Journal of Korean medical science
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Jul 2014
Moving toward universal coverage of health insurance in Vietnam: barriers, facilitating factors, and lessons from Korea.
Vietnam has pursued universal health insurance coverage for two decades but has yet to fully achieve this goal. This paper investigates the barriers to achieve universal coverage and examines the validity of facilitating factors to shorten the transitional period in Vietnam. ⋯ Korea in 1977 and Vietnam in 2009 have common characteristics to be favorable of achieving universal coverage with similarities of level of income, highly qualified administrative ability, tradition of solidarity, and strong political leadership although there are differences in distribution of population and structure of the economy. From a comparative perspective, Vietnam can consider the experience of Korea in implementing the mandatory enrollment approach, household unit of eligibility, design of contribution and benefit scheme, and resource allocation to health insurance for sustainable government subsidy to achieve and sustain the universal coverage of health insurance.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Jul 2014
The association between the low muscle mass and osteoporosis in elderly Korean people.
The purpose of this study was to predict osteoporosis risk as decreasing muscle mass and to declare the cut-off value of low muscle mass in an elderly Korean population. This study was based on data from the 2008-2010 Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys (KNHANES). The subjects included 1,308 men and 1,171 women over 65 yr. ⋯ When these cut-off values were used to determine sarcopenia, the risk of osteoporosis increased 4.14 times in men and 1.88 times in women. In particular, men (OR 2.12) with sarcopenia were more greatly affected than women (OR 1.15), even after adjusting for osteoporosis risk factors. In elderly Korean people, sarcopenia is positively correlated with BMD and there is a strong correlation between sarcopenia and osteoporosis with risk of bone fracture.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Jul 2014
Association of vitamin B12 deficiency and metformin use in patients with type 2 diabetes.
We evaluated the prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency and associated factors in type 2 diabetes patients using metformin. A total of 799 type 2 diabetes patients using metformin was enrolled. Vitamin B12 and folate levels were quantified by chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay. ⋯ Compared with daily metformin dose of ≤ 1,000 mg, the adjusted odds ratio for 1,000-2,000 mg, and ≥ 2,000 mg were 2.52 (95% CI, 1.27-4.99, P = 0.008) and 3.80 (95% CI, 1.82-7.92, P < 0.001). Compared with metformin use of < 4 yr, the adjusted odds ratios for 4-10 yr, and ≥ 10 yr were 4.65 (95% CI, 2.36-9.16, P < 0.001) and 9.21 (95% CI, 3.38-25.11, P < 0.001), respectively. In conclusion, our study indicates that patients with type 2 diabetes treated with metformin should be screened for vitamin B12 deficiency, especially at higher dosages (> 1,000 mg) and longer durations (≥ 4 yr) of treatment.