Dongwoo Kim

Disability-adjusted Life Years for 313 Diseases and Injuries: the 2012 Korean Burden of Disease Study

This study is part of a 5-year research project on the national burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors in Korea. Using disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), a metric introduced by the 1990 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) project, we performed a comprehensive and detailed assessment of the magnitude and distribution of both fatal and non-fatal health problems in the Korean population. The concept and general approach were consistent with the original GBD study, with some methodological modifications to make the study more suitable for Korea. We computed DALYs for 313 causes in both sexes and nine age groups using the entire populations medical records and newly generated Korean disability weights. In 2012, the dominant disease burden was non-communicable diseases, which accounted for 85.21% of total DALYs, while injuries accounted for 7.77% and communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional disorders for 7.02%. Of the total DALYs, 88.67% were from years lived with disability and 11.32% were from years of life lost due to premature mortality. Diabetes mellitus was the leading cause of DALYs, followed by low back pain, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ischemic heart disease, ischemic stroke, cirrhosis of the liver, falls, osteoarthritis, motorized vehicle with three or more wheels, and self-harm. The results reported here identify key health challenges and opportunities for future health interventions and policy changes, and provide information that will help assess the major public health issues in Korea, a nation faced with one of the worlds most rapidly ageing populations.

Recent Trends in Economic Burden of Acute Myocardial Infarction in South Korea

In 2010, ischemic heart disease was the leading cause of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) worldwide. More specially, the prevalence of acute myocardial infarctions (AMI) is increasing in the aged population as mortality decreases; South Korea is no exception. This study aims to examine the economic burden of AMI in the Korean population between 2007 and 2012. AMI-related costs were assessed from a societal perspective. A prevalence-based cost-of-illness framework was used for this analysis. The subjects included all South Koreans with AMI-related ICD-10 codes (I21, I22, I23, I25.0, and I25.1). Data on direct (medical and non-medical) costs and indirect (productivity loss due to AMI-associated morbidity and mortality) costs were collected from the Korean National Health Insurance Service’s claims data. The human capital approach was used to calculate indirect costs. The total estimated cost of AMI in 2012 was

Metabolic Risk Profile and Cancer in Korean Men and Women

1,177,649,323 USD. The majority (52%) of this amount was made up of medical costs, followed by productivity losses due to mortality and morbidity (42% of annual cost). Although the total cost declined by approximately 18% compared to 2007 (

The Burden of Cancer in Korea during 2012: Findings from a Prevalence-Based Approach

1,427,643,854 USD), the cost of AMI in the over 60 age group amounted to 47% of the total cost of AMI in 2012. AMI led to a high economic burden in 2012. This study, which identified not only the size, but also the trends of AMI-related costs, will provide information to evaluate effects of governmental health projects and the effective allocation of public research funds.

The Economic Burden of Cancers Attributable to Metabolic Syndrome in Korea.

Objectives: Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. Associations between metabolic syndrome and several types of cancer have recently been documented. Methods: We analyzed the sample cohort data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service from 2002, with a follow-up period extending to 2013. The cohort data included 99 565 individuals who participated in the health examination program and whose data were therefore present in the cohort database. The metabolic risk profile of each participant was assessed based on obesity, high serum glucose and total cholesterol levels, and high blood pressure. The occurrence of cancer was identified using Korean National Health Insurance claims data. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models, adjusting for age group, smoking status, alcohol intake, and regular exercise. Results: A total of 5937 cases of cancer occurred during a mean follow-up period of 10.4 years. In men with a high-risk metabolic profile, the risk of colon cancer was elevated (HR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.14 to 1.71). In women, a high-risk metabolic profile was associated with a significantly increased risk of gallbladder and biliary tract cancer (HR, 2.05; 95% CI, 1.24 to 3.42). Non-significantly increased risks were observed in men for pharynx, larynx, rectum, and kidney cancer, and in women for colon, liver, breast, and ovarian cancer. Conclusions: The findings of this study support the previously suggested association between metabolic syndrome and the risk of several cancers. A high-risk metabolic profile may be an important risk factor for colon cancer in Korean men and gallbladder and biliary tract cancer in Korean women.

Erratum: Correction of Funding Source: The Burden of Cancer in Korea during 2012: Finding from a Prevalence-Based Approach

Cancer causes a significant deterioration in health and premature death and is a national socioeconomic burden. This study aimed to measure the burden of cancer using the disability-adjusted life year (DALY) metric based on the newly adopted methodology from the Global Burden of Disease Study in 2010. This study was conducted based on data from the Korean National Cancer Registry. The DALYs were calculated using a prevalence-based method instead of the incidence-based method used by previous studies. The total burden of cancer in 2012 was 3,470.79 DALYs per 100,000 persons. Lung cancer was the most prevalent cancer burden, followed by liver, stomach, colorectal, and breast cancer. The DALYs for lung, liver, stomach, colon and rectum, and pancreatic cancer were high in men, whereas the DALYs for breast, lung, stomach, colorectal, and liver cancer were high in women. Health loss from leukemia and cancer of the brain and nervous system was prevalent for those younger than age 20; from stomach, breast, and liver for those aged 30–50; and from lung, colon and rectum, and pancreas for a large proportion of individuals over the age of 60. The most important differences were that the DALYs were calculated by prevalence and that other components of the DALYs were measured by a population-based perspective. Thus, prevalence-based DALYs could provide more suitable data for decision making in the healthcare field.

Associations Between the Continuity of Ambulatory Care of Adult Diabetes Patients in Korea and the Incidence of Macrovascular Complications

Objectives: Metabolic syndrome is an important etiologic factor in the development of certain types of cancers. The economic cost of the treatment of cancer has been steadily increasing. We therefore estimated the economic burden of cancers attributable to metabolic syndrome in Korea. Methods: We reviewed metabolic syndrome-related cancers and relative risk and then calculated population attributable fractions. We analyzed insurance claims data for metabolic syndrome-related cancers in 2012 in order to estimate the direct costs associated with these cancers, including hospitalization, outpatient visits, transportation costs, and caregivers’ costs as well as indirect costs such as loss of productivity due to cancer treatment and premature death. Results: In 2012, 18 070 patients in Korea had cancers attributable to metabolic syndrome. The economic burden was USD 199.8 million and the direct and indirect costs were USD 124.5 million and USD 75.3 million, respectively. Conclusions: We estimated the economic burden of cancers attributable to metabolic syndrome in Korea and the efforts are necessary to reduce this burden.

C2DPCA & R2DLDA for Face Recognition

This corrects the article on p. S168 in vol. 31, PMID: 27775254.

Air diffusion device

Objectives: The goal of this study was to identify association between the continuity of ambulatory care of diabetes patients in South Korea (hereafter Korea) and the incidence of macrovascular complications of diabetes, using claims data compiled by the National Health Insurance Services of Korea. Methods: This study was conducted retrospectively. The subjects of the study were 43 002 patients diagnosed with diabetes in 2007, who were over 30 years of age, and had insurance claim data from 2008. The macrovascular complications of diabetes mellitus were limited to ischemic heart disease and ischemic stroke. We compared the characteristics of the patients in whom macrovascular complications occurred from 2009 to 2012 to the characteristics of the patients who had no such complications. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess the effects of continuity of ambulatory care on diabetic macrovascular complications. The continuity of ambulatory diabetes care was estimated by metrics such as the medication possession ratio, the quarterly continuity of care and the number of clinics that were visited. Results: Patients with macrovascular complications showed statistically significant differences regarding sex, age, comorbidities, hypertension, dyslipidemia and continuity of ambulatory diabetes care. Visiting a lower number of clinics reduced the odds ratio for macrovascular complications of diabetes. A medication possession ratio below 80% was associated with an increased odds ratio for macrovascular complications, but this result was of borderline statistical significance. Conclusions: Diabetes care by regular health care providers was found to be associated with a lower occurrence of diabetic macrovascular complications. This result has policy implications for the Korean health care system, in which the delivery system does not work properly.

Real Time Object Tracking Method using Multiple Cameras

The study has proposed a method that simultaneously takes advantage of each projection matrix acquired by using column-directional two-dimensional PCA(C2DPCA) and row-directional two-dimensional LDA(R2DLDA). The proposed method can acquire a great secure recognition rate, with no relation to the number of training images, with acquired low-dimensional feature matrixes including both the horizontal and the vertical features of a face. Besides, in the alternate experiment of PCA and LDA to row-direction and column-direction respectively(C2DPCA & R2DLDA, C2DLDA & R2DPCA), we could make sure the system of 2 dimensional LDA with row-directional feature(C2DPCA & R2DLDA) obtain higher recognition rate with low dimension than opposite case. As a result of experimenting that, the proposed method has showed a greater recognition rate of 99.4% than the existing methods such as 2DPCA and 2DLDA, etc. Also, it was proved that its recognition processing is over three times as fast as that of 2DPCA or 2DLDA.