• Proceedings of the KSCN Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.67-67
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the KSCN Conference
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• 1999.05a
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• pp.104-104
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• 1999

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.98-103
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• 2014

Objectives: Advanced malignant melanoma (MM) has a poor prognosis, with an expected 2-year survival rate of 10 to 20%. It has long been recognized as an immunogenic tumor, and is worse for elderly patients. Many studies have suggested that herbal treatments improve immune functions, but few clinical studies have reported on this topic. Patients and History: We present two cases of female patients (72 and 77 years old, respectively) with advanced MM. The 72-year-old female patient was, at first, diagnosed with MM with multiple bone metastases. She received resection of the primary lesion, but refused further chemotherapy. The 77-year-old female patient was diagnosed with cutaneous MM of the left heel, with suspicion of sentinel node lymphadenopathy; however, she also refused any conventional treatment due to old age. Course of Therapy and Results: Both patients were exclusively treated with standardized allergen-removed Rhus verniciflua stokes (aRVS) extract combined with Bojungikki-tang (BT, Bu-Zhong-Yi-Qi-Tang in Chinese or Hochu-ekki-to in Japanese). Both patients are still alive and doing well (Feb. 2014), demonstrating that the 72-year-old patient has lived for 27 months and the 77-year-old patient has lived for 31 months without disease progression since the aRVS and BT administration. Conclusion: We suggest that the combination of aRVS extract and BT could be a candidate for overcoming the cancer's immunoediting process especially for elderly MM patients intolerant of conventional treatment.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.132-144
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• 2013

Background: The purpose of this study was to analyze the medical expense change and influencing factors after introducing longterm care insurance system. The study period was 2 years before and after introduction of the system. Methods: We analyzed data collected from two divided group lived in Incheon. Four hundred and eighty-five elderly who received long-term care wage for one year were selected for experimental group. For control group, 1,940 elderly were selected by gender and age stratified random sampling. Difference-In-difference analyses was used for evaluating policy effectiveness. Also multiple regression analyses were conducted to identify the factors associated with total medical expenditures. The control variables were demographic variables, economic status, diseases, and medical examination variables. Results: Difference-in-difference analyses showed that total average medical expenses among long-term patients has decreased by 61.85%. Of these, the hospitalization expenses have decreased by 91.63% and the drug expenses have increased by 31.85%. Multiple regression analyses results showed that total average medical expenses among long-term patients have significantly decreased by 46.5% after introducing the long-term care insurance. The hospitalization expenses have significantly decreased by 148.5%, whereas the drug expenses have increased by 53.6%. And outpatient expenses have increased by 10.4%, but the differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The results showed that total medical expenses and hospitalization expenses have decreased after introducing the long-term care insurance. These results could support the opinion that the health insurance spending among long-term patients will be reduced gradually by long-term care insurance through changing medical demand.

• Journal of the Korean housing association
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.83-95
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• 2011

This study was conducted to guarantee elderly housing for the increasing number of elderly people over 85. It examined their preference of living with their children and continuously living in their current houses when they reach the age of 85. First, research shows that 69.8% of the elderly wish to live separately from their children in later years. Second, 61.9% of the elderly wish to continue to live in their current houses. Third, the elderly without a spouse, with lower levels of education and with a longer period of time in their current houses, prefer to live with their children. Fourth, the elderly who own a house, who have lived in their current house for a long time, who have a religion and who are satisfied with their houses, wish to continue to live in their current houses in later years. However, most of the houses have safety defects such as a difference of floor-level at the entryway, lack of gas and smoke detectors and slippery bathroom floors. Thus, the elderly need to be supported by providing proper housing renovations for their safety and wellbeing.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.35-47
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• 2009

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the chronic disease, health status and lifestyle, and to test the chronic disease and health status and lifestyle of rural elderly by gender. Method: The interview survey was performed in September 2004 with structured questionnaires(Scale of Long-Term Health and Welfare Need Survey) to 770 of the elderly who lived in Muan-Gun of Chunnam Province. The percentage, Chi-squire test and regression method were used for some of the cross-sectional data. Results: The 770 elderly respondents were composed of 51.3% male and 48.7% female. 59.1% of the elderly had chronic disease. About the subjective health status that 54.3% of the respondents have been answered not good health status, 87.9% of the respondents have been health examination. The related variables of chronic disease and general characteristics were education and religious level in male, age, marital status, type of social security, education and religious level in female, and health status variables were subjective health status, cognitive function, ADL, IADL, and lifestyle factors was exercise in male, examination in female. Conclusion: These results suggested that special health promotion and education programs of the health habits such as physical exercise and health examination were necessities for the elderly of rural area.

• Journal of the Korean housing association
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.73-81
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to carry out POE of assisted living housing and suggest the design guidelines for the housing complex for the elderly. The subjects were residents(old persons) and staff who lived or worked in three assisted living housing in Cincinnati, Ohio. Interview and survey method using questionnaire were used. The design guidelines for the housing for the elderly were suggested as follows: 1) the location of the housing for the elderly should be in or near the existing housing area, 2) the arrangement of spaces of the housing for the elderly should consist of small groupings rather than large and long corridor pattern, 3) the number of the housing units for the elderly should be small, under 100 units, 4) the housing units should be used by one older persons so that she/he could have the chance of privacy and personalization, 5) various common spaces such as art and craft room or game room should be provided, 6) accessibility should be considered, 7) the color and patterns of interior finishes should be differentiated according to floors or spaces and familiar ones should be used to make a homelike environment.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.723-738
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• 2014

This study examined nutrient intake of long-lived men and women living in Jeollanam-do (Gangjin, Goksung, Gurye, Damyang, Boseong, Suncheon, Jangheung) which is known as representative Korean longevity area. Using the 24 hr recall method, dietary nutrient intake data were collected from 134 subjects (67 for 80~89 years old, 67 for more than 90 years old) in spring and fall 2012. Nutrient for each subject were calculated using CAN-pro. Subjects' daily mean intake levels of macronutrients, vitamins and minerals were higher in fall than in spring. Compared to KDRIs, subjects less than recommend (RNI/AI). East consumed nutrients compared to KDRIs were folate, potassium, calcium, vitamin $B_1$, vitamin $B_2$ and vitamin E. Subjects 232.8~363.1% of recommended intake level for natrium. The nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR) was 0.87 for subjects in their 80s and 0.79 for than 90 years old. The average NAR of all subjects was 0.83. The index of nutritional quality (INQ) exceeded 1 for most nutrients except for Ca (0.87), K (0.77), vitamin $B_1$ (0.84), vitamin $B_2$ (0.70) and folate (0.68). The average INQ was 1.31. This study concluded that even though long-lived men and women living in Jeollanam-do consumed less than RNIs, nutrition consumption quality was relatively fine based on NAR and INQ results.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.111-121
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• 2005

This study was to performed to assess social factors and physical health status. The subjects of the study were 103 elderly people of age over 85 years living in Ganghwa-gun area. The method of this research was based on the interview-survey with questionnaire. Chi-square test was the main data analysis method. The subject group was composed of 36 males and 67 females, the average age being 91.0 $\pm$ 3.2 years old for the males and 91.1 $\pm$ 3.4 years old for the females. The aged average height and weight were 161.0 $\pm$ 7.9 cm and 54.6 $\pm$ 7.8 kg in males, 141.0 $\pm$ 8.2 cm and 42.2 $\pm$ 7.9 kg in females which were lower than the Korean average standard but the mean BMIs of both male and female showed normal range. Their level of education was lower and they tended to be religious. The aged population might be economically poor. Their level of living standards tended to have been lower-middle and lower class. The mean age of their parents' death were 64.3 $\pm$ 17.2 years in males, 59.0 $\pm$ 14.9 years in females for the father and 70.9 $\pm$ 15.5 years in males, 66.8 $\pm$ 16.6 years in females for the mother. The rate of living together with their family or spouse in the female aged was $83.2\%$ higher than in the male aged. They tended to have engaged in hobbies that require less movement. Of the kinds of hobby, 'TV watching ($47.8\%$ in male and $44.9\%$ in female) was the highest. Ratios of the drinking and the smoking elderly were $30.6\%$, $25.0\%$ in male and $7.5\%$, $18.8\%$ in female but they tended to have never drunken and smoked. Of the subjects, $42.9\%$ spend 8$\~$9 hours for sleeping in male and $35.8\%$ spend 10 hours for sleeping in female. They tended to have not done any particular health behavior. The most common diseases were digestive disease in male, arthritis and hypertension in female. Most elderly males ($47.3\%$) and females ($61.2\%$) had 1$\~$2 diseases.

• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.1-18
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• 2019

The virtual reality (VR) is an immerging technology used in the serious games industry to treat psychological disorders like dementia. We created a system named as Virtual Reality Home (VRH) for the elderly who lived with Alzheimer's disease (or other form of dementia) and cognitive impairment using virtual reality technology. The purpose of our study is to measure the long-time immersion and retention of VRH on the moods and apathy, enhancement in physical and brain stimulation as well as a decision making with peoples of dementia and explore the experience of aged care home staff's member. The VRH shows a positive impact on the elderly participants and staff members. During the VRH experience, excitement and a great level of alertness were observed among the participants but few of them were feeling anxiety. Furthermore, we observed the improvement in physical, memory and brain stimulation, but the participants have a low focus on decision making because they wanted to explore all interactable objects in the VRH. This study suggests that the VR may have the potential to improve the quality of life, and these results can assist to expand the future development in the enhancement of efficiency of people with dementia.