• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.210-222
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• 2004

In recent years, the number and proportion of Korean elderly have grown rapidly, and elderly individuals show a disproportionate risk for poor nutritional status. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of sociodemographic background to nutrient intake of persons 65 years of age or older, living in 15 cities in Korea. Data on 1973 subjects (603 males, 1370 females), who participated in the Korean Elderly Nutrition Survey (2000), were analyzed. Their mean age was 72.3 years and their mean body mass index (BMI) was 24.2 kg/$m^2$. Basic sociodemographic data were obtained through personal interviews. The 98-item semi-food frequency questionnaire, developed and previously validated for Korean middle-aged and elderly subjects, was administered. “Percentage of subjects who consumed under 75％ Korean RDA,” “number of nutrients consumed below 75％ Korean RDA,” “mean nutrient adequacy ratio,” and “nutrient density” were used to determine nutritional status. Male elderly had better nutritional quality than female elderly. Nutritional quality decreased with age, especially in older elderly (over 75). Elderly who were underweight (BMI 〈 20 kg/$m^2$) showed poorer nutritional quality than those who were normal weight (BMI 20∼25 kg/$m^2$) and overweight (BMI $\geq$ 25 kg/$m^2$). Elderly who lived alone had significantly poorer nutritional quality than those who lived with a spouse, and/or with children. Lower education level and economic dependence also showed lower nutritional quality. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the effects of specific sociodemographic factors on nutritional quality. For number of nutrients under 75％ RDA as a dependent variable, education level explained 4.8％ of the variance, followed by living status, age, body mass index, gender, and living expense support (Model $R^2$ = 0.091). For mean nutrient adequacy ratio as a dependent variable, model $R^2$ was 0.098. Therefore, sociodemographic variables such as gender, age, body mass index, living status, educational level, and economic status influenced elderly nutrition status. These results indicate that an elderly nutrition intervention should focus on subjects who are poorly educated, living alone, age 75 or older, and/or underweight.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Rural Architecture
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.1-8
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• 2023

This study aims to analyze the trend of changes in the elderly living arrangement over the past 20 years and the reasons why the elderly choose these changes. The subjects of the survey were households aged 65 years or older in Korea. Data from the survey of Ministry of Health and Welfare conducted in 2004, 2014, 2020 were used for the analysis. The result of analysis was as follows; First, since 2000, the number of elderly households living with their children has been rapidly decreasing, while the number of elderly couple households and single elderly households is gradually increasing. Second, elderly living alone appeared more in rural areas, women, older people, and elderly with low education. They are in a vulnerable position that needs help. Therefore, welfare policies for the elderly should be focused on elderly single households. Finally the reason for choosing elderly single household in 2020 was that the voluntary choice by the individual accounted for a much higher rate than the unintentional choice by the children. In addition, the life satisfaction of the elderly who arbitrarily selected the living arrangement was higher than that of the elderly who deliberately chose the living arrangement.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.39-48
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• 2014

The speed of aging society is increasingly getting faster in Korea. Currently, there are over one million elderly living alone, which represents more than 19% of the total elderly in Korea. Although various policies and research have been implemented for caring the elderly living alone, there have been obvious limitations in realization of the caring system due to inconvenience, privacy violation, difficult operation and maintenance. Therefore, the objective of this study is to develop a method and a prototype system to monitor safety of elderly living alone by using energy usage information of automatic meter reading device. The proposed system is expected to improve or resolve the existing limitations and to provide 24 hour monitoring and early detection of death for the elderly living alone without adding staffs for operation and maintenance in a more effective and economic way.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.345-354
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to examine mediating effects of social participation and self-esteem on the relationship between subjective health status and life satisfaction in elderly women living alone. To data were analyzed by hierarchical multiple regression analysis as suggested by Baron and Kenny(1986) using SPSS/WIN 21.0. As a results, subjective health status of the elderly women living alone had a positive influence on the social participation, self-esteem, life satisfaction. There was a partial mediating effect of the Social Participation and self-esteem in the relationship. Based on the research result, it is necessary to conduct programs suitable for each elderly Women person's health condition, and integrated social participation support program should be provided.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.515-525
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• 2019

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a customized health promotion program (CHPP) on depression, cognitive functioning, and physical health of elderly women living alone in the community. Methods: A randomized comparison of pre-and post-test design was used with 62 participants assigned to either an intervention (n=32 in seven clusters) or a control group (n=30 in seven clusters) in 14 areas of a town. The final sample included 30 intervention participants who completed the CHPP for 10 weeks, and 26 control participants. The intervention group participated in the CHPP weekly; they were provided with instructions about coping with their chronic illnesses, lifestyle modification, risk management, providing emotional support to each other, and floor-seated exercise, which they were encouraged to do three times a week in their homes. Results: Significant group differences were found in depression (U=48.50, p<.001), cognitive functioning (U=2.50, p<.001), left arm flexibility (U=251.50, p=.023), right arm flexibility (U=225.00, p=.007), static balance (U=237.00, p=.012), and gait ability (U=190.50, p=.004). However, there were no significant differences in bothgrip strength and muscle mass between the two groups. Conclusion: The findings indicate that CHPP was overall effective at improving depression, cognitive functioning, and physical functioning of elderly women living alone, and could therefore be considered a positive program for community-dwelling elderly women living alone.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.279-287
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to analyze the changes of the cognitive function and health-related quality of life. Study subjects were 35 elderly living alone and they participated in the cognitive program for 8 weeks regularly. The assessment of cognitive function was used by the Loewenstein occupational therapy cognitive assessment battery and the orientation, visual attention, spatial perception, motor praxis, visuomotor organization, thinking operation, and attention. The assessment of health-related quality of life was used by the Short form-8 health survey and the gerneral health condition, physical function and role, pain, vitality, social function, mental health, and emotional role. As the results, all the results of variables showed the statistically significant increase after the participation in the cognitive program. To improve the cognitive function and health quality of life of the elderly living alone, the participation in the cognitive program should be considered.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.377-385
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of knowledge of dementia and attitude of dementia on preventive behavior of dementia in the elderly living alone. The subjects of this study were 101 elderly living alone in the community and data collection was from January 2 to 16, 2020. Data was analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 24.0 program by descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, multiple regression analysis. There was a positive correlation between preventive behavior of dementia(r=.42, p<.001). Exercise(β=-.26, p=003), subjective health status(β=.26, p=.003) and knowledge of dementia(β=.37, p<.001) were found to be factors influencing preventive behavior of dementia among the elderly living alone in the community. The results of this study suggest that it is necessary to develop some programs that include factors such as exercise, subjective health status and knowledge of dementia for preventive behavior of dementia.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.133-148
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• 2021

This study was undertaken to identify dietary patterns of Korean elderly people living alone, and to compare the quality of diet consumed. Data of 821 elderly people aged 65 years or older who were living alone, was obtained from the 2016~2018 National Health and Nutrition Survey. The percentage energy intake from 24 food groups was calculated, and a cluster analysis was applied to identify dietary patterns. General characteristics, energy and nutrient intake, nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR), mean adequacy ratio (MAR), and index of nutritional quality (INQ) were analyzed. Dietary variety score (DVS) and dietary diversity score (DDS) were subsequently calculated. The rice-centered diet group and mixed diet group were characterized as consuming higher intake of rice and a wider variety of food groups, respectively. The mean age and percentage of participants living in rural areas were higher, whereas education level and monthly income were lower, in the rice-centered diet group (P<0.001 for all). Intakes of energy and all other nutrients (except carbohydrate and thiamine) were lower in the rice-centered diet group (P<0.001 for all). The NAR for all nutrients (except thiamine), MAR, and INQs (except thiamine and iron) were significantly lower in the rice-centered diet group (P<0.001 for all). The rice-centered diet group had significantly lower DVS (P<0.001) and DDS (P<0.001), as compared with the mixed diet group (P<0.001). Due to the insufficient energy and nutrient intake in the rice-centered diet group, it is necessary to develop nutritional monitoring and customized nutrition policies for these individuals.

• 한국노년학
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.707-727
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• 2020

This study aims to empirically analyze the role that perception of the probability of lonely death among the elderly people living alone plays in the relationship between perceived social support and preference for institutional care based on Andersen's expanded Behavioral Model (2002). The subjects (n=676) of this study were the elderly people living alone, extracted from the "2018 Seoul Aging Survey." With "perceived social support" as an independent variable, "preference for institutional care" as a dependent variable, and "perception of the probability of lonely death" as a mediator variable, we conducted a Binary Logistic Regression to follow the three steps of analyzing mediation effect, as suggested by Baron and Kenny (1986). The results showed that perceived social support has a negative effect on the preference for institutional care and perception of the probability of lonely death among the elderly people living alone; at the same time, perception of the probability of lonely death was found to have a positive effect on their preference for institutional care. Lastly, perception of the probability of lonely death was found to partially mediate the effect of perceived social support among the elderly people living alone in terms of their preference for institutional care. Based on these findings, the practical implications of this study can be summarized as follows. First, various programs and support should be provided to the elderly people living alone in order to enhance the level of perceived social support, a factor that has been confirmed to increase preference for institutional care among the elderly people living alone. Second, as the perception of the probability of lonely death was confirmed to be a psychosocial factor of the preference for institutional care, we need to promote education and support for older people living alone to prepare them for lonely death. These efforts are expected to form a foundations for implementing a community-based integrated care system, "Aging in Place," which is the policy direction required for older people care.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.479-488
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• 2018

This study was conducted to investigate factors affecting low body weight of solitary elderly people by grasping the illness and health behavior of elderly living alone. Using the raw data of the community health survey from 2014, the data of 922 elderly living alone who are 65 years or older were used for the final analysis. Data were analyzed by technical analysis statistics, The Rao Scott $x^2$ test, and logistic regression analysis using the composite analysis module of the SPSS/WIN 22.0 program. The results of this study showed that elderly living alone had a high percentage of chronic diseases as well as poor health behaviors such as smoking, drinking, lack of exercise, poor eating habits, difficulties in dentistry due to dentures, and poor subjective health status. Result of logistic regression analysis the risk probability of low-weight due to gender of the elderly living alone is as follows. Risk of low body weight because of smoking was 3.004 times among occasional smokers in women and the elderly, while risk of low body weight due to walking amount is less than 3 days the possibility that the person walking is low is 1.420 times significantly higher. When feeling subjective stress, the possibility of low body weight was 2.220 times greater for male elderly and 1.282 times for female elderly. The probability of low body weight for a person with a poor subjective health level was 3.633 times for male elderly and 1.590 times for female elderly. Based on the results of this study, it is necessary to establish appropriate nursing intervention and management strategies to improve health behavior of low body weight elderly living alone. It is also necessary to conduct additional studies considering various variables such as physical, psychological, and social characteristics of low-weight elderly individuals.