• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.9-21
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• 2024

Objective : This study investigated the effects of depression on online and offline social interactions among middle-aged and older adults with the aim of enhancing their social connectivity and mental well-being. Methods : Utilizing the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and the Lubben Social Network Scale-6, this study assessed depression and social relationships in 429 middle-aged adults. We explored the mediation effects of offline relationships on online interactions using path analysis and the Sobel test. Results : Significant links were found between depression and social relationships in a cohort of educated males averaging 63 years of age. Offline interactions mediated 32% of the influence of depression on online relationships, with strong model fit indices emphasizing the importance of offline social interactions. Conclusion : This study highlights the role of active engagement in online and offline networks in improving mental health and managing the impact of depression on social activity among older adults, helping prevent isolation.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.310-321
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the level of understanding of hospice palliative care (HPC) and shared decision making (SDM) among middle-aged adults. Methods: Data were collected from 90 middle-aged adults living in D city using a self-reported questionnaire. The SPSS program was used to analyze the data. Results: Among the participants, 76.7% were aware of the HPC while 82.2% of the participants were not aware of SDM. Among all, 85.6% responded positively for needs of HPC, and 77.8% of participants for SDM. Participants with Christian faith (Protestants and Catholics), high income level and present illness were better aware of HPC than others. The most needed services were nursing care and treatment along with systematic counseling and explanation provided by the medical staff. There was also a significant relationship between the HPC factors, gender, income, current health status and current illness status. Participants with high income level were well aware of SDM. Stronger SDM needs were observed among participants with professional jobs or current illness. Conclusion: For continued discussion on HPC and SDM, it is necessary to implement and promote various education programs for medical staff and the public.

• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.73-99
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to analyze the health information use experience of middle-aged people in their 40s and 50s and to observe and analyze their health information search behaviors according to health consciousness and health information orientation. This study uses Information Foraging Theory with the concept of information scents which leads users to detect and collect cues in information searching. Types and contents of information cues that middle-aged people use when searching for health information were investigated. Also, how their health consciousness and health information orientation affected using information cues were analyzed. Three methods of research were used; (1) pre-interviews, (2) search experiments, and (3) post-interviews. Thirty-two middle-aged people participated in the study. Their performance on health information searching was recorded and referred to in the post-interviews using a think-aloud protocol. Findings presented that middle-aged people's health consciousness and health information orientation affected the perception of information scents in health information search; those with high health consciousness and health information orientation consider the text made by the government office the most critical information cues. We believe findings from this study could be used for public libraries or non-profit institutions to understand middle-aged people's health information behaviors to design education programs for information retrieval considering users' health consciousness and health information orientation. Findings could also contribute to Internet portal site or health-related web site designers developing strategies for middle-aged users to access health information effectively.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.10
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• pp.549-559
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence of depression in Korean middle-aged adults and to identify the gender difference in factors associated with the severity of depression. The data of 2,241 individuals who participated in the Sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2014 were used. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and multivariate ordinal logistic regression analysis was performed. The prevalence rate of moderate to severe depression ($PHQ-9{\geq}10$) was identified at 5.2% (men 3.3%, women 7.0%). The factors associated with the severity of depression in men were younger age, living in metropolitan, unemployed, lower body mass index, and heavily drinking. On the other hand, women were affected by having no spouse, lower income, limited physical activity, and sleeping shorter hours.

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.1013-1033
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• 2014

This study attempted to develop a valid and reliable instrument capable of measuring Korea midlife family resilience (The Korea Midlife Family Resilience Scale: KMFRS). An exploratory, non-experimental, cross-sectional, and quantitative design was used to develop and validate the KMFRS. A tentative factor structure of family resilience and an item pool of the scale were constructed through a comprehensive literature review and personal interview. The pilot study was conducted with 424 middle aged adults(40~59) to select items for a scale, resulting in a preliminary scale composed of 70 items. In the main study, the preliminary scale was administered to a national representative sample of 562 middle-aged Korean adults. The scale was filtered into 40 items by the item analysis and an exploratory factor analysis, resulting in 6 factors: Family Connectedness & Problem Solving, Family's Positive Perception of Adversity, Family's Economic Stability, Family Religion & Spirituality, Support of Extended Family, and Support of Friends & Neighbors. These 6 factors explained 61.82% of total variance. The findings of the current study indicate substantial support for the reliability and the validity of the KMFRS. Other challenges and suggestions for future research on family resilience scale are discussed.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.831-842
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a web-based senescence preparation education program to promote successful aging. Methods: This program was developed based on Network-Based Instructional System Design (NBISD) model, using the following 5 processes: analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. The program was operated for 10 weeks from March 17 to May 25, 2008. Results: There were 4 menu bars, introduction, related data, lecture room, and communication on the main page. In the operation of this program, HTML, ASP, JAVA Script, Namo web editor, Edit Plus, Front Page and multimedia technology were applied. The program content consisted of understanding elderly people, physical health, activity & exercise, nutrition, medication use, psychological health, intellectual health, understanding death, welfare system and leisure activity. Conclusion: This program could be a useful means to provide senescence preparation information to middle-aged adults. Also, it is expected to offer individualized learning opportunities to many learners in various settings. Nurses should further develop and facilitate various learning strategies including web-based programs for elder care.

• Korean Journal of Exercise Nutrition
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.1-9
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• 2021

[Purpose] This study analyzed data from the 7^th Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016-2018) to compare the differences in energy intake and physical activity (PA) levels in middle-aged Korean men aged 40-59 years according to household type and the presence of metabolic syndrome (MetS). [Methods] Data from 2,266 young adults (aged >39 years and <60 years) were obtained from the KNHANES. We analyzed the differences in energy intake and PA levels according to household type and MetS. The presence or absence of MetS was determined by measuring waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, triglyceride, and HDL-C levels. [Results] Regarding total nutritional intake, no relationship with MetS was observed regardless of household type (interaction between MetS and household type: p = 0.875). No differences in total PA were observed between multiple- and single-person households (interaction between MetS and household type: p = 0.122). The relationship between MetS and MetS components according to nutritional intake showed that participants with a higher energy intake had a 27% lower prevalence of low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (p < 0.05) and a 36% higher prevalence of high blood pressure (p < 0.01). The relationship between MetS and MetS components according to the PA level showed significantly reduced prevalence of MetS by approximately 39%, 35%, and 43% (p < 0.01, 0.01, and 0.001) in subjects who were somewhat active, active, and very active, respectively, compared to inactivity. [Conclusion] Middle-aged men showed no difference in nutritional intake and PA between multiple- and single-person households. However, the risk of MetS was significantly higher in participants with approximately 1.5 times the energy intake compared to the group with the lowest energy intake. Moreover, higher levels of PA had a marked positive effect on the risk factors and prevalence of MetS. Therefore, we suggest that reducing the total energy intake and increasing total PA are important for preventing MetS in middle-aged men regardless of household type.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.65-75
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• 2004

This study examined attitudes toward older adults among a sample of young (496 Participants), midlife (200 participants), and older adults (115 participants). The results indicate that attitudes of the three generations toward older adults were modest in score, being neither positive nor negative. The older adults' attitudes were the most positive regarding elderly people. In other words, each generation of people showed different attitudes toward older adults. There was also a significant interaction effect between generation and gender. Middle aged women were the most negative toward the elderly, yet older women were the most positive. In addition, there were differences among generations in the variables that are related with the attitudes toward older adults. The attitudes were positively correlated with relationship with their grandparents for young adults, whereas care giving stress was significantly related for midlife adults, and the level of preparedness for old age (physical, emotional and economic) was a strong predictor for older adults.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.78-83
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• 2009

Fibromuscular dysplasiais an uncommon condition of idiopathic, non-inflammatory and non-atherosclerotic disease of the musculature of arterial walls. The disease is rare, but it commonly affects young and middle aged women. Isolated intracranial cerebral fibromuscular dysplasia is extremely rare because cerebral fibromuscular dysplasia usually affects extracranial vessels. A 20-year-old woman was admitted with light hemiplegia and global aphasia. Brain MRI and MRA demonstrated acute left middle cerebral artery territory infarction with a multifocal stenosis and dilatation of the left middle cerebra artery and left internal carotid. The characteristic conventional cerebral angiographic findings demonstrated a typical string-of-beads appearance in the left distal internal carotid artery and proxiaml portion of the left middle cerebral artery, which suggested a medial type fibromuscular dysplasia. We report a case of isolated intracranial fibromuscular dysplasia with left middle cerebral artery territory infarction. Fibromuscular dysplasia should he considered as a stroke risk factors in children and young adults, especially in patients with no known cardiovascular risk factors.