• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.21-30
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• 2000

The growing population of the elderly who have diverse health needs is receiving more attention from the health promotion field. This paper describes some of the findings of quantitative study into the health function of Korean immigrant elderly living in Washington State of Northwest America. One hundred-two community-dwelling Korean immigrant elderly, aged from 65 to 93 with a mean 77.97 years, were interviewed with a structured questionnaire to report their health function defined in three domains; perceived health status, physical functioning, and psychosocial functioning. The main results of the study were identified: (a) Overall, Korean immigrant elderly's perceived health status and physical functioning were good, but psychosocial functioning was poor; (b) Elderly with higher health functioning scores perceived better health status. Data indicates that health functioning measures are good indicators of the degree of perceived need for immigrant elderly. The paper argues that the understanding of physical and psychosocial functioning of elderly is vitally important in the provision of health care.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.137-144
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• 2007

Objectives : According to Rowe and Kahn (1998), successful aging is the combination of a low probability of disease, high functioning, and active engagement with life. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between active engagement with life and functioning among the community-dwelling elderly. Methods : Data were collected from Wave 2 of the Suwon Longitudinal Aging Study (SLAS), consisting of a sample of 645 persons aged 65 and older living in the community. A social activity checklist and social support inventory were used as measures of engagement with life, along with the Physical Functioning (PF) scale as a measure of functioning. The effects of social support and social activity on physical functioning, taking into account the covariates, were analyzed by hierarchical linear regression analysis. Results : Maintenance of social activity and social support were significantly associated with higher physical function, after adjusting for sociodemographic and health-related covariates. Social support appeared to be more prominent than social activity in predicting physical functioning. Conclusions : Social support and social activity are potentially modifiable factors associated with physical function in older persons. Studies examining the role social engagement may play in preventing disability are warranted.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.28-39
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• 2002

Objective. The 12 forms of Sun-style Tai Chi exercise has been developed specifically for arthritis patients in order to reduce their symptoms and to improve physical functioning. This quasi-experimental study examined the changes in pain, balance, muscle strength and physical functioning in women with osteoarthritis at the completion of the 12 week Tai Chi exercise program. Methods. The patients with osteoarthritis who signed the consent form were screened by their primary physician according to the inclusion criteria and invited to the study. Total of 66 osteoarthritis women with an average age of 63 years were participated in the Tai Chi exercise. At the completion of 12 weeks, 34 patients completed both pretest and posttest measures with 48% of overall dropout rate. Outcome measures were physical symptoms, balance, muscle strength, physical functioning, and depression. Paired t-test was utilized to examine differences between pre and post-measures. Results. After participating in the Tai Chi exercise program, the women with osteoarthritis showed significant improvements in their physical fitness measures, and consequently in their physical functioning. In physical fitness test, there were significant improvements in balance, flexibility, muscle strengths of knee, grip, and back muscles after the Tai Chi exercise. However, No significant differences were found in pain and stiffness of their knee joints and depression measure. Conclusion. The 12 forms of Tai Chi exercise has been found safely applicable to the older women with osteoarthritis for 12 weeks, and effective in improving balance, flexibility, and muscle strengths, and consequently lessening difficulties of performing their activities of daily life.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.77-87
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to review functioning components of studies for measuring functional information using International Classification of Functioning, disability and health (ICF) in Korea. Methods: A literature review was conducted and eligible studies were identified via search of RISS, KISS, DBpia, KoreaMed, PubMed, and ISI databases published from 2001 to 2015. For inclusion in this review, a study should be published in a peer-review journal, must have participation of Korean researchers and/or developed in Korea, and should provide functioning data related ICF. Descriptive studies containing only ICF concepts and review studies were also excluded. Collected functioning data in each study were analyzed using frequency based on ICF domain. Data assessment was performed by two independent reviewers. Results: Eighty publications were included in the analysis. The majority of studies collected data from clinical patients (n=38) and from the disabled (n=28). Fourteen studies assessed functioning data from the elderly and students under special education. The studies reported functioning data using various tools, including ICF itself, ICF checklist, coresets, and conventional measurement tools. Body function domain was most commonly used and the least used domain was the body structure across areas. Interestingly, increasing data related to environmental factors was observed in all studied populations. Conclusion: Functioning data was collected from four domains of ICF across professional areas. The most common collected data was body function and activity and participation for which conventional measurement tools are already available. To understand clients, components of environmental factors that might influence a person's functioning should be considered.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.103-114
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the level of QoL of the terminal cancer patients at home and to identify any influencing factors on QoL. Method: Subjects of this study consisted of 72 terminal cancer patients who were receiving home care nursing for more than 2 weeks in 6 general hospitals. Data were collected by a self-reporting questionnaire on QoL, pain, physical functioning, and symptom experience from Feb, 2006 to Dec, 2006. Data were analyzed by t-test, one way ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression using SPSS Win 14.0. Results: Mean score of QoL was 98.6(230 in total). Except the level of family coping, general characteristics and disease related variables did not show significant difference in QoL. QoL was higher in the family with better coping, and QoL showed negative correlation with three types of pain, physical functioning, and symptom experiences. Least pain, physical functioning, and level of family coping explained QoL up to 26.7%. Conclusion: The QoL was closely related with pain, physical functioning, symptom experience, and family coping. And the least pain, physical functioning and level of family coping were important factors influencing on QoL of terminal cancer patients. However, some other variables influencing the QoL need to be investigated in the future.

• The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.117-125
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• 2006

Purpose: The objectives of this study were to explore the relationships between the fear of falling and daily activities, and physical functioning of older people in community. Method: A descriptive study design was used in this study. 295 people aged over 65 and living in community participated. Data of demographic characteristics, fear of falling, activity daily living, physical functioning were collected. Result: 13.2% of the participants reported that they have falling accident last one year. 75.6% of participants reported fear of falling. 67.7% of them expressed restricting activity because of fear of falling. There were no significant relationship between fear of falling and BADL(Basic Activity Daily Living) but fear of falling and IADL(Instrumental Activity Daily Living) were related. It was also found that older people with higher fear of falling expressed more pain and uncomfortable feelings especially on their lower body and had higher scores of morbidity of neurologic diseases such as neuralgia and cerebrovascular diseases. Conclusion: There were significant relationships between fear of falling and IADL, and physical functioning on lower body, and morbidity of neurologic diseases such as neuralgia and cerebrovascular diseases.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.87-96
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• 2007

Purpose: It remains controversial for the effect of daily functioning and quality of life on therapeutic exercise after stroke. The purpose of this study was to describe the effects on daily functioning and QOL. Methods: Outcome measures of daily functioning included, such as the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), Barthel index. Outcome measures of QOL included, such as Stroke Impact Scale(SIS) and the Medical Outcomes Study short-form 36-item questionnaire(SF-36). Results: 125 stroke patients were recruited, who were in or outpatients. The average age was 55.4 years. 64.8% were male. The mean Bathel index and FIM score was 63.7 and 87.5. The mean SIS score were higher in communication and mean SF-36 score were higher in physical pain. In/out patients are associated with SIS (communication, emotion) and SF-36(social function, energy or fatigue). Sex are associated with SF-36 (physical function). Other disease state are associated with SIS(hand function) and SF-36 (physical function). Paralysis portion are associated with SIS(communication, daily activity). Barthel index are associated with SIS(communication, mobility) and SF-36(social function, physical function, role limits due to emotional problems). Conclusion: These findings may provide the useful with rehabilitation professionals, who specilalized in the importance of QOL in designing treatment modalities.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.325-332
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• 1999

Objectives: The aim of this study is to identify major factors associated with physical functioning among the Korean elderly. Methods: Data come from a survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,058 older people aged 60 years or elder living in the community. A hierarchical functioning scale was constructed, using upper and lower body mobility, IADLs, and ADLs. Socioeconomic characteristics, chronic conditions, measures of health status, health service use, and social support were analyzed to explore their influence on functioning. Polytomous logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify major contributing factors to different levels of functioning. Results: Persons of older age, female, with chronic diseases (heart disease, stroke, fracture/dislocation) were consistently more likely to show a higher degree of functional limitation. There were variations, however, among other factors; e.g., those with arthritis were more likely to be only mildly impaired, but not moderately or severely impaired. Conclusions: Older Korean adults living in the community with impaired functioning constitute persons with diverse characteristics. Policy and program activities need to address specific needs of older people in different functioning states.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.65-80
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• 2021

PURPOSE: This study was conducted as a literature review to analyze the research trends related to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in Korea from 2015 to 2020. METHODS: Precedent studies were searched with the search term "ICF" or "international classification of functioning, disability and health" from the databases of RISS, KISS, DBpia, and Pubmed. The inclusion criteria are that the studies have been carried out in Korea from 2015 to 2020 using ICF by researchers consisting of one or more Koreans and have been peer-reviewed. RESULTS: Of the total 269 studies, 107 that met the inclusion criteria were analyzed. It was found that these studies were published at a similar frequency each year. The most common area of expertise was identified as the clinical area (n = 67), followed by special education (n = 21) and social welfare (n = 13). The study subject groups were mostly patients (n = 39), disabled people (n = 25), and related experts (n = 13). The most common research topic was functioning evaluation (n = 49) and followed by a literature review (n = 29), and the most frequently used components in all the areas of expertise were activity and participation (n = 98), body function and structure (n = 73), and environmental factors (n = 61). CONCLUSION: For the past six years, domestic ICF-related research has been conducted in a wider range of expertise areas on more subdivised subject groups. Continuous research, development of standardized curricula and contents, and development of coding tools are considered to be important in vitalizing the use of the ICF.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.99-110
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• 2023

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to suggest a way to easily understand and utilize the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) or Korean Standard Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (KCF), a common and standard language related to health information. METHODS: The tools used by physical therapists to evaluate the functioning of neurological patients were collected from 10 domestic hospitals. By applying the ICF linking rule, two experts compared, analyzed, and linked the concepts in the items of the collected tools and the ICF/KCF codes. The frequency of use of the selected tool, the matching rate of the liking results of two experts, and the number of the codes linked were treated as descriptive statistics and the code set was presented as a list. RESULTS: The berg balance scale, trunk impairment scale, timed up and go test, functional ambulation category, 6 Minute walk test, manual muscle test, and range of motion measurements were the most commonly used tools for evaluating the functioning. The total number of items of the seven tools was 33, and the codes linked to the ICF/KCF were 69. Twenty-two codes were mapped, excluding duplicate codes. Ten codes in the body function, 11 codes in the activity, and one code in the environmental factor were included. CONCLUSION: The information on the development process of the code set will increase the understanding of ICF/KCF and the developed code set can conveniently be used for collecting patients' functioning information.