• 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 Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.197-202
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• 2005

Objectives: During the spring of 2002, an unprecedented 2 Asian dust events were experienced in Seoul. On those days, the $PM_{10}$ was surprisingly increased, with daily $PM_{10}$ averages exceeding $600\;and\;700{\mu}g/m^3$ on March 21 and April 8, respectively. Accordingly, public concern relating to the possible adverse health effects of these dust events has increased, as the dust arrives in Korea after having flown over heavily industrialized eastern China. We investigated the effects of these Asian dust events on the mortality during the spring of 2002, in Seoul, Korea. Methods: The total number of deaths per day during the spring of 2002 in Seoul was extracted form the mortality records of the National Statistical Office. We constructed 14 Asian dust days (March 17-March 23, April 7-April 13) and 42 control days during the 56 day study period (March 3-April 27) with respect to the days of the week. The daily average numbers of deaths between the Asian dust and control days were analyzed, with adjustment for meteorological variables and pollutants. Results: The daily PM10 average during the Asian dust weeks was $295.2{\mu}g/m^3$, which was significantly higher than during the control days (p<0.001). The daily average number of deaths from all causes during the Asian dust days was 109.9; 65.6 for those aged 65 years and older, 6.7 from respiratory causes (J00-J99) and 25.6 from cardiovascular causes (I00-I99). The estimated percentage increases in the rate of deaths were 2.5% (95% CI=-5.0-10.6) from all causes; 2.2% (95% CI=-7.4-12.8) for those aged 65 years and older, and 36.5% (95% CI=0.7-85.0) from respiratory causes, but with a 6.1% (95% CI=-19.7-9.7) decrease in deaths from cardiovascular causes. Conclusion: The Asian dust events were found to be weakly associated with the risk of death from all causes. However, the association between dust events and deaths from respiratory causes was stronger. This suggests that persons with advanced respiratory diseases may be susceptible to Asian dust events.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.135-141
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• 2013

As the country's elderly people who are 65 years or older recently exceeded 10% of the total population with development of medical technology and improvement of living standards, Korea has turned into an aging society. Especially in Gyeonggi-do, as of late December 2012, elderly people who were 65 years or older were 1,135,242 persons, taking up 18.98% of the region's population and registering the largest number of elderly people in the nation's cities or provinces. Due to such a sharp rise in elderly population, support for the elderly is increasing the burden on families and communities. The study aims to take as its subjects elderly people staying at authorized elderly welfare facilities, who are weak in mind and body and have difficulty in daily life with disabilities, or adult day care facilities that take care of elderly people during the day or at night, examine the concept of adult day care facilities and instances in foreign countries, and study the status of the adult day care facilities located in Gyeonggi-do, their services, and safety by figuring out space arrangement based on program implementation. Spacial arrangement in program operation should satisfy fuction and purpose from the manager and user's perspective, and a desirable program operation should provide separate spaces for the elderly with Alzheimer's and those without Alzheimer's. Compared to residential care facilities, adult day care facilities incur less financial burden and, compared to other authorized services, have many right functions that can upgrade the quality of users and satisfy their desires. Major countries like Japan, the UK, and Sweden recognize the right functions of day and night care services and aggressively support and utilize adult day care facilities. For adult day care facilities, quality services should be developed and use and choices should be enhanced as regards services. Development of special programs for the elderly with dementia and stroke, instead of simple protective functions of a program, must be actively promoted, while manpower training is required for program operation, conveniences, and safety. By developing and providing space arrangement models that focus on efficiency, convenience, and safety of program operation, adult day care operation can be revitalized, while quality of elderly care may be enhanced and welfare budget can be saved.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.69 no.2
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• pp.117-141
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences of the factors affecting the entry of depression by generations and to present a practical strategy for preventing of depression by life-cycle. For this purpose, we analyzed the factors influencing the depression of adults, middle-aged and elderly people through the discrete-time hazard model. The results of this study are as follows: First, the lower the self-esteem, the lower the income satisfaction and the family satisfaction people have, the higher the likelihood of entering the depression they have. In addition, age, educational level, health status, presence of chronic diseases, employment status, regional area, and leisure life satisfaction were variables that showed difference by generation. In the case of adulthood(aged 20 ~ 39), unemployed persons are more likely to enter the depression than younger workers. On the other hand, the middle-aged(40 ~ 64 year olds) are more likely to enter the depression if they are older, have poor health status, have no chronic disease, and have low leisure satisfaction. Finally, older people(aged 65 and over) are more likely to enter the depression when the education level is higher, the health condition is worse, and the leisure satisfaction is lower. If they lived in an urban and rural complex, they are more likely to enter the depression. Based on these results, it is necessary to establish a support plan reflecting the characteristics revealed by generations in order to prevent the entry of depression.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.309-315
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• 2001

Objective : To develop a boner understanding of the relationship between weight status and the prevalence of obesity related diseases in the Korean population. Methods : The 1998 Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey was used and 10,880 persons who had previously taken health examinations were selected for study. The Korean Society for the Study of Obesity's classification of weight status was used. Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, osteoarthritis, chronic heart disease, stroke were included as obesity related disease. A logistic regression model was developed to estimate the prevalence odds ratio by obesity class adjusted for demographic and socioeconomic factors and we converted the odds ratio to a prevalence ratio using the base line prevalence of disease to aid in the interpretation of the ratios. Results : The prevalence of obesity was 26.3% based on the KSSO classification $(BMI\geq25)$. A graded increase in the prevalence ratio was observed with increasing severity of overweight and obesity for all health outcomes with the exception of chronic heart disease in men and stroke in both men and women. With normal weight individuals as the reference, for men who were younger than 50 years, the prevalence ratios were highest for hypertension BMI<23-25: 1.70(95% CI=1.41-2.05), 25$BMI\geq30$: 4.83(95% CI=3.70-5.84). The prevalence ratios for dyslipidemia were as high as hypertension, but were lower than hypertension for diabetes mellitus and osteoarthritis. Prevalence ratios generally were greater in younger adults. The prevalence of having 2 or more obesity related diseases increased with weight status category, except in people who were older than 50 years. Conclusions : Based on results, obesity is an increasingly important health problem in Korea and the disease burden increases according to weight status. For Korean adults, the strongest relationship was seen between weight status and hypertension and dyslipidemia. In older people the impact of excess weight and obesity is stronger than that seen in younger people. Increased efforts in the study of obesity and prevention and treatment of obesity and obesity related disease are required.

• Journal of vocational education research
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.119-138
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors influencing of separation and the time of separation for middle and old aged self-employed workers. The cox proportional hazards model was used in the first survey of KLoSA, 684 persons who were over 40 years old in 2006, using data up to the 5th period of 2014. The main findings of this study are as follows. First, the average duration of job for middle and old aged self-employed workers in 2005 was 15.5years. Of the total 684 workers, 214(31.3%) person was found to have lost their job during survey period. Second, gender, age at start up, and education level have significant effects on job separation of them. When women, when they were older at start up, when they were graduate the university or higher, increased their risk of leaving their businesses. Third, in the characteristic of their work, the type of job and job satisfaction were found to affect to job desertion. When people are engaged in accommodation and food business rather than agriculture and forestry fishery, when the satisfaction of the work is lower, the risk was high. Based on these conlusions, the following implications are suggested. First, it is necessary to establish a support strategy for female middle-aged and old self-employed and older workers who start their own business after their 60s. Second, it is necessary to support them to enter into various fields by utilizing their own aptitude and experience rather than establishing them in industries with low entry barriers. Third, it is necessary to develop policies to help improve job satisfaction in the working environment. In particular, it is necessary to ensure that high educated self-employed workers are satisfied with various compensations by self-employed.

• 한국노년학
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.125-149
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to analyse the mediating effects of spirituality on the relationship between functional capacity and depression among the elderly. The conceptual framework was based on the integrated theory by Brief et al.(1993) to life satisfaction. The sample was collected through convenience sampling of 413 elderly persons who were 65 years of age or older drawn from senior welfare centers, community senior centers, and religious institutions in Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province. Data analysis was performed using Structural Equation Modeling(SEM). The main findings of the present study are as following: First, spirituality had the mediated effects on which depression and IADL influenced life satisfaction. Particularly, existential spirituality on life satisfaction had larger effect size than religious spirituality. Second, the results showed that religious spirituality had positive effects on existential spirituality. These findings demonstrate that the development and implementation of programs geared for fostering religious spirituality and existential spirituality of senior citizens are needed to improve life satisfaction in the field of social welfare. To this end, the foundation of spiritual practice in the field of social work with older people should be constructed through a spirituality-related system and professional training.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.195-205
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• 2019

Background: The food and food service influence the quality of life and the general health condition of older persons living in long-term care (LTC) facilities. Purchasing good food materials is a ground of good food service. In Korea, the residents in LTC facilities should pay for the cost of food materials and ingredients out of their pocket because it is not covered by LTC insurance. This study explored what factors affect the cost of food materials paid by LTC facility residents and which factor affects most. Methods: We used data from the study on out-of-pocket payment on national LTC insurance, which surveyed 1,552 family caregivers of older residents in LTC facilities. We applied conditional multi-level model, of which the first level represents the characteristics of care receivers and caregivers and its second level reflects those of LTC facilities. Results: We found that the facility residents with college-graduated family caregivers paid 11,545 Korean won more than those with less than elementary-graduated ones. However, the income level of family caregivers did not significantly affect the amount of the food material cost of the residents. The residents in privately owned, large, metropolitan-located facilities were likely to pay more than those in other types of facilities. The amount of the food material cost of the residents was mainly decided by the facility level factors rather than the characteristics of care recipients and their family caregivers (intra-class correlation=82%). Conclusion: These findings suggest that it might be effective to design a policy targeting facilities rather than residents in order to manage the cost of food materials of residents in LTC facilities. Setting a standard price for food materials in LTC facilities, like Japan, could be suggested as a feasible policy option. It needs to inform the choice of LTC users by providing comparable food material cost information. The staffing requirement of nutritionist also needs to be reviewed.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.371-381
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• 2019

This study explored how retirement satisfaction or dissatisfaction influences on retirees' life satisfaction, comparing to workers and the gender differences were examined. The study sample was 2,609 persons (1,886 workers, 723 retirees) aged 45 or older who participated in the 1-2 waves of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA), and the retirees were classified into continuously dissatisfied retirees and satisfied retirees during wave 1 and 2. Using SPSS 21.0, the multiple regression models were examined, and in order to clarify the gender difference, the multi-group analysis and the wald-test were conducted to test the difference of the regression coefficients according to gender using Mplus 7.3. According to the results, the life satisfaction of dissatisfied retirees was lower than that of the employed, but when satisfied with retirement, the life satisfaction was higher than that of the employed. In addition, the dissatisfied retirees in both gender were less satisfied with life than the employed, and this effect was greater in female group. However, the life satisfaction of female satisfied with retirement was higher than that of the employed, whereas the evidence of the male influence was not found to be significant. Based on the results of this study, discussion about heterogeneity of retirees and gender differences in life span were presented.

• 한국노년학
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.865-885
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• 2008

This study addresses a number of issues related to suicide among older persons in Korea. The study investigates various aspects of elderly's suicide ideation, and how this quality of life and self-esteem impacts on their suicide ideation through depression. For the purpose of the study, the survey was conducted and 8,135 elderly 65 years old and over who reside in Gyeonggi-do participated. The result of the study indicated that quality of life, self-esteem and depression of the elderly showed statistically significant suicide ideation of the elderly. Participants were divided into two groups according to their physical health status. That is, to find out how quality of life and self-esteem of the elderly impact on the suicide ideation directly and indirectly through depression among elderly people with physical disease and no disease. The results showed that depression of the elderly people with physical disease was the most highly significant factors in explaining the elderly's suicidal ideation directly a comparison of elderly people with no physical disease. Therefore, depression is a major mental health problem associated with suicide. Finally, these findings of the study can improve the elderly people's quality of life and reduce suicide ideation.