• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.63-77
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• 2015

Objectives The combination extract of four kinds of herbs, Gastrodia elata, Liriope platyphylla, Dimocarpus longan, and Salvia miltiorrhiza, has shown to have memory improving effects in mice. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of the herbal mixture for improving working memory as well as microstructural changes in white matter integrity in individuals with subjective memory complaints. Methods Seventy-five individuals with subjective memory complaints were assigned to receive either placebo (n = 15) or herbal mixture (low-dose group, n = 30 and high-dose group, n = 30) supplementation in an 8-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Changes in working memory performance and fractional anisotropy (FA) values reflecting white matter integrity from baseline to 8-week endpoint were assessed. Results The herbal mixture group showed an increase in working memory performance compared to the placebo group (p for interaction = 0.001). In addition, the herbal mixture group showed an increase in FA values in the temporo-parietal regions (corrected p < 0.05), which are crucially involved in working memory function and are among the most affected regions in patients with cognitive impairments. Conclusions Findings from this study indicate that the herbal mixture may be a promising therapeutic option for individuals with subjective memory complaints.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.111-119
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• 2024

Purpose : This study aimed to demonstrate the effects of visiting cognitive activities using brain training on cognition, subjective memory complaints and depression among elderly participants residing in community living in Gwangmyeong city. Methods : Over a 14-month period (October 2022 to December 2023), four brain training instructors visited the homes of older adults and conducted the intervention using a brain training kit. The participants included 32 elderly individuals aged 65 years and older, who were living in Gwangmyeong city. The assessments were conducted by an occupational therapist, a nurse and a social worker at the Gwangmyeong dementia relief center. These assessments included the following the subjective memory complaints questionnaire (SMCQ), short geriatric depression scale-Korean (SGDS-K), a cognitive impairment screening test (CIST), the consortium to establish a registry for Alzheimer's disease-Korean (CERAD-K). The participants were divided into three groups (A: 20-30 points, B: 10-19 points, C: 1-9 points) based on the CIST score. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and wilcoxon signed-rank test were performed using SPSS 24.0, and the statistical level was at a=.05. Results : The results of the intervention showed that the SMCQ score of group A improved significantly (p<.05), the CIST score of group B also improved significantly (p<.05). However, the SGDS-K score of group C improved, but did not demonstrate statistical significance (p=.080). Conclusion : The visiting cognitive activities using brain training produced significant effects on cognition, depression, and subjective memory disorders, depending on the cognitive level of the elderly participants. In the future, it will be necessary to demonstrate the effects according to cognitive level in various aspects with more elderly people.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.889-897
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• 2020

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether there was a connection between oral health and memory loss in elderly individuals with no abnormalities in their daily lives and to identify factors affecting memory loss. Methods: This study aimed to identify an association between the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index and Subjective Memory Complaints for the elderly individuals living in the community. Results: The results of analyzing the oral health assessment according to the general characteristics of the study participants revealed that with increase in age, income (p=0.05) and oral health of the elderly living alone decreased compared to those living together in the family (p=0.05). Moreover, the lower the income (p=0.05), the higher was the memory loss for the elderly living alone than for the elderly living together with their family (p=0.05). Conclusions: The study identified a link between oral health of the elderly and subjective memory loss and observed that oral health, cohabitation, and income level were related to subjective memory loss. Therefore, oral health should be considered as a predictor of memory loss for the elderly.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.175-181
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• 2014

Objectives It was the aim to examine the association of the thyroid-related hormones with cognitive function, depression, and subjective memory impairment in community-dwelling elders with questionable dementia. Methods The sample consisted of 399 community residents with 'questionable dementia' aged 60 or over in whom serum thyroid-related hormones [thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroxine] had been assayed. Cognitive impairment was defined using the Korean version of the Consortium Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease. Depression was diagnosed using the Korean version of Geriatric Depression Scale and subjective memory complaint (SMC) was checked using the subjective memory complaints questionnaire (SMCQ). Age, gender, education, and the presence of apolipoprotein E {\varepsilon}4 were included as covariates. Results There was a significant positive association between verbal fluency test (VFT) score and serum TSH levels (p = 0.01). There was a significant negative association between SMCQ total score and word list memory test (WLMT)(p = 0.002) or word list recall test (WLRT) score (p = 0.013). Conclusions Lower serum TSH levels were associated with semantic memory (VFT), and we found that SMC was associated with episodic memory (WLMT and WLRT) in this sample.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.242-254
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• 2022

Purpose: This study was designed to test structural equation modeling of the quality of life of elderly diagnosed dementia living in the community in order to provide guidelines for development of intervention and strategies to improve their quality of life. Methods: The participants in the study were elderly who visited the public health center in C rural between May 30 and september 15, 2017. Data collection was carried out through one-on-one interviews. Demographic factors, knowledge, Attitude, Self-Efficacy, social support, accessibility, request for Information, health practice, depression, subjective memory complaints, dependence scale and quality of life were investigated. Results: The final analysis included 192 elderly. Fitness of the hypothesis model was appropriate(χ²=192.89, p=.000, GFI=0.90, SRMR=0.08, NNFI=0.94, CFI=0.95, PNFI=0.72, RMSEA=0.07). Depression, subjective memory complaints and dependence were found to be significant explaining varience in quality of life. Social support, dementia preventive behavior and health practice had an indirect effect on the quality of life. Conclusions: To improve the quality of life of elderly diagnosed dementia living in the community, comprehensive interventions are necessary to manage knowledge, attitude, self-efficacy, social support, health practice, depression, subjective memory complaints and dependence that can contribute to enchance the quality of life of elderly diagnosed dementia living in the community.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.7414-7423
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• 2015

Subjective cognitive-linguistic complaints in older adults contribute to the diagnostic and prognostic investigation of MCI or dementia. However, the utility of subjective test for predicting cognitive-linguistic decline is controversial. Few domestic studies have included the correlation between subjective and objective tests systematically. The current study analyzed 26 studies published since 2000, and the effect sizes of their correlation coefficients between two tests were computed. The results of qualitative analysis indicated that the number of subjects ranged from 26 to 657. Subjective tests included the self-report 75.4% and the informant-report 24.6%. In objective tests, memory comprised the largest proportion, followed by global cognition, and language, etc. As a result of meta-analysis, self-report test had the predictive value for dementia, and informant-report test contributed to discriminate among 3 groups. In the elderly group, self-report test was correlated with reasoning, and informant-report test with memory and language. In MCIs, self-report test predicted several abilities including language, and informant-report test signaled the future decline of domains like global cognition. Two types of subjective tests in dementia also represented memory, language, and global cognition accurately. This study provides evidence-based information to support relationships between subjective and objective tests for cognitive-linguistic ability in 3 groups.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.266-277
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to design a mobile-application of a cognitive training program for people who have chemo-related cognitive complaints. Methods: The program was developed based on the network-based instructional system design proposed by Jung. The program consisted of several tasks centered on four cognitive domains: learning, memory, working memory, and attention. For memory learning, a target-image and all its elements (color, position, and number) were presented on the screen that had to be recognized among a number of distractor-figures. In working memory training, the previous learned target-figure according to the level of difficulty had to be remembered among many different figures. In attention training named "Find the same figure," two identical symbols in a grid-pattern filled with different images were presented on the screen, and these had to be simultaneously touched. In attention training named "Find the different figure," a different symbol in a grid pattern filled with same figures had to be selected. This program was developed to train for a minimum of 20 min/day, four days/week for six weeks. Results: This cognitive training revealed statistically significant improvement in subjective cognitive impairments (t=3.88, p=.006) at six weeks in eight cancer survivors. Conclusion: This cognitive training program is expected to offer individualized training opportunities for improving cognitive function and further research is needed to test the effect in various settings.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.141-147
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• 2011

Objectives The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between the severity of white matter changes (WMC), risk factors and cognitive domains, including executive function profiles. Method Forty nine subjects over 55 years with subjective memory complaints were assessed with MRI and neuropsychological tests. The WMC were assessed by MRI T2-FLAIR images and divided into 3 groups of mild vs. moderate vs. severe and 2 groups of mild-moderate vs. severe by using Mantyla's criteria and Fazeka's criteria. The risk factors were examined in hypertension, heart disease history and chemistry Lab. Medical conditions which affect to cognitive dysfunction and definite dementia were also excluded. Results Comparing 3 groups, hypertension was identified as a risk factor of the WMC. Comparing 2 groups, total cholesterol and LDL were identified for as the risk factor of WMC. The severity of WMC was significantly associated with cognitive disturbances and their main effect on cognition was working memory and inhibition. Conclusion The risk factors of the WMC in the elderly were hypertension, hyperlipidemia. The severity of WMC appears to be associated with executive dysfunction in the elderly.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.210-216
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the multimodal cognitive intervention focusing on instrumental daily life on the cognitive function, depression and quality of life of the elderly with high-risk of dementia. This study was conducted on 24 elderly people with high-risk of dementia who participated in cognitive rehabilitation program from March to June, 2018 in Chungbuk A region. The intervention was applied to cognitive training and creative activities related to instrumental daily life. MMSE-DS, Subjective Memory Complaints Questionnaire, Short Geriatric Depression Scale-Korean version and Geriatric quality of life - Dementia were performed before and after the intervention. We confirmed that the subjects showed significant improvement in Subjective Memory Complaints and Quality of Life, but showed no significant changes in cognitive function and depression after the intervention program. Through this study, it was confirmed that this program which can affect the real life of the elderly can be usefully applied in the community. In the future, it will be necessary to develop a program that utilizes more diverse instrumental activities of daily living.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.79-88
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• 2023

Objective : This study was to apply a cognitive rehabilitation group program based on sensory activity in patients with dementia living in a facility and to check its effectiveness on cognitive function, depression, and quality of life (QOL). Methods : Sensory-based cognitive rehabilitation group programs (20 sessions) were conducted for eight elderly with dementia over the age of 65 living in a nursing facility located in H-gun, Gangwon-do. The participants' cognitive function, depression level, and QOL were evaluated before and after the program. Results : The mean of Mini-Mental State Examination-Dementia Screening increased; however, there was no statistically significant difference. In contrast, the mean post-test score of the Subjective Memory Complaints Questionnaire decreased, and there was a statistically significant difference (p < .05). The mean post-evaluation score of Short Geriatric Depression Scale measured to confirm the decrease in depression compared to the pre-evaluation score, but there was no statistically significant difference. Finally, the mean post-evaluation score of the World Health Organization QOL assessment instrument-Brief confirmed the change in the QOL, and there was a statistically significant difference (p < .001). Conclusion : This study will provide the basis for suggesting the usefulness of developing a sensory activity-based cognitive rehabilitation group program for dementia patients living in facilities.