• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.573-587
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the factors affecting sleeping patterns among hospitalized elderly. Methods: A descriptive correlational study was conducted. Participants were 121 hospitalized elderly in a hospital located in a county. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation, and stepwise multiple regression. Results: Almost a half of hospitalized elderly in this study suffer from sleep disturbances. As results of univariate analyses, physical symptoms, anxiety, depression, and environmental factors disturbed sleep among hospitalized elderly. However, the result of stepwise multiple regression analysis identified that anxiety and environmental factors were significant predictors of sleeping patterns for hospitalized elderly and these two factors accounted 32.5% of variance of sleeping patterns among hospitalized elderly. Conclusion: Sleep assessment should be conducted on admission to identify sleep difficulties and thereby to improve quality of nursing care. Nurses and other health care personnels should make efforts to decrease anxiety and to eliminate environmental barriers of sleep among hospitalized elderly. Educational programs for nursing staff that offer information about sleep and sleep promoting interventions for the elderly patients are critical. Moreover, sleep promotion intervention program should be developed, applied and evaluated.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.99-110
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• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand the experience and meaning of falls among care workers caring for the elderly. Methods: The participants comprised 10 care workers in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. The data collection period was from September to November 2020, and the data were obtained through individual in-depth interviews. The collected data were analyzed using the content analysis method of qualitative research. The main interview questions were as follows: First, in the event of a fall, "can you tell us about your experience and how you dealt with the fall?; second, "can you tell us about your role and the role of family members or the center that manages falls that occur outside of nursing visits.", third, "can you tell us about the difficulties in managing falls based on your experience?", and fourth, "how are falls that occur during nursing visits managed?" Results: As a result of analyzing the experiences of nursing care workers of falls while caring for elders in their homes, five main themes were derived. These were understanding the characteristics of the elderly at home, understanding possible emergency situations, providing caring services, minimizing physical harm, and delivering clear information. Conclusion: A significant finding of this study was that care workers who visit and provide care to elders at home confirmed the need for standard guidelines on appropriate responses in the event of a fall at home and the importance of managing emergencies arising from falls among elders at home. These results highlight the need for the development of emergency response education programs, such as programs on fall care among nurses and care workers who provide care to the elderly, and for enhanced understanding of the fall risk of elders who live at home.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine cognitive functions, depression, and life satisfaction among the elderly receiving visiting nursing services. Methods: The subjects of this study consisted of 221 elderly individuals who were receiving visiting nursing services from a public health center located in Gyeonggi-do. The Mini-mental State Examination Korea version (MMSE-K), Geriatric Depression Scale-short form-Korea version (GDS-K), and Life Satisfaction Scale were utilized to determine cognitive functions, depression, and life satisfaction, Collected data was analyzed by the SPSS PC Win 12,0 program. Results: The prevalence of cognitive impairment (MMSE-K$\leq$24) was 86.4%, and the proportion of severe depression (GDS-K$\leq$10) was 22,6%, Older age, lower education, and low income were associated with cognitive impairment, and low education, no religion, and low income were associated with depression. Cognitive function negatively correlated with depression. Life satisfaction level was fairly low and was not associated with any variables. Conclusion: The high prevalence of cognitive impairment and low life satisfaction status were determined among low-income elderly who were registered at a visiting health care center. Thus, in the future at visiting health care services, efficient and various programs for the elderly should be tried, to improve cognitive functions and reduce depression. Additionally, consistent evaluation studies for those programs will be required.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.84 no.1
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• pp.46-54
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• 2021

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate inhaler device handling in elderly patients. Inhaler devices with respect to misuse and error correction were also compared. Methods: Inhaler use technique was assessed using standardized checklists at the first visit and 3-month follow-up visit after retraining. The primary outcome was difference in the acceptable use ratio among inhaler devices. Secondary outcomes included differences in error correction, the most common step of misuse, and factors affecting the accuracy of inhaler use. Results: A total of 251 patients (mean age, 76.4 years) were included. The handling of 320 devices was assessed in the study. All patients had been trained before. However, only 24.7% of them used inhalers correctly. Proportions of acceptable use for Evohaler, Respimat, Turbuhaler, Ellipta, and Breezhaler/Handihaler were 38.7%, 50.0%, 61.4%, 60.8%, and 43.2%, respectively (p=0.026). At the second visit, the acceptable use ratio had increased. There were no significant differences among inhaler types (Evohaler, 63.9%; Respimat, 86.1%; Turbuhaler, 74.3%; Ellipta, 64.6%; and Breezhaler/Handihaler, 65.3% [p=0.129]). In multivariate analysis, body mass index, Turbuhaler, and Ellipta showed positive correlations with acceptable use of inhalers, whereas Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Assessment Test score showed a negative correlation. Conclusion: Although new inhalers have been developed, the accuracy of inhaler use remains low. Elderly patients showed more errors when using pressurized metered-dose inhalers than using dry powder inhalers and soft-mist inhalers. However, there were no significant differences in misuse among inhaler devices after individual training. Results of this study suggests that repeat training is more important than inhaler type.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.72 no.5
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• pp.416-425
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• 2012

Background: The sensitivities and specificities of interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) vary among different population studies, and the data on the routine use of IGRAs are limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) test in the diagnosis of active tuberculosis. Methods: We conducted a prospective study, enrolling 77 patients with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), at a secondary care teaching hospital in Seoul. Results: In total, 12 (15.6%) patients showed indeterminate results due to positive control failure on the QFT-GIT test. Indeterminate results were significantly associated with the elderly, history of the intensive care unit stay, lymphocytopenia, especially low CD4 count, increased C-reactive protein and decreased protein levels. Of the 77 patients, 44 (57.1%) were diagnosed with active pulmonary tuberculosis, and the percentage of false negative results of the QFT-GIT was 36.4% (vs. 31.8% with TST). In the TB group with >65 years old (n=12), the proportions of the indeterminate (33.3% vs. 3.1%) and the false negative results (58.3% vs. 25.0%) of the QFT-GIT were significantly higher than in the younger TB group (n=32). Conclusion: Indeterminate and false negative results of QFT-GIT test were not infrequent in tuberculosis, especially in the elderly. Care should be considered for the interpretation with the elderly, immunocompromised, chronic and severely diseased patients.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.227-239
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of peer mentoring program on physical activity, knee joint function, self-care agency and social support, which are health conservation elements in elderly women with osteoarthritis. Methods: This study used a quasi-experimental research design. It is a pretest-and-post 1, post 2 test design of a non-equivalent control group. The subjects were elderly women aged over 65 who were diagnosed with osteoarthritis. A total of 60 patients (experimental group 30, control group 30) who registered with the Senior Welfare Center in City G and in Region D participated in this study. The data were collected from June 29th to September 4th, 2015. The collected data were analyzed with $x^2$ test, Fisher's exact test, independent t-test and repeated measurement ANOVA. Results: The experimental group showed a greater increase in physical activity, knee joint function, self-care agency and social support than the control group. Conclusion: The results indicated that the peer mentoring program is effective in increasing physical activity, knee joint function, self-care agency and social support of elderly women with osteoarthritis.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.187-198
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• 2009

Purpose: This study was to compare and examine the factors influencing burden of primary family caregivers according to the severity of illness of elderly patients admitted in an intensive care unit. Methods: Subjects were the families of elderly patients in intensive care units of K, S and Y hospitals in Seoul. Data were collected from March to October 2007. Subjects were 108 persons over age 65. Data were analyzed by SAS statistics. Results: First, groups 5 and 3 showed higher burden than that of group 4. Second, high correlation was found between stress and burden, stress and anxiety, and burden and anxiety. Third, factors influencing family burden were found to be stress for group 5, stress, anxiety, and monthly income for group 4, and stress and patient age for group 3. Conclusion: Specific nursing interventions to decrease the stress of primary family caregivers of serious ill elderly patients in an intensive care unit are needed. Additionally, more effective and systematic activation of a long-term medical insurance system for seriously ill seniors is considered necessary to mediate the burden of primary family caregivers.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.200-213
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• 2019

Purpose: This study was conducted to examine the effect of a fall prevention education on the fall related knowledge and fall prevention behavior of the elderly patients in comprehensive nursing care service wards. Method: A quasi experimental study with control group and experimental group was used. A total 62 elderly patients in comprehensive nursing care service wards were randomly divided into the experimental group(n=30) and the control group(n=32). The data collection period was from August to December, 2017. Data were analyzed with $X^2-test$, paired t-test, independent t-test and Pearson's correlation coefficient by using SPSS 25.0. Results: Experimental group reported higher score in fall related knowledge than the control group(t=-10.28, p<.001). Participants who viewed DVD and received the leaflet education reported higher score than those with routine admission education(t=-6.51, p<.001). The experimental group showed significant improvement in fall related knowledge and fall prevention behavior(r=.21, p=.015). Conclusion: The fall prevention program was effective in improving fall-related knowledge and fall prevention behavior among elderly patients. Since the DVD plus leaflet education was effective in improving prevention behaviors, it might be included in routine orientation on admission for the elderly patient in comprehensive nursing care service wards.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.193-202
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• 2016

Purpose: The study was to analyze clinical outcomes and risk factors of for complications associated with the hip fracture surgery in the elderly before and after interdisciplinary treatment. Methods: A retrospective method was used to investigate the general and therapeutic characteristics, frequency of complications and clinical outcomes. The subjects of the study were 553 patients who underwent hip fracture surgery from January, 2009 to December, 2014. Results: The interdisciplinary group was older and less likely to walk independently even before the fracture than a usual care group. The incidence of complications was higher in the interdisciplinary group than the usual care group. The prevalence of complications in both groups was 66.5%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showsed that the risk factors for complications of hip fracture surgery were as follows: advanced age, stroke, Parkinson disease, time interval from emergency room to operation, pre & post ambulatory status, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification quality of postop intensive care unit (ICU) care and foley indwelling. Conclusion: This study has implications in that it recognized the necessity for interdisciplinary treatment and provided the basic base data for nursing intervention of the elderly patients who underwent hip fracture surgery.

• Journal of Korean Academic Society of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.49-58
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• 2009

Purpose: This study aimed to clarify the needs for hospital-based home care nursing medical services in elder care institutions by analyzing the details and frequency of medical services provided by, and the needs for, hospital based home care nursing in select institutions in Korea. Methods: Seventy-seven staffs at elderly care institutions located throughout the country completed self-report questionnaires between February 1 and May 31, 2009. SPSS ver. 14.0 was used for data analysis regarding frequency and percentage, mean and standard deviation. Results: Forty-eight hospital-based home care nursing medical services in eight domains were identified as being needed in elderly care institutions. The most commonly used medical services were providing instruction in oral drug administration, checking drug beneficial/adverse effects, and administering blood glucose test, while the most needed medical services requiring hospital based home care nursing were complex pressure ulcer care, followed by diabetic foot ulcer management and nutrient injection. Conclusion: The present results should provide fundamental data for better healthcare services with hospital based home care nursing at elderly care institutions as part of a 'win-win' strategy through which medical expenses are reduced, insurance costs are kept stable, and safe and high-quality medical services are provided for residents of elder care institutions. Political decisions intended to promote visits by hospital based home care nurses to elder care institutions would be a prudent course.