• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.380-391
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• 1998

This study was conducted to develop a theoretical model for the determinants of activities of daily living in Korean rural elderly people. The theoretical model was derived from Lawton's Ecological Model to explain human behavior. The model includes determinant variables for functional status such as age, sex, physical status, cognitive status, physical environment, social environment, and depression. Data for this study was collected from 189 elderly people in a rural district near Chonju City. The data was analyzed with SPSS PC/sup +/4.1 and LISREL 8. The analysis of the data showed that the first proposed theoretical model did not fit the collected data well. In order to increase the fit of the model to the data, the model was modified by deleting the exogenous variables of sex, physical environment, and social environment. The fit of the modified model to the data was increased and was move suitable. The results of this study show that the determinants of the activities of Korean rural elderly people were age, perceived physical condition, cognitive status, and depressional status. Age has a significant direct and indirect effect on the activities of daily living of rural elderly people. Perceived physical condition has a significant indirect effect through depression on activities of daily living. Cognitive status also has a significant indirect effect through depression on functional status. Depression has a significant direct effect on the functional status. Physical environment and social environment showed reversal relationships to functional status. In conclusion, the results of this study show that personal characteristic factors are more important than environmental characteristic factors for functional status of elderly people. However, the importance of depression to functional status in Korean rural elderly people and the reverse relationship between social environment and functional status, reflect Korean specificity. Korean nursing needs to focus more on this Korean specificity in order to develop nursing knowledge and practice appropriate to Korean people.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.99-119
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• 2006

Objectives: This study intends to understand the difference within group of social support level and the effect of social support to health behaviors and health status of the elderly by selecting the old of local society as target. Methods: Data were obtained from self-administered questionnaire of 8,688 persons, older than 65 years, living in a community. We measured the sociodemographic characteristics, social support(family support, other support, quality of support), physical health state(subjective health status, number of chronic disease), physical function state(activities of daily living; ADL, instrumental activities of daily living; IADL), cognition state(mini-mental state examination-Korean; MMSE-K) and depression state(short form of geriatric depression scale; SGDS), health behaviors(smoking, drinking, exercise, eating habit). Univariate, multinominal logistic regression and covariance structure analysis were employed to analyze factors affecting on the social support of the elderly. Results: When considering the degree of social support by the sociodemographic characteristics of the older adults, the family support, other support and quality of support is better when the old is male, young, high education and self-reported living status is good and it has significance statistically. When considering the relation between social support and health status, the family support, other support and quality of support is better when the old's subjective and objective physical health status is good. The family support, other support and quality of support is better when the old's subjective health status is better. The other support and quality of support is better when the old's ADL(activities of daily living) and IADL(instrumental activities of daily living) are good. The family support, other support and quality of support is better when the old's cognitive function and depression state is better. When considering the relation between social support and health behaviors, in case of smoking and drinking, the quality of support, family support and other support is better when the old smokes and drinks rather than the old does not. In case of exercise and eating habit, the family support, other support and quality of support is better when the old exercises and eats regularly rather than the old does not. It has significance statistically. From the result of performing covariance structure analysis by structural equation modeling(SEM) with two endogenous variable(health behaviors and health status) and one exogenous variable(social support), factor loading of health status is 0.74 and factor loading of health behaviors is 0.05. The social support explains health status of 55.4% and health behaviors of 2.9%. Conclusions: This study has the meaning that it finds the difference of social support generating from inside of the group for the old residing in city and country and specifies the effect that the difference of social support influences to health status and health behaviors. From now on, in the development of health improvement strategy of the olds, it is necessary to approach from inclusive aspect while considering psychosocial factor such as social support and social economical factor as well as health status.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.65-76
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• 2006

This is an analysis of the dietary behavior, nutrient intake status and INQ(Index of nutritional quality) of 129 college women according to their residences in the Daegu area. The average height and weight were 160.0 cm and 54.5 kg respectively. Diet intake data were obtained by using the 24-hour recall method to evaluate the usual diet of the subjects. The energy intake of the group, living alone was higher than that of living a roommate and living at home. Ca, Fe, Zn and folate intakes were low in all the groups. The composition rate of carbohydrate, protein and fat for energy intake was 58.9 : 15.5 : 25.6 in living alone, 59.9 : 15.1 : 25.0 in living with a roommate and 61.2 : 15.5 : 23.3 in living at home, compared with the preferred of 65 : 15 : 20. The group living alone showed significantly better mean adequacy ratio(MAR, 0.7) than the other groups (p<0.05). The group living with a roommate showed significantly better INQ in vitamin $B_6$ (p<0.01) and Fe (p<0.05) than the other groups did In conclusion, this study indicates that nutrient intake in college women in Daegu is considerably lower than the RDA values. Furthermore the group living alone showed better dietary behavior and nutrient intake status than the other groups. A nutrition education program for college women is necessary.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.180-188
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• 2013

Purpose: This study aims to explore the effect of physical, emotional and environmental status on safety consciousness of the elderly who live alone. Methods: A total of 228 participants were the elderly living alone aged 65 years and older. Three questionnaires were developed to measure safety consciousness, physical status, and environmental status by researchers. Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was used to evaluate emotional status of the elderly. Data were analyzed by t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and stepwise multiple regression. Results: Average scores of participants were $3.71{\pm}1.49$ (range 0~6) for physical status, $8.28{\pm}3.38$ (range 0~15) for environmental status, $7.21{\pm}3.40$ (range 0~15) for GDS and $17.00{\pm}6.54$ (range 0~37) for safety consciousness. Safety consciousness was significantly associated with education, marital status, drinking, and depression as emotional status. These variables explained 13.6% of the variance in safety consciousness. Conclusion: The levels of safety consciousness among the elderly living alone were low. Education, marital status, drinking, and depression were the factors affecting safety consciousness. Risk assessment and management of these factors are needed to increase safety consciousness of the elderly.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.140-149
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• 2015

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify activities of daily living, depression and self-rated health and related factors for Korean Elderly. Methods: Data from the survey for the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging in 2010 were used. The data were analyzed using frequencies, weighted proportions, and hierarchical multiple logistic regression. Results: Significant difference was observed in health status induced by socioeconomic status between men and women, but not among age groups. Socioeconomic status was strongly associated with self-rated health among male and female elders. Being unschooled and low net family asset were significantly related with dependency in activities of daily living and depressive symptoms among men. Only low net family asset was significantly related with depressive symptoms among women. Family support provides a slight decrease to the negative relationship between socioeconomic status and health status, especially depressive symptoms. Conclusion: This study suggests that interventions to reduce health inequalities should target elderly with lower socioeconomic status and with poor family support, using a gender-specific approach.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.167-177
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• 2016

Objectives : The aims of this study were to identify life satisfaction of elderly living alone based on their health status and suggest measures that improve their physical, mental and oral health, which could be used in future welfare policies on the elderly. Methods : The study subjects were 307 senior citizens who lived alone and used senior citizen centers in Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do. Results : Life satisfaction tended to be high when the subjects had a low number of chronic diseases, no activity limitations and stress, no suicidal feelings, no tooth mobility and chewing difficulty and denture use. Conclusions : To improve life satisfaction, elderly living alone need to make effort to maintain their health however, policy programs that improve the physical, mental and oral health of the elderly need to be promoted.

• The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.92-101
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• 2009

Purpose: This study was conducted to explore the functional status and long-term care services for the community-dwelling low-income elderly. Method: A descriptive research design was used in this study. The functional status of the participants was obtained using Minimum Data Set-Home Care Version 2.0 and the long-term care services were identified via Michigan's choice. Total of 154 persons aged 65 years or older completed Korean Minimum Data Set-Home Care Version 2.0 on the community dwelling low-income elderly. Results: The average of Activities of Daily Living was 4.19, and the range was 0-55, while the average of Instrument of Activities of Daily Living was 4.85 and the range was 0-56. Among the subjects, 46.1% belonged to the Information and Referral group and 1.3% to the Nursing Home group. Severe daily pain was reported by 14.9%, and 76.6% of the participants had impaired vision. The Activities of Daily Living was difference according to living with, education, vision, and depression. The long-term care services differed according to gender, pain, vision, hearing, and depression. Conclusion: The support policy for the elderly needed to focus on impaired visual and depression to enhance the activities of daily living. Moreover, there is a need for the Information and Referral group to arrange and develop nursing intervention resources.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.257-266
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• 2018

Purpose: The study has been conducted to identify factors affecting the participation in leisure activities by elderly women living alone. Methods: Data were collected through a questionnaire survey among 150 elderly women in Seoul and Gyeong-gi Province. The measurement tools that were used include participation in leisure activities, perceived health status, Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form-Korea (GDSS-K), psychological well-being scale, and loneliness scale. The data were analyzed by using the Pearson correlation coefficients, t-test, analysis of variance ANOVA, and stepwise multiple regression with the SPSS/windows version 21.0 program. Results: The analysis shows that the affection for participation in leisure activities of the elderly women living alone who participated in the questionnaire survey is significant (F=14.6, p<.001). The value of the adjusted $R^2$ is 0.55, which accounts for the explanatory power of 55.4%. The predictor that has been found to have the greatest influence on the participation in leisure activities by the elderly women living alone include perceived health status, followed by monthly allowance (10,000 won), psychological well-being, economic status, religion, depression, family structure, and loneliness. Conclusion: The results suggest that in developing nursing interventions and practice for the participation in leisure activities by elderly women living alone, perceived health status, psychological well-being, depression, and loneliness should be considered.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.139-152
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• 2002

This study was performed to estimate living cost for the elderly couple living in a city in Korea. Living cost means expenditure per month for elderly couple. It was assumed that the elderly couple will need different living cost according to their circumstances. The circumstances are health status, retirement status, and the level of living they want. The subjects were the elderly couple households over the age 65 of household head. Total number of subject was 1,649 households. Used data was Annual Report surveyed by National Statistical Office on the Family Income and Expenditure. Analysis of data was done through frequency, percentage, means, median using SAS Program. The results of this study were as follows: Their standard living cost was 844,980 won by pure relative standard line and 842,300 won by quasi relative standard lines. And minimum living cost was 713,400 won by the former, by the latter was 557,600 won (3/2 of median). And abundant Living cost was 1,068,020 won by the former, by the latter 1,263,450 won. The living cost of elderly households was about 81-83%, comparing with non-elderly households. Among the item of expenditure, the proportion of housing and medical care cost was larger than any other items.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.223-235
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• 2004

A functional ability and adequate nutritional status are the major determinants of health status, Self-rated health (SRH) is a worldwide method to assess health status and it is recognized as a predictor of morbidity and mortality in the elderly, This study was designed to evaluate the functional ability and nutritional risk according to SRH in the elderly. Four hundred nine free-living elderly people (118 male, 291 female), aged $\geq$ 65 years were interviewed by trained interviewers using structured questionnaires including demographic information, SRH, anthropometric measurements, functional ability, general health status, and nutritional risk. SRH was divided into three status such as “Good”, “Moderate” and “Poor” status. And all the data were analyzed by oneway ANOVA, spearman correlation, and x$^2$ analysis using SPSS 9.0 version at p 〈 0.05. Of all the subjects, 48.9％ perceived their health status as “poor”, and their functional abilities (activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living) were more impaired than their counterparts (“good” and “moderate”). Poor self-rated health was also related to: a higher prevalence of illnesses (p 〈 0,001) especially in hypertension, arthritis. Self-rated health was significantly related to food security (p 〈 0.001), food enjoyment (p 〈 0.001) ,and nutritional knowledge (p = 0.0 13). Also NSI checklist total score was the highest in “poor” health status (p 〈 0.001). Better self-rated health was related to better food security, and better food enjoyment. However, smoking, alcoholic intake, exercise, eating behaviors, and demographic characteristics were not significantly different among the three SRH status. SRH was closely related to chronic diseases, functional ability, and nutritional risk in the elderly. Therefore, public health strategies for the elderly should be focused on the elderly who are “poor” in SRH, to improve nutritional status and functional ability, and to reduce risk factors of chronic diseases.