• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• 제47권2호
• /
• pp.113-123
• /
• 2014

Objectives: Several previous studies have found that healthy behaviors substantially reduce non-communicable disease incidence and mortality. The present study was performed to estimate the prevalence of four modifiable healthy behaviors and a healthy lifestyle among Korean adults according to socio-demographic and regional factors. Methods: We analyzed data from 199 400 Korean adults aged 19 years and older who participated in the 2010 Korean Community Health Survey. We defined a healthy lifestyle as a combination of four modifiable healthy behaviors: non-smoking, moderate alcohol consumption, regular walking, and a healthy weight. We calculated the prevalence rates and odds ratios of each healthy behavior and healthy lifestyle according to socio-demographic and regional characteristics. Results: The prevalence rates were as follows: non-smoking, 75.0% (53.7% in men, 96.6% in women); moderate alcohol consumption, 88.2% (79.7% in men, 96.9% in women); regular walking, 45.0% (46.2% in men, 43.8% in women); healthy weight, 77.4% (71.3% in men, 73.6% in women); and a healthy lifestyle, 25.5% (16.4% in men, 34.6% in women). The characteristics associated with a low prevalence of healthy lifestyle were male gender, younger age (19 to 44 years of age), low educational attainment, married, living in a rural area, living in the Chungcheong, Youngnam, or Gwangwon-Jeju region, and poorer self-rated health. Conclusions: Further research should be implemented to explore the explainable factors of disparities for socio-demographic and regional characteristics to engage in the healthy lifestyle among adults.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Rural Health Nursing
• /
• 제2권1호
• /
• pp.5-13
• /
• 2007

Purpose: This study focused on the health conditions and satisfaction in day-to-day life of elders using welfare facilities where there is no charge, and thus provides basic data for development of quality services required for health enhancement and a variety of demands from these elders. Method: The participants in the study were 140 elders selected at random from facilities for elders in Taegu. The tools for the study were the Korean Health Status Measure for the Elderly (Shin, H. C., 2002), and Yoon's "Criteria of Older Adults Life Satisfaction"(1982). Results: Differences in life satisfaction were found according to general characteristics of the elders, and that a lack of caretaker professionalism and relationships with other elders, but not the program were scored lower. In the correlation between health status and life satisfaction, it was found that emotional, social function and physical pain showed correlations with life satisfaction. Conclusion: It is necessary for the enhancement of health status of these elders and improvement in life satisfaction that a variety of nursing interventions be implemented.

• 한국노년학
• /
• 제38권3호
• /
• pp.593-605
• /
• 2018

This study examines factors that influence older drivers to consider stopping driving in advance and whose advice plays an important role in the driving cessation decision. Data came from a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of community-dwelling older adults (N=2,076). About two thirds reported that they have considered stopping driving (62.8%) and they preferred to decide by themselves (66.0%). Logistic regression results showed that women and residents in urban areas were twice as likely to consider voluntary driving cessation compared to their counterparts. Each one year increase in age contributed to the probability that respondents would consider driving cessation by five percent. Those with greater difficulties in ADLs due to chronic illnesses were also more likely to consider driving cessation. No sociodemographic and health factors were related to whether older drivers preferred to decide by themselves or listen to others. These results imply that policies to promote self-motivation to stop driving among older drivers would be effective. Furthermore, they suggest it could be important to help older drivers plan their driving cessation in advance while still at a young-old age, and that more attention needs to be paid to men and those living in rural areas among older drivers.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• 제52권5호
• /
• pp.465-474
• /
• 2019

Purpose: This study examined the association between the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration and the cognitive functions in Korean elderly. Methods: The subjects were 393 adults aged 60 years or older who participated in the Yangpyeong cohort between July 2009 and August 2010. The subjects were classified into deficiency, insufficiency, or adequacy groups according to the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration diagnostic criteria suggested by the US Institute of Medicine (IOM). The cognitive function was assessed based on the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-KC). The dietary intake was assessed using the quantitative food frequency questionnaire with 106 food items. Results: The proportions of deficiency, insufficiency, or adequacy in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D were 6.6%, 44.5%, and 48.9%, respectively. The serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration was significantly higher in men than in women and in outdoor workers than in other occupations. The adequacy group had higher MMSE-KC scores than the other two groups, but not to a significant degree. The proportion of cognitive impairment tended to decrease with increasing serum vitamin D concentration to deficiency, insufficiency, and adequacy (p for trend = 0.029). The deficiency group had a 2.28 times higher risk of cognitive impairment than the adequacy group, but the difference was not statistically significant (OR, 2.28; 95% CI, 0.18 ~ 1.07, p for trend = 0.119). Conclusion: The serum vitamin D concentration tended to be associated with the cognitive function in elderly Koreans living in rural areas. To confirm the associations, further longitudinal studies with large samples were required.

• Advanced Industrial SCIence
• /
• 제1권2호
• /
• pp.17-23
• /
• 2022

The purpose of this study is to analyze the health factors of the elderly according to the region by analyzing the physical fitness and fall efficacy of the female elderly living in rural and urban areas. The subjects of this study consisted of 98 female elderly people living in rural and urban areas who exercise health and cheerleading at least twice a week at the regional center(REG; n=46, 77.53±6.37 yrs, 151.81±5.26 cm, 60.00±9.42 kg, UEG; n=53, 73.57±2.70 yrs, 154.07±3.52 cm, 57.37±2.06 kg). Physical strength was measured for muscular endurance, cardiopulmonary endurance, and flexibility. Falling efficacy was measured using 10 items of Fall Efficacy Scale developed by Tinetti et al. Significant differences in flexibility and fall efficacy were found in urban older adults (p<.01, p<.05). There was no significant difference in muscular endurance and cardiac endurance (p>.05). In the future, studies to improve the imbalance of health factors of the elderly in the region should be continuously conducted.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
• /
• 제17권2호
• /
• pp.262-266
• /
• 2008

This study was conducted to provide a vitamin $B_{12}$ database for the representative Korean food items and to assess the dietary intake assessment of vitamin $B_{12}$ for Koreans. The vitamin $B_{12}$ content of 106 foods had been determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using column switching method. Rich sources of vitamin $B_{12}$ were meats, milk, and egg ($0.3-3.4\;{\mu}g/100g$). Vegetables and fruits contained vitamin $B_{12}$ below limit of detection (LOD). The major food sources for vitamin $B_{12}$ intake were milk (72.0%), meats (22.3%), egg (3.6%), and fishes & shellfishes (2.1%). Mean vitamin $B_{12}$ intake of Koreans was $3.16\;{\mu}g$/person/day. The proportion of population with intake below estimate average requirement (EAR) and above recommended intake (RI) of vitamin $B_{12}$ was 60.7 and 36.5%, respectively. The vitamin $B_{12}$ intake level of young children with 1-2 years which was 834.6% of RI while the intake level of the older adults 50 years and older was only 70.0% of RI. Also, there were regional differences between urban and rural area. The population with intake below RI was larger than that with intake above RI in Korea.

• Annals of Geriatric Medicine and Research
• /
• 제20권3호
• /
• pp.114-117
• /
• 2016

A research project, the "Construction of Frailty Cohort for Elderly and Intervention Study," funded by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, has been ongoing since December 2015. The Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Study (KFACS) aims to identify risk factors for adverse outcomes associated with frailty in community-dwelling older adults, as well as means of prevention. KFACS is a multicenter, longitudinal study, with the baseline survey being conducted in 2016-2017. The sample (n=3,000) consists of those aged 70-84 years, stratified by age and gender, recruited from urban and rural regions nationwide. An in-person interview and health examination are performed every 2 years. This project is also conducting many intervention studies. Project interventions focus on nutrition and exercise. The nutritional intervention study compares the effects of 1.2 g/kg versus 1.5 g/kg daily protein intake on sarcopenia and frailty in older Koreans. The exercise trial examines the effectiveness of an information and communication technology-based program in preventing or reducing frailty.

• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
• /
• 제38권4호
• /
• pp.167-186
• /
• 2007

The aim of this study is to explore the activities of public libraries in Korea about information divide issues. To do this, the web sites of 58 public libraries in Korea were investigated. On the basis of analysis, this study concluded that the activities of public libraries did not assist information have-nots, for example, people with disabilities, older adults, immigrants, rural residents and low income brackets and were insufficient to related guidelines of library services.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Rural Health Nursing
• /
• 제18권2호
• /
• pp.113-124
• /
• 2023

Purpose: The number of households vulnerable to isolation increases rapidly as social ties decrease, raising concerns about the associated increase in lonely deaths. This study aimed to identify issues related to lonely deaths by analyzing South Korean news articles; and to provide evidence for their use in preventing and managing lonely deaths via community nursing. Methods: This exploratory study analyzed the structure and trends of meaning of lonely deaths by identifying the association between keywords in news articles and lonely deaths. In this study, we searched for all news articles on lonely deaths, covering the period from January 1, 2010, to May 31, 2023. Data preprocessing and purification were conducted, followed by top-keyword extraction, keyword network analysis and topic modeling. The retrieved articles were analyzed using R and Python software. Results: Four main topics were identified: "discovering and responding to lonely death cases", "lonely deaths ending in lonely funerals", "supportive policies to prevent lonely deaths among of older adults", and "local government activities to prevent lonely deaths and support vulnerable populations." Conclusion: Based on these findings, it can be concluded that lonely death is a complex social phenomenon that can be prevented if society shows concern and care. Education related to lonely deaths should be included in nursing curricula for concrete action plans and professional development.

• 한국노년학
• /
• 제37권3호
• /
• pp.707-726
• /
• 2017

Korea is proceeding to aging society at much faster pace than other countries. To alleviate various problems (health, environment, social relationships, psychology and emotion, and financial problems) of the elderly caused by aging society, there has been increasing attention to social capital. This study investigated types of ways that the elderly at individual level are aware of social capital and the characteristic. In addition, factors that influence the types were studied. Data from 1060 elderly with the age of 65 and older were collected in Korea. Excluding missing data on variables used in the study, data of 960 elderly were used for analyses. K-mean cluster analysis was conducted to investigate types of elderly awareness on social capital at individual level. Multinominal logistic regression was used to find out factors of the types. K-mean cluster analysis resulted in three types of awareness on social capital among the elderly: (1) potential of social capital; (2) severance of social capital; and (3) wealth of social capital. Multinominal logistic regression resulted in that compared to potential of social capital type, when the elderly were younger, inclination of politics was more progressive, they did not have religion, they did not reside in rural, and they did not live in multiplex housing, the elderly were more likely to be in severance of social capital type. Also, when the elderly were women, had higher education and standard of living, were Christian, and did not reside in rural regions. they tended to be in wealth of social capital type. Based on the study results about awareness on social capital among the elderly and factors related to the awareness types, practical and political suggestions that promote social capital to solve problems of the elderly were provided.