• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.623-633
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• 2018

This study aims to conduct a comprehensive analysis of how the presence or absence of a partner affects the life characteristics of persons aged 65 or older. For this, the subjects were divided into the married group and the single group to investigate sociodemographic characteristics, health conditions, self-rated health level, disease morbidity, limitations in life due to health conditions and health-related quality of life. An assessment was carried out by analyzing local communities' health survey data of 3 years from 2014 to 2016. The results revealed that the single group had more women, a lower household income, poorer health conditions, and a higher chronic disease morbidity rate than the married group, and thus their self-rated heath level was lower as well. These characteristics were found to contribute to a lower quality of life in the single group than the married group. To this day, we have viewed the elderly as one of the groups based on age and only tried to identify their average characteristics, thus overlooking their various inherent problems. The results of this study suggest that physical, emotional and social problems seen among the elderly need a comprehensive measure. In addition, this study found that public health approaches and social welfare systems should be improved to develop personalized support programs for the elderly.

• 한국노년학
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.1089-1111
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to research the effects of socio-demographic factors and values in each group on satisfaction with life by categorizing the activity types of the elderly into volunteer work and economic activities. The subjects of this study were 60 years an old higher. The questionnaires were categorized depending on activity types and collected. The voluntary work group consisted of 201 people (76 males, 36.8% and 125 females, 62.2%), The economic activity group consisted of 219 people (127 males, 58.0% and 92 females, 42.0%). The SPSS 14.0 Windows program was used to analyze data. Frequency, average, standard deviation, factor analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient, t-test, One-Way ANOVA analysis, and hierarchical multiple linear regression were analyzed. The major findings of this study indicate that the elderly in the voluntary work group have a high collectivism value, higher income earned by performing economic activities, and good cognitive health affected by a high satisfaction with life. From these research results, it was proved that a collectivism value is a common factor that affects satisfaction with life in both of the economic activity group. Those who were older had a traditional collectivism value. The voluntary work group showed a stronger collectivism value and higher satisfaction with life than the economic activity group. Thus, the diverse types of voluntary work should be developed and a systematic system should be established as methods for improving quality of life and satisfaction.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.141-155
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• 2024

Background: This study aimed to identified the relationship between the risk of obstructive sleep apnea, subjective health, and health-related quality of life among the middle-aged and elderly population in Korea. Methods: Adults aged 40 or older were extracted from the total 22,559 respondents to the 2019-2020 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey VIII, and secondary analysis was conducted on a total of 6,659 middle-aged and elderly people with no missing values. Logistic regression analysis and multiple regression analysis were conducted to examine the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea risk factors and subjective health as well as quality of life. Results: The subjective health status decline in the high-risk group compared to the non-risk group for obstructive sleep apnea was statistically significantly higher, with an odds ratio of 1.84 (p<0.001). The health-related quality of life was also statistically significantly lower by 0.02 points (β, -0.02; p<0.001). As a result of subgroup analysis on specific variables, the association between the risk of obstructive sleep apnea and subjective health and health-related quality of life was statistically significant depending on gender, sleep time, presence of depression, household income, and number of household members. Based on the obstructive sleep apnea risk group, women had a higher correlation with low subjective health and lower health-related quality of life scores than men. Sleeping time of more than 8 hours or less than 6 hours was more associated with low subjective health and lower health-related quality of life score than sleeping time of 6-8 hours. Patients with depression were more likely to have low subjective health than those without depression. The lower the household income level and the smaller the number of household members, the higher the association with low subjective health and the lower the health-related quality of life score. Conclusion: It is essential to recognize that the risk of obstructive sleep apnea not only directly affects sleep disorders but also impacts individuals' subjective health and quality of life. Consequently, social support and education should be provided to raise awareness of this issue. Particularly, programs for preventing and managing obstructive sleep apnea should target vulnerable groups such as women, individuals in single-person households, low household income, and those with depression, aiming to improve their subjective health and quality of life.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Oral Health
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.243-249
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• 2017

Objectives: Stress is a psychological reaction to stimuli such as anxiety or threat felt by a person either physically or mentally when placed in a difficult situation. Although a relationship between stress and dry mouth has been reported, it remains understudied. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between stress and subjective dry mouth among the elderly living in a rural region. Methods: A total of 214 people aged ${\geq}60years$ living in a rural area were recruited with an informed consent for a cross-sectional analysis. Information about stress and subjective dry mouth was obtained by an interview survey with a constructed questionnaire. Data on other potential confounding factors (including oral factors) such as socio-demographic data, health-related behaviors, the number of remaining teeth, and subjective chewing ability were also gathered at the same time. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the relationship of stress and dry mouth using SPSS. Results: The Crude odds ratio (OR) of stress awareness affecting subjective dry mouth was 2.59 (95% confidence interval: 1.43-4.68). After adjusting for sex, education, income, smoking, and alcohol intake, the adjusted OR was 2.52 (95% confidence interval: 1.30-4.87) which was statistically significant. Conclusions: Elderly people who were stressed had an approximately 2-fold increase in experiencing subjective dry mouth when compared to their stress-free counterparts.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.36 no.10
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• pp.179-196
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• 1998

The purpose of this study was to analyze the financial status of Korean elderly households to make a financial plan for retirement preparation. The sample obtained from 1997 KHPS, consisted of 326 households of 55-64 aged and 210 households of 65 and over aged. Statistics employed for the analysis were frequencies, percentile, univariate analysis and logistic analysis. And Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient were used to compare the financial status. The results could be summarized as follows. First, total income, total expenditure, total debt and net worth of 55-64 aged group were higher than those of 65 and over group, while total asset of 55-64 aged group was similar to 65 and over group's Second, total expediture to total imcome ratio(R1) and total asset to total debt ratio(R4) of 55-64 aged group were higher than 65 and over group's, but net worth to minimum cost of living ratio(R2) and financial asset to monthly expenditure ratio(R3) of 65 and over group were higher than 55-64 aged group's . Third, R4's Gini coefficient was the highest and R1's Gini coefficient was the lowest among all Gini coefficients. Also, R1's and R4's Gini coefficients of 55-64 aged group were greater than 65 and over group's. ourth, variables affecting R1's stability of 55-64 aged group were household head's age, educatonal attainment and family type, while those of 65 and over group were household head's age, past economic experience and the number of children. There was no significant variable affecting R2's stability of 55-64 aged group, but there was only household head's pst economic experience affecting those of 65 and over group. The variable contributing to R3's stability of 55-64 aged group was residence while the variables of 65 and over group were household head's educational attainment, past economic experience and the number of children. The variables contributing to R4's stability of 55-64 aged group were the number of children and residence, and the number of children was one variable of contributing to R4's stability of 65 and over aged group.

• Journal of the Korean Regional Science Association
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.61-73
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• 2019

Urban development and densification have led to the Urban Heat Island Effect, in which the temperature of urban space is higher than the surrounding areas, and the intensity is increasing with climate change. In addition, when the city's air temperature rises in summer, low-income, elderly population, and socially vulnerable people who have health problems lack the ability to cope with the elevated heat environment. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the urban heat island area of Seoul through Hotspot analysis, which is a spatial statistics technique, and explored physical environments, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of urban heat island effect areas using logistic regression models. This study performed urban heat island hotspot analysis using the average air temperatures of the 423 administrative dongs in Seoul. Analysis results identified that the urban heat islands were concentrated in Jung-gu, Jongno-gu, Yongsan-gu, and Yeongdeungpo-gu. Logistic regression analysis results indicated that urban heat island areas of Seoul were affected by residential floor area ratio, commercial facility floor area ratio, overall floor area ratio, impervious surface ratio, and normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI). In addition, as a result of analyzing the vulnerable area of thermal environment considering the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the heat island area, urban heat island areas of Seoul were significantly associated with the proportion of low-income elderly living alone. The result of this study provided useful insights for urban thermal environmental design and policy development that could improve the thermal environment for the socially disadvantaged urban population.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.77-87
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of social relations satisfaction of low-income middle-aged and elderly single-person households on individual subjective happiness and to verify the mediating effect of depression and gender control to provide basic data for the development of related policies and programs. The SPSS WIN 25.0 program used frequency analysis, technical statistics analysis, correlation analysis, and PROCESS MACRO Model Number 4 to verify the mediating effect of 482 middle-aged singleperson households extracted using the "17th Korea Welfare Panel in 2022" survey data. In addition, the control effect was verified using PROCESS MACRO Model Number 1. The results of the study first showed that social relationship satisfaction after controlling demographic characteristics had a positive effect on subjective happiness. Second, it was found that depression had a partial mediating effect in the relationship between social relationship satisfaction and subjective happiness. Third, it was found that the higher the satisfaction level of social relationships among women than men, the greater the sense of happiness. Through this study, it is meaningful in that it identified the meaning of social relationships of middle-aged and elderly single-person households and presented practical implications so that they can be used as basic data for policy support measures.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.337-349
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• 2021

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyse the relationship between eating behaviour and healthy dietary competency of single and multi-person households, to improve healthy eating behavior. Methods: This study was conducted on 6,355 adult household members who participated in the Food Consumption Behavior Survey 2020. The subjects were divided into age groups comprising young people in their 20s and 30s, middle-aged people in their 40s and 50s, and the elderly in their 60s and above. The eating behavior and healthy dietary competency of single-person and multi-person households were then analyzed. Results: The average age of the members in the single-person households was found to be higher. Single-person households were also found to have a lower marriage rate and lower monthly household income than multi-person households across the age groups of young, middle-aged, and elderly people (P < 0.05). Among each of the age groups, single-person households had significantly higher rates of skipping breakfast and eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner alone than multi-person households (P < 0.05). Young single-person households had lower average scores on healthy dietary competency than multi-person households (P = 0.032). When adjusted for age, gender, marriage, education, occupation, and household income, single-person households had a higher risk of delivery/take-out, eating out, or skipping meals compared to multi-person households (P < 0.05). In multi-person households, the risk of skipping meals, eating alone, eating out, or delivery/take-out decreased as healthy dietary competency improved (P < 0.05). On the other hand, in single-person households, as healthy dietary competency increased, the risk of delivery/take-out or eating alone decreased (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that healthy dietary competency and eating practices can be improved by providing customized dietary education by age group for single and multi-person households.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.23-32
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• 2012

Objectives: This study evaluated the association between osteoarthritis (OA) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in elderly Korean women. Methods: We selected participants (n=2,597) aged 50 years or older from Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey [KNHANES] 2005-2008. Demographic and personal characteristics, medical history of OA, and EQ-5D were extracted from the KNHANES data. Results: We found that demographic variables, including age, education level, income, and personal characteristics, were important covariates associated with the prevalence of OA and with HRQoL. In this study, OA was an important factor affecting HRQoL in women. The adjusted odds ratio for HRQoL in participants with OA was 2.92 [(95% confidence interval (CI)=2.43-3.51, p<.001)] in mobility, 2.60 (95% CI=2.17-3.10, p<.001) in pain/discomfort, 2.17 (95% CI=1.78-2.65, p<.001) in usual activities, 1.65 (95% CI=1.22-2.24, p=.001) in self care, and 1.47 (95% CI=1.22-1.77, p<.001) in anxiety/depression. After adjustment of covariates, HRQoL was significantly decreased in participants with OA. Conclusions: Our findings reveal that there is a strong association between OA and HRQoL. Preventing and controlling OA may significantly improve the quality of life for elderly Korean women.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.30-40
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• 2015

Objectives: This study was performed to investigate the associations of food security with socio-demographic characteristics, nutrient intakes and mental health status among older Korean adults. Methods: This study was conducted using data from the 2008-2010 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Subjects were 4,451 adults aged 65~98 years. Food security was measured using a self-reported question on food sufficiency of subjects' household. Based on the answers, study subjects were classified into secure, mildly insecure, moderately insecure, and severely insecure groups. Dietary intake was estimated by 24-hour dietary recall. Nutrient intake was assessed by dietary reference intakes (DRI). As for mental health status, the data on mental stress, depression, and suicide ideation were used. Results: Rate of food insecurity in older adults was 14.3%. Old age, being female, low education, low income level, living alone, and discomfort in daily living were more related to food insecurity. Means of nutrient intakes were significantly different according to food security status. Intakes of calcium, potassium, and vitamin $B_2$ were lower than recommended intakes in all groups. Consumption amounts of soy and soybean products, vegetables, mushrooms, fruits, vegetable oils, meats, eggs, seafood, and dairy products were lower in food insecure groups. Mental stress, depression, and suicide ideation were higher in food insecure groups independent of the gender and income level. Conclusions: These present findings suggested that food security is related to mental health as well as nutrition status in older Korean adults. A national system that include food and psychosocial support programs for the elderly should be considered in order to improve the overall health of older Korean adults.