BackgroundProbiotics are currently under focus for their immune improvement function. Many studies have been performed to assess the potential efficacy of probiotics in allergic disease, viral disease, respiratory disease, as well as gastrointestinal disease. This study performed a systematic review to determine the effects of probiotics on the prevention of the common cold.MethodsWe searched MEDLINE (PubMed), EMBASE, CINAHL, and Cochrane CENTRAL for studies released through June 2011. Two authors independently extracted the data. To assess the risk of bias of included literatures, Cochrane Collaboration's risk of bias tool was used.ResultsWe identified 10 studies in 7 articles. A total 2,894 participants, 1,588 in the probiotics group and 1,306 in the control group, were included. The effect of probiotics on the prevention of the common cold had a relative risk (RR) of 0.92 (95% CI, 0.85 to 1.00, I2 = 26%). In the subgroup analysis, the RR of administration of probiotics for 3 months or less was 0.82 (95% CI, 0.70 to 0.97). The RR of administration of probiotics over 3 months was 1.00 (95% CI, 0.92 to 1.09). The RR of administration of probiotics without any active intervention (vitamin and mineral) was 0.87 (95% CI, 0.78 to 0.97).ConclusionIn this meta-analysis, there was marginal effect of probiotics on the prevention of the common cold. The results implied that probiotics had a modest effect in common cold reduction. The balance of benefit and harms needs to be considered when using probiotics for common cold prevention.

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Countries with historically unlimited patient choice of medical provider, such as Korea, have been promoting rational health care pathways. Factors related to the length of doctor-patient relationship (DPR) for enhancing primary care in those countries should be studied. Participants were patients who had visited their family practices on six or more occasions over a period of more than 6 months. Five domains (21 items) of the Korean Primary Care Assessment Tool (first contact, coordination function, comprehensiveness, family/community orientation, and personalized care) and general questions were administered in the waiting rooms. From seven practices, the response rate was 83.7% (495/591). The older the age, the lower the income, the shorter the duration of education, the more the number of diseases the patients had, and in provincial cities rather than in Seoul, the longer length of DPR ( ≥ 4 yr) was shown. The long-term DPR was associated with total primary care quality score (upper [ ≥ 71.4] vs lower [ < 71.4], OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.10-2.76), especially with coordination function (OR, 1.01; 95% CI, 1.00-1.02), being adjusted for confounding variables. Strengthening the coordination function may have to be the first consideration in primary care policy in countries like Korea.

Background: Over the past decade, considerable evidence has been accumulated showing that social networks infl uence health. However few valid and reliable instruments exist for assessing social networks among elderly population. Therefore, we translated the Lubben social network scales (LSNS) and tested the validity and reliability of Korean version.

BackgroundFlawed or misleading articles may be retracted because of either honest scientific errors or scientific misconduct. This study explored the characteristics of retractions in medical journals published in Korea through the KoreaMed database.MethodsWe retrieved retraction articles indexed in the KoreaMed database from January 1990 to January 2016. Three authors each reviewed the details of the retractions including the reason for retraction, adherence to retraction guidelines, and appropriateness of retraction. Points of disagreement were reconciled by discussion among the three.ResultsOut of 217,839 articles in KoreaMed published from 1990 to January 2016, the publication type of 111 articles was retraction (0.051%). Of the 111 articles (addressing the retraction of 114 papers), 58.8% were issued by the authors, 17.5% were jointly issued (author, editor, and publisher), 15.8% came from editors, and 4.4% were dispatched by institutions; in 5.3% of the instances, the issuer was unstated. The reasons for retraction included duplicate publication (57.0%), plagiarism (8.8%), scientific error (4.4%), author dispute (3.5%), and other (5.3%); the reasons were unstated or unclear in 20.2%. The degree of adherence to COPE’s retraction guidelines varied (79.8%–100%), and some retractions were inappropriate by COPE standards. These were categorized as follows: retraction of the first published article in the case of duplicate publication (69.2%), authorship dispute (15.4%), errata (7.7%), and other (7.7%).ConclusionThe major reason for retraction in Korean medical journals is duplicate publication. Some retractions resulted from overreaction by the editors. Therefore, editors of Korean medical journals should take careful note of the COPE retraction guidelines and should undergo training on appropriate retraction practices.

Background: Because low quality trials may lead to wrong conclusions, quality assessments are necessary. Thus, this study scrutinizes randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the Journal of the Korean Academy of Family Medicine (KAFM) to assess the quantity and the quality.Methods: Upon extracting randomized controlled trials from all the articles published in the Journal of the KAFM from 1980 to 2005, assessments were made on the Jadad scale and the adequacy of allocation concealment. The selections and assessments were performed independently by two researchers, and adjustment of the differences were done by a thirdparty researcher. In addition, the factors that may affect the quality levels were analyzed.Results: Twenty-three trials were included. In 1980s, there were only 1.09% of the total original articles, but in 2000s, 2.63% were RCTs. The mean total Jadad score increased from 1 point in 1980s to 2.17 in 2000s, and the "good quality" trials also increased from 0% to 33.33%. As for the adequate allocation concealment, however, only two studies were observed in 2000s. The most lacking aspect was the appropriate double-blinding. Also, studies intervened by medicine or funded or examined by Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) tended to receive higher quality assessments. Conclusion:Although RCTs consistently increased in quantity and quality, in future studies, researchers should continue to strive towards achieving adequate allocation concealment and appropriate double-blinding. In addition, researchers must become more interested in receiving funds and examination by IRBs.

Purpose: This study analyzed the present status of data sharing polices and attitudes towards such policies through a web-based survey of editors of scholarly journals published in Korea.

BackgroundBecause there is no specific treatment for the common cold, many previous studies have focused on prevention of the common cold. There were some studies reporting that regular, moderate-intensity exercise increases immunity and prevents the common cold. We conducted a meta-analysis to determine the effects of exercise on prevention of the common cold.MethodsWe searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), CINAHL for studies released through June 2013. We manually searched the references. Two authors independently extracted the data. To assess the risk of bias of included literature, Cochrane Collaboration's tool for assessing risk of bias was used. Review Manager ver. 5.2 (RevMan, Cochrane Collaboration) was used for statistical analysis.ResultsFour randomized controlled trials were identified. A total of 281 participants, 134 in the exercise group and 147 in the control group, were included. The effect of exercise on the prevention of the common cold had a relative risk (RR) of 0.73 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.56 to 0.95; I2 = 7%). The mean difference of mean illness days between exercise group and control group was -3.50 (95% CI, -6.06 to -0.94; I2 = 93%). In the subgroup analysis, the RR of under 16 weeks exercise was 0.79 (95% CI, 0.58 to 1.08).ConclusionIn this meta-analysis, regular, moderate-intensity exercise may have an effect on the prevention of the common cold. But numbers of included studies and participants were too small and quality of included studies was relatively poor. Subsequent well-designed studies with larger sample size are needed to clarify the association.