Promotion of participation in religious organizations, friendship organizations, and family/school reunions (only for older persons) may help preserve cognitive function in individuals aged 45 years or older in Korea. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

OBJECTIVE—Posttransplantation diabetes mellitus (PTDM) is a major metabolic complication in renal transplant recipients, and insulin secretory defects play an important role in the pathogenesis of PTDM. The R325W (rs13266634) nonsynonymous polymorphism in the islet-specific zinc transporter protein gene, SLC30A8, has been reported to be associated with type 2 diabetes and possibly with a defect in insulin secretion. This study investigated the association between genetic variations in the SLC30A8 gene and PTDM in renal allograft recipients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—A total of 624 unrelated renal allograft recipients without previously diagnosed diabetes were enrolled. Rs13266634 was genotyped in the cohort, which consisted of 174 posttransplantation diabetic patients and 450 non-posttransplantation diabetic subjects. The genotyping of the SLC30A8 polymorphism was performed using real-time PCR. RESULTS—The prevalence of PTDM was 33.8% in patients carrying the R/R genotype, 26.8% in patients with the R/W genotype, and 19.8% in patients with the W/W genotype. There was a strong association between the number of W-alleles and PTDM risk reduction (P for trend = 0.007). Patients with at least one T-allele showed a decreased risk of PTDM compared with those with the R/R genotype (R/W, risk ratio [RR] 0.78, P = 0.126; W/W, RR 0.52, P = 0.007). The effect of the SLC30A8 genotype remained significant after adjustments for age, sex, body weight gain, and type of immunosuppressant (R/W, hazard ratio [HR] 0.77, P = 0.114; W/W, HR 0.58, P = 0.026). CONCLUSIONS—These data provide evidence that the SLC30A8 rs13266634 gene variation is associated with protection from the development of PTDM in renal allograft recipients.

BackgroundAlthough government has implemented medical-aid policy that provides assistance to the poor with almost free medical services, there are low-income people who do not receive necessary medical services in Korea. The aim of this study is to highlight the characteristics of Medical-Aid enrollees, the poor not enrolled in Medical-Aid, and the near poor and their utilization and costs for health care.MethodsThis study draws on the 2012 Korea Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS), a nationally representative dataset. We divided people with income less than 120% of the minimum cost of living (MCL) into three groups (n = 2,784): the poor enrolled in Medical-Aid, the poor not enrolled in Medical-Aid (at or below 100% of MCL), and the near poor (100–120% of MCL). Using a cross-sectional design, this study provides an overview of health care utilization and costs of these three groups.ResultsThe findings of the study suggest that significantly lower health care utilization was observed for the poor not enrolled in Medical-Aid compared to those enrolled in Medical-Aid. On the other hand, two groups (the poor not enrolled in Medical-Aid, the near poor) had higher health care costs, percentage of medical expenses to income compared to Medical-Aid.ConclusionGiven the particularly low rate of the population enrolled in Medical-Aid, similarly economically vulnerable groups are more likely to face barriers to needed health services. Meeting the health needs of these groups is an important consideration.

Our study suggests that it is important to attend to adolescents who are at high risk for Internet addiction, especially when they do not have parents, have stepparents, or perceive their economic status as either very low or very high.

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