• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.574-585
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• 2023

Sarcopenia is a leading cause of increased medical and nursing care costs among the elderly. In Korea, preventive measures for sarcopenia are mostly targeted toward the general elderly population without specific diseases. However, it is also necessary to implement measures for elderly individuals living in nursing homes and hospitals, where the prevalence of sarcopenia is high. Currently, computed tomography and/or magnetic resonance imaging are considered standard diagnostic tools. However, their complexity and time-consuming nature make them unsuitable for clinical use. The exact pathophysiological mechanisms of sarcopenia are unclear, as they involve various molecular biological pathways, including decreased exercise, protein and nutrient intake, changes in testosterone and growth hormone, and inflammation. Sarcopenia symptoms can lead to several diseases, such as osteoporosis, fractures, dementia, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Vitamin B deficiency is a significant factor in sarcopenia induction, with B vitamins being directly involved in energy and protein metabolism and nerve function. Vitamin B deficiency can lead to neuromuscular and neurogenic disorders, which often overlap with sarcopenia. Suboptimal intake of B vitamins, malabsorption, and anorexia are common among the elderly. This study aims to provide information on the role of water-soluble B vitamins in preventing and controlling muscle mass loss and deterioration among the elderly with sarcopenia. In addition, we discuss the potential of myokines from the B vitamin family in modulating sarcopenia.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.79-107
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• 2009

Episodic memory, i.e. memorization of information within a spatiotemporal environment, is affected Alzheimer's disease(AD), but its impairment may also be occurred in the normal aging process. The purpose of this study is to analyze and evaluate memory in with Dementia of Alzheimer Type by examining their cognitive skills in episodic memory using the technique. This new method involves assessing the mental images the subject's own past in the mind like projected and movies. Three patients in the early stage of Dementia of Alzheimer Type, one with mild depression, and 2 healthy controls for comparison were asked to retrieve their episodic memory of the previous day, week, month, and a day testing day. The answers were then analyzed with regards to their specific features as emotional state, color, and time order. In the following day, the subjects were tasked to recall again the images they reproduced in the day's test order to observe of memory. Results showed that all 3 patients failed to arrange the retrieved images in time order and their images of the previous day were unclear in color and were stationary like photographs, even when they reproduced the mental images at much quantity as controls. patients could not remember particular events of yesterday, and only recalled the general occurrences of every day life. These results suggest that in the early stage of Dementia of Alzheimer Type, difficulties in the retrieval of recent episodic memory begin to primarily occur, and qualitative impairment happens earlier than quantitative.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2014

Objective : The purpose of this study was to look at a systematic review on the effects of occupational reminiscence therapy in Dementia offered National Long term care Insurance. Through this comprehensive study, we have to compare the studies. Methods : We systematically examined papers published in journal from 2009 to 2013, using KERIS. Main words to examine are Dementia, Long term care service, Day care center, reminiscence therapy, occupational centered, etc. Results : 6 studies were selected, All of them were occupational reminiscence therapy. Reminiscence therapy can be devided into communication centered reminiscence therapy and occupational reminiscence therapy. The results demonstrated that the intervention significantly affected the maintenance cognitive skills and reminiscence skills, decreased depression, behavioral changes, improvement of communication and interaction skills and quality of life etc. of elderly people with dementia (p<.05). Conclusions : If occupational therapists can obtain knowledge and make a program for occupational reminiscence therapy, research in this field will be further developed. In the future study, the use of occupational reminiscence therapy applied to a variety of interventions and majority of patients is needed on occupational therapy.

• 한국노년학
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.127-141
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• 2005

Prior studies about nursing home placement identified factors contributing to the risk of institutionalization by pooling adult child caregivers and spousal caregivers together, regardless of differential challenges for the two types of caregivers. In a sample of 456 caregivers followed for a 2 year period, an event history analysis showed that relationship made difference in time to placement and that differential factors led to institutionalization for spousal caregivers and daughter caregivers. Spousal caregivers are more likely to place dementia patients into nursing homes sooner than adult child caregivers. The age of care recipients and role captivity (refers to being unwilling, involuntary incumbent of a caregiver role) are predictors of placement for both groups of caregivers. Dementia patients who were older had a greater risk of institutionalization. Greater feelings of role captivity also shortened the time to placement. Income and education are significant predictors only for caregiving daughters. Daughters who had a high education level are more likely to delay nursing home placement whereas those who had a higher income are more likely to institutionalize their demented parents sooner. Use of day care and behavioral problems are significant predictors only for spousal caregivers. Specifically, use of day care and behavioral problems precipitates nursing home placement. The findings of this study suggest that interventions for helping family members to provide care to the demented elderly at home must consider different circumstances faced by caregiving spouses and caregiving daughters.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.67-71
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of a community-based cognitive stimulation program on cognitive function and subjective memory in the elderly with mild cognitive impairment. This study was applied by selecting 15 users who understood the purpose of this study and agreed to participate in the shelter program for more than 3 months from April 2019 to August 2019 at the D Dementia Center in G located, Gyeonggi-do. The program consisted of a total of 36 cognitive stimulation programs 3 times a week a total of 3 months. Cognitive stimulation program stimulates cognitive function through various activities such as orientation reinforcement, cognitive training, recall, music, art, and physical play, and is used for the purpose of improving social function. It consists of folk songs, percussion instruments, national gymnastics, dance, games, and traditional games. As a result of the cognitive stimulation program, the average cognitive function increased by 2.13 points from 26.33 points before implementation to 28.46 points after implementation, and a statistically significant result was obtained (p=0.000). Subjective memory decreased by 3.53 points from the average of 7.13 points before the cognitive stimulation program was implemented to 3.60 points after the implementation, and a statistically significant result was obtained (p=0.000). It can be confirmed that this works. Dementia is leading to a cost burden, and congnitive function decreases the aqulity of life. It brings various burdens. It is necessary to study cognitive stimulation programs applied to various environments in the future.

• Journal of Society of Occupational Therapy for the Aged and Dementia
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.19-28
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• 2018

Objective : The aim of current investigation was to standardize the grip strength of elders and to examine the correlation between grip strength, anthropometric parameters, depression and quality of life. Method : The researchers used Korea national health and nutrition examination surveys (2016) for analysis and analyzed the data of 919 elders who had completed the screening test among right-handed elderly without activity limitation. The researchers classified the age of the elders as 65~69, 70~74, 75~79, and 80 years old for standardization of grip strength. Anthropometric parameters are height, weight, body mass index, and waist circumference. Depression was measured by PHQ-9(Patient Health Questionnaire-9) and quality of life was assessed by EQ-5D. Result : The ratio of right handedness of the elderly was 87.8%, left handed 4.9%, and both handles 5.7%. In the standardization and correlation analysis, the grip strength decreased with age (p<.01, r=-.308~-.305). The grip strength showed a strong correlation with height (p<.001, r=.747~.741). There was a significant correlation between depression (p<.01, r=-.172~-.163) and quality of life (p<.01, r=.285~.267). Conclusion : The findings of this investigation suggest that height, depression, and quality of life need to be considered when assessing the level of grip strength in the elderly.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.141-147
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• 2011

Objectives The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between the severity of white matter changes (WMC), risk factors and cognitive domains, including executive function profiles. Method Forty nine subjects over 55 years with subjective memory complaints were assessed with MRI and neuropsychological tests. The WMC were assessed by MRI T2-FLAIR images and divided into 3 groups of mild vs. moderate vs. severe and 2 groups of mild-moderate vs. severe by using Mantyla's criteria and Fazeka's criteria. The risk factors were examined in hypertension, heart disease history and chemistry Lab. Medical conditions which affect to cognitive dysfunction and definite dementia were also excluded. Results Comparing 3 groups, hypertension was identified as a risk factor of the WMC. Comparing 2 groups, total cholesterol and LDL were identified for as the risk factor of WMC. The severity of WMC was significantly associated with cognitive disturbances and their main effect on cognition was working memory and inhibition. Conclusion The risk factors of the WMC in the elderly were hypertension, hyperlipidemia. The severity of WMC appears to be associated with executive dysfunction in the elderly.

• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.33-48
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• 2023

In this paper we consider automatic speech recognition (ASR) for Korean speech data in which elderly persons randomly speak a sequence of words such as animals and vegetables for one minute. Most of the speakers are over 60 years old and some of them are dementia patients. The goal is to compare deep-learning based ASR models for such data and to find models with good performance. ASR is a technology that can recognize spoken words and convert them into written text by computers. Recently, many deep-learning models with good performance have been developed for ASR. Training data for such models are mostly composed of the form of sentences. Furthermore, the speakers in the data should be able to pronounce accurately in most cases. However, in our data, most of the speakers are over the age of 60 and often have incorrect pronunciation. Also, it is Korean speech data in which speakers randomly say series of words, not sentences, for one minute. Therefore, pre-trained models based on typical training data may not be suitable for our data, and hence we train deep-learning based ASR models from scratch using our data. We also apply some data augmentation methods due to small data size.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.52-58
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• 2020

The number of medical welfare facilities caring for the elderly with paralysis and dementia has been increasing rapidly because of the change in the way of supporting the elderly, stemming from an increase in the number of the elderly and working couples. These medical welfare facilities are usually installed all over the city and are gradually becoming high-rise. Few inmates are capable of making their own decisions in case of fire at night and when there are no escape routes such as ramps for evacuation, leading to massive casualties. This study aimed to identify problems in evacuation in the medical welfare facilities for the elderly in Goyang city. This city has the largest number of medical welfare facilities for the elderly per unit area. The following strategies could aid in better evacuation: secure ramps or bed escape elevators; the bedrooms of the inmates should have one-hour fire resistance; the stairs should have the structure of an enclosed stairway; the necessary apparatus for evacuation, such as an escape chute, should be installed; and, to conclude, a business agreement with neighboring agencies to help inmates escape during the fire. The state should implement necessary measures to protect the lives and property of the people. Rapid implementation of this proposal is necessary for the evacuation safety of an increasing number of medical welfare facilities for the elderly.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.481-487
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• 2016

The elderly population with dementia is rapidly growing in South Korea. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between dementia and oral health in 197 subjects aged ${\geq}65$ years. The questionnaire included questions on subjective health status, subjective health concern, subjective oral health status and behavior, mastication ability, Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14), and Korean Dementia Screening Questionnaires (KDSQ). Oral examination was conducted by a single dentist to evaluate upper or lower denture use, and determine the numbers of remaining and functioning teeth, including implant and fixed prosthesis. The subjects who required a dementia test (KDSQ-C [cognition] of ${\geq}6$) had significant differences in systemic disease prevalence rate, subjective health status, subjective health concern, KDSQ-V (vascular disease) score, KDSQ-D (depression) score, subjective oral treatment need, key food mastication ability and OHIP-14 score compared to the healthy subjects. The proportion of denture wearers, total remaining teeth, total functioning teeth, toothbrushing frequency, oral pain severity, symptoms of periodontal disease, subjective oral health status, and subjective oral health concern showed no significant differences between the two groups. KDSQ-C and OHIP-14 scores showed a strong positive relationship, while KDSQ-C score and total remaining teeth or key food mastication ability showed a weak negative relationship. In the multiple regression analysis, the KDSQ-D, KDSQ-V, and OHIP-14 scores influenced the KDSQ-C scores. We suggest a relationship between oral health and cognitive impairment.