• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.625-634
• /
• 2022

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between physical activity (PA) level and functional fitness (FF) parameters in community-dwelling older adults aged 65 or above in Korea. Subjects' (M: 1,645; F: 2,394) PA level were assessed using a questionnaire. The subjects were divided into two groups: one below the recommended level of PA(LPA) and one above the recommended level (PA). PA was further classified by intensity level into medium- and high-intensity PA (MIPA and HIPA respectively) groups. FF was assessed based on six test items representing the following fitness areas: lower and upper body strength, agility and dynamic balance, flexibility, aerobic capacity, coordination, and body composition. Of the subjects, 36% met the recommended level of PA. Both MIPA and HIPA were superior to LPA in all FF items(p<.05). The HIPA group was significantly better in terms of agility and dynamic balance, coordination, and lower body strength (only in women) than was the MIPA group(p<.05). In conclusion, PA above the recommended level is needed to maintain functional fitness. In addition, HIPA seems to promote fall-related functional fitness and should be encouraged when safe and feasible.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.79-107
• /
• 2009

Episodic memory, i.e. memorization of information within a spatiotemporal environment, is affected Alzheimer's disease(AD), but its impairment may also be occurred in the normal aging process. The purpose of this study is to analyze and evaluate memory in with Dementia of Alzheimer Type by examining their cognitive skills in episodic memory using the technique. This new method involves assessing the mental images the subject's own past in the mind like projected and movies. Three patients in the early stage of Dementia of Alzheimer Type, one with mild depression, and 2 healthy controls for comparison were asked to retrieve their episodic memory of the previous day, week, month, and a day testing day. The answers were then analyzed with regards to their specific features as emotional state, color, and time order. In the following day, the subjects were tasked to recall again the images they reproduced in the day's test order to observe of memory. Results showed that all 3 patients failed to arrange the retrieved images in time order and their images of the previous day were unclear in color and were stationary like photographs, even when they reproduced the mental images at much quantity as controls. patients could not remember particular events of yesterday, and only recalled the general occurrences of every day life. These results suggest that in the early stage of Dementia of Alzheimer Type, difficulties in the retrieval of recent episodic memory begin to primarily occur, and qualitative impairment happens earlier than quantitative.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.17-25
• /
• 2011

This paper aims to find the optimal control gain for enhancing the convenience of electric walking frames and design a control algorithm. With the recent advances in medical technology, there has been a rapid increase in the aging population and a variety of mobile walking frames have been developed for improvement of the quality of life. However, the manual walking frames of such mobile aids don't have any electric motor which helps facilitate elderly users' walking and thus are not efficient enough for the old people of weak strength to use especially when moving on uneven surfaces such as slopes or thresholds. The types of electric walking frames have been developed to overcome such inefficiency. Electric walking frames require users' control operations for motor driving unlike manual frames. Therefore, when they are not properly handled, it causes considerable inconvenience to their users. The present study compared the electric walking frames with manual ones in terms of operational convenience and attempted to improve the user convenience of walking frames varying the control value for user convenience based on certain standards. This paper presented a haptic sensor designed to recognize the will to walk and measure the degree of convenience and proposed a control algorithm for improvement of convenience. For user convenience, this paper evaluated the relative convenience of walking frames in view of changing differences between the center of vehicle (COV) and the center of position (COP). With the employment of an electric walking frame and a new measuring method, all the processes were experimentally tested and validated.

• Journal of Practical Engineering Education
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.751-759
• /
• 2023

In the era of global aging and the retirement of baby boomers, the response is very intensive and dynamic. As baby boomers actually retire, the terms for middle-aged people have been diversified into middle-aged, midle-elderly, and the new middle, which are also evident in the training process. In line with the timing, the government and academia are also making efforts to advance the development of training courses for middle-aged, along with organizing terms for middle-aged. From this point of view, this study aims to analyze the performance of the three-year training courses (2018-2020) for the new middle at Korea Polytechnics and suggest the direction of development of the new middle training course. As a result of the study, the three-year performance of the Shin middle-aged training course gradually increased, but the completion rate and employment rate gradually decreased, indicating that countermeasures were needed. In addition, campus performance in the metropolitan area was higher than that in the non-capital area, so a plan for this deviation was needed. In addition, the need for the integrated operation of the existing 'middle-aged' and 'the new middle' courses operated by Korea Polytechnics was suggested, and measures to specialize in the new middle-aged were proposed.

• 한국노년학
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.463-478
• /
• 2011

This study examined the impact of late-life poverty on self-rated health, focusing on the mediating and moderating effects of health behaviors and social support. Despite the significant associations among poverty, health behaviors, and health outcomes, little studies have tested complex structural pathways among them. Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify multiple causal pathways between poverty and self-rated health, mediated and moderated by health behaviors and social support. To test the structural pathways, the structural equation modeling was utilized using the 2006 Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging data. The results of this study indicated that poverty had the direct negative impact not only on the health behaviors such as smoking and lack of regular exercise but also on the self-rated health. In addition, regular exercise significantly mediated the relationship between poverty and self-rated health. Finally, informal social support from family and friends buffered the negative impact of poverty on the self-rated health. Findings suggested that providing informal social support to the low income elderly is important in addition to the economic support. It is also necessary to develop programs for promoting healthy behaviors, especially regular exercise.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
• /
• v.32 no.5
• /
• pp.437-442
• /
• 2013

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of drive-assisting system in a shower carrier on the upper body muscle activities of caregivers through drivability tests. Background: In care facilities, one of the major ADL (Activities of Daily Living) factors is bathing/showering. Recently, bath/shower-assisting equipment is actively being introduced in care facilities to reduce caregivers' muscle burden. In particular, it is desirable to utilize a shower carrier equipped with drive-assisting system to effectively care for the elderly. However, there were few systematic studies on the relationship between muscle activities and drive-assisting speeds. Method: For the drivability tests to study the effects on the muscle activities according to the drive-assisting speeds(corresponding drive-voltages: 0.0V, 2.0V, 2.1V, 2.3V), 6 females in their 40s($43{\pm}4yrs$, $157{\pm}5cm$, and $54.5{\pm}1.5kg$) were selected. To measure muscle activities of caregivers through drivability tests, 7 muscles in the upper body(TM/Trapezius Muscle, DM/Deltoid Muscle, BBM/Biceps Brachii Muscle, TBM/Triceps Brachii Muscle, ECRLM/Extensor Carpi Radialis Longus Muscle, FCUM/Flexor Carpi Ulnaris Muscle, and ESM/Erector Spinae Muscle) were selected. Results: In the TM, muscle activities were decreased as 21% compared to 0.0V, when drive-voltage 2.0V was applied, as 57% by 2.1V, and 62% by 2.3V(p<0.05), whereas 40%, 56%, and 69% of muscles activities were decreased respectively from the DM(p<0.05). Also, from the UL(BBM+TBM+ECRLM+FCUM), muscle activities were decreased by 17% with 2.0V as against 0.0V, by 47% with 2.1V, and 52% with 2.3V, whereas decreases in muscle activities from the ESM were found by 20%, 34%, and 42% respectively by 2.0V, 2.1V, and 2.3V(p<0.05). Conclusion: The muscle activities were decreased in the order of the DM, TM, ESM, and UL. As muscle activities were remarkably reduced as drive voltage were increased, it was expected to reduce the upper body muscle burden on the caregivers when using shower carriers equipped with driving-assist system. Applications: The results from this study can be applied for the development of a shower carrier including other equipment to possibly reduce the muscle burden of the caregivers.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.677-684
• /
• 2020

Our country is already in the aging corner and fall down is the elderly personal, social and economic problems are causing. therefore, executed this study for inquiring into an athletic effect for the balance ability increase that was a main variable of an fall down. The purpose of this study, to find the effect of balance training using visual feedback and somatosensory. Experimental group divided the three groups, objects measured balance ability of each experimental groups before experiment, the balance exercise group used visual feedback by Nintendo Wii(company - model), the balance exercise group used visual and TOGU, the balance exercise group used blind and TOGU. 4 experimental of each groups measured MFT and EMG value after training. having rest time, 4 experimental of each groups measured MFT and EMG value after training used balance pad. MFT - visual feedback with somatosensory training is most efficient but, indifferent both balance training with visual feedback and balance training with somatosensory. EMG - training with somatosensory is more efficient than training with visual feedback. Conclusion : in the process of improving equilibrium ability of patient who is lack of balance ability, somatosensory training is effective to correct different of left, right and frequency of left, right. visual feedback is the most effective way to improve dynamic balance sensory, so parallel of these two practice is thought to be the most effective.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.164-171
• /
• 2021

Purpose: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a prodromal stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Brain atrophy in this disease spectrum begins in the medial temporal lobe structure, which can be recognized by magnetic resonance imaging. To overcome the unsatisfactory inter-observer reliability of visual evaluation, quantitative brain volumetry has been developed and widely investigated for the diagnosis of MCI and AD. The aim of this study was to assess the prediction accuracy of quantitative brain volumetry using a fully automated segmentation software package, NeuroQuant^®, for the diagnosis of MCI. Materials and Methods: A total of 418 subjects from the Korean Brain Aging Study for Early Diagnosis and Prediction of Alzheimer's Disease cohort were included in our study. Each participant was allocated to either a cognitively normal old group (n = 285) or an MCI group (n = 133). Brain volumetric data were obtained from T1-weighted images using the NeuroQuant software package. Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were performed to investigate relevant brain regions and their prediction accuracies. Results: Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that normative percentiles of the hippocampus (P < 0.001), amygdala (P = 0.003), frontal lobe (P = 0.049), medial parietal lobe (P = 0.023), and third ventricle (P = 0.012) were independent predictive factors for MCI. In ROC analysis, normative percentiles of the hippocampus and amygdala showed fair accuracies in the diagnosis of MCI (area under the curve: 0.739 and 0.727, respectively). Conclusion: Normative percentiles of the hippocampus and amygdala provided by the fully automated segmentation software could be used for screening MCI with a reasonable post-processing time. This information might help us interpret structural MRI in patients with cognitive impairment.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.95-102
• /
• 2023

The purpose of this study is to figure out the effect of 12 weeks pilates program for body shape improvement and lumbar stabilization of senior women with chronic back pain and to provide data for developing excercise program which is appropriate for senior women to make aging delayed and to have more physical activity domain by inquiring into their pain reducing. The subjects of this study were 16 senior women with chronic back pain which were classified into two group with experimental group(n=8) and control group(n=8) by applying simple random sampling after conducting Visual Analogue Scale(VAS). Their motion range of pain was from 3 centimeters to 5 centimeters. Pilates excercise for lumbar stabilization in this study was originated the previous literature of Lee et al(2011) and the excercise was modified in the form of pilates. The program in the study was performed under the guidance of a professional pilates trainer. The results are as follows. Firstly, the experimental group showed positive improvement in making vertebra slope but the control group showed pain increased. Secondly, the lumbar pain decreased in the experimental group but it increased in the control group. As a result, the pilates program for lumbar stabilization can be considered as a program for pain relief and body shape improvement of senior women with chronic back pain.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.322-328
• /
• 2015

Purpose: The aging of society has rapidly progressed, especially in Korea. Therefore, the necessity of research on end-of-life (EOL) care in elderly patients has increased. However, there are few studies on EOL care intensity for non-cancer patients. This study was designed to compare the EOL care intensity between cancer and non-cancer patients. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the EOL care intensity based on medical records of decedents of Kyung Hee University Medical Center, a tertiary referral hospital from December 2014 through March 2015. And we compared EOL care intensity between cancer patients and non-cancer patients using statistical analysis of the frequency of invasive procedures and logistic regression analysis for factors that affect the EOL care intensity. Results: Statistical analysis showed invasive procedures, such as intensive care unit admission, endotracheal intubation followed by mechanical ventilation and emergency dialysis, were performed more frequently in non-cancer patients than cancer patients (29.3% vs. 72.4%, P<0.001). And age (P=0.038) and morbidity of cancer (P<0.001) influenced the invasive procedural decision when analyzed by logistic regression analysis. Conclusion: The EOL care was more intensive in non-cancer patients, and age and morbidity of cancer were major factors for the treatment intensity.