• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.31 no.5
• /
• pp.749-758
• /
• 2001

The purpose of the study was to analyze the functional status of low income elderly living at home according to their socio-economic factors, sensory function, health status, medical service utilization, commodity and types of chronic disease. Method: Functional status was defined by the level of mobility, ADL and IADL categorized as independently functional, mildly impaired, moderately disabled, and severely disabled. The data was collected by home-visit interviews with 567 community dwelling adults who were 65 years of age or more with low a income status subsidized by government in ChonAn. Results: 9.9% of community dwelling older adults were severely disabled, and 44.4% were moderately disabled in their functional status. There were significant differences in the functional status by age, education, religion, and types of family structure. The older adults with hearing impairment or dental problems had a significantly higher rate of severe disability. Self-rated health status and medical service utilization were also significant factors to the differences in functional status. The functional status of older adults was also significantly related to the presence of chronic health problems such as chronic back pain, stroke, and Alzheimer-dementia. Conclusion: The results confirmed that community dwelling older adults with low income status were more functionally disabled in comparison to general older adults at national level, while the relating factors to their functional status seemed similar to other studies on older adults. Further studies were suggested to look into functional status longitudinally and focus on the changes of functional status by managing modifiable influencing factors.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.436-446
• /
• 2007

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate cognitive function, leisure activities and depression in female elderly, to examine the relationships among those variables and to investigate leisure activities and depression according to cognitive function. Methods: The subjects were 105 female elderly visiting two senior citizen centers in Seoul, Korea. Data were collected from November to December 2006. The participants were assured of anonymity and confidentiality. All information was collected through face-to-face interviews using questionnaires. Results: 26.0% of the participants were cognitive impaired but not demented and 17.3% were demented. The level of depression was severe and 77.9% of the subjects were depressed. The subjects were not actively engaging in leisure activities. There were significant correlations between cognitive function, leisure activities and depression in female elderly. Demented or CIND subjects were more actively engaging in extra family fulfillment type leisure activities than normal subjects, Conclusion: These findings showed the need for a program for female elderly regarding leisure activities. When counseling the elderly, nurses must consider their cognitive function, leisure activities and depression.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Medicine & Therapy Science
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.39-45
• /
• 2018

Objective: The aimes of this study is to analyze the effects of presbycusis on the quality of life. Method: 47-elderly were participated. The participants were divided into the suspected hearing impaired group (N=18) and the within normal limits (WNL) group (N=29). One-way ANOVA was performed to determine the association between the HHIE and WHOQOL-BREF scores by age group, and independent t-test was carried out to analyze the inter-group relations. Results: The scores in WHOQOL-BREF differed significantly by age group (p=.011): people in their sixties scored $3.7{\pm}.62$, those in their seventies $3.3{\pm}.56$, and those in their eighties $2.8{\pm}.60$, with significant differences observed. There were statistically significant inter-group differences (p=.000), with significant differences observed. Conclusion: The quality of life of the elderly were lowered depending on age and hearing impairment.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.430-440
• /
• 2021

The purpose of this study was to analyze the degree of depression, cognitive function, communication ability, and the quantitative electroencephalogram (EEG) in elderly individuals with hearing loss and to investigate their inter-relationship. Hearing-impaired elderly participants, aged 60 years or older (37 men and 26 women) who visited the S Hearing Rehabilitation Center in Y City from June 20, 2020, to September 3, 2020, participated voluntarily after a recruitment announcement.The participants' overall characteristics, depression, and cognitive functions were evaluated with a structured questionnaire. The Word Recognition Score (WRS) was evaluated with an audiometer using the Korean Standard Monosyllabic Word Lists for Adults (KS-MWL-A). The quantitative EEG was measured with dry electrodes using a 2-channel EEG on the frontal lobes Fp1 and Fp2. The results are summarized as follows: Communication ability showed a positive correlation with the left-right symmetry of the frontal lobes (**p<.01) and a negative correlation with right-brain mental distraction and stress (*p<.05). In the difference WRS test for each group, the left-right symmetry of the frontal lobes (**p<.01) showed the greatest correlation with communication ability. Our results suggest that the left-right symmetry of the frontal lobes can be a biomarker indicative of the communication ability of older people with hearing impairments.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.457-466
• /
• 1997

We developed a new hearing aid telephone which helps the hearing impaired person to improve the listening ability of telephone speech. Recently, the hearing impaired person and the elderly who has hearing loss have been continuously increased and their desire for participating society as a producer has been increased also. So they strong1y want the hearing aid devices which make compensation fortheir handicap. The hearing aid telephone is one of the basic aid devices that helps the hearing impaired to communicate well with other poeple and to acquire easily useful information through the phone. We analyze the hearing ability of the hearing impaired, design the new model of the hearing aid telephone and test the telephone in three fields-electrical, word perception, user test. Our new tolephone has lour band pass filter channels and the center frequencies of these filters are 500, 1000, 2000, 3000Hz which are considered psychoacoustic factors and telephone line characteristics. The hearing impaired can adjust the total gain characteristics of receiving sound to his hearing ability by setting four volumes in the telelphone. This procedure is called fitting which is a very important factor for the hearing impaired to take meaning of speech. The total gain of this telephone is over 20dB from 250Hz to 3200Hz range. From the results of the tests we certify that our new model is better for the hearing impaired to understand the meaning or telephone speech than the old general models. The next step of developing the hearing aid telephone is to study about compressing sidetone and noise, dividing frequency bands, selecting hearing aid pattern and compensating psychoacoustic loudness. we expect that the advanced hearing aid telephone can be developed by the research about speech perception characteristics of the hearing impaired in engineering and clinical side.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
• /
• v.6 no.3
• /
• pp.141-147
• /
• 2018

Purpose : Aim of the this study was conducted to determine whether hearing aids are responsible for the quality of life by comparing quality of life between the elderly who are suspected of difficulty in hearing selected by Hearing Handicap Inventory of Elderly (HHIE) without using hearing aids and who are using hearing aids. Methods : For the study, two groups of 33 people were analyzed for independent t-test based on whether they wore Hearing Aids (HA) or not whom wearing hearing aids (hearing aids users) and suspected difficulty in hearing. who are attending the Religious organization Senior Welfare Center in the OO region. Result : The quality of life of hearing aid users is generally observed to be higher than that of non-users in general, and by the section, psychological (p=0.019) and living environment (p=0.032) were appeared statistically signigicant. The elderly showed a significant difference. In the section, "Operation Satisfaction (p=0.038)" in the physical health area, "relationship of reason (p=0.018)" in the social relationship area, "Economic margin (p=0.021)" in the environmental area, "Information accessibility (p=0.020)", In the psychological area, hearing aid was used for "self satisfaction (p=0.033)", "concentration of work (p=0.045)". Conclusion : The use of hearing aids by hearing loss elderly improves the quality of life in the psychological health and living environment section.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.178-192
• /
• 2022

Purpose: This scoping review identified scientific evidence on basic human needs (BHNs) in the elderly receiving palliative care. Methods: Systematic searches were conducted using six electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Lilacs, IBECS, and Web of Science). The initial search resulted in 1,227 articles, of which 104 were identified as potentially relevant. Fifty-three articles that met the inclusion criteria were identified and included in the final analysis. Results: Using the three hierarchical dimensions of the BHN model, 17 needs were organised, with five in the psychobiological dimension, 10 in the psychosocial dimension, and two in the psychospiritual dimension. These needs reflect the importance of care with dignity and relief from suffering for the elderly in palliative care. Conclusion: Recognising impaired BHNs in elderly people receiving palliative care will contribute to better care plans for the elderly, considering the multiple bio-psycho-social-spiritual dimensions of BHNs. This review points to a predominance of psychosocial needs.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.325-332
• /
• 1999

Objectives: The aim of this study is to identify major factors associated with physical functioning among the Korean elderly. Methods: Data come from a survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,058 older people aged 60 years or elder living in the community. A hierarchical functioning scale was constructed, using upper and lower body mobility, IADLs, and ADLs. Socioeconomic characteristics, chronic conditions, measures of health status, health service use, and social support were analyzed to explore their influence on functioning. Polytomous logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify major contributing factors to different levels of functioning. Results: Persons of older age, female, with chronic diseases (heart disease, stroke, fracture/dislocation) were consistently more likely to show a higher degree of functional limitation. There were variations, however, among other factors; e.g., those with arthritis were more likely to be only mildly impaired, but not moderately or severely impaired. Conclusions: Older Korean adults living in the community with impaired functioning constitute persons with diverse characteristics. Policy and program activities need to address specific needs of older people in different functioning states.

• The Journal of Korean society of community based occupational therapy
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.25-34
• /
• 2019

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of cognitive level of mild cognitive impaired elderly living in the community on participation in activities and social networks as well as leisure and daily life activities. Methods : The elderly people aged 65 years or older living in the community were selected for the mild cognitive impairment with a score of MMSE-K of 15 or more and 23 or less. MoCA-K was applied in order to examine the cognitive abilities of the subjects and K-ACS and LSNS-18 were applied to confirm the activity participation level and social network index. Results : As a result of examining the relationship between cognition and activity participation, various sub-abilities(spatio-temporal abilities, vocabulary abilities, attention, abstract thinking) of cognition had a significant influence on instrumental activities of daily living, leisure activities and social activities. In addition, all of the sub - abilities of cognition showed a significant correlation with sub-elements of social network. Conclusion : Through this study, it was found that the general elements of cognition influenced activity participation and social network of various areas of mild cognitive impaired elderly people. We suggest that measures for enhancing participation and social participation of the elderly with mild cognitive impairment are provided through follow up studies.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
• /
• v.10 no.7
• /
• pp.223-231
• /
• 2020

Older drivers have an increased risk of accidents due to poor function, but they also develop self-regulation ability to check their own changes. Thus, information on whether the actual elderly driver responds to changes in driving ability and risk may provide a meaningful basis for the clinic and research of the elderly's driving ability assessment. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to provide basic data for the evaluation of elderly drivers by analyzing the driving risk self-perception characteristics in terms of driving behavior and function with Korean elderly drivers. A self-reporting assessment was conducted on 500 elderly drivers living in the community and the characteristics of driving risk perception were analyzed. As a result, it was confirmed that many elderly drivers are aware of the driving risk when their vision and hearing are impaired or when they find it difficult to adapt to changes in driving conditions. On the other hand, the characteristics of insensitive reactions to changes in medical health conditions, such as drug use or epilepsy, seizures, and loss of consciousness, were identified. The researcher hopes this study will contribute to the safety management of elderly drivers in Korea, where aging is accelerating.