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

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.242-248
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• 2006

배경 : 의과학과 사회-경제학의 발전은 인간 수명 연장에 지대한 공헌을 해 왔다. 그러나 결과적으로 피부 질환으로 고생하는 노인 인구도 증가하였다. 본 연구에서는 동국대학교 한방 안이비인후피부과에 피부질환을 주소증으로 내원한 성인 환자들을 대상으로 임상 양상을 조사해 보고 고령사회에서 어떻게 한방 피부과 의료 수요 변화에 대처하고 발전해 나아갈 수 있을지 그 방법을 모색해 볼 수 있는 근거 자료로 활용하기 위해 수행하였다. 연구방법 : 2002년 1월부터 2004년 12월 까지 3년 동안 동국대학교 한방 안이비인후피부과에 피부 질환을 주소증으로 내원한 319명의 환자를 대상으로 하였다. 그들을 내원시기, 연령, 성별로 나누어 질환별 분포를 조사하였다. 통계분석은 $X^2$ test(Window, SPSS 11.0)를 사용하였고 p <.05를 유의수준으로 하였다. 결과 : 2002년부터 2004년 까지 질환별 분포를 살펴보면 습진 21.9%, 소양증 20.4%. 여드름 16.9%,로 나타났다. 2002년에는 습진 17.0%, 소양증 16.0%, 여드름이 14.9%였다. 2003년에는 소양증 34.2%, 두드러기가 23,3%, 습진이 17.1%였다. 2004년에는 습진 61.4%, 여드름 21.1%, 소양증 15.8%였다. 이들 결과는 통계적으로 유의한 차이를 보였다($X^2\;=\;54.135^{***}$, p = .000, df : 20). 남자에서는 습진이 25.0%로 가장 많았고 소양증 19.5%, 두드러기 12.5%, 지루성 피부염 11.7%로 나타났다. 여자에서는 여드름이 22.0%로 가장 많았고 소양증 20.9%, 습진 19.9%였다. 이들 결과는 통계적으로 유의한 차이를 보였다($X^2\;=\;19.839^*$, p = .031, df : 10). 20대 환자에서는 여드름이 24.1%로 가장 많았고 습진과 소양증이 각각 19.5%였다. 30대 환자군에서는 습진이 30.3%였고 소양증이 19.1%였다. 40대에서는 소양증이 28.8%였고 지루성 피부염이 16.0%였다. 50대에서는 습진이 26.7%였고 60세 이상의 그룹에서는 습진이 50.0%, 바이러스 질환과 소양증이 각각 15.0%였다. 이들 결과는 통계적으로 유의한 차이를 보였다($X^2\;=\;74.995^{**}$, p = .001, df : 40). 결론 : 상대적으로 50세 이상 연령충의 대상 환자 수가 많지 않은 원인은 여리 가지 분석이 가능할 것으로 생각된다. 연령에 따라 피부질환이 다른 양상을 보임을 고려할 때 노인층의 신체적, 경제적, 사회적 특성을 이해하고 이에 따른 효과적이고 사회-경제학적 부담을 최소할 수 있는 한방 치료 영역의 확대 및 개발이 필요할 것으로 사려된다.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.19-26
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• 2018

In recent years, the substantial increase in the population's average age leads to an exceeded number of older persons comparing with the number of any other age group. As a result, both industry and academia are focused on the development of several solutions aimed to guarantee a healthy and safe lifestyle to the elderly. Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) approach is the way to guarantee better life conditions for the aged and for monitoring their health conditions by the development of innovative technologies and services. AAL technologies can also provide more safety for the elderly, offering emergency response mechanisms, fall detection solutions, and video surveillance systems. Unfortunately, due to the sensitive nature of AAL data, AAL systems should satisfy security requirements such as integrity, confidentiality, availability, anonymity, and others. In this paper, we propose an adaptive authentication protocol for the AAL systems. The proposed authentication protocol not only supports several important security requirements needed by the AAL systems, but can also withstand various types of attacks. In addition, the security analysis results show that the proposed authentication protocol is more efficient and secure than the existing authentication protocols.

• 한국노년학
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.1089-1111
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to research the effects of socio-demographic factors and values in each group on satisfaction with life by categorizing the activity types of the elderly into volunteer work and economic activities. The subjects of this study were 60 years an old higher. The questionnaires were categorized depending on activity types and collected. The voluntary work group consisted of 201 people (76 males, 36.8% and 125 females, 62.2%), The economic activity group consisted of 219 people (127 males, 58.0% and 92 females, 42.0%). The SPSS 14.0 Windows program was used to analyze data. Frequency, average, standard deviation, factor analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient, t-test, One-Way ANOVA analysis, and hierarchical multiple linear regression were analyzed. The major findings of this study indicate that the elderly in the voluntary work group have a high collectivism value, higher income earned by performing economic activities, and good cognitive health affected by a high satisfaction with life. From these research results, it was proved that a collectivism value is a common factor that affects satisfaction with life in both of the economic activity group. Those who were older had a traditional collectivism value. The voluntary work group showed a stronger collectivism value and higher satisfaction with life than the economic activity group. Thus, the diverse types of voluntary work should be developed and a systematic system should be established as methods for improving quality of life and satisfaction.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.91-116
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• 1974

Taiwan agricultural development in the last decade has not been changed much since the accomplishment of land reform program. This is mainly due to the rapid development taken place within industry that agricultural development can not keep pace with. The increasing gap of rural-urban income discrepancy has caused socio-psychological unstability among rural people and inspire wants of out-migration. From 1961 to 1970, population of the ten largest cities showed an annual growth rate of 4.05%, while the population of the remainder of Taiwan showed 2.06%. Assuming the natural increase rate of these two population sections are similar, the difference of rural and urban annual growth rate can be at tributed to the flow of people from rural to urban sectors. The main objective of this paper is to identify the amount of agricultural out-migration and its impact on agricultural development and agricultural extension programs. Specifically, the objectives are to examine (1) rural-urban population composition (2) rural out-migration estimation (3) changes of agricultural population, and (4) implications for agricultural development and extension programs Some of the important findings are listed below; (1) The average agricultural out migration of the period 1960-1969 is estimated at around 60,000 per year. Take Tainan prefecture for example, the Male-Female Migration Ratio is 0.39 for age 20-24, 0.55 for age 25-29, 0.90 for 30-34. It is understood between age 20 and 34, the rural female migration rate is higher than the rural male. (2) Based on the population growth rate of 1950-1969, agricultural population is projected for the period of 1953 to 1989. By 1978, the agricultural population will reach its peak and begin to dedaine from 1980. The projected agricultural population in 1989 is 5,847,566 which occupies 29% of the Taiwan total population. (3) Assuming area of cultivated land keep unchanged as 905,263 ha. in 1970, and tif we can eliminate all 72% of part-time farms, then the average farm acreage for hose full-time farms will be increased to 3.6 hactares. This is unlikely to happen before 1989 without the government interference. (4) Less than 10% of adult farmer s of age 25-64 in 1969 enrolled in Farm Discussion Club, only 5% of adult farm women enrolled in Home Economics Club, and 5% of rural youth enrolled in 4-H Club. These statistics show a fact that only few farmers are reached by extension workers. Based on findings in this paper, some important suggestions are listed for future agricultural development. (1) Improve agricultural structure by decreasing agricultural population (a) Encourage farmers with less than 0.5 ha. of land to seek jobs outside of agriculture (b) Encourage joint cultivation and farm mechanization (c) Discourage rural migrants to Keep farm land (d) Provide occupational guidance program through extension education programs (2) Establish future farmers settlement project to assure rural youth have enough resources for farming. (3) An optimum Population policy should be integrated into rural socio-economic development and national development programs.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.752-759
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• 2000

Background : Many studies have shown that pulmonary function differs widely among race, age and geographical residency. By virtue of the improvement of nutrition and environment, the elderly population in Korea is markedly increasing and so are the ages of patients complaining respiratory symptoms. However, we do not have our own data on the pulmonary functional reserve of elderly persons in Korea. We evaluate the deterioration of pulmonary functional reserve and standardize the predictive values of pulmonary function in the elderly population. Method : Pulmonary function tests were conducted in 100 men and 100 women over the age of 65. We analyzed changes of FVC and $FEV_1$ according to age and height by linear regression. We compared our new multiple linear regression equation with other equations currently used in Korea. Results : In men, the mean age was $71.5{\pm}5.2$(mean${\pm}$SD) years and the mean height was $163.6{\pm}6.2$cm. The mean FVC was $3.42{\pm}0.49{\ell}$ and the mean $FEV_1, $2.72{\pm}v$. In women, the mean age was $72.0{\pm}5.1$ years and the mean height was $149.1{\pm}5.9$cm. The mean FVC was $2.22{\pm}0.42{\ell}$ and the mean $FEV_1$ $1.83{\pm}0.34{\ell}$. Multiple linear regression equation using age and height as an independent factors was as follows : FVC(${\ell}$)=1.857-0.0356$\times$age(year)+0.02517$\times$height(cm) (p<0.01, $R^2$=0.279), $FEV_1(${\ell}$)=1.340-0.02698$\times$age(year)+0.02021$\times$height(cm) (p<0.01, $R^2$=0.255) in men, FVC(${\ell}$) =-0.09765-0.03332$\times$age(year)+0.03164$\times$height(cm) (p<0.01, $R^2$=0.435), $FEV_1(${\ell}$)=-0.l69-0.02469$\times$age(year)+0.02539$\times$height(cm) (p<0.01, $R^2$=0.41) in women. Conclusion : We established prediction regressions for pulmonary functional tests in the elderly Korean population. We also confirmed that currently adopted equations do not exactly anticipate the expected pulmonary functional reserve in the aged person over 65 years old. We suggest that our new equations from this study should be applied to interpret the pulmonary function tests in the elderly population in Korea.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.99-106
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to investigate incidence rates of complications in response to the introduction of quality evaluation of the DRG(diagnosis related group) payments, focusing on an increasing number of patients with lens surgery as the population aging increases.Fourthly, there were three dependent variables ('vitreous prolapse', 'IOP elevations', and 'other complications') in this study, and therefore multivariate logistic regression was performed. The result of the analysis indicates that as the number of hospitalized days increased, vitreous prolapse decreased to 0.27 times(95% CI 0.08~1.00) and IOP elevation decreased by 0.14 times(95% CI 0.03~1.59), compared to other complications, and this was statistically significant. From the above results, this study is meaningful in that it has compared the evaluation results of the appropriateness of DRG payment and the medical quality for lens surgery complications patients, in response to the introduction of quality evaluation by DRG payment.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.57-78
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• 2004

The economic crisis in $1997{\sim}1998$ caused massive unemployment and unprecedentedly increased the number of the poor in Korea. As many unemployed families fell into poverty, the poverty rate skyrocketed to higher than 10 percent. Not later than 2000, unemployment late got back to normal and real average income among urban households approached to the income level prior to the economic crisis. Although the economic crisis has been passed through, poverty was not decreased to the low level prior to the crisis by 2000. Why does it remain high? This study attempts to provide an answer to this question by analysing the poverty trend over the 1990s. Data come from the National Survey of Household Income and Expenditures 1991, 1996, and 20001. Results show that poverty was rapidly reduced in the first half period of the 1990s. This reduction in poverty is largely explained by steady and rapid economic growth. Modest improvement in income inequality also contributed. In contrast, the poverty rate considerably increased in the latter half of the 1990s. Average income was not fully recovered to its prior level, which reflected the economic crisis and the subsequent economic stagnation. Worsened income inequality led to higher poverty rate too. In addition, demographic changes increased the share of economically vulnerable types of families, such as families headed by single parents and the elderly. The most significant factor in explaining the higher poverty rate was extended income differential among non-elderly adults, while the next was the increased number of the elderly families. Yet, findings a little differ depending on which concepts of poverty to adopt. In the analyses based on the concept of absolute poverty, economic growth the most significantly affected the poverty trends in the 1999s. Changes in income inequality played the most important role in explaining the trend in relative poverty. Adopting the concepts of quasi-absolute poverty, which is preferred in this study, results show that rapid economic growth significantly reduced poverty in the first half of the 1990s and both worsened income inequality and stagnated economic growth increased poverty in the latter 1990s.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.1-22
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• 2006

Medical treatment for the aged has become an increasingly important concern as the aged population continues to grow. However, little research has been done on the issue. This study examines the roles of the expertise, convenience, and interaction of medical treatment systems applied by geriatric hospital. Medical treatment systems include oriental medicine, western medicine and integrated(oriental and western) medicine practices. The empirical results of the study are as follows. First, the relative impacts of the expertise, convenience and interaction on customer satisfaction are different depending upon the medical treatment systems. Second, convenience and interaction are shown to be more important factors in western medicine, while interaction is the case in oriental medicine. As for the integrated medicine practices, expertise is considered more important. Thus, it is necessary for the western medicine to make more efforts on interaction and convenience, while it is critical to enhance medical personnels' service quality in the oriental medicine. In the integrated medical treatment, actual and effective cooperation should be achieved to secure expertise. Third, the data demonstrate that customer satisfaction has a positive influence on relationship quality which, in turn, impacts on repurchase intention. Finally, relationship quality has a negative influence on intention to switch in the western medicine, whereas the impact of relationship quality is not significant in the oriental and integrated medicine practices.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.185-192
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• 2023

Currently, the number of Long-Term Care Hospital in Korea is continuously increasing with the increase in the elderly population. Patients admitted to Long-Term Care Hospital are mainly elderly with chronic diseases, and because they are for long-term care, they often die in Long-Term Care Hospital, and the importance of end-of-life care is gradually increasing. In spite of these characteristics Studies on end-of-life care for nurses in Long-Term Care Hospital are mainly quantitative studies, and there is a limit to in-depth understanding of end-of-life care experiences. Therefore, The purpose of this study is to understand the meaning of Long-Term Care Hospital nurses' nursing experienceof end-of-life patients through a phenomenological method, and to describe and understand the meaning of the phenomenon in depth. The subjects of this study were 7 nurses who had worked for more than 6 months at a nursing hospital located in C city. The research method was in-depth interviews, and data were collected from December 2021 to March 2022. The interview date were analyzed by Giorgi's phenomenological method. As a result of the study, 'nurses' attitude toward end-of-life care', 'ambivalence toward life prolongation', 'reality of end-of-life care in Long-Term Care Hospital', and 'reflection on life and death' were found. Therefore, it is thought that End-of-life nursing Continuing educationand interventional education programs should be developed to change Long-Term Care Hospital nurses' end-of-life care attitudes and improve coping skills.