• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.67-84
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• 2023

In this study, Korean older adults (70-75 yrs) were divided into two groups according to the degree of reading exposure, and real-time data were collected through a reading eye movement tracking experiment. Then, overall reading patterns and word frequency ef ects were compared with two groups of older adults and younger adults (20-28 yrs). Furthermore, through the results of the eye movement tracking experiment of older adults with rich reading exposure and older adults with poor reading exposure, we tried to find out whether reading performance af ects not only changes in age but also reading exposure. As a result of the experiment, the older adults with poor reading exposure group generally had a longer fixation time and a shorter saccade than the younger adults group, and the older adults with rich reading exposure group showed the same reading patterns as the younger adults group. The word frequency ef ect was confirmed in all groups, and the fixation time was short in the order of older adults with rich reading exposure group and older adults with poor reading exposure group. In addition, an interaction ef ect was shown in the two elderly groups according to reading exposure, but no interaction could be confirmed in the dif erence between the younger adults group and the older adults with rich reading exposure group. This suggests the possibility that reading performance is not af ected by age itself, but by the reading experience of the elderly.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.820-830
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• 1997

Sleep is an essential component for health and the quality of life of individuals, and is affected by multiple factors. Thereby, sleep impairment is known to be frequent even in healthy subjects. The purpose of the study is to compare sleep patterns and related factors between healthy young and old adults and to identify aging effects upon sleep in a cross-sectional way. The survey questionnaire was developed by translation and modification of two well-known sleep questionnaires which were originally developed by Monroe(1967) and Ellis, et al. (1982). Discussion with experts and pilot study were completed to finalize the contents of the questionnaire that was used in this study. Results are as follows : 1. Sleep complaints were lower in older adults. 2. The most frequent variables that explain sleep satisfaction were feeling rested in the morning in the older adults and feeling rested and failing asleep within five minutes in the young adults. 3. Regarding sleep-disturbing factors, physical factors were more frequently reported in the older adults and environmental factors are reported more frequently in the young adults, and there was no difference related to the emotional factors between the two groups. 4. Young adults were practiced strategies for better sleep more often than the older adults, and they were mainly in-home activities just before sleep. 5. Sleep patterns which change with aging were as follows : going to bed and waking up earlier : not staying in the bed long after waking up ; getting harder to fall asleep ; frequent arousal after sleep onset ; getting harder to go back to sleep after arousal during night sleep. From the results of this study, it can be concluded that sleep and related factors of the young and the older adults are different. Also, sleep patterns change with aging and those changes seem to be negative for sleep in the elderly. Repeated studies are needed to establish more concrete information regarding sleep patterns. In addition, further research is needed to develop more reliable, valid, and feasible sleep measure tools, and to develop and evaluate nursing interventions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.93-99
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• 2014

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare three dimensional displacement and peak velocity of the center of mass (COM) during obstacle crossing in young and older adults. METHODS: 10 young adults (6 males/4 females, $24.6{\pm}1.9$ years, age range: 22.0-26.9) and 10 older adults (1 male/9 females, $76.9{\pm}5.1$ years, age range: 65.2-81.2) participated in the study. Both groups crossed an obstacle, which is 10% of leg length, and COM was measured using motion analysis system. Independent t-test was used to find significant differences between two groups. RESULTS: The older adults showed significantly greater and faster COM displacement and peak velocity in mediolateral (M-L) direction as compared with young adults (p<.01 and p<.001 respectively). However, the young adults showed significantly greater and faster COM displacement and peak velocity in anteroposterior (A-P) direction as compared with older adults (p<.05 and p<.001 respectively). Furthermore, the young adults showed faster peak velocity of COM in vertical direction as compared with older adults (p<.001). However, no significant difference was found in the COM displacement in vertical direction between two groups. CONCLUSION: Greater and faster COM displacement and peak velocity in M-L direction in older adults were due to compensatory adjustment for appropriate contact on base of support of swing limb. Thus, the motion of the COM in M-L direction may be a crucial factor to identify risk of falls in older adults.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.18-25
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• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify changes in physical activity, sleep quality, and quality of life (QOL) during COVID-19 in adults by age group. Methods: An online survey was conducted on a total of 160 participants who were divided into three groups by age; young adults, middle-aged adults, and old adults. The participants responded to the self-reported assessment of the impact of social distancing during COVID-19, International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF36). Descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and Pearson's correlation were used for data analysis. Results: There were significant differences between the three age groups in physical activity (p<0.05) and PSQI (p<0.01) and a post hoc analysis showed that the young adults' group had significantly higher physical activity than the old adults' group, while the old adults' group had significantly lower scores of PSQI (better sleep quality) than the others. The young adults' group showed a significant negative correlation between the stress from social distancing and QOL (r=-0.27, p<0.05) and between PSQI and QOL (r=-0.48, p<0.05). For the middle-aged adults' group, there was a significant negative correlation between PSQI and QOL (r=-0.53, p<0.05). The old adults' group showed a significant negative correlation between the stress from social distancing and physical activity (r=-0.35, p<0.05) and PSQI (r=-0.50, p<0.05), while there was a significant positive correlation between physical activity and PSQI (r=0.30, p<0.05) and QOL (r=0.30, p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study could be used as basic data for the promotion of physical and mental health in the post-COVID-19 era.

• Journal of Korean Gerontological Nursing
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.185-192
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• 2018

Purpose: Korea is one of the most rapidly aging countries, accompanied by an increasing number of older adults with dementia. Certified-care-assistants are the primary care workers for these older adults. This cross-sectional descriptive study compared the factors influencing care behaviors among Korean and non-Korean certified-care-assistants in Korea. Methods: Participants, 113 Korean certified-care-assistants and 71 non-Korean certified-care-assistants, completed a survey questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed to assess dementia knowledge, attitude and care behaviors toward older adults with dementia. To determine the differences in these two groups, t-test was used. A stepwise multiple regression was performed to identify factors related to care behavior. Results: Significant differences in dementia knowledge, attitude and care behavior toward older adults with dementia emerged between Korean and non-Korean certified-care-assistants. Factors influencing care behavior varied by group. Dementia knowledge and education level were the significant factors of care behaviors in Korean certified-care-assistants, whereas attitude toward older adults with dementia was the significant factor in non-Korean certified-care-assistants. Conclusion: Findings indicate that different factors influence the care behavior of two groups. These findings can be utilized to develop certified-care-assistants' training curriculum that needs to be tailored by nationality to improve the quality of care for older adults with dementia.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.23-31
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• 2019

The present study examines whether pitch range variation in North Kyunsang Korean shows a categorical or continuous function. Specifically, the study is focused on the data imitated by adults and children in the North Kyungsang region. To investigate pitch range variation, the log-produced f0 intervals were measured and statistically analyzed. The results of the study are as follows. First, both the adults' and children's imitations were more categorical than continuous, especially for the HL-LH patterns. For the other pitch accent patterns, such as HH-HL and HH-LH, the curves were continuous or flat for most of the speakers. Second, the children's imitations were poorer than those of the adults. That is, the children's imitative responses were shown as more continuous or flat curves than categorical. For the children, the HL-LH pattern showed a categorical function at the midpoint of the curves, though the shifts were not as distinctive as the adults' data. This implies that the imitative responses of children follow the perceptual and productive trace of adults' speech behavior.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.66-74
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• 2007

The aim of the present study was to investigate age-related differences in stepping behavior in response to sensory perturbations of postural balance. The participants for this study were 2 healthy elderly adults (mean age=76.0) and 2 younger adults (mean age=25.5). Subjects were asked to step over a 10 cm high obstacle at self-paced speed with the right limb to land on the primary target (normal step length) that is 10 cm in diameter. However, if, during movement, the light was illuminated, then the subject had to step on the secondary target (long step length). It was planned that the onset of the light would be prior to peak Fx of swing limb, between swing peak Fx and swing toe-off, and after swing toe-off. In the younger adults these secondary visual cues were provided at mean times of 240 ms (standard deviation (SD)=11), 402 ms (SD=13), and 476 ms (SD=88) following the movement onset. Corresponding mean times for the healthy elderly were 150 ms (SD=67), 352 ms (SD=39), and 562 ms (SD=115). Results showed great changes in both group and visual cue condition in Fx ground reaction forces and temporal events following the swing toe-off. Swing limb acceleration force (Fx) and stance peak Fx1 was much greater in the young adults compared to the older adults. Both young and older adults increased stance peak Fx2 in the visual cue condition compared to normal stepping. There was no difference in stance peak Fx2 between the visual cue conditions in both groups. Similarly, the time to stance peak Fx2 was much longer for the visual cue condition than for the normal stepping. It was not different between the visual cue conditions in the young adults, but in the elderly mid and late cue was much greater than early cue. In addition, time to stance peak Fx2 and swing and stance time were much longer in the older adults compared to the young adults for the visual cue conditions. These results suggest that unlike young adults, elderly adults did not flexibly modify their responses to unexpected changes in step length while stepping over obstacles.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.189-194
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• 2012

It is well-known fact that woodworking activity could contribute in enhancing creativity, scientific problem-solving ability, spatial perception ability and prosocial behavior of children. However, there is little chance that children experience woodworking at home or in kindergarten. This study was conducted to know how much children and adults have done woodworking in there daily life and how they perceived children's woodworking activity. Woodworking activities for children (N=207, 5 and 6 year old kids) with adults (N=271, only fathers) were carried out in 10 kindergartens of Cheongju. Actually, the survey result shows that very few children and adults experienced woodworking in their daily life. 62.8% of children and 34.3% of adults surveyed responded that they had never done woodworking. However, the greater part of children and adults evaluated the woodworking activity positively. Over 95% of children surveyed responded that their woodworking activity was fun and they want to play woodworking again. Over 73% of adults surveyed responded that children's woodworking activity was safe, and over 99% of adults surveyed responded that they can recommend children's woodworking activity to others. In conclusion, the development of safe tools and programs for children's woodworking activity helps its spread and activation.

• Perspectives in Nursing Science
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.17-34
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• 2006

This study was done to suggest directions for research and interventions of health promoting behaviors in Korean older adults in the future. Thirty seven articles for health promoting behaviors in Korean older adults were reviewed and analyzed. Findings are summarized as follows: 1) The total scores of the HPLP in Korean older adults were 2.30-2.44 out of 4 points. In the subscale, the highest degree of performance is nutrition, following interpersonal support, self actualization, stress management, health responsibility and the lowest degree of performance was exercise. 2) The total scores of the Health Behavior Assessment Tool of the Korean Elders were 2.87-3.2 out of 4 points. 3) Among the characteristics of older adults, monthly pocket money, previous job had consistently significant relationships with health promoting behaviors. Sex, job and presence of disease were consistently insignificant relationships with health promoting behaviors. 4) Perceived health status, self efficacy, self esteem, family support and social support had consistently significant correlations with health promoting behaviors. 5) In regression analysis, self efficacy, family support, depression, self esteem were the most powerful predictors of health promoting behavior in more than two articles. Predictors accounted for 14.2-65.2 % of the variance in health promoting behaviors of Korean older adults. On the basis of above findings, It is necessary to develop the interventions for more regular practice of the health promoting behaviors in Korean older adults. The interventions are recommended to focus increasing the exercise & health responsibility and to use the strategies to increase self esteem, self efficacy, social support including family support.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.749-758
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• 2001

The purpose of the study was to analyze the functional status of low income elderly living at home according to their socio-economic factors, sensory function, health status, medical service utilization, commodity and types of chronic disease. Method: Functional status was defined by the level of mobility, ADL and IADL categorized as independently functional, mildly impaired, moderately disabled, and severely disabled. The data was collected by home-visit interviews with 567 community dwelling adults who were 65 years of age or more with low a income status subsidized by government in ChonAn. Results: 9.9% of community dwelling older adults were severely disabled, and 44.4% were moderately disabled in their functional status. There were significant differences in the functional status by age, education, religion, and types of family structure. The older adults with hearing impairment or dental problems had a significantly higher rate of severe disability. Self-rated health status and medical service utilization were also significant factors to the differences in functional status. The functional status of older adults was also significantly related to the presence of chronic health problems such as chronic back pain, stroke, and Alzheimer-dementia. Conclusion: The results confirmed that community dwelling older adults with low income status were more functionally disabled in comparison to general older adults at national level, while the relating factors to their functional status seemed similar to other studies on older adults. Further studies were suggested to look into functional status longitudinally and focus on the changes of functional status by managing modifiable influencing factors.