Sun Ae Kim's research while affiliated with Korea National University of Transportation and other places

This descriptive study aimed to identify the factors influencing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) by age between middle-aged and elderly people. These groups have not been evaluated separately until now. This study is a secondary analysis of data from the Eighth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2021. Of the 3942 participants with OSA in this study, 2397 were middle-aged and 1545 were elderly, and 2509 had low risk and 1433 had moderate–high risk. Age-specific factors related to their OSA were identified using complex sample logistic regression. Factors associated with OSA in middle-aged individuals included the number of household members, smoking, subjective health, and subjective body image. Smoking and subjective health were significantly related to OSA in elderly people. Not smoking was 0.23 times less likely than smoking to be associated with OSA, and 0.3 times less likely when participants were healthy than when unhealthy. Hence, influencing factors differed depending on the age of individuals with OSA. Therefore, to develop public health measures, it may be more effective to establish intervention strategies to improve symptoms and prevent complications in middle-aged and elderly patients with OSA by distinguishing and applying influential age-specific factors.

Background We aimed to identify the factors associated with suicidal ideation by classifying adolescents into three groups: no stress, interpersonal stress, as well as academic and career stress. Method Using the data from the 16th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey (2020), 15,343 adolescents were included in the study, and their socio-demographic characteristics as well as physical and psychological factors were assessed. A complex sample logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with suicide. Results The following factors were significantly associated with suicide: fatigue recovery by sleep, body mass index, physical activity, and depression in the no stress group; current school, academic grade, drinking, depression, loneliness, and anxiety in the interpersonal stress group; and gender, current school, academic grade, father’s educational level, drinking, fatigue recovery by sleep, depression, loneliness, subjective health, smartphone overdependence, as well as anxiety in the academic and career stress group (P < 0.05). Conclusion To prevent suicide among adolescents, it is necessary to consider these factors when developing educational policies.

Purpose: This study developed a protocol to assess the core nursing skills of pressure ulcer management and fall prevention for nursing students.Methods: Protocol development consisted of a preliminary investigation of the protocol for pressure ulcer management and fall prevention nursing (step 1), confirmation of the protocol criteria (step 2), development and confirmation of the final protocol (step 3), and development of nursing situations to apply the developed protocol (step 4). The validity of the protocol was measured using the content validity index.Results: The pressure ulcer management and fall prevention nursing protocol we developed consisted of 23 procedures. The guidelines of KABONE (2021) were used to set the achievement goals and difficulty, corresponding to “low” for the achievement goal of evaluating and recording the risk factors. The protocol’s content validity was good, and the developed scenarios were relevant.Conclusion: Nursing practice is critical for nursing students to provide high-quality care in clinical settings. Therefore, it is essential to assess the core nursing skills that nursing students learn and acquire during their student years. The protocol developed in this study can be used to improve nursing education, particularly in the development of core nursing skills.

Depressive symptoms can be influenced by different factors, including job types. In this study, we identified factors that affect depressive symptoms among South Korean workers by job type using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Examined respondents were between 40 and 69 years (N = 9375). A complex sample linear regression analysis revealed various significant factors based on job type. For office workers, the number of household members, health-related quality of life, diabetes, sitting time, subjective health, and stress were significant influencing factors for depressive symptoms (explanatory power of 23.2%) (p < 0.001). For service workers, gender, health-related quality of life, food intake, aerobic exercise, sitting time, subjective health, and stress were significant influencing factors for depressive symptoms (explanatory power of 49.6%) (p < 0.001). For labor workers, gender, type of living, health-related quality of life, BMI, weight change, weight control, aerobic exercise, diabetes, subjective health, and stress were significant influencing factors for depressive symptoms (explanatory power of 35.8%) (p < 0.001). These differences highlight the need for customized programs targeted at each job type to maintain and promote mental health among workers.

Globally, almost 9.3% of the population aged 20–80 years have been diagnosed with diabetes making diabetes management a global health problem beyond specific regions or races. This study aimed to determine the effect of diabetes knowledge, self-stigma, and self-care behavior on the quality of life of patients with diabetes. This descriptive research study evaluated 180 patients receiving diabetes treatment at the outpatient Department of Endocrinology at C University Hospital. Data were collected between 30 July 2019, and 30 August 2019. The study variables were general patient characteristics, disease-related characteristics, quality of life, diabetes knowledge, self-stigma, and self-care behavior. Factors affecting the quality of life were analyzed by hierarchical regression. Self-stigma (β = −0.298), monthly income (β = 0.270), and self-care behavior (β = 0.140) significantly affected the quality of life, in that order. The higher the self-stigma, the lower the quality of life, and the higher the monthly income and the level of self-care behavior, the higher the quality of life. A psychosocial support program to positively change the attitude toward diabetes is needed to improve the quality of life among patients with diabetes.

Background: Adolescence is a period of physical and psychological change that causes adolescents to experience anxiety, stress, and loss of control. These experiences can lead to thoughts about suicide. However, not all adolescents with suicidal thoughts attempt suicide. This study aimed to identify the factors that influence suicide attempts among adolescents with suicidal thoughts, and to prepare a theoretical basis for a method to prevent suicide among adolescents. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, the 15th Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey (2019) was used. The participants were 7,498 adolescents aged 12-18 yr with thoughts of suicide. Factors influencing suicide attempts among adolescents with suicidal thoughts were analyzed using a complex sample logistic analysis. Results: Gender, age, academic performance, and economic level were the general factors associated with suicide attempts of adolescents with suicidal thoughts. Physical and psychological factors included smoking, alcohol use, drug use, sex-related experience, experiencing violence, efforts to reduce weight, level of physical activity, and depression. Conclusion: Age and gender should be taken into consideration when designing suicide prevention activities. In addition, in order to lower the suicide rate of adolescents in Korea, an effective system of prevention and intervention strategies should be implemented, which attend to the issues of adolescents from low-income families, adolescent weight and body image concerns, and adolescent depression.

While there has been a sufficient amount of research and empirical evidence on the factors that influence a company’s decisions to voluntarily disclose carbon information, little research has been done on the carbon disclosure practices of ETS-affected companies, in Asian countries, in particular. Considering this, it is essential to shed light on more diverse linkages between carbon performance and voluntary carbon disclosure (VCD) under ETSs taking into account the specific context of each individual country. Drawing on the Korean ETS-affected companies with a contents analysis of their sustainable reports from 2015 to 2019, the present research seeks to address the existing knowledge gaps in the current literature on carbon disclosure. In doing so, hierarchical ordinary least square (OLS) regression analysis is used to infer causality and assess the findings. The findings empirically prove a positive relationship between carbon performance and VCD, which means that the affected companies under the Korean ETS are likely to disclose more when they have favorable carbon reduction performance. Furthermore, this link tends to be amplified for companies with a high percentage of foreign sales, while the role of media visibility interacts differently with carbon performance in influencing VCD.

Practice in aerobic activities can positively impact depression. This study aimed to identify differences between adults who do and do not practice aerobic activities in terms of general, physical, and psychological factors that influence depression. This study comprised a secondary analysis of data from the 6th (year 2) and 7th (years 1, 3) editions of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Data from 12,891 adults were analyzed, of whom 7148 reported no practice in aerobic physical activities and 5743 reported practicing such activities. Data were analyzed using SPSS 25. Among those who did not perform aerobic activities, gender, family income, marital status, obesity, frequency of drinking, subjective health, subjective body weight, and stress were found to influence the level of depression. For those who practiced aerobic activities, gender, age, family income, education level, marital status, blood pressure, hypercholesterolemia status, frequency of drinking, subjective health, subjective body weight, and stress influenced the level of depression. This study found that the factors affecting depressive symptoms differ depending on whether individuals practice aerobic activities. Thus, to reduce depressive symptoms among adults, it is necessary to consider their level of physical activity and target the influencing factors associated with this level.

Background: This study aimed to examine the relationship between depression, self-efficacy, sexual function, and quality of life in middle-aged Korean men, and to identify which of these factors affect their quality of life. Methods: Participants were 216 middle-aged Korean men, aged 41–64 years. Data were collected from October 23, 2020, to November 15, 2020, from three small and medium-sized enterprises, four government offices, university alumni associations, and meetings. Study variables were depression, self-efficacy, sexual function, and quality of life of middle-aged men. Results: There was a negative correlation between quality of life and depression (r = –0.51, p < 0.001), while self-efficacy (r = 0.52, p < 0.001) and sexual function (r = 0.35, p < 0.001) showed a positive correlation. Depression had a significant negative correlation with self-efficacy (r = –0.31, p < 0.001) and sexual function (r = –0.30, p < 0.001). Self-efficacy was positively correlated with sexual function (r = 0.27, p < 0.001). Model 1 included general characteristics that affected the quality of life, two of which were found to have significant effect: monthly household income and subjective health status. The explanatory power was 21.6% (F = 10.86, p < 0.001). Model 2 added depression, self-efficacy, and sexual function, and showed that subjective health status, depression, and self-efficacy had a significant effect on quality of life. The explanatory power increased to 43.6% (F = 19.49, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Depression, self-efficacy, and sexual function affect the quality of life of middle-aged Korean men. Therefore, these variables should be considered when establishing an intervention strategy to improve the quality of life for this group.

Background: This study was conducted to identify the factors that affect the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of middle-aged men with metabolic syndrome (MetS) based on their stress level using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Methods: The participants of this study were men aged between 40–64 with MetS who were included in the KNHANES. The main variables of this study were HRQoL, which was measured using the EuroQol-5 Dimension (EQ-5D); general characteristics, health-related characteristics, and dietary behaviors. Results: The subjective health of the group with less stress was significantly better. Compared to the unhealthy group, the groups perceived as healthy and normal had a higher HRQoL. The economic level, suicidal ideation, and dinner arrangement (presence of family) of the stressed group were significantly associated with their HRQoL. Compared to a low economic level, the high and middle economic levels were more associated with the subjects’ HRQoL. Compared to the group without suicidal ideation, the group that experienced suicidal association had a lower HRQoL. Compared to the group that did not dine with their family, the group that dined with family had a higher HRQoL. Conclusions: The results of this study expand the scientific understanding of HRQoL based on stress among middle-aged men with metabolic syndrome. Since differences in the influence of the factors that affect HRQoL were identified based on the level of stress experienced, the stress level of middle-aged men should be considered when devising an intervention strategy to improve their HRQoL.