• Health Policy and Management
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.381-396
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• 2011

This study is to investigate the factors affecting the regional rate of certification for long-term care insurance benefits. Analyzed data were the 253,935 certified beneficiaries (equivalent to 4.9% of total elderly population) as long-term care degree (LTC degree) 1~3 extracted from the applicants for long-term care in the beginning stage of the system from April 15 2008 to July 1 2009. Although the data were collected from individuals, after restructured into regional data and then analysed in the unit of 225 administrative regions for the Korean Long-term Care Insurance. The rate of certification was operated as the percentage of people of LTC degree 1~3 to the elderly population in each region. The average rate of certification among regions was 4.91%, and ranged from 2.20% to 8.32%. In the analysing regression models, most socio-demographic variables, applicants' disease characteristics, regional service infrastructure, and the certification interviewer's characteristics were included. The most influencing variables were the disease factors of applicants, especially dementia or cerebrovascular disease rather than arthritis, osteoporosis, or fracture patients were strong factors for the regional rate of certification. However, advanced studies adding more explainable factors on the regional variance of certification rate would be necessary to provide political agenda and measures for evidence-based certification process with high reliability and validity for a sustainable LTC system in Korea.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.187-194
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• 2020

When a human being grew older, followed by visually and perceptually impaired, and dementia, it jeopardizes safety and life unless supportive design is secured for a living environment. This supportive space is based on universal design concept which offers safe-oriented, and simple use by incorporating gender and physical/mental limitation. The study of purppose was to examine the appropriateness of barrier-free standard for seniors' living in apartment through IPA. Chi-square analysis found that satisfaction with BF space is lowered as aging is continued and for female group. Regression analysis indicated that sink was the prime predictor in satisfaction, and stair/elevator was the most important variable. IPA concluded that sink, bath, shower/locker and alert/egress were prime BF indexes to be improved among 14 elements, implying careful design in sanitation area for seniors.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.23-34
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• 2020

Objective : Recently, the demand for wearable mobile devices for the monitoring and improvement of one's health and quality of life is increasing. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the need of potential users in order to develop mobile health based and lifestyle care application for the elderly. Methods : Participants who lived in their community and used a mobile phone were recruited. Finally, a total of 84 participants completed the survey. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a t-test, which was carried out with SPSS version 25.0. Results : The application functions that users deemed important for a lifestyle care app were the number of daily steps, physical activity, blood pressure, sleep, nutrition and participation in activity. Interestingly, there was a significant difference in the importance given to the app function of participation in activities between age groups. Conclusion : This study investigated the need and preferences of potential users of health and lifestyle care application for the promotion of health among the elderly. The, findings obtained from this study could be a valuable resource for the development of lifestyle care application.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.49-68
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• 2022

Objective : This study aimed to conduct a Delphi survey of occupational therapists with experience in elderly occupational therapy to derive items about the 'Elder Leisure Value Assessment Tool'. Methods : This study was conducted in two stages. The first stage was the collection of preliminary questions, and the second stage was the Delphi survey. In the first stage, a literature review and analysis of the 2019 National Leisure Activity Survey were conducted. The modified Delphi technique of the Delphi investigation was implemented in two rounds. Results : In the preliminary item collection phase, 39 items were selected for leisure value assessment and 45 were listed for the participating leisure activities. Subsequently, a Delphi survey of 25 professional groups resulted in 38 leisure value assessment items and 45 participating leisure activities. Conclusion : The questions drawn from this study are meaningful because they can identify specific leisure activities that the elderly participate in, as well as the various values that the elderly consider important when participating in such activities

• Journal of Korean Academy of Oral Health
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.159-166
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• 2018

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between masticatory ability, oral health-related quality of life, and cognitive function in an elderly population using structural equation modeling. Methods: A total of 308 subjects, aged 65 years and over, were recruited from the senior citizen center in Daegu, South Korea and provided consent for inclusion in the study. The Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE) was used to assess the level of cognitive function. Masticatory ability was evaluated through chewing tests, patient-perceived masticatory function and, measurement of relative occlusal forces on molar teeth using the T-Scan $III^{(R)}$ system. All data were analyzed using ${\chi}^2$ tests, t-tests, and one-way ANOVA in SPSS version 23.0 for windows. Structural equation modeling was performed using SPSS AMOS version 22.0. Results: There was a significant association between cognitive function and molar teeth occlusal force. Ability of food chewing score and patient-perceived masticatory function could affect oral health-related quality of life (P>0.05). Higher occlusal forces on molar teeth, compared to anterior teeth, positively correlated with higher cognitive function. Conclusions: These results suggest that an individual's oral health condition could affect molar teeth occlusal forces and may be related to a risk of developing dementia. Therefore, there is a need for implementing nation-wide policies to improve oral health, such as masticatory function, in the elderly population.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.16-23
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• 2020

Objectives: Sleep disturbance in the elderly is associated with cognitive decline. Sleep quality is known to deteriorate with age, and prospective studies seldom have examined the relationship between sleep quality and cognitive function. This study investigates the relationship between early sleep quality and cognitive function based on six-year follow-up data of community individuals older than 60 years. Methods: The participants included 622 community elderly people older than 60 years from Jinju-Si. The final analysis comprised 322 elderly people. Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and the Korean version of Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD-K) were used to assess early sleep quality and cognitive function after six years. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to investigate the association between early sleep quality and cognitive function in the elderly. Results: Early sleep quality (PSQI) was significantly associated with the results of the digit span test, clock drawing test (clox 1), and word recall test after six years. Sleep quality (PSQI) decreased significantly after six years, and lower quality of sleep (PSQI) score was associated with higher digit span test score (β = -0.167, p = 0.026) and higher clock drawing test score (β = -0.157, p = 0.031). Lower quality of sleep (PSQI) score was associated with higher word recall test (β = -0.140, p = 0.039). Conclusion: The digit span test, word recall test, and clock drawing task (CLOX 1) shown to be significantly associated to sleep quality can be performed fast and easily in clinical practice. It is important to assess early cognitive function in the elderly with poor sleep quality, and further studies could suggest that these tests may be useful screening tests for early dementia in elderly with poor sleep quality.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.519-528
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• 2010

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to examine the relationships among the sense of control, social support, depression and nursing home adjustment, and to identify the influencing factors of nursing home adjustment in nursing home residents. Methods: The study design was a cross-sectional descriptive study. Data were collected from May to June of 2010 using structured questionnaires from 212 elderly residents without dementia from 15 nursing homes. Results: The levels of nursing home adjustment depended on the self-rated health, the voluntary institutionalization, and the length of stay. The nursing home adjustment was significantly correlated with a sense of control, social support and depression. The five most influential factors affecting adjustment were self-rated health, placement decision maker, the length of stay, a sense of control and depression, which explained about 51.5% of the variances. Conclusion: The findings reflect the importance of voluntary institutionalization, a sense of control, avoiding depressive mood and social support which facilitate residents' adjustment. These results can provide guidance for nursing interventions to facilitate nursing home adjustment.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.26-39
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• 2018

Purposes: The purpose of this study is to analyze the issue of interest in patient medical service of small and medium hospitals using big data. Methods: The method of this study was implemented by data mining and social network using SNS big data. The analysis tool were extracted key keywords and analyzed correlation by using Textom, Ucinet6 and NetDraw program. Findings: In the results of frequency, the network-centered and closeness centrality analysis, It was shown that the government center is interested in the major explanations and evaluations of the technology, information, security, safety, cost and problems of small and medium hospitals, coping with infections, and actual involvement in bank settlement. And, were extracted care for disabilities such as pediatrics, dentistry, obstetrics and gynecology, dementia, nursing, the elderly, and rehabilitation. Practical Implications: Future studies will be more useful if analyzed the needs of customers for medical services in the metropolitan area and provinces may be different in the small and medium hospitals to be studied, further classification studies.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.259.3-260
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• 2003

Alzheimer's disease(AD) is the most common cause of senile dementia in elderly people and the causes of AD are currently not fully understood. However, AD is generally understood to be associated with reduced levels of acetylcholine in the brain as cholinergic neurons are lost and cholinergic neurotransmission declines. There are growing evidences that two types of cholinesterase(ChE), i.e., acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) both play important roles in the regulation of acetylcholine level in brain and thus may have a crucial role in the development and progression of AD. (omitted)

• 한국노년학
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.743-757
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• 2010

Theory of mind (ToM) is the ability to infer one's own and other people's mental states such as beliefs, desires, and intentions. Although the majority of research in ToM has focused on young children or autistic individuals, several studies have investigated ToM in normal old age and in the demented elderly. This article provides an overview on existent findings of theory of mind in aging populations and suggests future directions for research including applying neuroimaging techniques and real-life tasks. It is still unclear how ToM in aging is associated with other aspects of cognition. However, it is expected that ToM perspective on aging will increase our understanding of aging of cognition and social functioning.