Background: This study investigated trends in cancer-related avoidable (preventable and treatable) mortality and its association with area deprivation in Korea. Methods: Cancer-related avoidable mortality rates per 100,000 population between 2015 and 2019 were measured using the Causes of Death Statistics. Area Deprivation Index (ADI) was measured from the Population and Housing Census and information on other independent variables from the Korea Community Health Survey. The gap in avoidable mortality between the more and less deprived groups was expressed as rate ratios (RR) and absolute differences (ADs) with a 95 percent confidence interval (95% CI). The association between avoidable mortality and ADI was investigated through Poisson regression modelling. Results: The more deprived areas had higher avoidable (RR 1.15, 95% CI 1.13–1.17; AD 6.58, 95% CI 5.59–7.57) and preventable (RR 1.19, 95% CI 1.17–1.21; AD 6.22, 95% CI 5.38–7.06) mortality. The overall cancer-related avoidable mortality decreased but the gap between the more and less deprived groups did not decline significantly during the study period. The association between avoidable and preventable mortality and area deprivation remained significant after adjusting for variables, including area levels of smokers and alcohol drinkers. Conclusions: The gap in avoidable mortality signifies the importance of addressing related disparities in cancer.

Objectives: This study aimed to identify the differences in the establishment of joint attention in hearing parent-deaf child dyads and hearing parent-hearing child dyads and to investigate the differences in maternal verbal and nonverbal cues during free-play episodes by using a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: Fourteen studies that meet the inclusive criteria were selected from eight electronic databases (PubMed, Eric, CINAHL Plus, ScienceDirect, Academic search complete, Google Scholar, RISS, Kyobo Scholar). The effect size was computed using a fixed effects model. Results: In a checklist of the study quality, the selected studies had a low risk of bias, and the subjects of a considerable number of studies were hearing mothers and young children before 36 months of age. Based on a meta-analysis, the two groups had no significant difference in the success rate of joint attention, parental verbal cues, and parental nonverbal cues. Conclusion: We observed a similar success rate of joint attention between hearing parent-deaf child dyads and hearing parent-hearing child dyads. In addition, hearing parents used similar patterns in using verbal and nonverbal cues regardless of their young children’s hearing status. Our results point to important avenues for future research on how hearing parents can better accommodate their children’s hearing status by using verbal and nonverbal cues.

Objectives: This study attempted to identify the quantitative characteristics that appear in vocal turn-taking between mothers and toddlers with cochlear implants (CIs) and to examine the relationships between variables of vocal turn-taking and the language development of the CI and typical hearing (TH) group.Methods: Ten pairs of mothers and toddlers with CIs and 12 pairs of mothers and toddlers with TH participated in this study. Their interactions during a 20-minute free-play task were recorded using a digital recorder. Their vocalizations were coded for vocalization, switching pause, turn-taking block, and overlap using the Praat program.Results: Toddlers with TH took more vocal turns with their mothers than did toddlers with CIs. Toddlers with TH produced significantly more vocalizations than toddlers with CIs; however, there was not a significant difference in the frequency of mothers’ vocalizations between the two groups. Mothers in the TH group produced a significantly highter proportion of vocalizations in turn-taking than mothers in the CI group; however, there was not a significant difference in the proportion of toddlers’ vocalizations between the two groups. Language scores were significantly correlated with the frequency of vocal turn-taking, toddlers’ vocalizations, and mothers’ vocalizations in the CI group.Conclusion: These results suggests that toddlers with CIs are not active partners in vocal turn-taking at an earlier age and that mothers are likely to adjust vocal turn-taking formats to their toddlers with CIs. The variables of vocal turn-taking can be a sensitive index to predict language skills in the CI group.

Objectives: The temporal response characteristics in vocal turn-taking are related to the language and emotional development of infants. This study identified the temporal response patterns in the vocal turn-taking between parents and infants with typical development through systematic literature and meta-analysis.Methods: Using eight databases, the appropriateness of the literature was evaluated according to the Participants, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, and Study design (PICOS) criteria. As a result, seven articles which met the inclusive criteria were selected. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature was conducted. The effect sizes were calculated using Hedges’s g.Results: As a result of the systematic literature review, the selected literature had a low risk of bias. In a considerable number of articles, mothers and infants before 12 months of age participated. The duration of parents’ vocalization was significantly longer than that of infants. On the other hand, there was no significant difference in the switching pause between parents and infants.Conclusion: These results suggest that although infants have less duration of vocalization than their parents due to lack of linguistic experience, infants may know the rules of switching pause in verbal communication. Future research should examine parents and infants with diverse communication disorders such as hearing loss and autism spectrum disorders. In addition, these findings have implications for assessment and early intervention designed to target parents’ communication behaviors.