Long-term risks of complicated grief and insomnia in student survivors of the Sewol ferry disaster in South Korea: A four-year observational follow-up study

Background: The Sewol ferry disaster in April 2014 resulted in the drowning of 304 people. Of the 325 students on board, 250 died and 75 were rescued. The measure of stress caused by bereavement and sleep problems is common and can be a chronic health concern for disaster survivors. The aim of this study was to determine longitudinal predictive factors of complicated grief and insomnia among student survivors of the disaster. Methods: This study centered on 67 student survivors who were enrolled in the disaster registry after graduating from high school. The self-report data as presented by the participants were collected at baseline (27 months after the disaster, T1) and again at two years later (51 months after the disaster, T2). Thirty-one participants completed both T1 and T2 surveys. The noted predictive variables, in this case, were event-related rumination, coping strategy, social support, attachment, meaning in life, and adverse childhood experiences. The outcome variables were complicated grief and insomnia. Results: Dysfunctional coping (T1) was positively associated with complicated grief (T2) (coefficient = 0.070; p<0.001). Intrusive rumination (T1) (coefficient = -0.114; p<0.001), social support (T1) (coefficient = -0.031; p<0.001), and meaning in life – search (T1) (coefficient = -0.082; p<0.001) were negatively associated with insomnia (T2). In contrast, dysfunctional coping (T1) (coefficient = 0.041; p = 0.012), adverse childhood experiences (T1) (coefficient = 0.280; p = 0.007), and insomnia (T1) (coefficient = 0.166; p<0.001) were positively associated with insomnia (T2). Conclusions: Dysfunctional coping influenced how student survivors of the Sewol ferry disaster suffered from complicated grief and insomnia over time. In this case, the findings from the current study indicate that interventions that target coping strategies should be provided to improve the resolution of grief and sleep among survivors. [Ethiop.J. Health Dev. 2020;34(Special issue-3):97-106] Keywords: Sewol ferry disaster, student survivors, coping strategy, complicated grief, insomni

Predictors of the Development of Mental Disorders in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients without Previous Psychiatric History: A Single-Center Retrospective Study in South Korea

The objective of this study was to investigate the predictors for new-onset mental disorders among patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 illness during hospitalization. A retrospective cohort study was performed in patients with confirmed COVID-19 admitted to a nationally designated hospital between 1 February and 30 June 2020. Demographic, clinical, psychological assessments, and psychiatric outcomes were obtained from electronic medical record review. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictors of new-onset mental disorders. Among 185 patients, 130 had no history of mental disorders or cognitive impairment at the time of admission. Of 130 patients, 29 (22.3%) were newly diagnosed with mental disorders during hospitalization. The following factors were significantly associated with an increased risk of a psychiatric diagnosis: Charlson comorbidity index core ≥1 (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 5.115, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.737–15.058), length of stay (aOR per 1-day increase = 1.067, 95% CI: 1.035–1.100), and self-reported depressive symptoms at the time of admission (aOR = 5.357, 95% CI: 1.745–16.444). The predictive accuracy of combining these risk factors was relatively high (area under curve = 0.851, 95% CI: 0.778–0.923). These potential risk factors could help to predict the new-onset mental disorder among hospitalized patients with COVID-19

Projected lifetime cancer risks from occupational radiation exposure among diagnostic medical radiation workers in South Korea

Abstract Background Timely assessment of cancer risk from current radiation exposure among medical radiation workers can contribute to the development of strategies to prevent excessive occupational radiation exposure. The purpose of the present study is to estimate the lifetime risk of cancers induced by occupational radiation exposure among medical radiation workers. Methods Using estimated organ doses and the RadRAT risk assessment tool, the lifetime cancer risk was estimated among medical radiation workers who were enrolled in the Korean National Dose Registry from 1996 to 2011. Median doses were used for estimating the risk because of the skewed distribution of radiation doses. Realistic representative exposure scenarios in the study population based on sex, job start year, and occupational group were created for calculating the lifetime attributable risk (LAR) and lifetime fractional risk (LFR). Results The mean estimated lifetime cancer risk from occupational radiation exposure varied significantly by sex and occupational group. The highest LAR was observed in male and female radiologic technologists who started work in 1991 (264.4/100,000 and 391.2/100,000, respectively). Female workers had a higher risk of radiation-related excess cancer, although they were exposed to lower radiation doses than male workers. The higher LAR among women was attributable primarily to excess breast and thyroid cancer risks. LARs among men were higher than women in most other cancer sites. With respect to organ sites, LAR of colon cancer (44.3/100,000) was the highest in male radiologic technologists, whereas LAR of thyroid cancer (222.0/100,000) was the highest in female radiologic technologists among workers who started radiologic practice in 1991. Thyroid and bladder cancers had the highest LFR among radiologic technologists. Conclusions Our findings provide an assessment of the potential cancer risk from occupational radiation exposure among medical radiation workers, based on current knowledge about radiation risk. Although the radiation-related risk was small in most cases, it varied widely by sex and occupational group, and the risk would be underestimated due to the use of median, rather than mean, doses. Therefore, careful monitoring is necessary to optimize radiation doses and protect medical radiation workers from potential health risks, particularly female radiologic technologists

gamma-Glutamylcysteine- and Cysteinylglycine-Directed Growth of Chiral Gold Nanoparticles and their Crystallographic Analysis

Chiral optical metamaterials with delicate structures are in high demand in various fields because of their strong light–matter interactions. Recently, a scalable strategy for the synthesis of chiral plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) using amino acids and peptides has been reported. Reported herein, 3D chiral gold NPs were synthesized using dipeptide γ-Glu-Cys and Cys-Gly and analyzed crystallographically. The γ-Glu-Cys-directed NPs present a cube-like outline with a protruding chiral wing. In comparison, the NPs synthesized with Cys-Gly exhibited a rhombic dodecahedron-like outline with curved edges and elliptical cavities on each face. Morphology analysis of intermediates indicated that γ-Glu-Cys generated an intermediate concave hexoctahedron morphology, while Cys-Gly formed a concave rhombic dodecahedron. NPs synthesized with Cys-Gly are named 432 helicoid V because of their unique morphology and growth pathway.N