• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.36 no.2
• /
• pp.101-107
• /
• 2003

Objectives : Dementia has emerged as a leading public health problem in elderly persons, and its early detection is important for the treatment of curable cases, and in the educational support for other family members. Although dementia screening tests are available, they have not gained widespread use in community or primary care settings. Our goal was to validate the Tine and Change (T&C) Test, -including its validity and reliability in patients, and to assess it as a simple, standardized method for the screening of dementia in the rural elderly. Methods : The participants in this study comprised of 59 patients from an urban hospital and 405 persons from a rural community aged 65 years or older. The time test evaluated the understanding of clock hands indicating 11:10, and the change test the ability to make 1,000 Won from a group of coins, consisting of one 500, seven 100, and seven 50 Won coins. The T&C ratings were validated against a reference standard based on the physician's diagnosis of the patients. The convergent validity in relation to other cognitive measure, test-retest agreement, and inter-observer reliability were assessed. To assess the relationship between the Korean Mini-Mental State Exam (K-MMSE) and the T&C Test, the mean K-MMSE scores were compared with the results of the T&C Test in the elderly from a rural community. Results The T&C Test had a sensitivity and specificity of 73.0, and 90.9%, and positive and negative predictive values of 93.1, and 66.7%, respectively. The test-retest and inter-observer agreement rates were both 95%. The K-MMSE scores and T&C Test were significantly related in the elderly from a rural community (p<0.01), The T&C Test was not influenced by the educational status. The Time and Change Tests took a mean of 6.3 and 12.7 seconds, respectively, to complete Conclusion : The T&C Test is a simple, accurate and reliable, performance-based tool in the screening for dementia. Because it is quick, and easy-to-use, it is hoped the T&C Test will be used for the widespread cognitive screening of aging populations.

• Anxiety and mood
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.11-16
• /
• 2014

Objective : Despite the high prevalence and clinical importance of panic disorder, studies on the clinical characteristics and course of panic disorder are relatively rare. This study is a multi-center, and retrospective study to examine the clinical characteristics and course of Korean panic disorder patients who visit university hospital. Methods : The study subjects were panic disorder patients who had visited the psychiatric outpatient clinics of 8 university hospitals in South Korea from January to December in 2008. Finally, 238 panic patients were included in this study. Their medical charts were retrospectively reviewed and reassessed by experienced psychiatrists to examine their clinical characteristics, demographic data and clinical course in repose to pharmacotherapy. Results : Among the 238 patients (121 males vs. 117 females), the mean age of disease onset was $41.3{\pm}12.7$ years and female patients showed 5 years older age of disease onset, compared with male patients. The mean score of PSR scale was $4.5{\pm}1.0$ at the first visit, reflecting a 'marked' level of severity of illness and impairment in functioning. Only 110 patients (46.4%) completed the whole follow up visits, whereas 128 patients (53.6%) dropped out during the treatment. After $17.7{\pm}0.5$ months of mean follow up period, the mean score of PSR scale at the last visit was reduced into $2.1{\pm}0.9$, reflecting a 'residual' severity of illness and impairment in functioning. The cumulative recovery rate was 62.1% in the completer group, whereas that of the drop-out group was 47.7%. Conclusions : The mean age of disease onset in Korean panic disorder patients who had visited university hospital was about 10 years older than that of Western panic disorder patients in previous studies, and the Korean panic disorder patients who had visited university hospital showed a relatively higher cumulative recovery rate. These differences might result from an ethnic difference in clinical characteristics and course in response to pharmacotherapy of panic disorder.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.395-415
• /
• 2011

The aging of population stems from the decline of birth and death rates. A sudden aging society results in a variety of social issues like the poverty, role loss, alienation, health problems, etc. of the elderly. What counts in solving these issue is to make good use of the leisure time of the elderly. Leisure activities in the elderly help maintain and improve their mental and physical health, and have a great influence on improving the quality of life in the elderly. In addition, they contribute to building up a healthy social structure by forming a social intimacy. Despite these positive aspects of leisure activities, however, multiple factors prevent the leisure activities of the elderly from being actively pursued. In this respect, since there is a need to take a look at how the varied leisure activities of the elderly expose themselves in different regions, this study made an investigation so as to see what characteristics and differences each region has in the leisure activities of the elderly 65 or above. As a result, the following facts were found out: the elderly in Seoul enjoy a relatively wide range of leisure activities compared with other regions; the elderly in Gwangju spend their time mainly at home: and the elderly in the Goheung region take part in leisure activities aimed at promoting friendship. It was also revealed that there are differences among different regions in the areas of leisure activities, including the types of participation in leisure activities, the types of leisure activities at and out of home, the purpose and satisfaction of leisure activities and the frequency of domestic trips.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.11-17
• /
• 2016

This study is to examine the effect that the degree of alcohol use and the factor of family relationship have on alcohol related problem with elderly people over 65 years old. The study utilized the data from Korea Welfare Panel Study in 2014 published in 2015, which is annually conducted nationwide study. AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test) of the World Health Organization scale to assess the drinking problem in the study was used. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 21.0. Presenting some discussions on the basis of the results of this study is as follows. First, looking at a cross-analysis of gender differences in drinking problems, elderly men and elderly women showed different degrees of alcohol problems. Second, looking at demographic characteristics that influence whether a drinking problem, younger age showed a serious drinking problem. Third, looking at the effect that depression and family relationship have on alcohol problem, depression appeared to have relatively more serious effect than the family relationship. According to the above finding, physical and mental health for healthy aging are important factors of the quality of life so a preventive approach to maintain healthy habits is considered to be essential.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.94-104
• /
• 2017

With the recent increasing interest in preventive medicine, observation has been made regarding the positive relationship between a routinized place that includes activity and health improvement. This study evaluates the effective value of a designed landscape for seeing a healing environment and sees the difference of the effective value of classified physical settings regarding Evidence Based Design. Therefore, the study evaluates the perceived restorativeness scale of Cheonggyceheon's 1.5km section and five type settings in the same section regarding how much it works as a healthy urban park. The research methodology used to study sub-settings' and the research site's restoration effects was observation and questionnaires. A PRS (Perceived Restorativeness Scale) questionnaire survey was the research tool employed. The study drew two major results. Firstly, PRS 6.12 is the score of the whole research site, so the study identifies that Cheonggycheon has a mental fatigue restoration function. Secondly, the sub-setting named 'Near Sidewall' was the most attention restorative, according to the ANOVA results. In conclusion, this study suggests significant information support regarding the reasons for creating green areas in urban settings by identifying a particular designed healing sit.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.210-228
• /
• 2002

Background: The purpose of this research was to examine the fall incidence rate and its related factors of fall in inpatients. Methods: The data were collected from the 138 fall incident reports in one tertiary hospital in Seoul from April 1st 1999 to September 30th 2001. The Fall Incident Report Form was originally developed based on that of Massachusetts General Hospital revised in 1995. And this was modified for this survey by the collaborating work of QI team including researcher and department of nursing service of this particular hospital. The contents of Fall Incident Form were general characteristics of patient. factors related to fall. types and places of fall. circumstances, nursing interventions. and outcome. Results: 1) The incidence rate of fall was 0.08% of total discharged patients and 0.081 per 1000 patient-day. This incidence rate is much lower than that of several hospitals in USA. This finding might result from the different incidence report system of each hospital. 2) The characteristics of fall-prone patient were found as follows. They were mostly over 60 years old, in alert mental status, ambulatory with some assistance, and dependent on ambulatory device. The types of diseases related high incidence rate were cerebrovascular disease(3.2), hypertension(1.6), cardiovascular disease(1.4), diabetes(1.3) and liver disease(0.6). 3) The majority of fall events usually occurred m bed. bedside(walking or standing) and bathroom in patient room. Usually they were up on their own when they fell. And there were more falls of elderly occurred during night time than day or evening. 4) 63.8% of fall events resulted in physical injuries such as fracture and usually the patients had diagnostic procedures and some treatment(ex. suture) which caused additional cost to the patients and their families. 5) The found risk factors of fall were drugs(antihypertensive drug, diuretics) and environmental factors like too high bed height, long distance of bedside table and lamp switch, and slippery tile of bathroom floor. Conclusion: Considering these results, every medical and nursing staff should be aware of the risk factors of patients in hospital, and should intervene more actively the preventive managements, specially for the elderly patients during night. Therefore, it is recommended that the development of Fall Prevention Programs based on these results.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.14 no.12
• /
• pp.335-344
• /
• 2016

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of stress, social support, and self-esteem on depression in female students. A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 249 females students from November to December 2015. The study instruments comprised stress, social support, self-esteem, and depression. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and hierarchial multiple linear regression using SPSS/WIN 18.0 program. Depression was closely related to school year(F=7.03, p<.001), health status(F=15.19, p<.001), major satisfaction(F=18.02, p<.001), and student activity(t=1.98, p=.049). The significant factors influencing depression were stress(${\beta}=.45$, p<.001), self-esteem(${\beta}=-.34$, p<.001), social support(${\beta}=-.14$, p=.004), major satisfaction(${\beta}=-.11$, p=.018). To decrease depression, it is necessary to develop a program coping with stress and increasing the self-esteem and social support. Thus, it will be able to enhance the mental health of female students.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.18 no.10
• /
• pp.325-334
• /
• 2020

This study was done to examine parents, peer, teacher attachment, depression, and self-conception in adolescents. A survey using a structured questionnaire was conducted with 2,3 grade students of middle school located in 137 subjects. Data were analyzed using an independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation, and multiple stepwise regression analysis with the SPSS WIN 22.0 program. There was a significant difference in parents attachment(F=13.878, p<.001), peer attachment(F=7.431, p<.001), teacher attachment(F=7.425, p<.001), depression(F=13.241, p<.001), and self-conception(F=13.136, p<.001) according to participants' school grades. In the correlations of study variables, self-conception showed statistically significant correlations with parents, peer and teacher attachment in aspects of positive, and depression in aspect of negative. Participants' depression explained 61% of variance in self-conception. Findings from this study should be useful in the development of programs to promote participants' self-concept through their depression as a major problem in adolescent mental health.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.39-48
• /
• 2014

Objective: This entire study has two parts. Study I aimed to develop a psychological assessment scale and the study II aimed to investigate the effects of LFN (low frequency noise) on the psychological responses in humans, using the scale developed in the study I. Background: LFN is known to have a negative impact on the functioning of humans. The negative impact of LFN can be categorized into two major areas of functioning of humans, physiological and psychological areas of functioning. The physiological impact can cause abnormalities in threshold, balancing and/or vestibular system, cardiovascular system and, hormone changes. Psychological functioning includes cognition, communication, mental health, and annoyance. Method: 182 college students participated in the study I in development of a psychological assessment scale and 42 paid volunteers participated in the study II to measure psychological responses. The LFN stimuli consisted of 12 different pure tones and 12 different 1 octave-band white noises and each stimulus had 4 different frequencies and 3 different sounds pressure levels. Results: We developed the psychological assessment scale consisting of 17 items with 3 dimensions of psychological responses (i.e., perceived physical, perceived physiological, and emotional responses). The main findings of LFN on the responses were as follows: 1. Perceived psychological responses showed a linear relation with SPL (sound pressure level), that is the higher the SPL is, the higher the negative psychological responses were. 2. Psychological responses showed quadric relations with SPL in general. 3. More negative responses at 31.5Hz LFN than those of 63 and 125Hz were reported, which is deemed to be caused by perceived vibration by 31.5Hz. 'Perceived vibration' at 31.5Hz than those of other frequencies of LFN is deemed to have amplified the negative psychological response. Consequently there found different effects of low frequency noise with different frequencies and intensity (SPL) on multiple psychological responses. Conclusion: Three dimensions of psychological responses drawn in regard to this study differed from others in the frequencies and SLP of LFN. Negative psychological responses are deemed to be differently affected by the frequency, SPL of the LFN and 'feel vibration' induced by the LFN. Application: The psychological scale from our study can be applied in quantitative psychological measurement of LFN at home or industrial environment. In addition, it can also help design systems to block LFN to provide optimal conditions if used the study outcome, .i.e., the relations between physical and psychological responses of LFN.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2020

Objectives In electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) research and practice, the precise determination of seizure duration is important in the evaluation of clinical relevance of the ECT-induced seizure. In this study, we have developed computerized algorithms to assess the duration of ECT-induced seizure. Methods Subjects included 5 males and 6 females, with the mean age of 33.1 years. Total 55 ECT sessions were included in the analysis. We analyzed the standard deviation of a finite block of electroencephalography (EEG) data and the change in the local slope of RR intervals in electrocardiography (ECG) signals during ECT-induced seizure. And then, we compared the calculated seizure durations from EEG recording (EEG algorithm) and ECG recording (ECG algorithm) with values determined by consensus of clinicians based on the recorded EEG (EEG consensus), as a gold standard criterion, in order to testify the computational validity of our algorithms. Results The mean seizure durations calculated by each method were not significantly different in sessions with abrupt flattened postictal suppression and in sessions with non-abrupt flattened postictal suppression. The intraclass correlation coefficients (95% confidence interval) of the three methods (EEG algorithm, ECG algorithm, EEG consensus) were significant in the total sessions [0.79 (0.70-0.86)], the abrupt flattened postictal suppression sessions [0.84 (0.74-0.91)], and the non-abrupt flattened postictal suppression sessions [0.67 (0.45-0.84)]. Correlations between three methods were also statistically significant, regardless of abruptness of transition. Conclusions Our proposed algorithms could reliably measure the duration of ECT-induced seizure, even in sessions with non-abrupt transitions to flat postictal suppression, in which it is typically difficult to determine the seizure duration.