Contents analysis of telemedicine applications in South Korea: An analysis of possibility of inducing selective or unnecessary medical care.

The use of telemedicine and telehealth has rapidly increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, could lead to unnecessary medical service. This study analyzes the contents of telemedicine apps (applications) in South Korea to investigate the use of telemedicine for selective or unnecessary medical treatments and the presence of advertising for the hospital. This study analyzed 49 telemedicine mobile apps in Korea; a content analysis of the apps' features and quality using a Mobile Application Rating Scale was done. The study analyzed 49 mobile telemedicine apps and found that 65.3% of the apps provide immediate telemedicine service without reservations, with an average rating of 4.35. 87% of the apps offered selective care, but the overall quality of the apps was low, with an average total quality score of 3.27. 73.9% of the apps were able to provide selective care for alopecia or morning-after pill prescription, 65.2% of the apps for weight loss, and 52.2% of the apps for erectile dysfunction, with the potential to encourage medical inducement or abuse. Therefore, before introducing telemedicine, it is helpful to prevent the possibility of abuse of telemedicine by establishing detailed policies for methods and scope of telemedicine.

Clinical factors distinguishing renal infarction from acute pyelonephritis: A randomly matched retrospective case-control study.

INTRODUCTION: Renal infarction (RI) is rare but clinically important because the appropriate treatment depends on the time of diagnosis. RI is often misdiagnosed as acute pyelonephritis (APN) because both diseases have nonspecific symptoms such as flank pain and abdominal pain. We identified predictors for distinguishing RI from APN. METHODS: The data of patients visited the emergency department and diagnosed with RI or APN from March 2016 to May 2020 were prospectively collected and retrospectively analyzed. Patients aged under 18 years, with a history of trauma, or incomplete medical records were excluded. Using a matching ratio of 1:5, RI patients were randomly matched to APN patients. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors that could distinguish RI from APN. In addition, we constructed a decision tree to identify patterns of risk factors and develop prediction algorithms. RESULTS: The RI and APN groups included 55 and 275 patients, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that male sex (OR, 6.161; p = 0.009), atrial fibrillation (AF) (OR, 14.303; p = 0.021), costovertebral angle tenderness (CVAT) (OR, 0.106; p < 0.001), aspartate transaminase (AST) level > 21.50 U/L (OR, 19.820; p < 0.001), C-reactive protein (CRP) level < 19.75 mg/L (OR, 10.167; p < 0.001), and pyuria (OR, 0.037; p < 0.001) were significantly associated with RI distinguishing from APN. CONCLUSION: Male sex, AF, no CVAT, AST level > 21.50 U/L, CRP level < 19.75 mg/L, and no pyuria were significant factors that could distinguish RI from APN.

Factors Associated with Quit Intentions among Adult Smokers in South Korea: Findings from the 2020 ITC Korea Survey.

Background: South Korea has made substantial progress on tobacco control, but cigarette smoking prevalence is still high. Previous studies were conducted before the use of nicotine vaping products (NVPs) or heated tobacco products (HTPs) became popular. Thus, whether the concurrent use of NVPs or HTPs affects quit intentions among Korean smokers remains a question that needs to be explored. This study aims to identify predictors of quit intentions among cigarette-only smokers and concurrent users of cigarettes and NVPs or HTPs. Methods: Data were from the 2020 International Tobacco Control Korea Survey. Included in the analysis were 3778 adult cigarette smokers: 1900 at-least-weekly exclusive smokers and 1878 at-least-weekly concurrent smokers and HTP or NVP users. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted. Results: Quit intentions were reported by 66.4% of respondents. Factors significantly associated with quit intentions included younger age, having a spouse/partner, lower nicotine dependence, reporting a past quit attempt, regretting starting smoking, believing that smoking had damaged health, worrying that smoking will damage future health, and perceiving health benefits of quitting. Current use of NVPs or HTPs was not significantly associated with quit intentions. Conclusions: This study contributes the following to current literature: intrinsic health-related beliefs were more important than societal norms in shaping quit intentions. These findings should be considered in shaping future smoking cessation policies, such as reinforcing education programs that emphasize the benefits of quitting for personal health reasons, lowering nicotine dependence, and encouraging multiple quit attempts and successful quitting.

Estimating the Incidence of Cases and Deaths Resulting from Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease and Its Related Socioeconomic Disease Burden in Republic of Korea (2010 - 2014).

OBJECTIVES: Hand, Foot and Mouth disease (HFMD) is a highly contagious viral disease that affects young children and frequently causes epidemics. A vaccine is available in China (enterovirus 71) and, the Republic of Korea took the first step to develop a new vaccine. New vaccine development requires that disease burden is calculated in advance so the financial cost, morbidity and mortality can be measured. METHODS: Data from National Sentinel Surveillance and health insurance systems of 1 million claimants were used. Direct medical and non-medical costs, indirect (caregiving and premature death) costs, cases and related deaths were summarized. RESULTS: From 2010 to 2014, there were an estimated 3,605 to 9,271 cases of HFMD, with 1 to 3 deaths. The estimated socioeconomic disease burden ranged from 80.5 to 164.2 million USD and was similar to that of hepatitis A (93.6-103.8 million USD). Among each costs, costs of caregiving consisted of highest proportion mainly due to hiring caregivers (50% - 60%) or opportunity costs from day off (62% - 69%). CONCLUSION: Considering the social impact of HFMD, the estimated socioeconomic disease burden is not high and government policies need to focus on reducing the loss of work in caregivers.