• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2021

Considering that the aged population increases and the mobility problem is pointed out as a factor that indisposes the quality of life, cognition, and mood, it is important to understand and evaluate the elderly's mobility. Factors that deteriorate mobility in the elderly include physical senility, various health changes including chronic diseases, polypharmacy as well as anticholinergics. Common mobility problems in old age are reduced gait speed, increased gait variability in walking length, careless walking, and frequent falls. Several studies have reported that decreased mobility and deterioration of gait can predict cognitive decline and emotional problems. Aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, and balance exercise are suggested as therapeutic interventions for mobility problems. Active correction for factors that reduce mobility in the elderly and prescribing physical activity can conserve the elderly's quality of life and help improve cognition and mood. There is a need for related research in the future.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.257-267
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• 2009

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors of fall and to examine its results among patients aged 60 and over diagnosed with osteoporosis. Methods: A retrospective descriptive survey was conducted with 91 patients admitted in a university hospital in a city. Data were collected using an interview method with a structured questionnaire, and were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression. Results: In patients with osteoporosis, the intrinsic risk factors of falls were aging (OR = 3.742), gait disturbance (OR = 12.565), taking one or fewer medicine (OR = 7.873), and having two or more diseases (OR = 5.173). The extrinsic risk factors included the use of a bed (OR = 3.093), slippery floors (OR = 12.130), bathroom mat without anti-slip rubber backing (OR = 3.564), and presence of a night light on the passage from the bedroom to the bathroom (OR = 2.980). Conclusion: For the elderly aged over 70 who are most vulnerable to falls, screening tests such as bone mineral density (BMD) should be conducted in health examinations and the risk of fracture caused by osteoporosis should be communicated to the vulnerable elderly. Besides, development of new exercise programs combining weightbearing exercise is needed to prevent bone loss and increase functional activities.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.237-247
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence of osteoporosis and falls and their consequences, and to identify predictors of fracture risk in the postmenopausal women. Methods: A total of 687 postmenopausal women were recruited through a stratified convenience sampling. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain osteoporosis and fall history and details of their most recent fall. To predict fracture risk factors, we collected demographic and physical health variables related osteoporosis and fall. Fracture risk was measured by FRAX$^{(R)}$ to calculate 10-year probability of major osteoporotic and hip fracture. Results: The prevalence of osteoporosis was 22.1%, and 66.4% of them had treatments for osteoporosis. The incidence of falls during the past year was 19.2% and 38.6% of those who fell suffered consequent fractures. Women with history of osteoporosis and falls were significant predictors of 10-year probability of major osteoporotic and hip fracture. Other significant predictors were history of fracture, chronic disease, surgical menopause, lower BMI, poorer perceived health and no job. Conclusion: It appears that history of osteoporosis and falls are main predictors of fracture risk. Nursing assessment should be performed by detail history taking for osteoporosis, fall, chronic disease, and fracture to screen fracture risk group among postmenopausal women.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.303-308
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• 2023

Background: Occupational workers at altitudes are more prone to falls, leading to catastrophic outcomes. Acrophobia, height-related anxiety, and affected executive functions lead to postural instabilities, causing falls. This study investigated the effects of repeated virtual height exposure and training on cognitive processing and height-related anxiety. Methods: Twenty-eight healthy volunteers (age 20.48 ± 1.26 years; mass 69.52 ± 13.78 kg) were recruited and tested in seven virtual environments (VE) [ground (G), 2-story altitude (A1), 2-story edge (E1), 4-story altitude (A2), 4-story edge (E2), 6-story altitude (A3), and 6-story edge (E3)] over three days. At each VE, participants identified occupational hazards present in the VE and completed an Attitude Towards Heights Questionnaire (ATHQ) and a modified State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Questionnaire (mSTAIQ). The number of hazards identified and the ATHQ and mSTAIQ scores were analyzed using a 7 (VE; G, A1, A2, A3, E1, E2, E3) x 3 (DAY; DAY 1, DAY 2, DAY 3) factorial repeated measures analysis of variance. Results: The participants identified the lowest number of hazards at A3 and E3 VEs and on DAY 1 compared to other VEs and DAYs. ATHQ scores were lowest at G, A1, and E1 VEs. Conclusion: Cognitive processing is negatively affected by virtual altitudes, while it improves with short-term training. The features of virtual reality, such as higher involvement, engagement, and reliability, make it a better training tool to be considered in ergonomic settings. The findings of this study will provide insights into cognitive dual-tasking at altitude and its challenges, which will aid in minimizing occupational falls.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.46-52
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors affecting falls in 107 elderly living in the city aged 65 or older by evaluating general characteristics, chronic disease status, medical variables related to falls, balance-related confidence, physical ability and depression. Also, the correlations between the significant differences in variables were identified, and the prediction power was determined by deriving the variables with high influence to induce the fall. In the faller group, urinary incontinence, foot pain, lower extremity weakness, number of chronic disease and medication use were significantly higher than those of the nonfaller group. Also, statistically significant differences were evaluated in ABC (Activities-specific Balance Confidence) score, BBS (Berg Balance Scale) score, SGDS (Short Geriatric Depression Scale), FRT (Functional Reach Test) value. The main correlated factor for fall was ABC score, the lower the ABC score, fall risk is increased which is a significant negative impact. When the evaluation is performed by combining those scales, the hit ratio to classify whether faller or nonfaller is increased to 70.01% which is quite higher value.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.751-758
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• 2009

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the Quality of Life (QOL) and related factors in the patients with dizziness. Methods: The data were collected between March and June 2008 for 200 individuals who agreed to participate in the study. Uncertainty (Uncertainty in illness scale), anxiety, depression (Hospital anxiety & depression scale) and Vestibular disability activities of daily living (Vestibular disability-activities of daily living [ADL] scale) as well as QOL (Dizziness Handicap Inventory) were measured. Results: The mean QOL score was 37.5 (${\pm}23.0$). Monthly income, etiology of, frequency of, and total duration of dizziness were the significant factors related to QOL in these patients. Having had a fall, anxiety, depression, uncertainty and vestibular disability in daily living were also significant factors influencing QOL. In multiple regression analysis, anxiety, vestibular disability-ADL, falls, total duration of symptoms, uncertainty, and etiology of dizziness explained 41% of variance of QOL. Conclusion: The level of QOL in our patients was moderate as compared to those in previous studies. Anxiety and vestibular disability were the most important factors predicting low QOL. Use of nursing intervention programs designed to relieve these factors should also result in improving the QOL in the patients with dizziness.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.9
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• pp.389-397
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• 2018

This study identified the knowledge, attitude and degree of prevention behaviors on falls of the elderly and analyzed the relationship among them as well as their effects on fall prevention behaviors. This study was targeted at 167 elderly attending senior welfare centers and data collected by interview was analyzed using SPSS 18.0 program. As a result of correlation analysis, positive relations were identified between knowledge and attitude on falls, as well as attitude and prevention behaviors on falls. Factors that had significant effect on fall prevention behaviors were gender and attitude and showed 21.1% of explanatory power (F=8.41, p<.001). The study further suggests intervention programs on fall prevention focusing on the improvement of attitude on falls for enhancing fall prevention behaviors of the elderly to be developed and applied based on the results of this study.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.505-510
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• 2021

Background: Factors related to root causes can cause commonly occurring accidents such as falls, slips, and jammed injuries. An important means of reducing the frequency of occupational accidents in small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMSEs) of South Korea is to perform intensity analysis of the root cause factors for accident prevention in the cause and effect model like decision models, epidemiological models, system models, human factors models, LCU (life change unit) models, and the domino theory. Especially intensity analysis in a robot system and smart technology as Industry 4.0 is very important in order to minimize the occupational accidents and fatal accident because of the complexity of accident factors. Methods: We have developed the modern cause and effect model that includes factors of root cause through statistical testing to minimize commonly occurring accidents and fatal accidents in SMSEs of South Korea and systematically proposed educational policies for accident prevention. Results: As a result, the consciousness factors among factors of root cause such as unconsciousness, disregard, ignorance, recklessness, and misjudgment had strong relationships with occupational accidents in South Korean SMSEs. Conclusion: We conclude that the educational policies necessary for minimizing these consciousness factors include continuous training procedures followed by periodic hands-on experience, along with perceptual and cognitive education related to occupational health and safety.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.63-73
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• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the predictors influencing fear of falling in community-dwelling elderly women with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: A secondary data analysis was performed using data of 65 years or older elderly women with MCI participating in the 7th Korea Longitudinal Study of Ageing of the Korea Employment Information Service. The study subjects included 368 elderly women with MCI. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and logistic regression with complex samples were performed using IBM SPSS ver. 23.0. Results: 89.9% of the elderly women with MCI had fear of falling. There were significant factors such as religion (OR=8.85, 95% CI: 3.39~23.15), restriction of activity (OR=6.84, 95% CI: 2.14~21.90), depression (OR=0.75, 95% CI: 0.62~0.90), and MMSE (OR=1.30, 95% CI: 1.03~1.63), predicting fear of falling in community-dwelling elderly women with MCI. Conclusion: Differentiated strategies should be developed for elderly women with MCI to decrease fear of falling and prevent falls with understanding of contributing factors. This study will provide fundamental information on programming and a policy proposal related to fear of falling for elderly women with MCI.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.654-671
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• 2022

Accidental falls frequently occur during activities of daily living. Although many studies have proposed various accident detection methods, no high-performance accident detection system is available. In this study, we propose a method for integrating data and accident detection algorithms presented in existing studies, collect new data (from two stunt performers and 15 people over age 60) using a developed wearable device, demonstrate new features and related accident detection algorithms, and analyze the performance of the proposed method against existing methods. Comparative analysis results show that the newly defined features extracted reflect more important risk factors than those used in existing studies. Further, although the traditional algorithms applied to integrated data achieved an accuracy (AC) of 79.5% and a false positive rate (FPR) of 19.4%, the proposed accident detection algorithms achieved 97.8% AC and 2.9% FPR. The high AC and low FPR for accidental falls indicate that the proposed method exhibits a considerable advancement toward developing a commercial accident detection system.