The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) is a national surveillance system that has been assessing the health and nutritional status of Koreans since 1998. Based on the National Health Promotion Act, the surveys have been conducted by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). This nationally representative cross-sectional survey includes approximately 10 000 individuals each year as a survey sample and collects information on socioeconomic status, health-related behaviours, quality of life, healthcare utilization, anthropometric measures, biochemical and clinical profiles for non-communicable diseases and dietary intakes with three component surveys: health interview, health examination and nutrition survey. The health interview and health examination are conducted by trained staff members, including physicians, medical technicians and health interviewers, at a mobile examination centre, and dieticians’ visits to the homes of the study participants are followed up. KNHANES provides statistics for health-related policies in Korea, which also serve as the research infrastructure for studies on risk factors and diseases by supporting over 500 publications. KCDC has also supported researchers in Korea by providing annual workshops for data users. KCDC has published the Korea Health Statistics each year, and microdata are publicly available through the KNHANES website (http://knhanes.cdc.go.kr).

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Combined use of US elastography and color Doppler US increases both the accuracy in distinguishing benign from malignant masses and the specificity in decision-making for biopsy recommendation at B-mode US.

Purpose : The objective of this study was to provide current estimates of the prevalence and examine trends of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents. Methods : Height and weight measurements from 183,159 (112,974 in 1997, 70,185 in 2005) children and adolescents aged 2 to 18 years were obtained via the 1997 and 2005 National Growth Survey. Obesity among children and adolescents was defined as being at or above the 95th percentile of the gender-specific body mass index (BMI) for age in the 2007 Korean National Growth Charts or a BMI of 25 or higher; overweight was defined as being at or above the 85th percentile to less than the 95th percentile BMI. Results : In 2005, 9.7% (11.3% for boys, 8.0% for girls) of South Korean children and adolescents were obese; 19.0% (19.7% for boys, 18.2% for girls) were overweight or obese. The overall prevalence of obesity increased from 5.8% in 1997 to 9.7% in 2005 (from 6.1% in 1997 to 11.3% in 2005 for boys and from 5.5% in 1997 to 8.0% in 2005 for girls); the increasing trend was most evident in boys, especially those aged 13-18 years. Conclusion : The prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents increased significantly during the eight-year period from 1997 to 2005. This study suggests that we need to make a priority of developing strategies to control obesity in children and adolescents; the potential health effects of increases in obesity are of considerable public health importance. (Korean J Pediatr 2008;51:950-955)

ObjectiveTo compare the diagnostic performances of conventional ultrasound (US) and US elastography for the differentiation of nonpalpable breast masses, and to evaluate whether elastography is helpful at reducing the number of benign biopsies, using histological analysis as a reference standard.Materials and MethodsConventional US and real-time elastographic images were obtained for 100 women who had been scheduled for a US-guided core biopsy of 100 nonpalpable breast masses (83 benign, 17 malignant). Two experienced radiologists unaware of the biopsy and clinical findings analyzed conventional US and elastographic images by consensus, and classified lesions based on degree of suspicion regarding the probability of malignancy. Results were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. In addition, the authors investigated whether a subset of lesions was categorized as suspicious by conventional US, but as benign by elastography.ResultsAreas under the ROC curves (Az values) were 0.901 for conventional US and 0.916 for elastography (p = 0.808). For BI-RADS category 4a lesions, 44% (22 of 50) had an elasticity score of 1 and all were found to be benign.ConclusionElastography was found to have a diagnostic performance comparable to that of conventional US for the differentiation of nonpalpable breast masses. The authors conclude that BI-RADS category 4a lesions with an elasticity score of 1 probably do not require biopsy.

PurposeWe analyzed age-related changes of bone mineral density (BMD) and compared with those of U.S and Japanese participants to investigate the prevalence of osteoporosis in Korea.Materials and MethodsThe data were collected in the 2008-2011 in Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) IV and V to select a representative sample of civilian, noninstitutionalized South Korean population. Bone mineral measurements were obtained from 8332 men and 9766 women aged 10 years and older.ResultsBMD in men continued to decline from 3rd decade, however, in women, BMD remained nearly constant until the 4th decade and declined at rapid rate from the 5th decade. The prevalence of osteoporosis in Korea is 7.3% in males and 38.0% in females aged 50 years and older. The prevalence of osteopenia in Korea is 46.5% in males and 48.7% in females, aged 50 years and older. The lumbar spine and femur BMD in Korean females 20 to 49 years of ages was lower than in U.S. and Japan participants.ConclusionThere was obvious gender, and age differences in the BMD based on the 2008-2011 KNHANES IV and V, a nationwide, cross-sectional survey conducted in a South Korean population. We expect to be able to estimate reference data through ongoing KNHANES efforts in near future.

The abilities of intracavernous injection of autologous stromal vascular fraction (SVF) and adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) to facilitate recovery of erectile function in a rat model of cavernous nerve (CN) injury were compared. Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: sham and control groups (intracavernous injection of phosphate-buffered saline), SVF group (intracavernous injection of SVF), and ADSC group (intracavernous injection of ADSCs). Rats in the latter three groups underwent bilateral CN injury prior to injection. The evaluation of erectile function and histomorphometric studies were performed 4 weeks after injection. The ratio of maximal intracavernous pressure to mean arterial pressure was significantly lower in the control group than in the sham group (0.18 vs. 0.56, p < .001). Intracavernous injection of SVF (0.36, p = .035) significantly improved erectile function compared with that in the control group, whereas the ADSC group (0.35, p = .052) showed marginally significant improvement. The smooth muscle/collagen ratio, smooth muscle content, number of neuronal nitric-oxide synthase-positive nerve fibers, and expression of von Willebrand factor were significantly higher in the SVF and ADSC groups than in the control group. Expression of endothelial nitric-oxide synthase was significantly increased in the SVF group. The increases in the smooth muscle/collagen ratio and von Willebrand factor expression were larger in the SVF group than in the ADSC group. Intracavernous injection of SVF or ADSCs was equally effective in recovering penile erection in a rat model of CN injury.

ObjectiveTo determine whether CSF biomarkers can be used as a predictor of freezing of gait (FOG) in Parkinson disease (PD) and to investigate the predictive value of clinical, dopamine transporter (DAT) imaging, and CSF parameters both separately and in combination.MethodsThis study using the PPMI data included 393 patients with newly diagnosed PD without FOG at baseline. We evaluated CSF for β-amyloid 1-42 (Aβ42), α-synuclein, total tau, phosphorylated tau181, and the calculated ratio of Aβ42 to total tau at baseline. Demographic and clinical data and DAT imaging results were also investigated. Cox proportional-hazards regression analyses were performed to identify the factors predictive of FOG. From these results, we constructed a predictive model for the development of FOG.ResultsDuring a median follow-up of 4.0 years, only Aβ42 among the CSF biomarkers was associated with the development of FOG (hazard ratio 0.997, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.996–0.999, p = 0.009). Postural instability gait difficulty (PIGD) score, caudate DAT uptake, and, to a lesser extent, male sex, Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale motor score, and Montreal Cognitive Assessment score were also predictive of FOG. The combined model integrating the PIGD score, caudate DAT uptake, and CSF Aβ42 achieved a better discriminative ability (area under the curve 0.755, 95% CI 0.700–0.810) than any factor alone.ConclusionWe found CSF Aβ42 to be a predictor of FOG in patients with early PD. Furthermore, the development of FOG within 4 years after diagnosis of PD can be predicted with acceptable accuracy with our risk model.