• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.111-122
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• 2024

Purpose: Visual impairment, hearing impairment, and masticatory discomfort each influence quality of life (QoL). However, little is known regarding the impact of their coexistence on QoL. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the influence of the coexistence of visual impairment, hearing impairment, and masticatory discomfort on QoL among middle-aged adults aged 40-64. Methods: This study involved a secondary data analysis utilizing the data from years 1 and 2 of the eighth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. To evaluate the influence of the coexistence of visual impairment, hearing impairment, and masticatory discomfort on QoL, we conducted a complex sample hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Results: When visual impairment, hearing impairment, and masticatory discomfort coexisted, the QoL was significantly lower than in individuals without any of these conditions. Conclusion: The coexistence of visual impairment, hearing impairment, and masticatory discomfort was negatively correlated with QoL. Therefore, it is important to prepare for old age through appropriate health management during middle age.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.417-427
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• 2001

Purpose: The aim of this study is to identify the influence of visual and hearing impairment on the activities of daily living of community dwelling elderly. Methods: Data were collected by home visiting interviewers from 452 older people aged 65 years or older living in community. Resident Assessment Instrument MDS-HC(2.0version) was used for data collection. Data analysis for descriptive statistics, Chi-square test and multiple regression was made by SAS 6.2 Results: 34.7% of the subject had hearing impairment and 64.3% had visual impairment Among IADL. one half of them were dependent in ordinary house work and meal preparation. In the case of ADL. 13.9% of subjects were dependent in bathing and 8.9% in personal hygiene. There was significant difference in IADL performance by visual and hearing impairment On the other hand, ADL performance showed the significant difference. only in the case of hearing impairment. As the result of input of visual and hearing impairment in the process of regression. variances were increased from 3% to 11%. Conclusions: Large proportions of older people living in the community have visual and hearing impairment. It could be confirmed that hearing and vision were significant factors influencing on IADL performance of older people. Intervention and support policy for elderly needs to focus on improvement of visual and hearing impairment.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.584-594
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence of visual and hearing impairment and to investigate the effect of visual and hearing impairment on depression and cognitive function in community-dwelling Korean elderly. Methods: The study population consisted of a representative community sample of 4,028 persons aged 65 and older from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging 2008. Depression and cognitive function were measured by CES-D 10-item scale and K-MMSE. Visual and hearing impairment were measured by 5-Likert scale. Data were analyzed using Rao-Scott ${\chi}^2$-test, simple and multiple logistic regression. Results: The prevalence of visual and hearing impairment were 37.3% and 14.0%, respectively. Of the participants, the prevalence of depression was 58.4% and cognitive impairment was 50.6%. There were significant differences in depression and cognitive function according to visual and hearing impairment. Far vision and hearing impairment were predictors for both depression and cognitive impairment even after covariates had been adjusted. Conclusion: These data suggest that visual and hearing impairment in older adults may increase their probability of experiencing depression and cognitive impairment. Thus sensory impairment should be considered a risk factor for mental health and the cognitive function of elderly.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.127-132
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• 2016

The purpose of the study is to identify the accessibility of OpenCouresWare(OCW) from the perspective of college students with visual and hearing impairments. Six students with visual impairments(3 blind and 3 low vision) and four students with hearing impairments(2 deaf, 2 hard of hearing) implemented usability testing. Two modules in KOCW were selected for testing. Students implemented usability testing and then each individual case was analyzed through quantitative and qualitative methods. As results, the degree of usability and accessibility in two modules indicated low level. Implications and recommendations for designing OCW module based on the results were suggested.

• Journal of Digital Contents Society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2016

The purpose of the study is to identify the usability of OpenCouresWare(OCW) from the perspective of students with visual and hearing impairments. Twelve college students with disabilities(8 visual and 4 hearing impairment) implemented usability testing. Two modules in both edX and KOCW were selected for testing. Students with disabilities implemented usability testing and then each individual case was analyzed through quantitative and qualitative methods. As results, the degree of general usability in both edX and KOCW indicated an average level and the degree of accessibility in edX module was evaluated higher than KOCW. Specifically, the module of edX was rated highly by students with hearing impairments and the usability level of KOCW module was highly appreciated by blind students.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.85-96
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of articulatory intervention using visual phonics to improve the speech intelligibility of children with impaired hearing. The subjects of the study were five hearing impaired children. As per the results of the UTAP articulation tests, five phonemes with the most frequent errors were selected for each child and a total of 10 sessions were provided. The methodology involved analyzing vowel space and related measures (vowel space area, vowel articulatory index, formant centralization ratio, and F2i/F2u ratio) before and after the visual phonics intervention. After the articulation intervention, every child's speech intelligibility improved, their vowel space area was widened, the FCR value decreased, and the F2ratio value increased. These results show that the use of visual phonics through symbolic images and hand clues has a positive effect in terms of improving the speech intelligibility of children with impaired hearing.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.13-23
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• 2023

Objectives: This case study was conducted to assess the changes in the oral health status of older individuals with hearing and visual impairments through home oral health care based on community care. Methods: The participants were two older adults with hearing and visual impairments. Through home visits, an oral health intervention program, including oral hygiene care and training on strengthening of oral function, was conducted once a week for 5 months. Dental hygienists performed special oral health interventions such as dental plaque control through individual tooth brushing and interdental care, training on strengthening of intraoral and extraoral muscle function, and denture care for the individuals with visual-hearing impairments. Results: The overall periodontal health status and oral muscle function improved in older adults with hearing and visual impairments. In the case of the visually impaired individuals, changes in the oral health status were oral mucosal moisture (30.1 and 37.2 points before and after intervention, respectively), salivary secretion (3.5 and 4.0 cm before and after intervention, respectively), and maximum tongue pressure (20.5 and 26.2 kPa before and after intervention, respectively). Changes in the oral health status of the hearing impaired individuals increased from 28.3 points before the intervention to 38.4 points after the intervention, and the maximum tongue pressure increased from 1.85 kPa to 23.5 kPa after the intervention. Conclusions: Oral health intervention activities contributed to improving the periodontal health and oral function of older adults with hearing and visual impairments. To improve their overall and oral health, it is necessary to prepare measures to activate customized oral health intervention programs.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.45
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• pp.315-340
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• 2001

The purpose of study is to examine the effects of family support on the life satisfaction of elderly with disabilities and provide a ground necessary to improve it. Research was conducted on 167 elderly with hearing, visual and physical disabilities aged over 60 who were living in Seoul and Pusan. Telephone survey, sign language and interview, in accordance with types of disability, were adopted to collect data effectively. That is telephone survey was used for elderly with visual impairment whereas face-to-face interview for physical impairment and sign language for hearing impairment by volunteers. Collected data were analyzed, using hierarchical regression analysis. This study utilized two different models, direct effect model and buffering effect of social support in order to examine the effects of familial support on the life satisfaction of elderly with disabilities. Research findings suggest that the level of life satisfaction appeared to be low in general among elderly with disabilities and emotional family support exerted a positive effect on life satisfaction. In addition, it is empirically supported that emotional family support buffered the negative effect of economic limitations on life satisfaction. In other words, the effects of economic limitations as stress factor decreased with the increase in the frequency of emotional support, however, the level of life satisfaction decreased at a mercy of the stress factor of economic limitations with the decrease in the frequency of emotional support. Finally, this paper attempted to provide some alternatives to effectively improve life satisfaction among elderly with disabilities based on empirical findings.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.7
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• pp.313-321
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• 2021

Here we describe the neurodevelopmental outcomes of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants (birth weight ≤1,500 g) at 3 years of age in the Neonatal Research Network of Japan (NRNJ) database in the past decade and review the methodological issues identified in follow-up studies. The follow-up protocol for children at 3 years of chronological age in the NRNJ consists of physical and comprehensive neurodevelopmental assessments in each participating center. Neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI)-moderate to severe neurological disability-is defined as cerebral palsy (CP) with a Gross Motor Function Classification System score ≥2, visual impairment such as uni- or bilateral blindness, hearing impairment requiring hearing amplification, or cognitive impairment with a developmental quotient (DQ) of Kyoto Scale of Psychological Development score <70 or judgment as delayed by pediatricians. We used death or NDI as an unfavorable outcome in all study subjects and NDI in survivors using number of assessed infants as the denominator. Follow-up data were collected from 49% of survivors in the database. Infants with follow-up data had lower birth weights and were of younger gestational age than those without follow-up data. Mortality rates of 40,728 VLBW infants born between 2003 and 2012 were 8.2% before discharge and 0.7% after discharge. The impairment rates in the assessed infants were 7.1% for CP, 1.8% for blindness, 0.9% for hearing impairment, 15.9% for a DQ <70, and 19.1% for NDI. The mortality or NDI rate in all study subjects, including infants without follow-up data, was 17.4%, while that in the subjects with outcome data was 32.5%. The NRNJ follow-up study results suggested that children born with a VLBW remained at high risk of NDI in early childhood. It is important to establish a network follow-up protocol and complete assessments with fewer dropouts to enable clarification of the outcomes of registered infants.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.215-226
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• 2005

This study is an attempt to investigate effect of pitch treatment program using visual feedback for profound deaf adults. Dr. Speech program was applied as a training tool. The subjects of this study were 3 profound deaf adults. Speech samples for evaluation were vowel prolongations and connected speech. Analysis was performed under the principle of single subject research design. As results of this study, all subjects showed the treatment effects which were represented by lowering fundamental frequency and speaking fundamental frequency.