• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.46 no.3
• /
• pp.239-249
• /
• 2013

Subclinical vitamin $B_{12}$ deficiency is common in the elderly worldwide. We investigated the change of serum vitamin $B_{12}$ concentration with aging and compared anthropometric data and clinical health indicators between normal (${\geq}$ 340 pg/mL) and low (< 340 pg/mL) serum vitamin $B_{12}$ groups in 470 Korean women aged 65 years and over living in a rural area. Serum vitamin $B_{12}$ concentration showed inverse correlation with age (r = -0.0992, p < 0.05). The normal $B_{12}$ group showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher red blood cell count, hemoglobin, and hematocrit compared to the low $B_{12}$ group, however, no difference in mean corpuscular volume was observed between the two groups. The normal $B_{12}$ group showed significantly lower serum homocysteine concentration (p < 0.01) and prevalence of vitamin D (p < 0.01) or folate deficiency (p < 0.001). Bone mineral density (T-score) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the normal $B_{12}$ group, compared with that in the low $B_{12}$ group, and showed positive correlation (r = 0.1490, p < 0.01) with serum vitamin $B_{12}$ concentration after adjusting for age, body weight, and body mass index. No differences in anthropometric data, physical activity, and smoking and drinking habits were observed between the two groups. In conclusion, it could be suggested that older female adults with normal serum vitamin $B_{12}$ level would be less anemic and osteoporotic and more resistant to hyperhomocysteinemia associated chronic diseases than those with low serum vitamin $B_{12}$ level.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.401-415
• /
• 2014

To prepare for the changes in the future, this study considered people in their seventies and eighties in rural areas in the last decade. Based on a survey of rural life by the Rural Development Administration, all factors were analyzed using SAS ver. 9.3. The rate of rice farming decreased, and vegetable-cultivation increased from 8.4% in 2001 to and 26.6% in 2008 for people in their seventies and eighties. The number of family members decreased to 1.96 in 2010 from 2.04 in 2001, and annual income increased by KRW 20-29 million for those in their seventies and eighties, whereas it was more than KRW 30 million for those in their forties. Bathing with warm water increased to 88.9% from 69.8%, and household waste treated by self-incineration decreased from 86.4% to 40.0% in the last decade. Separate collection spread since 2008. Food waste disposal and the burial (46.0%) showed had for people in their seventies and eighties, and animal feed increased (50.7%) for those in their forties at 2001. The separate collection increased by 39.6% in 2010 for those in their seventies and eighties and by 53.5% for those in their forties(p<0.05). The manufacture of jang and kimchi showed were little annual changes for people in their seventies and eighties. Food storage processing was higher for those in their forties. For those in their seventies and eighties, food group intake over the 2004-2010 period increased from 3.3 times a week to 4.2 times a week for protein foods and from 4.9 times a week to 5.5 times a week for vegetables. There was no change in fruits, milk, and seaweeds for those in their seventies and eighties, but there was an increase for those in their forties. The results suggest the continued increase in the manufacture of jang and kimchi and protein and vegetable intake for those in their seventies and eighties. Some direction to welfare, mechanized rice planting and living with neighbors together would be continued with good nutrition for elderly residents.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.15-24
• /
• 1992

This study was conducted to follow the patient referral system operated from the primary health care facilities to the hospital in a rural area of Korea. The subject for this study was sampled from a community health development project carried out by the Korea University in Yeoju Kun, Kyonggi Province. The data of referred patients from primary health care facilities were collected during the period from January 1989 to December 1989. The data was sorted out by a computer system using Database package. The results of this study were summarized as follows: 1. Characteristics of the referred patients were: males $32.0\%$. and females $68.0\%$. The more elderly of the patients visited to the hospital after having been referred there by CHPs or public physicians, $25.9\%$ has been to hospital on at least one previous occasion as against $74.1\%$ for whom it was there first visit. 2. The majority of patients who were referred to a hospital where: medicine $44.3\%$ and orthopedics$16.4\%$, major diseases were : diseases of digestive system $(21.3\%)$ ; symptoms and ill defined conditions $(17.3\%)$ ; diseases of the muscular skeletal system and connective tissue$(14.2\%)$. chronic illness was $82.0\%$ and acute illlness was $18.0\%$. 3. From Community health practitioners more patients referred than the public physicians. Categoris of diseases of the referred patients were different between community health practitioners and public physicians. Due to the. respective differences between the medical restrictions put on the nursing staffs at the community health practitioners and public physicians. From this study it was recommended to define the reason of differences between ~he two groups in futher study. Study as to 1) why one group should be referring more for hospital treatment than the other. And 2) why the two agencies should be referring different diseases.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.14 no.6
• /
• pp.722-733
• /
• 2009

The purpose of this study was to explore dietary patterns and compare dietary patterns using cluster and factor analysis in Korean adults. This study analyzed data of 4,182 adult populations who aged 30 and more and had all of socio-demographic, anthropometric, and dietary data from 2005 Korean Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Socio-demographic data was assessed by questionnaire and dietary data from 24-hour recall method was used. For cluster analysis, the percent of energy intake from each food group was used and 4 patterns were identified: "traditional", "bread, fruit & vegetable, milk", "noodle & egg", and "meat, fish, alcohol". The "traditional" pattern group was more likely to be old, less educated, living in a rural area and had higher percentage of energy intake from carbohydrates than other pattern groups. "Meat, fish, alcohol" group was more likely to be male and higher percentage of energy intake from fat. For factor analysis, mean amount of each food group was used and also 4 patterns were identified; "traditional", "modified", "bread, fruit, milk", and "noodle, egg, mushroom". People who showed higher factor score of "traditional" pattern were more likely to be elderly, less educated, and living in a rural area and higher proportion of energy intake from carbohydrates. In conclusion, three dietary patterns defined by cluster and factor analysis separately were similar and all dietary patterns were affected by socio-demographic factors and nutrient profile.

• 한국노년학
• /
• v.41 no.1
• /
• pp.69-83
• /
• 2021

The purpose of this study is to identify the characteristics and factors of each area by considering the gender health of the elderly as the integration of mental, physical, emotional, and social gender health based on the WHO gender health. The sexual health of the elderly is significantly different by gender, academic background, and region, and there is a clear difference in mental, physical, emotional sexual health and social sexual health. The mental, physical and emotional sexual health of the elderly in urban areas, those with high education and male is high, but the elderly in the rural areas, those with low education, and female are high in social sexual health. The factors affecting sexual health are as follows. Mental sexual health was positively influenced by satisfaction of sexual life and sexual knowledge. Physical sexual health was positively influenced by life and spouse satisfaction, and emotional sexual health was positively influenced by sexual relationship, spouse satisfaction, sexual life satisfaction and sexual knowledge. Social sexual health has a negative (-) effect on spouse satisfaction and sexual relationships. Integrated sexual health in old age can affect subjective health and quality of life, leading to successful aging. Sexual health education is needed to form a safe and healthy sexual life and interpersonal relationship. The 'sex' that appears as a cumulative trajectory of life should be accompanied by the accurate sexual health awareness and sex education that encompasses all generations. Therefore, in the composition of sex health education program, it is necessary to reflect the components that can enhance the sensitivity of adulthood to strengthen understanding and communication of spouse.

• 재활복지
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.31-54
• /
• 2016

The purpose of this study is to explore the improvement method of the emergency safety system as a social protection scheme for the elderly living alone with severe disabilities. The study was conducted by randomly choosing three regions in the metropolitan area (Jongno-gu, Seoul), the small-medium city (Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do) and the rural area (Geochang-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do) among 17 cities and counties nationwide. The study method is based on the interview form of the structured questionnaires with city officials, county officials, and center operators. According to the results of the interview analysis, it was recognized that there was a need for an emergency safety system for the elderly living alone with severe disabilities. In spite of this necessity, there were problems about publicity for the discovery of victims of the blind spot in welfare, about inconvenience due to frequent malfunctions of the emergency equipment, about insufficient awareness of the security of the emergency officials and about supply and demand of manpower for 24-hour monitoring service. In order to improve the effective operation of the emergency safety system, it was the most urgent issue to formulate the legislation for responding to the crisis management of the vulnerable. A suggestion of this study is to build a safety system in which one-stop service is provided for the realization of compact welfare through the establishment of a MOU for linkage with community organizations, the full inspection of emergency equipment to solve safety equipment malfunction problems and the manpower supplement for 24-hour monitoring.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.52 no.5
• /
• 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.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
• /
• v.47 no.4
• /
• pp.229-241
• /
• 2022

Purpose: This study was attempted to identify the demographic characteristics, depression, and dietary quality of elderly patients with type 2 diabetes, and to identify the difference in food quality according to these variables. Methods: The subjects of the study were 216 elderly patients with type 2 diabetes over the age of 65 visiting elderly welfare centers and senior citizens' centers in G city and H districts. Data were collected from December 2020 to July 2021. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test and one-way ANOVA using IBM SPSS Statistics 21 program. Results: There were significant differences in dietary quality according to the subject's gender, education level, residential area, spouse or not, family living together or not, subject of meal preparation, calorie requirement recognition or not, exercise practice for diabetes management or not, and depression. Depression and Fasting Blood Sugar management were important influencing factors on dietary quality, and Residence and Gender were also verified as influencing factors. Conclusions: The results of this study can be provided as basic data to establish a program to improve the quality of meals for diabetic elderly patients.

• 한국노년학
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.759-776
• /
• 2012

This study analysed the income-related health inequality of the aged in Korea applied to EQ-5D. Two decompositions were used in analysis. One was the decomposition of income-related health inequality into six different dimensions of EQ-5D, and the other was to decompose it by sub-group such as sex, region, existence of spouse. The results are summarized as follows. First, the health concentration index(CI) of the aged was .0254, which meant that there were pro-rich inequality in elderly people's health levels. The same patterns were also seen in the analysis of different dimensions of EQ-5D such as mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression. Second, mobility accounted for 35.8% of total EQ-5D score, most contributing to CI of the dimensions of EQ-5D. The CIs by the dimensions ranged from .0091 for mobility to .0013 for self-care. Third, The decompositions by sub-groups showed that the contributions of sex, region, and existence of spouse to health inequality was similar to each other, all of three sub-groups accounted for 10 % of inequality respectively. Fourth, the inequality within group was higher in female group, rural area, and the aged without spouse. The average health level of these groups was lower than that of the other ones, too. These facts indicated that old women, the aged without spouse, and the elderly in rural area were the most vulnerable groups in health problems. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to health problems of these groups in the policy making of health security and social welfare services.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.127-139
• /
• 2007

This research was peformed to investigate the anthropometric data, blood profiles, and nutrient intakes of elderly persons living in a rural area. The subjects were 67 undernourished people who participated in follow-up nutrition intervention programs for9 weeks. Anthropometric data showed that the mean heights and weights in the management group were 157.6 cm and 59.1 kg, respectively, for the males and 152.6 cm and 51.0 kg, respectively, for the females. The mean BMIs of the management group were 23.8 kg/m$^2$ in the males and 22.4 kg/m$^2$ in the females. The total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, and albumin levels of the subjects were 181.7-191.4mg/dL, 48.3-53.0mg/dL, and 3.85-4.00g/dL, respectively. Energy, ash, P, Na, vitamin B$_1$, vitamin B$_2$, vitamin B$_6$, and niacin increased significantly after intervention for the management group. The mINQ, however, did not significantly increase after intervention. Also after intervention, there was no significant difference in mINQ between the management group and the comparison group. MAR (14) in the management group was significantly increased from 0.62${\pm}$0.2 before intervention to 0.68${\pm}$0.2 after intervention (p=0.022), and it was significantly different between the management group and the comparison group (p=0.017). MAR (8) in the management group was not significantly different (p=0.915) before and after intervention. However, MAR (8) between the management group and the comparison group did show a significant difference (p=0.031). MAR (3) in the management group was significantly increased from 0.48${\pm}$0.2 before intervention to 0.55${\pm}$0.2 after intervention (p=0.045), however, MAR (3) was not significantly different between the management group and the comparison group (p=0.093). For the probability of nutrient insufficiency, in the management group the probability of nutrient values below the EAR (except for Fe) decreased after intervention compared to before intervention. On the other hand, the probabilities of values above the RI, or EAR${\sim}$RI, were increased