• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.111-122
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• 2023

Objective : To identify the effect of lifestyle risk factors on the daily activities and cognition of the older adults in the community using the National Health Insurance Corporation 2015 geriatric cohort database. Methods : Lifestyle risk factors were defined as body mass index (BMI), smoking, drinking, vigorous exercise, moderate exercise, and walking, and basic and instrumental activities of daily living (ADL) and cognitive function variables were included in the analysis. ADL and cognitive function according to sex and age were analyzed using a t-test and one-way ANOVA. The correlation between lifestyle risk factors, ADL, and cognitive function was analyzed using Pearson's correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis was performed to analyze their influence. Results : The factors affecting basic ADL (BADL) were sex and walking exercises, with an explanatory power of 1.7%. Instrumental ADL (IADL) included age, drinking, and walking exercises, with an explanatory power of 2.6%. Cognitive function included sex, age, BMI, vigorous exercise, and walking, with an explanatory power of 5.3%. Conclusion : Lifestyle risk factors partially affected BADLs/IADLs and cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults. This suggests the need to systematically manage lifestyle risk factors to improve and maintain the healthy lives of older adults facing biological aging.

• International Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.133-146
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• 2011

This study evaluates common activity and quality of life in Swedish cohousing units to examine whether Swedish cohousing functions properly or not. A questionnaire survey was fulfilled during the autumn of 2010 in G$\ddot{o}$teborg Sweden. The subjects of study were 12 of 44 cohousing units in Sweden that included 4 of the +40 cohousing and 8 of the mixed-age cohousing. A total of 242 of 353 distributed questionnaires were collected (68.6%) and analyzed by SPSS statistical program. The findings are as follow: 1) General characteristics of the respondents are that they are mostly healthy, evenly aged from age 50s to 70s and highly educated with significant proportions of academics and civil workers. There are more females than males and more singles than cohabitants. 2) The most frequent and preferred common activity is a common meal followed by a coffee meeting. A common dinner, the 'hub of living together' is held almost every day or at least a few times a week. A common meal is considered one of the most important activities because of practical and social advantages in that residents can save time and cooking costs as well as engage in social contact. Referring to evaluation of frequency and content of common activity, more than a half of the respondents prefer the current situation. 3) All of the variables (except health conditions and education level) affect participation in common activity with statistical significance. 4) Most of the respondents indicate a high level of life satisfaction and are willing to recommend others move to cohousing. They agree that there is more mutual support among residents in cohousing units than in a conventional community. In conclusion, Swedish cohousing units function successfully as they have pursued intentional community ideology and most of the residents are proud of their current living situations.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.384-391
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• 2023

Among the elderly, fatal injuries and deaths are significantly attributed to falls. Therefore, a pre-impact fall detection system is necessary for injury prevention. In this study, a robust threshold-based algorithm was proposed for pre-impact fall detection, reducing false positives in highly dynamic daily-living movements. The algorithm was validated using public datasets (KFall and FARSEEING) that include the real-world elderly fall. A 6-axis IMU sensor (Movella Dot, Movella, Netherlands) was attached to S2 of 20 healthy adults (aged 22.0±1.9years, height 164.9±5.9cm, weight 61.4±17.1kg) to measure 14 activities of daily living and 11 fall movements at a sampling frequency of 60Hz. A 5Hz low-pass filter was applied to the IMU data to remove high-frequency noise. Sum vector magnitude of acceleration and angular velocity, roll, pitch, and vertical velocity were extracted as feature vector. The proposed algorithm showed an accuracy 98.3%, a sensitivity 100%, a specificity 97.0%, and an average lead-time 311±99ms with our experimental data. When evaluated using the KFall public dataset, an accuracy in adult data improved to 99.5% compared to recent studies, and for the elderly data, a specificity of 100% was achieved. When evaluated using FARSEEING real-world elderly fall data without separate segmentation, it showed a sensitivity of 71.4% (5/7).

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.126-133
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• 2017

Background: There are many mechanisms in which stress can lead to weight gain thus high a BMI. The endocrine and inflammatory pathway can directly increase abdominal adiposity. Another way in which stress leads to weight gain is through changes in health behaviors. The study aimed to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among healthy students of Ahlia University, and to determine the relationship between the development of MSDs and academic stressors and body mass index. Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 94 students aged 18-26 years who were enrolled at various Ahlia University colleges and met other inclusion criteria. The students responded to the standardized Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire and the modified College Student Stress Inventory regarding musculoskeletal symptoms and academic stressors. Height and weight measurements were also obtained to determine body mass index. Results: A total of 77.66% reported MSDs in one or more body part, with the prevalence being higher among women than among men. The 7-day prevalence of MSDs severe enough to interfere with activities of daily living was 60.64%, and 44.68% by female and male students, respectively. There was a significant relationship between academic stress and MSDs in the neck, shoulders, lower back, and hips, while the relationship between MSDs, and body mass index, academic stress, and grade point average was not significant. Conclusions: The prevalence of MSDs among Ahlia University students was found to be high. Apart from the positive correlation between academic stress and MSDs in certain body parts, other correlations were not significant.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.1-17
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• 2015

This study is aimed to discover the deciding factors in senior employment programs for improving the quality of life for the elderly. The dependent variable used in this study was the quality of elderly persons. Personal and familial characteristics, and the community involvement of the elderly were used as independent variables in a Multiple Regression analysis. First, the most influential factor encouraging the elderly to participate in a senior employment promotion program was previous experience of senior employment programs. Second, health condition, residence in city areas, experience of volunteer work, and knowledge of senior employment programs had positive effects on the continuous participation of the elderly men and women. However, living arrangements had an effect solely on elderly men, and home ownership and participation in economic activities had effects solely on elderly women. Third, the life quality of the elderly was affected differently by sex. Health condition had the greatest effect on male elderly persons, whereas, the effective variable, the composition of the family had the most effect on female elderly persons. Thus, active campaigns through various mass media and information sessions are needed to promote participation in senior employment programs, according to the above mentioned deciding factors. In particular infrastructure providing the elderly with more volunteer work opportunity needs to be built for baby boomers to improve their quality of life. In addition, diversified senior employment programs are needed. Because the elderly living in city areas are more willing to participate in senior employment programs, specialized programs suitable for the elderly in city areas are needed. The government should also prepare programs that help the elderly stay healthy while they are working.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.699-713
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand and describe the experiences of patients with Meniere disease. Methods: Data were collected from February 19, 2019, to February 5, 2020, through individual in-depth interviews with 13 Meniere patients. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed using Colaizzi's phenomenological analysis. Results: The experiences of patients with Meniere disease were clustered into the following four themes from 22 meaning units: 1) Complex unfamiliar symptoms that shatter both balance of the body and peace of the heart; 2) A disease that medical treatment and health professionals cannot cure; 3) Suffering hardships that cannot be understood by non-Meniere sufferers; and 4) Making daily efforts to become healthier. Symptoms of Meniere disease are life-shattering and depressing because they are neither visible nor easily curable. Over time, as they accepted the reality of living with the disease, the participants would shift their focus from complete symptomatic cure to leading a healthy and more balanced life. Conclusion: This study shows that Meniere disease has a pervasive impact on all aspects of the patients' lives. Patients are prone to experiencing restrictions in their social functioning and activities. They also experience psychosocial problems due to the unseen nature of their symptoms. This study elucidates the experiences of Meniere patients and the need for nursing intervention to help improve their quality of life and ability to self-manage. Lastly, this study shows the need for a coordinated interdisciplinary approach to raising public awareness of the disease.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.291-294
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• 2019

Primary amebic encephalitis (PAM) is a devastating central nervous system infection caused by Naegleria fowleri, a free-living amoeba, which can survive in soil and warm fresh water. Here, a 43-year-old healthy male was exposed to warm freshwater 5 days before the symptom onset. He rapidly developed severe cerebral edema before the diagnosis of PAM and was treated with intravenous conventional amphotericin B while died of terminal cerebral hernia finally. Comparing the patients with PAM who has similar clinical symptoms to those with other common types of meningoencephalitis, this infection is probably curable if treated early and aggressively. PAM should be considered in the differential diagnosis of purulent meningoencephalitis, especially in patients with recent freshwater-related activities during the hot season.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.211-227
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• 1999

This study was planned and carried out in an attempt to investigate health status and life style. Using a guidline developed by the researcher open-ended interviews were done with a hundred and sixty Korean elderly people, from April 17, through June 2, 1988. The data were analyzed by frequencies, means, percentile scores and Chisquare-test. Major health deviations identified are ; arthritis, blood pressure discrepancies, neuralgia, and powerlessness. Discomfort in relation to elimination(75%) and to rest-activity, especially to the activities of daily living(78%) are experienced ; 11% revealed to be in need of assistance from others. One or more sensory discrepancies are complained by 75% of the subjects. Only 20% of the subjects reported being satisfied with the life-time achievements. Factors revealed that 'descendants' were the major source of pleasure. Leisure hours were spent mostly 'watching TV' 'Healthy life', 'harmonious family life' and 'frequent communication with the family' were the three most frequent wishes towards their family members. 'Insurance for ageing', 'free health care', 'work', 'cultural facilities' and 'warm attention' were the request toward the society.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.29-33
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• 2020

Purpose: This study examined the effects of the weight-bearing pattern and calcaneal taping on the heel width and plantar pressure in standing. Methods: Fifteen healthy subjects with normal feet participated in this study. The heel width was measured using a digital caliper, and a pedoscan was used to measure the plantar pressure of the rear foot while standing. The participants were instructed to stand in three weight-bearing patterns (anterior, middle, and posterior weight bearing) before and after calcaneal taping. The heel width and plantar pressure were measured three times before and three times after calcaneal taping, with the three weight-bearing patterns applied in random order. A 2 (non-taping vs. taping) × 3 (anterior, middle, posterior weight bearing) two-way repeated ANOVA with a Bonferroni post hoc correction was used to assess the differences in heel width and plantar pressure. Results: The results revealed a significant main effect of the weight-bearing pattern (p<.01), but not of calcaneal taping (p>.05). Greater weight bearing applied to the heel resulted in a significantly increased heel width and planter pressure of the rear foot (p<.01). Conclusion: In standing, a posterior weight-bearing pattern increases the heel width due to side-to-side shifting of the plantar heel pad, which increases the heel plantar pressure. Therefore, to prevent high stress on the heel pad and plantar heel pain, it is important to refrain from posterior weight bearing while standing during the activities of daily living.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.135-142
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• 2015

The goals of healthcare design based on the human rights to manage physically, psychologically, and emotionally healthy life. The healthcare designs, however, have been criticized not to reflect their primary users, patients' and families' needs, under the management strategy centered by the functional efficiency. The study focused on the patients' room design on the users' perspective. The design criteria for the patients' room in Japan, Germany, Australia, U.S. and Korea were examined and compared. The subjects of analysis are the floor plans of general hospital recently planned and built in Korea and Japan and the standard floor plan models proposed by prior studies in Korea and AusHFG in Australia. Results and conclusions are as follows: (1) the patients' room has developed as a place where the users manage their living during inpatient period and has become a private room. (2) The guidelines for patients' room size in Korea and Japan are not enough considering the users' diverse activities compare to those in U.S. and Australia. (3) The guidelines of Korea should be reconsidered for the users' comfortable lives. It must include the specific criteria of the enough space between beds, the storages, and other assistant tools and facilities. (4) The desirable types of patients' rooms by the numbers of users in Korea are proposed as a one-bed room type and a four-bed room type.