Earticle

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of oral health education on adolescents. Methods:The subjects were middle school students in a health promoting school in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province. Before giving th students oral health instruction, their modified Patient Hygiene Performance index (PHP index) was measured using disclosing solution. Then, the students were taught the right way to brush teeth (Rolling method) and use oral hygiene devices such as dental floss, tongue cleaner and interdental brush. Their modified PHP index was re-measured three days after and seven days after the education to evaluate the effect and persistency of oral health education. of the total 116 students, 48 students who completely filled out the questionnaire and participated in the whole process, photo shooting and three times of PHP index measurement, were included in the final analysis. Results: The students’ modified PHP index significantly decreased three days after the education. However, the index slightly went back up seven days after the oral health education. Conclusion: Oral health education was effective in reducing dental plaque which remained after brushing. Continuous education about and constant motivation for oral hygiene turned out to be critical to maintain the impact of oral health education. Therefore, it is necessary to develop educational contents which can constantly motivate teenagers.

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the effects of school-based education programmes to prevent unintentional injuries in 7~19 years old. Methods: To perform a systematic literature survey, the researchers searched three databases - MEDLINE (PubMed), EMBASE and THE COCHRANE LIBRARY - for literature relevant to ‘safety accidents in school’ (published up to October 2013). The term ‘school-based unintentional injuries’ was used to sort out studies on injuries. This study adopted a pretest-posttest comparative design and the participants were children and adolescents aged 7 to 19 years. Results: The search yielded 9,553 records, of which eight studies were included in the review. The eight studies examined the effect of school-based education programmes to prevent unintentional injuries. The research revealed that education programmes had a significant impact on knowledge improvement and behavior change. Although two studies of the total eight showed a difference in attitude scores between the experimental group and the control group, the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Despite the changes in education and public policy, trauma-related injuries continue to result in an unacceptably high morbidity and mortality, particularly among young people. More effective school health programs, policies and programmatic interventions are needed to reduce safety accidents and improve health among youth.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of exercise on mental health in female elementary school teachers. Methods: The subjects were 1,861 female elementary school teachers in Seoul. Data were collected through an online survey from November 16 to December 7, 2008. Collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, x2-test, t-test, one way ANOVA and Scheffé test, using IBM SPSS 20.0 program. Results: Not many female elementary school teachers were engaging in exercise. Even though their perception of stress and degree of depression were high, the rate of suicidal thoughts were low. The perception of stress was lower in the female teachers who engaged in walking or high-intensity workout than those who did not. The teachers who walked or stretched for exercise showed a lower rate of depression than those who did not and the teachers who walked for exercise displayed a lower rate of suicidal thoughts. Conclusion: Exercise programs should be provided for female elementary school teachers to reduce their stress, depression, and suicidal thoughts

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between caffeinated beverage intake and sleep quality among university students. Methods: Data were collected through a survey of 262 university students in Ulsan conducted in Nov. 27 2013. The survey used a self-administered questionnaire, which was composed of questions regarding socio-demographic characteristics, sleep quality and the status of caffeinated beverage intake. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis, using SPSS/WIN 21 Program. Results: In average, The subjects consumed 6.43 cups of caffeinated beverage per week, intaking 397.60mg of caffeine. The correlations between sleep quality and the amount of caffeinated beverage intake and between sleep quality and the quantity of caffeine intake were statistically significant. By performing a multiple regression analysis, it was shown sleep quality decreased significantly as the amount of caffeine intake increased (p<.001). Conclusion: To improve university students’ sleep quality, it is necessary to control their intake of caffeinated beverage.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of hand washing education programs on knowledge, attitude and performance of hand washing in Undergraduates. Methods: The study used a nonequivalent control group quasi-experimental design. A total of 118 students in K university in Seoul, Korea, participated in this study. 67 students were included in the experimental group and 51 students were in the control group. The experimental group was given a lecture, Educational Hand Washing Program, developed by researchers. Using a structural questionnaire, the students’ perception on hand washing was measured before and after the intervention, in terms of knowledge, attitude, and performance at home and school. Results: The experimental group showed significantly higher scores in knowledge (p=.033), attitude (p<.001), and performance at home (p=.001). However, the performance at school didn’t show a significant difference between the two groups (p=.063). Conclusion: The results indicate that education is effective in enhancing knowledge, attitude, and performance of hand washing.

Purpose: Smoking is one of the most important global health issues. This study aims to investigate how smoking behavior and the amount of smoking affect the youth's suicidal ideation. Methods: This study utilized the data of the Sixth Online Survey on Youth's Health Behavior. The subjects of the study were 73,238 middle school and high school students. Collected data were analyzed using SAS 9.3. The relationship between general characteristics and suicidal ideation among smokers and nonsmokers was analyzed through the x2-test. Also, a multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate how smoking behavior and the amount of smoking affect suicidal ideation. Results: According to the study, adolescent smoking and suicidal ideation had a statistically meaningful relationship. In terms of suicidal ideation, those who smoked more than 20 cigarettes everyday had 1.81times higher odds ratio (95% CI 1.49~2.20) and those smoking 10~19 cigarettes everyday had 1.29times higher odds ratio (95% CI 1.13~1.48) than nonsmokers. Both of the results were found statistically significant. Conclusion: With regard to smoking adolescents, smoking behavior and the amount of smoking affect their suicidal ideation in a statistically meaningful manner. Current smokers are proven to have more suicidal ideation than nonsmokers. In addition, the study shows that the more a person smokes in a daily basis, the more suicidal ideation he/she has. The author recommends this result be utilized as basic data for the prevention of smoking among the Korean youth.