OBJECTIVE: To compare severity of disability and quality of life between the handicapped residing in a welfare facility and the handicapped living at home. METHOD: This research conducted a survey for the handicapped persons in Goyang city. The survey consisted of the following items: disability diagnosis, modified Barthel index (MBI), Korean-activities of daily living (K-ADL), 8-item short form health survey instrument (SF-8) and life domain satisfaction measure (LDSM). A total number of 144 handicapped persons participated, and 66 among them lived at home. RESULTS: In regard to the range of activities of daily living MBI, K-ADL and quality of life; SF-8, those who resided in a welfare facility showed higher scores. In terms of satisfaction of life, the two groups did not show significant difference in housing, education and family relationship. However, as for leisure and health, those who resided in a welfare facility showed higher satisfaction. CONCLUSION: The handicapped persons residing in a welfare facility could function more independently in carrying out daily activities, and they showed higher quality and more satisfaction of life compared to those who lived at home. These results support that more attention would be needed for disabled persons at home to make welfare and rehabilitation policies.
Activities of Daily Living ; Disabled Persons ; Family Relations ; Health Surveys ; Housing ; Humans ; Leisure Activities ; Lifting ; Quality of Life

OBJECTIVE: Bietti crystalline dystrophy (BCD) is a rare degenerative eye disease caused by mutations in the CYP4V2 gene, and Cyp4v3 is the murine ortholog to CYP4V2. To better understand the molecular pathogenesis of this disease and to explore the potential treatment we have established a Cyp4v3 knock-out mouse model. METHODS: Cyp4v3^-/- mice were generated by clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 in embryonic stem cells of C57BL/6J mice. Ocular morphologic characteristics were evaluated via fundus imaging, histologic analysis of rods and cones via immunofluorescence, and phalloidin stain to observe retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in whole-mounts, electroretinogram (ERG) was also conducted to examine the retinal function. RESULTS: The characteristic features of BCD recurred in the Cyp4v3^-/- mice, including retinal crystalline deposits, atrophy and degeneration of RPE cells, and ERG amplitude decline of dark and light adapted a- and b- wave; however, the immunofluorescence stain of rod and cone cells did not show obvious differences when compared with the wild type (WT) mice. In the early stage of the disease, no crystal-like deposits were found in the fundus, ERG detection of the retinal function did not find a significant decline, and the morphological structure and quantity of the neural retina and RPE did not change significantly. Crystalline deposits occurred and converged when the Cyp4v3^-/- mice at the end of 6 months, and the deposits disappeared when the Cyp4v3^-/- mice at the end of 12 months. The ERG amplitude started to decline when the Cyp4v3^-/- mice at the end of 6 months and deteriorated at the end of 12 months. The RPE cells of the 12-month old Cyp4v3^-/- mice showed irregular shape by phalloidin staining of F-actin. The Cyp4v3^-/- mice behaved normally and were viable and fertile when maintained under specific pathogen-free (SPF) housing conditions. CONCLUSION Just like BCD patients, the disease progress of Cyp4v3^-/- mouse is correlated with the age, which provides a good model for pathogenesis and gene therapy study in the future. The atrophy and degeneration of RPE take the lead in progressing of the disease, but the mechanism is not clear yet.
Animals ; Face ; Fertility ; Gene Knockout Techniques ; Housing Quality ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) in postmenopausal members and non-members of the elderly support association in Borujen city, Iran. METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional descriptive study being applied to the participants were postmenopausal women of over 55 years. Thus, 40 postmenopausal members of the elderly support association of Borujen city and 40 non-members were randomly selected. The 36 item short-form health survey (SF-36), with the 4 psychological, social, physical-movement, and environmental domains, was completed. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. RESULTS: The mean total score of QOL of member of the association was significantly greater than non-members. Student's t-test showed a significant relationship between QOL and membership of the association (P < 0.05). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the mean QOL of postmenopausal women, according to membership and marital status (P < 0.01), housing (P < 0.01), and underlying disease (P < 0.01), was statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: According to the results, supportive measures, such as increasing the participation of the elderly in public life through proper preparations to join them and membership in peer groups such as support associations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can be greatly effective in improving QOL. The results showed that the QOL of the participants was at a moderate level and membership in support associations for the elderly was effected on the QOL in postmenopausal women. Moreover, considering the importance of the elderly in the community.
Aged* ; Community Networks ; Female* ; Health Surveys ; Housing ; Humans ; Iran ; Marital Status ; Peer Group ; Postmenopause ; Quality of Life* ; Women's Health

OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study were to investigate the factors influencing life satisfaction and quality of life (QOL) of the disabled persons and to help the planning and evaluation of Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR). METHOD: Data were collected through personal interviews of 503 registrated disabled persons in Uiwang City. Demographic variables and scores of modified Barthel index (MBI), modified Lambeth disability screening questionnaire (MLDSQ), Craig handicap assessment and reporting technique (CHART) and life domain satisfaction measure (LDSM) were obtained. RESULTS: The score of LDSM was 4.0+/-1.0. Life satisfaction was related to the age, sex, employment status, severity of disability, educational level, housing and residence, level of instrumental activities of daily living and social integration. MLDSQ score was the most strong predictor of life satisfaction (p=0.00) followed by social integration (p=0.001) and total CHART scores (p=0.017). And the factors influencing the handicap were monthly income, severity of disability, employment, level of education and age. CONCLUSION: Based on our study, we suggest that the CBR program of Uiwang City need to focus on improving functional ability and social skill of disabled individual and housing, and also promoting their vocational and educational status.
Activities of Daily Living ; Disabled Persons* ; Education ; Educational Status ; Employment ; Gyeonggi-do* ; Housing ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Quality of Life* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Rehabilitation

Silver industry or senior friendly industry is an industry that helps the aged people maintain their healthy life and increase their quality of life. It includes various specialized industries such as health care facilities and service industry, senior friendly housing industry, medical and rehabilitation equipments industry, senior friendly leisure industry, health information service industry, and so on. The silver industry is growing and becoming popular in countries where proportion of aged population and their buying power are increasing, and Korea is one of the fastest aging countries in the world and the buying power of the aged is also increasing. This means that the silver industry in Korea is expected to grow rapidly in the near future. In fact, one report foresees that the annual growth rate of silver industry for 10 years from 2010 in Korea is expected to be 12.9% whereas that of overall industry is only 4.7%.It is quite natural that active participation of physicians is desperately needed in the development of silver industry because of the nature of health problems of the aged population, and for effective applications and supplies of the silver industry to the aged. For this, specialized curriculum on geriatric health problems and the characteristics of silver industry should be provided to the medical students in the undergraduate medical education and to the physicians in the postgraduate and continuing medical education programs. Special short-term educational program for the retired physicians to work at the health care facilities with or without being paid are also desirable.
Aged ; Aging ; Curriculum ; Delivery of Health Care ; Education, Medical, Continuing ; Education, Medical, Undergraduate ; Equipment and Supplies ; Housing ; Humans ; Information Services ; Korea ; Leisure Activities ; Quality of Life ; Silver ; Students, Medical

The objective of this study was to investigate factors affecting the return home one year after a stroke. The subjects of this study consisted of patients who participated in a large-scale multi-objective cohort study of initial stage stroke patients who were admitted to 9 representative hospitals in Korea. We analyzed the distribution of the subjects who had experienced stroke a year earlier by distinguishing the group who returned home and the other group that was hospitalized in rehabilitation hospitals. Based on this distribution, we evaluated the demographic, environmental, clinical, and psychological factors that can affect the return home. Overall, there were 464 subjects in the ‘Return home’ group and 99 subjects in the ‘Rehabilitation hospitalization’ group. job status, inconvenient housing structures, residential types, diagnosis, Functional Ambulation Categories, modified Rankin Scale, Korea-Modified Barthel Index, Function Independence Measure, Fugl-Meyer Assessment, Korean version of Mini-Mental State Examination, Korean version of Frenchay Aphasia Screening Test, Psychosocial Well-being Index-Short Form, Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form, EuroQol-five Dimensional showed a significant difference between the 2 groups one year after the stroke. The factors affecting the return home one year after a stroke include functional status, activities of daily living, cognition, depression, stress, quality of life, job status. It is expected that factors affecting the rehabilitation of patients with stroke can be considered as basic data for establishing rehabilitation goals and treatment plans.
Activities of Daily Living ; Aphasia ; Cognition ; Cohort Studies ; Depression ; Diagnosis ; Housing ; Humans ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Patient Discharge ; Psychology ; Quality of Life ; Rehabilitation ; Stroke ; Walking

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with considerable impairment of patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Knowledge of factors that significantly affect IBD patients’ HRQoL can contribute to better patient care. However, the HRQoL of IBD patients in non-Western countries are limited. Hence, we assessed the HRQoL of Singaporean IBD patients and identified its determinants. METHODS: A prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted at Singapore General Hospital outpatient IBD Centre. The HRQoL of IBD patients was assessed using the short IBD questionnaire (SIBDQ), Short Form-36 physical and mental component summary (SF-36 PCS/MCS) and EuroQol 5-dimensions 3-levels (EQ-5D-3L) and visual analogue scale (VAS). Independent samples t-test was used to compare HRQoL between Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Determinants of HRQoL were identified through multiple linear regression. RESULTS: A total of 195 IBD patients (103 UC, 92 CD) with a mean disease duration of 11.2 years were included. There was no significant difference in HRQoL between patients with UC and CD. Factors that significantly worsened HRQoL were presence of active disease (b=−6.293 [SIBDQ], −9.409 [PCS], −9.743 [MCS], −7.254 [VAS]), corticosteroids use (b=−7.392 [SIBDQ], −10.390 [PCS], −8.827 [MCS]), poor medication adherence (b=−4.049 [SIBDQ], −1.320 [MCS], −8.961 [VAS]), presence of extraintestinal manifestations (b=−13.381 [PCS]), comorbidities (b=−4.531 [PCS]), non-employment (b=−9.738 [MCS], −0.104 [EQ-5D-3L]) and public housing (b=−8.070 [PCS], −9.207 [VAS]). CONCLUSIONS: The HRQoL is impaired in this Asian cohort of IBD. The magnitude of HRQoL impairment was similar in UC and CD. Clinical characteristics were better determinants of patients’ HRQoL than socio-demographic factors. Recognizing the factors that impact patients’ HRQoL would improve the holistic management of IBD patients.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Cohort Studies ; Colitis, Ulcerative ; Comorbidity ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ; Linear Models ; Medication Adherence ; Outpatients ; Patient Care ; Prospective Studies ; Public Housing ; Quality of Life ; Singapore