• Journal of the Korean housing association
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.57-68
• /
• 2000

This study has been performed to review critical issues affecting continuous residence in profit(self-paid) assistant living facilities for the elderly in the United States. There are three factors influencing continuous residence of frail elderly in the facilities as long as they want without involuntary discharge : Financial ability, behavioral aspects, and facility management situation. Regarding financial ability, income, purchase of insurance policy, cashable assets, willingfulness to pay, and health status were found to be crucial determinants of continuous residence. Overall, 40-50% of those aged 65+ are financially able to stay in the assistant facilities as long as they want, without involuntary discharge. As for behavioral aspects, extroversions, congeniality, culture & life style, conscientiousness, preference for person, and physiological habits were found to be crucial determinants of continuous residence. As for the management situation, it is essential that facilities reach nature level of self-governing rights of the older residents and good local images, and conflicts among the residents and managing parties be resolved on the agreeable standards of inspectors. finally in this study, it is proposed that in Korea, national pension authority offer a liability package for assistant residence, for the case of individual bankruptcy.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.29-35
• /
• 2019

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to provide the standard value of the Five Times Sit to Stand Test (FTSST) measurement on the daily life independence of the elderly in Korea and examine the effects of this test on their daily lives. METHODS: This study was conducted on elderly people over 65 years of age living in Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea. FTSST was performed while sitting position on a chair. The subjects were classified into independent and dependent living groups according to their lifestyle, and their influence was then examined through logistic regression analysis. To determine the usefulness and cut-off value of the FTSST, the analysis was performed using the ROC curve. RESULTS: The elderly were more likely to live in a group rather than independently as the FTSST time increased (p<.05) (OR=1.098). The area of the lower part of the ROC curve was .707, and as the FTSST increased, a subject was more likely to live in a group rather than independently (p<.05). The cut-off value was assigned to the point where both the specificity and sensitivity were at the coordinates. The sensitivity and specificity were .626 and .753, respectively at 15.62 seconds. CONCLUSION: The elderly in Korea are more likely to live a group-dependent lifestyle than live independently; the likelihood of this outcome is increased further for every additional second beyond 15.62 seconds. The loss of independence of daily life could be predicted based on the status of a subject's lower leg strength using the FTSST.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.47-58
• /
• 2019

Objectives: To conduct and report the results of a public health promotion program in Korean medicine (KM), namely the KM Visiting Care Service for Solitary Elderly, from November 2018 to April 2019. Methods: Six elderly people living in a rural area received the KM visiting care service, twice a week, for four months. This service consisted of acupuncture, auriculotherapy, and supportive counseling to manage their musculoskeletal pain, cognitive impairment, and/or depression. The changes of symptoms were assessed using Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), Korean version of Mini-Mental State Examination for Dementia Screening (MMSE-DS), Korean version of Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-K), and Geriatric Depression Scale-Short form Korean (GDS-SF-K). Results: Through the 4-months KM visiting care service, the overall subjects' NRS-rated pain decreased slightly. Most showed improvement in MMSE-DS and/or MoCA-K, except one subject who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Depression assessed by GDS-SF-K showed improvement in a few subjects who were unable to walk independently. Satisfaction assessed through survey was generally high in all subjects. Conclusions: This KM Visiting Care Service for Solitary Elderly may help improve the pain and cognitive function of frail solitary elderly in rural areas. However, the protocol need to be improved to optimize the effect.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.26 no.5
• /
• pp.382-395
• /
• 2021

Objectives: This study examined the nutritional status according to frailty status in the elderly at home. Methods: The participants were a total of 76 elderly at home living in Seo-gu, Gwangju, Korea. The nutritional status and frailty status were analyzed using the Nutrition Quotient for Elderly (NQ-E) and the Korean version of the Fatigue, Resistance, Ambulation, Illnesses and Loss of weight Scale (K-FRAIL), respectively. Results: The distribution of frailty status was robust (17.1%), pre-frailty (38.2%) and frailty (44.7%), and its distribution was significantly different in genders, age groups and the number of medications. The mean NQ-E score was 47.0 for total subjects, indicating a low grade. The scores of balance, diversity and dietary behavior factors were within the low grade, while the score of the moderation factor was within the medium-high grade. According to the frailty status, pre-frailty and frailty showed significantly higher scores for sugar-added beverages intake in the moderation constructs than robust. Robust showed significantly higher scores for the exercise hours and perception level for one's health than pre-frailty and frailty. Conclusions: These results suggest that nutrition status is associated with frailty status. Regular nutrition education and visiting nutrition service should be established to improve the balance and diversity of food intake and improve the dietary behavior of the elderly at home.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.201-211
• /
• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of a local community based multi-factorial program for high-risk younger and older elderly people. Methods: The quasi-experimental research design (pretest-post test) was employed. Participants were recruited in Seoul and a total of 98 elders completed an 8-week multi-factorial program for preventing frailty. Descriptive statistics, $x^2$-test and GLM were used in the data analysis with SPSS/WIN 15.0. Results: The high-risk elderly people in the younger and older stages showed differences in IADL, TUG and BMI, and after being provided with the multi-factorial program for preventing frailty, some effects were shown on improving the total score of frailty, a physical function, TUG, BMI, depression, subjective feeling of health, and social interaction. Conclusion: The 8-week multi-factorial program for preventing frailty had positive effects on improving physical, emotional and social functions of the high-risk elderly people. It is necessary to evaluate the effects after individual intervention as well as group intervention and to evaluate the effects of the program by setting a control group in the future.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.373-382
• /
• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to compare levels of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) between fallers and non-fallers among community-dwelling elderly people. Methods: A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted with the secondary analysis of 2,067 elderly people registered in S-Gu Visiting Health Care Program in Seoul, South Korea. Participants were 206 fallers and 206 non-fallers who were age- and sex-matched with fallers. HRQOL was measured by SF-8 including physical component summary (physical HRQOL) and mental component summary (mental HRQOL). Results: There were more people in the faller group having more than or equal to three chronic diseases (p<.001), living in multiplex houses (p=.004), and being dependent by the activities of daily living (ADL) (p=.001) and instrumental ADL (IADL) levels (p<.001) than those in the non-faller group. Fallers had higher levels of depression than non-fallers (p<.001). Moreover, fallers had significantly lower levels of both physical HRQOL (p<.001) and mental HRQOL (p=.001), after adjusting for number of chronic diseases, ADL, IADL, depression, healthcare insurance, and living environment. Conclusion: Among the community-dwelling elderly people, falllers had lower levels of HRQOL than non-fallers, and such a difference remained even after the adjustment for covariates. Factors that underlie the different susceptibility to HRQOL need to be explored.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.39-50
• /
• 2005

For the life quality improvement of rural elderly family placed in risk of frail, this study was investigated. Health habit, food habit, and dietary management were analyzed between elderly and middle aged family The subjects 1870 collected in 9 provinces 88 cities or guns by sampling with probability proportional to size(PPS). Questionnaire method was used. Survey was conducted by trained interviewers. Statistical analyses were performed using SAS(version 8.1). Chi-square tests and General Linear Models were used. The elderly families' characters were odd pair$(42.0\%)$, with patients$(17.6\%)$ and health examination per 1 or 2 years$(44.0\%)$. The elderly families' health habit: high of no-drink$(55.2\%)$ and low of smoke$(31.3\%)$ situation was better than those of middle aged families'. The states of diets of elderly family: having breakfast$(94.1\%)$ but 1-2 kinds$(17.7\%)$ or 3-4 kinds$(59.4\%)$ of side dishes allowed to guess lower status of food intake balance. Nutritional supplements$(27.5\%)$with tablets of vitamins$(63.5\%)$ were the most frequent states in elderly family. The aspects of dietary habit of elderly family: no instant foods$(72.6\%)$, no snack$(3.08\%)$ and no dine-out$(67.7\%)$ were significantly different with those of middle aged family. Dietary habit score(8.28/12 points) of elderly family was not significantly different with 8.22/12 points of middle aged family. Food purchase place of elderly family was mainly at traditional market$(43.6\%)$, but it was significantly different with super-market$(47.6\%)$ of middle aged family. In elderly family, traditional dish preparation was seldom$(49.8\%)$ except winter kimchi$(91.5\%)$, but significantly higher rate of in middle aged families' traditional dish preparation and winter kimchi$(94.5\%)$. From these results, more of snack, traditional dishes and dine-out were needed to improve quality of life for rural elderly.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.56 no.2
• /
• pp.155-167
• /
• 2023

Purpose: This study investigates the association between seafood consumption and frailty according to gender in the Korean elderly. Methods: Cross-sectional data from the Seventh (2016-2018) Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was procured for this study. Data from 3,675 subjects (1,643 men and 2,032 women) aged ≥ 65 years were analyzed. Levels of seafood intake were assessed by a one-day 24-hour dietary recall, and subjects were classified into three tertiles by gender according to frailty phenotype: robust, pre-frail, and frail. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to clarify the association between seafood consumption and frailty for each gender. Results: The prevalence of frailty was determined as 13.4% for men and 29.7% for women. Participants with a higher seafood intake had higher intakes of grains, fruits, and vegetables, while the intake of meat was significantly lower. In both men and women, the group with higher seafood intake showed higher energy and micronutrient intakes. The frail prevalence and frailty score were significantly low in the highest tertiles of seafood consumption compared to the lowest tertile in men and women (p < 0.001). After adjusting for confounder, the highest tertile of seafood consumption showed a decreased risk of frailty compared to the lowest tertile only in women (hazard ratio [HR], 0.50; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.32-0.78; p-trend = 0.008 vs. HR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.32-0.83; p-trend = 0.008; respectively). Conclusion: Results of this study suggest that seafood consumption potentially decreases the risk of frailty in the elderly.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.46 no.6
• /
• pp.848-857
• /
• 2016

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate factors affecting frailty by age groups among vulnerable elders in Korea. Methods: In this secondary analysis, data were collected from records for 22,868 elders registered in the Visiting Health Management program of Public Health Centers in 2012. Health behaviors, clinically diagnosed disease, frailty, depression and cognitive condition were assessed. Data were analyzed using stepwise regression to determine the associated factors of frailty by age group. Results: Alcohol consumption, physical activity, number of diseases, DM, CVA, arthritis, urinary incontinence, depression and cognitive condition were found to be factors significantly associated with frailty among the elders aged 65~74 (F=135.66, p <.001). Alcohol consumption, physical activity, CVA, arthritis, urinary incontinence, depression and cognitive condition were found to be factors associated with frailty in the elders aged 75~84 (F=245.40, p <.001). Physical activity, CVA, arthritis, depression and cognitive condition were factors associated with frailty in the elders over 85 years of age (F=96.48, p <.001). Conclusion: The findings show that frailty of elders and associated factors were different by age group, and common factors affecting frailty were physical activity, CVA, arthritis, depression and cognitive condition. Thus, these factors should be considered in the development of intervention program for care and prevention of frailty and program should be modified according to age group.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.376-386
• /
• 2001

I. Background The problem of discharging patients from hospital have been well documented in the literature over the last 20 years. They included poor communication between hospital and community, inadequate notice of discharge, over-reliance on informal support and lack of statutory support, inattention to patients needs before leaving hospital, and wasted or duplicated visits by community nurses. Most patients discharged from hospital are able to return home with little or no support, while others will require a 'package of care' to support them back to good health. Patient with complex care needs, including the frail elderly and those with mental health problems, may require continuing care in special housing, residential, or nursing homes. With this population,effective discharge arrangement is needed and the study on this problem is urgent in Korea because the Medical Reform Project is on suspension of success. II. Results of the Study: 1. Discharge service needs assessed on 360 elderly patients who were hospitalized during the survey period at four university hospitals. Patients want to know the information on disease management after discharge. Follow-up telephone service is the most frequently checked service. 2. Multidisciplinary Discharge Planning is recommended at the hospital level to reduce the readmission and decrease the length of stay. 3. Further research is needed to validate and test the assumption of the solution which is developed in this research.