• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.315-323
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• 2018

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Available data suggest that seasonal changes may influence the nutritional status and overall health of elderly individuals. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the effects of seasonal changes and related factors on energy and nutrient intake of older adults. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Individuals aged 65 years or over were prospectively enrolled in this single-center study (male: 11, female: 20). Data were collected between May 2013 and February 2014 during winter, spring, summer and autumn. Food consumption and biochemical parameters were taken during each season to assess the seasonal nutrition status of the elderly. Upon analysis of biochemical parameters (retinol, vitamin D and vitamin C), an high-performance liquid chromatography device was utilized whereas an Immulite 2000 device was utilized during analysis of serum folic acid and parathyroid hormone. RESULTS: Fruit, fat, egg and bread consumption varied seasonally in males and females (P < 0.05). During winter, daily energy intake was found to be greater than in other seasons in males (557 kcal) and females (330 kcal) (P < 0.05). Additionally, carbohydrates, vegetable protein, n-3 fatty acid and sodium intake increased in winter, while the n-6/n-3 ratio increased in summer among males (P < 0.05). Dietary fiber and sodium intake in winter, vitamin C, iron and zinc intake in spring, and cholesterol, retinol, vitamin D and niacin intake in autumn were found to be higher in females when compared to other seasons (P < 0.05). Serum parathyroid hormone level was higher in winter, and vitamin D level was higher in autumn in both genders (P < 0.05). In males, blood folic acid level was higher in winter, while vitamin C level was higher in females, and there was no seasonal variation in retinol concentration (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Food consumption and biochemical parameters showed significant seasonal variations in older adults. It is not clear if nutrition plans in older adults will benefit from consideration of seasonal changes in eating habits.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.252-257
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• 2015

Background: Lobectomy is the generally accepted standard treatment for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, especially in elderly patients, it is often necessary to perform pneumonectomy in order to maximize the likelihood of curative treatment, although pneumonectomy is a challenging procedure. Methods: We analysed patients who were clinically diagnosed with stage I NSCLC and underwent pneumonectomy with curative intent from 2004 to 2011. The patients were divided into an elderly group (${\geq}70$ years) and a younger group (<70 years). We retrospectively analysed the outcomes of these groups of patients in order to characterize the role of pneumonectomy as a treatment for elderly patients with clinical stage I NSCLC. Results: Thirty patients younger than 70 years of age (younger group) and fourteen patients 70 years of age or older (elderly group) who underwent pneumonectomy were enrolled in the present study. The median follow-up period was 35 months (range, 0 to 125 months). The perioperative mortality rate (within 90 days after the operation) was 7.1% in the elderly group and 6.7% in the younger group (p=0.73). No significant differences between the two groups were observed regarding the occurrence of pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, cardiac arrhythmia, bronchopleural fistula, and vocal cord paralysis. The overall five-year survival rate was 79.4% in the younger group and 35.7% in the elderly group, which was a significant difference (p=0.018). The five-year disease-free survival rate was 66.7% in the younger group and 35.7% in the elderly group, but this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.23). Conclusion: Although elderly patients with early stage lung cancer showed a worse long-term survival rate after pneumonectomy than younger patients, the outcomes of elderly patients were similar to those of younger patients in terms of perioperative mortality and postoperative complications. Patients should not be denied pneumonectomy solely due to old age.

• Annals of Geriatric Medicine and Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.176-183
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• 2018

Background: Although the frequency and intensity of headaches decrease in older adults, headaches in this population are still an important neurological disorder. The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations of headache characteristics in older adults with the development of cardiovascular disease and cognitive dysfunction. Methods: We prospectively enrolled 125 older (${\geq}65$ years old) patients with headache who were making their first visit to outpatient clinics and who had no prior history of cognitive dysfunction from 11 hospitals in Korea between August 2014 and February 2015. We investigated the occurrence of newly developed/or recurrent headache, cardiovascular disease, cognitive dysfunction, and poor functional outcomes. Results: The mean age of all included patients was 72.6 years, 68.8% were women, and 43 (34.4%) had newly developed/or recurrent headache during follow-up. During a median follow-up of 31 months (interquartile range, 28-34 months), 21 participants (16.8%) experienced cardiovascular disease, and 26 (20.8%) developed cognitive dysfunction. Upon multivariate analysis and after adjusting for sex, age, and other factors, presence of newly developed/or recurrent headache was found to be associated with cardiovascular disease (hazard ratio [HR], 4.03; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.28-12.61; p=0.017) and frequency of headache for the recent 3 months was related with cognitive dysfunction (HR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.00-1.09; p=0.017) and poor functional outcomes (HR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.01-1.11; p=0.011). Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that there is an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cognitive dysfunction, and poor functional outcomes in older patients with frequent, newly developed, or recurrent headache.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.323-338
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• 2022

Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a chronic oral disorder of unknown etiology which presents therapeutic challenges. Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) has been studied as a potential treatment for BMS. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness of ALA compared to that of placebo or other interventions in individuals with BMS. Randomized controlled trials (RCT) using ALA to treat BMS were identified from MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Web of Science up to February 3, 2021. The assessment of the risk of bias in the included studies was based on the Cochrane guidelines. The primary outcome evaluated was the visual analog scale (VAS) pain intensity. ALA was compared with placebo, clonazepam, gabapentin, pregabalin, ALA plus gabapentin, capsaicin, Biotène^®, and laser therapy. Altogether, 137 records were scanned for inclusion/exclusion, and nine RCTs (two unclear and seven at high risk of bias) were included in the qualitative and quantitative analyses, with a total of 594 patients with BMS included in this review. All studies reported an improvement in VAS pain scores ranging from -0.72 to -2.77. Meta-analysis results showed a non-significant reduction in pain intensity for ALA (P = 0.616) compared to that of placebo on a VAS of 0-10. Patients taking ALA were 1.923 times more likely to show an improvement in self-reported BMS symptoms (P = 0.031) than those in the placebo group. Clonazepam and pregabalin showed a significant VAS pain reduction of 4.08 and 4.68 (P < 0.001), respectively, compared to that with ALA. Although ALA intervention provided a non-significant improvement in the pain score and was more likely to produce a reduction in BMS symptoms, the evidence was of low quality. Further research is needed to establish clear guidelines for the use of ALA for BMS treatment.

• Journal of Korean Dental Hygiene Science
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.129-139
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• 2023

Background: The elderly population aged 65 or older in Korea is expected to continue to increase to 18.4% in 2023, and to enter a super-aged society at 20.6% in 2025. In clinical practice, the elderly discrimination of dental hygienists may experience difficulties during dental hygiene treatment due to an increase in the number of elderly patients due to aging, which can lead to maladjustment to work and turnover, so education on the understanding of the elderly is essential for students in the Department of Dentistry, who are prospective dental hygienists. Accordingly, a study was conducted to prepare for a super-aged society by studying the relationship between elderly discrimination and the knowledge and attitudes of the elderly, and to change the curriculum of universities and develop programs related to the elderly. Method: 204 students enrolled in the Department of Dentistry in D area were analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 25.0 program. The subject's geriatric discrimination, knowledge about the elderly, and attitude toward the elderly were calculated as the mean and standard deviation. T-test and one-way ANOVA were performed to verify the difference in geriatric discrimination according to the general characteristics of the subject, with a Scheffe' test applied for post-hoc analysis. Correlation analysis was conducted on the subject's geriatric discrimination, knowledge about the elderly, and attitudes toward the elderly. Results: Geriatrics scored 2.03±0.36 out of 4. Knowledge about the elderly was categorized as follows: physical domain 0.57±0.15; social domain 0.36±0.17; and psychological domain 0.35±0.20. The attitude toward the elderly was 3.86±0.27. Knowledge of the elderly averaged 11.27±3.30 points out of 25. The question with the highest percentage of correct answers to knowledge about the elderly was 'physical strength tends to decrease with age', which was 93.1%. The attitude toward the elderly according to the general characteristics of the study subjects showed significant differences in gender (p=0.040), age (p=0.026), and life experience with grandparents (p=0.001). The elderly discrimination of the study subjects showed a negative correlation in both attitude and knowledge toward the elderly, and among the elderly discrimination, there was a high positive correlation with regard to emotional avoidance (r=.892, p<0.001). Conclusion: College students are the leading players in caring for the elderly and are directly affected by aging social problems. Therefore, it is considered necessary to apply various programs in the state, society, and educational institutions to avoid negative prejudices that lead to positive thinking and discrimination against the elderly.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.133-145
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• 2004

Objectives: Depression is a major health concern that can be life threatening if not recognized and treated early. However, there is few report on the depressive disorder of Hansen disease patients in Korea. Therefore, the authors executed this study in order to check factors related to a depressive disorder of a Hansen disease patients and compare with factors to reach to a depressive symptoms of ordinary people with studying their life state and the trouble that Hansen disease patients were currently experiencing Method: The authors surveyed depressive symptoms using self-reported questionnaires in 74 Hansen disease patients and 84 controls. The severity of depressive symptoms was measured using Korean Form of Geriatric Depression Scale (KGDS) score. Result: Positive rate of depressive disorders among Hansen disease patients was 70.3% and that the referents was 31.0%. There is significant difference positive rate of depressive disorders between Hansen disease group and the referents in the factors such as gender, age, frequency of going out, familial type, and familial income. Depressive disorder of Hansen disease group was associated with sex, familial income. According to the multiple logistic regression, the odds ratios of the Hansen disease group versus referents, gender, familial income, frequency of going out were significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: Hansen disease patients had statistically significant higher depressive symptom score than the referents. Also, Hansen disease patients who have lower familial income were more likely to have depressive disorders. Therefore, Economical supports and policy are required for the Hansen disease patients.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.46-75
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• 2004

This research anticipated on acknowledging the inpatients factors in choosing which hospital for the geriatric hospital and general hospital they would prefer to go to the analization of different factors in patients satisfaction, and the relation between satisfactory standards and the patients intentions on recommendation or re-visiting the hospital. The statistical data was based upon the 359 question and answer papers that were done by inpatients that were hospitalized in two geriatric hospitals and two general hospitals, and the methods used for analyzing were frequency, t-test, factor analysis, and hierarchical multiple regression. The results are as follows. 1. The factors on choosing hospitals between geriatric hospital and general hospitals were different. The priority for the geriatrics was kindness, and then considerate nursing, and the reliance of treatment. The patients of general hospitals looked first for reliance of treatment, reputation and history of the hospital, and the kindness of the staff. The kindness of the staff, good nursing, and easy procedures were the primary factors of choosing geriatric hospital. 2. The four primary factors in choosing which hospital patients would go to were the predominance of the facilities, kindness and convenience, the reliance and proximity of medical treatment, and recommendation. The patients in the geriatric hospital first looked for kindness and convenience, second the reliance and proximity of medical treatment, third predominance of facilities, and last recommendation. The general hospitals main priority was the reliance and proximity of medical care, second predominance of facilities, kindness and hospitality, and last recommendation. 3. The satisfaction rate was higher in the geriatric hospital compared to general hospitals, but the satisfactory of factors were very similar. Patients in the geriatric hospital were pleased with the hospital staffs kindness, quick nursing and the improvement of inconvenient matters, and clear diagnosis of the doctors. The general hospital patients were satisfied with the hospital staffs clear explanation and accurate diagnosis 4. The analysis in the satisfactory factors turned out to be the environment of the hospital, kindness of the staff, and convenience. Both the patients of the geriatric hospital and general hospitals were very pleased with the kindness of the hospital staff. Ranking second and third was convenience and service for the geriatric hospital, and environment of the hospital and convenience for the general hospital. 5. According to a rank of multiple recurrent analysis of the patients satisfaction and the intention of re-visiting in addition to intention of solicitation, in the case of a geriatric hospital, when the intention of re-visiting is the dependent variable, the first stage shows that the less insurance the patient has, the higher was the intention of re-visiting. In the second stage, the more satisfied the patient is of the staffs kindness, the higher was the intention of re-visiting. Further more, when the intention of solicitation is the dependent variable, the first stage shows that not all the independent variables were significant, but the second stage shows that the more satisfied the patient is of the staffs kindness and the hospital along with the medical treatment expenses, the higher was the intention of solicitation. 6. In the first stage of a rank of multiple recurrent analysis of the satisfaction of the general hospital and the intention of re-visiting, not all the variables were significant, but in the second stage, all the satisfaction by factors were significant. Moreover, when the intention of solicitation was the dependent variable, the first stage shows not all the variables were significant, but in the second stage, all the satisfaction by factors were significant. That is to say, in the case of a general hospital, the satisfaction of the hospital and the medical treatment expenses were high, and the more satisfied the patient is of the hospitals environment and the staffs kindness, the intention of re-visiting and the intention of solicitation was higher.