• Health Policy and Management
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.190-204
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• 2022

Background: In Korea, the population is rapidly aging, and the types of households for the elderly are also diversifying. The self-rated health of the elderly is a valuable health indicator that can comprehensively represent the overall quality of life along with physical, mental, and functional health. On the other hand, studies on the association between household type and self-rated health of the elderly are still insufficient. Thus, this study analyzed the association between household type and self-rated health by gender in Korean older adults. Methods: Using data from the analysis of the National Survey of Older Koreans 2017, 10,299 elderly people aged 65 and over were targeted. For the accuracy of the analysis data, 9,910 people were selected as the study sample by excluding proxy responses, those diagnosed with dementia, and non-response. And technical analysis, univariate analysis using the Rao-Scott chi-square test, and logical regression analysis involving survey characteristics were conducted by gender. Results: According to the adjusted model with all variables, in both men and women, the odds ratio of self-rated health 'bad' in 'couple (with ill spouse)' was significantly higher than 'couple (with spouse)'. It was 2.54 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.05-3.15) for men and 2.11 (95% CI, 1.70-2.62) for women. In addition, the odds ratio of self-rated health 'bad' in 'living with adult children' was 1.43 (95% CI, 1.09-1.87) for men and 1.42 (95% CI, 1.15-1.75) for women, which was more significant in women than men. Conclusion: This study states that there is an association between gender, household type, and self-rated health of the elderly, and the health of a spouse and cohabitation with children have a significant effect on self-rated health. As a result, in order to improve the health status of the elderly, health promotion and health care policies involving the characteristics of the elderly's gender and household type are needed.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.112-119
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• 2012

Objectives : Delirium is a disorder defined as a sudden disturbance in thinking, speaking, acting and sleep pattern due to altered level of consciousness and cognitive function. The objective of this study is to analyze characteristics and therapeutic methods of the delirious patients during the recent 5 years, and provide basic data for further studies and investigation regarding delirium in the occurrence and treatment. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 475 patients who were consulted for delirium in Kyunghee University Medical Center from January 2007 to December 2011. Results : During the 5 years, among the 475 patients who were diagnosed as delirium, men were more common(61.7%). The most commonly consulted reason and cause were sleep disturbance(80.8%) and post-operational delirium(30.9%), respectively. The medication prescription percentage was 76.6% and was significantly increased year after year. Ratio of using antipsychotics were 76.4% among prescribed medication and the most frequently prescribed antipsychotic drug was quetiapine(46.8%). Other specialists commonly misdiagnosed delirium when the patient was previously diagnosed as dementia(6.8%). Conclusions : In our study, post-operational delirium was the most commonly referred reason and the percentage of medication prescription tended to increase. Patients with history of dementia were more easily misdiagnosed as diseases other than delirium. Our study suggests that we should evaluate symptoms, causes, reasons of consultation, management tendency of delirium. We should also closely observe changes in sleep patterns and establish the prevention strategies for post-operational delirium and therapeutic bases for pharmacotherapy.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.450-458
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the current published research related to improvement in cognitive function. A systematic search was performed in three bibliographic databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE) using "dementia", "memory", "food", "diet", and "nutrition" as keywords. Meal management intervention, including Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, Mediterranean (Med) diet, Diet Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet, and other studies, was also included in the analysis. Through extensive screening, 21 articles, out of 2101 papers retrieved, were used for the final systematic review. The methodological quality of the randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. These articles recommended vegetables, fruits, whole grains, olive oil, fish, berries, nuts, and beans. In conclusion, this study suggests the potential use of meal management to improve cognitive function.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.10 no.8
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• pp.37-44
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to determine the inhibiting factors of dying well for people who want to have a good death. The final respondents in this study were sampled using stratified proportional allocation using a stratified random sampling method, and 1,000 adults aged between 19 and 75 years were selected. The questionnaire used consisted of four items on general characteristics and 20 items related to the inhibiting factors of dying well scored on a 7-point Likert scale. Analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and decision tree analysis. Results showed that, among the inhibiting factors of dying well, "degenerative diseases (such as dementia)" and "loss of control (mental / physical)" scored 5.502 and 5.268 points, respectively; the highest significant positive correlation was found between "bad marital relationship" and "bad relationship with children," followed by "did not receive death education" and "lack of medical policy promotion (dying well)" and "bad relationship with children" and "indifference of others." Considering these findings, it appears that the whole society will make efforts to improve the perception and practice of good death, and life and death education will be expanded if death education for dying well is organized and implemented.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.718-732
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to investigate nutrients or food factors related to cognitive function of elderly having Alzheimer's disease. In this study 38 subjects who were over 65 years old have participated in dementia clinic at A medical center. After they were diagnosed to Alzheimer's Disease (AD) through blood analysis, neuropsychological test, brain image and interview by medical specialist, we examined for their general information, anthropometry, blood pressure and dietary intakes. Dietary intakes were investigated using the 24-hour recall record. Energy intake was adequate and the energy composition of carbohydrate, protein and fat was 60.8 : 16.2 : 23.0, but dietary intakes of calcium, vitamin A and folate were less than 75% of the recommended intake levels for Koreans. The multiple regression analysis adjusted with age, sex and educational level showed that cognitive function was positively related to intakes of zinc, fishes and shellfishes, beans & nuts, sugars and fats, and negatively related to intakes of plant calcium and eggs. These results indicate that intakes of specific nutrients or food groups are associated with the specific domains of cognitive function in elderly with AD.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.63-75
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• 2021

Objective : The purpose of this study was to examine the roles and practices of occupational therapists in public health centers based on their working experience of occupational therapists who are working in these facilities. Methods : We used Giorgi's descriptive phenomenological research method. Six occupational therapists were interviewed, and their recorded data were analyzed using Claizzi's thematic analysis. Results : As a result, 4 categories, 16 themes, and 24 elements were elicited. The major roles of occupational therapists in public health centers were the evaluation of clients, home-visit occupational therapy, management of dementia programs and community connection projects. Interventions that are needed to create a healthy community include case and program management, compensatory approaches, and healthy lifestyle interventions. The difficulties experienced by occupational therapists include their limited number job insecurity, performance-oriented administrative policy, and the lack of communication among professionals. Occupational therapists require education in health management and practice in public health centers to build their capacities. Conclusion : The results of this study could be used for guidelines for occupational therapists who work in community healthcare centers, as well as basic training for competent occupational therapists in the community.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.511-523
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• 2022

This study was conducted using non-face-to-face care technology for the elderly with mild dementia and the physically weak living in the community, as various methods of care for the elderly have been raised due to the prolonged COVID-19. The purpose of this study is a similar experimental study before and after the inequality control group to compare cognitive function, daily living activities, and the degree of depression by applying an AI robot integrated management program using. The data was collected from June 4 to September 17, 2021, and the survey results of 17 people in the experimental group and 18 in the control group were analyzed using the SPSS 25.0 program. As a result of the study, the experimental group was significant in language function, activities of daily living, and depression. In particular, the results showed a decrease in moderate to severe depression and mild depression. Cognitive function was significant with long-term care grade and daily living activity with family living together. Therefore, if such non-face-to-face care technology is introduced to the elderly care field in the 'With Corona era', it is thought that it will contribute to cognitive function training and depression reduction of the elderly.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.201-210
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• 2016

Delirium is a common symptom in patients with terminal cancer. The prevalence increases in the dying phase. Delirium causes negative effects on quality of life for both patients and their families, and is associated with higher mortality. However, some studies reported that it tends to remain unrecognized in palliative care setting. That may be related with difficulties to distinguish the symptom from others with overlapping characteristics such as depression and dementia, and a lack of knowledge regarding assessment and diagnostic tools. We suggest that accurate recognition with validated tools and early diagnosis of the symptom should be highly prioritized in delirium management in palliative care setting. After diagnosing delirium, it is important to identify and address reversible precipitants such as medication, dehydration, and infection. Non-pharmacological interventions including comfortable environment for the patient and family education are also essential in the management strategy. If such interventions prove ineffective or insufficient to control hyperactive symptoms, pharmacologic interventions with antipsychotics and benzodiazepine can be considered. Until now, low levels of haloperidol remains the standard treatment despite a lack of evidence. Atypical antipsychotics such as olanzapine, quetiapine and risperidone reportedly have similar efficacy with a stronger sedating property and less adverse effect compared to haloperidol. Currently, delirium medications that can be used in palliative care setting require more clinical trials, and thus, clinical guidelines are not sufficiently available. We suggest that it is warranted to develop clinical guidelines based on well-designed clinical studies for palliative care patients.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.9
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• pp.285-292
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to analyze the association of smoking cessation attempts and the perceived stress level and to identify the factors affecting the perceived stress level of quit smoking. The study utilized the 2015 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and was applied an Ordinal Logistic Regression to examine the association of smoking cessation attempts and perceived stress level. The current smoker those who experience failure in smoking cessation, were more stressful than those who experience success in smoking cessation (OR=1.72, CI;1.41-2.08). This study identified smoking cessation failure as a major psychiatric factor associated with high perceived stress level, and suggests high stress after smoking cessation failure as one of the reasons why smokers do not reach complete smoking cessation. Also, in order to promote smoking cessation, it is needed to have political approach in reducing the psychiatric hurdle like high stress after smoking cessation failure.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.172-178
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• 2022

In this paper, water meter AMR(automatic meter reading), one of the core technologies of smart water grid, using LoRa IoT network is studied. The main content of the research is to develop the network system and show the test results that one PC server receives the readings of water meters from multiple households through LoRa communication and stores them in the database, and at the same time sends the data to the web server database through internet. The system also allows users to monitor the meter readings using their smartphones. The hardware and firmware of the main board of the digital water meter are developed. For a PC server program, MDMS(meter data management system) is developed using Visual C#. The app program running on the user's smartphone is also developed using Android Studio. By connecting each developed parts, the total network system is mounted on a flow test bench in the laboratory and tested. For the fields test, 5 places around the university are selected and the transmission distances are tested. The test result show that the developed system can be applied into the real field. The developed system can be expanded to various social safety nets such as monitoring the living alone or elderly with dementia.