• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.16 no.sup1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2022

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans (KDRIs) were revised in 2020. Due to the rapidly aging Korean population, special consideration was given to reclassify the KDRI age group categories of older adults. This article examines the evidence for modifying the current KDRI age group ranges of older adults (65-74 and ≥ 75 yrs). SUBJECTS/METHODS: We first reviewed the domestic and international data on the elderly, following which we received expert opinions on age classification from the KDRI Advisory Committee. Finally, the 6th and 7th (2013-2017) Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) data were used to analyze the nutritional intake statuses by considering the age of older adults. RESULTS: According to the review results of domestic and international data and the inputs received from the expert advisory committee, the minimum age considered for the elderly was maintained at 65 yrs. However, the KNHANES data was analyzed to review whether there was a need to subdivide the later periods. Examining the differences in nutrient intakes by age group through the interaction effect term of the piecewise linear regression model revealed the interaction effect was maximum in the groups divided by 65 yrs (50-64 and 65-80), as compared to the groups divided by 70 yrs (50-69 and 70-80) and 75 yrs (50-74 and 75-80). The mean adequacy ratio was calculated per 1 yr of age, and a 3-yr (age) moving average analysis was performed to examine the change in the trends of overall nutrient intake. However, it was challenging to secure a scientific basis for subdivision into age groups in older adults from the results obtained. CONCLUSIONS: This study could not find any scientific evidence for modifying the KDRI age groups for older adults.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.454-468
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• 2019

Background: Supporting the elderly population is presented as a social issue, and it affects age discrimination, which forms a negative perception and avoids the elderly. Since age discrimination lowers the quality of life of the elderly and hinders social unity, it may be important to research related factors. This study examined the physical function as a factor that influences discrimination experiences and aimed to identify the relationship between physical function factors and discrimination experiences. Methods: In this study, we analyzed 20,225 elderly from the 2014 and 2017 survey of living conditions and welfare needs of Korean older persons, conducted nationwide among older than 65 years. Physical function factors are activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, sight discomfort, hearing discomfort, chewing discomfort, and leg strength as factors of interest. We performed multivariable logistic regression that reflected survey characteristics, adjusting for socio-demographic factors, health related factors, and social-support factors. Results: The number of elderly who faced discrimination experiences was 1,175 (5.8%). The results showed that the odds ratio of facing a discrimination experience in the dependent group was significantly higher compared to the independent group when being transferring out of the room (4.05; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.50-10.88) and difficulty in hearing (1.25; 95% CI, 1.05-1.49). Even with respect to chewing ability, which was significant in models 1 and 2, they face more discrimination experiences (1.30; 95% CI, 1.11-1.53). Conclusion: These research results indicate that an important strategy for preventing age discrimination is to understand the physical function conditions of the elderly and promote the physical functions of the elderly related to transferring, hearing, and chewing; it is necessary to develop a practical intervention plan that considers these aspects.

• 한국노년학
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.373-396
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• 2021

This study aims to examine the effect of housing characteristics of older adults on the willingness to continue living in local communities in order to realize the Aging in place of the elderly in Korea. Considering that the health status of the elderly is important for aging in place, both healthy and unhealthy cases were analyzed in the analyses. Housing characteristics include home ownership, housing cost burden, housing convenience, housing satisfaction, and residential environment satisfaction. The study sample is 9,798 elderly people from the 2017 survey on the elderly. Key findings are as follows: First, while 6,704 older adults (68.4%) chose to continue living in the community, 3,094 (31.6%) of the elderly did not choose to live in the local community. Second, the elderly who chose to stay in the local community are likely to have more real estate assets and less burden of housing expenses than the elderly group who did not. Third, the results report that older adults with more real estate assets and lower the housing cost burden are likely to choose sustainable living in the local community. The findings suggest that the majority of the elderly actually preferred Aging in place. This study concludes with practice and policy implications for realizing aging in place considering the elderly's needs.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.301-310
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the risk factors of cognitive impairment between non-depressive elderly and depressive elderly. Data was obtained from 1,477 elderly not diagnosed to dementia. In result, non-depressive elderly group was found as having risk factors of cognitive function in age and educational level. In non-depressive group, older elderly(OR=1.095) and the elderly with no experience of education(OR=9.129) had more in risk of cognitive impairment. Depressive elderly group was found as having risk in age, educational level, and residence style. In depressive elderly, older elderly (OR=1.101), the person with low education(illiteracy:OR=33.020, elementary:OR=10.176, middle school: OR=9.841), and the elderly living in nursing home(OR=8.490) had more in risk of cognitive impairment. Through this result, it could be suggested that the depressive elderly with low educational level living in nursing home should be intervened to decrease the rate of dementia more effectively.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.66-74
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• 2007

The aim of the present study was to investigate age-related differences in stepping behavior in response to sensory perturbations of postural balance. The participants for this study were 2 healthy elderly adults (mean age=76.0) and 2 younger adults (mean age=25.5). Subjects were asked to step over a 10 cm high obstacle at self-paced speed with the right limb to land on the primary target (normal step length) that is 10 cm in diameter. However, if, during movement, the light was illuminated, then the subject had to step on the secondary target (long step length). It was planned that the onset of the light would be prior to peak Fx of swing limb, between swing peak Fx and swing toe-off, and after swing toe-off. In the younger adults these secondary visual cues were provided at mean times of 240 ms (standard deviation (SD)=11), 402 ms (SD=13), and 476 ms (SD=88) following the movement onset. Corresponding mean times for the healthy elderly were 150 ms (SD=67), 352 ms (SD=39), and 562 ms (SD=115). Results showed great changes in both group and visual cue condition in Fx ground reaction forces and temporal events following the swing toe-off. Swing limb acceleration force (Fx) and stance peak Fx1 was much greater in the young adults compared to the older adults. Both young and older adults increased stance peak Fx2 in the visual cue condition compared to normal stepping. There was no difference in stance peak Fx2 between the visual cue conditions in both groups. Similarly, the time to stance peak Fx2 was much longer for the visual cue condition than for the normal stepping. It was not different between the visual cue conditions in the young adults, but in the elderly mid and late cue was much greater than early cue. In addition, time to stance peak Fx2 and swing and stance time were much longer in the older adults compared to the young adults for the visual cue conditions. These results suggest that unlike young adults, elderly adults did not flexibly modify their responses to unexpected changes in step length while stepping over obstacles.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.408-414
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• 2005

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the sociodemographic and health characteristics on the out-of-pocket health spending of the individuals aged 20 and older in Korea. Methods : We used the data from the 2001 National Public Health and Nutrition Survey. The final sample size was 26,154 persons. Multiple linear regression models were used according to the age groups, that is, one model was used for those people under the age of sixty-five and the other was used for those people aged sixty-five and older. In these analyses, the expenditures were transformed to a logarithmic scale to reduce the skewness of the results. Results : Out-of-pocket health expenditures for those people under the age of 65 averaged 14,800 won per month, whereas expenditures for those people aged 65 and older averaged 27,200 won per month. In the regression analysis, the insurance type, resident area, self-reported health status, acute or chronic condition and bed-disability days were the statistically significant determinants for both age groups. Gender and age were statistically significant determinants only for the non-elderly. Conclusions : The findings from this study show that the mean out-of-pocket health expenditures varied according to the age groups and also several diverse characteristics. Thus, policymakers should consider the out-of-pocket health expenditure differential between the elderly and non-elderly persons. Improvement of the insurance coverage for the economically vulnerable subgroups that were identified in this study should be carefully considered. In addition, it is necessary to assess the impact of out-of-pocket spending on the peoples' health care utilization.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.144-157
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to research on breast shape and size to suggest a brassiere sizing chart for elderly women. For this purpose 90 elderly women aged between 55 and 69 were sampled at random to review their breast types by age group, and thereby, suggest the basic measurements and production ratio of each brassiere size in reference to KS K 0070: 1999. The collected measurement data were processed statistically using the SPSS PC/WIN program for technical statistical analysis. The results of this study can be summarized as follows; 1. Analysis of Breast Measurements To find out difference among age groups, the 90 subjects were grouped into three(Group 1 ; aged 55 to 59, Group 2 ; aged 60 to 64, Group 3 ; aged 65 to 69). The results of the comparative analysis of anthropometric data from three groups show that getting older;- Various length measurements related to the drooping degree of breast were increased. It was found that the older group in their 65-69's had more drooping breasts than their 55-59's or 60-64's counterparts. Such findings suggests that older women's drooping can be corrected by a brassiere which serves to support the breasts. 2. Suggestions on a Brassiere Sizing For the basic measurements of brassiere parts for the elderly women, the correlation between underchest circumferences and cup sizes were analyzed. 3% or higher occurrences among the whole sample elderly women were included in the brassiere sizes. thus, the under-chest measurements were set at four intervals from 75 to 95, while the cup measurements were determined also at four intervals from "AAA" to "B" sizes. The resultant 6 sizes excluding the least frequent occurrences covered 73.2% of the sample elderly women actual breast sizes. As a consequence of reviewing the production ratio of each brassiere size for the women, it was found that the brassiere size of highest production ratio was "85A" (17.4%), followed by 80A (14.5%), 85AA 90A (10.1%) and 75A (8.7%) in their order.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.5078-5087
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• 2014

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of self-esteem, life satisfaction and quality of life of older people's in an elderly school program. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with a survey of 269 older people in 3 elderly schools at G city from November 29, 2013 to 18. The data was analyzed using a t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients and multiple regression using the SPSS WIN 20.0 program. As a research finding, an analysis of the quality of life between of the self-esteem (r=-.338, p<.001) and life satisfaction (r=-.507, p<.001) revealed significant correlations. The life satisfaction was the significant factor influencing the quality of life (${\beta}$=-.512, p< .001) and this variable explained 25.1% of the quality of life. The findings of this study should be integrated into elderly health and care services in the community and older people in elderly school programs to improve the quality of life through the systematic developments of intervention programs for health care.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.182-187
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• 2018

As the elderly population increases, they are increasingly affected by oral health problems. Therefore, efforts are being made to improve the oral health of older people, alleviate mental discomfort, and reduce unmet dental needs. This study was conducted to confirm the relationship between the National Health Insurance Elderly Denture Coverage and the unmet dental need for the edentulous elderly, as part of the protection policy. We analyzed the 2011 and 2013 Community Health Survey data of the edentulous elderly, aged 75 years or older, before 2012. In order to more precisely confirm the effects of the denture donation policy on unmet dental care, basic life recipients who were subject to the free elderly prosthetic project were excluded from the analysis. The final analysis included 20,400 subjects. According to our investigation of the factors that affect the unmet dental needs of the elderly, the National Health Insurance Elderly Denture Coverage did not affect unmet dental needs. The statistically significant variables that affected the unmet dental needs of the elderly were education and income levels, which are representative socioeconomic status variables. The lower the level of education, the unhealthier the dental care experience, and income levels showed a similar tendency. The elderly who have a low socioeconomic status are more likely to experience unmet dental needs because they lack the knowledge and socioeconomic ability to pay for dental care. Therefore, the policy for health protection of the entire elderly population should be continuously expanded. In addition, the socioeconomically vulnerable groups may have health problems due to the restriction of medical use, which may lead to quality of life deterioration.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.147-158
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• 2016

Objectives : The aim of this study was to investigate predictors of cognitive function decline among community dwelling elderly. Methods : Data were analyzed from the Survey of Living Condition of Elderly panel study. Cognitive function was measured with the MMSE-KC at baseline and year 3. The study subjects were 5,464 community dwelling people aged 65 years or older who had no disability at baseline. Logistic regression analysis was used to predict cognitive function decline. Results : From 2008-2011, 4,417(80.8%) elderly people had no cognitive decline, and 1,074(19.2%) showed cognitive function decline measured by the MMSE-KC. After adjusting for demographics and baseline MMSE-KC score, the best predictors for cognitive function decline at 36 months were diabetes mellitus, smoking, low intensity physical activity, relationship with relatives and friends. Conclusions : Health promotion programs that are focused on the elderly are essential in preventing cognitive function decline. Promoting regular physical activity, and social relationships should be included in health promotion for elderly. When treating patients with diabetes, preventing cognitive impairment should be considered through education and counseling.