• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.161-169
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• 2024

Purpose : This study investigated the correlation between social support and older people's quality of life. Methods : We conducted a questionnaire survey with 350 older participants and analyzed 320 completed surveys. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 for Windows. The general characteristics of the participants and quality of life subdomains were analyzed using descriptive statistics and frequency analyses. Furthermore, the differences between the subdomains of social support and quality of life were analyzed using independent t-tests and a one-way ANOVA. Post-hoc tests were performed using the Scheffé test. A significance level of α=.05 was used to verify statistical significance. Results : Upon examining the sub-domain level of social support and considering general characteristics, it was found that older age correlates with increased dependency among patients with associated diseases (p<.05). Similarly, an investigation into participants' quality of life at the subdomain level, considering general characteristics, revealed higher correspondence to lower quality of life (p<.05). Differences emerged between social support and quality of life among older individuals, with a negative correlation observed between the two (p<.05). Conclusion : This study suggests the importance of actively supporting older people with chronic diseases who experience emotional and psychological instability. It advocates for promoting the use of various services, including visiting medical services, convalescent care, and assistance, to meet their needs effectively.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.613-623
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• 2007

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the operation, staffing, and services provided at adult day care centers in Korea. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional descriptive survey. The subjects were 209 centers among 280 centers registered in Korea (response rate 74.6%). The data was collected from August to December in 2006. Results: 48.8% of centers were located in a city area. The centers were based on the Social Model 65.5% of the centers were open Monday to Friday, an average of $7{\sim}8$ hours per day Dementia, stroke or frail elderly could use the center, and 57.4% of centers were used for dementia and stroke elderly together. The enrollment of elderly was 13.5. The number of total staff was 8.27, the number of RN's and social workers was 0.67, and 2.54 respectively. The social services(Meal preparation 98.6%, Special event 98.1%, Transportation, 97.1%) were provided more than the health services(Physical therapy 98.1%, ADL training 95.2%, Counseling 84 7%, Vaccination 82.8%, Health monitoring 78.9%, Health education 78.5%, Bathing 66.1%, and Speech therapy 28.2%). Conclusion: These results suggest we have to develop a health-focused adult day health care model based on the needs of elderly and their families. Nurses will have an important role in adult day health care.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.205-212
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors of health services that satisfy chronic musculoskeletal patients in the northern part of Gyeong-buk, South Korea. One hundred and seven chronic musculoskeletal patients who had visited a clinic in Gyeong-buk were recruited for this study. The data were collected through a questionnaire survey administered from May 7 to June 6, 2012. The collected data were analyzed by multiple regression analysis. The major findings of this research are as follows. The chronic musculoskeletal patients' satisfaction was determined by the "physical therapist's explanation," "registration process," "home exercise," "respect from staff," and whether the physical therapist and staff "listened to concerns." The chronic musculoskeletal patients' likely to revisit is strongly related to "physical therapist's explanation," "registration process," and "up-to-date equipment." Therefore, it is very important for clinics to improve the quality of the "physical therapist's explanation," "registration process," "respect from staff," "informed consent," "up-to-date equipment," and "home exercise." Furthermore, it is expected that the outcomes of this study will contribute to the customer satisfaction of chronic musculoskeletal patients in clinics.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.1-9
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was going to research relation of job stress and society psychologic stress according to general characteristic, work characteristic, health characteristic and personality characteristic for the occupational therapist in the working domestic rehabilitation therapy with hospital and welfare center occupational therapist. The research was 91 of withdrawal questionnaire among 102 occupational therapist from 1. November 2005 to 31. December 2005. In the result of analysis the given question for the ninety one occupational therapist showed just normal group 25% 23 person, potential stress group 47% 43 person, and the rest 28% 25 person high risk group. The result shows significance different in general characteristic of job stress about age, final scholarship and marriage. Job stress was included income, working time, office form and working position etc. Health special job stress was significance different according to sleep time. So we have to know a fact of job stress of occupational therapist and prevent of loss of business services. And we have to endeavoring removals factor of stress and good office culture fixation.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.51-60
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• 2018

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the opinions of Korean medical doctors on how to elucidate possible remedial measures for expanding the health insurance benefits coverage item of Korean medicine (KM). Methods: An online survey was conducted to all members who had registered e-mail address in the association of Korean medicine from 1 to 17 November, 2016. Statistical analysis was performed and odds ratio with 95% confidence interval were calculated by each subgroup. Results: A total of 743 members answered the questions and the response rate was 4.1%. The priorities for expanding health insurance benefits were as follows: thermographic imaging, Sasang constitution typing test, and pulse wave among examinations; pharamacopuncture, embedding acupuncture, and acupotomy among procedures; Chuna manual therapy, manual therapy for meridian muscle, and Daoyin exercise therapy among manual therapies; low-frequency electrical therapy, traction, paraffin bath, and light therapy among physical therapies; and aromatherapy, enema therapy, and color therapy among activities of KM. Conclusions: It should be covered by the national health insurance (NHI) of KM that thermographic imaging, pharmacoacupuncture, Chuna manual therapy, low-frequency electrical therapy, aromatherapy as a top priority. We also suggest that basic medical tests, such as blood, urine, or imaging, should be included in the coverage of the NHI of KM. It is necessary to review the expertise and public opinions about the plans and priorities for the conversion of the desired medical services to be covered by the NHI.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.2060-2064
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• 2020

Background: Recently, the kinesiology taping (KT) method was reported to be effective in improving walking ability in foot drop patients after stroke, but the clinical basis is still unclear. Objectives: The KT method was compared with ankle-foot orthotics (AFO) to investigate gait ability in foot drop patients after stroke. Design: Crossover study design. Methods: In this study, 11 stroke patients with foot drop participated. Walking ability of all subjects for both conditions (KT and AFO) was measured using the GAITRite system. The order of application of the two conditions was determined randomly by drawing lots. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare walking ability between the two conditions. The level of statistical significance was set at P<.05. Results: There were no significant differences between the KT and AFO methods in terms of velocity, cadence, step length, and stride length (P>.05, all). Conclusion: This study recommends KT as an alternative to the AFO, since KT provides evidence of preventing of foot drops and improving gait ability in stroke patient.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.69-75
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between subjective quality of life and job stress with regard to general characteristics and health characteristics of physical therapists (PTs) and occupational therapists (OTs). Methods: The study involved administering questionnaires to 93 PTs and OTs who worked in urban medical institutions between November 2009 and October 2009. A questionnaire (KvSBQOL) developed by Dunbar and colleagues and translated into Korean version by Yoon et al was used for measuring subjective quality of life. A questionnaire developed by Kim was used for measuring job stress. Results: Among PTs and OTs, the mean quality of life score was 3.10 points and the mean level of job stress was 3.42. Female PTs and OTs had significantly greater levels of job stress. Those PTs and OTs in the 'Lowest pay' group and in the 'Associated Degree' group reported the lowest quality of life. Those in the 'Very healthy' group of PTs and OTs had significantly lower job stress than the other groups. The group with the highest job stress had the lowest quality of life. A limitation of this study was that all data was self-reported and subject to associated bias. Conclusion: To prevent loss of business services by PTs and OTs, it is important to know how job stress affects quality of life. Our findings suggest that a reduction in job stress can improve quality of life among PTs and OTs.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.49-56
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• 2015

Background: Although many of those who drive for a living are exposed to repetitive and awkward posture and whole body vibration which cause them cumulative trauma disorder, therapeutic studies related to the problems from the transport unit are still somewhat inadequate. The purpose of this case report is to identify the effect of combined exercise program on patients suffering chronic neck pain caused by long hour of intra-city bus driving. Method: A total of 4 subjects are selected as patients, all of whom have more than 10 years of experience in intra-city bus transportation services. These people have suffered from neck pain for years. We ran the combined exercise program 3 times a week for 4 weeks and respectively evaluated the results after the 2nd and 4th week. We implemented conventional physiotherapy for 40 minutes, another 40 minutes of combined exercise program, and then educated the patients to enable themselves to do active stretching program as a home program. The combined exercise program contained 3 different stages. 1st stage: active stretching program, 2nd stage combined stabilization exercise and strengthening exercise, 3rd stage: proprioceptive exercise Result: After 4 weeks of intervention, there was enhance in the range of motion. $12^{\circ}$ increase in flexion, $10^{\circ}$ in extension, $6^{\circ}$ in lateral flexion respectively, and $10^{\circ}$ in rotation on average. VAS(visual analgue scale) decreased by 33% on average, NDI(neck diability index) by 28% and fatigability by 23%. Conclusion: There were improved results in the range of motion, NDI, VAS, and in fatigability after applying combined exercise program to intra-city bus drivers exposed to whole body vibration and cumulative trauma disorder.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.1596-1601
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• 2018

Smoking can be a significant cause of lung diseases and reduced respiratory functions. Among soldiers, smoking may have a negative impact on their health (physical strength) and well being. Information on differences in the respiratory functions of smokers and nonsmokers in the military services and the effects of the smoking duration and amount (i.e., the number of cigarettes smoked per day) would be useful. This study investigated smoking durations and smoking amounts among young male soldiers (N = 61). The forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1), and forced expiratory volume in 1 sec/forced vital capacities (FEV1/FEC) were measured FVC, FEV1, or FEV1/FEC of smokers and nonsmokers were not significantly different, and FVC and FEV1 were inversely proportional to smoking duration. Besides, the number of cigarettes smoked per day was not correlated with respiratory functions. These findings may be attributed to the effect of the strenuous physical activity (e.g., military drills) undertaken by soldiers on their respiratory functions. Despite the lack of evidence for a difference in the respiratory functions of smokers and nonsmokers, this study recommends ongoing respiratory function management through smoking cessation programs and respiratory physiotherapy to manage the respiratory functions of Korean smoking soldiers.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.149-169
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• 2018

Purpose : This study was to develop a strategy for modeling future workforce projections to serve as a basis for analyzing annual supply of and demand for physical therapists across the South Korea into 2030. Methods : In-and-out movement model was used to project the supply of physical therapists. The demand was projected according to the demand-based method which consists of four-stages such as estimation of the utilization rate of the base year, forecasting of health care utilization of the target years, forecasting of the requirements of clinical physical therapists and non-clinical physical therapists based on the projected physical therapists. Results : Based on the current productivity standards, there will be oversupply of 39,007 to 40,875 physical therapists under the demand scenario of average rate in 2030, undersupply of 44,663 to 49,885 under the demand scenario of logistic model, oversupply of 16,378 to 19,100 under the demand scenario of logarithm, and oversupply of 18,185 to 20,839 under the demand scenario of auto-regressive moving average (ARIMA) model in 2030. Conclusion : The result of this projection suggests that the direction and degree of supply of and demand for physical therapists varied depending on physical therapists productivity and utilization growth scenarios. However, the need for introduction of a professional physical therapist system and the need to provide long-term care rehabilitation services are actively being discussed in entering the aging society. If community rehabilitation programs for rehabilitation of disabled people and the elderly are activated, the demand of physical therapists will increase, especially for elderly people. Therefore, healthcare policy should focus on establishing rehabilitation service infrastructure suitable for an aging society, providing high-quality physical therapy services, and effective utilization of physical therapists.