• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.437-441
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• 2012

Objective: Health risk appraisal is often utilized to modify individual's health behavior, especially concerning disease prevention, and web-based health risk appraisal services are being provided to the general public in Korea. However, little is known about the psychological effect of the health risk appraisal even though poorly communicated information by the web-based service may result in unintended adverse health outcomes. This study was conducted to explore the psychological effect of health risk appraisal using epidemiological risk factor profile. Methods: We conducted a randomized trial comparing risk factor list type health risk appraisal and risk score type health risk appraisal. We studied 60 women aged 30 years and older who had no cancer. Anxiety level was assessed using the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory YZ. Results: The results of multivariate analysis showed that risk status was the independent predictors of increase of state anxiety after health risk appraisal intervention when age, education, health risk appraisal type, numeracy, state anxiety, trait anxiety, and health risk appraisal type by risk status interaction was adjusted. Women who had higher risk status had an odd of having increased anxiety that was about 5 times greater than women who had lower risk status. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that communicating the risk status by individual health risk appraisal service can induce psychological sequelae, especially in women having higher risk status. Hospitals, institutes, or medical schools that are operating or planning to operate the online health risk appraisal service should take side effects such as psychological sequelae into consideration.

• International Journal of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.9-20
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• 2023

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of collective efforts in promoting health preventive behaviors is accentuated, bringing sociopolitical factors into focus. To fully capture psychological drivers of health preventive behaviors in risk situations, anchored on the Model of Risk Information Seeking and Processing (RISP; Griffin, Dunwoody, and Neuwirth 1999), in retrospect of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, we explored whether and how individuals' vaccination behaviors are predicted by RISP-related variables (information insufficiency, affective responses, perceived information gathering capacity, subjective norms) and one's political identity. Findings from a survey of 705 adult participants in the U.S. showed that the effects of one's risk information insufficiency on his or her information seeking and affective response regarding the pandemic, which is also related to their risk susceptibility perceptions. More importantly, the impact of political identity on one's perceived risk susceptibility, and its association with vaccination behaviors are also identified. The findings of this study provide valuable insights for the development of effective health communication strategies for preventive health behaviors.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.257-262
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• 2014

Risk information may be one of the most important factor for worker's safe behavior because that safe behavior can be oriented by attitude based on risk information. Traditionally KAP(knowledge, attitude and practice) model was useful frame for the change of human behavior. Knowledge is formed by information through experience and education. Worker's health may be prevented by his or her own active safe behavior based on risk information. This paper is to investigate the effect of labor union on the provirion of risk information by labor union. Data for analysis is the third Korean Working Conditions Survey done by Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute in 2011. The sample size is 50,032 economic active person surveyed by household interview survey with structure questionnaire by trained interviewer. The difference of risk information provision among employees was tested by mean difference test. The level of risk information of employees of companies with labor union is higher than that with non labour union. This paper has some implication for the promotion of safe behavior of employees through risk information provision mediated by labor union. Some limitation of this study may be considered because of using the cross sectional survey data.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.82-88
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• 2013

Objectives: Unprotected leisure time exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun or artificial tanning beds is the most important environmental risk factor for melanoma, a malignant skin cancer with increasing incidences over the past decades. The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of skin health information provided by several sources and different publishing issues on knowledge, risk perception, and sun protective behavior of sunbathers. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among Austrian residents (n=563) spending leisure time outdoors in August 2010. Results: Print media, television, and family were perceived as the most relevant sources of information on skin health, whereas the source physician was only ranked as fourth important source. Compared to other sources, information provided by doctors positively influenced participants' knowledge on skin risk and sun protective behavior resulting in higher scores in the knowledge test (p=0.009), higher risk perception (p<0.001), and more sun protection (p<0.001). Regarding gender differences, internet was more often used by males as health information source, whereas females were more familiar with printed information material in general. Conclusions: The results of this survey put emphasis on the demand for information provided by medical professionals in order to attain effective, long-lasting promotion of photoprotective habits.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.53-61
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• 2012

Objectives: Improving public capability to obtain, understand, and use health information is important for decision-making and communication. This study attempts to measure adults' literacy of the information provided by a public health institution. Factors affecting different health literacy level are also investigated. The relation between public risk perception and health literacy is examined as well. Methods: A total of 800 korean adults were surveyed. To provide the participants health literacy questions, health messages of heavy metals released by KFDA as well as literacy questions developed by NIKL were used. A total of eight questions were developed to measure health literacy. The dimensions of risk perception proposed by Brewer et al.(2008) were modified to measure risk perception. Results: The average percentage of correct answer for all literacy questions was only 65.57%. Individuals at the older age, and with lower education/ income level were more likely to be low literate. In addition, health literacy was strongly associated with risk perception. Conclusions: Public literacy of health information is influenced by socio demographic factors. This study suggested a possibility that low health literacy may affect unrealistically high risk perception. Further studies with sophisticated methodologies to measure health literacy need to be developed.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.1-10
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• 2013

Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between internet addiction and health behaviors & mental health among Korean adolescents. Methods: Data from the 2010 Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey was analyzed. Using the Korean Internet Addiction Proneness Scale for Youth-Short Form: Self Report developed by the Korean National Information Society Agency in 2008, subjects were classified into 3 groups for internet addiction including general user, potential-risk group, and high-risk group. The health behaviors and mental health were compared among the groups for internet addiction by gender. Results: There was significantly higher prevalence of internet addiction including potential-risk group and high-risk group in boys(14.1%) than in girls(8.8%). There were significant odds ratios of perceived stress, perceived depression, perceived health and happiness, and satisfaction of sleeping in both genders at potential-risk group and high-risk group compared to general user for the internet addiction. The odds ratios of smoking at high risk group, alcohol drinking at potential risk group, eating breakfast at high risk group, and moderate physical activity at both risk groups among boys were significant. Among girls at both risk group, the odds ratios of smoking, alcohol drinking, and eating breakfast were significant. Conclusions: This study reveals a significant association among internet addiction, and health behaviors, and mental health in Korean adolescents.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.217-224
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• 2007

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships among gender, information-seeking styles, and high risk behavior in Korean adults. Methods: A survey utilizing a structured questionnaire was used to examine the relationships of the study variables. Eight hundred fifty six adults were recruited and this group consisted of 403 females and 453 males. Information seeking style and high risk behavior were measured by Miller Behavioral Style Scale revised by Zurren and Wolfs, and High Risk Behaviors checklist developed by Lee, respectively. Results: Differences between gender were significant in information-seeking styles and high risk behavior. Monitoring and blunting scores were both higher in female than male, and high risk behavior was higher in males than females. The blunting style was positively related to high-risk behavior and the monitoring style was negatively related to high risk behavior. Conclusion: To intervene with high risk behavior effectively, individual differences such as gender and information seeking style should be considered. In addition, the research about well-designed health information support is needed in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.945-950
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• 2010

As the U.S. Congress has continued to debate over the health care reform pushed by President Obama, there is an ample reason to believe that the systematic risk of the health care industry, especially health care plan providers, is increasing. This study measures and compares the systematic risk of two health care industry indexes and one portfolio of health care plan providers from before and after the introduction of the health care legislation into Congress in September, 2009. The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is used to measure the systematic risk, and a dummy variable approach and the Chow test are used to formally compare the systematic risk from before and after the introduction of the legislation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.113-125
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• 2023

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop a model for predicting mental health risk among adolescents based on health behavior information by employing a hybrid machine learning method. Methods: The study analyzed data of 51,850 domestic middle and high school students from 2022 Youth Health Behavior Survey conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Firstly, mental health risk levels (stress perception, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts, suicide plans, experiences of sadness and despair, loneliness, and generalized anxiety disorder) were classified using the k-mean unsupervised learning technique. Secondly, demographic factors (family economic status, gender, age), academic performance, physical health (body mass index, moderate-intensity exercise, subjective health perception, oral health perception), daily life habits (sleep time, wake-up time, smartphone use time, difficulty recovering from fatigue), eating habits (consumption of high-caffeine drinks, sweet drinks, late-night snacks), violence victimization, and deviance (drinking, smoking experience) data were input to develop a random forest model predicting mental health risk, using logistic and XGBoosting. The model and its prediction performance were compared. Results: First, the subjects were classified into two mental health groups using k-mean unsupervised learning, with the high mental health risk group constituting 26.45% of the total sample (13,712 adolescents). This mental health risk group included most of the adolescents who had made suicide plans (95.1%) or attempted suicide (96.7%). Second, the predictive performance of the random forest model for classifying mental health risk groups significantly outperformed that of the reference model (AUC=.94). Predictors of high importance were 'difficulty recovering from daytime fatigue' and 'subjective health perception'. Conclusion: Based on an understanding of adolescent health behavior information, it is possible to predict the mental health risk levels of adolescents and make interventions in advance.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.90-98
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• 2005

Purpose: To provide basic information for developing a nursing program by examining health risk behavior of students rewriting college entrance examinations. Method: Data were gathered using questionnaires from 804 examinees in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province and analyzed with the SAS program using t-test, ANOVA, Scheffe's test, and Pearson correlation coefficients. Results: The mean score for health risk behaviors was 17.70 and the highest score for sub-areas of health risk behavior was drinking alcohol while substance use ranked lowest. There were significantly different scores for health risk behavior according to the following general characteristics; frequency of rewriting college entrance examinations, parents' marital status, level of father's education, grades, satisfaction with rewriting of college entrance examinations, parents' health concerns, need for health education and health status. Each behavior had positive or negative correlation with more than one other behavior. A negative correlation was found between health risk behavior and family support and self-esteem, while positive correlations were found between health risk behavior and general stress, studying stress and anxiety. Conclusion: This study suggest that these results be used to developed a prevention program to decrease health risk behaviors by promoting family support and self esteem and decreasing stress and anxiety.