• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.58-81
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• 1987

The purpose of this study is to examine major factors that affect patterns of living arrangements of older Korean noncitizens in the United States using the 1990 8% Public Use Microdata Sample(PUMS). In order to do so, I analyzed the effects of four factors including acculturation(English proficiency and Age at migration), economic circumstances(Personal Income and Supplemental Security Income: SSI receipt), health status(Mobility and Personal care limitation), and the ethnic community. The results show that acculturation and economic circumstances play an important role in determining the patterns of living arrangements among older Korean aliens, whereas the health status and the ethnic community do not show consistent effects. Regardless of marital status, the impact of age at migration is positively associated with solitary living of older Korean noncitizens, though, the effect of English proficiency show the opposite direction in accordance with marital status. That is, among nonmarried elders, those who cannot speak English are more likely to live alone. The case is reverse for married elders. The impact of economic feasibility is also positively associated with independent living arrangements. Those who receive SSI are much more likely to live apart from family, and elders whose annual personal income between $5,001 and $10,000 have the greatest propensity of solitary living-a large proportion of their income source is SSI. Individuals who receive SSI are also qualified to collect Medicaid, food stamps, rent subsidies, and other welfare benefits. In a sense, the economic feasibility provided by welfare benefits is the key determinant of independent living of older Korean noncitizens. Therefore, the recent welfare reform which denies legal aliens welfare benefits such as SSI and food stamps will severly affect the present living arrangements of older Korean aliens, and give economic burden to their family member The findings also show that there are significant differences within the elderly Korean Americans in terms of demographics, income, fertility, health status, and patterns of living arrangements by U.S. citizenship status. In particular, after controlling for age at migration as a proxy for acculturation, there is a statistically significant variation in living arrangements between elderly Korean noncitizens and naturalized citizens. For both theoretical and methodological reasons, future research on minority aging needs to investigate the concept of U.S. citizenship status for its impact on patterns of living arrangements among the minority elderly.

• 한국노년학
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.489-511
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• 2009

While late-life suicide has been increasing and become an important issue for public health in Korea, little is known about the phenomenon and its contributing risk factors based on which effective preventive measures can be made. Since suicidal ideation is a major precursor to attempted and completed suicide, the objective of the present study was to reveal primary contributors to suicidal ideation. Data were collected from a cross-sectional survey of 247 community-dwelling Korean older adults (age≥60) in the mid-size city in Korea. The statistical methodology employed a robust hierarchical regression procedure that iteratively downweights outliers. Based on the stress-diathesis model, the study examined major diathesis and stressors directly explaining suicidal ideation. The study also explored the significant interaction among these factors. The findings revealed that living alone and depression were significant main antecedents of suicidal ideation. In addition, neuroticism X life events and neuroticism X depression were significant interaction terms with the strongest explanatory power, which provides an empirical evidence to support the stress-diathesis model in explaining suicidal phenomenon of the Korean elderly. The result demonstrates the theoretical implication as well as the practical implication for developing and implementing late-life suicide prevention strategies. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.126-134
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• 2016

The aim of this cross sectional study was to examine the prevalence of sarcopenia in association with ADL, nutritional status and depression among community dwelling elderly women. The study subjects were 90 elderly women, 65 years and over, who were living in the communities of B and D metropolitan cities from May to July, 2014. The measurements were anthropometric measures, The mini-nutritional assessment instrument (MNA), ADL, IADL, MMSE, and SGDS-K were used. The mean age of the subjects was 74.7(8.22), the prevalence of sarcopenia of this population was 37.8%, almost none of them (94.4%) required assistance in ADL, 15.6% had a risk of undernutrition, and 12.2% had the symptom of depression. The sarcopenic subjects were characterized as low income, low education, living alone, and had more co-morbidity than those of the non-sarcopenic subjects. The sarcopenic subjects were undernourished, and had higher depression scores (SGDS-K), but not in the ADL, than those of the non-sarcopenic subjects. The calf and thigh circumferences, and cognitive ability were the best predictors of sarcopenia, In conclusion, low calf and thigh circumferences and low cognitive ability will increase the risk of sarcopenia in those 65 and over in community dwelling facilities and those three predictors will be useful in the early detection of sarcopenia in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.55 no.2 s.92
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• pp.1-17
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• 2005

The realistic plan to establish a silver market in the clothing industries has not taken concrete shape, although the interest in the establishment of a silver market targeting the aged as a new custom group Is gradually Increasing because the rapid development of science and medical technology in the 20th century has led to an extension of lift and improvement of living conditions. The specialized business which produces and sells the clothing for the elderly is of small number and most of the clothes for the elderly are manufactured and sold by the companies for women's clothing in which change the size or length of the original works rather than reflect the bodily features of the elderly. The findings indicated that domestic brands showed the coordinated concept of a suit of jacket and slacks or skirts while the clothes were formed with a variety of coordinations centering around single article in the U.S brands. But, there was no difference in the use of natural materials centering around cotton and silk etc. and in the use of embroidery, lace and decorative details between the two countries. The knit brands of knit suit style in Korea were formed with the items focused on pull over and cardigan twin set, while the U.S brands were mainly formed with the design of knit suit style. The domestic knit brands were mostly developed with complicated patterns and gorgeous colors, while most of the U.S. brands were presenting a single or two tone color suit style and evening one-piece dress with a simple and modern style. The sporty casual brands of sporty casual style in Korea had a variety of colors and patterns focused on function and comfort for diverse leisure activities and daily life, while the U.S brands were established to present a variety of styles with the items of single article because they had a separate brand for casual even though it was not a exclusive brand for the elderly This study has a meaning in the presentation of the design idea considering the bodily shape of the elderly compared to the ready-to-wear considering the size alone, by examining the characteristics of bodice according to the physical change of the elderly women, analyzing the design of madam brand and the style of the ready-to-wear, researching the general circumstances of the brand for the elderly women, and highlighting the necessity of the elderly clothing market.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2001

Objectives : To gather information about the factors which influence the interest and intention of admission into charging nursing hones for the elderly(CNH), as these homes represent an important method for resolving the problems related to the rapid population aging occurring in Korea. Methods : A face-to-face interview survey was carried out with 320(men 159, women 165) patients over 60 years old who were admitted at 2 university hospitals and 5 general hospitals in the Busan area between December 1998 and March 1999. Data were analyzed through t-test, ANOVA, correlation and multiple regression analysis. Results : The mean age and years of education of the study population was 67.0 and 7.7 years, and the types of chronic degenerative disease included musculoskeletal disorders(20.1%), cerebrovascular disease(17.1%), and diabetes(14.3%). The major forms of household living arrangement prior to admission were elderly alone(22.6%), and elderly couple(33.5%), while about half of them(55.5%) didn't want to live with their children id the future. Almost half were paying medication fees by themselves(46.6%). The level of actual intention of admission$(3.07{\pm}1.39)$ into a CNH was lower than that of interest$(3.22{\pm}1.33)$(p<0.01). Multiple analysis revealed that the intention of admission increased with decreasing number of future supportive persons$(\beta=-0.107)$, lower level of activity in daily life$(\beta=-0.447)$, and longer years of education$(\beta=-0.447)$ with 32.7% of $R^2$. As for the factors which determined the admission into a CNH, the fee and facilities were considered to be most important, and professional nursing and physician's care were the most desired services. In nomenclature, they preferred 'elderly hospital' or 'elderly health center' to CNH. Conclusions : Interest in CNH is increasing recently, but existing studies about patient experiences in CHN are still limited. This study may form a basis for future examinations of the needs and uses for CNH. Active financial support and public information are considered by the authors to be important factors for the induction of welfare services for the elderly, though CNH.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.824-835
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• 2009

Objectives : The purpose of this study was identified about oral health status and oral health needs of elderly. Moreover this study would be based further research of development of oral health in elderly. Methods : This study was undertaken to determine the oral health status and the need of oral management of over 65years elderly who were with dental prosthesis in elderly welfare center and Kyung Ro Dong in Kyung Bok and Kyung Nam. The results were as follows. Results : The sample was 200 participants. The demographical characteristic were that 74.0% of participant was female, 29.0% of participant was 75~79 years old, 42.5% of participant was under elementary, and 45.5% of participant was living alone. 43.7% of participant was pain from muscle-skeletal disease, 37.1% of participant was cardiac-vascular disease, and 31.1% of participant was ophthalmic disease. In oral health status, 54.5% of participant was partly artificial tooth and 45% of participant was whole artificial tooth. 78.0% of participant used under 10 years with partly artificial tooth and only 27.4% were satisfaction with artificial tooth. 83.5% of participant used under 10 years with whole artificial tooth and only 26.4% were satisfaction with artificial tooth. In the oral health status of partly artificial tooth, the average of toothbrush was 2 times, 42.2%. The majority method of toothbrush was 'their own freely' 55.0%. The time of toothbrush was 'after meal' 81.8%. The study result showed that majority participant didn't experience of tongue brush, regular examination, scaling, and oral health education. In the need of oral management with the whole artificial tooth, the participant who used longer artificial tooth was significantly higher about artificial irrigation and the method of management(p<.05). The need of participant who answered 'don't gum massage', was higher of xerostomia treatment(p<.01) and halitosis treatment(p<.05). In the need of oral management with the partly artificial tooth, the participant who used longer artificial tooth was significantly higher about regular examination(p<.01), oral cavity massage(p<.05), scaling(p<.05), dental caries treatment(p<.01). The need of participant who answered 'don't satisfaction with artificial tooth' was higher of regular examination and scaling(p<.05). Conclusions : Oral management needs of elderly who kept artificial tooth or denture required were regular dental examination, xerostomia management, management of artificial tooth and irrigation, and management of bad breath. This results meaned the oral health intervention program for elderly was developed regularly.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 2024

Objectives: The demand for dental care is expected to increase as the population ages. This study aimed to predict the utilization of dental implant care following the expansion of national health insurance benefits for dental implants. Methods: Multiple linear regression analysis was performed on HIRA big data open portal data and DNN-based artificial intelligence models to forecast the utilization of dental care in relation to the national health insurance coverage for dental implants. Results: National health insurance coverage of dental implants was found to be associated with the number of patients using dental implant services and demonstrated a statistical significance. The dental implant services utilization increased with the increased dental implant health insurance benefits for the elderly population, increased mean by region, increased number of dental institutions by region, and increased health insurance coverage rate for dental implants. However, the dental implant services utilization decreased with the increased number of older people living alone and increased size of dental institutions. Conclusions: With the expansion of the national health insurance coverage for dental implants, it is predicted that the utilization of dental implant medical services will increase in the future.

• 한국노년학
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.195-209
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• 2011

This study examined the prevalence of and factors associated with unmet care need among community-dwelling middle-aged and older people in Korea. Data were from the 2006 Korean Longitudinal Study on Ageing (KLoSA), a national survey of 10,254 non-institutionalized adults aged 45 or older. Having unmet care needs was defined as needing personal assistance with activities of daily living (ADL) or instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) but having no available helper. Weighted logistic regressions were fitted to examine factors associated with unmet care needs. Overall, 7.3%, 14.5%, and 41.8% of subjects among the middle-aged, younger old, and older old, respectively, reported care needs of these, 34%, 33%,and 24% had unmet needs. Factors associated with unmet needs differed among the three groups: Education and income level were negatively associated with unmet needs among the middle-aged, but living alone was the only factor positively associated with unmet needs in both the younger and older old. The prevalence of and factors associated with unmet care needs differ by life-stage. Needed are home- and community-based care and services to meet the need for personal assistance among the elderly living alone in a community.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.401-406
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• 2008

Fall event detection is one of the most common problems for elderly people, especially those living alone because falls result in serious injuries such as joint dislocations, fractures, severe head injuries or even death. In order to prevent falls or fall-related injuries, several previous methods based on video sensor showed low fall detection rates in recent years. To improve this problem and outperform the system performance, this paper presented a novel approach for fall event detection in the elderly using a subtraction between successive difference images and temporal templates in real time environment. The proposed algorithm obtained the successful detection rate of 96.43% and the low false positive rate of 3.125% even though the low-quality video sequences are obtained by a USB PC camera sensor. The experimental results have shown very promising performance in terms of high detection rate and low false positive rate.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.274-284
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to collect basic data for 'the development of welfare service customized for the elderly' and furthermore provide policy suggestions for enhance welfare services for them in communities, and therefore, understanding local seniors' entire life conditions and needs for welfare service, who live in Masanhoiwon-gu, Changwon-si. To this end, this study would attempt to examine their life conditions and needs for welfare, 600 senior citizens aged 60 or order in Masanheowon-gu, Changwon-si. The findings show that the community has had several difficulties such as increase of the elderly living alone and their poor economic status, chronic illness and lack of volunteer work. Based on them, this study proposed a policy agenda for municipalities to resolve the welfare needs of the elderly.