• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.176-186
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• 2014

Objectives: As a sequel to the former analysis of the quality of life (QoL) among young-old and old-old in Korea, this research was aimed to identify factors related to the quality of life and the gender difference after controlling for the related factors among Korean elderly. Methods: Selected elderly data of 1,339 subjects from the 5th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in 2010 was analyzed. In this survey, QoL was measured using Euro Quality of Life (EQ-5D) instrument. Data were analyzed using complex survey data analysis on IBM-SPSS 20.0. The related factors were identified using general linear models with backward elimination. The gender difference was tested also using general linear models. Results: The distributions of educational level, family income level, and presence of cohabitant were different between male and female elderly in both young-old and old-old age group. So were the health behaviors and perceived health, and experience of stress, depression, and suicidal thoughts. QoL and its subscales- mobility, self care, daily living, pain and discomfort, and anxiety and depression- were consistently better among male elderly regardless of age group. Among the variables considered, education, family income level, presence of cohabitant, perceived health, age group and BMI were found to be related to the QoL at p=.05, and presence of chronic diseases at p=.10. The difference in QoL between male and female elderly after controlling for the variables was statistically significant. Conclusion: Improving QoL is particularly important for the elderly. In order to improve QoL of the elderly, age- and gender- differences need to be considered when developing services and programs for the elderly.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.131-139
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• 2024

In this case report, we describe the effects of Korean Medicine therapies, including Bunshimgi-eum, on a patient hospitalized with insomnia due to fibromyalgia in a Korean Medicine Hospital. We treated the patient with Bunshimgi-eum for 21 of 27 hospital days. Post-treatment, we used the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) to measure the severity of insomnia. To determine the severity of multiple pain, including neck, low back, Lt. shoulder, Lt. elbow, Rt. knee, and hand, we used the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS). For evaluation of generic health status, we used the European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) scale. After the treatment, the patient's clinical symptoms improved, according to the ISI, NRS, and EQ-5D. The results of this case study suggest that Korean Medicine therapies, including Bunshimgi-eum, may have positive effects as a treatment for insomnia related to fibromyalgia.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.85-90
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• 2010

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between social support and quality of life (QOL) in elderly people and to examine potential cross-cultural differences. Methods: The author surveyed 82 elderly people, over the age of 65, residing in a nursing home in a Korean rural area and 73 Korean immigrants living in Houston Texas USA who were also elderly. The degree of social support was measured with 20 questions that were answered using a 5 grade scale. The quality of life was measured in 5 fields (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression, each scored using a 3 grade scale) with EUROQOL EQ-5D. Results: The mean score of social support was 65.43 for domestic Korean elderly people (range: 26 to 98); it was 73.43 for elderly Korean Americans (range: 26 to 100). The score was lower for domestic Koreans despite the traditional environment (p<0.05). Regarding QOL, 61% of domestic Korean elderly people complained of pain/discomfort and 47.5% appeared to have anxiety/depression, 30.5% complained of limitations in mobility, 20.7% reported limitations in usual activities, and 14.6% had limitations in basic self.care activity such as washing or dressing. A similar proportion of Korean American elderly had limitations in usual activities (19.2%) and self care activity (9.5%). But significantly fewer complained of anxiety/depression (16.5%, p<0.01) or pain/discomfort (38.3%, p<0.01). The major differences in psychological domains of QOL may be related to the degree of social support and the difference in the socio.cultural environment. Conclusion: Social support is a major determinant of QOL, especially for psychological domains, and these relationships are under the influence of the socio.cultural environment.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.175-184
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to report the effectiveness of complex Korean Medicine treatment for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries with meniscus tear. Four patients were treated with complex Korean Medicine by acupuncture, pharmacopuncture and herbal medication. We evaluated the improvement of knee pain and function by Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC Index), EuroQol-5 Dimension Index (EQ-5D Index). After treatment, we found that knee pain was reduced and joint function was improved by NRS and WOMAC index in all cases. In the evaluation of health-related quality of life through EQ-5D index, there was no significant difference in patients with degenerative knee osteoarthritis and severe meniscal injury. This results show that complex Korean Medicine may be an effective option for ACL injuries with meniscus tear. Further clinical studies are needed to clarify the effect of Korean Medicine therapy on ACL injuries with meniscus tear.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.163-173
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• 2015

Objectives : The aim of this study is to determine whether Chinemys reevesii Gray pharmacopuncture is a clinically effective treatment for women with knee osteoarthritis. Methods : Female patients with knee osteoarthritis were recruited from May $1^{st}$, 2014 to April $15^{th}$, 2015 at the Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion Medicine of Dong-Eui University Korean Medical Hospital. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups. 4.0 ml of Chinemys reevesii Gray pharmacopuncture was injected at acupuncture points of the experimental group(n = 24) twice a week for three weeks. The control group(n = 24) received 5 % dextrose injections in order to identically stimulate the same acupuncture points of $ST_{35}$, $ST_{34}$, $SP_9$, $SP_{10}$, $GB_{34}$, $LR_8$, $EX-LE_4$, and $EX-LE_2$. The Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire(SF-MPQ), the Korean Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index(KWOMAC), and the European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions(EQ-5D) were recorded to evaluate treatment efficacy at first visit, after two weeks and four weeks from the initial visit. Results : 40 patients completed the trial. The experimental group showed more significant improvement than the control group in the scores of SF-MPQ, KWOMAC, and EQ-5D. However, there was no significant difference between groups in a few of the assessment scales. Conclusions : Chinemys reevesii Gray pharmacopuncture can be an effective treatment in control of pain, improvement in function and health-related quality of life for women with knee osteoarthritis.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.169-180
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• 2018

Depression is a major health problem that can lead to mortality. This study was conducted to assess the risk factors associated with depression in a group aged over 65 years by analyzing nationally representative Korean survey data. A total of 1,209 subjects were analyzed among the participants of the 2014 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Statistical methods for a complex sample were applied by using SPSS program(windows ver. 24.0). Depression assessments were carried out by using the 9-item depression module of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Depression ($PHQ-9{\geq}5$) was more frequently found in females (33.2%) compared to males (16.1%). However, there was no evidence suggesting that characteristics such as residence area, income level and age, except for educational level, were related with depression. The results of the logistic regression analysis showed that i) health habits such as smoking (OR: 2.26) and lack of aerobic physical activity (OR: 1.62), ii) mental health status such as bad self-rating of health status (OR: 4.30), more stress (OR: 8.31), and bad health-related quality of life (by EQ_5D, OR: 3.41), iii) chronic diseases such as obesity (OR: 0.66), hypercholesterolemia (OR: 1.57), anemia (OR: 1.91), and iv) low intake of energy (OR: 1.84) and calcium (OR: 1.71) were significantly associated with depression. This study suggests that certain characteristics of health habits, mental health status, chronic diseases and nutrient intake may be associated with depression. Prospective research on long-term control is needed to establish causal connections among those factors with depression.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.153-158
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• 2009

Background: Patients with chronic myeloid leukemia(CML) have different health status according to their disease conditions such as chronic phase(CP), accelerated phase(AP), blast crisis(BC), stage with MCyR(Major Cytogenetic Response); therefore, every patient has different quality of life related to their disease condition. Objectives: To measure the quality of life, this study compared and analyzed the utility weight in patients with CML. This study also evaluated the utility weight in order to view comparisons between the quality of life in a patient with CML to a patient with diabetes, which is a representative chronic disease. Methods: The disease scenario described 5 symptoms of the CP, AP, BC of the CML, the CML which gets the MCyR and the diabetes. Utility weight was developed using the EQ-5D method. All statistical data were analyzed by STATA 10.0 Results: 57 nurses(95%) out of 60 answered the questionnaire. In CP, the utility weight was 0.7946. In AP, it was 0.5301. and in BC, it was -0.2793. Survey data indicate that the worse the condition of a disease, the lower the utility weight. In case of the CML which gets the MCyR, the result was 0.7731(95% CI : 0.7384 - 0.8079). The general diabetes which has no complicating disease, the utility weight was 0.7481(95% CI : 0.6983 - 0.7978). Based on the result, it is evident that those with MCyR are not significantly different from people with general diabetes (p=0.4096) in views of the quality of life.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.42-53
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• 2020

The relationship of abdominal obesity ("AO") with co-morbidity and mortality is well established. This study assessed the factors associated with AO, which was defined as a waist circumference ≥90 cm for men and ≥85 cm for women, in the group aged over 65 years. A total of 1,435 subjects were analyzed among the participants of the 2014 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Statistical methods for a complex sample were applied by using a SPSS program (ver. 25.0). AO was more frequently found in females. The results of the logistic regression analysis showed that heavy drinking (OR: 1.53), no weight training (OR: 0.68), stressful mental status (OR: 0.61), bad health-related quality of life (by EQ_5D, OR: 1.45), hypertension (OR: 2.18), prediabetes (OR: 1.94), diabetes (OR: 1.63), low HDL-cholesterol (OR: 1.86), anemia (OR: 0.55), and heavy energy intake (OR: 1.41) were significantly related with the prevalence of AO after adjustment for gender. Heavy drinking (OR: 1.89), bad self-rating of health status (OR: 1.72), low HDL-cholesterol (OR: 1.85), heavy energy intake (OR: 1.79), low intake of riboflavin (OR: 1.60) were still significantly related with the prevalence of AO after adjustment for gender and body mass index (BMI), this study suggests that certain characteristics of health habits, mental health status, and chronic diseases may be associated with AO. This study did not establish the existence of relationship between nutrient intakes, except for riboflavin, and risk of AO, but this study suggests that prospective research is needed to establish causal connections among those factors.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.280-294
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• 2021

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of social capital characteristics, socio-demographic characteristics, physical condition, and health behavior characteristics on health-related quality of life of the elderly in Korea. Methods: T-test, one-way ANOVA, and regression analysis were performed by applying a complex sample design to 57.787 people aged 65 and over using the 2019 Community Health Survey. Results: First, as a result of complex-sample T-test and ANOVA analysis, it was found that there were differences in health-related quality of life according to social capital characteristics, physical condition & health behavior characteristics, and socio-demographic characteristics. Complex Sample Regression Analysis Results, the explanatory power of the model was 28%. When living in the metropolitan area, living in an apartment building, having a spouse, having a higher household income, economic activity, higher educational attainment, increase sleeping time, walking time, frequent binge drinking, health checkup, networking, trust, and social participation showed higher health-related quality of life. When people were older, their gender was female, higher BMI, number of chronic diseases, and severe stress that showed lower health-related quality of life. Conclusions: It was proved that the factors affecting the health-related quality of life of the elderly are not only physical condition and health behavior factors, but also social capital and socio-demographic characteristics. It was found that the role as a member was important.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.99-109
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of osteoarthritis as well as assess the risk factors associated with osteoarthritis in Koreans over 65 years using data from the Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES V), 2010~2012. Of the participants from KNHANES V, a total of 3,479 subjects were analyzed using SPSS statistics complex samples (Windows ver. 21.0). Osteoarthritis was more frequently found in female (32.5%) or rural (26.8%) groups than male (9.3%) or urban (20.3%) groups. Mean age of the osteoarthritis group was significantly higher than that of the normal group. Mean values of BMI and waist circumference were significantly higher in the osteoarthritis group than in the normal group, whereas height, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride, hemoglobin, and hematocrit levels were not. Health-related quality of life (EQ-5D) was significantly higher in the normal group than in the osteoarthritis group. The results of multiple logistic regression showed that obesity and vitamin A/riboflavin intakes were significantly related to the prevalence of osteoarthritis, whereas smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, anemia, and diabetes were not. This study suggests that obesity and nutrient intakes were associated with osteoarthritis, whereas chronic diseases such as hyper-lipidemia, anemia, and diabetes as well as health habits were not. Prospective research of long-term control is needed to establish the effects of those factors on the osteoarthritis.