Objectives: This study evaluated the incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) according to the number of metabolic syndrome (MetS) components. Methods: Using health checkup and insurance claims data of 6,365,409 subjects, the occurrence of CRC according to stage of MetS by sex was determined from the date of the health checkup in 2009 until December 31, 2018. Results: Cumulative incidence rates (CIR) of CRC in men and women was 3.9 and 2.8 per 1000 (p < 0.001), respectively. CIR of CRC for the normal, pre-MetS, and MetS groups in men was 2.6, 3.9, and 5.5 per 1000 (p < 0.001) and CIR in women was 2.1, 2.9, and 4.5 per 1000 (p < 0.001), respectively. Compared with the normal group, the hazard ratio (HR) of CRC for the pre-MetS group was 1.25 (95% CI 1.17–1.33) in men and 1.09 (95% CI 1.02–1.17) in women, and the HR of CRC for the MetS group was 1.54 (95% CI 1.43–1.65) in men and 1.39 (95% CI 1.26–1.53) in women after adjustment. Conclusions: We found that MetS is a risk factor for CRC in this study. Therefore, the prevention and active management of MetS would contribute to the prevention of CRC.

Sehoon Park, Soojin Lee, Hyung Ah Jo, Kyungdo Han, Yaerim Kim, Jung Nam An, Kwon Wook Joo, Chun Soo Lim, Yon Su Kim, Hyeongsu Kim, and Dong Ki Kim. Kidney Research and Clinical Practice 2018;37:119-29. https://doi.org/10.23876/j.krcp.2018.37.2.119

This study aimed to investigate the association between ambient air pollutants and cataracts in the general population aged 50 years or older using data from the Korean National Insurance Service—National Sample Cohort. Cataract patients were defined as those diagnosed by a physician and having undergone cataract surgery. After matching the average concentrations of PM_2.5, PM₁₀, NO₂, CO, SO₂, and O₃ in residential areas, the association between quartile level of air pollutants and incidence of cataract was analyzed using a multivariate Cox-proportional hazard risk model. Among the 115,728 participants, 16,814 (14.5%) were newly diagnosed with cataract and underwent related surgery between 1 January 2004, and 31 December 2015. Exposure to PM₁₀, NO₂, and SO₂ was positively associated with cataract incidence, while O₃ was negatively associated. The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval was 1.069 (1.025–1.115) in PM₁₀ and 1.080 (1.030–1.133) in NO₂. However, the association between cataract and the quartile of PM_2.5 measured during one year in 2015 was not clear. The HR of female participants aged 65 or older was significantly increased according to quartile of air pollutants. We identified exposure to PM₁₀, NO₂, SO₂, and O₃ associated with cataract development in Korean adults aged ≥ 50 years. This information may be helpful for policymaking to control air pollution as a risk factor for eye health.

Employment turnover among doctors at healthcare facilities negatively influences healthcare provision, facility management, and staffing. To support institutional and policy change, turnover intentions and its related factors of employed doctors were evaluated with 2016 Korean Physician Survey (n = 2719) in Korea. About 30.5% intended a turnover within two years. The significant related factors by multivariate analysis via binary logistic regression were gender, age, specialty, type of facility, length of current employment, usual number of hours worked per week, and income satisfaction. The odds of reporting turnover intention are 46.2% greater for males than females and 55.5% greater for aged 30–39 than aged 40–49. The odds are 28.9% smaller for support medicine than internal medicine. The odds are 224.2% greater for those employed at tertiary hospitals than those employed at clinics, but the odds are 34.0% smaller for convalescent hospital employment than general hospital employment. The number of years of current employment and income satisfaction each negatively, and the number of hours worked per week positively, related to turnover intentions. Fair compensation and performance evaluation systems and reasonable working hours should be guaranteed at healthcare facilities to reduce turnover, and institutional and policy measures should be implemented to improve workplace environmental quality.

Rim H, et al. J Korean Med Sci. 2011 Nov;26(11):1409-1414. http://dx.doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2011.26.11.1409

The purpose of this study was to investigate the gambling factors related with the gambling problem level of adolescents to provide basic information for the prevention of adolescent gambling problems. The data was drawn from the 2015 Survey on Youth Gambling Problems of the Korea Center on Gambling Problems for Korean students in grades 7–11 (ages 13–17 years) and included 14,011 study subjects (average age 14.9 years, 52.5% male). The lifetime gambling behavior experience was 42.1%, and 24.2% had a gambling behavior experience within the past three months. The past three-month prevalence of problem gambling was 1.1%. The gambling factors related with the level of adolescent problem gambling include the presence of nearby gambling facilities, having personal relationships with people that gamble, a higher number of experienced gambling behaviors, male adolescents, and a greater amount of time spent gambling. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first report to identify gambling factors related with the level of adolescent problem gambling in Korean adolescents using national data. These findings suggest that gambling prevention efforts must consider not only access to individual adolescents as early intervention, but also environmental strategies such as accessibility regulations and alternative activities.