• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.31 no.4 s.63
• /
• pp.692-707
• /
• 1998

Aim. A neurobehavioral test for workers exposed to organic solvents in the workplace can be affected by many factors : age, education, motivation, ethnicity, etc. To apply more suitable neurobehavioral test for Korean workers, we evaluated the validity of several items of computerized and traditional neurobehavioral tests. Methods. We have applied eleven tests : four items of computerized neurobehavioral test(Swedish Performance Evaluation System) including Addition, Symbol-Digit, Dig-it Span, and Finger tapping speed, and seven items of traditional neurobehavioral test consisting of Addition, Digit-Symbol, Digit Span, Benton visual retention test, Pursuit aiming, Pegboard, and Tapping. These tests were performed on 96 workers exposed to solvents, and 100 reference workers. The concurrent and construct validities were evaluated by group difference, correlation with age, educational level, hippuric acid level, neurotoxic symptom, current exposure level, multitrait-multimethod matrix, fator analysis, and discriminant analysis. Results. Statistically significant differences were observed between the workers exposed to solvents and referents in computerized Symbol-Digit, Finger tapping speed, traditional Digit-Symbol and Pegboard. The computerized Symbol-Digit, traditional Digit-Symbol, Addition, Benton visual retention test, and Pegboard were found to be related to the age. The performance of computerized Symbol-Digit, Addition, and traditional Digit-Symbol were found to be related to the educational level significantly. The computerized Symbol-Digit, Finger tapping speed, and traditional Digit-Symbol were found to be related to hippuric acid, and neurotoxic symptom. The discriminability of Finger tapping speed, and Pegboard was better than the other tests. In discriminant analysis, the model with two variables, the computerized Symbol-Digit and Pegboard, classified almost 70 percent of the workers correctly. Conclusions. These results suggest that the computerized Symbol-Digit, Finger tapping speed, and Pegboard are more satisfactory for our purpose, and the Addition, Tapping, Benton visual retention test, and Pursuit aiming are less valid than other items. These may allow the reasonable selection of core neurobehavioral tests for workers exposed to solvents in Korea.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.85-89
• /
• 2016

Background: Formaldehyde is used to preserve cadaver in medical schools, and students are exposed to formaldehyde during cadaver dissection classes. When humans are exposed to formaldehyde, it induces mucosal inflammation, skin inflammation, and declining of neurobehavioral function including attention and memory executive functions. The purpose of this study is to identify the effects of formaldehyde exposure on student's neurobehavioral performance during cadaver dissection classes. Methods: The level of formaldehyde was measured in a cadaver dissection class. A total of 16 students were randomly divided into two groups. One group wore respiratory protection masks, while the other group did not. Among many subtests in Korean Computerized Neurobehavioral test, backward digit span was tested on all subjects before and after the class. Results: The length of memorized digit span between the two groups was not significant; however there was a greater decrease in neurobehavioral function after formaldehyde exposure in the non-mask group than the mask group. Conclusion: Formaldehyde exposure during cadaver dissection may likely decrease neurobehavioral performance of students. Therefore, proper ventilation system and respiratory protective equipment are necessary to protect medical school students from adverse effects of formaldehyde exposure.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.27 no.3 s.47
• /
• pp.487-504
• /
• 1994

A cross-sectional study was performed to evaluate the effects of chronic low-dose solvent on neurobehavioral performance of 118 male car painters. A control group of 113 workers matched for age was selected from different sections of the factory. The mean age and the mean duration of employment were 33 years and 6.7 years in both groups. Mean years of education were 11.4 years in car painters and 11.8 years in controls. Each worker completed a medical and occupational questionnaire and four tests of Swedish performance evaluation system. These included simple reaction time, symbol digit, digit span and finger tapping speed. Althougth the mean duration of employment was 6.7 years, comparison of mean performance showed a significantly poorer performance on simple reaction time (p<0.05), symbol digit(p<0.01) and digit span(p<0.05) in car painters. In univariate analysis, age and educational level contributed to poorer performance on symbol digit and digit span. Smoking appeared to slow finger tapping speed in car painters. Performance of four tests of car painters exposed to high level of solvent was poorer than that of car painters exposed to low level. In multiple regression models, controlling for age, alcohol, smoking and shift work, solvent exposure was found to be associated with performance of simple reaction time, symbol digit and digit span and exposure to high level of solvent was related to poorer performance of symbol digit and digit span.

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 1999.10a
• /
• pp.175-176
• /
• 1999

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.140-147
• /
• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of the cognitive training program on cognitive function, stress and depression in geriatric hospitals. Methods: The subjects of the experimental group were 17 elderly patients who attended the cognitive training program in Geriatric Hospitals and the subjects of the control group were 15 elderly patients who attended in geriatric hospitals. The persons in training group must take cognitive training program for 4 weeks by 3 times a week. The Mini-mental State Examination Korea version (MMSE-K), Geriatric depression Scaleshort form-Korea version (GDS-K) and Korean Computerized Neurobehavioral Test (KCNT) were utilized to determine cognitive function, stress and depression. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test and ANOVA using SPSS/PC 12.0 program. Results: Cognitive function (t=-7.625, p=.000) in the elderly after receiving the cognitive training program was significantly more improved than before intervention. Also, Stress and depression (t=2.73, p=.004) was significantly more reduced than before the intervention. Conclusion: This cognitive training program was partially effective in improving cognitive function, neurobehavioral performance and reduce stress and depression. Therefore, it is recommended that this program be used in clinical practice as an effective nursing intervention in geriatric hospitals.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.201-210
• /
• 2021

Purpose : There is a lack of research on this field in the Republic of Korea, especially those that have seen the effect of interaction between transcranial direct current stimulation and computerized cognitive rehabilitation therapy. This study divided 30 dementia patients into a treatment group, which received transcranial direct current stimulation and computerized cognitive rehabilitation, and a control group, which received pseudo-transcranial direct current stimulation and pseudo-computerized cognitive rehabilitation. This study evaluated the effects of these treatments on the visual perception, cognition functions, and daily activities of dementia patients. Methods : Fifteen subjects were allocated to the treatment group and the other 15 subjects were allocated to the control group. Treatments were given at intervals of five sessions per week (30 minutes per session) for six weeks (30 times in total). This study used the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination (NCSE) to examine cognitive functions, MVPT to evaluate visual perception, and FIM to test daily living activities before and after applying the treatments. Results : The results of this study showed that cognitive functions, visual perception, and daily living activities significantly (p<.05) improved after the intervention in the treatment group and the control group. The changes in cognitive functions, visual perception, and daily living activities due to the treatments were significantly different between the groups (p<.05). Conclusion : The results indicated that transcranial direct current stimulation and computerized cognitive rehabilitation therapy improved visual perception and daily living activities by increasing cognitive functions. Consequently, it was found that the simultaneous application of transcranial direct current stimulation in conjunction with a computerized cognitive rehabilitation program was an intervention method that could positively affect the visual perception, cognitive function, and daily living activities of dementia patients. Based on the results of this study, the study of arbitration protocols for demential will have to be more active.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
• /
• v.15 no.7
• /
• pp.215-223
• /
• 2021

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of computerized cognitive therapy on cognitive function and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living for elderly people with mild cognitive impairment living in the community. 22 MCI elderly people were randomly assigned to 11 experimental group and 11 control group. For a total of 10 weeks, 3 times a week, 30 minutes per session, the experimental group received CoTras and the control group received traditional cognitive rehabilitation. Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination(NCSE) and Korean Instrumental Activities of Daily Living(K-IADL) were used to investigate the changes in cognitive function and performance of instrumental activities of daily living before and after the intervention. As a result of the study, the experimental group showed improvement in overall cognitive function, including attention and memory, and performance in IADL. The use of CoTras may be considered to improve cognitive function and performance of instrumental activities of daily living for the elderly with mild cognitive impairment in the community.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.49-58
• /
• 2021

Purpose : This study investigates the effects of the application of traditional occupational therapy and the korean computerized cognition training system on the cognitive function and performance of daily activities of stroke patients with cognitive impairment. Methods : From inpatients referred for rehabilitation treatment at L Rehabilitation Hospital located in Busan, 20 patients diagnosed with stroke from April 05. 2021 to May 02. 2021 (study period) were selected, They were divided into two, an experimental group consisting of 10 subjects who underwent a computerized cognitive rehabilitation program and traditional occupational therapy in combination and a control group of 10 subjects who underwent traditional occupational therapy alone. In order to measure the cognitive function of the subjects before the intervention, two assessment tests were conducted: a Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination (NCSE), which evaluates stroke-related cognitive ability, and a Functional Independence Measure (FIM) test, which evaluates life activities. Then, both groups received a total of 20 training sessions at 30 minutes per session, five times a week for four weeks. Results : A statistically significant difference was found in cognitive function between before and after the cognitive training for both the experimental group and the control group. For the FIM scores, statistically significant differences were observed after intervention in the categories of handling personal matters and social cognition, and in the total score. The average scores of the remaining items also improved. Conclusion : The results of this study showed that both the computerized cognition rehabilitation program and the traditional occupational therapy had a positive effect on the improvement of cognitive function in stroke patients.