• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.49-56
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• 2015

The present study investigated the risk and prevalence of dysphagia as well as related factors among free-living elders. Subjects were 419 elderly men (116) and women (303) aged 65 years and older ($74.49{\pm}4.70y$) living in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do and Chungcheongbuk-do area in Korea. Data were collected by personal interviews using questionnaires and analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, and chi-square test. Prevalence of dysphagia was 53.50% among participants. Risk of dysphagia was significantly different according to age (P<0.001), use of dentures (P<0.05), and activities of daily living (P<0.05). Moreover, dysphagia risk group had significant food intake problems, including poor appetite, smaller portions to reach satiety, frequent meal skipping, as well as poor taste compared to the normal group, accompanied by high risk of weight loss as assessed by simplified nutritional appetite questionnaire (P<0.01). Taken together, risk of dysphagia was more prevalent in older people, affecting the majority of those living independently in the community. This could indicate an association with undernutrition due to factors affecting food intake.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.181-189
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• 2019

Background: Edentulism is associated with socioeconomic status, rural residence, and chronic disease, but no studies have investigated edentulism and residence factors together. All information that drives a better understanding of the factors related to edentulism plays an important role in the planning and delivery of appropriate dental services for the elderly by national and oral health professionals. This study was designed to investigate the prevalence of edentulism in adults aged over 60 years in Korea and to examine whether there are differences in dentate status between people living in urban and rural areas after controlling for sociodemographic and other related factors. Methods: The data for this study were collected from 2013 to 2015 as part of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey VI, those individuals aged over 60 years and who had complete datasets were included (5,071). The number of teeth and residence status were categorized into two groups: edentate and dentate (1 or more); urban and rural. Multiple multivariate logistic regression analyses were sequentially applied to assess the association between dentate status and residence status after adjusting for potential confounders. Results: Rural areas, lower household income, and lower education levels were associated with a higher edentate rate. The number of teeth was lower in rural areas than in urban areas. After adjusting for various factors, statistically significant associations were present for women, low household income, low education level, poor perceived health status, and alcohol consumption in participants. Conclusion: Elders living in rural areas had poorer oral health than elders living in urban areas. The government will need to provide effective systems for promoting oral health for elders living in rural areas.

• The Korean journal of sports medicine
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.189-196
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the difference of body mass index (BMI) to smart phone proficiency in men and women over the age of 60. Methods: Patients were divided into three groups with high (n=33), average (n=34), and low (n=33) smart phone proficiency. Fitness characteristics related to smart phone usage were evaluated by measuring cardiorespiratory endurance, grip strength, eye-hand coordination. As well, smart phone proficiency was evaluated by a self-reported questionnaire and a smart phone usability task that was composed of two categories: usage of the smartphone device itself and usage of phone applications. The differences in BMI of the subjects was analyzed by analysis of covariance adjusting for independent variables including age, smartphone usage period, eye-hand coordination, education and income. Results: There was a significant difference in BMI among the three groups after adjustment of age, eye-hand coordination, smartphone usage period, education and income. The results showed that the self-reported questionnaire showed a significant difference in BMI between high proficiency and low proficiency groups (high $24.88{\pm}2.46$, low $23.37{\pm}2.56$; p=0.037). Smart phone usability test results also showed a significant difference in BMI among the three groups (high $25.18{\pm}2.58$, low $23.15{\pm}2.6$; p=0.000 and high $25.18{\pm}2.58$, middle $23.57.7{\pm}1.69$; p=0.010). Conclusion: Our results suggest that high smart phone proficiency shows increased BMI in the elderly. This study suggests that people over the age of 60 who have high smartphone proficiency should be cautious of an increased BMI score.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2021

This review describes the risk factors of the nutrition crisis in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections and suggests precision nutrition against long-term psychological and physiological stress. The mandatory quarantine and the social distancing are associated with an interruption of the lifestyle routine, resulting in psychological (i.e., boredom) and physiological stress. The stress with multiple causes and forms induces over-compensation of energy-dense food, such as sugary comfort food, and is defined as "food craving" because carbohydrates positively affect the psychological stability with serotonin secretion. The consumption of foods that promote an immune response against viral infections (vitamins & minerals; Cu, folate, Fe, Se, Zn, and Vit A, B6, B12, C, and D), reduce inflammatory cytokines (w-3 fatty acids, Vit D, fibers, and Mg), contain antioxidants (beta-carotene, Vit E, C, Se, and phenolics), and sleep-inducing proteins (serotonin, melatonin, and milk products) is essential. In addition, a reduced Vit D deficiency in winter due to less time spent outdoors under quarantine has been reported to be associated with viral infections. The case fatality rate of COVID-19 was significantly dependent on age, sex, race, and underlying health condition. To prevent malnutrition and cachexia in elderly people, weight loss and muscle wasting should be monitored and controlled. Inadequate protein intake, sedentary lifestyle, and inflammation are significant risk factors for sarcopenia. Moreover, relatively high intakes of fat or carbohydrate compared to low protein intake result in abdominal obesity, which is defined as "sarcopenic obesity." Keeping the food-safety guidelines of COVID-19, this study recommends the consumption of fresh and healthy foods and avoiding sugar, fat, salt, alcohol, and commercially frozen foods.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2021

Objective : The purpose of this study is to analyze Korean patients' characteristics, who were concurrently treated with both Korean herbal medicines and Western chemical medicines using nation-wide database. Method : Using the patients sample data (HIRA-NPS 2018) provided by Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, a group of patients who co-administered Korean herbal and Western medicines was selected, and their basic characteristics, diagnosis, and prescribed chemical medicines were analyzed. Results : Out of the 1,481,921 sample population, 17,629 patients (1.2%) were selected as a concurrent medication group. Compared to the whole sample, the concurrent medication group was composed of more women (65.8% vs. 51.1%), the more elderly people (65 or older years old) (44.5% vs. 14.6%), and the higher prevalence of chronic diseases (49.1% vs. 22.2%). The most frequent diagnosis treated with Western medicines was mental and behavioral disorders, musculoskeletal and circulatory disorders. Frequently used drugs among concurrent medication group were anti-anxiety drugs, gastric ulcer treatment drugs, and senile diseases treatment drugs. Conclusion : The evidence reported in this study is expected to provide herb-drug interaction researchers with important reference to set the priorities of research topics in the future.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.513-520
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to examine elderly people's oral health behaviors and education needs. The subjects in this study were 195 senior citizens who were users of senior cultural centers and senior welfare agencies in Seoul and Incheon. After a survey was conducted, the collected data were analyzed by the statistical package SPSSWIN 19.0. The findings of the study were as follows: 1. Gender, academic credential and monthly mean income were identified as the general characteristics to impact on their oral health attitude. 2. The senior citizens who ever received oral health education had a better knowledge(p<0.05) and took a better attitude(p<0.01). 3. As for a time for toothbrushing, many brushed their teeth after breakfast(74.9%) and dinner(71.8%). Utilized Oral hygiene devices were interdental brushes(21.5%), dental floss(13.8%). As many as 62.5% felt they had a dry mouth, and the most prevalent way for them to cope with it was drinking water often(68.2%). 79.5% didn't get their teeth cleaned on a regular scaling. 4. The rate of regular scaling was higher in the elderly groups that ever received oral health education and whose knowledge scores was above the average(p<0.05). 5. In relation to the necessity of oral health education, 87.2% felt the need for that, and as many as 79.0% intended to receive that education. Their favorite period of education was 6months(41.0%), and the greatest group hoped to receive that education for an hour(55.4%). The largest group wanted to learn about prevention of oral diseases, followed by toothbrushing, denture management, dry mouth. Given the findings of the study, senior welfare centers and senior cultural centers should offer oral health education programs as part of lifelong education to provide systematic and prolonged education for the elderly to improve their oral health care to promote their oral health.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.84-92
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• 2010

Objectives: To investigate the patterns of unintentional home injuries in Korea. Methods: The study population was 12,382,088 people who utilized National Health Insurance services due to injuries (main diagnosis codes S00 to T28) during 2006. Stratified samples(n=459,501) were randomly selected by sex, age group and severity of injury. A questionnaire was developed based on the International Classification of External Causes of Injury and 18,000 cases surveyed by telephone were analyzed after being projected into population proportionately according to the response rates of their strata. Domestic injury cases were finally included. Results: Domestic injuries (n=3,804) comprised 21.1% of total daily life injuries during 2006. Women were vulnerable to home injuries, with the elderly and those of lower income (medical-aid users) tending to suffer more severe injuries. Injury occurred most often due to a slipping fall (33.9%), overexertion (15.3%), falling (9.5%) and stumbling (9.4%), with severe injury most often resulting from slipping falls, falls and stumbles. Increasing age correlated with domestic injury-related disability. Conclusions: The present findings provide basic information for development of home injury prevention strategies, with focus on the elderly.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.30 no.1 s.56
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• pp.31-43
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• 1997

Obesity usually is defined as the presence of and abnormally amount of adipose tissue. In many epidemiologic study, obesity as a health risk factor has been estimated by Body Mass Index(BMI) in general. This study was conducted to review of body fat percent measured by Bioelectric impedance analyzer as a estimator of obesity in a rural adult population. The study subjects were 421 men and 664 women who reside in the area on the Juam lake. They were sampled by multistage cluster sampling. Their mean age was 59 years old. Body fat percent increased with age, but BMI decreased with age in this study. Body fat percent was more larger at female and elder on the same BMI. The correlation coefficient between with body fat percent and body mass index was low (r=0.4737). Body fat percent was explained by not only BMI but also sex and age $(r^2=0.63)$. The result suggested that it is inadequate for BMI only to estimate obesity about elderly person who reside in the rural community. The relation of body fat percent and body mass index of this study agreed with the preceding know-ledges and studies in general.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.197-210
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• 1999

Muscle stiffness, pain and discomfort in dally activities are cardinal symtoms on arthritis. To reduce these symtoms, a nonequivalent one-group pre & posttest experiment was carried out at a rural community health post area in Chonbuk province during eight weeks (from 25th of January to 20th of March, 1999). The subjects were sixteen rural old women(65-89yrs) with osteoarthritis. And to reduce the level of pain, discomfort in daily living and to increase that of life satisfaction, 30 minutes of flexibility exercise followed by $15{\sim}20\;minutes$ of local heat therapy were done three times a week. Pain scale from Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales developed by Meenan(1980) for pain, Jette's Daily Activity Discomfort Scales revised by Lee(1988) for discomfort and Life Satisfaction Scales developed by Youn(1982) for life satisfaction were used as research instruments. The data were collected by face-to-face interviews with Investigator and the experiments were done under demonstration and supervision of investigator in community health post. The data were analyzed in percentage and Wilcoxon sign rank sum test by SPSS/PC+ program. The result could be summarized as follows ; 1. The scores of experiment group who were applied hot bag followed by flexibility exercise were tended to be significant lower in the level of pain statistically(Z=4.949, P=0.0001). 2. The scores of experiment group who was applied hot bag followed by flexibility exercise were tended to be significant lower in the level of discomfort in daily living statistically(Z=2.7226, P=0.0279). 3. The scores of experiment group who was applied hot bag followed by flexibility exercise were tended to be higher in the level of life satisfaction, but there was no significant statistical difference(Z=-1.2087, P=0.2171). In conclusion, flexibility exercise with local heat therapy could be identified as an effective therapy to reduce pain and discomfort in daily living of the rural elderly with osteoarthritis. And as a community health practitioner, the investigator concluded that this exercise with local heat therapy could be developed as a health promotion program for the rural aged people.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.353-357
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• 2005

Declining auditory performance with advanced age is a well known and common problem that is becoming more Prevalent due to the increasing number of elderly people in our society. We introduce a novel ARCISM (Audiogram Result Computer Input. Save & Management software) data management program which enables the assessment of the risk of past history of hearing impairment on the basis of known risk factors. This study investigates the reference levels of pure tone hearing threshold of normal aging in Korean and the difference between fenders. The subjects were carefully selected by questionnaire and absence of any history of otologic infection, noise exposure. and ototoxic drug among 1603 subjects. who visited Health Promotion Center in Daegu Fatima Hospital for one year. The results show (1) hearing sensitivity declines with age. (2) higher frequency shows steeper slope of hearing declines than lower frequency. and (3) there were more hearing loss at 4 and 8 kHz in men than in women. Due to the ARCISM program. it was possible to manage huge data of hearing results and to obtain the reference level of a9e-related hearing declines. Furthermore, we expect that the results of this study can be the fundamental data for hearing rehabilitation for the elderly and for developing suitable hearing aids for Korean.