• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.21 no.9
• /
• pp.440-449
• /
• 2020

This study examined the effects of laughter therapy in the elderly with degenerative arthritis who had joint pain, joint dysfunction, and depression. Through a single-blind, randomized assignment, an experimental group of 26 subjects and a control group of 26 subjects were recruited among the elderly with degenerative knee arthritis, who were over 65 years of age. From January 8 to March 11 of 2019, a total of 16 laughter therapies were administered two times a week, 60 minutes per session, in eight weeks. The pain threshold (p=.012) and joint function status (p<.001), which represents the pain, joint stiffness, and physical function, and depression (p<.001), in the experimental group improved after the eight weeks laughter therapy compared to the control group. Laughter therapy is a therapeutic intervention that can be delivered through physical or intellectual activities. This therapy is a non-invasive procedure and has the advantage that nurses can practice easily with a little training. It can be used as an intervention within community and clinical settings to relieve pain and improve depression in the elderly with arthritis.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.181-188
• /
• 2013

노인에게서 두드러지게 나타나고 있는 저근육형 비만은 근육감소를 동반한 체지방의 증가로 신체상의 뚜렷한 체성분의 변화를 야기 시킨다. 이때 골감소증을 동반하여 신체기능의 감소 및 골절장애 그리고 대사성 관련 질환의 위험도가 올라가는 것으로 보고되고 있다. 노화로 인한 체성분의 변화는 단순한 저근육형일 경우와 비만일 때 보다 급격히 증가된 복부내장 지방조직에서 분비되는 염증성 사이토카인, C-반응성 단백질(CRP), 인터루킨(IL)-6, IL-8 및 종양 괴사 인자(TNF-${\alpha}$)들이 단백질 대사를 저해하여 근육량의 감소를 더욱 촉진시키며, 염증관련 대사질환의 유병률에 중요한 요인이다. 본 연구에서는 DNA 메틸화가 당뇨병, 심혈관질환, 암과 같은 만성염증성 질환에 관계하고 있다는 최근 연구 결과를 기초로 하여 항염증 영양소와 생리활성을 갖는 식품인자들의 충분한 섭취가 염증조절에 중요하게 기여할 것으로 생각되며, 또한 염증성 질환의 주요 표식자인 DNA 메틸화와 히스톤 변형을 유발하는 효소의 활성 또는 비 암호화된 RNA의 발현을 조절함으로써 근육량 증가와 체지방 감소에 중요한 역할을 하는 것을 살펴보았다. 따라서 최근 새롭게 인식되는 후생유전학적 연구의 중심에 있는 항염증 영양소의 효과와 체성분 변화와의 긍정적 관계를 중심으로 저근육형 비만의 예방 및 인구고령화에 건강한 노화를 위한 효과적인 방법을 제시하였다.

• 한국노년학
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.243-258
• /
• 2009

Background: Falls are among the most common and serious health problems of older people. The psychological symptoms of falling have received relatively little attention compared to physical problems. Objective: The purpose of this study is to test a model to explain the factors that influence fear of falling among older adults living in a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in Baltimore city, United States. Methods: A secondary analysis was conducted using data obtained from a Health Promotion Survey done on 149 older adults living in a CCRC. Data was originally obtained during face to face interviews with each participant. Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations were used to describe the sample and evaluate simple correlations. A path analysis was done using the AMOS 4.0 statistical program. Results: Of the 49 hypothesized paths, 13 were statistically significant, and the model accounted for 22% of the variance in fear of falling among the elderly. There was support for the fit of the model to the data with a nonsignificant chi square at 0.478 (df=2, p=0.79), and the ratio of chi-square to degrees of freedom was 0.24, a CFI of 0.99 and RMSEA of 0.00. In particular, gender, a history of falling, and exercise were significant predictors of fear of falling. Conclusions/Implications: As anticipated, exercise is an important factor to prevent fear of falling. As a modifiable variable, self-efficacy and outcome expectation indirectly influence fear of falling through exercise.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.65-78
• /
• 2023

Objective : The typical decline in function due to aging includes limitations in vision, hearing, cognitive function, and activities of daily living. Therefore, this study evaluated the mediating effect of cognitive function on the relationship between vision and hearing and activities of daily living. Methods : The participants in this study were 36,767 persons from the long-term care database on older adults provided by the National Health Insurance Sharing Service. The extracted variables were: (i) independent variables: visual and hearing; (ii) dependent variables: basic and instrumental daily living activities; and (iii) mediator variables: cognitive function. Regression analysis was performed evaluate the mediating effects of the extracted variables. Results : Cognitive function showed a mediating effect of 30% on the relationship between vision and basic daily life activities and 42% in the relationship with instrumental daily life activities. The mediating effect was 50% in the relationship between hearing and basic activities of daily living, and 53% in the relationship with instrumental activities of daily living. Conclusion : Prevention programs for functional decline due to aging are in progress in Korea. Based on the results of this study, establishing a prevention program would help promote successful aging.

• 한국노년학
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.225-241
• /
• 2018

Self-driving is meaningful activity for older persons because it enlarges the range of activity and provides opportunities for social participation. Driving is a complex activity that requires integration of physical, cognitive and sensory functions and is influenced by human and psychological factors. Age related functional deterioration affects the driving ability of older drivers. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the risk of accidents and driving cessation of elderly drivers through systematic literature review. MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, KoreaMed, Pubmed were used for searching articles published from 2007 to 2017. 'aged', 'aging', 'automobile driving', 'age factors' were used as search terms and 18 articles were finally selected for analysis among 1,458 articles. In result of the study, the most significant effect showed in the physical domain, the driving habit and the performance function. The most frequent used tools evaluated driving habit and the cognitive function. In demographic characteristics, there was a correlation with the driving discontinue according to sex and age. This study emphasizes the necessity of preparing measures for safety driving with elderly. In addition, it suggests the necessity of systematically services such as individual education programs based on various driving cessation related factors of the elderly.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.12 no.11
• /
• pp.415-426
• /
• 2014

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of health status on sleep quality and quality of life among elderly patients in geriatric hospitals. A survey was held to the elderly patient of 5 geriatric hospitals in Kyunggi-do and Busan from May 8 to May 28, 2013. As result of factor analysis, the health status divided to the 7 domain: Emotional function, Strength, Daily activity, social role, Change of body, Social function and pain. Pain and Emotional function revealed the negative effect on sleep quality and Change of body and Daily activity were positive effect on quality of life. In conclusion, it is need to improve sleep quality through finding pain and emotional problem in elderly patient, and in order to upgrade nursing in geriatric hospitals, it have to develop nursing strategies considering the geriatric hospital for health screening and health promotion to take care of daily activity and change of older's body.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.773-789
• /
• 2016

This study was conducted to identify the sleep patterns and influencing factors of hospitalized elderly in a long-term care hospital. The sleep patterns of 142 subjects were recorded using Sleep Charts. The average sleep time of subjects was 10.7 hours a day (3.9 hours in daytime and 6.8 hours in nighttime). Sleep regularity among participants were 71.7% in all day (58.1% in day time and 80.5% in night time). The presence of dementia patients in the room (PDPR) has been identified to be a statistically significant predictor of all day sleep, and pain, PDPR, and physical function have been found to be a significant predictors of sleep regularity in all day among subjects. It suggested that elderly patients in a long-term care hospital do not slept well during night, which leads to increase in daytime sleep and decrease the quality of their sleep. Therefore, an intervention program should be developed to promote the quality of sleep among hospitalized elderly.

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.252-263
• /
• 2023

Purpose: To assess the feasibility, safety, and preliminary estimates of effectiveness of Tai Chi on the functional outcomes of older adults in the community. Methods: This was a mixed-method study that employed a single-group repeated measure design and in-depth interviews. Nine older adults were recruited from the community were recruited to participate in a Tai Chi program, conducted twice weekly for 6 months. Research outcomes included physical function, cognitive function, and quality of life, measured at intervals of 3 and 6 months. Findings: Tai Chi exercises were gradually conducted based on the health status of the older adults. All participants actively participated in the program with an average attendance of 90%. Consequently, the participants showed significant improvements in mobility and their memory recall ability at both 3 and 6 months. Additionally, the results of the Stroop test exhibited improvement 3 months after the commencement of the study program. Quality of life of the participants improved according to the mild cognitive impairment questionnaire, but it did not show significant improvement in health-related quality of life. Conclusion: The Tai Chi exercise program was a safe and, feasible program to improve the physical function, cognitive function, quality of life among the older adults in the community.

• 한국HCI학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2006.02a
• /
• pp.347-354
• /
• 2006

본 작품은 고령자에게 생활의 도움을 주면서 감성적으로 인간 친화적 역할을 수행하는 것을 목적으로 제작한 로봇이다. 고령화 사회 속에서 혼자 사는 노인들이 증가하는 사회현상을 바탕으로 노인의 노화로 인한 신체적 약점들 중 가장 많이 눈에 띄고 보편적인 증상을 일상 속에서 보완해 줄 수 있는 로봇을 개발하는데 중점을 두었다. 단순히 기능적인 편리성뿐 만 아니라 시각적으로 노인에게 즐거움을 주고 위안을 줄 수 있는 친근한 로봇은 노인이 생활하는데 큰 활력소가 될 것이다.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.243-248
• /
• 2011

낙상은 노인의 건강을 위협하는 가장 심각한 문제 중의 하나이며, 조기사망, 신체손상, 운동장애, 심리학적 기능장애를 유발하는 원인이기도 하다. 본 연구의 목적은 국내 노인전문 요양병원 입원 환자들의 의약품 사용이 낙상에 미치는 영향을 평가하는데 있다. 후향적으로 원내 의무기록 정보를 이용하여 환자-대조군 연구를 수행하였고, 2008년 1월부터 2010년 12월까지 3년 기간에 입원한 65세 이상을 대상으로 하였다. 입원기간 중 낙상을 경험한 34명의 노인환자들을 환자군으로 선택하였으며 낙상을 경험하지 않은 68명의 노인환자들을 무작위 추출하여 1:2의 환자군:대조군비율로 연구 대상 환자들을 선정하였다. 환자군이 복용한 의약품을 대조군이 복용한 의약품과 비교하였으며 각 계열별 의약품과 낙상위험도 관계를 평가하였다. 두 그룹간의 인구통계학적 특성은 유사하였고 연령, 성별, 복용 의약품수, 고혈압 유무, 혈중 크레아티닌 수치, 혈중 나트륨 수치, 혈압 또는 심박수에 유의한 차이는 없었다. 항히스타민제와 본 연구에서 유일하게 기타 수면보조제로 분류된 졸피뎀이 유의하게 낙상위험도를 증가시켰다.