• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.53-62
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• 2022

Objective : This study aimed to present basic data that could help in selecting or using evaluation tools in clinical settings. Methods : This study included 51 patients with stroke. The Cognitive Impairment Screening Test (CIST), Korean-Mini Mental State Examination, 2nd Edition (K-MMSE~2), and Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) were used as evaluation tools. The correlation between evaluation tool scores was analyzed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, and the comparison of total scores between the CIST and K-MMSE~2 according to global CDR scores was analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results : The correlation between the total CIST and K-MMSE~2 scores and global CDR scores was statistically significant (p<.01). The correlation between the sub-scores of the CIST and K-MMSE~2 showed a statistically significant correlation for all sub-scores (p<.01). The comparison of total scores between the CIST and K-MMSE~2 according to global CDR scores showed no statistically significant differences in all global CDR scores. Conclusion : This study showed that there was a correlation between CIST, K-MMSE~2, and CDR in patients with stroke. In the future, we hope that the results of this study will help to select or use cognitive function evaluation tools in clinical settings.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.205-212
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• 2018

Background: Brain volume is associated with dementia and depression in the elderly. An easy way to predict relative brain volume is to measure head circumference. In this study, we investigated the relationship between head circumference and cognition as well as depression in a non-demented elderly community. Methods: Baseline and follow-up surveys were conducted in 2007 and 2010. At baseline, community residents aged 65 years or over (n=382) within a rural area of South Korea were screened for dementia and symptoms of depression and were followed using the same screening battery after 3 years (n=279). Data from anthropometric measurements (head circumference, height, and body weight), demographics, and blood tests were gathered. Neuropsychological tests, including the Korean version of mini-mental state examination (K-MMSE), clinical dementia rating (CDR) including the CDR-sum of boxes, the Korean version of instrumental activities of daily living, and geriatric depression scale (GDS), were performed. None of the 279 subjects followed were demented. Results: Baseline performance on the K-MMSE and GDS was poorer for participants with smaller head circumferences. Follow-up performance on the MMSE was also poorer for participants with smaller head circumferences. Interestingly, participants with smaller head circumference showed worse GDS scores at baseline but on follow-up examination, participants with larger head circumference showed rapid worsening than those with smaller head circumference with marginal significance by ANOVA test. In regression coefficient analysis, GDS decline showed significant difference. Conclusion: Head circumference was not associated with cognitive change but was associated with symptoms of depression in non-demented community residents.

• Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.69-77
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• 2023

Background and Purpose: The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) has been known as a screening test for detecting mild cognitive impairment (MCI) better than Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). However, in previous domestic studies, no significant difference was found in the discriminability between MoCA and MMSE. Researchers have suggested that this might be because older Koreans are less educated than older Westerners. This study was conducted to examine the effect of education on the discriminability of MoCA compared to the MMSE. Methods: Participants were 123 cognitively normal elderly, 118 with vascular MCI, 108 with amnestic MCI, 121 with vascular dementia, and 113 with dementia of the Alzheimer's type. The Korean-MoCA (K-MoCA) and Korean-MMSE (K-MMSE) were administered. Multiple regression analyses and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were performed. Results: In all participants, education significantly affected both K-MoCA and K-MMSE scores along with age. The effect of education was re-examined by subgroup analysis after dividing subjects according to the level of education. Effect of education on K-MoCA and K-MMSE was only shown in the group with <9 years of education. ROC curve analyses revealed that the discriminability of K-MoCA to differentiate between vascular MCI and normal elderly was significantly higher than that of K-MMSE. When re-examining subgroups divided by education level, however, this higher discriminability of K-MoCA disappeared in the group with <9 years of education. Conclusions: These results indicate no difference in discriminating cognitive deficits between K-MoCA and K-MMSE in Korean elderly with <9 years of education.

• Journal of Society of Occupational Therapy for the Aged and Dementia
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.107-115
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• 2018

Objective : The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of a group occupational therapy program on the depression and quality of life of the elderly with Mild Cognitive Impairment(MCI). Method : The elderly with Mild Cognitive Impairment were selected based on the Mini Mental State Examination-Dementia Screening(MMSE-DS). The group occupatinal therapy program consisted of various cognitive domains and was performed 12 times for 6 weeks. The Geriatric Depression Scale(SGDS-K) and Quality of Life(QOL) were used to assess depression and quality of life of the subjects before and after the intervention. Result : The elderly with MCI improved significantly on the SGDS-K and QOL after the intervention program(p<0.05). Particularly, in some items of the QOL, there was a statistically significant difference, but the results of the SGDS-K and QOL did not show any correlation(p>0.05). Conclusion : In the case of the elderly with MCI, the QOL scale and the depressive symptom test were statistically significant when the group occupational therapy program was applied for 6 weeks.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.27-36
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• 2010

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to find out cognitive function of the patients with subjective memory complaint. Material and Methods : From March 1st 2005 to May 31st 2009, 155 normal individuals without any medical illness who visited Yeungnam University Hospital to undergo medical checkup with neurocognitive test was enrolled, and checked by using Cognitive Assessment & Reference Diagnostic System. Results : 107 of the patients had normal cognitive function, 21 patients (about 15%) were diagnosed with dementia, and 10 patients (about 7%) were diagnosed with considerable psychiatric illness, such as depression, anxiety disorder, adjustment disorder. In amnesia, agnosia, aphasia, attention, calculation, dysexecution, Dementia group and Psychiatric illness group has worse score than Normal individuals group. But, in apraxia, Dementia group has worse score than Psychiatric illness group and Normal individual group. Conclusion : Because the patients with subjective memory complaint can be diagnosed as any psychiatric illness as well as dementia, sensitive screening test and early psychiatric approach is needed.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Health Science
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.1493-1501
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• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to classify the characteristics of each item of CIST evaluation and to find out the degree of recognition of the characteristics of the cognitive tool. Methods: This study was conducted for occupational therapy majors at M University located in Gyeongsangnam-do. The data collection from May to June 2021. Total of 25 copies of the data were finally analyzed, SPSS Statistics 26 was used for data analysis. Results: As a result of the study, the significance level was visual reasoning 1 test strip and the visual reasoning 1 tool. In the relationship between the correspondence 1 figure simulation sheet and the figure simulation tool for each item and statistically significant, and the correspondence 2 visual reasoning 2 sheet. Visual reasoning 2 sheet and visual reasoning tool also showed that was found to be statistically significant. The correlation for visual reasoning 1 sheet and the visual reasoning 1 tool, reasoning 2 tool and visual reasoning 1 sheet, and the visual reasoning 2 tool and the verbal reasoning sheet. Conclusion: In this study, in the CIST items that may be difficult, it is better to attach the actual tool rather than the verbal explanation of the test paper to increase the efficiency of the test and the understanding of subjects with mild cognitive impairment. It was implemented by applying the tool, and it was found that the use of the tool in the visual reasoning item showed a high correlation by item. Furthermore, based on this study, it will be possible to suggest a method to control the difficulty of each subject of the cognitive evaluation tool, and to prepare a standard for future research.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.65 no.2
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• pp.315-324
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• 2022

Objective : The aim of this study was to verify the equivalence and effectiveness of the tablet-administered Korean Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (K-RBANS) for the prevention and early detection of dementia. Methods : Data from 88 psychiatry and neurology patient samples were examined to evaluate the equivalence between tablet and paper administrations of the K-RBANS using a non-randomly equivalent group design. We calculated the prediction scores of the tablet-administered K-RBANS based on demographics and covariate-test scores for focal tests using norm samples and tested format effects. In addition, we compared the receiver operating characteristic curves to confirm the effectiveness of the K-RBANS for preventing and detecting dementia. Results : In the analysis of raw scores, line orientation showed a significant difference (t=-2.94, p<0.001), and subtests showed small to large effect sizes (0.04-0.86) between paper- and tablet-administered K-RBANS. To investigate the format effect, we compared the predicted scaled scores of the tablet sample to the scaled scores of the norm sample. Consequently, a small effect size (d≤0.20) was observed in most of the subtests, except word list and story recall, which showed a medium effect size (d=0.21), while picture naming and subtests of delayed memory showed significant differences in the one-sample t-test. In addition, the area under the curve of the total scale index (TSI) (0.827; 95% confidence interval, 0.738-0.916) was higher than that of the five indices, ranging from 0.688 to 0.820. The sensitivity and specificity of TSI were 80% and 76%, respectively. Conclusion : The overall results of this study suggest that the tablet-administered K-RBANS showed significant equivalence to the norm sample, although some subtests showed format effects, and it may be used as a valid tool for the brief screening of patients with neuropsychological disorders in Korea.

• Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.44-53
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• 2024

Background and purpose: The anti-aging standard forest healing program (ASFHP), which uses forest therapy, was reported to be effective in improving psychological, physical, and cognitive functions. However, there are several challenges to directly visiting the forest. This study aimed to investigate the impact of multi-session ASFHP with forest visit on the mental and physical health of the older people with visits to forest facilities and compared them with those of the same program conducted indoors. Methods: Individuals aged over 70 years with concerns about cognitive decline were recruited at dementia relief centers and divided into control and experimental groups. A total of 33 people were administered ASFHP under the supervision of a forest therapy instructor. The control group stayed indoors, while the experimental group visited a forest healing center and repeated the program 20 weeks. Results: The multiple-session ASFHP positively affected cognitive impairment screening test (CIST) total scores (p=0.002), memory (p=0.014), Korean version of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status total scores (p<0.001), immediate recall (p=0.001), visuospatial/construction (p<0.001), language (p<0.001), forest healing standard questionnaire total scores (p=0.002), and cognitive function (p=0.019), regardless of location. The forest visits during the ASFHP showed positive effects on orientation (p=0.035), delayed recall (p=0.042), emotional stability (p=0.032), physical activity (p=0.005), and health (p=0.022). The CIST scores of the memory domain were the strongest indicator of the multiple-session ASFHP effects. Conclusions: The 20-week multi-session ASFHP with forest visit showed effects on cognitive improvement and physical and emotional stability compared to indoor education.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.452-462
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• 2003

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the effects of telephonic counseling on burnout, depression, life satisfaction, and perceived physical health among family caregivers of older adults with dementia. Method: Subjects were randomly assigned into telephonic counseling group (n=21) and the comparison group (n=32). A weekly telephone counseling was conducted by research assistants for 12 weeks. T-test were used to answer the research questions. Result: 1) There were no significant differences between the two groups on the level of burnout, depression, life satisfaction, and perceived physical health after telephone counseling. 2) Spouse caregivers under the telephone counseling tended to report higher perceived physical health than comparison group at the post-test (t=-1.88, p=.08). Spouse caregivers under the telephone counseling tended to report higher emotional exhaustion and lower feeling of self achievement. 3) Daughter-in-law caregivers under telephone counseling showed increased feeling of self achievement, improved physical health condition, and decreased depression. Conclusion: This study showed potential effects of the problem-solving telephone counseling to improve perceived physical health and to reduce the level of burnout and depression. The findings suggest the necessity of screening most vulnerable subgroups of caregivers to increase the effectiveness of nursing intervention such as telephone counseling.

• Journal of Audiology & Otology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.83-88
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• 2019

Background and Objectives: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a disorder that usually occurs in the elderly, leading to dementia in some progressive cases. The purpose of this study is to examine the utility of central auditory processing tests as early diagnostic tools for identifying the elderly with MCI. Subjects and Methods: This study was conducted on 20 elderly patients with MCI and 20 healthy matched peers. The speech perception ability in a quiet environment and in the presence of background noise and also temporal resolution were assessed by using Speech Perception in Noise (SPIN) and Gap in Noise (GIN) tests, respectively. Results: The results indicated that the ability to understand speech in a quiet environment did not differ significantly between the two groups. However, SPIN at the three signal-to-noise ratios and the temporal resolution scores were significantly different between the two groups (p<0.001). Conclusions: Individuals with MCI appear to have poorer speech comprehension in noise and a lower temporal resolution than those of the same age, but without cognitive defects. Considering the utility of these tests in identifying cognitive problems, we propose that since the GIN test seems to be less influenced by intervening factors, this test can therefore, be a useful tool for the early screening of elderly people with cognitive problems.