• 한국노년학
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.1077-1093
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• 2010

This study aims to examine the effects of health status on life satisfaction and depression and to examine the effect of spirituality and religious involvement on this relationship among Korean older persons. On the basis of the previous literature, we hypothesize that health status will have a direct effect on life satisfaction and depression, but that spirituality and religious involvement will moderate this effect in addition to having direct effects on life satisfaction and depression. In light of the different gender effects on all five variables (health status, spirituality, religious involvement, life satisfaction, and depression), we also examine the effects of gender on these variables. The data for this study came from the Hallym Aging Study conducted by the Hallym University Institute of Aging from February to March in 2005. Through stratified multi-stage random sampling, 1409 individuals aged 65 and over, who lived in Seoul and Chuncheon in Korea. Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate whether health status, gender, spirituality and religious involvement could predict life satisfaction and depression, and whether the direct relationships were moderated by interactions among these variables. We took three ordered regression steps to examine the hypothesis; the first step contained the covariates of age, education, living with spouse, monthly expense, living with adult children, and household income. We also entered gender into this step, so it would be adjusted for in relation to the other covariates. The second step then looked for any direct effects that gender, health status, spirituality, and religious involvement might have on life satisfaction and depression above and beyond the effects of the covariates. The third step contained interaction terms to look for further variance accounted for by indirect, moderating effects on life satisfaction and depression. The results showed that health status had a significant effect on both life satisfaction and depression, and religious involvement had a significant effect on depression. Spirituality and religious involvement were found overall to be a moderator, reducing the negative effect of health status on life satisfaction and depression. The direct effect of religious involvement and the moderating effects of spirituality and religious involvement on life satisfaction and depression are consistent with the view that spirituality and religion are resources and benefit the well-being of older adults.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.3368-3373
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to analyze the risk factors of self-reported voice problem. Data were from the Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey 2008. Subjects were 3,600 persons (1,501 men, 2,099 women) aged 19 years and older. A prediction model was developed by the use of a exhaustive CHAID (Chi Squared Automatic Interaction Detection) algorism of decision tree model. In the decision tree analysis, pain and discomfort during the last 2 weeks, age, the longest occupation and thyroid disorders was significantly associated with self-reported voice problem. The findings of associated factors suggest potential ways of targeting counseling and prevention efforts to control self-reported voice problem.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.223-235
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to identify the association between health-related behaviors including smoking, alcohol intake, and the practice of a low-salt diet using data from a Community Health Survey conducted in 2008. The study subjects were 129,151 persons (19 years and older) without cardiovascular diseases or diabetes mellitus diagnosis history. An index for evaluating low salinity was created by summing three low salinity-related questions (range: 0~3), and a low-salt diet was defined if the index of low salinity was 3. We examined the levels of smoking and alcohol intake according to the index of low salinity, and conducted multiple logistic regression analysis to examine the odds ratios of low-salt diet practice in relation to smoking and drinking behavior, adjusting for general characteristics. The smoking and drinking status significantly improved as the level of low salinity index increase. Adjusting for general characteristics, those with smoking, alcohol intake, or a combined habit of the two behaviors had significantly lower odds ratios for practice of a low-salt diet. In conclusion, smoking and drinking behavior were negatively associated with the practice of a low-salt diet. Based on these findings, it may be necessary to have comprehensive nutritional education programs that consider the multiple effects of smoking, drinking, and a low-salt diet.

• Journal of Korea Association of Health Promotion
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.31-46
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• 2004

Owing to continuous economic growth, an increased standard of living, and improvements to health care in Korea, the life expectancy of Koreans rose from 69.0years in 1985 to 71.3 years in 1990 It continued to rise throughout the 1990s, and, by2002, had reached 76.5 years for the general population and 80.0 years for Korean females. Similarly, the percentage of the Korean population that is 65 years of age or older Increased from 3.1 In 1970 to 7.1 In 2000, and is expected to reach approximately14.0 in 2019. Thus, according to this estimate, Korea will have evolved from an 'aging society 'to an "aged society" in only 19 years. In the case of other countries, this same transformation has generally taken 2 to 5 times longer. One of the major issues related to Korea's rapid1y aging population relates to the health problems of the elderly According to the 2002 National Health Survey Report,87.6 percent of the elderly were reported to have at least one chronic disease. In other words, almost 9 out of evert 10 elderly persons in Korea were suffering from a chronic illness. This, clearly, places a significant economic burden on Korean society in the form of increased health care costs. This paper examines the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases within Korea's rapidly aging population and offers some possible short- and long-term solutions to cope with the increased burden being placed on Korea's health care system. These Include the basic services at local health centers for the elderly and the national life-long health promotion programs that aim to correct unhealthy behavior, such as smoking, the excessive use of alcohol, and poor eating and exercise habits.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.412-419
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• 2015

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Korean version of the Person-centered Care Assessment Tool (P-CAT). Methods: The English P-CAT was translated into Korean with forward and backward translation. Survey data were collected from 458 staff in 17 long-term care facilities in Korea. Construct validity and criterion related validity were evaluated. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess reliability. Results: The Korean version of P-CAT was shown to be valid homogeneously by factor, item and content analysis. Internal consistency reliability was satisfactory in which the values of factor 1, factor 2 and the total scale were .84, .77 and .86 respectively. Exploratory factor analysis supported the construct validity with a two-factor solution. Factor loadings of the 13 items ranged in .34~.80. Criterion validity to the Person-centered Climate Questionnaire-staff (PCQ-S) was .74 (p<.001). Conclusion: The Korean version of the P-CAT was found to be an applicable instrument with satisfactory reliability and validity for further use in measuring successful person-centered care in long-term care facilities for older persons.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.259-266
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• 2018

Purpose: This study aimed to compare balance ability according to the immersion level of virtual reality-based training for the balance enhancement of the elderly. Methods: This study included 48 elderly people aged 65 years and older (male 16, female 32). According to the immersion level of applied virtual reality training, 16, 17, and 15 persons were randomly assigned to full immersion, semi-immersion, and control groups. The subjects who were assigned to the full immersion group and semi-immersion group received virtual reality training for 6 weeks at 20 min at a time, 3 times per week. The control group received no intervention. Balance ability was evaluated by measuring the stability limit and the tandem walking test before and after the intervention. Results: Results showed significant differences among the three groups in the limit of stability of all directions and the tandem walking test after the intervention. The results of the limit of stability showed a significantly higher value in the full-immersion group than in the control group, and the results of the tandem walking test showed a significantly lower value in the full-immersion and semi-immersion groups than in the control group. Conclusion: The results indicate that the head-mounted display equipment for applying full-immersion virtual training is the most effective in enhancing the balance ability of the elderly.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.332-338
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• 2003

Objective : To investigate the relationship between medical expenses and the burden of families caring for the elderly in the last 6 months of life, and to evaluate the factors relating to the burden of family caregivers. Methods : The families of 301 persons older than 65 years, who died between 1 July and 31 December 2001, and were registered in Resident-based- Health Insurance Programs in Seoul, were interviewed. The medical expenses and length of stay among the elderly were collected from Korean Health Insurance Corporations. Results : 31 percents of the elderly had no medical expenses in the last 6 months of life. On average, the objective burden (4.92) was higher than the subjective burden (3.35). Families caring for male elderly had a higher burden. With increasing age af death, the objective burden was significantly increased. The burden on a family seemed to be influenced more by the family income than the property of the elderly. With increasing total health care costs, the objective burden on the family caregivers was significantly increased, but with increasing medical expenses, the subjective burden was significantly decreased. Conclusion : An association between healthcare utilization and burden on families was observed. The reason for the decreasing subjective burden when medical expenses were decreased was unclear. Further research will be needed.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.811-816
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• 2007

The social activities of the elderly have been increasing as our society progresses toward an aging society. As their activities are increased, the occurrence of falls that could lead to fractures are increased. Falls are serious health hazards to the elderly and we need more thorough understanding of falls including the progress of falls and the impact area in various fall directions. Many of the traditional methods of falls research dealt with voluntary falls by younger subject since older subject can easily get fracture from voluntary falls. So, it has been difficult to get exact data about falls of the elderly. Here, we tried to capture the characteristics of the movements of major joints using three dimensional motion capture system during falls experiments using a moving mattress that can safely induce unexpected falls. Healthy younger subjects participated in the actual falls experiment and the moving mattress was actuated by a pneumatic system. The kinematic parameters such as velocities and accelerations of major segments were imported to a computer simulation environment and falls to hard surfaces were simulated in a computational environment using a realistic human model of aged persons. The simulation was able to give approximations to contact forces which can occur during actual falls.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.23-39
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• 2007

Objective: The objective of this study is to identify the risk factors for falls among the Korean elderly population. Methods: We analyzed the data on 167 persons of 65 years of age or older who have experienced falls drawn from the Third Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We conducted a cross-tabulation analysis and logistic regression analysis of the impact of the socio-demographic characteristics, health-related behavior, mobility, and morbidity upon the frequencies of falls. Results: Among the socio-demographic characteristics, gender(p<0.001), marital status(p<0.1), and the type of medical insurance(<0.1) were found to be statistically significant, Among the constraints on mobility, the severity of walking problems, (p<0.001) and depression(p<0.05) proved to be significant, As for variables related to health-related behavior, the level of routine physical activities (p<0.001) was found significant, Finally, rheumatism(p<0.1), osteoporosis(p<0.05), diabetes(p<0.1), urinary incontinence(p<0.01) were also significant. A logistic regression analysis of the incidence of falls revealed that urinary incontinence was the most important risk factor with an odds ratio of 2.7. Conclusion: Although a variety of factors affect the frequencies of falls in the elderly population, urinary incontinence proved to be the single most important risk factor. This finding implies that education for fall prevention is crucial for those with urinary incontinence.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.141-149
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• 2004

Objectives : To evaluate the cost and proportion of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) in the total healthcare costs among the elderly in the last 6 months of life. Methods : The care-giving families of 301 persons older than 65 years, who died between July 1st and December 31st of 2001, and were also registered in Self-Employed Health Insurance Programs in Seoul, were interviewed. Results : The cost of CAM was 1.09 million Won, which as a proportion of the total healthcare cost was 38.1%. The elderly aged between 65 and 69 year-old, male, living with their spouse, Buddhist and having cancers had higher CAM costs in an ANOVA and simple regression analysis. After controlling of various factors, age was the only significant factor associated with the cost of CAM. The elderly above 80 years old, female, bereaved and Buddhist had higher proportional CAM costs, and the elderly having cancers or cardiovascular diseases had lower proportional CAM costs in an ANOVA and simple regression analysis. After adjusting for various factors, the elderly above 85 years old, female and Buddhist had higher proportional CAM costs, and the elderly having cancers had lower proportional CAM costs. Conclusion : The very old and Buddhist, and/or the ill with no clear diagnosis, may depend more on CAM. Further research will be needed on the meaning and impact of CAM and their costs to public health and the total healthcare system.