The purpose of this study was investigating the differences in temperament, personality, and cognitive function among athletes and non-athletes, as well as differences within athlete groups participating in different-paced sports like baseball and basketball.

A total of 57 professional basketball players, 51 professional baseball players, and 44 non-athletes subjected to temperament and characteristics inventory assessments and computerized neurocognitive function test. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to analyze the average differences in demographic characteristics, temperament, personality traits, and cognitive functions among the three groups, followed by Bonferroni post hoc tests. Comparisons between starters and non-starters within the athlete groups were conducted using the Mann–Whitney U test.

In the analysis of temperament, the basketball and baseball player groups exhibited higher reward dependence and persistence compared with the control group. Additionally, in the assessment of personality traits, both basketball and baseball player groups scored higher in self-directedness and cooperativeness compared with the control group, whereas self-transcendence scores were lower. In cognitive ability assessments, baseball and basketball players outperformed the control group in emotional perception tests. Both baseball and basketball players showed lower card movement counts compared with the control group.

This study compared the differences in temperament, personality, and cognitive abilities between professional basketball and baseball players and non-athletes. These results provide valuable insights into the temperament, personality, and cognitive abilities of professional athletes, contributing important information for athlete development and coaching goals in the future.

Although, attempts to apply virtual reality (VR) in mental healthcare are rapidly increasing, it is still unclear whether VR relaxation can reduce stress more than conventional biofeedback.

Participants consisted of 83 healthy adult volunteers with high stress, which was defined as a score of 20 or more on the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10). This study used an open, randomized, crossover design with baseline, stress, and relaxation phases. During the stress phase, participants experienced an intentionally generated shaking VR and serial-7 subtraction. For the relaxation phase, participants underwent a randomly assigned relaxation session on day 1 among VR relaxation and biofeedack, and the other type of relaxation session was applied on day 2. We compared the StateTrait Anxiety Inventory-X1 (STAI-X1), STAI-X2, the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), and physiological parameters including heart rate variability (HRV) indexes in the stress and relaxation phases.

A total of 74 participants were included in the analyses. The median age of participants was 39 years, STAI-X1 was 47.27 (SD = 9.92), and NRS was 55.51 (SD = 24.48) at baseline. VR and biofeedback significantly decreased STAI-X1 and NRS from the stress phase to the relaxation phase, while the difference of effect between VR and biofeedback was not significant. However, there was a significant difference in electromyography, LF/HF ratio, LF total, and NN50 between VR relaxation and biofeedback

VR relaxation was effective in reducing subjectively reported stress in individuals with high stress.

Availability of long-term psychological interventions for personality disorders is limited because of their high intensity and cost. Research in evidence-based, low-intensity interventions is needed.

This study aimed to examine the feasibility, acceptability and potential impact of a low-intensity, digital guided self-help (GSH) intervention that is focused on emotion regulation, recovery-oriented and provides in-the-moment delivery for patients with personality disorders.

We conducted a single-blind feasibility trial. A total of 43 patients with a personality disorder were recruited and randomly assigned to either a GSH arm (n = 22) or a treatment-as-usual arm (n = 21). The GSH intervention included a series of short videos offering psychoeducation and support, personalised feedback using text messages, and supportive telephone calls, for 4 weeks in addition to treatment as usual. Outcomes of emotional disturbance, emotion dysregulation, self-harm behaviours and decentring ability were measured at baseline, 4 weeks (end of intervention) and 8 weeks (follow-up).

All patients who attended the first session continued until the last session. There was an interaction effect between time and group on anxiety (P = 0.027, Δη2 = 0.10), where the GSH group showed a significant reduction in anxiety at follow-up (P = 0.003, d = 0.25). The GSH group increased in decentring ability at the end of intervention (P = 0.007, d = −0.65), and the decrease in self-harm behaviours continued until follow-up (P = 0.02, d = 0.57).

The results suggest that a personalised digital GSH with a focus on recovery could reduce anxiety and self-harm behaviours at short-term follow-up.

The global artificial intelligence (AI) healthcare market is predicted to grow rapidly. Various technologies for AI-based Software as Medical Device (SaMD) have been developed, and demand for their health insurance reimbursement coverage is increasing. Reimbursement policies for new medical technologies need to be thoroughly examined, despite their role in stimulating the market. The reason is that health insurance finance can have significant impact on the entire country, including patients, providers, and industry.

Based on guidelines for applying Korea’s innovative medical technologies, especially AI-based imaging medical technology, to health insurance, we examined outcome factors such as procedures and benefits. After the guidelines’ publication in 2019, we examined their impact on the medical device market through changes in the number of clinical trials and identified cases in which health insurance was listed.

The process of registering SaMD’s health insurance occurs in accordance with the existing medical technology evaluation system, and it can take up to 460 days from application to approval. If new technologies, including SaMDs demonstrate significant improvement in diagnostic capabilities and cost-effectiveness compared to existing practices, separate health insurance claims are available. Since the scheme’s announcement in 2019, items approved for SaMD clinical trials have increased (2018: ‘n=4; 2020: n=44; 2021: n=37). However, as of November 2022, only one was listed for health insurance benefits (VUNO Med-DeepBrain®), and one case was not listed on benefits but was recognized for its innovation and entered the market on the premise of suspending the health technology assessment process and accumulating real-world data (VUNO Med-DeepCARS®).™ DeepBrain® is a deep learning-based image reading technology costing about KRW80,000 (USD60) higher than conventional brain-magnetic resonance imaging and readings.

The number of SaMDs attempting clinical trials is increasing, but there is a low number of cases of reimbursement because most technologies are often classified as existing technologies and do not receive additional compensation. Since SaMD continuously is developed by accumulating data and feedback, a flexible system that can reflect this is required.

Critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) refers to a group of heart defects that cause serious, life-threatening symptoms in the neonatal period and requires timely surgical or catheter interventions. We tried to explore current status of CCHD burden and the effect of early diagnosis of CCHD to mortality using the Korean national health insurance (NHI) data.

We analyzed the national health insurance (NHI) data from 2014 to 2018. We identified CCHD patients using the diagnosis codes and intervention codes from the claim data and the prevalence, mortality and medical expenditure of CCHD were analyzed. We linked neonatal data with their mother’s medical claim data and developed retrospective cohort data set for analyzing the effect of early diagnosis to mortality and related outcomes of CCHD treatment.

The annual prevalence of neonatal CCHD in Korea was 0.144% percent. A total of 2,241 CCHD neonates, 1,546 (69.0%) underwent cardiac ultrasound within three days after birth, and mothers of 419 neonates had a record of prenatal fetal ultrasound (18.7%). In our comparison of neonates diagnosed with CCHD within three days of birth with those diagnosed with CCHD on or after day 4 of birth, the probability of early diagnosis increased for preterm infants and infants with low birth rate. Regarding mortality rate, most types of CCHD showed a significantly higher mortality rate in the early diagnosis group.

The reason for the high mortality rate despite a high early diagnosis rate pertains to the high percentage of patients with severe conditions that induce a serious heart rate within three days of birth. More than half of the neonates with CCHD were found to have not undergone a prenatal fetal ultrasound, rendering this an important policy target.

Critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) refers to a group of heart defects that cause serious, life-threatening symptoms in the neonatal period and requires timely surgical or catheter interventions. We reviewed evidence for incorporating a mandatory neonatal CCHD screening test as a national public health project for all neonates born in Korea by analyzing the validity and cost-effectiveness of neonatal CCHD screening using pulse oximetry in Korea.

We performed a rapid literature review to establish models for the diagnostic accuracy and economic evaluation of pulse oximetry. Also, we analyzed the prevalence, mortality, and medical expenditure for different types of CCHD using the national health insurance (NHI) data. We analyzed the cost-effectiveness of pulse oximetry by comparing the group of neonates who received a combination of a physical examination and pulse oximetry, and group of neonates who only received a physical examination. For the cost-effectiveness analysis for the CCHD screening test in this study, we used a duration of one year, diagnostic accuracy as the clinical endpoint, and Life Year Gain (LYG) as the effectiveness indicator.

We used recent systematic review he pooled sensitivity can be enhanced from 76.5 percent (pulse oximetry alone) to 92 percent (combined with physical examination). We used a total of 2,334 neonates with CCHD data for the economic model. Our analysis revealed that adding pulse oximetry to the routine neonatal physical examination leads to 2.34 of LYG and a cost difference of USD1,080,602, showing a ICER of KRW610,063,240 (USD461,857)/LYG.

Considering the benefit of LYG and cost of reducing the complications and after effects of newborns with CCHD who survived early diagnosis, it is considered to be worthwhile in Korea for a mandatory screening test.

In a birth-cohort study, we followed offspring with prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) to investigate longitudinal associations of PCE with self-reported behavioral adjustment from early adolescence to emerging adulthood (EA). Environmental pathways (family functioning, non-kinship care, maltreatment) were specified as potential mediators of PCE.

Participants were 372 (190 PCE; 47% male), primarily Black, low socioeconomic status, enrolled at birth. Internalizing and externalizing behaviors were assessed using Youth Self-Report at ages 12 and 15 and Adult Self-Report at age 21. Extended random-intercept cross-lagged panel modeling was used to account for potential bidirectional relationships between internalizing and externalizing behaviors over time, examining potential mediators.

Adjusting for covariates, significant indirect effects were found for each mediator at different ages. For family functioning, these were both internalizing (β = 0.83, p = 0.04) and externalizing behaviors (β = 1.58, p = 0.02) at age 12 and externalizing behaviors at age 15 (β = 0.51, p = 0.03); for non-kinship care, externalizing behaviors at ages 12 (β = 0.63, p = 0.02) and 15 (β = 0.20, p = 0.03); and for maltreatment, both internalizing and externalizing behaviors at ages 15 (β = 0.64, p = 0.02 for internalizing; β = 0.50, p = 0.03 for externalizing) and 21 (β = 1.39, p = 0.01 for internalizing; β = 1.11, p = 0.01 for externalizing). Direct associations of PCE with internalizing and externalizing behaviors were not observed, nor cross-lagged relationships between internalizing and externalizing behaviors.

Negative associations of PCE with behavioral adjustment persist into EA via environmental pathways, specifying intervention points to disrupt adverse pathways toward healthy development.

Korea Institute Radiological Medical Sciences operates an emergency medical response system in case of a radiological accident or disaster. A radiation accident or disaster can affect large-scale patients and destroy medical infrastructure. However, there is currently a lack of specialized education for treating large-scale patients or high-dose exposure patients. This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of radiological mass casualty triage education programs and present a new training method to improve the ability of 119 emergency medical teams in the event of a radiological accident or disaster.

The results of mass casualty triage for radiological events were analyzed using the audience response system and questionnaire for paramedics who participated in the radiation accident response training program. For 25 paramedics, a pre-post evaluation was conducted on two items: understanding the mass triage and understanding the radiological mass triage. The data were analyzed using the SPSS WIN 23.0 program.

Thirty simulated patient scenarios were developed with the addition of clinical symptoms of radiation exposure based on the four trauma classifications: immediate, urgent, delayed, and death. The triage results of 30 cases conducted by 119 emergency medical teams were evaluated, and the trainees were asked to respond to the level of improvement in their knowledge of triage through pre- and post-training questionnaires. As a result of the pre- and post-education questionnaire, the degree of understanding of the mass triage was 3.8 before education and 4.4 after education, showing a significant difference (p=.003/MAX=5). The pre- and post-education questionnaire results of radiological mass triage showed a difference between 2.3 before education and 4.1 after education (p=.000/MAX=5).

For effective radiation medical response, 119 emergency medical teams are required to have a repetitive mass triage education program for radiological events. It is especially important to provide a radiological triage system for field application.