This study aimed to investigate the association between the levels of lead, mercury, cadmium, and nickel in the blood and renal function and to provide basic data for the development of health programs for the prevention of renal failure. This study included 1984 participants aged 19 and older who participated in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2019. Differences in values according to general characteristics and the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) stage were analyzed using a chi-square test, t-test, ANOVA, and the influencing factors were analyzed through multiple regression analysis. The concentrations of lead, mercury, cadmium, and nickel, and the risk of elevated eGFR were analyzed using linear regression. The correlation between the variables was determined using Pearson’s correlation analysis. Analysis of the correlation between blood lead, mercury, cadmium, and nickel levels and blood eGFR levels revealed that blood eGFR levels were significantly negatively correlated with blood lead, cadmium, and nickel levels (p ≤ 0.001). This study is significant in that it found a significant association between decreased eGFR and heavy metal levels and provided meaningful basic data on the association between heavy metals and renal function.

We aimed to assess which lifestyle risk behaviors have the greatest influence on the risk of cardiovascular disease in cancer survivors and which of these behaviors are most prominently clustered in cancer survivors, using logistic regression and association rule mining (ARM). We analyzed a consecutive series of 897 cancer survivors from the Korean National Health and Nutritional Exam Survey (2012–2016). Cardiovascular disease risks were assessed using the atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease score (ASCVDs). We classified participants as being in a low-risk group if their calculated ASCVDs was less than 10% and as being in a high-risk group if their score was 10% or higher. We used association rule mining to analyze patterns of lifestyle risk behaviors by ASCVDs risk group, based upon public health recommendations described in the Alameda 7 health behaviors (current smoking, heavy drinking, physical inactivity, obesity, breakfast skipping, frequent snacking, and suboptimal sleep duration). Forty-two percent of cancer survivors had a high ASCVD. Current smoking (common odds ratio, 11.19; 95% confidence interval, 3.66–34.20, p < 0.001) and obesity (common odds ratio, 2.67; 95% confidence interval, 1.40–5.08, p < 0.001) were significant predictors of high ASCVD in cancer survivors within a multivariate model. In ARM analysis, current smoking and obesity were identified as important lifestyle risk behaviors in cancer survivors. In addition, various lifestyle risk behaviors co-occurred with smoking in male cancer survivors.

Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a chronic, painful condition of the oral mucosa. Although the pathogenesis remains unclear, psychological and neuroendocrine factors are considered the major contributors. Few longitudinal studies have investigated the effects of psychological factors on the occurrence of BMS. Therefore, we evaluated the risk of BMS in patients with affective disorders using a nationwide population-based cohort dataset. We identified patients with depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder and then selected comparison participants using the 1:4 propensity score-matching method. We investigated the incidence of BMS events during the follow-up period using survival analysis, the log-rank test, and Cox proportional hazards regression models. After adjusting for other contributing conditions, the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for developing BMS was 3.37 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.67–6.80) for depression and 5.09 (95% CI: 2.19–11.80) for anxiety; however, bipolar disorder showed no significant risk. Specifically, female patients with depression and anxiety had an increased risk of BMS. Moreover, patients with anxiety showed an increased adjusted HR of BMS events during the first 4 years after diagnosis, whereas patients with depression did not. In conclusion, depression and anxiety disorders are significantly associated with the risk of BMS. Additionally, female patients showed a significantly higher risk of BMS than male patients, and anxiety showed increased BMS events earlier than depression. Therefore, clinicians should consider the risk of BMS when treating patients with depression or anxiety.

Background and Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic can cause psychological distress, and hemodialysis patients with chronic kidney disease may be particularly vulnerable. The aim of this study is to investigate anxiety levels among patients undergoing hemodialysis during the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore the relationship between health literacy and anxiety. Methods: This study recruited 149 hemodialysis patients from two hospitals between July 16th and July 31st, 2021. Patient data were collected using questionnaires on general characteristics, health literacy, generalized anxiety, and coronavirus disease-related anxiety. We used the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) and the Korean version of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) scale to evaluate the anxiety symptoms of the patients. Statistical analyses were performed using descriptive statistics, t-test, Mann–Whitney U-test, one-way ANOVA, Kruskal-Walli’s test and Spearman’s rank correlation. Results: The results showed that health literacy increased with decreasing age and increasing educational level among patients who source health information from the internet and among patients without comorbidities. Patients with comorbidities showed high levels of general anxiety. Patients who search for health information for ≥ 1 hour had high levels of coronavirus disease-related anxiety. Both CAS and GAD showed a significant negative correlation with the sub-domains of health literacy, except for critical health literacy. Conclusion: The results of this study highlight the need for a follow-up study on whether health literacy programs will reduce the anxiety levels of patients undergoing hemodialysis during infectious disease outbreaks. In addition, provision of social support for patients with comorbidity is essential for reducing their anxiety levels during disease outbreaks.

This retrospective nationwide population-based cohort study used a dataset collected from the Korean National Health Insurance Service. We evaluated incident type 2 diabetes, insulin requirements, and diabetes-associated complications during a 10-year follow-up period using the log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards regression models. In total, 8114 and 16,228 individuals with and without cancer, respectively, were enrolled. We found a higher incidence rate and an increased adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for new cases of type 2 diabetes in patients with cancer, compared with those without cancer. Additionally, patients with cancer had a higher risk of insulin requirement than patients without cancer (adjusted HR 1.43, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.14–1.78). Although there was no significant association between diabetes-associated complications and overall cancer diagnosis, specific cancer types (pancreas, bladder, and prostate) showed an increased risk of subsequent diabetic nephropathy. Therefore, clinicians should closely monitor patients with cancer for the early detection of type 2 diabetes and related morbidities.