• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.72 no.5
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• pp.416-425
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• 2012

Background: The sensitivities and specificities of interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) vary among different population studies, and the data on the routine use of IGRAs are limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) test in the diagnosis of active tuberculosis. Methods: We conducted a prospective study, enrolling 77 patients with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), at a secondary care teaching hospital in Seoul. Results: In total, 12 (15.6%) patients showed indeterminate results due to positive control failure on the QFT-GIT test. Indeterminate results were significantly associated with the elderly, history of the intensive care unit stay, lymphocytopenia, especially low CD4 count, increased C-reactive protein and decreased protein levels. Of the 77 patients, 44 (57.1%) were diagnosed with active pulmonary tuberculosis, and the percentage of false negative results of the QFT-GIT was 36.4% (vs. 31.8% with TST). In the TB group with >65 years old (n=12), the proportions of the indeterminate (33.3% vs. 3.1%) and the false negative results (58.3% vs. 25.0%) of the QFT-GIT were significantly higher than in the younger TB group (n=32). Conclusion: Indeterminate and false negative results of QFT-GIT test were not infrequent in tuberculosis, especially in the elderly. Care should be considered for the interpretation with the elderly, immunocompromised, chronic and severely diseased patients.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 2001

According to the increase of the proportion of aged people, the medical demand for a senile chronic disease has been increased; therefore, aged people call for a geriatric hospital for special geriatric medical service. The main purpose of this study was to analyze the general characteristics and financial status of geriatric hospitals. For the study, a questionnaire was designed and sent to the geriatric hospitals to fill out the patient statistics, number of headcount by department, etc. to find out the stability, profitability, activity and so on financial statements of the hospitals were analyzed. The major findings of this study were as belows. 1. The ratio of the medical expenses to the revenue of the geriatric hospitals is much lower than acute care hospitals. But the probability of bankruptcy is higher due to the high ratio of the liabilities therefore it is required to stabilize the financial position by donating more money. 2. Government budget for the elderly people is not enough. To support the geriatric hospitals by going subsides, government should increase the budget. 3. Portion's of the patient of the geriatric hospitals are government support patient. Since the government doesn't pay the medical charges quickly, geriatric hospitals have a serious cash flow problem. Therefore, it is required that government is to prepay the bill. 4. Since geriatric hospitals treat elderly patient and most patients are government support patients, geriatric hospitals can be said to operate under the strict. 5. When we introduce the daily medical charge, the self-liability will be reduced on approximately 50% of current. This affection will bring a huge progressing financial structure to the medical profit of the geriatric hospital, and also patient family will feel less economical burden.

• Journal of East-West Nursing Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing quality of life of caregivers using day care services. Methods: Data were collected from 14 different day care services in D city, with a total of 146 female caregivers as participants. All participants were at home caregivers whose patients were senior citizens older than 65. Data were collected from September 1 to 30 of 2008 and analyzed by t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and stepwise multiple regression. Results: Quality of life among caregivers of day care services differed significantly according to state of health, other caregivers, job, and family income. Quality of life among caregivers showed correlation with caregiving burden. The significant predictors affecting quality of life were state of health, other caregivers, job, and family income and caregiving burden. A combination of these predictors accounted for 43.5% of the variance in quality of life. Conclusion: These findings show that quality of life of family caregivers using day care services is influenced by caregiving burden. Development of day care service programs is necessary in order to reduce caregiving burden of family caregivers for the elderly.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.225-234
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• 2013

Purpose: This purpose of study was to investigate the relationships among functional state, self-efficacy, and life satisfaction in the elderly with decreased visual acuity. Methods: The subjects were 162 elderly people from the G university hospital. Functional state was measured by Late-Life Function and Disability Instrument (LLFDI) and Minimum Data Set-Home Care version 2.0 (MDS HC 2.0). Self-efficacy and Life satisfaction were measured by the tool of Rho & Lee (2011) and Yoon (2007). Data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's Correlation Coefficient, and logistic regression. Results: The daily life function was significantly associated with self-efficacy and vision decrease. The regression model with these two variables explained 35.6% of the variance of daily life function. IADL was significantly associated with vision decrease, age, gender, and self-efficacy. The regression model with the three variables explained 52.9% of the variance of IADL. Life satisfaction is significantly associated with self-efficacy, daily life function, vision decrease and IADL. The last regression model with the four variables explained 51.8% of the variance of life satisfaction. Conclusion: The levels of functional state, self-efficacy and life satisfaction in the elderly with decreased visual acuity were low. Self-efficacy was an important factor that influences on the functional state and life satisfaction. Therefore, nursing interventions that can enhance the self-efficacy are required in order to increase the functional state and life satisfaction in the elderly with decreased visual acuity.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.12 no.11
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• pp.415-426
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• 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 Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.237-249
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• 2019

Objectives: Interest in the use of complementary and alternative treatments to treat dementia. Meditation is used to treat various symptoms of physical and psychological diseases. Some studies suggest that meditation might have positive effects on cognitive functions, especially attention, in the elderly. However, how meditation affects Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients remains unclear. In this review, we assessed the effectiveness of practicing meditation in combination with standard care in AD. Methods: We searched the CCRCT, MEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED and CINAHL databases on 30 May 2017. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that used meditation in adult patients diagnosed with AD. We allocated patients to a meditation combined with standard care or a standard care-only group. Results: The two RCTs met the inclusion criteria. A total of 98 patients were included in the meditation with standard care and standard care-only groups in this review. All meditation programs in the included trials were based on practicing mindfulness. The results of our meta-analysis indicatedthat adjunctive mindfulness meditation programs exerted favourable but non-significant effects on cognitive function on the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) (MD=4.68, 95% CI -0.11 to 9.46; Z=1.92, p=0.06). Only one study assessed depression, anxiety, quality of life and stress. No adverse events related to meditation were reported in the included studies. Conclusions: Insufficient data iscurrently available to determine the effectiveness of practicing meditation on patients diagnosed with AD. Hence, further RCTs with high methodological quality and larger sample sizes are needed to effectively estimate the effects of meditation on AD.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.307-315
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• 2018

Purpose: This study evaluated the effects of personalized nutrition intervention for increasing hospital meal intake by elderly patients with malnutrition. Methods: The subjects were 30 elderly patients with malnutrition who visited a general hospital located in Daegu. An individual nutrition intervention such as change of meal types or special meal service was given to the patients according to nutrition diagnosis related to inadequate intake of hospital meals. Nutritional intake status of the subjects was assessed by analyzing energy intake, protein intake, index of nutritional quality (INQ), nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR) and mean adequacy ratio (MAR). Results: The causes of inadequate intake in the subjects were poor appetite or preference problems (46.7%), symptom-related problems (30.0%) and mastication problems (23.3%). The INQ of protein in the subjects was significantly increased from $0.81{\pm}0.17$ to $1.41{\pm}0.25$ after the nutrition intervention (p < 0.05). The NAR of protein (before $0.50{\pm}0.21$, after $0.58{\pm}0.17$), iron (before $0.72{\pm}0.30$, after $0.84{\pm}0.29$) and vitamin $B_2$ (before $0.31{\pm}0.16$, after $0.37{\pm}0.14$) was also increased after the nutrition intervention (p < 0.05). The MAR of five nutrients, protein, calcium, iron, vitamin A and vitamin $B_2$, was significantly increased by the nutrition intervention (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Personalized nutrition intervention according to nutrition diagnosis related to inadequate intake of hospital meals may improve the intake amount of elderly patients with malnutrition.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.154-162
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• 2017

Tooth wear, one of the physiological changes in the elderly patient's mouth, generally does not require treatment, but requires prosthodontic restoration when occlusal disharmony, poor masticatory function, pulp exposure occurs. One of the primary considerations in prosthodontic restoration for tooth wear is vertical dimension. It is necessary to make an accurate diagnosis and analysis, correct judgement of the interdental relationship for predictive treatment plan. A step-by-step approach considering dental care for aged is also required. In this case, a 93-year-old male patient presented with worn dentition and mobility of existing fixed dental prosthesis. After diagnosis and evaluation, maxillary rehabilitation without any change in the occlusal vertical dimension was performed and this shows satisfactory results both functionally and morphologically.

• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.49-58
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• 2021

Due to the increasing interest in wellness aroused by the aging population and the pursuing feature of active old age, Korean elderly set importance on long life with their healthy condition. Following the change in the paradigm of the medical delivery system from hospital-oriented, treatment-oriented to personal-centered and self-care, Service design application of Smart Healthcare for the elderly became valuable. Smart Healthcare is a healthcare service provided through the fusion of ICT technologies including mobile/wearable devices, IoT, big data, and information technology, and it is utilized to prevent diseases managing abundant health information and living habits. As a methodology for delivering such Smart Healthcare to the elderly, Service design can be adopted. Therefore, this study would like to present the perquisites of Smart Healthcare design for the elderly through analyzing the results from in-depth interview methods between the elderly and medical staff. As a result of this study, guidelines for Service design application of health vulnerability management for the elderly utilizing smart phones were presented. Therefore, this study presented four prerequisites composed of 'high level of supplementation and ethical decision making', 'improvement of inequality in accessibility and experience', 'resolving problems in policy implementation' and 'user-friendliness' for the Smart Healthcare service design for the elderly. Overall, Service design is expected to play an innovative role in improving the quality of life for the elderly through the process of collecting and delivering information on Smart Healthcare centered on the experience of the elderly.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.4326-4334
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• 2013

This study is descriptive research, attempts to determine the status of elderly inpatients of veterans hospital' of drug awareness information, drug use status and drug Misusage. The subjects were 220 patients of aged 65 and over only five metropolitan areas nationwide in drug use in the Veterans Hospital, national merit, the study is from May to June. SPSS Win 18.0 program was used as the data analysis and a statistical statement by mean, standard deviation, t-test and ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis. As a results, there was showed a statistically significant level 'age', 'type of marriage', 'education', 'triage', 'health status' as the general characteristics of the subjects. It showed the 'age' of the variables that influence recognition in the area of drug awareness information, and drug Misusage and drug use status factors seemed to affect the 'health status'. Therefore, It need for a comparative study of elderly inpatients and inpatients of veterans hospital, the research should be qualitative research of veterans medical services to the on reasonable support measures in the Veterans Affairs health care system and national merit.