Enteropathy and intestinal malabsorption in patients treated with antihypertensive drugs. A retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate differences in the incidence of enteropathy or intestinal malabsorption in patients taking angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI), calcium channel blocker (CCB), and beta blockers (BBs) at a single center in Korea. METHODS: In this retrospective study, we utilized data from the Yangsan electronic medical records to identify 129,169 patients. These individuals were prescribed olmesartan, other ARBs, ACEI, CCB, and BBs between November 2008 and February 2021. RESULTS: Of the 44,775 patients, 51 (0.11%) were observed to have enteropathy or intestinal malabsorption. Compared with the ACEI group, the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for enteropathy and intestinal malabsorption were OR=1.313 (95% confidence interval [CI]: [0.188-6.798], p=0.893) for olmesartan, OR=0.915 (95% CI: [0.525-1.595], p=0.754) for the other ARBs, OR=0.928 (95% CI: [0.200-4.307]; p=0.924) for the CCB, and OR=0.663 (95% CI: [0.151-2.906]; p=0.586) for the BBs group. These findings were adjusted for factors such as age, gender, duration of antihypertensive medication, and comorbidities. CONCLUSION: In a retrospective cohort study of patients on antihypertensive medications, no significant difference was found in the incidence of enteropathy or intestinal malabsorption when ACEI was compared to olmesartan, other ARBs, CCB, and BBs.

Utilization of End-of-Life Care Rooms by Patients Who Died in a Single Hospice Unit at a National University Hospital in South Korea.

Purpose: For the dignity of patients nearing the end of their lives, it is essential to provide end-of-life (EoL) care in a separate, dedicated space. This study investigated the utilization of specialized rooms for dying patients within a hospice unit. Methods: This retrospective study examined patients who died in a single hospice unit between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2021. Utilizing medical records, we analyzed the circumstances surrounding death, the employment of specialized rooms for terminally ill patients, and the characteristics of those who received EoL care in a shared room. Results: During the 1,825-day survey period, deaths occurred on 632 days, and 799 patients died. Of these patients, 496 (62.1%) received EoL care in a dedicated room. The average duration of using this dedicated space was 1.08 days. Meanwhile, 188 patients (23.5%) died in a shared room. Logistic regression analysis revealed that a longer stay in the hospice unit was associated with a lower risk of receiving EoL care in a shared room (odds ratio [OR]=0.98, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.97~0.99; P=0.002). Furthermore, a higher number of deaths on the day a patient died was associated with a greater risk of receiving EoL care in a shared room (OR=1.66, 95% CI 1.33~2.08; P<0.001). Conclusion: To ensure that more patients receive EoL care for an adequate duration in a private setting, additional research is necessary to increase the number of dedicated rooms and incorporate them into the hospice unit at an early stage.

Association between weekend catch-up sleep and hyperuricemia with insufficient sleep in postmenopausal Korean women: a nationwide cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: Hyperuricemia is associated with metabolic and cardiovascular diseases and mortality. Efforts to lower the risk of hyperuricemia in various ways are needed as the prevalence of these diseases increases in postmenopausal women. Studies have shown that one of these methods is associated with adequate sleep duration, which is related to a low risk of hyperuricemia. Considering that it is difficult for people to get enough sleep in modern society, this study hypothesized that weekend catch-up sleep could be an alternative. To our knowledge, no past study has investigated the relation between weekend catch-up sleep and hyperuricemia in postmenopausal women. Hence, the aim of this research was to estimate the relation between weekend catch-up sleep and hyperuricemia with insufficient sleep in postmenopausal women during weekday or workday. METHODS: This study included 1,877 participants extracted from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey VII. The study population was divided into weekend catch-up sleep and non-weekend catch-up sleep groups. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were derived using multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Weekend catch-up sleep had a significantly lower prevalence of hyperuricemia after adjusting for confounders (odds ratio, 0.758 [95% confidence interval, 0.576-0.997]). In a subgroup analysis, weekend catch-up sleep of 1 to 2 hours was significantly correlated with a lower prevalence of hyperuricemia after adjusting for confounders (odds ratio: 0.522 [95% confidence interval, 0.323-0.845]). CONCLUSIONS: Weekend catch-up sleep had a decreased prevalence of hyperuricemia in postmenopausal women with sleep deprivation.

Association between Sleep Duration and Presbycusis in Korean Adults: Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

BACKGROUND: Sleep duration is associated with hearing loss, especially presbycusis, which is the most common type of hearing loss; however, there is limited evidence regarding this association among the Korean population. We aimed to determine the relationship between sleep duration and high-frequency hearing loss in Korean adults aged ≥40 years. METHODS: We examined 5,547 Korean adults aged ≥40 years who completed audiometric tests and questionnaires regarding sleep duration during the 2010-2012 cycle of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Mild presbycusis was defined as >25 decibels (dB) and <40 dB, whereas moderate-to-severe presbycusis was defined as >40 dB pure tone averages at high frequencies (3,000, 4,000, and 6,000 Hz) for both ears. Additionally, the sleep duration was divided into quartiles. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated using multivariable logistic regression after adjusting for covariates. RESULTS: The prevalence of presbycusis in South Korean adults was 62.1%, of which 61.4% showed moderate to severe presbycusis. The incidence of moderate-to-severe, but not mild, presbycusis showed a significant positive correlation with sleep duration. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that sleep duration is associated with the prevalence of presbycusis.

Association between Serum Folic Acid Levels and Asthma in the Korean Population: A Study Based on the 2016-2018 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

BACKGROUND: Folic acid is involved in inflammatory reactions; however, the association between folic acid and allergic diseases, particularly asthma, remains unclear. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the association between serum folic acid levels and asthma in Koreans. METHODS: This study analyzed the serum folic acid levels of 6,615 individuals included in the 2016-2018 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The prevalence of asthma was determined using a questionnaire that identified cases of physician-diagnosed asthma. The relationship between serum folic acid levels and asthma was analyzed using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that a 1 ng/mL increase in serum folic acid level significantly reduced the risk of asthma after adjusting for confounding factors including sex, age, household income, current smoking, current alcohol use, and body mass index (odds ratio [OR], 0.930; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.876- 0.987; P=0.017). The relationship between the adjusted odds of asthma and serum folic acid levels were consistently inverse (OR, 2.266; 95% CI, 1.126-4.420; P for trend=0.038). CONCLUSION: Serum folic acid levels are inversely associated with physician-diagnosed asthma in the Korean population.

Prognosis palliative care study, palliative prognostic index, palliative prognostic score and objective prognostic score in advanced cancer: a prospective comparison.

BACKGROUND: Predicting how long a patient with far advanced cancer has to live is a significant part of hospice and palliative care. Various prognostic models have been developed, but have not been fully compared in South Korea. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to compare the accuracy of the Prognosis in Palliative Care Study (PiPS), Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI), Palliative Prognostic Score (PaP) and Objective Prognostic Score (OPS) for patients with far advanced cancer in a palliative care unit in South Korea. METHODS: This prospective study included patients with far advanced cancer who were admitted to a single palliative care unit at the National University Hospital. Variables for calculating the prognostic models were recorded by a palliative care physician. The survival rate was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of each model were calculated. RESULTS: A total of 160 patients participated. There was a significant difference in survival rates across all groups, each categorised through the five prognostic models. The overall accuracy (OA) of the prognostic models ranged between 54.5% and 77.6%. The OA of clinicians' predictions of survival ranged between 61.9% and 81.3%. CONCLUSION: The PiPS, PPI, PaP and OPS were successfully validated in a palliative care unit of South Korea. There was no difference in accuracy between the prognostic models, and OA tended to be lower than in previous studies.

The Relationship of Sitting Time and Physical Activity on the Quality of Life in Elderly People.

Few studies have shown the combined impact of sitting time and physical activity on quality of life in older people. This cross-sectional study, using data from the 2016-2018 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, examines the association between sitting time and physical activity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Korean adults aged ≥ 65 years. HRQoL was assessed using the EuroQol-5 Dimension (EQ-5D, three-level version). We divided subjects into groups based on sitting time and physical activity and analyzed the combined association of sitting time and physical activity with HRQoL. The association between longer sitting time (≥8 h) and HRQoL was analyzed using multiple logistic regression. In total, 4276 participants were included. Prolonged sitting time was associated with all of the EQ-5D dimensions: mobility (odds ratio [OR]: 1.43, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.22-1.68), self-care (OR: 1.65 [95% CI 1.25-2.17]), usual activities (OR: 2.07 [95% CI 1.69-2.52]), pain/discomfort (OR: 1.57 [95% CI 1.34-1.84]), and anxiety/depression (OR: 1.49 [95% CI 1.17-1.91]). The prolonged sitting time/inactive group had higher ORs for all the EQ-5D dimensions than the low sitting time/active group. Prolonged sitting time was associated with low HRQoL in elderly Korean adults; physical activity could weaken the negative influence of prolonged sitting time on HRQoL.

Evaluation for Parkinsonian Bradykinesia by deep learning modeling of kinematic parameters.

A wearable sensor system is available for monitoring of bradykinesia in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), however, it remains unclear whether kinematic parameters would reflect clinical severity of PD, or would help clinical diagnosis of physicians. The present study investigated whether the classification model using kinematic parameters from the wearable sensor may show accordance with clinical rating and diagnosis in PD patients. Using the Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) sensor, we measured the movement of finger tapping (FT), hand movements (HM), and rapid alternating movements (RA) in 25 PD patients and 21 healthy controls. Through the analysis of the measured signal, 11 objective features were derived. In addition, a clinician who specializes in movement disorders viewed the test video and evaluated each of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) scores. In all items of FT, HM, RA, the correlation between the linear regression score obtained through objective features (angle, period, coefficient variances for angle and period, change rates of angle and period, angular velocity, total angle, frequency, magnitude, and frequency × magnitude) and the clinician's UPDRS score was analyzed, and there was a significant correlation (rho > 0.7, p < 0.001). PD patients and controls were classified by deep learning using objective features. As a result, it showed a high performance with an area under the curve (AUC) about as high as 0.9 (FT Total = 0.950, HM Total = 0.889, RA Total = 0.888, ALL Total = 0.926. This showed similar performance to the classification result of binary logistic regression and neurologist, and significantly higher than that of family medicine specialists. Our results suggest that the deep learning model using objective features from the IMU sensor can be usefully used to identify and evaluate bradykinesia, especially for general physicians not specializing in neurology.

Association of Work Patterns and Periodontitis Prevalence in Korean Adults Aged 50 Years or Older: A Nationwide Representative Study.

This study analyzed the relationship between the work pattern and the prevalence of periodontitis. We analyzed the data of 3320 adults (1779 men, 1543 women) aged 51-80 years from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013-2015). The work pattern was divided into two groups (regular and irregular). The periodontal status was assessed using the community periodontal index. We observed a statistically significant difference in the association between work patterns and prevalence of periodontitis in Korean women aged over 50 years. For female workers with irregular work patterns, the prevalence of periodontitis was lower than that in workers with regular work patterns by 10.3% (40.3% vs. 30.0%, p = 0.011). The annual health examination rate was significantly higher in the irregular group than in the regular group (for men 77.9% vs. 73.5%; p < 0.001, for women 76.4% vs. 75.9%; p < 0.001). In female workers with irregular work patterns, the annual dental examination rate was significantly higher than that in workers with a regular work pattern by 7.7% (34.3% vs. 26.6%, p = 0.043). In conclusion we found a statistically significant difference between the work patterns and prevalence of periodontitis in Korean women aged over 50 years.