• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.82 no.3
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• pp.211-216
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• 2019

Background: Docetaxel is one of the standard treatments for advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Docetaxel is usually administered in a 3-week schedule, but there is significant toxicity. In this phase II clinical study, we investigated the efficacy and safety of a 4-weekly schedule of docetaxel monotherapy, as first-line chemotherapy for advanced squamous cell carcinoma in elderly lung cancer patients. Methods: Patients with stage IIIB/ IV lung squamous-cell carcinoma age 70 or older, that had not undergone cytotoxic chemotherapy were enrolled. Patients received docetaxel $25mg/m^2$ on days 1, 8, and 15, every 4 weeks. Primary endpoint was the objective response rate (ORR). Secondary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and toxicity profiles. Results: A total of 19 patients were enrolled. Among 19 patients, 17 were for evaluated efficacy and safety. In the intent-to-treat population, ORR and disease control rate (DCR) were 11.8% and 47.1%, respectively. In the response evaluable population, ORR was 16.7% and DCR was 66.7%. Median PFS and OS were 3.1 months and 3.3 months, respectively. There were three adverse grade 3/4 events. Grade 1 neutropenia was reported in one patient. Conclusion: Our data failed to demonstrate efficacy of a 4-weekly docetaxel regimen, in elderly patients with a poor performance status. However, incidence of side effects, including neutropenia, was lower than with a 3-week docetaxel regimen, as previously reported.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.51-71
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• 2019

This study analyzed the poverty rate by poverty dimension, correlation between multidimensional poverty, variables that affected the number of poverty dimension and the probability of the poor or not. The sample consisted of 6,361 elderly households (1,561 baby boom birth cohort, 1,793 post-liberation birth cohort, 3,007 Japanese colonial period birth cohort) taken from the $12^{th}$ Korean Welfare Panel Study. First, the highest poverty rate among the baby boom birth cohort was 62.8% of employment poverty. The highest rate among the post-liberation birth cohort and Japanese colonial period birth cohort, was 82.5%, 92.3% of health poverty, respectively. Second, the highest coefficient in the baby boom birth cohort was .354 for asset poverty and relation poverty. In the remaining two cohorts, the coefficient for asset poverty and relation poverty was the highest at .268, .284, respectively. Third, the average number of poverty dimensions was 2.318 of the baby boom birth cohort, 2.921 of the post-liberation birth cohort, 3.564 of the poverty in the Japanese colonial period birth cohort. Also, the poverty rate for each cohort was 20.179%, 28.779%, and 50.083%, respectively. Fourth, the significant variables in all cohorts were gender, education, marital status, residence, and equalized ordinary income for the multiple regression analysis on the number of poverty dimensions. Additionally, age of the post-liberation birth cohort was significant, age and family numbers of the Japanese colonial period birth cohort were significant. Significant variables in logistic analysis on the probability of poverty or not were the same as those of regression analysis.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.274-284
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to collect basic data for 'the development of welfare service customized for the elderly' and furthermore provide policy suggestions for enhance welfare services for them in communities, and therefore, understanding local seniors' entire life conditions and needs for welfare service, who live in Masanhoiwon-gu, Changwon-si. To this end, this study would attempt to examine their life conditions and needs for welfare, 600 senior citizens aged 60 or order in Masanheowon-gu, Changwon-si. The findings show that the community has had several difficulties such as increase of the elderly living alone and their poor economic status, chronic illness and lack of volunteer work. Based on them, this study proposed a policy agenda for municipalities to resolve the welfare needs of the elderly.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.330-348
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to derive useful theoretical and practical implications for the prevention and overcoming of burnout of visiting caregivers by conducting a qualitative case study researb on the burnout experience of visiting caregivers. To this end, we analyzed the context in which visiting caregivers experienced relationships with the elderly 65 years of age or older and their family carers for long-term care benefit service, and the dispatched home elderly welfare center. As a result, a total of 12 high-level categories were derived, Which were 'I fell into a suspicious person', 'Fallen self-esteem', 'Visiting caregiver activity I don't want to do anymore', 'Oppressed being', 'In a violent situation Exposure', 'Devaluated care worker', 'Work that is difficult to be recognized as a professional occupation', 'Labor where the boundaries of work are not clear', 'Disappointment with family guardians', 'Social awareness and effort that is not easy to improve', 'Poor treatment of dispatching agencies' and 'Distrust of dispatching agencies'.

• 한국노년학
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.1361-1381
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• 2009

There have lately been a variety of social issues in our society due to rapid social changes. Specifically, how to approach elderly people who suffer from dementia is never an easy task, and few in-depth studies have ever focused on their quality of life due to that. The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of life of elderly people with dementia and the relationship between their quality of life and the environments of facilities for them in an attempt to lay the foundation for the development of compatible programs tailored to the environments of the facilities and for relevant policy setting. It's ultimately meant to improve the quality of life of the elderly with dementia and the environments of facilities for them. The subjects in this study were elderly people with dementia who were housed in senior residential and medical welfare facilities in Daegu and Gyeongsangbukdo. The collected data were analyzed with a SPSS 12.0 program, and frequency analysis, cross-tabs and multiple logistic regression analysis were utilized. As a result, facility environments were identified as one of the variables that had a significant impact on the quality of life of the elderly people with dementia. There are some suggestions about how to boost their quality of life: First, good environments should be prepared in consideration of the characteristics of elderly people with dementia in order for themto be satisfied with their own quality of life, and the way of looking at their potentials should be changed. Second, it's found that main caregivers affected the quality of life of the elderly people with dementia, and the kind of programs that focus on the improvement of the relationship between elderly people with dementia and their main caregivers is required. Third, there should be a change in the environments of the facilities. The facilities should be well equipped to successfully respond to the symptoms of elderly people with dementia. To redress their poor accessibility to the facilities, infrastructure involving nursing homes and professional personnels should be built by utilizing the Internet, and the facilities and local community should make concerted efforts to provide quality care to elderly people in want of it.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.3331-3335
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• 2013

Background: The incidence of prostate cancer, one of the most common cancers in elderly men, is increasing annually in Thailand. Matrix metalloproteinase 11 (MMP-11) is a member of the extracellular matrix metalloproteases which has been associated with human tumor progression and clinical outcome. Aim: To quantify MMP-11 expression in prostatic adenocarcinoma tissues and to determine whether its overexpression correlates with survival outcome, and to assess its potential as a new prognostic marker. Materials and Methods: Expression of MMP-11 was analyzed using immunohistochemistry in 103 Thai patients with prostatic adenocarcinoma. Overall survival was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier methods and Cox regression models. Results: Immunoreactivity of MMP-11 was seen in the stroma of prostatic adenocarcinoma tissue samples, high expression being significantly correlated with poor differentiation in Gleason grading, pathologic tumor stage 4 (pT4), and positive-bone metastasis (p<0.05), but not age and prostatic-specific antigen (PSA) level. Patients with high levels of MMP-11 expression demonstrated significantly shorter survival (p<0.001) when compared to those with low levels. Multivariate analysis showed that MMP-11 expression and pT stage were related with survival in prostatic adenocarcinoma [hazard ratio (HR)=0.448, 95% confidence interval (95%CI)=0.212-0.946, HR=0.333, 95%CI=0.15-0.74, respectively]. Conclusions: Expression of MMP-11 is significantly associated with survival in prostatic adenocarcinoma. High levels may potentially be used for prediction of a poor prognosis.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.450-457
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• 2020

Background: The production of glass beads in Ghana is greatly impacted by the ingenuity of Ghanaian women. Preliminary investigations revealed the lack of interest on the part of women due to poor working conditions as a result of the influence of culture-specific silence. Therefore, the study investigated the poor working conditions faced by these industrious women with the ultimate goal of suggesting ways they can be empowered. Methods: A phenomenological study was conducted in two indigenous glass bead communities in Ghana. Data were solicited via direct observations, personal interviews and focus group discussions. Twenty-six purposively sampled respondents were recruited for the study. Data from the study were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Results: The results confirmed that the elderly women glass bead makers are much influenced by the Ghanaian culture of silence. This prevents the women from speaking about the challenges they are facing in their work. Also, the women are silenced because of the fear of losing their jobs as well as the reluctance of their male managers to remedy the challenges they encounter in the course of work. This has resulted in poor remuneration, lack of insurance packages for workers, certification, and absence of personal protective tools for the women. Conclusion: The study tasks the government of Ghana, the Legal Advocacy for Women in Africa (LAWA), the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission in Ghana, the Ghana Trade Union as well as the Local Government Workers' Union to empower the women to sustain the glass bead industry in Ghana.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.31-40
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• 2023

Objectives: This study investigated the effect of cognitive impairment on the association between social network properties and mortality among older Korean adults. Methods: This study used data from the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. It obtained 814 older adults' complete network maps across an entire village in 2011-2012. Participants' deaths until December 31, 2020 were confirmed by cause-of-death statistics. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess the risks of poor social network properties (low degree centrality, perceived loneliness, social non-participation, group-level segregation, and lack of support) on mortality according to cognitive impairment. Results: In total, 675 participants (5510.4 person-years) were analyzed, excluding those with missing data and those whose deaths could not be verified. Along with cognitive impairment, all social network properties except loneliness were independently associated with mortality. When stratified by cognitive function, some variables indicating poor social relations had higher risks among older adults with cognitive impairment, with adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of 2.12 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.34 to 3.35) for social nonparticipation, 1.58 (95% CI, 0.94 to 2.65) for group-level segregation, and 3.44 (95% CI, 1.55 to 7.60) for lack of support. On the contrary, these effects were not observed among those with normal cognition, with adjusted HRs of 0.73 (95% CI, 0.31 to 1.71), 0.96 (95% CI, 0.42 to 2.21), and 0.95 (95% CI, 0.23 to 3.96), respectively. Conclusions: The effect of social network properties was more critical among the elderly with cognitive impairment. Older adults with poor cognitive function are particularly encouraged to participate in social activities to reduce the risk of mortality.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.111-121
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• 2005

This study was to performed to assess social factors and physical health status. The subjects of the study were 103 elderly people of age over 85 years living in Ganghwa-gun area. The method of this research was based on the interview-survey with questionnaire. Chi-square test was the main data analysis method. The subject group was composed of 36 males and 67 females, the average age being 91.0 $\pm$ 3.2 years old for the males and 91.1 $\pm$ 3.4 years old for the females. The aged average height and weight were 161.0 $\pm$ 7.9 cm and 54.6 $\pm$ 7.8 kg in males, 141.0 $\pm$ 8.2 cm and 42.2 $\pm$ 7.9 kg in females which were lower than the Korean average standard but the mean BMIs of both male and female showed normal range. Their level of education was lower and they tended to be religious. The aged population might be economically poor. Their level of living standards tended to have been lower-middle and lower class. The mean age of their parents' death were 64.3 $\pm$ 17.2 years in males, 59.0 $\pm$ 14.9 years in females for the father and 70.9 $\pm$ 15.5 years in males, 66.8 $\pm$ 16.6 years in females for the mother. The rate of living together with their family or spouse in the female aged was $83.2\%$ higher than in the male aged. They tended to have engaged in hobbies that require less movement. Of the kinds of hobby, 'TV watching ($47.8\%$ in male and $44.9\%$ in female) was the highest. Ratios of the drinking and the smoking elderly were $30.6\%$, $25.0\%$ in male and $7.5\%$, $18.8\%$ in female but they tended to have never drunken and smoked. Of the subjects, $42.9\%$ spend 8$\~$9 hours for sleeping in male and $35.8\%$ spend 10 hours for sleeping in female. They tended to have not done any particular health behavior. The most common diseases were digestive disease in male, arthritis and hypertension in female. Most elderly males ($47.3\%$) and females ($61.2\%$) had 1$\~$2 diseases.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.307-315
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• 2018

Purpose: This study evaluated the effects of personalized nutrition intervention for increasing hospital meal intake by elderly patients with malnutrition. Methods: The subjects were 30 elderly patients with malnutrition who visited a general hospital located in Daegu. An individual nutrition intervention such as change of meal types or special meal service was given to the patients according to nutrition diagnosis related to inadequate intake of hospital meals. Nutritional intake status of the subjects was assessed by analyzing energy intake, protein intake, index of nutritional quality (INQ), nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR) and mean adequacy ratio (MAR). Results: The causes of inadequate intake in the subjects were poor appetite or preference problems (46.7%), symptom-related problems (30.0%) and mastication problems (23.3%). The INQ of protein in the subjects was significantly increased from $0.81{\pm}0.17$ to $1.41{\pm}0.25$ after the nutrition intervention (p < 0.05). The NAR of protein (before $0.50{\pm}0.21$, after $0.58{\pm}0.17$), iron (before $0.72{\pm}0.30$, after $0.84{\pm}0.29$) and vitamin $B_2$ (before $0.31{\pm}0.16$, after $0.37{\pm}0.14$) was also increased after the nutrition intervention (p < 0.05). The MAR of five nutrients, protein, calcium, iron, vitamin A and vitamin $B_2$, was significantly increased by the nutrition intervention (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Personalized nutrition intervention according to nutrition diagnosis related to inadequate intake of hospital meals may improve the intake amount of elderly patients with malnutrition.