• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.351-356
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• 2018

Changes in vocal cords due to aging can change the frequency of speech, and the speech signals of the elderly can be automatically distinguished from normal speech signals through various analyzes. The purpose of this study is to provide a tool that can be easily accessed by the elderly and disabled people who can be excluded from the rapidly changing technological society and to improve the voice recognition performance. In the study, the gender of the subjects was reported as sex analysis, and the number of female and male voice samples was used equally. In addition, the gender analysis was applied to set the voices of the elderly without using voices of all ages. Finally, we applied a review methodology of standards and reference models to reduce gender difference. 10 Korean women and 10 men aged 70 to 80 years old are used in this study. Comparing the F0 value extracted directly with the waveform and the F0 extracted with TF32 and the Wavesufer speech analysis program, Wavesufer analyzed the F0 of the elderly voice better than TF32. However, there is a need for a voice analysis program for elderly people. In conclusions, analyzing the voice of the elderly will improve speech recognition and synthesis capabilities of existing smart medical systems.

• Korean Journal of Exercise Nutrition
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.34-43
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• 2020

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to assess changes in blood glucose level, blood pressure, and arterial stiffness after a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in elderly women aged over 65 years with hypertension and either normal glycemic control, impaired fasting glucose tolerance, or diabetes mellitus. We also wished to investigate the relationship between stages of diabetes and physical fitness. [Methods] A total of 24 elderly women with hypertension were assigned to a control group (CON; n=7), impaired fasting glucose group (IFG; n=9), and diabetes mellitus group (DM; n=8). In each group, blood glucose level, brachial ankle pulse wave velocity (PWV), and blood pressure were measured at baseline as well as 60 and 120 minutes after a 75 g OGTT. Physical fitness factors such as hand grip strength, balance test, 4 m gait speed test, chair stand test, short physical performance battery, and 6-minute walking test were subsequently assessed. [Results] In all three groups, blood glucose levels were significantly increased at 60 and 120 minutes after a 75 g OGTT. In the DM group, blood glucose levels were significantly higher before and after a 75 g OGTT than in the CON group. In the CON group, PWV was significantly increased at 60 minutes after a 75 g OGTT; however, there were no changes in other groups after glucose ingestion. In the CON group, systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly decreased at 60 and 120 minutes after a 75 g OGTT compared to baseline. However, there was no change in blood pressure after ingestion in the DM group. The IFG group had greater grip strength than the CON group; however, there were no differences in other variables between the groups. [Conclusion] After a 75 g OGTT, elderly women with hypertension and diabetes maintain higher blood glucose levels compared to those with hypertension alone. Unlike elderly women with hypertension alone, those with hypertension and diabetes did not show changes in arterial stiffness and blood pressure after a 75 g OGTT. Therefore, elderly women with hypertension and diabetes may not be able to control their blood vessels following a 75 g OGTT due to impaired vascular endothelial function. Moreover, there was no association between diabetes stage and physical fitness in elderly women with hypertension.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.311-324
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• 2023

Background: Long-term care insurance for the elderly has been stably established along with the quantitative expansion of long-term care facilities. Indeed, the need for a paradigm about human rights-based service approach is being raised throughout society from a service perspective. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the association between elderly human rights awareness and quality of service by considering human rights education as a moderate variable. Methods: This study conducted surveys with 138 caregivers working in long-term care facilities located in Seoul and Gangwon. General characteristics, awareness of human rights, and the level of service quality were examined using descriptive statistics, frequency analysis, and correlation analysis. And multi-variable linear regression with a hierarchical framework was employed. These analyses were performed using IBM SPSS ver. 25.0. Results: Of the 138 caregivers, 97.1% were female, 87.7% were more than 50 years old, and most of their education level was high-school graduates. Their length of employment ranged from more than 5 years to less than 10 years. The level of awareness regarding elderly human rights of the elderly was below normal (mean=2.21), but the quality of service was high (mean=4.21), and the need for human rights education was also high (mean=4.28). Among the general characteristics, the length of employment was significantly associated with awareness of elderly human rights. Moreover, political rights awareness, included as sub-domains of human rights, was positively associated with quality of service. However, the moderating variable, human rights education, was not significantly associated with the quality of service. Conclusion: In this study, human rights education, as a moderating variable, did not have a statistically significant effect on caregivers' human rights awareness in relation to service quality. This finding is inconsistent with previous research results. These results can be explained by the fact that the frequency of education in long-term care facilities was a significant factor in the practice of protecting the human rights of the elderly. Therefore ongoing encouragement for the frequency of current human rights education and improvements in the educational approach appear to be necessary. In addition, these findings reveal the need for strength of education policies and effective in-depth research about human rights and quality of service to respect the human rights of the elderly.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.480-488
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• 2002

This study was performed to document the association between obesity, a major risk factor for chronic diseases, and dietary pattern in Korean elderly. The subjects were 595 men and women aged 60-89 years. The subjects were classified into 4 groups based on BMI: under weight, BMI < 18.5, normal weight, 18.5 $\leq$ BMI 22.9; overweight, 23.0 BMI 24.9; and obese BMI $\geq$ 25.0. Dietary intakes by 24-hr recall, blood pressure, anthropometric parameters and health eating index (HEI) were measured. Underweight group was excluded for data analysis doe to small number of subjects, and age-adjusted measurements were compared among normal, overweight and obese groups. The mean anthropometric values for males and females were 23.7 and 24.8 kg/$m^2$ for BMI, 0.90 and 0.86 for WHR and 140.7 and 138.8 mmHg for SBP, respectively. The mean intakes of energy, Ca, vitamin A, vitamin B$_2$, and vitamin E did not meet Korean RDA for elderly. Intakes of fat and cholesterol were low: the percent energy from fat for male and female subjects were 19.1% and 18.1% and mean cholesterol intakes were 208 mg and 152 mg, respectively. Judging by HEI score, dietary quality was better in females than in male subjects. The mean BMI of normal, over and obese groups were 21.4, 23.9, 26.7 kg/$m^2$ in male subjects and 21.6, 23.9, 27.1 kg/$m^2$ in female subjects. WHR, SBP and TSF were increased with increasing BMI No association was found between BMI and nutrient intakes and/or food consumption pattern. However, a tendency was shown that the overweight group reported higher intakes in most nutrients compared to normal and obese groups. This study implies that with increasing BMI, anthropometric risk factors, such as WHR, TSF, and blood pressure were Increased, however, no significant differences were found in nutrient intakes and food patterns. Energy and fat intakes do not seem to be a cause for obesity in Korean elderly.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.321-327
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• 2013

Impaired naming difficulty is common in normal elderly as well as in patients with neurological impairment. The 60-item Korean version-Boston Naming Test(K-BNT) is one of the most commonly used test for measuring confrontational naming ability. However, age-related cognitive decline may make the elderly difficult concentrating during the 60-item test, therefore, item reduction of the K-BNT would improve test validity and reliability. Thus, the purpose of this study was to develop a short form of the K-BNT based on Item Response Theory(IRT). Considering item-fit index, sex factor, and item difficulty through Rasch analysis, the 15-item K-BNT(i.e., K-BNT-15) was developed. Via administration of the K-BNT-15, we observed age-related decline in naming ability and significantly different performance between the normal elderly and patients with mild cognitive impairment. This study demonstrates the utility of IRT for developing a short-form language evaluation tool. The K-BNT-15 can be effective as a language screening tool to differentiate between normal aging and pathological diseases.

• The Korean Journal of Vision Science
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.505-511
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• 2018

Purpose : This study investigated the visual functions of drivers aged over 65 year olds and drivers aged 50~65 year olds. In addition, difference of visual functions between professional drivers and normal drivers were investigated. Methods : Forty Driver aged over 65 year olds and 67 drivers aged less than 67 year olds were participated. All participants had more than 5 years of driving experiences and had no ocular pathology. Demographic data(gender, job, age, body condition) and visual functions such as contrast sensitivity(CS), stereopsis, glare recovery time and discomfort glare index were measured. Results : Constrast sensivity under photopic condition was higher with bus driver group. In addition, difference of CS at 12cpd and 18cpd were signifcantly different between normal drivers(1.57) and bus drivers(1.70) (p<0.05). There was no significant difference for glare recovery time, despite of trend of longer recovery time with age. Discomfort glare index was significantly different that normal drivers with more than 65 year olds had 3, taxi and truck driver presented almost 5 index score (p<0.05). Conclusion : Analysis of visual function of elderly drivers, it was confirmed that their visual functions decreased with age. Therefore, visual function tests such as CS, discomfort glare index and stereopsis in addition to current available test may need to be considered for drivers aged over 65.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.141-160
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to devise a specific plan for activating sports to promote health in old age against the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Through literature review, it also analyzed the association between health status and COVID-19 in old age, suggested health promotion policies and projects for elderly people, and presented a plan for activating sport to promote health in old age against COVID-19 era. First, it is necessary to revise the relevant laws, including the Sport Promotion Act and the Elderly Welfare Act, partially or entirely, make developmental and convergent legislations for elderly health and sports, and establish an institutional device as needed. Second, it is necessary to build an integrated digital platform for the elderly and make a supporting system that links facilities, programs, information, and job creation as part of a New Deal program in the field of sports on the basis of the Korean New Deal. Third, it is necessary to train elderly welfare professionals. Efforts should be made to establish more departments related to elderly sports in universities and make it compulsory to place elderly sports instructors at elderly leisure and welfare facilities. Fourth, it is necessary to develop contents related to health in old age. This means performing diverse movements by manipulating them through a virtual reality (VR) simulation. Fifth, it is necessary to make a greater investment in research and development related to elderly sports and relevant fields. This means the need to conduct constant research on healthy and active aging in a systematic and practical way through multidisciplinary cooperation. Sixth, it is necessary to establish and operate an elderly management agency (elderly health agency) under the influence of the Office of the Prime Minister. This means the need to secure independence in implementing the functions related to health promotion in old age and make comprehensive operation, which involves all the issues of health promotion in old age, daily function maintenance and rehabilitation, social adjustment, and long-term care, by establishing an elderly management agency in an effort to give lifelong health management to the elderly and cope with the untact, New Normal age.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.948-955
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to compare plantar pressure and COP parameters in three types of arch support insole during stair descent in elderly with flatfoot. A total of 14 women elderly were recruited for this study. Pedar-X was used to obtain plantar pressure(peak pressure, mean pressure, and contact area) and COP(distance, displacement, excursion) parameters. One-way ANOVAs were used to compare peak pressure, mean pressure, and contact area, distance of COP, displacement of COP, and excursion of COP. Among the plantar pressure parameters, significant(p<0.05) differences were observed in M3 for the peak pressure, M2, M3, and M4 for the mean pressure, and M2, M3, and M6 for the contact area. Among the COP parameters, distances of COP both in the mediolateral and anteroposterior axes revealed significant(p<0.05) differences. The larger peak pressure values of type A and B insoles were observed as compared to normal insole. The larger peak pressure and shorter COP distance values of type A and B insoles were observed as compared to normal insole.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.210-217
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• 2010

Objectives : We investigated a correlation of cognitive function, depression, suicidal idea and serum lipid levels in Korean elderly over 60 years old to find risk factors of deprssion and cognitive decline. Methods : 834 persons participated in this study. Clinical evaluation was done at a point by using Mini-Mental State Examination in the Korean version of CERAD assessment packet(MMSE-KC). We also evaluated 165 persons that agreed to our exact examination for Geriatric Depression Scale(GDS), Scale for Suicidal Ideation(SSI), Hachinski Ischemic Score and serum lipid profile. Correlation analysis was used to evaluate correlation among serum lipid levels, MMSE-KC and SSI. One-way ANOVA was used for comparison of serum lipid levels and cognitive function, depression and SSI. We did a post-hoc analysis. Results : Depression and suicidal ideation were related with cognitive impairment in Korean elderly over 60 years old. Those who have more severe cognitive impairment and depressive symptom, have higher Hachinski ischemic score. We can see high HDL cholesterol levels only in the normal control group. Low total, HDL, LDL cholesterol were related with depression. Conclusion : There was high prevalence of depression in the Korean elderly over 60 years old and low serum lipid level was related with severity of depression and high suicidal ideation. In the normal control group, we can see high HDL cholesterol levels. To confirm this result, we need well-designed and wide range study.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.81-94
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• 2021

Objective : Response time plays a prominent part in research on cognitive ability and the aging effect. This study aimed to identify the impact of cognitive ability on information processing by conducting cognitive response time (CRT) using a computer program. Methods : This study was conducted in 30 normal elderly (NE) and 30 elderly with amnestic MCI (aMCI), aged 65-79 years old living in Daegu and Gyeongbuk. The results were analyzed using the statistical analysis program R 4.0.2 (University of Auckland, New Zealand). Results : In the three sub-areas of CRT, the total response time showed a significant difference depending on group or age, and the error rate showed a significant difference depending on age or group in some sub-areas. In the aMCI group, the performance of CRT significantly correlated with that of the overall cognition and memory test. Conclusion : Information processing depending on aging or cognitive ability and the differential performance of processing speed could be observed through CRT. The performance of this test was found to be significantly correlated with that of the overall cognition and memory test. Therefore, CRT could be used meaningfully as a simplified tool to predict the initial cognitive disorder of the elderly in the community.