• Title/Summary/Keyword: aging out

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Employment Rate of Graduates of Agricultural Science Colleges in the Fields of Agro-industry (농학계열 대학 졸업생의 농산업 분야 취업률)

  • Kim, Jung Tae;Bae, Sung Eui
    • Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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    • v.21 no.4
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    • pp.1093-1124
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    • 2014
  • Studies on the role of agricultural science colleges are mostly divided into agricultural production, which is the primary function of agriculture, and other functions, which have recently begun to be emphasized as a result of social needs. With the green revolution and the aging of the farming population, there is a strong view that the role of agricultural science colleges should remain as it is. However, agriculture is expanding in terms of concept and content by converging with other industries not traditionally associated with agricultural production. Thus, the fields that now need to form part of agricultural science knowledge are becoming more detailed and expansive. The government's perception remains at the level of merely fostering farmers. This was evident in a survey on the employment rate, a factor used to evaluate colleges, in which the role of agricultural science colleges was limited to fostering farmers. Agro- industry fields, other than agriculturalists, include general industries in which the academic fields of agricultural science are combined with other academic fields. Thus, even when someone is employed in an industry that requires background knowledge of agricultural science, there is often a perception that he or she is employed in a field that is irrelevant to the major. This study examines the role of agricultural science colleges in agriculture and farm villages by focusing on the employment of graduates of these colleges within agro-industry. We categorize academic research on agricultural science into 16 fields, based on the medium level of the National Standard Science and Technology Classification Codes. Then, we categorize the employment fields into 168 fields, based on the small classification level of the inter-industry relations classification. Thus, we investigate 220 departments of 37 colleges, nationwide. Our findings show that the average employment rate of graduates of agricultural science colleges is 69.0%. Furthermore, 33.0% of all employees work in agro-industry fields that require background knowledge in agricultural science, which is one out of three job seekers. Then, 3.6% of employees work in business startups in agro-industry. The aforementioned government survey showed that only 0.1% of all college graduates in Korea were employed as agriculturalists in 2013. However, our results showed that 13.3% of graduates were working as agriculturalists, which is significantly different to the results of the government survey. These results confirm that agricultural science colleges contribute greatly to the employment of graduates, including farmers, agro-industry, and business startups in agro-industry fields.

A Study on the Long-Term Use of Drugs Among Some Urban Residents (일부 도시지역 주민의 약물 장기복용에 관한 사회의학적 연구)

  • Yoo, Ho-Sang;Song, Dong-Bin;Yum, Yong-Tae;Cha, Chul-Whan
    • Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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    • v.12 no.1
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    • pp.102-110
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    • 1987
  • One of the familiar medical facility that most people reach easily in Korea is the drug store. In Korea, it is possible to purchase all kinds of common drugs without physician's prescriptions, which caused some problems. In other words, such treatment without professional supervision has led to medical, social and economical problems. In view of the above, this study is aimed at revealing the actual status of long-term use of drugs in some urban residents. Long-term use of drugs is operationally defined as using certain drugs at least once a week for more than 3 months. This survey took the residents of Guro 6-Dong where was one of the target areas for Community Health Development Project managed by Korea University as a target population. A sample of 1,517 residents was selected by the multistage sampling method. The interview was conducted on September 21st and 22nd in 1985. The object of this study was to compare the result with that of the rural area which was obtained by the same method, tools and research team, prior to this study in 1984. The results were as follows; 1) The age-standardization of the study showed that 97 per 1,000 urban residents were actually on long-term drug use. The prevalance of long-term use is high in accordance with aging and low with education level. 2) Out of 1,000 urban samples the most popular item involved in the long-term drug use was antipyretic-analgesic-antiinflammatory drug (26), and next in order was vitamin (23), antibiotics (13), digestives (10) and antacids (7). In the rural samples as for compare, that was antipyretic-analgesic-antiinflammatory drug (100), antacids (36), digestives (23), adrenocortical hormones (12) etc. 3) With antipyrctic-analgesic-antiinflammatory drugs, 50% of the urban samples were taking for more than a year, whereas such were 82.7% of the rural samples. Using such a high percentage of antipyretic-analgesic-antiinflamatory drugs in the rural residents is probably due to the high prevalence rate of musculo-skeletal diseases. 4) The urban long-term drug users of antipyretic-analgesic-antiinflammatory drugs were influenced mostly by the mass media (43.6%), next in order was pharmacist (35.9%) and physician (10.3%). Comparing with the result from the rural areas the role of mass media was much more influencial in the urban areas. 60% of them consulted with pharmacists, 14.3% with physicians and 25.7% had no history of consultation in the urban samples. 5) Considering the incidence of knowing the possible side-effects of each drug, 28.2% of the urban residents had no recognition about side-effects prior to use antipyretic-analgesic-antiinflammatory drugs. In the rural residents, 29.67o had no knowledge about the side-effects before using the drug. 6) For the solution of the above problems, it is necessary to limit the advertisement of some drugs by the parmaceutical company. And therapeutic drugs which may bring on side effects in case of long-term use should not be sold at drug stores without physician's prescription.

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Structural Relationships Among Factors to Adoption of Telehealth Service (원격의료서비스 수용요인의 구조적 관계 실증연구)

  • Kim, Sung-Soo;Ryu, See-Won
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.21 no.3
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    • pp.71-96
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    • 2011
  • Within the traditional medical delivery system, patients residing in medically vulnerable areas, those with body movement difficulties, and nursing facility residents have had limited access to good healthcare services. However, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) provides us with a convenient and useful means of overcoming distance and time constraints. ICT is integrated with biomedical science and technology in a way that offers a new high-quality medical service. As a result, rapid technological advancement is expected to play a pivotal role bringing about innovation in a wide range of medical service areas, such as medical management, testing, diagnosis, and treatment; offering new and improved healthcare services; and effecting dramatic changes in current medical services. The increase in aging population and chronic diseases has caused an increase in medical expenses. In response to the increasing demand for efficient healthcare services, a telehealth service based on ICT is being emphasized on a global level. Telehealth services have been implemented especially in pilot projects and system development and technological research. With the service about to be implemented in earnest, it is necessary to study its overall acceptance by consumers, which is expected to contribute to the development and activation of a variety of services. In this sense, the study aims at positively examining the structural relationship among the acceptance factors for telehealth services based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Data were collected by showing audiovisual material on telehealth services to online panels and requesting them to respond to a structured questionnaire sheet, which is known as the information acceleration method. Among the 1,165 adult respondents, 608 valid samples were finally chosen, while the remaining were excluded because of incomplete answers or allotted time overrun. In order to test the reliability and validity of the assessment scale items, we carried out reliability and factor analyses, and in order to explore the causal relation among potential variables, we conducted a structural equation modeling analysis using AMOS 7.0 and SPSS 17.0. The research outcomes are as follows. First, service quality, innovativeness of medical technology, and social influence were shown to affect perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of the telehealth service, which was statistically significant, and the two factors had a positive impact on willingness to accept the telehealth service. In addition, social influence had a direct, significant effect on intention to use, which is paralleled by the TAM used in previous research on technology acceptance. This shows that the research model proposed in the study effectively explains the acceptance of the telehealth service. Second, the research model reveals that information privacy concerns had a insignificant impact on perceived ease of use of the telehealth service. From this, it can be gathered that the concerns over information protection and security are reduced further due to advancements in information technology compared to the initial period in the information technology industry, and thus the improvement in quality of medical services appeared to ensure that information privacy concerns did not act as a prohibiting factor in the acceptance of the telehealth service. Thus, if other factors have an enormous impact on ease of use and usefulness, concerns over these results in the initial period of technology acceptance may become irrelevant. However, it is clear that users' information privacy concerns, as other studies have revealed, is a major factor affecting technology acceptance. Thus, caution must be exercised while interpreting the result, and further study is required on the issue. Numerous information technologies with outstanding performance and innovativeness often attract few consumers. A revised bill for those urgently in need of telehealth services is about to be approved in the national assembly. As telemedicine is implemented between doctors and patients, a wide range of systems that will improve the quality of healthcare services will be designed. In this sense, the study on the consumer acceptance of telehealth services is meaningful and offers strong academic evidence. Based on the implications, it can be expected to contribute to the activation of telehealth services. Further study is needed to assess the acceptance factors for telehealth services, such as motivation to remain healthy, health care involvement, knowledge on health, and control of health-related behavior, in order to develop unique services according to the categorization of customers based on health factors. In addition, further study may focus on various theoretical cognitive behavior models other than the TAM, such as the health belief model.

A Study of Correlation among the Knowledge of the Disease, Health Promoting Behaviors and the Quality of Life in the Female Patients with Osteoporosis (여성 골다공증환자의 골다공증에 대한 지식, 건강증진행위 및 삶의 질과의 관계 연구)

  • Lee, Hye-Young
    • Journal of muscle and joint health
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    • v.8 no.1
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    • pp.65-85
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    • 2001
  • Osteoporosis is the disease that is the most controversial issue with the aging tendency in 1990. It is an important issue in dealing with the health management for women in middle life. This study is designed to determine the relationships among the level of the knowledge of osteoporosis, the health promoting behaviors and the quality of life. The test has conducted a questionnaire survey of women with osteoporosis. This is a study that focused an interrelation of above issues and its purpose is to gain a foundation of a nursing intervention that can help to improve the qualify of life of an osteoporosis patients. The method of collecting data is collecting a questionnaire survey, individual interviews and records and the collected 123 questionnaire surveys are utilized for an data analysis. Questionnaire surveys are conducted in K and S Universities infirmaries and K general hospital in Seoul and C and J general hospital in near Seoul area from Sep. 27th to Nov. 4th, 2000. The instruments of this study were as follows: Yoon's used the revised and supplemented instrument to test the level of the knowledge of osteoporosis and she referred to the substance of Cassells & Knotz. Lee's revised and supplemented the instrument called Health Promoting Life style Profile that were invented by Walker, Sechrist & Pender and she used it to test the health promoting behaviors with the questionnaires added by this researcher. They are not related to the quality of life but relevant to the patients. Ro's tested the quality of life with the instrument that was invented by herself. The results of this study were as follows. 1. The general characteristics of this study subjects showed that the age of the patients was concentrated from 50 to 59. The periods after menopause was mainly from 6 to 10 years. Subjective symptoms that patients usually complain were musculoskelectal symptoms. 2. The results of measuring the level of the knowledge of osteoporosis, the health promoting behaviors and the quality of life were following. The level of the knowledge was the score 19.83 and it was above middle score out of the score 27 as full marks. In the result of the health promoting behaviors test, the score average was 2.58 with 4 point rating scale and it was about middle score. The quality of life test showed that average score was 2.92 with 5 point rating scale and it indicated that the quality was also around middle score. 3. The statistical test in the activities for promoting health according to the general characteristics of the patients showed that only monthly income has statistically significant difference(F-4.761, p=.004). The same test for the qualify of life indicated that the quality of life was higher from 1 to 5 years after menopause but it was not meaningful statistically. 4. In the correlation among the level of knowledge of osteoporosis, the health promoting behaviors and the qualify of life of the patients, showed a relationship between the health promoting behaviors and the qualify of life. The higher the health promoting behaviors, it was also higher the quality of life. But it was statistically significant with significant positive correlation.

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Differences of Garlic Powder Ingestion and Exercise Training on Blood Lipids, MDA and SOD in Rats (운동훈련과 마늘가루 섭취에 의한 흰쥐의 혈중 지질 및 MDA, SOD 활성 차이)

  • Jeon, Byung-Duk;Kim, Jin-Ha;Ryu, Sung-Pil
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.19 no.10
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    • pp.1337-1345
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    • 2009
  • This study investigated the effect of exercise training and garlic powder ingestion on blood lipids and antioxidants activity in rats. Twenty-eight male Sprague Dawley rats were fed a high-fat diet with or without garlic powder (500 mg/kg) for four weeks as grouped in control (CON), exercise (EXE), garlic (GAR), and garlic + exercise training (GAREXE), respectively. EXE and GAREXE were trained on the treadmill for the same periods. Weight of fats (mesentery, perirenal, and epididymal) were weighed and blood glucose, triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and high density lipoprotein- cholesterol (HDL-C) were analyzed and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) was calculated. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) for lipid peroxidation were analyzed in liver tissue. Body weight in GAREXE was significantly lower in the statistics than that in other groups (p<0.05), and the volume of fat in GAR and GAREXE was also much lower (p<0.05). Blood glucose was significantly lower in EXE and GAR (p<0.05), however, there was no effect of exercise training. Blood TG was lower in GAR and GAREXE (p<0.05), however, there was no effect of exercise training. HDL-C was significantly improved in EXE and GAR compared to CON (p<0.05), and GAREXE was higher than EXE (p<0.05). MDA content was considerably lower in GAREXE compared to EXE (p<0.05), and SOD activity was much higher in other groups compared to CON (p<0.05). In addition, GAREXE was significantly higher than EXE and GAR, thus there was significant increase when a garlic diet was carried out together with exercise (p<0.05). These results suggested that garlic powder ingestion during the training periods had a beneficial effect of lowering glucose and enhancing blood lipids profiles. Moreover, it also has antioxidant effects, which means that it could possibly suppress aging. It is necessary to inspect various effects of garlic with a variety of research methods regarding sampling process, production process, intake method, etc.

Changes of in Vacuum Packed Pre-aged Venison with Seasoning during Chilled Storage (양념으로 사전 숙성하여 진공포장한 사슴고기의 냉장저장 중 품질 변화)

  • Kim Il-Suk;Jin Sang-Keun;Hah Kyung-Hee;Park Seok-Tae;Kwuak Kyung-Rak;Park Jung-Kwon;Kang Yang-Su;Chung Ku-Young
    • Food Science of Animal Resources
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    • v.25 no.4
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    • pp.442-448
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    • 2005
  • This study was carried out to evaluate the quality characteristics of the vacuum packed pre-aged venison with seasoning during chilled storage. The ham of deer were cut to cube and two seasonings such as red pepper sauce (T1) or soy sauce (T2) were seasoned by the proportions or meat to seasonings (1:1), respectively. The seasoned venison was aging by fill into plastic box at $0\pm1^{\circ}C$ for 10 days. And then, the aged meat from each pack was vacuum-packaged and stored at $0\pm1^{\circ}C$ for up to 28 days. pH were significantly decreased with storage periods in all treatments (p<0.05). Salinity $(\%)$ were no significant differences in T1 during the whole storage, but T2 had significantly high content $(1.33\%)$ at the storage days of 28 (p<0.05). Saccarinity $(\%)$ of T1 were significantly higher than that of T2 during the whole storage periods (p<0.05). As storage time extended the value of $L^*$ and $b^*$ in T1 were increased and those values decreased in T2. $a^*$ and shear force $(g/cm^2)$ or T1 and T2 were increased as the storage period passed In the result of sensory evaluation. all treatment had relatively high score $(T1\;6.75\~T2\;7.00)$ in overall acceptability during the storage period of 28 days. In conclusion, this study suggest that vacuum packed pre-aged venison with seasoning may be useful for new deer meat menu.

A Study on The Nursing Needs of Users and their Service Status at Short-Stay Centers for The Elderly (단기노인보호소 이용자의 간호요구도 및 서비스 실태연구)

  • Shin Kyoung Hi;Rhee Seon Ja
    • Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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    • v.16 no.2
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    • pp.354-377
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    • 2002
  • Aging population is a global trend and Korea is no exception. Due to the progress of the medical and scientific sectors, increase in the average lifetime incurred increase in the number of elderly people. Meanwhile, the family function of supporting the elderly has become a major issue in a society due to the changes in the society's structure and increased entry of the women into the workforce. As a means to substitute the protection of the elderly who are not protected at their respective homes and to replace the tending needs, weekly protection centers and short-stay centers for the elderly were established and operated in Seoul since 1992. However, structured and satisfactory services are not yet to be provided, thus this research intends to understand the current situation at the short-stay centers for the elderly, to identify users' characteristics and to conduct study on nursing need for the health reasons so that the results of the research can be utilized as basic data for the development of nursing care program. Towards this end, this research targeted 142 elderly people who were undergoing treatment at the 11 short-stay centers for the elderly out of total of 13 located in Seoul that were willing to cooperate. The research was conducted from April to May 2002, with the measurement tool developed by Rhee, Seon-ja (2001) to measure the level of nursing need. Then data was collected and analyzed using SPSS program. The results are as follows. The general characteristics of users of the short-stay centers for the elderly were: 123 females $(86.6\%)$, 19 males $(13.4\%)$ and 72 elderly were over the age of 80 $(50.7\%)$. Among these, 24$(16.9\%)$ were living by themselves. Among the illnesses that the subjects were inflicted with were: dementia $(54.2\%)$, stroke $(54.1\%)$ and high blood pressure $(50.7\%)$, in the respective order. Despite the fact that they were diagnosed with illnesses, $47.2\%$ responded that they do not undergo special treatment due to financial reasons. When the level of needs for nursing care among the elderly who use the short-stay centers is divided into informational. physical. and emotional need levels and scored between zero to two, the level of emotional need is the highest with 1.80, followed by physical (1.45) and informational (1.44) need levels. As for the realities of services at the centers and improvement areas, restriction on term was cited as the greatest inconvenience with $38.7\%$, followed by lack of budget (24 respondents, $16.9\%$). Wishful services were financial assistance $(46.5\%)$, medical and nursing services $(40.1\%)$, meal provision service $(8.5\%)$ and counseling service $(4.9\%)$, in the respective order. Based on the above mentioned results, the research identified the need to develop nursing program for the patients of dementia that can be applied onto the short-stay centers and the need to develop volunteer service, backed by societal support. Also, placement of specialized cadre of professionals is needed so that medical and nursing service functions can be provided in a complementary manner.

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Oral health status and treatment need of institutionalized elderly patients (노인요양시설에 있는 노인환자의 구강실태 및 치료수요도)

  • Yang, Soon-Bong;Moon, Hong-Suk;Han, Dong-Hoo;Lee, Ho-Yong;Chung, Moon-Kyu
    • The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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    • v.46 no.5
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    • pp.455-469
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    • 2008
  • Statement of problems: In the area of dental care, the institutionalized elderly have placed the most vulnerable state, and we cannot find their subjective need of dental treatment because of the physical and mental disabilities, But we have no basic investigation of their oral health conditions. Purpose: The aims of the current study were to investigate the oral health status of institutionalized elderly patients who are in the least benefited side of dental service, and to analyze their dental treatment needs. Material and methods: The survey of the oral status was carried out on 758 institutionalized elderly, and 212 elderly who was more than 65 years old from D dental office, and it was based on the Guidelines of Oral Health Research of year 2000 in Republic of Korea. Results and conclusion: The DMFT index of the institutionalized elderly appeared higher than that of the same ages in control group, and it increased with age. The number of residual teeth of the institutionalized elderly appeared lower than that of the same ages in control group, and it decreased with age (P < .05). The number of fixed partial denture in institutionalized elderly was lower than that of the same ages in control group (P < .05). The percentage wearing removable partial denture was not significant between the elderly in institutions and the control group, and was not different according to age between the two groups. The percentage of institutionalized elderly wearing complete denture appeared lower than that of the same ages in control group, and it increased with age. The percentage of institutionalized elderly needing complete denture was higher than that of control group, and the percentage of elderly needing complete denture on the maxilla was higher than that of the mandible. 16.35% of the institutionalized elderly was living without denture in spite of their fully edentulous state. The need for complete denture increased rapidly with age. The number of valued teeth and dental prostheses in shortened dental arch concept and number of occluding pairs of teeth of institutionalized elderly were lower than that of the control group (P < .05). In institutionalized elderly, the number of residual teeth, the number of fixed partial dentures, and the percentage wearing removable partial dentures were higher in the mandible, and the percentage wearing complete dentures was higher in the maxilla (P < .05). The rate of institutionalized elderly needing prosthodontic treatment appeared to be 67.82%, where the number of occluding pairs of teeth was less than 10. When it is difficult to evaluate the subjective need of dental treatment as with the institutionalized elderly, estimation using the number of occluding pairs of teeth can be a useful indicator that can project treatment needs. For the oral health care of institutionalized elderly, it is essential to increase the awareness of nurses and caregivers who take care of them, about the importance of the oral health. Since the average life span and number of residual teeth are increasing gradually, the welfare policy should be changed to implementing regular dental examinations, preservative treatment forms and oral health control of dentulous patients where the traveling-treatment system and visit system are supplemented. And principles should be set that the present denture project of edentulous patients should be done by specialists who'll also be responsible for postmanagement. Through this research of institutionalized elderly, the oral health status which is worsened by aging could be confirmed. And the interest and positive participation of dental society on the elderly should come first in order to solve the rising treatment needs of the elderly patients.

Effects of 12-week Combined Exercise Program on Short Physical Performance Battery, Bone Mineral Density and Parathyroid Hormone in the Elderly Women (12주간 복합운동이 여성 노인의 신체수행능력, 골밀도 및 부갑상선호르몬에 미치는 영향)

  • Kim, Jung-Sook;Kim, Ji-Hyeon;Ha, Soo-Min;Hynn, Su-Jin;Yoon, Byeong-Kon;Kim, Do-Yeon
    • Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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    • v.35 no.2
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    • pp.519-531
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    • 2018
  • The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of combined exercise program on short physical performance battery, bone mineral density and parathyroid hormone levels in elderly women. This study subjects were 22 elderly female volunteers, aged 65-75 years and they divided into the combined exercise group(n=11) and the "no exercise" control group(n=11). The combined exercise included the line dance program performed twice per week for 60 minutes and the resistance exercise program performed once per week during 12 weeks. Exercise intensity was progressively increased from RPE "fairly light" to "slightly hard" (from 11 to 14). The findings of this study were as follows; Short physical performance battery(Balance test, gait speed, and rising from a chair five times) and bone mineral density (lumbar spine L2~L4 bone densities, and the T-score) were significantly increased after 12 weeks in the exercise group compared to the baseline. The PTH level was significantly decreased in the exercise group compared to the baseline. In conclusion, regular and continuous physical activity was effective for improving short physical performance and had a positive effect on bone mineral density and parathyroid hormone. With aging, women have decreased muscle strength and bone density and therefore, it is strongly recommended that women need to carry out continuous physical activity to prevent disease and ensure a healthy retirement.

The Occurrence of Degenerative Change in the Mandibular Condyles of Korean Patients with Temporomandibular Disorders (측두하악장애 환자에서 하악과두의 퇴행성 변화의 발생 양상에 대한 연구)

  • Jo, Jung-Hwan;Park, Min-Woo;Kim, Young-Ku;Lee, Jeong-Yun
    • Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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    • v.36 no.1
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    • pp.53-63
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    • 2011
  • Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common form of arthritis, is a result of both mechanical and biological events that destabilize the normal coupling of degradation and synthesis of articular cartilage chondrocytes and extracelluar matrix, and subchondral bone. Although it is likely that the molecular basis of pathogenesis is similar to that of other joints, additional study of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is required due to its unique structure and function. This study was carried out to evaluate the epidemiologic characteristics of TMJ osteoarthritis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of TMJ OA in Patients with temporomandibular disorders (1405 men and 2922 women whose mean age was $30.2\; {\pm}\; 15.4$ and $33.1\;{\pm}\;15.2$ years, respectively) who had visited the TMJ and Orofacial Pain Clinic of Seoul National University Dental Hospital in 2007. Orthopantomograms, TMJ tomograms and transcranial radiographs were used to evaluate degenerative change of the mandibular condyle. The obtained results were as follows: 1. Degenerative change of the mandibular condyle was observed in 883 (20.4%) of 4327 subjects. The prevalence was significantly higher in women (706 patients, 24.1%) than in men (177 patients, 12.6%), and this significant difference between genders was observed in all age groups. 2. The prevalence of degenerative change of the mandibular condyle in TMD patients showed a gentle increase along with age. Such increase was statistically significant in women (P < 0.001), but not in men. 3. Sclerosis was observed the most frequently in all age groups and the mean age of the patients with osteophyte was the highest among four types of degenerative change. 4. Although men showed degenerative change in the left side more often and women showed degenerative change more frequently in both sides, the difference of distribution in sides between genders was not significant. In conclusion, the prevalence of degenerative change of the mandibular condyle in TMD patients is higher in women than in men, and increases steadily with aging, but not as dramatically as in other joints that show a steep increase in prevalence around the age of 45 years. It can be suggested that the epidemiologic characteristic of OA of the TMJ differs from those of other joints, and that a more extensive study based on the general population is necessary.