• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.696-700
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• 2014

This study was carried out to identify the influence of continuous physical therapy on long-stay elderly patients. This study classified 92 patients who had been hospitalized for one year into experimental group who continued to perform physical therapy and control group who did not conduct physical therapy and these two groups were classified into 0.5 point-questionable group, 1 point-mild dementia group, and 2 point-moderate dementia group based on the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale(CDR) when they were hospitalized in order to analyze the changes at the early stage of hospitalization and after one year has passed. As a result, it was appeared that both in CDR 0.5-point subgroup of questionable group and in CDR 1-point subgroup of mild dementia group, CDR was statistically significantly reduced in the experimental group whose physical therapy was continuously performed than in the control group whose physical therapy was not performed(p<.05) and that there was no significant difference in changes in the CDR between experimental group and control group in CDR 2-point group, which is a moderate dementia group.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.73-80
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• 2007

Anumber of prior studies have reported eye movement dysfunction in patients with dementia. The eye movement test which is non-invasive can evaluate the local brain function quantitatively. Therefore, it can be a useful method for characterizing regional brain abnormalities of patients with dementia. The aim of this paper is to review the literatures on eye movement abnormalities in dementia patients. Saccade system dysfunctions in Alzheimer disease include increased latency, reduced accuracy, and increased antisaccade error rates. Patients with frontotemporal dementia showed impaired reflexive saccade inhibition and increased latency and errors of antisaccade task. And delayed initiation of voluntary saccades, slow saccades, and increased errors and latency on antisaccade task were found in Huntington's disease. Patients with Parkinson’s disease dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies have characteristics of impaired in both reflexive saccade execution and complex saccade performance. However, there were few reports of abnormal eye movements in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; they could be found at the later stages after symptoms of dementia came to be evident, and secondary to cerebellar and vestibular involvement. Slowing of saccades and hypometric saccades might precede the supranuclear limitation of vertical gaze in PSP. Dysfunction of voluntary eyelid movements was a characteristic finding of PSP as well. In conclusion, patients with dementia can show various abnormal eye movements and they are related with cortial and subcortical brain dysfunctions. The research on localization of brain relevant to each symptom can promise more clinical implications of eye movement of dementia.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.1077-1087
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of respite care. The analysis was conducted by reviewing published intervention studies on the effects of formal respite care for caregivers of dementia patients, patients with dementia, and the prevented or delayed rate of institutionalization of the patients. Method: Two computerized databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL) were searched to find respite care-related articles published from the year of 1981 to 2000. A total of 49 published articles were identified. Of them, nine studies, which met for the inclusion criteria of this study, were included. Results: Results revealed that there was little evidence of the effect of respite care on, not only caregivers' burden, stress, depression and well-being, but also the rate of institutionalization of the patients. It was noteworthy that dementia patients reported fewer problems in behavior, although cognitive functioning and activity of daily living abilities continued to decline. However, these findings should be carefully interpreted because of methodological problems, such as non-random sampling, non random group assignment, a small sample size, uncontrolled confounding variables, limited period of services, and no specific types of services. Conclusion: It is recommended to conduct intervention studies of respite care being conducted in Korea with the corrections of methodological problems suggested from this study.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.389-398
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to understand and describe the overcoming experiences of family members caring for elderly patients with dementia at home. Methods: Data came from autobiographies on the overcoming experiences of caregiving from 31 participants, who had submitted the autobiographies to a public contest held by the Seoul Metropolitan Center for Dementia in 2012. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: Four overcoming stages emerged from the analysis: confronting stage; challenging stage; integrating stage; and transcendental stage, representing transformation of experiences from frustration and suffering to happiness and new hope in life. The confronting stage illustrates severe negative feelings and exhaustion occurring after the diagnosis of dementia. The challenging stage signifies major driving forces in taking good care of their patients. It includes tender loving memories about the patients as well as family and social supports. The integrating stage shows genuine empathy for the patients' situation and the happiness of 'here and now', while the transcendental stage represents new hope in the future. Conclusion: Health professionals need to support caregivers to find true meaning of caring and happiness in everyday life, while providing specific information on dementia care and relieving various negative feelings.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.49-58
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• 2017

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to provide data to guide dementia health-care policy in Korea and to establish the position of Korean medical specialists in long-term care hospitals by analyzing the data of dementia inpatients. We analyzed the actual condition of dementia patients in care hospital and the effect of Western-Korean cooperative medicine on the progress of dementia. Methods : From January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016, inpatients who were diagnosed with dementia at Mungyeong municipal long-term care hospital and admitted for more than 3 months were enrolled. Their medical records and simple tests were analyzed retrospectively. Results : We examined the detailed diagnosis, including both main and sub diagnosis, and Alzheimer disease dementia, at 97%, was the most common. At the time of admission, Korean Version of the Mini-Mental State Exam (K-MMSE) analysis showed that severe dementia affected 52%, and most were rated as Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) 6. Based on the admission date, the results of a simplified test applied to the dementia patients every 6 months showed an maintain in the K-MMSE and GDS scores in 83%. Conclusion : The results of this study show that the rate of progression of dementia is somewhat lower in inpatients with moderate to severe Alzheimer's who have received Western-Korean cooperative treatment. However, due to institutional limitations, long-term inpatients such as those with dementia do not receive active traditional Korean medical treatment; hence, it is necessary to improve the national institution of traditional Korean medicine in long-term care hospitals.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.1636-1641
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the needs for environmental improvement and dementia patients' activity of daily living (ADL) and behavior and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) in dementia patients living in urban type dementia care villages. The subjects of this study were 70 households with cognitive impairment and dementia among residents of dementia care village in Gunsan City. The survey was conducted with the permission of their family. Frequency analysis and descriptive statistical analysis were performed on the main variables to analyze the characteristics of the subjects. Bivariate correlation analysis was performed to verify the relationship between the two variables. According to the analysis results, the order of environment improvement was in the order of entrance (51.4%), toilet and stairs (48.6%), kitchen (11.4%), bedroom and laundry room (10.0%). In the relationship between the variables, The ADL was correlated with age (r=.315, p <.01), BPSD (r=.322, p<.01) and living environment inconvenience (r=.640, p<.01) while, living environment inconvenience correlated with environment improvement need (r=.669, p<.01). This study suggests that improvement of the residential environment of dwellers in dementia care villages, especially the stairway and entrance hall is necessary.

• Journal of the Korean Medical Association
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• v.61 no.12
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• pp.758-764
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• 2018

Dementia is a clinical syndrome characterized by a cluster of symptoms and signs that manifest as difficulties in cognitive functions such as memory, psychological and psychiatric changes, and impairments in activities of daily living. As a result of worldwide trends of population aging, dementia has had a huge impact on public health in almost all countries. Disease modification therapies for dementia have not yet been developed. However, pharmacotherapy is essential in patients with dementia to combat delays in their cognitive and functional decline. In this article, we review the current pharmacotherapy for dementia. Three acetylcholinesterase inhibitors-donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine-and memantine are the only medications that have been approved for the treatment of dementia. We present the indications, dose recommendations, side effects, and criteria for National Health Insurance coverage in Korea of these medications for dementia treatment. Although the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in Korea has not approved any medications for managing the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, some antipsychotics and antidepressants have been studied and used clinically for those purposes. Clinicians may consider vitamin E, Ginkgo biloba extract, choline alfoscerate, or omega-3 fatty acids as additional treatment options. Non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs, estrogen hormone therapy, and statins are not generally recommended for dementia treatment. We believe that our findings will aid clinicians in the treatment of patients with cognitive decline.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.213-225
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide basic data about agitation in patients with dementia by surveying the literature. Method: Key words used for search through hand-search and electronic database (CINHAL, Pubmed, Google scholar, Riss, Kiss, DBpia) included 'dementia', 'Alzheimer disease', 'agitation', 'aggression or aggressive behavior', 'problem or disruptive behavior', and 'abnormal behavior.' Seventeen studies met the inclusion criteria for the Meta-analysis and 'R' version 3.2.2 was used to analyze the correlated effect size. Results: Study results showed that variables related to agitation were identified as the demographic (age, gender), dementia-related (cognition, medication uses), physical (Activity of Daily Living [ADL], pain), psychological (depression, psychotic symptom, caregiver burden) and environmental (psychosocial environment) factors. The effect size between the correlated variables and agitation were low to moderate (caregiver burden .36; ADL -.24; psychotic symptom and depression .21; pain .19; cognition -.15; medication uses .12; and psychosocial environment -.12). Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, strategies to improve patients' depressive and psychotic symptoms and ADL and to reduce caregivers' burden are needed for prevention and management of agitation in patients with dementia.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.95-100
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cognitive programs on cognitive function improvement in patients with mild dementia. The subjects were 30 patients with mild dementia. The subjects were applied the cognitive rehabilitation program three times a week for 6 weeks and analyzed the pre-experiment and post-experiment values through the Korean simplified mental state examination (MMSE-K). The results were as follows: The mean of test was increased and statistically significant. Thus, cognitive rehabilitation programs for patients with mild dementia are effective interventions to improve cognitive function in patients with dementia.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.111-119
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• 2018

Objectives: To investigate the characteristics of patients diagnosed with dementia or mild cognitive impairment who are treated by means of a blend between Western and Korean medicine. Methods: We searched for outpatients with dementia or mild cognitive impairment by means of a collaboration between Western and Korean medicine from August 1, 2015, to July 31, 2017, through electronic medical records in Wonkwang Hospital. The records were retrospectively analyzed according to the patients' demographic and clinical characteristics, pathway of medical care, diagnostic tests, treatment, and medical expenses. Results: Thirteen patients were included in the analysis. Among them, six patients were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, five with dementia, Alzheimer's type, one patient with frontotemporal dementia, and one patient with unspecified dementia. Twelve of the thirteen patients were over 60 years of age. The number of pathways from the Dept. of Neurology to the Dept. of Neuropsychiatry of Korean Medicine was almost the same as the opposite pathway. The most used diagnostic test in Korean medicine was a neuropsychological test such as SNSB, MMSE and GDS. In Western medicine, hematology and neuroimaging were frequently used for patients. Acupuncture in Korean medicine and medication in Western medicine were the most frequently used. In Korean medicine, uncovered service costs were much higher than covered service costs,. whereas, in Western medicine, covered service costs were higher than uncovered service costs. Conclusions: This study describes the basic characteristics of dementia and mild cognitive impairment patients treated by a collaboration between Western and Korean medicine. Based on these results, a clinical pathway of the collaborative practice system between Western and Korean medicine for dementia patients needs to be developed.