• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.30-38
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• 2002

The elderly patients are the most frequent users of digoxin because of increased prevalence of the two primary indications for digoxin therapy, fibrillation (AE) and congestive heart failure (CHF). This study performed to observe a variation in digoxin pharamcokinetic parameters in advancing age and changing kidney function and to compare the measured clearance with the calculated clearance. The 123 drug monitoring records of inpatients who had achieved steady state concentration of digoxin at a tertiary hospital from April 1999 to October 2001 were reviewed. In advancing age, measured digoxin clearance, volume of distribution and creatinine clearance were reduced. Compared with the calculated digoxin clearance, the measured digoxin clearance was more reduced in patients without CHF Especially, in elderly patients without CHF the measured digoxin clearance was lower than the calculated digoxin clearance. In contrast to nonCHF patients the measured value was greater than the calculated value in all CHF patients. Findings from this study indicate that the calculated digoxin clearance in elderly patients without CHF substantially overestimated the true clearance. Thus, it appears that the use of calculated digoxin clearance to estimate serum digoxin concentration may result in underestimation of the true serum concentration in a number of elderly patients without CHF.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.152-157
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• 2019

Objectives: The number of elderly patients with systemic basal disease requiring invasive dental treatment has increased. Appropriate prediction of surgical invasiveness and combined use of psychosedation are thought to contribute to safe whole-body management. Dexmedetomidine (DEX) exhibits analgesic and anti-anxiolytic properties and causes mild respiratory depression. Studies regarding DEX use in elderly non-intubated patients are scarce. We aimed to use retrospective data to determine an effective dose of DEX to induce adequate sedation in elderly patients undergoing invasive dental surgery under local anesthesia. Materials and Methods: One hundred two patients aged 70 to 96 years were presumably appropriately controlled with sedation. DEX was administered at an initial loading dose of 2.0 to $3.1{\mu}g/kg/hr$ for 10 minutes. We divided the patients into five groups by age and compared their blood pressures and heart rates. Results: In all five groups, blood pressure decreased suddenly at approximately 15 and 20 minutes after DEX administration. A marked decrease in blood pressure was noted in patients aged 75 to 79 years. Conclusion: For elderly patients aged 75 years and above, the initial loading dose of DEX needs to be reduced to lower than half that required for young and middle-age adults.

• Journal of Korean Society of Health-System Pharmacists
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.453-462
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• 2018

Background : The prevalence of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) tends to be higher in the elderly. Pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy (Peg-IFN/RBV) was recommended as the first-line treatment in the past decades, but this regimen showed unsatisfactory results in terms of safety and efficacy especially in elderly patients. Recently, it was demonstrated that dual therapy with daclatasvir and asunaprevir was well tolerated and led to high sustained virological response (SVR) rates, irrespective of age. We conducted a study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of daclatasvir plus asunaprevir by involving elderly patients aged above 65 years. Methods : We retrospectively analyzed clinical data from chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1b patients treated with daclatasvir plus asunaprevir from September 2015 to December 2016 at Seoul St. Mary's hospital. The patients were divided into two groups as elderly patients (older than 65 years) and non-elderly patients (younger than 65 years) and compared the efficacy and safety. Results : A total of 112 patients were treated with daclatasvir plus asunaprevir for chronic hepatitis C. Among them, 101 patients completed the whole treatment, and in 88 patients the amount of HCV RNA was measured after 12 weeks of treatment. There was no significant difference in SVR at 12 weeks between both the groups (p=0.68). Typically, 91.4%(32/35) of elderly patients and 94.3%(50/53) of non-elderly patients achieved SVR12. Common adverse events included elevation in transaminase level, headache, and gastrointestinal disorders. There was no statistical difference in the symptoms between the two groups. Conclusions : The combination therapy with daclatasvir plus asunaprevir exhibited similar rates of SVR12 in HCV elderly patients without leading to further adverse events compared to non-elderly patients. Therefore, it is proposed that daclatasvir plus asunaprevir therapy could be considered as an effective and safe treatment, even in patients aged over 65 years.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.786-793
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• 2000

Objectives : A clinical analysis was performed to provide management strategy and to improve management outcome of elderly patients with intracranial aneurysm. Patients and Methods : We reviewed medical records of 746 consecutive patients with intracranial aneurysm who were admitted from July 1991 to December 1996. They were divided into two age groups : elderly(120 patients aged 65 years or older) and non-elderly(626 patients aged 64 years or younger). We investigated the differences between the two groups in clinical characteristics, management outcome and surgical results. Results : Female(80.0%), internal carotid artery aneurysm(48.9%), poor clinical grade(Hunt and Hess Grade IV, V : 39.8%), postoperative subdural fluid collection(38.2%), and postoperative hydrocephalus(39.7%) were more frequent in the elderly patients. There were no significant differences in the incidence of hypertension, multiple aneurysm, unruptured aneurysm, rebleeding, delayed ischemic neurological deficits, postoperative hemorrhage, and low density on the postoperative brain CT scan. In some cases, surgical clipping of ruptured aneurysm could not be performed due to moribund state or refusal of surgery by the elderly patient's family. Both management outcome and surgical results in elderly aneurysm patients at 3 months after rupture were worse than those of the non-elderly group. The most common reason of unfavorable outcome was poor clinical grade in both groups, while serious medical illness causing unfavorable outcome was more common in the elderly group. Conclusion : Surgical treatment of a ruptured aneurysm should not be avoided in elderly patient solely on the basis of advanced age. If the patients are in good clinical grade, early aneurysm surgery followed by early ambulation should be recommended. Further improvements in outcome may be achieved by thorough knowledge of poor resilience of brain, CSF flow dynamics, and diminished cardiopulmonary reserve in elderly patients with intracranial aneurysm.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.200-204
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• 2002

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the clinicopathological characteristics and postoperative prognosis of two age groups with gastric cancer in order to establish the proper treatment strategy in these groups of patients. Materials and Methods: Among patients with gastric cancer who underwent a gastrectomy between 1990 and 1996 at the Department of Surgery, Kyungpook National University, the clinicopathological characteristics, including the postoperative survival, of patients younger than 40-years old were compared with those of patients over 69-years old. Results: During that period 1,125 gastric cancer patients underwent a gastrectomy. Among them, 111 patients ($9.9\%$) were less than 40-years old, and 96 patients ($8.5\%$) were over 69-years old. In the young group, 79 patients ($71.2\%$) had a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, and 59 patients from the elderly group ($61.5\%$) had a well- or moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma (P<0.05). Curative surgery was performed for 88 ($79.3\%$) patients in the young group and 78 ($81.3\%$) patients in the elderly group. This difference was not statistically significant. There was no statistically significant difference in the 5-year survival rates between the young and the elderly ($66.3\%\;vs.\;47.2\%$) groups, but the 5-year survival rate of the young group was significantly higher than that of the elderly group after a curative resection ($83.2\%\;vs.\;53.3\%$; P<0.05). Also the 5-year survival rate of the elderly group was significantly higher than that of the young group after a non-curative resection ($20.4\%\;vs.\;4.6\%$; P<0.05). Conclusions: For young patients, more efforts are needed to detect gastric cancer in its early stages so that a curative surgery can be performed. However, for the elderly, surgical treatment is recommended at any stage because of the relatively high survival rate, even after non-curative surgery.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.121-130
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• 2020

Purpose : The objective of the current study was to evaluate the impact of the Computer-Based Cognitive Rehabilitation Program (CoTras) on the cognitive function and daily living activities of elderly and adult stroke patients. Methods : Twenty stroke patients were divided into two groups comprising 10 elderly stroke patients and 10 adult stroke patients. The CoTras was applied as the intervention for 30 minutes at a time, three times a week, for nine weeks (i.e., a total of 27 times), to both groups. The Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination was used to assess cognitive function, and the Functional Independence Measure was utilized to evaluate daily living activities, prior to, during, and after the intervention. Results : The CoTras was demonstrated to have a statistically significant and positive effect on the cognitive function and daily living activities of stroke patients. However, the effect of the program on the restoration of weight-shifting capacity, as a component of the daily living activities of stroke patients, was without statistical significance. The program had a greater influence on improving the cognitive function and daily living activities of elderly stroke patients than adult stroke patients. Conclusion : This study makes a meaningful contribution to the literature on the topic as the intervention was demonstrated to lead to a more significant recovery of cognitive function and daily living activities in elderly stroke patients, compared to adult patients. Therefore, it is proposed that the CoTras should be used as a clinical intervention for elderly stroke patients. Future studies that evaluate the application of the CoTras, along with other occupation-based intervention programs, are warranted.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.25-32
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• 2019

Objective: South Korea made a list of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) for elderly patients in 2015 and has prompted medical professionals to prescribe proper medication by using the drug utilization review (DUR) system. It has been three years since the system was introduced, but related studies have rarely been conducted. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the DUR system on the prescription of PIMs for elderly patients. Methods: The data on the prescription of PIMs for elderly patients (${\geq}65$ years) who received medical treatment between March 1st and May 31st in 2015 (before introduction of the DUR system) and who received medical treatment between March 1st and May 31st in 2018 (after introduction of the DUR system) were retrospectively collected from electronic medical records. Results: The prescriptions of PIMs decreased from 3,716 (7.7%) to 3,857 (6.9%) (p < 0.001). The prescription of escitalopram and paroxetine, among selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, increased significantly, and that of short-acting benzodiazepines also increased significantly from 454 (0.93%) to 624 (1.2%). Conclusion: Prescription of PIMs for elderly patients significantly decreased (p < 0.001) after the DUR system was introduced. Further expanded studies of PIMs need to be conducted for the safety of elderly patients.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.116-121
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• 2011

Purpose: Gastric cancer surgery is a common operation in East Asia, such as Korea and Japan, and there has been a significant increase in the need for this procedure due to the aging population. As a result, surgery for the treatment of gastric cancer for elderly patients is expected to increase. This study examined the effect of old age on gastric cancer surgery, and analyzed the operative risk factors for elderly patients. Materials and Methods: From November 2008 to August 2010, 590 patients, who underwent a curative resection for gastric cancers, were enrolled. Patients who underwent palliative or emergency surgery were excluded. A retrospective analysis of the correlation between surgical outcomes and age was performed. The elderly were defined as patients who were over the age of 65 years. Results: The mean age of all patients was 58.3 years, and complications occurred in 87 cases (14.7%). The most common complication was wound infection and severe complications requiring surgical, endoscopic, or radiologic intervention developed in 52 cases (8.8%). The rate of complications increased with increasing age of the patients. Univariate analysis revealed age, comorbidity, extent of resection, operation time, and combined resection to be associated with surgical complications. In particular, age over 75 years old, operation time, and comorbidity were predictive factors in multivariate analysis. In the elderly, only comorbidity was associated with surgical complications Conclusions: The patients' age is the most important factor for predicting surgical complications. Surgeons should pay an attention to the performance of gastric cancer surgery on elderly patients. In particular, it must be performed carefully for elderly patients with a comorbidity.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.55-65
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• 2008

Objective: This study aims to investigate the relationship between dental status and oral function by analyzing those in some long-term care elderly patients. Methods: It performed oral examination and 4 oromotor function examinations such as repeated swallowing function, correct pronunciation function, saliva secretion rate and maximum mouth opening to 91 elderly patents aged 65 and older in the municipal geriatric hospital located in Cheonan. Results: Dental status of patients such as the number of dental caries, treated teeth, retained teeth and function teeth were better in mobile elderly patients than in immobile elderly patients. Attachment rate of dental plaque and the number of teeth being extracted were more in mobile patients than in immobile patients. More retained teeth, the number of function teeth and dental caries and the score in pronunciation status test were significantly higher. With more function teeth, the score in pronunciation status test was significantly higher. As saliva secretion rate is higher, repeated swallowing function was significantly better. repeated swallowing function rate is higher pronunciation status was significantly better. Conclusions: With the results of this study, it was found that among long-term care elderly patients, oral function was worse in immobile patients than in mobile patients. Therefore, it may be necessary to plan and perform an oral function improvement program preferentially for elderly patients requiring long-term care.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.254-259
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• 2016

Purpose: Owing to increased life expectancy, the number of elderly patients with gastric cancer has increased. This study aimed to identify the outcomes of gastric cancer patients aged 80 years or older through comparison of their clinicopathological characteristics, surgical outcomes, and oncologic outcomes. Materials and Methods: Between January 2006 and December 2013, the records of 478 patients who underwent surgery for gastric cancer were retrospectively evaluated. Patients were divided into two groups: patients <80 years old (n=446) and patients ${\geq}80$ years old (n=32). Results: There were no significant differences in sex, body mass index, length of hospital stay, duration of surgery, depth of invasion, nodal metastasis, histologic type, or tumor size between the two groups. However, significant differences were found for the American Society of Anesthesiologist score and the serum albumin level between the two groups. Postoperative morbidity, mortality, disease-free survival, and recurrence rate did not differ between curatively resected patients in the two groups. Conclusions: In elderly patients with gastric cancer, active treatment including radical gastrectomy is necessary.