• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.293-301
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• 2011

Purpose : The purposes of this study were to investigate the age-related difference in balance ability in the elderly over 65 years and to verify the clinical usefulness of the functional reach test (FRT) for balance evaluation of the elderly through the sensory organization test (SOT). Methods : The subjects were forty-six community dwelling elderly people over 65 years old in order to verify the correlation of balance measures and to compare the balance ability. Balance was measured using the FRT and the six sub-equilibrium scores and the composite equilibrium score of the SOT. Pearson's product correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the relationships among these measurements of balance. Results : There was a significant difference in functional reach by age in the elderly (p<.01). There was a significant negative correlation between the FRT and the age of the elderly (r=-.396, p<.01). There was also significant high positive correlation between the FRT and the eye closed sway surface (EC/SS) (r=.789, p<.01), and composite equilibrium score (r=.548, p<.01) of the SOT. Conclusion : Thus, it is possible to use the FRT as a quantitative measure of balance, rather than the SOT, which is more expensive and complicated to evaluate elderly people. According to the results of this study, the use of the FRT is required clinically to objectively measure the balance of elderly people in the future.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.122-130
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• 2008

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the associated factors of the perceived health status of the elderly in Korea and to provide basic data for developing nursing interventions for the elderly's health management. Methods: This study used a descriptive correlational research design. The subjects of this study were 335 elderly people over 60 yr living in an urban city. Data were collected through personal interviews using questionnaires from September 2006 to March 2007. Empirical indicators of perceived health status were measured by SF-36, nutritional screening initiative (NSI), activities of daily living (ADL) Index, and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) scale. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, and hierarchical regression. Results: The mean age of the subjects was 72.8 and 57.0% of subjects were female. 41.5% of variance in physical health was explained by nutrition, ADL, IADL, and the number of years attending school. Among them the most important factor was ADL. 13.2% of variance in mental health was explained the number of family, nutrition, and IADL. Among them the most important factor was nutrition. Conclusion: It is necessary to develop supportive interventions for improving the perceived health status of elderly people by considering the most important factors shown in this study.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.474-486
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a Korean version of the Self-Care for Aspiration Pneumonia Prevention (SCAPP-K) scale in older adults at risk of dysphasia. Methods: The Hertz and Baas model of scale development and validation was used. In the development stage, items were generated via literature review and interviews with medical experts, older adults, and caregivers. Ten experts assessed the items for content validity. Subsequently, 12 older adults participated in a pilot test to determine the comprehensibility and appropriateness of the SCAPP-K scale. The validation stage involved a cross-sectional survey with 203 older adults for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and 200 older adults for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and to determine convergent and discriminant validity. To test the validity and reliability of the scale, EFA using principal component analysis with varimax rotation and CFA were conducted, and convergent and discriminant validity as well as internal consistency reliability were determined. Results: As a result of EFA, three self-care factors (knowledge, resources, behaviors) with 21 items were validated. The CFA and convergent and discriminant validity indicated the applicability of the three-factor self-care scale. The reliability of the SCAPP-K scale was acceptable, with Cronbach's α=.87~.91. Conclusion: The SCAPP-K scale has acceptable validity and reliability and can contribute to clinical practice, research, and education to improve self-care for the prevention of aspiration pneumonia in older adults at risk of dysphasia.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.1-9
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• 2007

Walking is not only an essential component of the human mobility, but also is a good exercise. Inability to walk freely can reduce an individual's quality of life and independence substantially. Being a relatively low impact activity, walking is particularly good for the elderly and research has shown that regular walking in the elderly reduces the chance of fall-related injuries and mental diseases as well. In spite of the documented benefits of regular walking, it is still difficult to walk without the aid of assistive devices for the frail elderly who have lower extremity problems. Assistive walking devices(AWD), such as crutches, canes, hiking-poles, T-Poles and walkers, are often prescribed to the elderly to make their walking be safe and efficient. Many researchers have demonstrated the effects of AWDs such as reducing lower extremity loading, improved dynamic/gait stability, yet, no study has been done for gait pattern when the elderly gait with AWDs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine whether T-Poles, one of the AWDs, change the elderly gait pattern. Eight community-dwelling female elderly participated in this study. Laboratory kinematics during walking with T-Poles(PW) and with out T-Poles(NPW) was assessed. PW showed significant increase in step width, stride length, gait velocity and decrease in swing time. No significances were found in lower body joint angles but meaningful trend and pattern were found. Maybe the reason was due to the participants. Our participants were healthy enough so that the effect of T-Poles was minimum. PW also showed typical gait phases which are no single support phase during a gait cycle. It indicates that walking with T-Poles may guarantee safe and confident walking to the frail elderly.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.341-347
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• 2007

For the purpose of finding how aircraft noise annoyance response is affected by variables when noise survey is performed, the questionnaire survey is conducted around the Gimpo International Airport in Seoul, Republic of Korea. This residential area is exposed to the aircraft noise and road traffic noise, simultaneously. Research areas are classified according to three different aircraft noise exposure levels expressed in WECPNL, under 75, between 75 and 80, and above 80 WECPNL, on aircraft noise map. The 7-step numerical magnitude with verbal category scales is used to measure the annoyance level. This survey suggests that aircraft noise annoyance is not affected to an important extent by other noise sources(road traffic noise, community noise) and demographic variables(sex, age, education, occupation, dwelling type, length of residence).

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.26-34
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• 2006

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of group therapeutic exercise programs on the cognitive function, Activities of Daily Living (ADL), and balance-performing ability in older adults. Fifteen community-dwelling subjects (mean age 73.7 yrs, standard deviation 2.4) participated in this study. An 8-week group therapeutic exercise program, including strengthening and balance training, breathing and gait exercise, and recreation, consisted of activities related to daily living. The Mini-Mental State Examination-Korean (MMSE-K), Modified Barthel Index (MBI), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Functional Reaching Test (FRT), and Timed Up & Go (TUG) test were measured during pre-exercise and post-exercise points. The results of this study were as follows: 1. After eight weeks, the MMSE-K and MBI total score was more significantly increased for post-exercise tests than pre-exercise tests (respectively, p<.05, p<.01). 2. Of the MBI contents, personal hygiene, dressing, ambulation, and chair/bed transfers scores were significant increased for post-exercise tests. 3. Post exercise BBS, FRT, and TUG scores were higher than the pre-exercise scores. The difference was statistically significant (respectively, p<.05, p<.05, p<.01). These findings suggest that group therapeutic exercise can be used to improve the cognitive function, ADL, and balance-performing ability in elderly persons.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.98-104
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• 2012

Objectives: A positive association between serum albumin levels and metabolic syndrome has been reported in observation studies, but it has not been established in the Korean population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between serum albumin levels and the presence of metabolic syndrome among a sample of apparently healthy Korean adults. Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed data of 3189 community-dwelling people (1189 men and 2000 women) who were aged 40 to 87 years and were living in a rural area in Korea. Serum albumin levels were classified into quartile groups for each sex. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines with an adjusted waist circumference cut-off value ${\geq}90\;cm$ for men and${\geq}85\;cm$ for women). An independent association between serum albumin levels and metabolic syndrome was assessed by multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: Higher serum albumin levels were associated with increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome. The odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of the prevalence of metabolic syndrome for the highest versus the lowest serum albumin quartiles was 2.81 (1.91 to 4.14) in men and 1.96 (1.52 to 2.52) in women, after adjusting for age, smoking status, alcohol consumption, and physical activity. When each metabolic abnormality was analyzed separately, higher serum albumin levels were significantly associated with hypertriglyceridemia and hyperglycemia in both sexes, and with abdominal obesity in men. Conclusions: These results suggest that higher serum albumin levels are positively associated with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome in Korean adults.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.260-274
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• 2016

Objectives: Previous epidemiological studies about oxidative stress and depression are limited by hospital-based case-control design, single-time measurements of oxidative stress biomarkers, and the small number of study participants. Therefore, in this study, we analyzed the association between biomarker of oxidative stress and depressive symptom scores using repeatedly measured panel data from a community-dwelling elderly population. Methods: From 2008 to 2010, a total of 478 elderly participants residing in Seoul, Korea, were evaluated three times. Participants underwent the Korean version of the Short Form Generic Depression Scale (SGDS-K) test for screening depression, and urinary malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were measured as an oxidative stress biomarker. We used a generalized estimating equation with a compound symmetry covariance structure to estimate the effects of oxidative stress on depressive symptom scores. Results: A two-fold increase in urinary MDA concentration was significantly associated with a 33.88% (95% confidence interval [CI], 21.59% to 47.42%) increase in total SGDS-K scores. In subgroup analyses by gender, a two-fold increase in urinary MDA concentration was significantly associated with increased SGDS-K scores in both men and women (men: 30.88%; 95% CI, 10.24% to 55.37%; women: 34.77%; 95% CI, 20.09% to 51.25%). In bivariate analysis after an SGDS-K score ${\geq}8$ was defined as depression, the third and the fourth urinary MDA quartiles showed a significantly increased odds ratio(OR) of depression compared to the lowest urinary MDA quartile (third quartile OR, 6.51; 95% CI, 1.77 to 24.00; fourth quartile OR, 7.11; 95% CI, 1.99 to 25.42). Conclusions: Our study suggests a significant association between oxidative stress and depressive symptoms in the elderly population.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.325-336
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• 1996

Community organization of the drosophilid flies was investigated with respect to the seasonal variation in species abundance and vertical microdistribution on the basis of the trapped collections in the two natural forests on Cheju-do from May to October 1994. The dominant species were Drosophila bizonata, D. curviceps, D. lutescens, D. angu leris, D. tsigana and D. immigrans in the annual collections. The pattern in seasonal changes of the dominant species was similar at the two survey sites. Seasonal fluctuation in the species diversity was more affected by evenness than by species richness (number of species). The seasonal variation of abundance showed an unimodal pattern in all of the dominant species. The seasonal patterns of vertical microdistribution revealed difference in some of the dominant species between the two survey sites. These results suggest that the predominant species in the forest avoid niche overlap by means of seasonal separation of breedings and that the vertical microdistribution is strongly affected by factors associated with season and vertical site in the deep wooded forests.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.164-173
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• 2011

Purpose: The colorectal polyps has been regarded as a precursor of colon cancer, and the prevalence and mortality of colon cancer in Korea has increased due to westernized lifestyle and environmental factors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics and the risk factors on colorectal polyps in adults. Methods: The participants were 956 adults enrolled from health screen examinees underwent colonoscopy at the health promotion center in Seoul. Results: 49.5 percent of examinees has colorectal polyps and the most common sites were ascending colon (27.6%) and sigmoid colon (23.2%). The colorectal polyps showed a significant difference according to gender, age, and health behavior related characteristics including alcohol intake, exercise, and BMI. In male, the relative odds of having an colorectal polyps decreased as exercise (OR=1.74; 95% CI=1.01-1.04), and increased as BMI (OR=1.57; 95% CI=1.07-2.50) and age (OR=1.02; 95% CI=1.02-1.04). In female, it decreased as exercise (OR=2.49; 95% CI=1.52-4.10), and increased as age (OR=1.05; 95% CI=1.02-1.08). Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, age and exercise were the influencing factors of colorectal polyps in health screen examinees. Therefore, effective exercise and appropriate health education program about colorectal polyps need to be developed and applied in nursing interventions to prevent colorectal polyps in the community dwelling adults.