• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.639-648
• /
• 2008

This study is to examine the meaning of death, the level of death anxiety, and the aspect of death anxiety that the aged have. For this, a quantitative research subjecting 532 of the aged living in local area, Jeollabuk-do was carried out. And among those 532 questionnaires, 10 were subjected for depth interview. The following is a summary of the result from this study. First, the meaning of death for the aged is classified into three classes as positive, neutral and negative meaning. Among these, there were far greater numbers of the aged who put neutral or negative meanings on their death than the positive one. Second, death anxiety of the aged are divided into three factors: 'annihilation anxiety', 'process anxiety', and 'afterdeath anxiety'. The factor that involves death anxiety the most was process anxiety, then afterdeath anxiety, and annihilation anxiety, in the order. Third, as a result of classifying the feature of death anxiety in the aged into the symptoms of death anxiety and the motive of recognizing death anxiety. Death anxiety is classified into the people with symptoms and those without symptoms, and those with certain symptoms are classified into the physical symptoms and the mental symptoms. The motive of recognizing death anxiety appeared when the individual is aged, experiences the death of other people, suffers physical pains, and when there is a mental loneliness.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.636-645
• /
• 2004

Purpose. A natural disaster negatively affects children's emotional and behavioral adjustment. The purpose of this paper was to examine the prevalence, symptoms, and correlates of PTSD after the occurrence of Typhoon Rusa. Method. 261 elementary school children living in Kimcheon, which was a devastated rural area in South Korea by Typhoon Rusa, were selected. Data were collected 4 months after the disaster using the PTSD Reaction Index categories recommended by Frederick, severity of PTSD. Results. 12.3% of the children had either moderate or severe PTSD symptoms; 22.7% reported mild symptoms; and the remaining 65% had sub-clinical symptoms of PTSD. The most frequent symptom was recurrenct fear(67.0%). 13% to 17.2% of children exhibited difficulty in concentration, sleep disturbance, and guilt feeling. The regression model of severity of PTSD was composed of the level of exposure to traumatic experiences, grade in school, gender, negative coping style, and social support, and explained 34.3% for PTSD symptoms. Exposure to traumatic experiences was the strongest factor of all predictors. Conclusion. Emotional support from friends and coping style were correlated with PTSD severity. School-based interventions that emphasizes coping with disaster related problems and problem-solving may prove to be useful, and may aid in building close and supportive ties with teachers, classmates, and friends.

• 한국노년학
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.529-546
• /
• 2009

Depression in old age not only is prevalent but also causes a considerable amount of burden in physical, psychosocial, and economic terms. Intervention, however, is often delayed due to the understanding that considers depressive symptoms as a normal process of aging or signs of physical illnesses. Since the recognition of symptoms often initiate one's help seeking process, a correct identification of symptoms can contribute to early detection and intervention to depression in oneself as well as in others. This study interviewed 104 older adults living in an urban area, and explored their ability to correctly identify depressive symptoms and factors related to identification. The study results show that respondents who were able to correctly identify symptoms of depression were only 14%, and the rest defined the symptoms as social, economic, and other psychological issues. Of the factors in the logistic regression model, age being 75 and over and mass media as source of mental health information affected negatively their ability to correctly identify symptoms; mental health education programs affected positively their ability. Based on these results, it is suggested that such strategies as employing a face-to-face provision of concrete information and counseling can be more effective than delivering information via large-scale lectures. Additionally, a future research deems necessary to conduct an in-depth examination of mental health/illness-related contents on mass media.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.22 no.4 s.28
• /
• pp.506-517
• /
• 1989

Two hundred and fifty teachers of special school (for the disabled) and 414 elementary school teachers were selected for the targets in order to compare their degrees of fatigue symptoms and to find what kind of ralationship is between subjective symptoms of fatigue and pH is the saliva. It was 30 minutes before their closing hours on April 21th, 1989 that their physical, mental and neuro-sensory symptoms and salivary pH were examined. The test results are summarized as fallows : It is observed that an interrelation between subjective fatigue and pH in their saliva shows a significant relationship between physical and neuro-sensory symptoms in a sense of statistics. The rate of subjective fatigue complained by the special teachers is higher than that by the elementary teachers. In the case of salivary pH, the special teachers' is as a whole lower than the elementary teachers'. The complain rates in each item, checked, of special teachers are generally higher than those of the elementary teachers. It is in the mental symptom related item that there are many sub-items which show significant difference. According to the average of salivary pH based on the degrees of complained symptoms shown in the pH related items, the salivary pH of the group with complained symptoms is lower than that of the group without complained symptoms. In the rate of complaints, by sex, both sexes of the special teachers show high ones, but salivary pH is low. The complain rate of mental symptoms shown by female group from the special teacher Is significantly higher(p<0.05). By age, the group in their thirties from the special teachers show the higher complain rate of mental symptoms (29.3%) and the lower salivary pH (p<0.05) than that (15.1%) of the elementary teachers belonging to the same age catagory. However, the special teachers in their forties show the lower complain rate of physical symptoms that of the elementary teachers (p<0.05). From the viewpoint of their working years, the special teachers below 14 years and elementary teachers above 15 years in their career show high complain rates. Among those who belong to the catagory of 10-14 working years, the special teachers show the higher complain rate of mental symptoms than that of their counterparts. In the case of the salivary pH, the special teachers of all working-year catagories show the higher pH than that of the elementary teachers. But there is not significantly difference. From the viewpoint of sleeping hours in the previous night of the questionaire surveyed, among those who slept for over 7 hours, the special teachers show the higher complain rate of mental symptoms with a significant difference, but the lower salivary pH than that of their counterparts. From the viewpoint of their marital status, existence of disease history, the special teachers show the higher complain rate of subjective fatigue, but the lower salivary pH than that of the elementary teachers respectively. According to the above results, the special teachers generally show the higher complain rate of subjective fatigue, the lower salivary pH, and the higher complain rate of mental symptoms. To prevent the possible accumulation of mental fatigue of the special teachers, ways and means to make use of leisure time, recreational facilities are necessarily provided. Since the degree of fatigue and salivary pH have a correlation to some extent, it is necessary that further continuous studies on the correlation between the degrees of fatigue and salivary pH should be pursued.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.13 no.11
• /
• pp.5155-5162
• /
• 2012

The purpose of this study is to define the factor giving effect to Adolescent's suicide thinking by grasping the degree of the middle school student's victimization of violence and mental health and physical symptoms. The subjects of this study were 176 persons in middle school students. As collected data was using SPSS Win 17.0 for Hierarchical multiple regression analysis. The results of this study as follows. school violence, mental health and physical symptoms between the correlation analysis conducted to identify statistically significant results at the level of correlation between variables that were analyzed. school violence impact on suicide thinking. mental health impact on suicide thinking.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.49-59
• /
• 2022

Purpose : The purpose of this study is to directly understand the health condition of residents of mental health sanatoriums nationwide, which has been difficult to ascertain in surveys conducted to date. The study presents specific measures for improving the health of these residents. Methods : A "physical examination questionnaire for residents of mental health sanatoriums" was developed to check the basic physical condition of residents, and 20 out of 59 mental health sanatoriums nationwide were randomly selected. Medical personnel visited the sanatoriums, interviewing and examining the residents in person. A total of 396 health surveys were completed. Results : Many of the residents were underweight but had abdominal obesity. It was confirmed that chronic diseases among the residents were not diagnosed early or were not properly managed. Among the subjective symptoms complained of by the residents, musculoskeletal symptoms were the most common. Oral examinations revealed a serious level of oral health problems among the residents, including dental caries and missing teeth. Basic physical examinations found health problems that required additional examination or medical treatment. Blood pressure abnormalities made up the highest percentage of the health problems. Conclusion : Regular health surveys are needed to determine the health condition of residents of mental health sanatoriums. Access to and quality of primary medical services within the sanatoriums need to be dramatically improved. A delivery system for severe diseases and emergency medical care in the sanatoriums should also be specifically presented. The residents should be notified upon admission and during their stay that they have the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of mental and physical health. The issue of health rights should be addressed within a larger framework of reorganizing management plans for people in the community - not only residents - with chronic mental illness.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.5-13
• /
• 1997

For the purpose of investigating the subjective symptom of industrial fatigue, a questionnaire survey was carried out on 282 labor workers and 189 managerial workers who were employed at the manufacture of electronic products in two small scale industries. Checklist of industrial fatigue was composed of physical symptoms(10 items), mental symptoms(10 items), and sensory neurotic symptoms(10 items). The results were as follows : 1. Complain rate of fatigue was the highest in "eye strain" of physical symptom, "feel anxious about things" of mental symptom, and "feel stiffness in the neck or the shoulders" of sensory neurotic symptom in labor workers and managerial workers. 2. Managerial workers demonstrated II dominant type (mental or night work type), while labor workers demonstrated I dominant type of fatigue (general type). 3. Mean weighted score of fatigue complaints in labor workers (23.16) was significantly higher than that in managerial workers (20.34). 4. Mean weighted scores of fatigue complaints in male, 5~9 years of work duration, married, 4~5 hours of sleeping time, graduation of high school and college, and large of workload were significantly higher in labor workers than in managerial workers. 5. In poor work condition with temperature, ventilation, illumination and noise, the average weighted score was significantly higher in labor workers than in managerial workers.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.411-424
• /
• 2011

Objectives : This study was performed to investigate the antifatigue effect of SM-2000 on fatigued and stressed people. Methods : This study was carried out on 23 healthy people who have fatigue and stress. 11 people as the mentally-stressed group were examined by subjective symptoms of fatigue and blood cortisol test. They drank SM-2000 for seven days. SM-2000 was made up herbs which were used for fatigue. After that they were again examined by subjective symptoms of fatigue and blood cortisol test. 12 people as the physically-fatigued group were examined with fatigue biomarkers and exercise test. They also drank SM-2000 for seven days. After that they were again examined with fatigue biomarkers and exercise test. Results : Cortisol level, subjective symptoms of fatigue scores and physical, mental, and neuro-sensory symptoms of fatigue scores after drinking SM-2000 were not significantly increased compared with before drinking SM-2000 in the mental stressed group. SM-2000 significantly decreased lactate, glucose, and phosphorous levels, and running time after drinking SM-2000 was significantly suppressed compared with before drinking SM-2000 in the physically-fatigued group. Conclusions : On the basis of these results, SM-2000 had a clinical antifatigue effect in physically-fatigued people.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.169-178
• /
• 2001

After initial recovery from acute carbon monoxide (CO) intoxication, some patients occasionally undergo severe neuropsychiatric deterioration, which is called postanoxic delayed encephalopathy (sequelae). This is the clinical report about one patient, a 73-year-old man, diagnosed with delayed encephalopathy after acute CO intoxication. The symptoms of the patient were mental dysfunction including memory impairment and disorientation, abnormal behavior, incontinence and mutism. He had completely recovered after an aonxic episode, but the neurological symptoms that developed were preceded by an interval of apparent normality (the 'lucid interval'). We characterized him as suffering deficiency syndrome of the heart and prescribed for him Bokreongbosim-tang and Guipi-tang, and thereafter his symptoms were remarkably improved. For the evaluation of clinical improvement, we use the Modified Barthel Index (MBI), Canadian Neurologic Scale (CNS), and the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE)

• Journal of the Korean Regional Science Association
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.3-23
• /
• 2020

This study aims to conceptualize the settlement inclusivity for overcoming social exclusion and the decline in quality of life of older people and to examine its effects on their mental health. The concept of the settlement inclusivity for older people focuses on the immediate environment around the place where they live. We proposed two domains for the conceptual framework; social domain that provides opportunities for community cohesion; spatial domain that provides security of residential area and access to basic services within walking distance. The social domain was represented by participation and interdependence, while the spatial domain by security and accessibility in the settlement inclusivity. Zero-inflated negative binomial regression model was constructed with 2017 National Survey of Older Koreans data to analyze the factors influencing depressive symptoms of older adults. The empirical results demonstrate that increased level of neighborhood network and social participation is associated with a decrease in the number of depressive symptoms. In addition, higher satisfaction in neighborhood environment and good accessibility to public transport/stores are associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Finally, housing condition and home ownership have a moderating effect on the relationship between social network/participation and depressive symptoms level, whereas they have no direct effects on depressive symptoms. This study demonstrates multi-dimensionally and mutually significant associations between settlement inclusivity and depressive symptoms for older people providing implications for urban planning and policies to improve mental well-being of older population.