• 한국노년학
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.973-992
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• 2010

The hearing impairment is the representative disorder that affects the quality of the routine life of the aged period. This study was aimed to develop the Korean evaluation scale for hearing handicap(KESHH) with which we can evaluate social and psychological effects of the hearing impairment. Applying this scale clinically, we can analyze the geriatric hearing loss specifically and improve the quality of the aural rehabilitation that can help the hardness of the hearing impairment. Data were collected from 288 participants(176 hearing aid users and 112 non-hearing aid users) and the average age of the participants was 67.4 years old ( 60.15 for the hearing aids users and 78.9 for the non hearing users). The composition ratio of the male and female participants were 58.0% and 42.0% and extrovert and introvert personality were 49.3% and 50.7% showing balanced formation. The tentative draft of KESHH measurements were produced with 30 items and following 5 subscales. Using factor analysis, 6 items were erased and 4 subscales - social effect, psycho/emotional effect, interpersonal effect, and perception of hearing aids - were identified. As each subscale consisted of 6 items, 24 items were corrected and remained totally. Conclusively, the KESHH was developed with 24 items and 4 subscales including 6 items on each subscale. In addition, the KESHH was divided into type-1 and 2 depending on hearing aid users and non hearing aid users. The results of this study can be summarized as the following 5 parts. Firstly, the reliabilities of the KESHH were proved to be high because the subscales' Cronbach alpha values were from 0.723 through 0.895. Secondly, the KESHH showed systematically increasing score as the hearing impairment increased. The lowest score was 24 and the highest score was 117 and the average scores of the hearing impaired and non-hearing impaired are 72.06(SD=15.67) and 66.98(SD=20.94) showing 5.08 increased score for the hearing impaired. Depending on the degree of the hearing loss, the scores recorded 52.63 at the below of the mild hearing loss, 67.29 for the moderate hearing loss, 71.89 for the moderately severe hearing loss, and 75.57 for the severe hearing loss The comparison of the scores by hearing levels indicated that the higher the hearing levels were, the higher the scores of the KESHH with statistical significance(p<0.001). Thirdly, the correlation among 4 subscales was 0.384~0.880(p<0.001). Also, the pure tone average, personality, and the four subscales correlations showed statistical significance with 0.148~0.880 except for the pure tone average and personality and the pure tone average and perception of hearing aids. Fourthly, the total variances explained for the independent subscles were analyzed with multiple regression. The social effect was explained 17.4% with pure tone average, personality, and the status of hearing aid use variances. The psycho/emotional effect was explained 14.4% with puretone average, personality, and age variances. The interpersonal effect was explained 11.2% with pure tone average, personality, and the status of hearing aid use variances. The perception of hearing aids effect was explained 2.2% with only personality. Finally, test-retest reliability was proved to be high with 0.791(p<0.001). Conclusively, the KESHH that was developed considering Korean culture can be a useful instrument for expressing the hearing handicaps of the Korean aged hearing impaired in scores for both hearing aid users and non-users. Also, it is thought that the KESHH is useful clinically for identifying the changes of the hearing handicap scores before and after wearing hearing aids and aural rehabilitation at diverse situations.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.352-367
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• 2002

In order to assess the quality of dietary intake among the elderly, a survey was conducted during Jucy-August, 1999, of 230 subjects who were 65 years or older and who were living in Jeonju City. Results of the analysis of the data are as follows : Regarding Dietery Variety Score (DVS), the average number of food items consumed per person was significantly higher for males (19.6) than for females (17.7). The intake of plant food was higher than animal food for both sexes the proportion of plant versus animal foods consumed by fresh weight was 85 : 15 for males and 89 : 11 for females. Diet Diversity Score (DDS) is determined by how many from five food groups (cereal, meat, dairy, vegetable and fruit) consumed per day while Korean Diet Diversity Score (KDDS) is determined by how many from five different food groups (cereal, meat, vegetable, dairy and oil) consumed per day. The subjects'average DDS and KDDS were 4.0 and 3.5 for males, and 3.7 and 3.2 for females, respectively. Overall, the distribution of DDS was lower than that of KDDS. The average Meal Balance Score (MBS : Apply the KDDS at breakfast, lunch and dinner) was 9.1 for malts and 8.1 for females. Average daily caloric intake for males and females was 1,740 kcal and 1,433 kcal, which was 84.0% and 80.9% of the RDA, respectively. Average daily protein intake for males and females, at 67 g and 49 g (100.7% and 88.3% of the RDA), respectively, was satisfactory. However, intakes of calcium and vitamin A were below 75% of the RDA (calcium : 62.7% for males and 55.3% for females ; vitamin A : 60.7% for males and 53.9% far females). The average proportional contribution of protein/fat/carbohydrate (PFC) to total calorie intake was 15.8 : 15.7 : 68.5 for males and 13.8 : 13.2 : 73.0 for females. Distribution of energy for each meal (breakfast : lunch : afternoon snack : dinner : night snack) was 29.2 : 32.4 : 5.0 : 31.2 : 2.2 among males and 30.5 : 33.5 : 4.5 : 28.6 : 2.91 among females. The Index of Nutritional Quality (INQ) was above 1 for protein, phosphorus, iron, vitamin B$_1$, niacin, and vitamin C. However, the INQ of calcium and vitamin A were below 1 among both males and females, and the INQ of vitamin B$_2$was below l among females. The Nutrient Adequacy Ratio (NAR = nutrient intake %RDA) was below 1 for all nutrients, and the NAR of vitamin A were the lowest among 9 nutrients (protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin A, vitamin B$_1$, vitamin B$_2$, niacin, vitamin C) for both males and females, with values of 0.52 and 0.42, respectively. The second and third lowest NAR values were for calcium(males: 0.68: females: 0.54) and vitamin B$_2$(males: 0.77: females: 0.67). Values of Mean Adequacy Ratio (MAR = sum of 9 NARs/9) for males (0.82) were higher than for females (0.73). These results indicate that the intakes of calcium and vitamin A were severely inadequate. The results of a stepwise multiple regression analysis, where the DVS or MAR were the dependent variables and the DDS, KDDS, and MBS were independent variables, indicated that DDS is a more useful variable than KDDS in determining the quality of meals of the elderly.