• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.334-342
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Tai Chi exercise on flexibility, balance, walking ability, muscle strength, bone mineral density, and fracture risk in institutionalized elders. Method: A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with a nonequivalent comparison group was utilized, and 53 older adults living in one institution were recruited and assigned to one of two groups, experimental group (18) or comparison (20). Both groups completed posttest measures at 6 months. There was a 31% rate of dropouts. Tai Chi exercise was provided twice a week for 24 weeks. Outcome measurements were conducted by a physiotherapist at a university hospital health promotion center who did not know the group assignment. Results: At 6 months, the experimental group had significantly greater grip strength(t=2.12, p=.04), back muscle strength (t=2.42, p=.02), balance (t=5.31, p<001), and flexibility (t=3.57, p<.001). They also showed significantly greater bone mineral density of lumbar spine and femur, and reduced fracture risk. Conclusion: Tai Chi exercise was safely and effectively used with institutionalized elders for 6 months and significantly improved physical fitness, bone mineral density along with a reduction in fracture risk. Whether Tai Chi exercise would lead to prevention of fall episodes and fall related fractures in this population will require further study.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.1001-1007
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• 2014

We surveyed the wearing characteristics of hip protectors. The problems of existing hip protectors were identified and the directions for improvement were presented. The evaluation of wearing characteristics was conducted on the 100 elderly women (60 to 85 years) with 5 types of hip protector. The questionnaire was composed of history and characteristics on falling, hip protector acceptance, preference, use characteristics and improvement requirements. The result of wearing characteristic evaluation indicated that 52% of the subject experienced falling in winter. Incidents resulting from falling occurred: outdoors (74.5%), bathroom (10.9%), and kitchen (5.5%). Body parts to be protected were in several areas: 35.6% for lumbar, 26.9% for hip joint, and 15% for hip bone. Participants prefer a belt B type design at a rate of 56.9% because it provided a sense of stability by clinging to the body and upholding the waist. Belt B type was the most appropriate in terms of fit, allowance, mobility, and design except pad thickness. To reduce the risk of hip fracture, hip protector needs to be designed in consideration of user's type of fall and body shape. The pattern and size of a hip protector has to be improved in regards to the amount of discomfort. An objective evaluation is needed for the ergonomic design of a hip protector based on and analysis of 3D body image of the elderly and the shock-absorbing quality of pad.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2018

Polypharmacy is increasing owing to an increase in the elderly population and multimorbidities associated with the increased risk of administration of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs). The negative effects of polypharmacy on various health conditions and aspects, such as fall, fracture, mortality, cognitive function, and dementia, have been reported. The management of excess and inappropriate polypharmacy through proper interventions and local or national guidelines has been highlighted. The purpose of polypharmacy management is to appropriately prescribe medicines that are essential to treat diseases in patients and to avoid inappropriate polypharmacy, such as interactive or duplicate medicines under prescription and PIMs for specific diseases. Community pharmacists in Australia, the EU, USA, and Japan are collaborating with prescribers to review medications to ensure that the patients can be prescribed appropriate medications. The service cost is reimbursed by public or private insurers. A study in the United States has shown that even with medication review costs, the overall medication cost has reduced. In Korea, various projects such as Drug Utilization Review service and safe use of medicines have been conducted; however, no national guidelines or management measures have been established. It is necessary to implement a national long-term plan on polypharmacy management. Furthermore, a phased implementation plan is required. Shortly, active medication review services and education programs for healthcare professionals with the support of the government should be considered in Korea with reference to other countries in order to raise awareness of seriousness and risks of inappropriate polypharmacy.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.369-377
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• 2016

This study examined artificial joint replacement surgery for early intervention and prevention of the occurrence of delirium surgery. Data of study were analysed using the sample through the EMR (Electronic Medical Record) and after surgery to provide basic data. The subjects were elderly aged 60 years or more and the number of the sample was 821. Data were analysed by using SPSS 20.0 with t-test, $x^2$-test and multiple logistic regression analysis. The study results showed patients with artificial joint replacement surgery incidence of delirium was 13.5%, findings of these variables insisted that the main influencing factors of delirium were caused by age, fall history, physical activity, emotional status, body mass index (BMI) before surgery. The study suggested that the above findings are required for early intervention, early detection and prevention of delirium.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.446-457
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• 2005

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyse researches on nursing intervention for elderly health promotion. Method: A literature review of 38 researches was carried out using guidelines developed by the present researchers. Result: The research papers studied in this research were theses written for doctoral or master's degree and published between 1994 to 2004. These researches applied nursing intervention for health promotion of elders and used experimental study design. The average period of nursing intervention was about 9 weeks and the average frequency was three times per week. As for major characteristics of subject groups, most of them were over 65 years old (76.3%) and resided in community (65.8%), and each group consisted of 10 to 29 elders. The dependent variables used in these studies included physiological variables (blood pressure, blood cholesterol level, pulmonary function, fasting blood sugar, blood cortisol level, body mass etc.), psychologic variables (depression, quality of life, life satisfaction, loneliness, anxiety etc.), cognitive variables (perceived benefits, perceived barriers, self-efficacy, self-concept, subjective health status etc.), activities of daily livings, health promotion behavior, pain, risks of fall, and variables related to Trans Theoretical Model. The majority of these studies (78.9%) applied exercise programs for health promotion including exercise motivating programs (15.8%). Conclusion: We suggest that more various nursing interventions must be applied to promote elders' health and to take care of their chronic diseases.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2017.10a
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• pp.185-188
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• 2017

Health promotion is essential for overcoming the low health longevity of senior citizens preparing for aging population. Therefore, the lower body strengthening exercise to prevent falls is crucial to prevent a fall in the number of deaths of senior citizens. In this game model, the elderly are aiming at home training contents that can be found to feel that the elderly are going out of walk and exercising in the natural environment. To achieve this, Kinect extracts a specific bone model provided by the Kinect Sensor to generate the feature vectors and recognizes the movements and motion of the user.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.195-203
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand the level of functional health literacy and its influence on perceived health status in Korean older adults. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Daegu, Kyungpook and Susan province. A total of 103 older adults aged 65 yr or older were interviewed in person between July 1 to August 30, 2007. Results: A high proportion of older adults were unable to read and understand written basic medical instructions. Only 40-50% were able to comprehend directions for taking medication four times a day or on an empty stomach. Only 11-38% were able to understand information regarding treatment procedure, informed consent, or educational material for elderly fall prevention. Individuals who were older, single, and had less education and income were more likely to have lower functional health literacy. After adjusting for sociodemographic variables, individuals with lower health literacy had poorly perceived health status. Conclusion: Many Korean older adults have a very low level of fuctional literacy. Low health literacy was independently associated with poorly perceived health status.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.13-16
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• 2012

Objective: Electroencephalogram (EGG)-feedback is a training procedure aimed at altering brain activity, and is used as a treatment for disorders like attention. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of external focus of attention by EGG-feedback on balance in young adults. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Subject were students in Sahmyook University. Fifty young adults in their twenties and thirties. Subjects were performed both with and without external focus of attention by EEG-feedback on the posture of standing and tandem standing. Participants were educated effort to maintain static posture when they were under internal focus of attention. Good Balance System was used for measurement of postural consistency upon the following force platforms. Results: Body sway decreased significantly both normal standing and tandem standing with external focus of attention by EEG-feedback (p<0.05). Conclusions: The results demonstrate that the benefits of an external attentional focus are generalizable to young adults. The external focus of attention outperformed the internal focus of attention on the postural balance (p<0.05). It is showed that external focus of attention significant effects on balance by revoked automatic postural control of movement. Furthermore balance might be improved by training with an external focus. Further study is required to develop for training as a method of preventing fall in elderly peoples.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 2020

PURPOSE: This study examined the effects of a whole body vibration-exercise program on the muscle strength, balance, and falling efficacy of super-aged women. METHODS: Thirty participants, who are over 75 years of age, were recruited. They were assigned randomly to an experimental group (n=15), which received whole body vibration exercise, and a control group (n=15), which received an exercise program that did not include vibration. The interventions lasted for four weeks, three times a day, and 25 minutes per session. To compare the effects of the intervention, a 30-second chair stand test (CST), Korean version of Berg balance scale (K-BBS), functional reach test (FRT), timed up and go test (TUG), and Korean version of the falls efficacy scale (K-FES) was used. RESULTS: The experimental group showed a significant increase (p.<05) before and after the intervention in the chair stand test (CST), Korean version of the Berg balance scale (K-BBS), functional reach test (FRT), timed up-and-go (TUG), and Korean version of the fall efficacy scale (K-FES). Compared to the control group, the experiment group showed a more significant increase (p.<05) in the CST, K-BBS, and FRT. CONCLUSION: A whole body vibration exercise program could be suggested as an effective intervention method for muscle and balance strengthening for super-aged women.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• v.2
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• pp.732-735
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• 2006

Downtown cities in Japan are facing sharp fall in customers and continued shut down of shops due to decrease of population, increase in family cars and flowing of customers into the suburban large-scale retail stores. Omura City in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan is no exception to this. For the revitalization of the downtown, many actions have been taken to open the vacant shops. However, transportation problem is the most important one to be solved for the citizens including the elderly people having difficulty in movement. Accordingly, this study was aimed at the revitalization of the downtown by substantiality public transportation. We have attempted to develop routes from the view-point of convenience by using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). As a result of the study, we were able to select three bus transportation areas by incorporating qualitative factors into the analysis. Finally, the study concluded that, revitalization activities of the downtown city itself is required in addition to re-structuring of bus transportation system for the revitalization of the downtown city.