BACKGROUND: To investigate the physical function of elderly people in Korea using quantitative and objective tools and to assess the impact of declined physical function on their quality of life. METHODS: The Korean Longitudinal Study on Health and Aging was designed as a population-based prospective cohort study on the health and aging of the elderly people in Korea aged 65 years and older. Within one city's central metropolitan area, 1,000 subjects including a simple random sample and an oldest-old subpopulation participated in a baseline study for one year. We evaluated the isokinetic peak torque of the knee extensors and flexors, grip force, and Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) and surveyed their daily physical activities and quality of life using the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). RESULTS: Overall, 676 subjects completed the evaluations of physical function and activity. The isokinetic torque of the knee extensors and flexors declined with age in both men and women. The women in the old-old (75-84 years) group showed lower SPPB and physical activity than women in the young-old (65-74 years) group, but these measures were maintained till age 85 in the men. SPPB and physical activity were significantly associated with the physical component scale (PCS) of the SF-36 in both men and women, while isokinetic torque was associated with PCS in women only. CONCLUSION: Physical performance and activity declined differently in Korean elderly men and women. Both these measures showed to be the main factors associated with quality of life.
Aged ; Aging ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Hand Strength ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Knee ; Korea ; Longitudinal Studies ; Male ; Motor Activity ; Prospective Studies ; Quality of Life ; Torque

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the personality characteristics in parricide offenders, by using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) test, which is commonly used in clinical medicine. METHODS: A total of 73 parricide offenders with schizophrenia who were admitted to National Forensic Hospital in Gongju city between September 2014 and February 2015, and 104 comparison schizophrenia patients who had been admitted to Dankook University Hospital in Cheonan city the same hospital, completed the Korean version of the MMPI. RESULTS: The parricide offender group showed significantly higher on L, F, Hs, Hy and Pd than the comparison group. The result of the regression analysis indicated that Pd and Si significantly increased the odd ratio of the sexual offender group by 2.77 times and 0.32 times, respectively (p=0.029 and p=0.023). The offenders of parricide may have developed the following characteristics: hypochondriasis, hysteria and psychopathic deviate. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that the psychopatholgy in the offenders of parricide might be different, compared to the control group.
Chungcheongnam-do ; Clinical Medicine ; Criminals* ; Humans ; Hypochondriasis ; Hysteria ; Korea* ; Minnesota* ; MMPI* ; Psychopathology ; Schizophrenia*

Management options for patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) have evolved substantially over the past decades. The American Society of Hematology published a treatment guideline for clinicians referring to the management of ITP in 2011. This evidence-based practice guideline for ITP enables the appropriate treatment of a larger proportion of patients and the maintenance of normal platelet counts. Korean authority operates a unified mandatory national health insurance system. Even though we have a uniform standard guideline enforced by insurance reimbursement, there are several unsolved issues in real practice in ITP treatment. To optimize the management of Korean ITP patients, the Korean Society of Hematology Aplastic Anemia Working Party (KSHAAWP) reviewed the consensus and the Korean data on the clinical practices of ITP therapy. Here, we report a Korean expert recommendation guide for the management of ITP.
Anemia, Aplastic ; Clothing ; Consensus ; Evidence-Based Practice ; Hematology ; Humans ; Insurance ; National Health Programs ; Platelet Count ; Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic*

This study attempted to calculate and investigate the incidence of hospitalized acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and stroke in Korea. Using the National Health Insurance claim data, we investigated patients whose main diagnostic codes included AMI or stroke during 2006 to 2010. As a result, we found out that the number of AMI hospitalized patients had decreased since 2006 and amounted to 15,893 in 2010; and that the number of those with stroke had decreased since 2006 and amounted to 73,501 in 2010. The age-standardized incidence rate of hospitalized AMI, after adjustment for readmission, was 41.6 cases per 100,000-population in 2006, and had decreased to 29.4 cases in 2010 (for trend P < 0.001). In the case of stroke was estimated at 172.8 cases per 100,000-population in 2006, and had decreased to 135.1 cases in 2010 (for trend P < 0.001). In conclusion, the age-standardized incidence rates of both hospitalized AMI and stroke in Korea had decreased continuously during 2006 to 2010. We consider this decreasing trend due to the active use of pharmaceuticals, early vascular intervention, and the national cardio-cerebrovascular disease care project as the primary and secondary prevention efforts.
Acute Disease ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Hospitalization/*trends ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction/*epidemiology ; Patient Readmission ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Sex Factors ; Stroke/*epidemiology ; Young Adult