• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.133-148
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• 1989

This study attempts of analyze empirically the living status of the elderly in Korea by finding out the problems of it in the family and by clarifying the influences of the family environmental variables and the values on the adjustment of the aged. To carryout the aim of this study, the causes and the patterns of the problems for the aged had been found out through the review of literature. Based on them the questionnaire was prepared including the questions of the values, family environmental vriables as well as the degree of satisfaction of thier liver and the extent of life interchange. The former variables were taken as independent and the latter were taken as dependent variables, so that the relationship between the two variables could be exemplified. The 400 aged over 60 living in Seoul and the other cities were selected through the purposive sampling and interviewed. The answers of the 376 respondents, 94% of the sample, were analyzed for this study. The following results have been found out through the various statistical analysis such as frequency distribution, chi-square test, pearson's correlation, analysis of variance and cluster analysis. At first, the results from the examination of the frequency distribution regarding the living status of the aged are; I) sixteen percent of the respondents living with their married offspring were receiving economical support, though they pointed out the problems of the extended family are the inconveniences with their children (60%) and simpleness (20%) of their livers. It seems that the aged in Korea are poor and have negative opinion on the relationship with their offspring even if they live in the same house. Secondly, it has been found out that the family environmental variables, especially such as sex, occupation, residence, education, level, living ability and the family type, play and important role not only on the degree of satisfaction of their liver but also on the extent of interchange of their lives. However, the variables such as religion and whether the spouse is alive or not do not play and important role. Thirdly, the reported main reasons of their delightness were healthy life (1.87%), the well-being of their offspring (2.08%), the spouse's long life (3.38%), religious activity (5.05%), the hobby activity (4.31%) and the participation in the social activity (5.05%). While, they mainly concern about the illness (1.98%), offspring (2.00%), econmic difficulties (3.39%), inharmonious home (3.81%) and the despicable treatment (3.81%). The respondents wer classified into two groups, they are dependent and independent, using cluster analysis. Health, social activity, offspiring, religion, couple's long life among the factors which lead them to be delighted were turned out to be statistically signhificant at 0.01 significance level between the two groups. As far as their worrisome matters are concerned, health and economic difficulties were significantly different between the two groups. Fourthly, regarding the life interchange, it has been proved that there is a statistically significant differences betwwen the two groups in the economic and the emotional satisfaction, help for ordinary life, status in the family, subjective and objective relationship with offspring, but not in economic dependency and the activity status. Fifthly, it has been noted that there is a high correlation between the degree of life's satisfaction and the extent of life interchange. On the basis of the results mentioned above, it could be concluded taht; i) The majority of the aged in Korea are not economically active, and thus they live with their married offspring even of they have a negative opinion on the subjective relationship with them. This can be pointed out as the main problem of the aged and thus it needs to be studied further. ii) the environmental variables such as age, sex education level, family type and occuption (which can not be changed by their effrot) turned out to give an important effect on the extent of the life interchange among the aged. iii) The respondents who are identified as independent group have a higher degree of life satisfaction and family status than the group identified as defendent. Thus, it can be inferred that it is possible for them to adjust their life by making an effort to modify themselves. iv) The high correlation between the extent of life interchange and the degree of life satisfaction indicates that the elderly themselves can adjust in order to obtain the higher degree of life satisfaction. Therefore, the following suggestions are derived from this study. First of all, the aged should try to be psychologically independent. Second, they need to control themselves in order to achieve self-assurance. Third, the community have to prepare a program of self-development for the aged. Fourth, the social welfare policy that can solve the problem of illness and poverty of the elderly should be introduced, so that their minimum requirements can be satisfied.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.773-788
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in nutrient intake according to the level of self-perception of health status, aging status and life satisfaction of the rural elderly. The factors for the study were surveyed by interview method. The subjects were 270 people(71 male, 129 female) aged over 65 years(73.5 $\pm$ 5.6ys) in the Ham-an area. The obtained results as follows : By evaluation of self-perception of health status, 57.5% of subjects answered they are in a bad health condition. The 91.5% of subjects had diseases(rheumatitis & arthritis 31.4%, cardiovascular disease 20.2%, gastric disease 10.2%). The women had more diseases than the men(p < 0.01). The subjects took medical treatment in private hospital(40.5%) and public health centers(35.0%). The men showed better level of aging status(p < 0.001) and life satisfaction index(p < 0.01) than the worsen. Living with spouse influenced the aging status(p < 0.05) and the more pocket money influenced life satisfaction(p < 0.05) and aging status(p < 0.05). The elderly who eat regularly 3 times a day(p < 0.05) and have a good appetite(p < 0.001) appeared to have positive effect on the self perception of health status and aging status. An increasing level of the self-perception of health status and regular exercise worked to improve aging status(p < 0.001). The habits of smoking and alcohol drinking, however had no effect on any index. The self-perception of health status affected the nutrient intake, but only in female elderly. The aging status and the life satisfaction index related overall positively to the intake of nutrients. In conclusion, the study shows that gender did influence nutrient intake in the elderly. The women who live alone rated lowest in social resources and health condition therefore their nutrient intake was also extremely in deficit. For successful aging, a program for rural elderly is needed, i.e. actions to provide minimum economic life, food delivery and psychological/physical health care through regional public health centers.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.29-37
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• 2002

This study was designed to assess diet and health-related factors of older adults in Korea. Subjects females were 2,660 adults aged 50 and over living in Korea. Males were 847 persons and were 1813 persons. The mean weight and height for males and females were 63.8 $\pm$ 0.3kg / 164.0 $\pm$ 0.2cm and 57.0 $\pm$ 0.2kg /150.6 $\pm$ 0.1cm respectively. BMI (body mass index), body fat, and percent fat were significantly greater in females than in males. The muscle mass and body water were significantly greater in males than in females. Twenty-one percent of total subjects lived alone and 26% with spouse only. Most of the subject's self-reported income was in middle level (65%) or low level (24%). Proportion of subjects who answered 'very poor' or 'poor' on perceived health status was higher in older group. The 50-64 years old group was facing more stress than 65yr and over group. Among male subjects,38.4% were current-smokers and 22.0% were ex-smokers. But only 6.5% of female subjects were current-smokers. Males turned out to have better dietary habits-meal frequency per day, mealtime regularity, regular meal size and balanced eating-than females (p < 0.001). This study revealed that the diet and health-related factors affect nutritional status and chronic diseases of the elderly. For better management and evaluation of health status of the elderly, more effective nutritional assessment tools should be developed.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.149-163
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• 2005

Family has emerged as a key concept for health, and it has been identified as one of the most important conditions. The relationship between health habit and its management is different depending on family. The odd pair family, mostly rural lower income class, worry to have poor health because of no spouse and small family size. One thousand eight hundred and seventy(1870) subjects were collected in 9 provinces through the sampling of Probability Proportional to Size (PPS). Questionnaire method was conducted on health checking, bath states, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, and the prevalence of farmer's health related problems. The main results were as follows: 1) The characteristics of odd pair families are that the head of household is female(77% ), the size of family is small(1.76 persons), the education level is low(7.5 years for male, 3.1 years for female) and the age group is old (male: 89.78 year old, female: 73.69 year old). 2) For the odd pair family, the frequency of health checking is quite low with one or two times per year(l0.2%) and the rate of no-health checking is much higher(35.8%) .3) Bathing utility is not available 29.6% of the odd pair family and only cold water is supplied at home for the 11.5 % of them. However, for the paired family, 9.8 % of them has no bathing utility and the rate of the family supplied with only cold water is just 7.9%. 4) The bathing frequency score of odd pair family is l.74points for male and 1.25 points for female. 5) The rate of smoking habits for odd pair family is 68.5 % and specially it is 7.6% for female, which is higher comparing with that of pair family. 6) The smoking frequency score of odd pair family is 1.57 points. 7) Alcohol drinking frequency score of odd pair family is 1.79 points for male, and 3.24points for female. 8) Farmers' syndrome(FS) revealed 38.7% of odd pair family and it is lower than that of pair family(57.3%). Special pain of FS was huckle bone and muscle(28.4%) and articular pain(24.l %). The pain rate of huckle bone and muscle(43.l %) and articular pain(33.5%) were higher in a year in odd pair family were lower than those of pair family: farming machine caused accidents(6.5%) and pesticide poisoning(5.7%). l0) The odd pair family use more frequently medical clinic or public health center for the treatment of FS(74.7%) and pesticide poisoning(62.5%) than the pair family for FS(69.0%) and for pesticide poisoning(.53.6%). The score of FS treatment is 5.70 points for odd pair family and it is not significantly different from 5.62 points of the paired family. The result of pesticide poisoning treatment score is as same as that of FS.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.389-399
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• 2023

Background: The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors affecting the unmet healthcare needs of older people with chronic diseases in Korea and provide a basic research report to strengthen their access to medical care. Methods: In the 2020 older people survey data, 8,182 older people aged 65 or older who were diagnosed with one or more chronic diseases were the final subjects of the study. According to Andersen's behavioral model used in unmet healthcare needs, independent variables were composed of predisposing factors, possible factors, and necessary factors, and whether or not unmet healthcare needs was set as dependent variable. Results: Of the older people with chronic diseases, 1.6% experienced unmet healthcare needs, of which 55.9% experienced unmet healthcare needs for reasons related to economic burden, 31.6% physical constraints, and 12.5% time constraints. As a result of the analysis, older people with chronic diseases were more likely to experience unmet healthcare needs if they were relatively low in age, low in education level, no spouse, low in household income, poor subjective health, complex chronic diseases, and functional restrictions. However, by major reasons for experiencing unmet healthcare needs, living in rural areas were more likely to experience unmet healthcare needs due to physical constraints, and those who participated in economic activities and who had were more likely to experience unmet healthcare needs due to time burden. These results were not derived when only unmet healthcare needs was set as the dependent variable. Conclusion: This study emphasizes the need for an approach by cause of unmet medical occurrence by suggesting that there are differences in influencing factors by reason for experiencing unmet healthcare needs.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.141-149
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• 2004

Objectives : To evaluate the cost and proportion of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) in the total healthcare costs among the elderly in the last 6 months of life. Methods : The care-giving families of 301 persons older than 65 years, who died between July 1st and December 31st of 2001, and were also registered in Self-Employed Health Insurance Programs in Seoul, were interviewed. Results : The cost of CAM was 1.09 million Won, which as a proportion of the total healthcare cost was 38.1%. The elderly aged between 65 and 69 year-old, male, living with their spouse, Buddhist and having cancers had higher CAM costs in an ANOVA and simple regression analysis. After controlling of various factors, age was the only significant factor associated with the cost of CAM. The elderly above 80 years old, female, bereaved and Buddhist had higher proportional CAM costs, and the elderly having cancers or cardiovascular diseases had lower proportional CAM costs in an ANOVA and simple regression analysis. After adjusting for various factors, the elderly above 85 years old, female and Buddhist had higher proportional CAM costs, and the elderly having cancers had lower proportional CAM costs. Conclusion : The very old and Buddhist, and/or the ill with no clear diagnosis, may depend more on CAM. Further research will be needed on the meaning and impact of CAM and their costs to public health and the total healthcare system.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.83-106
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• 2004

As the lifespan has been expanded, the marital relationship later in life is getting more important. This study is to find out what the demand for the education of marital couples to improve this relationship. The results can be used as basic data to develop educational programs for elder couples. The results of this study are as follows. 1. Couple role according to socio-demographic variables can be divided into traditional and modern roles. And these variables are shown to be significant in couple role. 2. Need for the education of married couples according to socio-demographic variables. In case of spouses having shorter marriage period, religion, and a nuclear family, and doing social activities, the necessity of education is recognized highly. Those who have a spouse with good health and social activities have experienced a chance to attend the educational program. It is thought that health and social activities have much to do with active living attitude. In case of old age, it can be thought that they don't feel the necessity because they have lived a decent life for a long time. It is just that it comes from the fixed ideas of elder couples who had to spend only a short time with their spouses. That is what elder couples have to overcome. They tend to think that the relationship between the family is more important than that of spouses, and they put family relationship before the quality of their own lives. 3. Influence of the need for the education of married couples according to their role. As their role are becoming modern and their mutual trust, affinity, and cohesion are getting more important, the education of married couples and the experiences of communication and participation in the educational program are thought to be more necessary.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.139-167
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• 2009

A new public insurance for long-term care was introduced in July 2008 to provide for the rising demand for long-term care as the population is aging rapidly. The demand for long-term care is expected to rise further because more and more elderly are living alone or in households with only other elderly, such as his/her spouse, without informal care of their adult children. Even when the elderly are living together with their adult children, daughters and daughters in law, once the main informal care-givers, are not available because they choose to become economically active and work more over time. Experiences of countries such as Japan and Germany with similar public long-term care insurance scheme highlight the importance of detailed analysis on the demand for long-term care for the financial stability of the insurance scheme. Countries which had underestimated the demand for long-term care at the time of adopting the scheme went through financial instability of insurance schemes. This study analyzes the determinants of the demand for long-term care using data from the second demonstration project (April 2006~April 2007) of the long-term care insurance scheme for the elderly in Korea. Taking full advantage of detailed data on the long-term care, this paper analyzes the eligibility for the long-term care insurance scheme and its use. According to study results, even when common diseases among the elderly such as cancer, diabetes, arthritis, dementia, hypertension, etc. are controlled together with other individual and socioeconomic factors, limitations the elderly are faced with in their twelve activities of daily living significantly affect the eligibility for the Korean Long-term Care Insurance Scheme. This means that limitations in daily living activities are more critical than common diseases among the elderly are to the eligibility for the Korean Long-term Care Insurance Scheme. Bathing and toileting problems have been found to be the most important factor affecting the eligibility for the insurance scheme, followed by eating, dressing and moving around inside the house. Moreover, the choices of whether to use long-term care and which to use between home care and institutional care are found to be significantly influenced by health status and various socioeconomic factors of the elderly. In particular, those with more limitations in daily living activities and the female elderly are more likely to use long-term care and institutional care rather than home care. As for home care users, those living alone or with adult children and those with monthly household income of more than 500,000 won are more likely to use home care. Most importantly, even when the monthly household income of the elderly is controlled, the elderly recipients of the National Basic Living Security, who are not charged for long-term care, are more likely to choose home care. This implies that price as well as income is a critical factor for the decision to use long-term care. Further study on the duration of long-term care use will surely enhance the long-term care policy, when panel data is available for simultaneous analysis of the likelihood of long-term care use and its use duration.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.355-371
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• 2000

The purpose of this study was to explore and compare health-promoting behaviors and its relationships with associated variables between Korean elderly and Korean-American elderly. Study instruments were questionnaire that consisted of socioeconomic characteristics, health-promoting lifestyle patterns. self-esteem and self-efficacy. Data were collected from convenient sample of 150 Korean elderly and 110 Korean-American elderly recruited from senior centers. Collected data were analyzed by t-test. ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficients. The results are followings : 1. In religion, $32.7\%$ of Korean elderly were protestant. while $32.7\%$ of Korean-American. elderly were protestant. $61.3\%$ of Korean elderly were living with their children, and only $17.3\%$ of Korean-American elderly were living with their children. 2. There was no significant difference in the mean HPLP score in two groups. but Korean elderly showed higher practices in health responsibility. exercise. and stress management than that of Korean-American elderly. The subjects showed the highest practices in nutrition(3.14. 3.01), and the lowest practices in exercise (2.14, 1.92). 3. The mean HPLP score of Korean elderly was 2.63, showing significant relationships with age. education and economic status. the score of Korean-American elderly was 2.54, showing significant relationships with education. 4. Self-esteem score of Korean elderly was 2.72 and Korean-American elderly was 2.73. there was no significant difference in two groups. The score of self-esteem of Korean-American elderly was showing significant relationships with presence of spouse. 5. Self-efficacy score of Korean elderly was 3.27 and Korean-American elderly was 3.21. there was no significant difference in two groups. The score of self-efficacy of both groups were showed significant relationships with education. 6. The HPLP of Korean and Korean-American elderly showed(r=.24. r= .49) positive correlations with self-esteem had positive correlations with self-efficacy(r=.42. r=.28). To draw concrete resolution for health promotion of Korean and Korean-American elderly. this study suggests followings for future research : 1. Nursing interventions enhancing exercise and stress management of the elderly must be provided. Especially developing and adopting feasible exercise programs for Korean-American elderly is highly needed. 2. Identifying the influences of culture on their practices of health-promoting lifestyle patterns among Korean. Korean-American and other racial elderly groups.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.357-367
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• 1990

This descriptive study was done to identify factors influencing sexual satisfaction in women who had had a hysterectomy and to compare these with women who had not had a hysterectomy. The purpose was to contribute theoretical understanding on which to base nursing care planning. One group of subjects were 156 women who had had a hysterectomy, between one and 18 months post surgery, living with their spouse, having no complications, and menstruating before surgery. The other group of subjects were 282 healthy women who were living with their husbands and menstruating. The study tool consisted of 108 items including item concerning personal characteristics, characteristics related to the hysterectomy, husband's support, body image, emotions, attitude toward the sexual relationship, knowledge of sexuality, sexual behavior, and sexual satisfaction. Sexual satisfaction was measured by a tool based on Derogatis Sexual Function Inventory. The range of the internal level of the study tool was from. 5208 to .9462. Data collection was done during the period from June 20 to Aug.20, 1989. The same questionnaire was used of data collection for both groups, but a mail survey method was used for the women who had had a hysterectomy, and an interview method was used for the women who had not had a hysterectomy. Data analysis was done using frequency, ratio, mean and S.D. for the characterstics of the subjects and level of sexual satisfaction. t - test or ANOVA was used for the differences between the groups with regard to the general and hysterectomy related characteristics. The relationship between the score for sex life related factors and the level of sexual satisfaction was analyzed using the Pearson Correlation, and the influencing factors on sexual satisfaction were analyzed by stepwise multiple regression. The results of this study were as follows ; 1. Mean age and income level were the only general characteristics for the two groups that were significantly different. The mean age, and income level of the group who had had a hysterectomy were 45years, and 1,150,000 won respectively, and for those who had not had a hysterectomy, 41 years and 999,000 won. 2. There was no statistical difference of the sexual satisfaction score between the two groups. 3. There was differences in the factors influencing sexual satisfaction between the two groups. Factors influencing sexual satisfaction for the group who had had a hysterectomy were husband's support (R＝.5793, P＝.000) and the women's Knowledge of sexuality(R＝.6670, P＝.000) (total variance : 33.56). On the other hand, emotional status(R＝.4294, P＝.000), sexual behavior(R＝.4294, P＝.000), husband's support(R＝.5274, P＝.000) and attitude towards sexual relations (R＝.5412, P＝.000) (total variance : 54.12) were the factors influencing sexual satisfaction in the group who had not had a hysterectomy. Since husband's support and sexuality knowledge were identified as factors influencing sexual satisfaction of women who have had a hysterectomy, it can be concluded that, before a woman who has had a hysterectomy is discharged from hospital, nurses should include strategies in the nursing care plan that will promote husband's support and the women's knowledge of sexuality.