• The Journal of Korean society of community based occupational therapy
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.91-106
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• 2018

The purpose of this paper is to review vestibulo-ocular reflex and vestibular rehabilitation for balace problem in elderly. Falling is a common problem associated with aging. Falling and the resulting consequences constitutes one of the most common and serious problems. Balance deficits are one of the top risk factors for falling. Three systems(visual, vestibular and somatosensory) need to be integrated and used to coordinate and control balance. During normal ambulation and head movement, the vestibulo-ocular reflex(VOR) stabilizes gaze, and helps to keep the image of the retina. There is a direct association between deficits in VOR and falls. Older adults have a decreased ability to enhance and suppress the VOR. Vestibular rehabilitation(VR) is an exercise-based group of approaches that began with the aim of central nervous system compensation. VR restores VOR gain and reduces error using repetitive movements of the head and eyes. Many researches showd balance and gait tests were superior in the VR group. It is considered this article helps to prevent elderly falling with vestibular rehabilitation.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.207-214
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• 2016

Objectives: This study was conducted to identify the effects of the Qi-gong Exercise program on the physical health status, the fear of falling, balance efficacy, and Hwa-Byung in the elderly. Methods: A non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used in 52 elderly subjects who were assigned to the experimental group and the control group (26 subjects in each group). Study out-comes were measured by structured questionnaires from July 2015 to October 2015. For data analysis, the Chi-square test, the Fisher's exact probability test, the Mann-Whitney U test, the paired t-test, and the Wilcoxon signed rank test were performed using SPSS version 20.0. Results: There were significant differences in the physical health status (Z=12.000, p<.001), balance efficacy (Z=60.500, p=<.001), and Hwa-Byung (Z=20.500, p=<.001) between the two groups in pretest and posttest. Conclusions: The findings confirmed that the Qi-gong Exercise program is effective in improving the physical health status, balance efficacy, and Hwa-Byung in the elderly subjects in the community. It can be recommended as a public health program for the elderly population in the community.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.3-9
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• 2013

Falling related injuries are categorized as the most serious and common medical problems experienced by the elderly. Hip joint fracture, one of the most serious consequences of falling in the elderly, occurs in only about 1% of falling. In this study, according to the loading conditions, the analysis is the behavior of the femur. The CT images using the commercial program "Mimics" the bones of three-dimensional CAD data generated, and we will analyze the results of finite element analysis. The boundary conditions on the basis of existing research has been simplified. In this paper, the whole femur was assumed to be isotropic linear elastic material. Predicted the behavior of the femur according to the loading condition, it can be help the development of high-precision artificial bones and joints can be treated with surgery and will be able to perform efficiently.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2008

Purpose: This study was to determine whether the Sun-style 24 forms of Tai Chi exercise improve pain, stiffness, disability, knee joint motion, mobility, balance or falling. Method: Forty-six community-dwelling elderly subjects (mean age, $75.46{\pm}6.28$) voluntarily participated in an intervention group of either 24 forms of Sun-style T ai Chi for 60 min, 2 times per week for 12 weeks or a control group. A non-equivalent pretest-posttest design was used. Independent t-test and ANCOVA were used to examine group differences by using SPSS12.0. Result: The experimental group had significantly less pain (F=7.60, p=.008) and stiffness (t=-3.19, p=.003) than the control group. Also there were significant improvements in knee joint motion on the right knee (t=2.44, p=.019), left knee (t=2.30, p=.026), rising time (F=8.03, p=.07), balance on the left single leg test (t=2.20, p=.033), and fear of falling (t=-2.33, p=.024) in the Tai Chi exercise group. No significant group differences were found in disability and falls efficacy. Conclusion: The Sun-style 24 forms Tai Chi exercise is effective in decreasing pain, stiffness, fear of falling and it improves balance, rising time, and knee joint motion. We suggest a continuing long term intervention to decrease disability and increase efficacy concerning falls.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.10-19
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• 2016

Purpose: This study was to develop a fall prevention program and test the effects of the program on the muscle strength, postural balance and fear of falling for elderly. Methods: This study was conducted using a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. There were 21 participants in the experimental group and 22 in the control group. Data were collected from July to September 2015. Questionnaires were completed three times (at pretest and after 8 and 10 weeks). Data were analyzed using $x^2$ test, Fisher's exact test, t-test, and repeated measure ANOVA. Results: Lower extremity muscle strength and postural balance scores were significantly improved in the experimental group compared to the control group. However, fear of falling was not significantly different between the experimental and control groups. Conclusion: The study results indicate that fall prevention programs for the elderly can be useful to improve muscle strength and postural balance.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.16-22
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• 2006

Falling is a serious problem associated with aging. Unintentional injury, which most often results from falling, is one of the leading causes of death in elderly people. The purpose of this study is to investigate the risk factors of falls and to compare characteristics of people who fall with that of non-fallers among the rural community-dwelling elderly of Korea. A sample of 201 people, living in the community, aged 60 years and over was taken from the members of a center for seniors located in Jecheon city. The mean age of the participants was 70.5 years of age. The participants are comprised of 151 women and 50 men. Eighty four of the 201 participants (41.8%) fell during the previous year. Twenty two of the fallers (26.2%) fell down more than two times. It was found that fallers had poorer eyesight, multiple chronic diseases and a more difficult time walking than non-fallers. In the logistic regression analysis of falls, only the difficulty of walking one kilometer (OR=2.4) and chronic diseases (OR=2.5) have shown an increased risk of falls. The risk of recurrent falls is, in addition, influenced by the difficulty of walking one kilometer. The result of our study shows that the impairment of mobility was the strongest risk factor of recurrent falling.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.631-636
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of Tai Chi exercises on the grip power, pain and fear of falling in elderly persons. A quasi-experimental design was used. This study included 37 subjects who were living in C city. The subjects were divided into the experiment group (n=18) trained in the Tai Chi technique for 6 weeks and the control group (n=19). The experimental group practiced the 24 posture simplified form of Tai Chi for 6 weeks (5 times per day for 60 minutes each time). The effect of the treatment was measured by determining the grip power, pain and fear of falling before and after the 6 weeks of intervention. The experimental group showed a significant increase in grip power (P<0.001) and decrease in pain (P<0.001) compared to the control group. The fear of falling in the experimental group decreased significantly (P<0.002). Tai Chi exercises may be an effective intervention to prevent falling. The Tai Chi technique would therefore be a good method of improving the pain and body health index in elderly persons.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.371-378
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• 2021

This study examined the effects of combined exercise training for preventing falls on the physical performance, falling index, and balance in elderly women. All subjects (N = 32) were recruited and divided randomly to either a combined exercise group (n= 16, EX) or non-exercise control group (n = 16, CON). During 12 weeks of training, the subjects in the EX performed the combined exercise programs (three times/week, 60min/session), and the subjects in the CON maintained their ordinary lives. At the PRE, MID, POST tests, All subjects completed senior fitness tests(dynamic balance, two minutes walking, sit and stand for 30 seconds), tests for falling risk with Tetrax, and tests for posture balance with the spine balance 3D. After the baseline tests, two-way repeated-measures ANOVA with contrast testing was used with SPSS 21.0. Alpha was set to 0.05. In the results, the dynamin balance (p=.001), two minutes walking (p=.001), sit and stand for 30 seconds (p=.001), falling risk (p=.002), and posture balance (p=.034) in the EX were significantly different, but not in the CON. Thus, elderly females who performed combined exercise training for 12 weeks can increase their physical fitness & posture stability and reduce their falling risk.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.251-263
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• 2011

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the factors associated with fear of falling among the elderly dwelling in rural communities. Methods: From February 1, 2010 to March 31, 2010, a questionnaire-based survey was sent to 2,628 persons 65 years or older dwelling in 1 Myeon and 1 Eup of Gyeongsangnam-do. Among these participants, 735 (27.9%) had fallen more than once in 2009. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and hierarchical multiple regression were performed using SPSS version 12.0. Results: Factors influencing the fear of falling in the elderly according to falls experienced were number of outpatient visits, number of falls, gender, admission, purchasing of health function foods, and activities of daily living. Overall, the study showed significant differences in the score of fear of falling according to gender, age, education, marital status, living arrangement, main means of mobilization, drinking, income, number of falls, admission, number of outpatient visits, experience with outpatient oriental medicine, purchasing of health function foods, medical assistance devices, season, fall location, fall cause, shoe type, injury type, limitation of activity, and activities of daily living. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that programs should be developed specifically for elderly people who have experienced more than one fall because of increased fear due to multiple falls.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.1294-1303
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• 1999

The purpose of this study was to develop a tool to assess the powerlessness and to measure the powerlessness of elderly. From the result of pre-test, twenty seven items were finally selected to survey the elderly's powerlessness. The questionnaires on the elderly's powerlessness were drafted so that such tool may be evaluated in accordance with the four point Likert Scale. The number of subjects is 1,150 with ages of 60 years or more and who live in a large city, a small and middle-sized city and a rural area. The subjects of the test and retest were 85 elderlies. Collected data were analyzed by utilizing SAS program with Cronbach's $\alpha$ and Pearson's correlation, factor analysis method and known group techniques, descriptive statics, t-test and ANOVA. The results from this study were summarized below:1. When the factor analysis method was applied for validity, the tool for powerlessness of elderly was separated into 5 factors: loss of self-confidence to deal with physical, emotional, social aspects of life; expulsion by others from meaningful human relate; perception that life is meaningless and time passes quickly; falling behind young people; being rejected by other people, having no influence on others. An application of the known group technique showed a significant difference with the result of the degree of elderly's powerlessness tools developed by the two groups, with illness and without. 2. In testing reliability, it was found that coefficient of test-retest was .9435(P<.0001) when the test-retest method was used as a test of stability, and that the alpha coefficient of internal consistency was .9141 over all items within the tool of elderly's powerlessness 3. In powerlessness of elderly, total mean is 2.8493. And in factor of powerlessness, the highest factor is falling behind young people (M=3.1713), the lowest factor is loss of self- confidence to deal with physical, emotional, social aspects of life(M=2.6080). 4. The results from the test for the degree of powerlessness, according to the subject's demographic variables, showed that there were significant differences between age, sex, marital status, educational level, religion, possession of house, job, monthly pocket money, health status, illness and a place of residence.