Ewha Medical Journal

[English]

The burden of neck pain across US states, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis of Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 data: Somin Park, Dong Woo Shin, Jung-Hyun Park, Yoonkyung Chang, Moo-Seok Park, Hyun Kyung Kim, Tae-Jin Song; Ewha Med J 2026;49(4):e30. Published online October 2, 2026; DOI: https://doi.org/10.12771/emj.2026.01270

Purpose
Neck pain is a leading musculoskeletal cause of disability in the United States. This study aimed to assess temporal, geographic, and demographic disparities in its burden across US states from 1990 to 2021.
Methods
Global Burden of Disease 2021 data for all 50 US states and the District of Columbia were analyzed for 1990–2021. Counts and age-standardized rates per 100,000 population for prevalence, incidence, and years lived with disability (YLD) were compared by region, state, sex, age group, and sociodemographic index (SDI) level.
Results
In 2021, neck pain accounted for 9,430,000 (95% uncertainty interval [UI], 7,400,000–11,590,000) prevalent cases, 1,900,000 (95% UI, 1,490,000–2,320,000) incident cases, and 920,000 (95% UI, 620,000–1,300,000) YLD, increases of 41.17%, 37.44%, and 38.72%, respectively, from 1990. Although age-standardized incidence increased globally by 1.18% (0.07%–2.39%) over 1990–2021, the United States had small declines in age-standardized incidence (−0.11%; 95% UI, −0.18% to −0.06%), prevalence (−0.20%; 95% UI, −0.32% to −0.10%), and YLD (−1.12%; 95% UI, −2.02% to −0.22%). Neck pain rates were highest in the District of Columbia, Georgia, and Delaware and lowest in North Carolina, Alaska, and Wyoming. The burden peaked at ages 40–49 years and was higher in females. Age-standardized YLD rates for neck pain were significantly positively correlated with the SDI (Spearman’s ρ=0.601, P<0.001).
Conclusion
The geographic and demographic disparities in neck pain burden across US states indicate a need for targeted interventions.

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[English]

Spatiotemporal associations between air pollution and emergency room visits for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases in Korea using a multivariate graph autoencoder modeling approach: an ecological study: Sohee Wang, Seungpil Jeong, Eunhee Ha; Ewha Med J 2025;48(3):e43. Published online July 23, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.12771/emj.2025.00640

Purpose
This study aimed to assess the spatiotemporal associations between air pollution and emergency room visits for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases in South Korea using a graph autoencoder (GAE). A multivariate graph-based approach was used to uncover seasonal and regional variations in pollutant–disease relationships.
Methods
We collected monthly data from 2022 to 2023, including concentrations of 6 air pollutants (SO2, NO2, O3, CO, PM10, and PM2.5) and emergency room visits for 4 disease types: cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, and hemorrhagic stroke. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to construct adjacency matrices, which, along with normalized feature matrices, were used as inputs to the GAE. The model was trained separately for each month and region to estimate the strength of pollutant–disease associations.
Results
The pollutant–disease network structures exhibited clear seasonal variations. In winter, strong associations were observed between O3, NO2, and all disease outcomes. In spring, PM2.5 and PM10 were strongly linked to cardiac and stroke-related visits. These connections weakened during summer but became more pronounced in autumn, especially for NO2 and cardiac arrest. Urban areas displayed denser and stronger associations than non-urban areas.
Conclusion
Our findings underscore the necessity for season- and region-specific air quality management strategies. In winter, focused control of O3 and NO2 is needed in urban areas, while in spring, PM mitigation is required in urban and selected rural regions. Autumn NO2 control may be especially beneficial in non-urban areas. Spatiotemporally tailored interventions could reduce the burden of air pollution-related emergency room visits.

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1 Web of Science

[English]

Clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of scabies in Korea: Part 1. Epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and diagnosis — a secondary publication: Jin Park, Soon-Hyo Kwon, Young Bok Lee, Hei Sung Kim, Jie Hyun Jeon, Gwang Seong Choi; Ewha Med J 2024;47(4):e73. Published online October 31, 2024; DOI: https://doi.org/10.12771/emj.2024.e73

Abstract
PDF

Scabies is a skin disease caused by the parasite Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis, which is primarily transmitted via direct skin or sexual contact or, less commonly, via contact with infested fomites. In Korea, the incidence of scabies has decreased from approximately 50,000 cases per year in 2010 to about 30,000 cases per year in 2021. However, outbreaks are consistently observed in residential facilities, such as nursing homes, especially among older adults. The clinical manifestations of scabies vary based on the patient’s age, health status, the number of mites, and the route of transmission. Typical symptoms of classic scabies include intense nocturnal itching and characteristic skin rashes (burrows and erythematous papules), with a predilection for the interdigital web spaces, inner wrists, periumbilical areas, axillae, and genital areas. In contrast, older adults with immunodeficiency or neurological disorders may exhibit hyperkeratotic scaly lesions or an atypical distribution with mild to no itching (crusted scabies). The diagnosis of scabies is based on clinical symptoms and the results of diagnostic tests aimed at identifying the presence of the parasite. While a history of close contact and characteristic clinical findings suggest scabies, confirmation of the diagnosis requires detecting scabies mites, eggs, or scybala. This can be achieved through light microscopy of skin samples, non-invasive dermoscopy, and other high-resolution in vivo imaging techniques.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

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Sun Huh
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Escabiosis y otras parasitosis cutáneas
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Health Science Reports.2026;[Epub] CrossRef
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Journal of the Korean Society for Psoriasis.2025; 22(1): 46. CrossRef

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[English]

Epidemiology of Helicobacter Pylori Infection among Randomly Selected subjets from Koreans Urban Community: Hye Kyung Jung, Sun Young Yi; Ihwa Ŭidae chi 2001;24(1):3-9. Published online March 31, 2001; DOI: https://doi.org/10.12771/emj.2001.24.1.3

Abstract
PDF

Objective

Although Helicobacter pylori exists worldwide, no large population studies has been conducted on the epidemiology of the infection in South Korea. The purpose of this study is to examine the seroprevalence and determinants of H. pylori infection in an urban community in Korea.

Methods

From 22,803 residents, 1000 were randomly recruited from the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th clusters of Mokdong apartment complex by multi-stage sampling. In 742 subjects(74.2% of the initial sample) H. pylori specific IgG antibodies were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A questionnaire asking about monthly income, number of family members, education, and other social background was distributed to all subjects. In addition, each subject was measured for height and weight.

Results

The overall seroprevalence of H. pylori infection was 48.0%. H. pylori prevalence significantly increased with age from 41.9% to 54.9%. The prevalence of infection seemed to increase with males, more family members and smoking. However, the occupation, body mass index, education, generation, alcohol consumption and monthly income of the patient were not significantly related to H. pylori seroprevalence.

Conclusion

This study is a large cross-sectional, randomly sampled epidemiologic study of H. pylori infection in an urban community in Korea. The seroprevalence of H. pylori infection was 48.0%. Age was discovered to be the primary risk factor with no other determinants such as the sex and sociodemography being associated to the infection of H. pylori.