Background: Cervical cancer is the sixth most common cause of cancer among Korean women and is one of the most preventable cancers in the world. This study aimed to investigate the change in cervical cancer screening rates, the level of socioeconomic disparities in cervical cancer screening participation, and whether there was a reduction in these disparities between 1998 and 2010.Methods: Using the Korean Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, women 30 years or older without a history of cervical cancer and who completed a health questionnaire, physical examination, and nutritional survey were included (n = 17,105). Information about participation in cervical cancer screening was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between cervical cancer screening participation and the socioeconomic status of the women.Results: The cervical cancer screening rate increased from 40.5% in 1998 to 52.5% in 2010. Socioeconomic disparities influenced participation, and women with lower educational levels and lower household income were less likely to be screened. Compared with the lowest educational level, the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for screening in women with the highest educational level were 1.56 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.05–2.30) in 1998, and 1.44 (95% CI: 1.12–1.87) in 2010. Compared with women with the lowest household income level, the adjusted ORs for screening in women with the highest household income level were 1.80 (95% CI: 1.22–2.68), 2.82 (95% CI: 2.01–3.96), and 1.45 (95% CI: 1.08–1.94) in 2001, 2005, and 2010, respectively.Conclusion: Although population-wide progress has been made in participation in cervical cancer screening over the 12-year period, socioeconomic status remained an important factor in reducing compliance with cancer screening.

Kang MS, et al. J Korean Med Sci. 2012 May;27(Suppl):S21-S24. http://dx.doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2012.27.S.S21

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is the most common chronic disorder in the pediatric population. Although several studies have investigated the correlation between AR and sleep-related issues, the association between the duration and time of sleep and AR has not been analyzed in long-term national data. This study investigated the relationship between sleep time and duration and AR risk in middle- and high-school students (adolescents aged 12–18). We analyzed national data from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2007–2012. The sample size was 274,480, with an average response rate of 96.2%. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the relationship between sleep and AR risk. Furthermore, to determine the best-fitted model among independent variables such as sleep duration, sleep time, and the combination of sleep duration and sleep time, we used Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) to compare models. A total of 43,337 boys and 41,665 girls reported a diagnosis of AR at baseline. The odds ratio increased with age and with higher education and economic status of the parents. Further, students in mid-sized and large cities had stronger relationships to AR than those in small cities. In both genders, AR was associated with depression and suicidal ideation. In the analysis of sleep duration and sleep time, the odds ratio increased in both genders when sleep duration was <7 hours, and when the time of sleep was later than 24∶00 hours. Our results indicate an association between sleep time and duration and AR. This study is the first to focus on the relationship between sleep duration and time and AR in national survey data collected over 6 years.

This study investigated the relationship between level of stress in middle and high school students aged 12–18 and risk of atopic dermatitis. Data from the Sixth Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBWS-VI), a cross-sectional study among 74,980 students in 800 middle schools and high schools with a response rate of 97.7%, were analyzed. Ordinal logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the relationship between stress and atopic dermatitis with severity. A total of 5,550 boys and 6,964 girls reported having been diagnosed with atopic dermatitis. Younger students were more likely to have atopic dermatitis. Interestingly, the educational level of parents was found to be associated with having atopic dermatitis and having more severe condition. In particular, girls with mothers with at least college education had a 41% higher risk of having atopic dermatitis and severe atopic condition (odds ratio (OR)) = 1.41, 95% CI, 1.22–1.63; P<0.0001) compared with those with mothers who had attended middle school at most. Similar trend was shown among both boys and girls for their father's education level. The stress level was found to be significantly associated with the risk of atopic dermatitis. Compared to boys with who reported “no stress”, boys with “very high” stress had 46% higher the risk of having more severe atopic dermatitis (OR = 1.46, 95% CI, 1.20–1.78; P<0.0001), 44% higher (OR = 1.44, 95% CI, 1.19–1.73; P<0.0001) with “high” stress, and 21% higher (OR = 1.21, 95% CI, 1.00–1.45; P = 0.05) with “moderate” stress. In contrast, we found no statistically significant relationship between stress and atopic dermatitis in girls. This study suggests that stress and parents' education level were associated with atopic dermatitis. Specifically, degree of stress is positively correlated with likelihood of being diagnosed with this condition and increasing the severity.