• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.12 no.9
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• pp.257-269
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• 2012

This is a methodological study designed to develop a comprehensive geriatric assessment package for successful aging of the elderly in various health condition. Assessment items and tools were primarily selected and categorized into 9 domains through the review of existing geriatric assessment tools, which have been used in the clinic and community settings, and the investigation of related articles. We have obtained professional advice from three experts and conducted a preliminary survey (n=15). Based on findings, the final version of comprehensive geriatric assessment package were devised. It was constructed of 29 assessment items in 6 domains of basic, psychologic function, physical function, life style, subjective health state, and environment. It also contained concrete implementation guide of each tool.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.1965-1969
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• 2015

Cancer prevalance and incidence is increasing with aging of populations and age is a critical factor in decision-making for anti-cancer treatment. However it is believed that chronological age is not enough to guide management in elderly cancer patients. Multidisciplinary evaluation and comprehensive geriatric assessment has gained importance regarding the treatment selection especially for definitive anti-cancer therapy recently. We here aimed to analyse the effect of the comprehensive geriatric assessment parameters on radiotherapy toxicity and tolerability in a series of geriatric cancer patients in Turkey.

• Journal of Korean Society of Health-System Pharmacists
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.418-429
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• 2018

Background : To improve medication adherence in elderly patients, the role of pharmacists in teambased services has been highlighted in the literature. However, not much is known about the role and the service elements involved in comprehensive geriatric programs in South Korea. This study was designed to describe the current status of medication adherence in geriatric patients based on the comprehensive geriatric assessment program and analyze the predictive factors for medication adherence in a tertiary teaching hospital. Methods : A retrospective cohort study was performed using electronic medical records of 247 patients from March 1st, 2015 to August 31st, 2015. Medication adherence and the types of non-adherence were also collected. Predictive factors for adherence were evaluated by including factors related to demographics, medications, illness, and patterns of medical usage. Results : The mean age of the study population was 81.2 years (range 65~98 years) and they were taking 9.7 drugs on an average (SD 5.0 drugs). The overall rate of non-adherence was 34%. About 48% of the patients had any forms of assistance in the medication administration. The most common type of non-adherence was "self-adjustment". The multivariate analyses revealed that age (adjusted odds ratio, 0.87 [95% CI, 0.80-0.96]; p 0.05) and the number of inappropriate medications (adjusted odds ratio, 0.59 [95% CI, 0.40-0.89]; p 0.05) were strong predictors for non-adherence. Conclusions : These results indicate that strategic considerations of the predictors of non-adherence should be improved in medication counseling services targeting elderly patients.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.113-119
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• 2020

Background: Reducing the total anticholinergic burden (AB) in older adults is recommended owing to the several peripheral and central adverse effects. This study aimed to identify the AB status of patients admitted to geriatric centers for assessing the influence of the pharmacist-involved multidisciplinary geriatric team care on reducing the AB. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 328 older patients hospitalized in geriatric centers from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019, who received comprehensive geriatric assessment and pharmaceutical interventions from a multidisciplinary geriatric team. We measured the total AB scores for the medications at the time of admission and upon hospital discharge using the Korean Anticholinergic Burden Scale (KABS). The pre-admission factors associated with high AB (KABS score ≥3) at the time of admission were identified. Results: The proportion of patients with high AB significantly decreased from 41.8% (136/328) at the time of admission to 25.0% (82/328) on discharge (p<0.001). The pre-admission AB of patients transferred from skilled nursing facilities (odds ratio[OR]: 2.85, 95% CI: 1.26-3.75), taking more than 10 medications (OR: 3.70, 95% CI: 1.55-8.82), suffering from delirium (OR: 2.80, 95% CI: 1.04-7.50), or depression (OR: 2.78, 95% CI: 1.04-7.41) were significantly high. Antipsychotics were the most frequent classes of drugs that contributed to the total KABS score at the time of admission, followed by antihistamines. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the multidisciplinary teams for geriatric care are effective at reducing AB in older adults. The factors associated with high AB should be considered when targeting pharmaceutical care in geriatric individuals.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.10-16
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• 2008

Objectives : Korea faces a number of challenges to meet demands in the area of geriatric professional medicine in a country with a rapidly ageing population. We evaluated the satisfaction and feasibility of the current education certification for geriatric physicians. Methods : Geriatric physicians who were deemed qualified by the Korean Geriatrics Society during the period of 2001 to 2005 (n=2,200) were asked to complete structured questionnaires sent to them by mail about their satisfaction of and need for certificates of education, as well as their opinions on their geriatric specialty training. A total of 419 physicians responded. Descriptive analysis and hierarchical regression were performed to rate the respondents' satisfaction, the characteristics of the need for clarity and utility in education certification, and the characteristics of their patients. Results : Although most respondents were satisfied with their education certification, those who had more elderly patients, aged 65 or older, and those who had more cognitively impaired patients, rated their education as significantly lower than did other physicians. Both groups expressed the need for more the comprehensive care and assessment concerning of their education. Multiple regression analysis indicated that satisfaction with geriatric physician qualification was associated with a physician's age, specialty, and percentage of elderly patients. Conclusions : This study suggests that the current system of education certification is limited in terms of feasibility and physician satisfaction.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.1-6
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• 2023

The aging population, particularly those aged 65 and above, is on the rise, with projections indicating a substantial increase in the elderly demographic. This demographic shift brings challenges in managing age-related diseases, including head and neck cancers (HNCs). Frailty, often characterized by physiological decline and vulnerability to stressors, is a crucial factor affecting treatment outcomes of elderly cancer patients. Accordingly, the significance of assessing frailty in elderly HNC patients before their treatment should be emphasized, but current frailty assessment tools may not fully capture the unique challenges faced by HNC patients. Specific indicators, including respiratory and swallowing functions, are proposed for a more tailored assessment. This comprehensive review explores the impact of frailty on various treatment modalities, including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, highlighting the need for personalized interventions. Furthermore, it suggests avenues for future research to enhance frailty assessment tools and investigate interventions aimed at improving treatment outcomes in elderly HNC patients.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.21-31
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• 2002

The aim of this study was to analyse and conduct the comprehensive geriatric assessment for the elderly in rural area. The subjects were 388 older people aged 65 years or older living in the community. Data for comprehensive assessment such as physical, mental, functional, social and environmental conditions were collected from January to February, 2001 through a person-to-person interview. Of the total 388 olders, 169(43.6%) were men and 219(56.4%) were women. Mean ages of men and women were $73.5{\pm}6.4$ and $74.0{\pm}6.2$ years respectively. Three common diseases of the elderly were arthralgia(51.6%), chronic back pain(33.2%) and hypertension(18.6%), and higher in women than in men. Impairment rate of vision, hearing and bowel or bladder control was 59.0%, 20.1%, and 28.4% respectively. But that of lover extremities 3.4%. In terms of cognitive function, short term memory loss was found in 33.7% of males and 44.7% of females. The percentage of fully independent in the six ADL items was 72.2% in men and 58.9% in women. In the social supportive system, 49.5% of the elderly were living with spouse, and 22.9% living alone, 26.3% having care giver. These results will provide basic data for the development of community-based health program, which gives appropriate health service for the elderly living in the community.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.47-56
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• 2017

Background: Given the potential benefits of wellness programs promoting physical activity of the community-dwelling frail elderly, it is recommended that comprehensive wellness programs combined with the component of physical activity. This may improve overall health and potentially lower the health care cost of the frail elderly. In general, the frail elderly residing in community or those after being discharged from hospitals are often committed to enhancing the status of participation in physical activity. Objects: The purposes of this study were to identify specific shortcomings of current wellness programs as part of continuum of community rehabilitation services and to propose alternatives for the care of the community-dwelling frail elderly. Through this study, geriatric health care professionals may be able to implement assessments and programs to successfully promote an effective continuum of care for the frail elderly. Methods: Article reviews were summarized and evaluated. Results: A model elaborating the relationship between components of successful wellness program and participation in physical activities for the community-dwelling frail elderly are recommended. First, periodic monitoring the levels of physical activity by the use of online measurement system should be considered. Second, individualized adaptive technologies for selecting optimal physical activities for the elderly may be better fit to individuals' current status of physical activity. Conclusion: The current status of physical activity in community-dwelling frail elderly can be monitored by online assessment systems. Through the innovative measurement system, elderly may assess his/her physical activity status overtime, select optimal physical activities matching the status, and create the elderly's own adaptive wellness programs that match to the status while residing in his/her community.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.15-21
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• 2013

Objectives: Cognitive impairment in restless legs syndrome (RLS) patients can be affected by sleep deprivation, anxiety and depression, which are common in RLS. The objective of this study is to investigate relationship between cognitive impairment and RLS in the non-medicated Korean elderly with controlling for psychiatric conditions. Method: The study sample for this study comprised 25 non-medicated Korean elderly RLS patients and 50 age-, sex-, and education- matched controls. All subjects were evaluated with comprehensive cognitive function assessment tools- including the Korean version of Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Packet (CERAD-K), severe cognitive impairment rating scale (SCIRS), frontal assessment battery (FAB), and clock drawing test (CLOX). Sleep quality and depression were also assessed with Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and geriatric depression scale (GDS). Results: PSQI and GDS score showed no difference between RLS and control group. There was no significant difference between two groups in nearly all the cognitive function except in constructional recognition test, in which subjects with RLS showed lower performance than control group (t=-2.384, p=0.02). Subjects with depression ($GDS{\geq}10$) showed significant cognitive impairment compared to control in verbal fluency, Korean version of Mini Mental Status Examination in the CERAD-K (MMSE-KC), word list memory, trail making test, and frontal assessment battery (FAB). In contrast, no difference was observed between subjects who have low sleep quality (PSQI>5) and control group. Conclusions: At the exclusion of the impact of insomnia and depression, cognitive function was found to be relatively preserved in RLS patients compared to control. Impairment of visual recognition in RLS patients can be explained in terms of dopaminergic dysfunction in RLS.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.69-83
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• 2022

Objective : This study aimed to confirm the possibility of the clinical application of oral motor facilitation technique (OMFT) protocol and neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) in patients with Wallenberg syndrome. Methods : One patient with Wallenberg syndrome was treated with OMFT and NMES applied 40 times each, 5 days a week, twice a day for 4 weeks. The Comprehensive Oral-Facial Function Scale (COFFS), Korean-Mann Swallowing Ability Assessment (K-MASA), and Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS) were used to compare the changes before and after the intervention. Data analysis was used to compare the score changes before and after the intervention. Results : Orofacial function and swallowing ability improved after the intervention in the individual who participated in this study. Among oral motor functions, relatively greater functional improvement was observed in tongue movement compared to other functions, which was evaluated to the extent that pharyngeal swallowing was possible. Conclusions : Early swallowing rehabilitation using systematic OMFT and NMES of exercise intensity confirmed the possibility of improving oral motor function and dysphagia. In the future, complementary studies on the effects of interventions applying the OMFT and NMES will be needed.