Factors Influencing the Quality of Life of Korean Elderly Women by Economic Status.

Purpose: This study aimed to determine whether there are differences in the factors affecting the quality of life (QOL) of elderly women in South Korea according to their perceived economic status. Methods: Data were extracted from the Seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in 2016. The participants were 879 women over the age of 65 years, who were divided into three groups: high, medium, and low based on their perceived economic status. The study variables were classified into three categories: general characteristics, physical factors, and psychological factors. General characteristics included age, education level, employment, activity restriction, frequency of breakfast/week, frequency of lunch/week, and frequency of dinner/week. Physical factors included disease status, weight change, consumption of alcohol, number of days of walking per week, duration of walking at a time, body mass index (BMI), and discomfort due to changes in hearing. Psychological factors included stress, subjective body awareness, subjective health status, depressive symptoms, and QOL. Complex sample crosstabs and chi-square tests were conducted, and regression was performed to examine the association between the variables by economic status. Results: The factors that influenced the QOL of elderly women with low economic status were arthritis, alcohol consumption, subjective health status, and depressive symptoms, with an explanatory power of 54.3% (F = 14.94, p < 0.001). The factors that influenced the QOL of the medium economic status group were activity restriction, frequency of dinner/week, arthritis, number of days of walking per week, BMI, stress, subjective health status, and depressive symptoms, with an explanatory power of 48.6% (F = 9.82, p < 0.001). For the high economic status group, influential factors were age, restricted activity, arthritis, number of days of walking per week, stress, and depressive symptoms with an explanatory power of 49.0% (F = 69.76, p < 0.001). Conclusions: This study identified different factors that contributed to the QOL of elderly women by economic status.

Factors Associated with Adolescents' Internet Use Duration by Suicidal Ideation.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the factors associated with Internet use duration by distinguishing between individuals with suicidal ideation and those without. Methods: Data were obtained from the 14th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey (2018), which is a nationwide survey. Respondents aged 12-18 years (N = 60,040) who answered "yes" or "no" to the question about having suicidal ideation were included in the analysis. Study variables were general characteristics, physical and psychological factors, and Internet use duration. A complex sample logistic regression was performed to determine the influential factors. Results: Significant factors associated with weekend Internet use among those with suicidal ideation were sex, economic status, residence type, physical activity, sedentary duration, recovery after sleep deprivation, and stress, with an explanatory power of 20.0% (p < 0.001). Significant factors associated with weekday Internet use among those with suicidal ideation were sex, frequency of eating breakfast per week, sedentary duration, and weight control efforts, with an explanatory power of 15.9% (p < 0.001). Significant factors associated with weekend Internet use among those with no suicidal ideation were breakfast frequency and frequency of alcohol consumption per month, with an explanatory power of 10.9% (p < 0.001). Significant factors associated with weekday Internet use among those with no suicidal ideation were frequency of eating breakfast per week, frequency of eating fast food per week, sedentary duration, and suicide attempt, with an explanatory power of 13.6% (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The findings indicated significant differences in Internet use duration between adolescents with suicidal ideation and those without, suggesting the need for customized prevention programs focusing on adolescents' psychological state.

Comparison of methods for quantitating Salmonella enterica Typhimurium and Heidelberg strain attachment to reusable plastic shipping container coupons and preliminary assessment of sanitizer efficacy.

Salmonella serovars, one of the leading contributors to foodborne illness and are especially problematic for foods that are not cooked before consumption, such as fresh produce. The shipping containers that are used to transport and store fresh produce may play a role in cross contamination and subsequent illnesses. However, methods for quantitatively attached cells are somewhat variable. The overall goal of this study was to compare conventional plating with molecular methods for quantitating attached representative strains for Salmonella Typhimurium and Heidelberg on reusable plastic containers (RPC) coupons, respectively. We attached Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium ATCC 14028 and serovar Heidelberg SL486 (parent and an antibiotic resistant marker strain) to plastic coupons (2.54 cm(2)) derived from previously used shipping containers by growing for 72 h in tryptic soy broth. The impact of the concentration of sanitizer on log reductions between unsanitized and sanitized coupons was evaluated by exposing attached S. Typhimurium cells to 200 ppm and 200,000 ppm sodium hypochlorite (NaClO). Differences in sanitizer effectiveness between serovars were also evaluated with attached S. Typhimurium compared to attached S. Heidelberg populations after being exposed to 200 ppm peracetic acid (PAA). Treatment with NaClO caused an average of 2.73 ± 0.23 log CFU of S. Typhimurium per coupon removed with treatment at 200 ppm while 3.36 ± 0.54 log CFU were removed at 200,000 ppm. Treatment with PAA caused an average of 2.62 ± 0.15 log CFU removed for S. Typhimurium and 1.41 ± 0.17 log CFU for S. Heidelberg (parent) and 1.61 ± 0.08 log CFU (marker). Lastly, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to visualize cell attachment and coupon surface topography. SEM images showed that remaining attached cell populations were visible even after sanitizer application. Conventional plating and qPCR yielded similar levels of enumerated bacterial populations indicating a high concordance between the two methods. Therefore, qPCR could be used for the rapid quantification of Salmonella attached on RPC.