• The Journal of Korean Academy of Sensory Integration
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.65-78
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• 2023

Objective : In this study, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of family-centered intervention conducted with caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in South Korea through a systematic literature review. Methods : Previous studies published from 2011 to 2021 were searched through RISS, KISS, and DBpia. The search terms applied included "autism spectrum" OR "general developmental disorder" OR "high-functioning autism" OR "Asperger's" AND "parent education" OR "family-centered intervention" OR "parent coaching" OR "parent training" OR "family participation." A total of 11 experimental studies were chosen based on the selection criteria. Results : According to the findings on the general characteristics of the study participants, intervention strategies, and effects of the intervention, it was observed that the majority of children with ASD who participated in the study were preschool-aged, and the majority of participating caregivers were mothers. The effects of family-centered interventions were evident in both children and parents. In children, the most significant effects were observed in interaction and communication skills. In parents, a reduction in parenting stress and an improvement in parenting efficacy were observed. The intervention strategies employed in the study varied, with sensory integration intervention, responsive communication, and interaction-centered intervention being the most commonly used, followed by developmental-centered intervention, positive behavior support (PBS), and parent-mediated intervention based on pivotal response treatment (PRT). Conclusion : The results of this study are significant in that they confirm that family-centered intervention is effective not only in improving the functioning of children with autism spectrum disorder, but also in reducing parenting stress and enhancing parenting efficacy, and provide evidence for clinical use.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.235-243
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• 2023

As next-generation sequencing has been developed and used widely, RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) has rapidly emerged as the first choice of tools to validate global transcriptome profiling. With the significant advances in RNA-seq, various types of RNA-seq have evolved in conjunction with the progress in bioinformatic tools. On the other hand, it is difficult to interpret the complex data underlying the biological meaning without a general understanding of the types of RNA-seq and bioinformatic approaches. In this regard, this paper discusses the two main sections of RNA-seq. First, two major variants of RNA-seq are described and compared with the standard RNA-seq. This provides insights into which RNA-seq method is most appropriate for their research. Second, the most widely used RNA-seq data analyses are discussed: (1) exploratory data analysis and (2) pathway enrichment analysis. This paper introduces the most widely used exploratory data analysis for RNA-seq, such as principal component analysis, heatmap, and volcano plot, which can provide the overall trends in the dataset. The pathway enrichment analysis section introduces three generations of pathway enrichment analysis and how they generate enriched pathways with the RNA-seq dataset.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.75-86
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• 2024

Objective : The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an occupational therapy program on the school readiness, focusing on adaptation skills and daily life skills, in children with developmental delays. Methods : The study involved a boy with developmental delay, aged 5 years and 8 months. The program was conducted twice a week, with a total of 8 sessions spread over 4 weeks. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) was employed, targeting class preparation and use of the toilet. Pre-post tests and follow-up evaluations were carried out to compare changes. Data analysis involved video recordings of the subject's performance. Results : The COPM results indicated improvements in both the performance and satisfaction levels for class preparation and toilet use. Processing skills showed seven improvements in class preparation and eight improvements in toilet use during post-testing. Activity performance observations further confirmed improvements in both class preparation and toilet use during post-test and follow-up evaluations. Conclusion : Occupational therapy improves school readiness (adaptation skill, daily living activity skill) for children with developmental delays, and has a positive effect on overall school readiness.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.53-67
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• 2024

Objective : This study aimed to identify common activities with similar participation levels between community-dwelling individuals in the United States (US) and South Korea (Study 1), and analyze the changes in activity participation patterns across the adult lifespan in South Korea (Study 2). Methods : We administered the online survey-based Activity Card Sort version 3 (ACS-3) to adults living in the US and South Korea. In Study 1, we computed the average participation level and visualized 100 activities of the ACS-3 from both the US and Korean samples. The average participation level across the four age groups in Study 2 was calculated and visualized to understand the changes in patterns of involvement across the four ACS-3 domains in a Korean sample. Results : In Study 1, data from 161 Americans and 163 Koreans were analyzed. Of the 100 activities, 48 (instrumental: 20; leisure: 13; fitness/health: 6; social: 9) demonstrated similar levels of participation between the two samples. In Study 2, data from 420 Koreans were analyzed and a tendency for decreased participation with age was found in all domains, except for the instrumental domain. Conclusion : Common daily activities may be used as a means of intervention across cultures in occupational therapy. Protective approaches and support are recommended to optimize older adults' participation in daily life.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.69-84
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• 2024

Objective : This study aimed to categorize the lifestyles of older adults into two types - healthy and unhealthy, and use machine learning to identify the personal values that influence these lifestyles. Methods : This cross-sectional study targeting middle-aged and older adults (55 years and above) living in local communities in South Korea. Data were collected from 300 participants through online surveys. Lifestyle types were dichotomized by the Yonsei Lifestyle Profile (YLP)-Active, Balanced, Connected, and Diverse (ABCD) responses using latent profile analysis. Personal value information was collected using YLP-Values (YLP-V) and analyzed using machine learning to identify the relative importance of personal values on lifestyle types. Results : The lifestyle of older adults was categorized into healthy (48.87%) and unhealthy (51.13%). These two types showed the most significant difference in social relationship characteristics. Among the machine learning models used in this study, the support vector machine showed the highest classification performance, achieving 96% accuracy and 95% area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The model indicated that individuals who prioritized a healthy diet, sought health information, and engaged in hobbies or cultural activities were more likely to have a healthy lifestyle. Conclusion : This study suggests the need to encourage the expansion of social networks among older adults. Furthermore, it highlights the necessity to comprehensively intervene in individuals' perceptions and values that primarily influence lifestyle adherence.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.10-20
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• 2024

RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) is a technique used for providing global patterns of transcriptomes in samples. However, it can only provide the average gene expression across cells and does not address the heterogeneity within the samples. The advances in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technology have revolutionized our understanding of heterogeneity and the dynamics of gene expression at the single-cell level. For example, scRNA-seq allows us to identify the cell types in complex tissues, which can provide information regarding the alteration of the cell population by perturbations, such as genetic modification. Since its initial introduction, scRNA-seq has rapidly become popular, leading to the development of a huge number of bioinformatic tools. However, the analysis of the big dataset generated from scRNA-seq requires a general understanding of the preprocessing of the dataset and a variety of analytical techniques. Here, we present an overview of the workflow involved in analyzing the scRNA-seq dataset. First, we describe the preprocessing of the dataset, including quality control, normalization, and dimensionality reduction. Then, we introduce the downstream analysis provided with the most commonly used computational packages. This review aims to provide a workflow guideline for new researchers interested in this field.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.26-37
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• 2024

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare and analyze the differences in charges and length of stay per case between spine specialty hospitals and non-specialty hospitals, and to identify the factors that influenced them. Methods: This study used claims data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, including inpatient visits from January 2021 to December 2022. The healthcare facility status data was used to identify the characteristics of study hospitals. Multilevel analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with the charges and Poisson regression analysis was conducted to analyze the length of stay between spine specialty hospitals and non-specialty hospitals. There were 32,015 cases of spine specialty hospitals and 17,555 cases of non-specialty hospitals. Results: For four of five common spinal surgeries, specialty hospitals shaped longer length of stay than those of non-specialty hospitals. Multilevel and Poisson regression analysis revealed that regardless of the type of surgery, higher age and higher Charlson comorbidity index scores were significantly associated with an increase in both the charges per case and length of stay (p<0.05). However, when hospitals were located in metropolitan areas, there was a significant decrease (p<0.05). Conclusion: This study found that specialty hospital had higher inpatient charges and loner length of stay contrary to the previous study results. Further studies will be needed to find which contribute to the differences.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.23-34
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• 2019

The U-Healthcare era has evolved with the development of the Internet of things (IoT) in the early stages of being connected as a society. Already, many changes such as increased well-being and the extension of human life are becoming evident across cultures. Korea entered the growing group of aging societies in 2017, and its silver industry is expected to grow rapidly by adopting the IoT of a super-connected society. In particular, the senior shift phenomenon has resulted in increased interest in the promotion of the health and well-being of the emergent silver generation which, unlike the existing silver generation, is highly active and wields great economic power. This study conducted in-depth interviews to investigate the characteristics of the new silver generation, and to develop the design for a wearable serious game that intends to boost the interest of the elderly in exercise and fitness activities according to their personalized physical training regimes as prescribed by the U-Hospital service. The usage scenario of this wearable serious game for the 'U-silver generation' is derived from social necessity. Medical professionals can utilize this technology to conduct health examinations and to monitor the rehabilitation of senior patients. The elderly can also use this tool to request checkups or to interface with their healthcare providers. The wearable serious game is further aimed at mitigating concerns about the deterioration of the physical functions of the silver generation by applying personalized exercise prescriptions. The present investigation revealed that it is necessary to merge the on / off line community activities to meet the silver generation's daily needs for connection and friendship. Further, the sustainability of the serious game must be enhanced through the inculcation of a sense of accomplishment as a player rises through the levels of the game. The proposed wearable serious game is designed specifically for the silver generation that is inexperienced in using digital devices: simple game rules are applied to a familiar interface grounded on the gourmet travels preferred by the target players to increase usability.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.75-93
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• 2021

Objective : The aim of this study was to identify subgroups of older adults with respect to their lifestyle patterns and examine the characteristics of each subgroup in order to provide a basic evidence for improving the health and quality of life. Methods : This cross-sectional study was conducted in South Korea. Community-dwelling older adults (n=184) above the age of 65 years were surveyed from April 2019 to May 2019. This study used latent profile analysis to examine the subgroups. Chi-squared (χ²) and multinomial logistic regression measures were then used to analyze individual characteristics and influencing factors. Results : The pattern of physical activity which is one of the lifestyle domains in elderly was categorized into three types: 'passive exercise type (31.1%)', 'low intensity exercise type (54.5%)', and 'balanced exercise type(14.5%)'. Activity participation was divided into three patterns: 'inactive type (12%)', 'self-management type (61%)', and 'balanced activity participation type (27%)'. In terms of nutrition, there were only two groups: 'overall malnutrition type (13.5%)' and 'balanced nutrition type (86.5%)'. Furthermore, as a result of the multinomial logistic regression analysis to understand the effects of lifestyle types on the health and quality of life of the elderly, it was confirmed that the health and quality of life were higher in those following an active and balanced lifestyle. In addition, gender, education level and residential area were analyzed as predictive factors. Conclusion : The health and quality of life of the elderly can be improved when they have balanced lifestyle. Therefore, an empirical and policy intervention strategy should be developed and implemented to enhance the health and quality of life of the elderly.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.81-96
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• 2023

Objective : This study aimed to examine the association between the structural and functional aspects of social networks and health-promoting behaviors in community-dwelling older adults. Methods : Social networks based on structural and functional aspects and health-promoting behaviors by lifestyle were measured in 226 community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and over. To analyze the collected data, an independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression were performed. Results : The network size was the highest in the friend network, and the frequency of contact and social support was the highest in the non-living family network. Health-promoting behaviors were highest for activities of daily living and lowest for productive and social activities. All subfactors of social networks showed significant positive correlations with health-promoting behaviors. Hierarchical regression showed social support from neighbors as the variable with a significant effect on health-promoting behaviors; gender and depression were also influencing factors, and this model showed 37% explanatory power. Conclusion : To promote healthy behaviors of older adultsin the community, the development of health promotion programs and related policies considering social networks centering on social support from neighbors is required.