• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.374-384
• /
• 1998

This study was designed to investigate and compare levels of Instrumental Activities in Daily Living(IADL), Self-efficacy and Social support, and their relationships among the aged who lived in urban and rural areas. The subjects consisted of 239 persons (urban = 120, rural = 119), aged 65 over. Data was collected through interviews and questionnaires from July 20 to August 30, 1998, and analyzed by frequency, percentage, means, Pearson Correlation, t -test $X^2$-test and ANOVA, using an SAS program. The Results of this study were as follows. 1) The mean score of IADL was 2.06/5, the mean score of Self-efficacy was 49.61/100 and the mean score of Social support was 2.37/5. 2) Concerning house ownership, the group of urban elderly were significantly higher than rural elderly while in the handling of pocket money, the rural elderly were significantly higher than the urban elderly. 3) Concerning Self-efficacy, the group of urban elderly were significantly higher than rural elderly. 4) The IADL was significantly related to Self-efficacy and to Social support. 5) Concerning the demographic characteristics of the subjects, age, educational level, religion, living with a spouse, money and participation in social activities were significantly resated to the IADL scores, to Self-efficacy and to Social support.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.181-189
• /
• 2019

Background: Edentulism is associated with socioeconomic status, rural residence, and chronic disease, but no studies have investigated edentulism and residence factors together. All information that drives a better understanding of the factors related to edentulism plays an important role in the planning and delivery of appropriate dental services for the elderly by national and oral health professionals. This study was designed to investigate the prevalence of edentulism in adults aged over 60 years in Korea and to examine whether there are differences in dentate status between people living in urban and rural areas after controlling for sociodemographic and other related factors. Methods: The data for this study were collected from 2013 to 2015 as part of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey VI, those individuals aged over 60 years and who had complete datasets were included (5,071). The number of teeth and residence status were categorized into two groups: edentate and dentate (1 or more); urban and rural. Multiple multivariate logistic regression analyses were sequentially applied to assess the association between dentate status and residence status after adjusting for potential confounders. Results: Rural areas, lower household income, and lower education levels were associated with a higher edentate rate. The number of teeth was lower in rural areas than in urban areas. After adjusting for various factors, statistically significant associations were present for women, low household income, low education level, poor perceived health status, and alcohol consumption in participants. Conclusion: Elders living in rural areas had poorer oral health than elders living in urban areas. The government will need to provide effective systems for promoting oral health for elders living in rural areas.

• Journal of the Korean housing association
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.31-42
• /
• 2008

Research outcome shows the following: 1. Estimation by the year 2015 on the number of the aged people and on the number of the household of living alone and living with spouse only, per age-cohort by 5 years, per basic self-govern-ins local groups and the city of Daegu. The result is supposed to serve as meaningful basic material in building up future policies in many areas for the aged people living in their homes. 2. Estimation varies according to the areas and the age-cohorts. In urban areas, increase of the numbers of the households of the aged people living alone and living with spouse only is estimated in every age-cohort. In rural areas, variance between two age-groups, old-old and young-old, is observed. Both of the numbers of the households for the aged living alone and the aged living with spouse only have increased continuously by the year 2005. But the hither-to increase tendency is estimated to reverse itself to a decrease starting from the younger within the young-old age group, and the ratio of the old-old age-group in rural population will sharply increase starting from the year 2005. Such increase in the number of the aged people in need of the housing and the social support requires the increasing policy consideration for the issue of housing for the aged living in their homes. In spite of the decreasing tendency in the number of the aged people living alone and living with spouse only in rural areas, still there will continue to be more number of such households than in urban area for the time being. The government of Gyeongsangbuk-Do should pay more consideration to the old-old aged living alone and living with spouse only in rural areas, while being prepared for the sharply increasing households for the aged living alone and living with spouse only in urban areas.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.217-226
• /
• 2015

As the aging society is globally increasing, the guide for the aged-friendly city is suggested by WHO and many cities are preparing to meet with it. The base of this guide for an age-friendly city is an active aging. This study examined how degree the neighborhood environment is age-friendly from older persons' standpoints. The data were collected through the interview with old persons who aged more than 65 years, 117 persons in an urban area and 110 ones in a rural area. The age-friendly degree of neighborhood environment was examined from two aspects. One is how close 12 neighborhood facilities were from the elderly's houses. Another one is how degree the elderly were considered in 4 areas: pedestrian road, traffic, the amount of housing for the elderly, and space layouts of their houses. Findings were as follows. First, the elderly related neighborhood facilities in urban area were closer located to old persons' houses than in rural area, except the senior center. Second, in case of the age-friendly degree of their neighborhood environments, the space layout of house was the highest, and then traffic, pedestrian road, and the amount of housing for the elderly, in order. The consideration degree of wheelchair users was the lowest. Third, the age-friendly degree of pedestrian road, traffic, and room layout of house in rural area were higher than in urban area. However, the amount of housing for the elderly in urban area was higher than in rural area.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Rural Architecture
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.67-74
• /
• 2012

As the rural economy is worsening day by day due to rapidly declined population and increase of aging generation, the emptiness in the rural areas are becoming increasingly intensifying. In particular, urban runoff of young adults and middle-aged people and the decrease in birth rate have shrunk the rural population reaching to raise concerns on the stage of emptiness. On the other hand, people in the urban areas with rapid industrialization and overcrowding call for the variety of housing needs moving away from monolithic housing types. In order to solve problems of rural communities such as emptied out rural society as well as the problems of urban communities in overcrowdings, environment, and housing, it is required to develop an urban-countryside village complex pursuing advantages of the rural environment and convenience of urban living. Of this time, there needs a change in rural development policies which can make the urban residents migrate and settle in the rural areas as they are naturally embracing the rural life according to the social background and demand.

• Journal of Korean Academic Society of Home Health Care Nursing
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.288-300
• /
• 2022

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the association of social participation and depressive symptoms with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among older adults living in urban and rural areas. Methods: This secondary, cross-sectional study was conducted with a total of 66,765 adults aged ≥65 years (urban-26,485 and rural-40,280) who participated in the household and individual surveys of the Korea Community Health Survey 2019. Data on the main study variables including social participation, depressive symptoms, and HRQoL were collected from August 16 to October 31, 2019. Multiple linear regression was used to identify the factors affecting HRQoL in urban and rural older adults. Results: The proportion of social participation (χ²=354.69, p<.001) and the level of HRQoL (χ²=12.06, p<.001) were significantly higher in older adults living in urban area than those in rural area. However, there was no significant difference in depressive symptoms between older adults living in urban and rural areas. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that social participation and depressive symptoms were significant predictors of HRQoL in both urban and rural older adults. Conclusion: Our main finding highlights that active participation in social activities and management of depressive symptoms in older adults regardless of living arrangements are crucial to improve HRQoL in later life. Interventions to increase social participation include early assessment of depressive symptoms in the community to promote HRQoL. More longitudinal studies are needed to identify the factors associated with HRQoL between older adults living in urban and rural areas while considering neighborhood environment and living arrangements.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
• /
• v.42 no.3
• /
• pp.145-154
• /
• 2017

Objectives: This study used data of urban and rural elderly living alone to compare the general characteristics of the elderly who have had suicidal ideation, and to investigate the suicidal ideation of urban-rural elderly with varying degrees of emotional support status, health status, and health behavior. Methods and materials: The research participants included 2,750 elderly aged 65 or above, of which 1,487 were from dong unit and 1,263 were from eup myeon units according to the raw data of 2011 Survey on Elderly Status. All collected data were analyzed using cross tabulation of SPSSWIN(ver 21.0) program and multivariate logistic regression. Results: The results were as follows. First, the factors that influenced the suicidal ideation of urban and rural elderly living alone included degree of depression, experience of abuse, and nutritional management status. Second, the suicidal ideation of urban elderly living alone was affected by the emotional support of their children who live apart and their grandchildren. Third, the suicidal ideation of rural elderly living alone was affected by the emotional support of their kin (including siblings).

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.14 no.5
• /
• pp.519-531
• /
• 2020

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Regional disparities in dietary factors might be related to regional disparities in cardiometabolic health. Therefore, this study investigated the associations of cardiometabolic risk factors and dietary factors with regional types in Korean adults. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Based on data from the 2007-2017 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the study included 39,781 adults aged ≥ 19 years who completed the dietary survey and a health examination. Healthy and unhealthy dietary factors (fat, sodium, fruit, and vegetable intakes) were evaluated using 1-day 24-h dietary recall method, as well as the use of nutrition labels with a questionnaire. RESULTS: Of the participants, 48.7%, 36.0%, and 15.2% lived in metropolitan, urban, and rural areas, respectively. Adults living in urban and rural had higher odds ratios (ORs) for obesity (OR for urban, 1.07; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.01-1.14; OR for rural, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.05-1.24) than adults living in metropolitan areas; these associations were significantly observed in middle-aged adults. Compared to metropolitan residents, rural residents had lower ORs for hypertension in middle-aged (OR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.76-0.96) and metabolic syndrome in older adults (OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.67-0.91). Regarding urban residents, a lower OR for diabetes in middle-aged adults (OR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.74-0.97) and a higher OR for hypertension in older adults (OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.02-1.39) were observed. Overall rural residents had higher ORs of excessive carbohydrate, low fruit, and high salted-vegetable intakes than metropolitan residents. Low fruit intake was positively associated with obesity, metabolic syndrome, and hypertension, after adjustment for regional type and other confounders in total participants. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that cardiometabolic risk and unhealthy dietary factors differ among regional types and age groups within Korea. Nutritional policy and interventions should consider regional types for prevention and management of cardiometabolic risk factors.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.137-150
• /
• 2004

The aged population in Korea, especially in rural areas, has been growing rapidly. The welfare for the rural elderly has become a major concern, however we don't have enough information about that population; we don't even have detailed demographics of it. The present research is aimed at; 1) investigating the tendency and changing geographical distributions of the rural elderly, and 2) introducing GIS(Geographic Information Systems) as a useful tool in analyzing geographical distributions of the aged. The General Census Data from 1960 to 2000 was used to carry out this study. The major findings are; 1) There has been a gradual decrease in the rural population over the past 40 years, but this tendency has slowed down more recently; 2) It was observed that the 'oldest-old' group aged 85 years old and over has actuality increased in rural areas faster than any other age group; 3) The changing patterns of the elderly population were different in metropolitan areas and rural areas. In brief, there are far more aged people, especially of the 'oldest-old' group and females in rural areas than those in urban areas. These population, the 'oldest-old' or females, are the most vulnerable and have the greatest need for social welfare and social services of different kinds.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Rural Architecture
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.17-24
• /
• 2021

Changes in the population structure caused by a decrease in the birthrate and an extension of life expectancy cause problems in utilization inefficiencies of closed schools and shortage welfare facilities for the aged. The closed schools have location characteristics that are close to the existing residence and facilities such as land and school buildings, so it is expected that the schools will be used as welfare facilities for the aged in the community. The purpose of this study is to compare and analyze the facility characteristics of closed schools in northern Gyeonggi-Do and present the types of aged welfare facilities that can be built, providing basic data for developing customized aged welfare facilities. The results of this study are summarized as follows: 1) The proportion of aged people in northern Gyeonggi-Do is higher than in southern Gyeonggi-Do, but welfare facilities for the aged are insufficient, so it is necessary to expand welfare facilities for the aged in northern Gyeonggi-Do. 2) Urban areas such as Paju and Goyang City have a lot of residential proximity, Dongducheon and Yangju have a lot of residential proximity, while schools located in urban and rural areas such as Yeoncheon have a lot of residential proximity. 3) Closed schools in urban areas such as Goyang City and Paju City are desirable to use them as residential facilities for senior citizens, day and night protection and short-term protection facilities, while closed schools in Namyangju City, Pocheon City, and Gapyeong County are desirable to use them as senior citizen centers and medical welfare facilities.