• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.30-38
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• 2024

Background: Although Korea ranks first in the suicide rate of elderly individuals, there is limited research on those who attempt suicide, with preventive measures largely based on population-based studies. We compared the demographic and clinical characteristics of elderly individuals who attempted suicide with those of younger adults who visited the emergency department after suicide attempts and identified the factors associated with lethality in the former group. Methods: Individuals who visited the emergency department after a suicide attempt from April 1, 2017, to January 31, 2020, were included. Participants were classified into two groups according to age (elderly, ≥65 years; adult, 18-64 years). Among the 779 adult patients, 123 were elderly. We conducted a chi-square test to compare the demographic and clinical features between these groups and a logistic regression analysis to identify the risk factors for lethality in the elderly group. Results: Most elderly participants were men, with no prior psychiatric history or suicide attempts, and had a higher prevalence of underlying medical conditions and attributed their attempts to physical illnesses. Being sober and planning suicide occurred more frequently in this group. In the elderly group, factors that increased the mortality rate were biological male sex (p<0.05), being accompanied by family members (p<0.05), and poisoning as a suicide method (p<0.01). Conclusion: Suicide attempts in elderly individuals have different characteristics from those in younger adults and are associated with physical illness. Suicides in the former group are unpredictable, deliberate, and fatal. Therefore, tailored prevention and intervention strategies addressing the characteristics of those who are elderly and attempt suicide are required.

• Journal of Korea Society of Digital Industry and Information Management
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.69-81
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• 2010

Physical manifestations of aging due to the lack of exercise include the slowing down of motor learning, cardiopulmonary degradation, and the increasing difficulty to adapt to the environment. Aging is manifested with the lack of aerobic exercise work, decrease in muscular endurance, decline in skeletal and muscular strength, flexibility and agility, and the decrease in reaction speed and balance. Added to those are aging-related physiological changes, including the reduction of muscle bulk, increased body fat, decrease in total body water and basic metabolic rate as activities are reduced, and a decrease in cell and Lean Body Mass (LBM). These changes are known to cause problems. Interest and participation in appropriate physical activities among the elderly is needed to help them increase stamina, avoid diseases, maintain a clear intellect, and basically enable the elderly to live their daily lives as easy as possible. Therefore, physical activities are necessary for the elderly to enhance health-related factors. Special exercises should be performed for the enhancement of muscle function, muscle endurance, flexibility, agility, and balance. An accurate measurement of cardio-respiratory endurance and stamina through basic physical and cognitive characteristics of older adults is also required to ensure safety. Also, the development of a more scientific resistance exercise prescription system for the elderly is desperately needed.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.253-262
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• 2024

Objectives: This study aimed to identify the factors influencing the relationship between diabetes and oral health in Korean adults. Methods: We analyzed 5,319 adults who were included in the 9th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The data were analyzed for demographic characteristics, daily health care, and oral health care according to diabetic conditions using a complex sample analysis. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the factors influencing the oral health of patients with diabetes. Results: The factors influencing the oral health of patients with diabetes varied according to life cycle. In late middle-aged adults, statistically significant differences were observed in sex (p<0.001), educational level (p=0.030), economic activity (p=0.018), aerobic exercise (p=0.034), smoking (p=0.004), periodontal therapy (p=0.011), and prosthesis production/repair (p=0.025). In younger elderly individuals, statistically significant differences were found in terms of whether they lived together (p=0.027) and educational level (p=0.032). Conversely, no statistically significant differences were observed in the older elderly group. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that the level of oral health of patients with diabetes is already determined in middle and old age; therefore, a system should be prepared to ensure that health care can be systematically performed in late middle-aged adults.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.425-432
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• 2003

Purpose: To examine the relationships among loneliness, social support, and family function in elderly Korean. Method: The sample for this study were 290 elderly Korean who were at least 60 years of age. Data were collected by interview using the translated Korean versions of the Revised University of California Los Angels Loneliness Scale(RULS), Family APGAR, and Social Support Questionnaire 6. Result: Subjects were moderately lonely and had moderately functional families. Means for social support were 1.42 for network size and 4.09 for satisfaction. Subjects who lived with their spouses had a larger number of network members than who did not live with spouses. However, living with spouses was not associated with social support satisfaction. The level of loneliness was related negatively to the level of social support network, social support satisfaction and family function in this study. Social support satisfaction and Family function were the significant predictor of loneliness. Conclusion: The number of social supporter and satisfaction and family function should be considered in nursing intervention to decrease the level of loneliness in older adults. Further studies and efforts will be needed to reduce the level of loneliness in older adults.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.21-30
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• 2010

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of chronic musculoskeletal pain and depression on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) according to gender in community-dwelling older adults. Methods: The subjects of this study were 209 elderly individuals who were receiving visiting nursing services from a public health center located in Gangwon-do. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from March to April, 2008. SPSS/WIN 13.0 was used for data analysis. Results: Depression and HRQoL showed a significant difference between male and female subjects. There was a negative correlation between chronic musculoskeletal pain, depression, and HRQoL. In the male elderly, depression was the most significant predictor of HRQoL, while in the female elderly, chronic musculoskeletal pain was the most significant predictor of HRQoL. Conclusion: The study showed that chronic musculoskeletal pain was the variable with the highest explanatory power for HRQoL in the female elderly. Therefore, chronic musculoskeletal pain needs to be assessed and managed first in nursing interventions to improve HRQoL of the female elderly.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.781-790
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• 2004

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a model of an elderly health promotion center after witnessing the effect of a social support program on dependent variables in older adults at a local community health center. Method: The subjects were 60 female adults over 65 years dwelling in a rural area, and they were divided into experimental and control groups each with 30 people. A social support program was implemented 6 hours a day, 3 times a week, for 4 months in the experimental group. Included was health assessment, health education, counseling, consultation, exercise, physical & occupational therapy, primary care, recreation, lunch & transfer service. Data was collected from May 1stto September 14th, 2002 by questionnaires, and analyzed by $x^2$-test, t-test, Pearson's correlation coefficient and stepwise multiple regression using SAS. Result: The social support program in the elderly was very effective on all dependent variables of physical health (t=4.68, p=.001), health knowledge (t=3.60, p=.001), life satisfaction (t=8.65, p=.001), and health promoting behaviors (t=5.23, p=.001). Conclusion: The Social Support Program at a Community Health Center was effective on health promoting behaviors in the elderly.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.141-148
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to investigate the health behavior performance between the young adults and the elderly with hypertension. The research data were analyzed using 2018 Korea Medical Panel data. The subjects of this study were 3,117 persons without disabilities or activity disorders among those diagnosed with hypertension. As a result of the study, first, it was found that the medical utilization rate and drug adherence were high overall. Second, the average body mass index(BMI) and obesity over 25 kg/m2 were found to be higher among the young adults. Third, smoking and drinking were higher in young adults in terms of experience and smoking and alcohol consumption. Fifth, the subjective health status was found to be perceived more positively by the young adults. Based on the results of this study, it is necessary to raise awareness of the need for customized health care from a young age and to develop sustainable and effective programs.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.619-625
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• 2013

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of muscle fatigue on knee joint position sense in the young, elderly adults, and stroke patients. METHODS: The subjects were recruited into three groups; young group(YG)(N=15), elderly group(EG)(N=15), and stroke group(SG)(N=15). Exercise-induced fatigue was achieved by repeated active exercise 60 times on an angle at 10 to 100 degrees of the knee joint with an angle speed of $120^{\circ}/s$, with three sets for 15 minutes. Evaluation was performed for determination of repositioning error using passive angle repositioning (PAR) and active angle repositioning (AAR). RESULT: Regarding the error score for the knee joint position sense in both the baseline and muscle fatigue, significant increases were observed between the YG and EG (p<.05), and between the EG and SG (p<.01), and between YG and SG (p<.05) in the PAR, YG and SG (p<.05) in the AAR. CONCLUSION: In particular, the results of this study indicate that management and intervention for elderly adults and stroke patients can result in improvement of proprioception.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.493-499
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• 2007

Purpose: This study focused on identifying health promotion behavior of older adults, and factors affecting this behavior. Method: The participants in this survey analysis were Koreans aged 65 or over who had the ability to communicate and could do cognitive thinking, and who consented to participate in the survey. The survey questionnaire included items on demographic characteristics, level of depression, social support, activities of daily living, self-efficacy, and health promotion behavior. Data were analyzed using the SPSS Windows 14.0 program. Results: There were significant differences in health promotion behavior according to religion, economy and health status. Levels of depression, social support and self-efficacy had strong correlations with health promotion behavior. The factors that had the greatest effect on health promotion behavior were social support and self-efficacy. Conclusion: As social support and self-efficacy have been found to affect health promotion behavior in older adults, programs developed to enhance health of older adults should include activities to enhance both social support and self-efficacy.

• Proceedings of the ESK Conference
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• 1995.10a
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• pp.141-155
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• 1995

To understand kinetic characteristics during the process of initation of gait from standing, from the visual cue to toe off of the stance limb, vertical ground reaction forces(GRF) and center of pressure(COP) during gait initation period were evaluate with two force platforms placed side by side in thirty two adults(young 16, elderly 16, each mean age 27.79 and 51.70 years) with no history of 7 neuromusculo-skeletal abnormality. Gaint initation period of swing and stance limbs, percentage of gait initiation period and ratio of the vertical forces to body weight at each peak of the vertical forces of both limbs, and also movement of net COP were measured and described. 2 groups, one of 16 young adults and another of 16 elderly adults, were compared statistically. These data showed the increase of initiation of gait period and the decrease of movement of net COP, nd also can now be used as a part of database when initation of gait in subjects with neuromusculoskeletal abnormalities need to be evaluated.