• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.238-272
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• 2002

This study was intended to find out the factors affecting to the IADL, allowing objective assessment of physical function status of increasing elderly populations. The subjects of 635 elderly persons aged over 65 years old who live in Taejon metropolitan city were interviewed during the two-month period from June to July of 2000. The IADL of Older American Resources and Services(OARS), developed in Duke medical college of USA, was interpreted for use. The study results were statistically processed using SPSSWIN(ver 10.0) and conferred the following results: 1. Among the seven items of IADL, the women showed higher rates of 'yes' in items about using the telephone, getting to the places out of walking distance, going shopping for groceries, taking their own medicine while outnumbered by the men only in the item about managing their own money, without significant differences between them in items about preparing their own meals and doing their own housework. 2. In terms of IADL scores, $82.0\%$ of subjects showed the normal range of scores and $18.0\%$ were under the normal range, meaning dysfunction IADL. Specifications of general characteristics revealed that more dysfunctional were the male subjects, the higher age groups who are more than 75 years old, the higher educated groups, the groups who live in nursing homes, the groups without a spouse. 3. Based on daily activities, lower scores of IADL were found in the subjects who don't go out, who don't have recreational activities, who don't attend elderly gatherings in their neighborhood, who don't hold social meetings. Specifications of psychological traits revealed that more dysfunctional were IADL in the subjects who don't feel satisfied with their lives of the past or the present, who have a deep feeling of isolation, and who don't have the will to live. 4. Among 7 items of health habits, only the subjects who don't regular exercise had lower scores of IADL than those who do. According to HPI, the lower HPI, the more dysfunctional. 5. Based on the factors associated with IADL, the odds ratio of the subjects who don't live together with their families were 1.53 times that of the ones who do, who are educated 3.22 times that of the ones who are not, who don't have spouses 2.09 times that of the ones who do, who don't go out 4.35 times that of the ones who frequently go out, who don't recreational activities for an interest 2.64 times that of the ones who do, who don't attend elderly gatherings in their neighborhood 1.47 times that of the ones who do, who don't hold social meetings 2.23 times that of the ones who do, who don't feel satisfied with their present living 1.43 times that of the ones who do, who have a feeling of isolation 1.53times that of the ones who don'1, who have the weak will to live 3.21 times that of the ones who have the strong one, and who don't regular exercise 2.45 times that of the ones who do. 6. Logistic regression analysis of the study results found that such factors are significantly related as the degree of education, with/without spouse, social meetings, the will to live, and regular exercise, and that higher rates of dysfunctional subjects were in the more educated group, in the group without spouse, in the group who don't frequently go out, who don't have social meetings, who have the weak will to live, and who don't exercise.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.66-76
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• 1997

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to analyse sleep habits and sleep disorders in the elderly population ased 65-84 years. Methods : Epidemiological survey was performed at home by means of semi structured interviews in the city of Pusan, Korea. Subjects were randomly selected. The questionnaire consisted of 128 items including demographic findings, sleep habits, sleep disorders, somatic illnesses, and psychological distresses. Results : (1) The mean retiring time was 10.28 h (SD 1.30 h) and the mean wake-up time was 5.24 h (SD 1.33 h). The mean duration of sleep was 5.63 h (SD 1.80 h). The mean sleep onset time was 44.51 min. The mean frequency of daytime napping was 2.49 (SD 3.23). The subjects reported they woke up an average of 2.05 (SD 1.59) times per night. All of the above results were not related to age or gender. However, the mean frequency of difficulty in initiating/maintaining sleep was 2.2 times for men and 3.2 times for women (p<0.05). (2) The prevalence of insomnia was 57.7% and was not related to age or gender. Difficulty in initiating sleep was the most commonly reported insomnia complaint(52.4%). Early morning awakening was reported by 50.0% of patients and difficulty in maintaining sleep was reported by 45.1% of them. Worrying in bed and physical pain were strong contributing factor to insomnia. Conclusions : The results of our study showed several characteristics of sleep habits in the elderly. Sleep disorder in old age is not inevitable or trivial. Since sleep disturbance in older adults is common and distressing, it has implications for general health and well-being. Active concern and therapeutic intervention for the sleep habits and sleep disorders in the elderly are needed.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.53-63
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• 2019

Objective : Many communication recovery strategies should be used when communication breakdowns occur for successful communication, however, communication problems increase due to inadequate use of such strategies in older people with dementia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference of recovery strategy between dementia and the elderly in conversational discourse. Method : The subjects were eight of Alzheimer's dementia and 10 general elderly. Conversation discourse tasks were conducted face-to-face with the subjects. Communication breakdown and communication recovery strategies were analyzed based on 200 utterances collected in the conversation discourse. Result : First, the AD group had more communication breakdown than the control group, but the recovery rate did not differ between the groups. Second, in the AD group, the nonspecific recovery strategy and the clarification demand strategy were used as the expression strategy. The recovery rate after using expressive strategy was more than 90% in explanation strategy, combined strategy, nonspecific repair strategy, and repetition confirmation strategy. The response strategy used a lot of paraphrase strategy and combined strategies, and the recovery rate after using the response strategy was 100% for the simplification strategy, repeat strategy and gesture strategy. Conclusion : The AD group showed more breakdown of research subjects and breakdown of researchers than control group, and it showed ability to use various expression strategy and response strategy though there was difference in repair rate between communication repair strategy. AD group used nonspecific repair strategy in expression strategy the most and paraphrase strategy in response strategy the most. This shows different characteristic from ordinary elderly people. Therefore, it is necessary to utilize this repair strategy for rehabilitation of AD elderly.

• 한국노년학
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.645-666
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of the elderly with disability focused on comparison between aging with disability and disability with aging in Korea. Disability in older age has been related to several psychosocial characteristics, including social support, self-esteem, life satisfaction and depression. However, the exact role of these characteristics in the disablement process remains uncertain and this study focused on comparison between aging with disability and disability with aging in Korea. This study analyzed the 12th wave (2017) KWPS(Korean Welfare Panel Study)and Disability Study which included 692 elderly with disability aged 65 and over. The data were processed by SEM and multi-group SEM analysis. The findings were as follows; First, family support and the significant others support showed direct effects on the life satisfaction of the elderly with disability. Second, family support and the significant others support reduced the level of depression and enhanced self-esteem and finally impact on the life satisfaction of the elderly with disability. The formal support enhanced the depression and reduced self-esteem and eventually reduced the life satisfaction. Third, the disability with aging group showed more higher perception and more experience of formal support and formal service and more higher depression than the aging with disability group. Forth, the significant others support on life satisfaction only showed significance in disability with aging group and depression had significance in disability with aging group. Finally, aging with disability group showed positive effects on the formal support of life satisfaction but showed negative effects on the depression and self-esteem. Based on these findings, practical implications of future directions for research are discussed.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.43-51
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• 2024

Objectives : This study aims to explore the prevalence of depressive symptoms among elderly residents in the relatively stable rural areas of Jeju and to examine the relationships between levels of depression, sociodemographic factors, and health habits. Methods : The study site was within rural Jeju, where elderly individuals aged 65 and older were randomly selected from the 'Agricultural Cohort' registered at the Centers for Farmers' Safety and Health Center. Trained interviewers conducted surveys using the Short Form Geriatric Depression Scale (sGDS-K), defining those with scores of 6 or above as experiencing depressive symptoms for the analysis. Other variables such as sex, age, educational level, marital status, annual income, subjective health status, underlying disease, perceived stress levels, smoking, and drinking status were also recorded Results : Out of 533 subjects, the prevalence of depressive symptoms was 35.3%, with 28.5% in male and 45.6% in female (p<0.001). Factors significantly associated with the prevalence of depressive symptoms included marital status (p=0.014), educational level (p<0.001), annual income (p=0.034), subjective health status (p<0.001), perceived stress level (p<0.001), feeling of despair (p<0.001) and suicidal ideas (p<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that subjective health status, perceived stress level, and feelings of despair were associated with the prevalence of depressive symptoms. Conclusions : The high prevalence of depressive symptoms among the rural elderly in Jeju highlights the need for targeted mental health interventions. Addressing sociocultural factors and improving early detection and intervention strategies can help reduce the socioeconomic impact of depression in this population.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.245-265
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• 2017

Recently, studies on cognitive control revealed that the optimal level of control is determined on the basis of reward and cost. The value of reward can be subjective and therefore, the optimal control strength can vary accordingly. The inconsistent effect of aging on cognitive control can be the result of flexible adjustment of control signal strength made by the older subjects. In other words, the elderly people maintains the ability to set the optimal level of control, which is known as the function of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. On the other hand, the age-related decline in cognitive control is obvious in rule maintenance and inhibition, which has to do with the function of lateral prefrontal cortex. In this study, we had young and old adults perform go-no go task and compared the behavioral and neural results for different reward conditions. Both age groups showed the best performance and the largest ERN amplitude when the reward was most appealing to them. And there was no age effect in ERN amplitude even though older adults' d' and accuracy was inferior to younger participants. These findings suggest that the effect aging on different cognitive control processes can be asymmetric.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.123-138
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• 2018

In this paper, we use panel dataset from Korean linked worker-firm to analyse the effects of the workforce age structure on the productivity or labor costs. We measure 'labor productivity' as added value per capita, 'cost of labor' as labor cost per capita and estimate a dynamic panel model to study the effects of the workforce age structure on the productivity or labor costs. Empirical analysis results show that the workforce age structure is positively related to productivity and labor costs, but only up to the aged of 35-39. That is, we find that an increase in the proportion of younger workers or elder workers rather than the aged 35-39 has a negative effect on productivity and labor cost. In particular, the difference between the estimation coefficient of productivity and labor cost when the share of workers aged 50 or older is increased instead of the aged 35-39 is higher than the difference between the estimation coefficient of productivity and labor cost when the share of workers aged 30 or younger is increased instead of the aged 35-39. Our results exhibit that it is reasonable for firms to worry about declining productivity of elderly workers, whereas firms already used older workers efficiently, such as by adjusting their labor costs.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.37-52
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to provide the valid data about residential-linked pension insurance development. The development was a part of national housing projects, which was an incentive for rural living of retired people, in order to relieve residential issues of elderly and revitalize rural communities by residents moving from cities. The insuring intent, decisive insuring factors and the residential service demand degree of people preparing retirement were analyzed. Data was collected in October, 2007. 364 Sample Subjects lived in Seoul Metropolitan area. Firstly, more than 90% of respondents had intention to purchase a residential-linked pension insurance and about 50% of them necessarily desired receiving premium for moving in. This indicated that it could be developed as an insurance which helped to meet housing expenses by housing-linked system, and in the mean time, it met the original purpose of pension insurance as the pension benefit could be guaranteed for all the insurance subscribers. Secondly, the respondents, whose income and private assets were higher, were able to pay more for insurance compared to average. Therefore, It was necessary to regulate monthly insurance bill and the payment period according to asset states of insurance subscribers after establishing certain amount of total insurance payment. Thirdly, by and large, it indicated the tendency that the less they prepare for older age the later they wanted to move into the pension insurance residence. It was inferred that in the case of insufficient preparation for older age, people preferred preparing behind time by postponing move in to moving in early to enjoy retired life, due to uncertainties. lastly, the respondents understood the significance of health, medical treatment and emergency management service and these two services were preferred as essential provided services. Because of the necessity of developing residential-linked pension insurance was found to be positive, further research to find the real cost, directives for operation and institutional support for this type of pension insurance might be needed.

• Journal of Korea Game Society
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.15-22
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• 2009

Our society is the information-oriented knowledge society which demands the ability how to use computers to all members of the society and is the aging society which the old people 60 or older exist plentifully. But in our society, there are rarely the computers for the old people which are considered their body limit. In this research, we proposed a grip type Hangul(Korean alphabet)interface which are designed under the consideration for the body limit of the old people. The comparison analysis of the proposed Hangul interface is accomplished with the keyboard(ME TOO SV01) for old persons and the key buttons of the old person cellular phone(LG KV-3900) as existing products. The comparison analysis consists of quantitative evaluation as measurements and qualitative evaluation as a survey of the satisfaction levels of 10 older persons. The results of the quantitative evaluation show that the proposed Hangul interface is the best one in the human-technology-design, the number of input buttons which requires moving of user's fingers, the maximum range of moving of user's fingers, and the number of the fingers to use text inputs. The survey results of the satisfaction levels show that interface shape, and input button's positions have best levels and they show that input button's gaps and ease of use have the second levels but their points are almost same with the best points of the keyboard.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.69 no.2
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• pp.117-141
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences of the factors affecting the entry of depression by generations and to present a practical strategy for preventing of depression by life-cycle. For this purpose, we analyzed the factors influencing the depression of adults, middle-aged and elderly people through the discrete-time hazard model. The results of this study are as follows: First, the lower the self-esteem, the lower the income satisfaction and the family satisfaction people have, the higher the likelihood of entering the depression they have. In addition, age, educational level, health status, presence of chronic diseases, employment status, regional area, and leisure life satisfaction were variables that showed difference by generation. In the case of adulthood(aged 20 ~ 39), unemployed persons are more likely to enter the depression than younger workers. On the other hand, the middle-aged(40 ~ 64 year olds) are more likely to enter the depression if they are older, have poor health status, have no chronic disease, and have low leisure satisfaction. Finally, older people(aged 65 and over) are more likely to enter the depression when the education level is higher, the health condition is worse, and the leisure satisfaction is lower. If they lived in an urban and rural complex, they are more likely to enter the depression. Based on these results, it is necessary to establish a support plan reflecting the characteristics revealed by generations in order to prevent the entry of depression.