• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.61-77
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• 2023

Objective : This study analyzed the correlation between cognitive function and oral health-related quality of life (OHQoL). Methods : Demographic and clinical characteristics were extracted and utilized for subjects aged 45 years or older who participated in the 8th Korean Longitudinal Study on Aging in 2020. The dependent variable was the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index, and the independent variable was the level of cognitive function classified by the Mini-Mental State Examination scores. The analysis method used inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW). Then, the association between cognitive function and OHQoL was analyzed by multiple regression analysis. Results : Among the participants, 4,367 (71.40%) had normal cognition, 1,155 (18.89%) had moderate cognitive impairment, and 594 (9.71%) had severe cognitive impairment. As a result of analysis by applying IPTW, there was a negative correlation between the cognitive function group and OHQoL (normal vs. moderate: β = -2.534, p < .0001; normal vs. severe: β = -2.452, p < .0001). Conclusion : After propensity score matching, mild cognitive impairment showed a more negative association than severe cognitive impairment. Therefore, patients with cognitive impairment require oral health management education to improve OHQoL regardless of the level of cognitive impairment.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.37-47
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• 2022

The purpose of the this study is to observe the effects of healthy adults' age on temporal features of speech and identify which could differentiate older and young adults. We examined speech rates(i.e., overall speaking rate, articulation rate), occurrence of pause, and duration of pause per utterance by utilizing the National Institute of Korean Language's open corpus. We selected a total of 30 healthy adults (10 young, 10 middle-aged, and 10 older adults) in this study. There were significant differences among the groups in the overall speaking rate, articulation rate, total occurrence of pause, the occurrence of pause between syntactic words, total duration of pause, and duration of pause between syntactic words. The older and middle-aged adults showed slower speech rates and longer and more frequent pause than young adults. But there were no significant differences among the three groups in terms of pause within syntactic word. The overall speaking rate significantly differentiated older adults from young adults. These findings suggested that the effect of speakers' age was reflected in gradual changes in the temporal features of their speech.

• Korea Science and Art Forum
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• v.20
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• pp.267-277
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• 2015

The whole world enters the ageing era and 'lifelong education' is issued where the elderly can learn knowledge and techniques caused by era-change. Museum is a cultural public-facility and taking roles to provide education with spatial composition of contents and articles at exhibition. Therefore, museum can be a learning space for the elderly, performance of learning, environmental support to museum is required considering their physical characteristics. This study aims to develop a environmental design checklist at museum and to provide a frame for environmental plans to support the elderly for smooth watching of exhibition and education at museum. The environmental design checklist at museum was drawn for the spaces for entry, exhibition, public-service, educational activity and movement at museum, based on physical characteristics of the elderly or the criteria of 'sense (eye-sight, hearing and feeling by tough)' / 'exercise (skeleton, movement, physical strength and muscular strength). The environmental design checklist at museum for the elderly was composed newly by combining existing related acts, manuals, and preceded studies. For future studies, actual survey items at site and questionnaires for the elderly watchers were drawn.

• 한국노년학
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.1135-1153
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• 2011

The study aims to examine the interaction of socio-economic status in education and income in the difference of the level of subjective health, physical health, and mental health of middle-age and the elderly of Korea. While there have been various discussions in precedent study with respect to the serious increase in the number of dependent life alongside with increasing elderly population, research on the health level according to socio-economic status is highly limited, and also how the health level of middle-age and the elderly - whom will arrive at senescence in just a few years - is different. The study aims at analyzing the health level by hierarchy and age based on data targeting the whole nation. As for analysis data, the study utilized 1st Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA) implemented by Korea Labor Institute, and carried out a path analysis to verify whether income and academic background serve as a parameter to the level of subjective health, physical health, and mental health. As a result, while the subjective health level decreases, the study confirmed an increase in chronic diseases, and extremely low level of mental health when people in middle-age enter the elderly. In addition, the higher the education and income, the more the health levels both on middle-age and the elderly; the result suggests that education background and income have mediated effects in all health level of middle-age and the elderly.

• 한국노년학
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.1479-1500
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• 2009

This study examined BMI distributions among older adults in three different countries: the U.S., Japan, and Korea. The paper also explored differences in the factors predicting BMI in the three countries using three data sets: the U.S. Longitudinal Study of Aging (LSOA II, 8,589 persons), the Nihon University Japanese Longitudinal Study of Aging (NUJLSOA, 2,888 persons), and the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA, 2,397 persons). Descriptive analysis and multiple regression were performed. Japanese older adults were somewhat lighter than Koreans with fewer people at the upper end of the BMI distribution. Distributions of BMI among both Koreans and Japanese are shifted leftward relative to Americans. There is less dispersion in the distribution of BMI for Koreans and Japanese than among Americans. The association between socioeconomic variables and BMI is stronger in the U.S. and Japan than in Korea. Demographic variables are strong predictors of BMI in Korea. In Japan, all health behaviors have significant effects on BMI. It is concluded that the relationships between behavioral, demographical, and socioeconomic factors and BMI are not the same across countries. Results have policy implications for the involvement of health practitioners in helping older adults to control weight.

• 한국노년학
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.1083-1101
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to describe how the structural and functional features of social network change among widowed middle and older adults and to examine the effect of personal predictors of the social network change. Data was obtained from men and women between 45 to 98 years of age(N=118) who were bereaved by the death of their spouse since the first wave survey and participated in the second wave survey of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing(KLoSA). The main findings are as follows: First, their social network after the bereavement was strengthened centered around children; for example, the number of adult children living in proximity to the parent, frequency of contact with children, and the financial and non-financial support from children generally increased. Second, the social network change pattern was categorized into four types such as "overall increased type," "children-centered increased type," "children/close relationship-centered increased type," and "stagnation type." Finally, the health condition of the widowed middle and older adults was a strong predictor of the social network change.

• 한국노년학
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.971-986
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• 2009

This research investigated how the participation of various social activities affects cognitive function in middle-aged and elderly population. To examine the relation between the participation of various social activities and cognitive function, we used data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Social activities were classified into four types as religious ritual, leisure, public association and ascriptive association activities, and MMSE-K score was used to measure cognitive function. Results from multiple regression analyses after adjusting for socio-economic status and health status show that the participation in religious and leisure activities have positive effects on cognitive function in middle-aged and elderly population. Participation in leisure activities in middle-aged male group helps preserve cognitive function, and leisure activity and ritual activity are significantly related to cognitive function in middle-aged female group. Meanwhile the participation in religious and leisure activities have positive effects on cognitive function in elderly male and female group. Based on these findings, we suggest that various programs to support the participation of elderly population in social activities should be developed for healthy life for the elderly.

• 한국노년학
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.553-571
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• 2011

The purpose of this research is to comparatively meta-analyze the total, short-term, and long-termeffectiveness of cases involving care of the elderly depression in the age range of 60 and over in the four countries, and to identify the relevant policy implications for developing depression care programmes for Korean older people. Ten studies conducted by RCT were found via AMED, EMBASE, Ovid Medline, PsycInfo. Use of Review Manager(5.5 version) shows that the interventions for caring depression were all effective: total effectiveness is OR=0.47(95% CI), short-termeffectiveness is OR=0.37(95% CI), and long-term effectiveness is OR=0.61(95% CI). This research provides three policy implications: Firstly, elements for increasing the long-term effectiveness of depression care interventions should be applied to all new programmes for caring elderly depression. Secondly, more focused depression interventions should be applied during the first half period of care programmes for elderly men, whilst the focus should be shifted to the last half period for elderly women. Finally, new interventions for caring depression that integrate both the medical and social support model of depression should be designed for elderly Koreans.

• 한국노년학
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.195-209
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• 2011

This study examined the prevalence of and factors associated with unmet care need among community-dwelling middle-aged and older people in Korea. Data were from the 2006 Korean Longitudinal Study on Ageing (KLoSA), a national survey of 10,254 non-institutionalized adults aged 45 or older. Having unmet care needs was defined as needing personal assistance with activities of daily living (ADL) or instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) but having no available helper. Weighted logistic regressions were fitted to examine factors associated with unmet care needs. Overall, 7.3%, 14.5%, and 41.8% of subjects among the middle-aged, younger old, and older old, respectively, reported care needs of these, 34%, 33%,and 24% had unmet needs. Factors associated with unmet needs differed among the three groups: Education and income level were negatively associated with unmet needs among the middle-aged, but living alone was the only factor positively associated with unmet needs in both the younger and older old. The prevalence of and factors associated with unmet care needs differ by life-stage. Needed are home- and community-based care and services to meet the need for personal assistance among the elderly living alone in a community.

• 한국노년학
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.37-60
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• 2019

This study was attempt to derive the aging trajectories of Korean elderly people and identify its characteristics. In particular, this study used the successful aging model of Rowe and Kahn as an analytical framework. Using the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing(KLoSA), this study applied group-based multi-trajectory analysis to identify multiple aging trajectories in sample of Korean elder aged 65~74(n=2,682). This study also used several demographic characteristics as baseline predictors to identify the characteristics of each aging trajectory. Five dimensions were analyzed in the multi-trajectory model: chronic disease, physical functional limitation, cognitive functioning, depressive symptom and social engagement. As a result of the analysis, five aging trajectories were identified: successful aging(17.8%), usual aging (33.9%), health declining aging(18.2%), pathological aging(7.9%), and aging with mild cognitive impairment(22.1%). In general, the odds of experiencing successful aging were high in men, low-aged, highly educated, high-income, and spousal elderly. On the other hand, for the elderly, who are under-educated, low-income, and high-aged, there was a high probability of experiencing a relatively difficult aging process. In particular, the odds of experiencing a mild cognitive impairment aging was high in older, lower-income women without a spouse.