolic diseases, regardless of physical activity level and obesity. Few studies have reported the association between leisure sedentary time and cardio-vascular diseases in terms of occupation.Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study using data from the Korean Community Health Survey (KCHS) for 240,086 participants assessed in 2011 and 2013. Occupation was categorized into four groups: farmer or fisherman, laborer, and soldier (Group I); service worker, salesperson, technician, mechanic, production worker, and engineer (Group II); manager, expert, specialist, and clerk (Group III); and unemployed (Group IV). Leisure sedentary time was divided into five groups: 0 h, 1 h, 2 h, 3 h, and 4+ h. The association between leisure sedentary time on weekdays and hypertension/diabetes mellitus/hyperlipidemia for different occupations was analyzed using simple and multiple logistic regression analyses with complex sampling.Results: In Groups I, II and III, no length of sedentary time was associated with hypertension, and only 3 h or 4+ h of sedentary time was associated with diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia. Group IV showed a significant association with hypertension and diabetes mellitus for the 2 h, 3 h, and 4+ h sedentary times.Conclusions: The unemployed are more susceptible than other occupation groups to cardio-metabolic diseases when leisure time is sedentary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conclusion:The elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) value in children with sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) would suggest the inflammatory etiology of pediatric SSNHL. The results of this study may suggest NLR value can be used as a useful indicator, which is associated with the disease severity in pediatric SSNHL. Objectives:This study aimed to elucidate any clues of inflammatory etiology, which might be related with the development of pediatric SSNHL, using calculated NLR. Methods:Forty-six patients aged younger than 19 years, who were admitted to the hospital with the diagnosis of SSNHL, were included in the study. Forty-six healthy children were matched as control group according to their propensity score. The complete blood cell count, calculated NLR, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and mean platelet volume (MPV) were compared. The relationship between NLR and the initial hearing level was also investigated. Results:The mean NLR value was 2.86 ± 2.58 in the SSNHL group, whereas the mean NLR value was 1.63 ± 0.87 in the control group. The mean NLR value of the SSNHL children was significantly higher than that of the control group (p = .023). There was a positive correlation between the NLR value and initial hearing level (r = .312,p = .037). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study aims to assess the relationship between chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and dyslipidemia in a Korean population. The population aged 40 years or over was selected from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Health Screening Cohort. CRS was defined if patients were treated ≥2 times with ICD-10 code (J32) and underwent head and neck computed tomography. Patients with CRS were classified as having nasal polyps (J33) or not. Dyslipidemia was defined if participants with the ICD-10 code (E78) were treated ≥2 times from 2002 to 2015. A total of 6163 patients with CRS were matched with 24,652 controls (1:4 ratio) for sex, age, income, and residence. The adjusted odds ratios (aORs) of a previous dyslipidemia in patients with CRS were analyzed by conditional logistic regression analysis, adjusted for confounding factors. The prevalence of dyslipidemia was significantly higher in participants with CRS (26.1%) than in the controls (20.6%) (p < 0.001). There was a significant positive association between CRS with/without nasal polyps and dyslipidemia (aOR = 1.36, 95%CI = 1.26–1.47, p < 0.001). The association between CRS and dyslipidemia was stronger for CRS without nasal polyps (aOR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.28–1.57, p < 0.001) than for CRS with nasal polyps (aOR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.17–1.47, p < 0.001). All age and sex subgroups exhibited consistent results. A personal history of dyslipidemia was associated with risk of CRS regardless of total cholesterol and the use of statins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Importance: A connection between Meniere disease (MD) and migraine has been proposed, but the temporal association remains unknown., Objective: To examine the bidirectional association of MD with migraine., Design, Setting, and Participants: This case-control study included participants 40 years or older from the Korean National Health Insurance Service Health Screening Cohort from 2002 to 2015., Main Outcomes and Measures: A total of 6919 patients with MD were matched with 27 676 control participants without MD for age, sex, income, region of residence, and index date. The incidence of migraine was analyzed in the MD and matched groups using a stratified Cox proportional hazard regression model. In addition, 35 889 patients with migraine were matched with 71 778 control participants without migraine. The incidence of MD was analyzed using a stratified Cox proportional hazard regression model., Results: Of 142 262 total participants, 94 611 (66.5%) were women. Migraine occurred in 695 of 6919 patients with MD (10.0%) and 970 of 27 676 matched control participants (3.5%). The MD group demonstrated a 2.22-fold higher risk of migraine than the matched control group (95% CI, 1.99-2.49). Meniere disease was present in 1098 of 35 889 patients with migraine (3.1%) and 781 of 71 778 matched control participants (1.1%). The migraine group had a 1.95-fold higher risk of MD than the matched control group (95% CI, 1.77-2.15)., Conclusions and Relevance: The results of this case-control study suggest that patients with MD had a greater risk of migraine occurrence. Furthermore, patients with migraine had a higher risk of MD. Based on the bidirectional association, therapeutics for migraine could potentially be applied to MD and vice versa.

Objective: The present study compared the frequency of depressive disorder in patients with thyroid cancer who had undergone thyroidectomy with the frequency in control individuals., Study Design: Retrospective population-based cohort study., Setting: This study used data from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service-National Sample Cohort., Subject and Methods: A total of 3609 participants with thyroid cancer who had undergone thyroidectomy between 2003 and 2011 were enrolled in this study and matched 1:4 with 14,436 control participants by age, sex, income, and region of residence. The cumulative incidence of postoperative depressive disorder was evaluated over a period of 10 years after the thyroidectomies and compared with the incidence in controls. Depressive disorder was diagnosed by a psychiatrist., Results: The incidence of depressive disorder was significantly higher in the thyroid cancer with thyroidectomy group than in the controls up to postoperative year 1. A subgroup analysis showed the same higher incidence of depressive disorder in the thyroid cancer group than controls for up to 1 year after operations in young adult (≤44 years old), female, urban, and low-income groups. However, the incidence was elevated only in the year of the thyroidectomies themselves in middle-aged and older, rural, and high-income groups., Conclusion: Patients with thyroid cancer who undergo thyroidectomy have depressive disorder more frequently than normal controls. However, the frequency of depressive disorder after thyroidectomy recovers in a shorter period in middle-aged or older, high-income, and rural-dwelling patients, compared to younger, low-income, and urban-dwelling patients.

Background: In Korea, the prevalence of allergic rhinitis (AR) is increasing, as in other industrialized countries. However, no large population-based study defining risk factors for AR has yet been conducted., Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of AR in large population-based study., Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We evaluated data from 31,217 subjects who were interviewed between 2008 and 2011., Results: The prevalence of AR decreased with age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.985; 95% CI = 0.984-0.987). Higher-level stress (AOR for severe stress = 1.470; 95% CI = 1.209-1.788); asthma (AOR = 1.868; 95% CI = 1.582-2.205); atopic dermatitis (AOR = 1.552; 95% CI = 1.309-1.841); pulmonary tuberculosis (AOR = 1.320; 95% CI = 1.119-1.555); depression (AOR = 1.250; 95% CI = 1.117-1.400); and thyroid disease (AOR = 1.328; 95% CI = 1.104-1.597) increased the risk of AR. Participants whose parents had a history of AR also had higher AORs (father, AOR = 1.566; 95% CI = 1.130-2.172; mother, AOR = 1.546; 95% CI = 1.190-2.008). Marriage (AOR = 0.846; 95% CI = 0.741-0.966) decreased the risk of AR. Farmers, fishers, laborers, and soldiers were at lower risk of AR. Although high BMI, a high educational level, living in a large household, specific types of daily living, and a history of diabetes mellitus have been reported as risk factors for AR; none of these factors attained statistical significance in the present study., Conclusion: Our study revealed that age, stress level, marriage, occupation, asthma, atopic dermatitis, pulmonary tuberculosis, depression, thyroid disease, and parental AR history, all affected the prevalence of AR. We believe that defining the influence of various factors on AR will help to prevent development of the condition in the future.

Background: Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) has been found to be up-regulated in several types of human cancers and its role in the carcinogenic process has been proposed The aim of this study was to examine the expression of COX-2 in human squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) and to find out the effects of COX-2 inhibitors on the growth of cultured cells., Materials and Methods: We investigated the effect of indomethacin and NS-398 at various concentrations on the growth of SCCHN cell lines using cell proliferation assay, cell cycle analysis and quantification of apoptosis., Results: Immunostaining revealed a significantly increased COX-2 expression in tumor tissues compared with normal controls (p<0.05). Western blotting analysis using a COX-2 antibody, indicated that seven SCCHN cell lines tested constitutively expressed COX-2 protein. Treatment of head and neck cancer cells with NS-398 (10-200 microM) or indomethacin (50-1000 microM) for 72 hours showed a significant dose-dependent inhibition of cell growth (p<0.01) and a significant increase in the number of cells in the G0/G1-phases of the cell cycle with a concomitant reduction at the S-phase in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.05). NS-398 was more effective in cell cycle arrest and growth inhibition than indomethacin (p<0.05) and induced significant apoptosis in two out of three SCCHN cell lines tested at the concentration of 100 microM., Conclusion: Our study showed that COX-2 could be a participant in carcinogenesis of SCCHN and that COX-2 inhibitors would be a potential tool for the treatment and prevention of SCCHN.