• Journal of Multimedia Information System
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.31-35
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• 2019

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam has become one of the top ten nations with the highest aging rate. The proportion of their aging population increased from 7.2% to 10.95% from 1989 to 2017 and entered into the aging society six years earlier than what had been anticipated in 2011. The main issues in such a society are the problems associated with the elderly living by themselves and their solitary deaths. This study attempts to find a solution which would mitigate the burdens of aging or aged population who are living in a lonely and solitary living condition focusing on the system used for the purpose of managing or monitoring of their daily lives to prevent any undesirable outcomes including solitary deaths. The study also discusses the possibility of introducing the system into Vietnam.

• Atmosphere
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.225-234
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• 2014

Analysis of the cause of death (Statistics Korea) showed that heat wave caused 442 deaths (21 per a year) from 1991 to 2011 in Korea. The number of summer heat-related deaths (heat disorders) increased exponentially as heat wave prolonged. In 1994 when the extreme heat wave prevailed, there were 92 heat-related deaths. Seasonally, heat-related deaths occurred most frequently in early August when air temperature is highest for a year, but it is frequent as well in late July when air temperature increases rapidly after withdrawal of Changma. The frequency of deaths by age has begun to increase from 40s and more than half of total deaths were occurred in the elderly (${\geq}60$). Except retired elderly, the most vulnerable group (job and age) was the elderly agricultural workers and the next was the jobless people in 40 s~50 s, assumed as homeless people. The most vulnerable regions were Hapcheon-gun, Uiryong-gun, and Sanchen-gun, which are inland rural area in Gyeongsang-do where the heat wave occurs most frequently in Korea. The heat-related death rate increased rapidly when air temperature exceeded $33^{\circ}C$ in both of the urban and rural area. Interestingly, the heat-related death were observed in the relatively lower temperature in the cities ($29^{\circ}C$), as compare to the rural area ($31^{\circ}C$).

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.109-120
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• 2022

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccinations on deaths of the COVID-19 cases in some elderly long-term care facilities (LTCF) in Gwangju Metropolitan City. Methods: The study subjects were 659 COVID-19 cases in residents of 7 elderly LTCF, Gwangju, from 21 Dec. 2021 to 28 Jan. 2022. The used variables were confirmed dates for COVID-19, demographic characteristics, co-morbidities, presentation of symptoms, death and vaccination related characteristics including type of vaccine, doses and dates. Vaccination status were classified as not vaccinated, partially and fully vaccinated. The associations of vaccination status and deaths of COVID-19 cases were tested by chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: The rates of not vaccinated, partially vaccinated and fully vaccinated were 19.4%, 10.2% and 70.4%, respectively. The mortality rate of the cases was 6.4%. The death rate by vaccination status was 16.4% in not vaccinated, 15.4% in partially vaccinated and 2.6% in fully vaccinated, showing a statistically significant difference. The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) (95% confidence intervals, CIs) of death compared to fully vaccinated were 7.64 (3.87-16.34) in non-vaccinated, and 6.97 (3.44-14.14) in partially vaccinated. Conclusions: COVID-19 vaccination seems to work effectively in preventing deaths of COVID-19 cases of elderly LTCF residents. This finding support that fully vaccinations in high risk group such as elderly LTCF residents is very important for one of strategies of COVID-19 management.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.308-315
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• 2019

Objectives: Estimating influenza-associated mortality is important since seasonal influenza affects persons of all ages, causing severe illness or death. This study aimed to estimate influenza-associated mortality, considering both periodic changes and age-specific mortality by influenza subtypes. Methods: Using the Microdata Integrated Service from Statistics Korea, we collected weekly mortality data including cause of death. Laboratory surveillance data of respiratory viruses from 2009 to 2016 were obtained from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After adjusting for the annual age-specific population size, we used a negative binomial regression model by age group and influenza subtype. Results: Overall, 1 859 890 deaths were observed and the average rate of influenza virus positivity was 14.7% (standard deviation [SD], 5.8), with the following subtype distribution: A(H1N1), 5.0% (SD, 5.8); A(H3N2), 4.4% (SD, 3.4); and B, 5.3% (SD, 3.7). As a result, among individuals under 65 years old, 6774 (0.51%) all-cause deaths, 2521 (3.05%) respiratory or circulatory deaths, and 1048 (18.23%) influenza or pneumonia deaths were estimated. Among those 65 years of age or older, 30 414 (2.27%) all-cause deaths, 16 411 (3.42%) respiratory or circulatory deaths, and 4906 (6.87%) influenza or pneumonia deaths were estimated. Influenza A(H3N2) virus was the major contributor to influenza-associated all-cause and respiratory or circulatory deaths in both age groups. However, influenza A(H1N1) virus-associated influenza or pneumonia deaths were more common in those under 65 years old. Conclusions: Influenza-associated mortality was substantial during this period, especially in the elderly. By subtype, influenza A(H3N2) virus made the largest contribution to influenza-associated mortality.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.177-182
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• 2024

This study proposes a big data-based analytical method to detect high-risk areas for solitary deaths among the elderly in Seoul. The study categorizes and analyzes the risk factors of solitary deaths into demographic, health, economic, and socio-environmental factors. Using data collected from the Seoul Open Data Plaza and Public Data Portal, variables were generated and scatter plots were created using K-means clustering, followed by visual implementation through map creation. The analysis identified Jungnang-gu, Gangbuk-gu, Nowon-gu, Eunpyeong-gu, Gangseo-gu, and Gwanak-gu as the highest-risk areas. This study addresses the limitations of previous survey-based research through big data analysis. The findings are expected to enhance the efficiency of solitary death prevention programs and serve as a basis for informed decision-making in budget allocation across districts.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.370-375
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• 2023

As we enter a super-aged society, studies are being conducted to reduce complications and deaths caused by falls in elderly adults. Research is being conducted on interventions for preventing falls in the elderly, wearable devices for detecting falls, and methods for improving the performance of fall detection algorithms. Wearable devices for detecting falls of the elderly generally use gyro sensors. In addition, to improve the performance of the fall detection algorithm, an artificial intelligence algorithm is applied to the x, y, z coordinate data collected from the gyro sensor. In this paper, we develop a wearable device that uses a gyro sensor, body temperature, and heart rate sensor for health management as well as fall detection for the elderly. In addition, we develop a fall detection and health management system that works with wearable devices and a guardian's mobile app to improve the performance of the fall detection algorithm and provide health information to guardians.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.83-88
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• 2023

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor's industrial accident death statistics, the number of accident deaths in the construction industry increased by 30 people year-on-year to 458, with 77.3% of the accident deaths aged 50 or older and 41.9% aged 60 or older. This study conducted and analyzed a survey to identify safety education, protective equipment, and safety consciousness for 68 elderly workers working at construction sites. As a result, the necessity of diversifying safety education using visual data was confirmed to reconsider the contradictory safety consciousness of elderly workers. It also confirmed the need to improve protective equipment, such as providing protective equipment suitable for individual bodies and periodic replacement, for workers who are passive in wearing protective equipment despite the high need for protective equipment.

• International Journal of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.227-236
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• 2024

Chinese high-rise hotels are large in size, densely populated, and have a lot of combustibles. Once a fire occurs, the fire and smoke spread rapidly, and once a fire accident occurs, it is easy to cause a large number of deaths. Fires have a greater impact on special populations such as elderly and children who move slowly. At present, research mainly focuses on the impact of high-rise building structures on evacuation consequences, but there is very little research on the safety evacuation consequences of elderly people and children in high-rise hotels. This paper focuses on the elderly and children living in high-rise hotels in China. We studied three scenarios in which the elderly and children were placed on high floors, middle floors, and low floors. For the above three scenarios, use pathfinder software for simulation, According to the simulation results, when the elderly and children are mainly concentrated in the lower floors (2nd and 3rd floors), the evacuation time is the shortest, 147 seconds. The evacuation time for the elderly and children on the middle floor (6th and 7th floors) is the longest, at 191.5 seconds. Compared to being placed on high floors, safely staying on low floors for all ages reduces evacuation time by 44.5 seconds and improves evacuation efficiency by 23.24%. The final safety evacuation plan is that in daily safety management, hotels should arrange elderly and children occupants on lower floors as much as possible to reduce the total evacuation time and improve personnel evacuation efficiency. This has great guiding significance in the safety management of high-rise hotels.

• Journal of Web Engineering
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.1239-1264
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• 2022

This study examined ethical ways to use welfare technology in a situation where the demand for non-face-to-face welfare services using Cloud based healthcare systems had increased rapidly in caring for elderly people who live alone. Through focus group interviews with social workers related to the care of elderly people who live alone, in-depth interviews were conducted on the current situation, problems, ethical issues, and development directions arising in the implementation of welfare technology. The main areas of interest were focused on improving safety in caring them using IoT technology and enhancing emotional support in preventing lonely deaths using companion robot and AI speaker. Issues such as the need for individualization, client-centeredness, privacy, self-determination, competence, informed consent, right to know, convenience, and advocacy were identified as important ethical considerations related to use of welfare technology. The research results suggested that various stakeholders should participate in the development of ethical indicators and welfare technology for the ethical use of welfare technology.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.543-555
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• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze the walking characteristics of jaywalking pedestrians, which account for a large proportion of deaths in pedestrian traffic accidents. Method: As for the analysis method, after collecting data of jaywalking pedestrians using imaging equipment, frequency analysis and statistical verification were performed on the jaywalking characteristics of elderly and non-elderly people. Result: It was found that there was a difference in the characteristics of jaywalking between the elderly and non-elders, but in the case of walking speed, insignificant results were derived. However, it was found that among the elderly, the group having difficulty walking in general had a lower walking speed than the group that did not. Conclusion: It is judged that one of the causes of jaywalking is the perception of illegal activities and insensitivity to the risk of accidents, not the age and walking ability. Therefore, in addition to safety education, it is judged that it is necessary to provide pedestrian safety information that requires the driver's attention in multiple jaywalking sections.