• 한국노년학
• /
• v.39 no.2
• /
• pp.389-404
• /
• 2019

The present study aims to examine the relationship between self-reported sensory impairment and cognitive function among older adults in Korea. Drawn from the 2017 Survey of Living Conditions and Welfare Needs Korean Older Persons, a total of 10,082 adults aged 65 and over were included in analyses. Results from hierarchial multiple regression analysis show that those who reported greater subjective discomfort about vision, hearing, and oral function were more likely to have poor cognitive function. Results from hierarchial logistic regression analysis show. Results from logistic regression analysis show that having hearing and oral discomfort increased the a risk for dementia. Findings suggest that it is necessary to manage sensory function of the elderly at the government level and to develop self-evaluation tools to monitor changes in sensory function for older adults. Future research should target finding effective ways to improve health of older adults.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.315-323
• /
• 2018

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Available data suggest that seasonal changes may influence the nutritional status and overall health of elderly individuals. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the effects of seasonal changes and related factors on energy and nutrient intake of older adults. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Individuals aged 65 years or over were prospectively enrolled in this single-center study (male: 11, female: 20). Data were collected between May 2013 and February 2014 during winter, spring, summer and autumn. Food consumption and biochemical parameters were taken during each season to assess the seasonal nutrition status of the elderly. Upon analysis of biochemical parameters (retinol, vitamin D and vitamin C), an high-performance liquid chromatography device was utilized whereas an Immulite 2000 device was utilized during analysis of serum folic acid and parathyroid hormone. RESULTS: Fruit, fat, egg and bread consumption varied seasonally in males and females (P < 0.05). During winter, daily energy intake was found to be greater than in other seasons in males (557 kcal) and females (330 kcal) (P < 0.05). Additionally, carbohydrates, vegetable protein, n-3 fatty acid and sodium intake increased in winter, while the n-6/n-3 ratio increased in summer among males (P < 0.05). Dietary fiber and sodium intake in winter, vitamin C, iron and zinc intake in spring, and cholesterol, retinol, vitamin D and niacin intake in autumn were found to be higher in females when compared to other seasons (P < 0.05). Serum parathyroid hormone level was higher in winter, and vitamin D level was higher in autumn in both genders (P < 0.05). In males, blood folic acid level was higher in winter, while vitamin C level was higher in females, and there was no seasonal variation in retinol concentration (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Food consumption and biochemical parameters showed significant seasonal variations in older adults. It is not clear if nutrition plans in older adults will benefit from consideration of seasonal changes in eating habits.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.384-394
• /
• 2002

This study was conducted to evaluate the process & outcome of a Health promotion program(Growing Younger & More Active) for the community resident older adults from March to December, 2001. Method: A quasi experimental research(one group pretest-posttest design) was used in this study. The subjects were 82 older adults(but 40 older adults 4 weeks after the program). Program had 5 sessions(10 hours) once a week. Data were collected before the program, immediately after & 4 weeks after the program and were analyzed with paired t-test. Result: The levels of Satisfaction, Interest & Understanding of the Program were high. Significant differences were found in health knowledge, health promoting behaviors, perceived health status and life satisfaction between before program and immediately after program as well as between before program and 4 weeks after program, but no significant differences in Health attitude. Self efficacy has significant difference only between before program and immediately after program , but no significant differences between before program and 4 weeks after the program. Conclusion: This results suggest that a Health promotion program for the community resident older adults developed this study is effective. So this program can be recommended as an effective nursing intervention for the health promotion of the older adults living in community.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.44 no.6
• /
• pp.384-391
• /
• 2023

Among the elderly, fatal injuries and deaths are significantly attributed to falls. Therefore, a pre-impact fall detection system is necessary for injury prevention. In this study, a robust threshold-based algorithm was proposed for pre-impact fall detection, reducing false positives in highly dynamic daily-living movements. The algorithm was validated using public datasets (KFall and FARSEEING) that include the real-world elderly fall. A 6-axis IMU sensor (Movella Dot, Movella, Netherlands) was attached to S2 of 20 healthy adults (aged 22.0±1.9years, height 164.9±5.9cm, weight 61.4±17.1kg) to measure 14 activities of daily living and 11 fall movements at a sampling frequency of 60Hz. A 5Hz low-pass filter was applied to the IMU data to remove high-frequency noise. Sum vector magnitude of acceleration and angular velocity, roll, pitch, and vertical velocity were extracted as feature vector. The proposed algorithm showed an accuracy 98.3%, a sensitivity 100%, a specificity 97.0%, and an average lead-time 311±99ms with our experimental data. When evaluated using the KFall public dataset, an accuracy in adult data improved to 99.5% compared to recent studies, and for the elderly data, a specificity of 100% was achieved. When evaluated using FARSEEING real-world elderly fall data without separate segmentation, it showed a sensitivity of 71.4% (5/7).

• 한국노년학
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.243-259
• /
• 2018

The purpose of this study is to investigate the moderating effect of home-based welfare facilities for older adults on the associations between the activities of daily living (ADL) / instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) and the depressive symptoms among Koreans in later life. Multilevel analysis was conducted with Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging 5th data and the public report about welfare facilities from Ministry of Health and Welfare in Korea. Samples were 4,139 older adults over 65 years old. The dependent variable was depressive symptoms, and individual level independent variables were ADL and IADL. The ratio of home-based welfare facilities out of 10,000 older adults in each city and province was the moderator. As a result, the effects of ADL on depressive symptoms vary according to the proportion of elderly welfare facilities out of the old population in the community. In specific, the older adults who live in the place where the elderly welfare facility rate was higher were less affected by ADL. Also, the more IADL people had, the more depressive symptoms they had. However, the interaction effect between IADL and the proportion of home-based welfare facilities was not significant. It suggests that delivering welfare services helping ADL through the home-based welfare facilities may be useful for decreasing depressive symptoms. Moreover, considering the proportion of facilities and older population will be helpful to make the welfare facilities efficiently work.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.15-23
• /
• 2024

This study investigates the effects of depression and self-esteem on elderly mental health, quality of life, and life satisfaction, considering South Korea's transition to a super-aged society by 2025. The research aims to propose integrated strategies for effective management of these factors. The findings reveal that depression and self-esteem significantly impact elderly mental health, quality of life, and life satisfaction. Increased depression is associated with decreased quality of life and life satisfaction, while higher self-esteem is linked to reduced depression. Additionally, a reduction in social relationships is found to exacerbate depression and diminish self-esteem. To enhance the quality of life and life satisfaction for the elderly, it is crucial to manage depression and self-esteem systematically and continuously. Thus, an integrated, nationwide approach is needed for effective management.

• Architectural research
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.129-136
• /
• 2016

People have experienced physical problems including vision problems with aging; some are normal and some are abnormal. When they have abnormal and impaired vision, they have a lower level of life satisfaction than their sighted peers. For the elderly with sight loss, well-designed housing could be an important indicator for their quality of life. Housing adjustment and modification could help the elderly cope with sight loss, do daily activities more independently, and lead to better quality of life. The purpose of this study is to investigate housing conditions for the elderly with vision impaired, state of housing adjustment or modifications, and the effects of housing conditions on the wellness of the elderly in Korea. For this study, 18 housing cases were investigated and a total number of 65 visually impaired people aged over 55 participated. Housing condition of those participated was poor. Most observed home hazards are level differences in living areas, obstacles in the hallway, confined space that is not allowed structural modification, swing doors from wardrobe or cabinets, color contrast, poor lightings, and etc. Majority of households participated in this study did not make modification or refurbishments, rather many of them tend to adapt themselves to their residential environments. Older adults living in better housing condition and under less difficult environments are likely to have higher life satisfaction. The effects of housing condition on wellness could be more influential when individual capabilities (e.g. health condition) are weaker. The findings underline that with intervention of individual characteristics, the effects of housing and physical environment on negative outcomes of vision loss would get ameliorated or reduced.

• 한국노년학
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.1-14
• /
• 2018

Everyday hearing handicap caused by presbycusis ultimately reduces quality of life in older adults. The aim of this study was to explore effects of cognitive impairment on self-reported hearing handicap in older adults with early-stage presbycusis. We compared K-HHIE scores between 40 elderly subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and age- and hearing-threshold matched 40 cognitively normal elderly (CNE) subjects. The results are as follows: 1) The MCI group scored significantly higher than the CNE group on the social/situational and emotional sections, and in total. 2) The MCI group scored significantly higher than the CNE group on all four subscales, and the most significant group difference was on the first subscale relating to interpersonal relationships and social handicaps. 3) Both groups scored highest on the item 8 (problems hearing whispering sounds) and item 15 (problems hearing TV or radio sounds). Besides those two items, the MCI group also scored high on the item 21 (problems hearing in a restaurant), item 6 (problems hearing when attending a party), item 3 (avoiding groups of people), and item 20 (personal or social restrictions). Our findings suggest that, among older adults with early-stage presbycusis, older adults with cognitive impairment tend to report greater everyday hearing handicap than their peers with normal cognitive function. Especially, they show significant problems hearing in background noise or multi-talker situations, which cause social restrictions and social/emotional loneliness.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.12 no.6
• /
• pp.481-490
• /
• 2014

This study aims to identify depressive symptoms status and factors to affect depressive symptoms in the elderly. The research selected 1,429 adults aged over 65, who appeared with depressive symptoms, from the fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2012. We analyzed states of depressive symptoms using descriptive statistics. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the main factors associated with depressive symptoms in the elderly. The result shows that depressive symptoms in the elderly is significantly associated with gender, age, income level, subjective health status, smoking and the number of chronic diseases. Females, higher age, lower income, lower subjective health status, smoking and the higher the number of chronic diseases were the significant factors of higher depressive symptoms. Therefore, it is necessary to develop effective social programs and individualized approach to improve the quality of life in the elderly. In the future, these findings can be used as important data for health care policy and assessment.

• Journal of Bone Metabolism
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.267-274
• /
• 2018

Background: This prospective cohort study used nationwide claims data to investigate the incidence of fall and fragility fractures in association with urinary incontinence (UI) in the elderly, and to compare mortality after fragility fractures in elderly patients with or without incontinence. Methods: A total of 39,854 Korean adults (age, 66-80 years) who participated in health examinations between 2007 and 2012 and were followed up until 2015 were analyzed. Patient and comparison groups were classified according to the presence or absence of UI. The cumulative incidence of osteoporotic fragility fractures and falls in the 2 groups was assessed and compared. Hazard ratios for fragility fractures were calculated for the risk of UI in association with falls using a Cox proportional hazards model. Results: Of 39,854 elderly participants, 5,703 were classified in the UI group, while 34,151 were placed in the comparison group. Fall rates were significantly higher (20.8%) in the incontinence group than in the comparison group (4.7%) (P<0.001). Women in the incontinence group (13.9%) showed a significantly higher incidence of all types of fragility fractures than those in the comparison group (11.8%) (P=0.005). After adjustment for confounders, UI was not a significant risk factor for fragility fractures in men (P=0.878) or women (P=0.324). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that elderly women with UI have a significantly higher incidence of osteoporotic fragility fractures. In addition, elderly women are at higher risk for falls.