Background: Improving the health behaviors of those with chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes is important for disease management. Few in-depth studies have been conducted in Korea on the health behaviors of chronic disease patients. This study examined the health behaviors of chronic disease patients over time and compared them with those of the general population. Methods: Cross-sectional time-series data obtained from the Korea Community Health Survey from 2008 to 2017 were analyzed. Thirteen diseases were included in this analysis, namely, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, stroke, myocardial infarction, angina, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, cataract, and depression. The current smoking rate, drinking rate, and the walking rate, which are leading health behaviors necessary for preventing chronic diseases, were analyzed by disease type. We compared patients’ health behaviors with those of the general population and identified regional variations. Results: Although the current overall smoking rate was seemingly declining, the overall monthly drinking and high-risk drinking rates were increasing. In 2017, patients experiencing depression symptoms had a higher smoking rate than did the general population; hypertension and diabetes patients had a higher risk-drinking rate than did the latter. The general population’s walking rate was highest. There were considerable variations by region among chronic disease patients. Conclusions: Chronic disease patients displayed worse health behaviors than those of the general population, in some instances. Rather than focusing only on chronic disease patients’ medication adherence, strategies must be devised to increase their smoking cessation rate, decrease their drinking rate, and increase their walking rate.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the scope and severity of the second victim problem among nurses by examining the experiences and effects of patient safety incidents (PSIs) on them. Participants/setting: 492 nurses who had experienced PSIs and provide direct care in South Korean medical institutions. Design: A cross-sectional study with anonymous online self-report questionnaires was conducted to nurses in order to examine the experiences and effects of PSIs. Scales measuring post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and post-traumatic embitterment disorder (PTED) were used for a more quantitative examination of the effects of PSIs. A χ ² test was administered to find any difference in responses to difficulties due to PSIs between the direct and indirect experience of PSIs. Furthermore, linear regression analysis was conducted to investigate the factors related to scores on the PTSD and PTED scales. Results: A statistically significant difference was observed for participants who reported having experienced sleeping disorders, with those with direct experience showing 42.4% sleeping disorders and indirect experience at 21.0%. Also, there was a statistically significant difference between the 34.3% with direct experience and the 22.1% with indirect experience regarding having considered duty or job changes (resignation). Regression analysis showed total PTSD scores for indirect experience at 11.97 points (95% CI: −17.31 to −6.63), lower than direct experience. Moreover, those who thought the medical error was not involved in PSI had a total PTED score 4.39 points (95% CI: −7.23 to −1.55) lower than those who thought it was involved. Conclusions: A considerable number of nurses experienced psychological difficulties due to PSIs at levels that could interfere with their work. The effect of PSIs on nurses with direct experience of PSIs was greater compared with those with indirect experience. There need to be psychological support programmes for nurses to alleviate the negative effects of PSIs.

Pyo J, et al. J Korean Med Sci. 2020 Mar;35(19):e118. https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e118

Kim YE, et al. J Korean Med Sci. 2023 Apr;38(16):e130. https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e130

The present study investigated physicians’ perceptions regarding the need for, effects of, and barriers to disclosure of patient safety incidents (DPSI). An anonymous online questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate physicians’ perception regarding DPSI, in particular of when DPSI was needed in various situations and of methods for facilitating DPSI. Physicians’ perceptions were then compared to the general public’s perceptions regarding DPSI identified in a previous study. A total of 910 physicians participated. Most participants (94.9%) agreed that any serious medical error should be disclosed to patients and their caregivers, whereas only 39.8% agreed that even near-miss errors, which did not cause harm to patients, should be disclosed. Among the six known effects of DPSI presented, participating physicians showed the highest level of agreement (89.6%) that “DPSI will lead physicians to pay more attention to patient safety in the future.” Among six barriers to DPSI, participants showed the most agreement (75.9%) that “It is unreasonable to demand DPSI in only the medical field, and disclosure is not actively conducted in other fields.” With respect to methods for facilitating DPSI, participants agreed that “A guideline for DPSI is needed” (91.2%) and “Manpower to support DPSI in hospitals is required” (89.1%). Meanwhile, 79.3% agreed that “If an apology law is enacted, physicians will perform more DPSI” and 72.4% that “I support the introduction of an apology law.” Korean physicians generally have a positive perception of DPSI, but less than the general public.

Objectives Attempts to understand patient safety using administrative data in Korea have been rare. This study develops a Korean patient safety incident code classification system and identifies its characteristics to boost diagnosis code usage for assessing patient safety. Methods Based on existing literature, we selected Korean Standard Classification of Diseases 7 codes for characterizing patient safety incidents using diagnosis codes. We conducted 2 rounds of review to evaluate the codes applicability to different patient safety incidents using the Delphi method. The verified diagnosis codes were then classified by incident type. Results Of the 54,259 Korean Standard Classification of Diseases 7 codes, 4509 were applicable for Korean patients, which were divided into 2435 code groups and 2074 candidate groups. The codes were classified into 6 categories (diagnosis, medication, patient care, operation or procedure, infection related, and other) and then further classified into 35 subcategories. The major categories of patient safety incidents, in the order of frequency, involved medication, fluid and blood related (1719, 38.1%), operation and procedure related (1339, 29.7%), and patient care related (991, 22.0%). Meanwhile, there were only 2 codes related to diagnosis. Conclusions Our study provides a basis for estimating patient safety incidents using diagnosis codes. We suggest that gradually increasing the utilization and accuracy of the patient safety incident codes will help develop effective patient safety indicators in Korea similar to other countries. Moreover, clinicians are also needed to be aware of using the developed code classification system.