This study was conducted to identify physical, psychological and environmental factors affecting elderly falls and to identify fall frequencies according to each dwelling places and types and to provide basic data for developing preventive strategies following fall accident of the elderly. The research design was a reprospective survey study which analyzed fall experiences during the past year. Data was collected from Nov, 1997 to Mar, 1998 for four months by personal interview. The research subjects were 475 people over 65 years old, who dwelled in their homes, two free nursing homes, one elderly sanatorium town and five general hospitals. Research results were as follow ; The mean age of the subjects was 73.1 years. Of the subjects, 69.9% was female, 64% was separate or bereaved, 55.8% had no education, 34.7% had no religion, 43.1% was extreme poverty. 73.1% of the elderly dwelled in their homes and 20% of the subjects were living at fishing and agraian villages. Mean number of diseases per subject was 2.63 of which musculo-skeletal problem was most common. Elderlies who experienced falls were 48.2%, 55.9% of them had fallen once a year. The most frequent fall occurrence time was from noon to 3 pm, the season was winter and the fall places were outdoors. Highest fall cause was sliding. 60.6% of the injuries were minor, 14.2% were serious( fracture, dislocation, amputation or head injuries ), which were treated by hospitalization or surgery. Especially most house facilities had potential risk factors of the fall. There were no handrail, slippy surface and narrow space of the bathrooms, high door sill and dangerous stairs etc. There were significant differences on the presence of falls in the elderly according to sex, education level, number of diseases, use of brace and living together with children. There were significant differences on the presence of the falls in the elderly according to toilet type, presence of threshold and stairs, surface of bathroom, depression level, cognitive function and ADL ability. Variables which affected ADL ability of the elderly were age, house type, self-rating health status and gait ability. Variables which affected depression of the elderly were age, religion, education level, marital status, living together with children, self-rating health status and number of diseases. Variables which affected cognitive function of the elderly were religion, age and house type. In conclusion, this study showed various physical, psychological and environmental fall risk factors of the elderly. So there is a need to development suitable intervention programs to reduce risk factors, to make elderly life sage and to increase the quality of their life.
Activities of Daily Living ; Aged* ; Amputation ; Braces ; Child ; Craniocerebral Trauma ; Depression ; Dislocations ; Education ; Female ; Gait ; Hospitalization ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Marital Status ; Nursing Homes ; Poverty ; Research Design ; Research Subjects ; Risk Factors ; Seasons

No abstract available.

The purpose of this study was to survey basic data for management of elderly day care centers. In this study. occupation. leisure life. and food. clothing and habituation. as well as social relationship. health state and behavior. and general characteristics of subjects were examined to identify the factors affecting their cognition. need and preference of the day care centers. The subjects of this study were 392 elderly. aged 60 years or over. living in Gangnung and neighboring districts. Data were collected by educated interviewers from November 4 through Novemver 22, 2002. The subjects were interviewed face to face. one for one after the interviewee's agreements on the survey. The collected data were analysed with logistic regression analysis by SAS (statistical analysis system). Logistic regression analysis was done to identify affecting factors for cognition. need and preference of the elderly day care centers. The major findings are as follows: 1. The factors affecting cognition for care centers were analysed. The the day subjects with an occupation and a lower satisfaction level of living environment and friendship. who were economically secure enough to manage a sudden accident. showed a higher level of cognition of the day care centers. The subjects with a higher level of mental health state and a lower level of IADL also showed a higher level of cognition. On the general characteristics younger female subjects showed a higher level of cognition. 2. The subjects with a lower level of perceived economic condition who did not own their housing and were not economically safe enough to manage a sudden accident. had showed a higher level of need for the day care centers. It showed that the subjects with a high level of mental health state. a bad eye sight and dental condition. a good perceived health condition. and a lower level of IADL. needed the centers. 3. The subjects who had an occupation, however, not capable of making their own daily expenses. and a low occupation satisfaction level. and who did not own their housing. and were economically poor not enough to manage a sudden accident. showed a higher preference for the day care centers. The subjects with higher levels of friendship satisfaction and perceived health condition. not living with their spouse. and a higher education level, showed a higher preference for the centers. In conclusion. the common factors affecting their cognition. need and preference of the day care centers were occupation, economic security enough to manage accidents. and friendship satisfaction level. Especially, the subjects who had an occupation, however. not economically secure enough to manage accidents. and who did not live in their own housing with a good perceived health condition, showed high levels of need and preference for the day care centers. These results can be used as basic data to develop the efficient elderly day care centers, thus contribute to the elderly welfare in a local community.
Aged* ; Clothing ; Cognition ; Day Care, Medical* ; Education ; Female ; Friends ; Gangwon-do ; Housing ; Humans ; Leisure Activities ; Logistic Models ; Mental Health ; Occupations ; Spouses

The objective of this study was to apply a dementia prevention program to the subjects who were suspected of dementia and test its effect. This study was one group pretest-posttest design. The dementia prevention program was applied for 20 weeks to the 19 subjects who were suspected of dementia after a screen test among 638 subjects enrolled in 10 senior citizen's centers in G city. The scores of measured before and after the program. The data collected were analyzed using a SPSS (statistical analysis system) program, and frequencies, averages and standard deviations were obtained. The differences of the scores of the pretest and posttest were analyzed with Mann-Whitney test and sign test. The results were as follows: 1. After the program, the average score of self-efficacy was increased from 75.31 (standard deviation 11.99) to 84.26 (standard deviation 13.92). 2. There are no differences between the average scores of physical and psychological quality of life, however, the average score of social quality of life was slightly increased from 2.25 (standard deviation 0.40) to 2.53 (standard deviation 0.43), and the overall score of social quality of life was low. 3. The average score of cognition was significantly increased from 21.00 (standard deviation 2.60) to 24.58 (standard deviation 3.37), thus, it was found that the program was effective to improve the cognition level. 4. The score differences of self-efficacy, quality of life, cognition between the pretest and posttest were statistically significant. 5. The score differences of quality of life between the pretest and posttest were found to be dependent on marital status, exercise and regular chechup yes or no. In conclusion, the program was effective to prevent the subjects suspected of dementia from dementia.
Cognition ; Dementia* ; Marital Status ; Quality of Life

The purpose of this study was to identify calls, roles and attitudes of the Christian medical staff in a modern medical system for holistic healing through belief in God's healing methods and God's view about medical treatment. The meaning of healing in the Bible is derived from Rapha in the Old Testament, it's meaning is 'heal wound', 'restore to original condition', 'repair', 'console' and 'be heal'. In the New Testament, the meaning of healing is 'to serve' and 'be in one's service' derived from Therapuein and 'preserve', 'rescue', 'save a life from death' derived from Sozo. Therefore the meaning of the healing in the Bible is restoring original completeness to the same as God's characteristics. The meaning of disease is physical, psychological, social and spiritual imbalance or disharmonious. Disease is usually depravity from moral life to immoral life and abnormal life process with accompanying specific symptoms. Medical staff were called to God's work, recognized God's will for them, and absolutely leaned on God's power to intervene and work above spatial-temporal transcendently. They use spiritual power with medical treatment skills, help sick people to possibly have dynamic and individual relation with God and help to maintain their well-being and complete healing. Attitudes of medical staff were compassion and love, virtue of modesty, strong and daring, patience with belief, healing with God's word, using spiritual insight, play, using medical knowledge and techniques, continuing spiritual training, laying on of hands and repentance.
Bible ; Christianity* ; Empathy ; Hand ; Humans ; Love ; Medical Staff ; Virtues

Voice changes developing after endotracheal intubation during right hemicolectomy with endotracheal intubation have been found to be due to a right recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy in 43-years-old male patient. It was likely that the inflated cuffed tube rode up to the level of the cricoid cartilage during the course of surgery as traction was placed on the endotracheal tube because the condenser humidifier and breathing circuit weighed heavy. Cuff overexpansion, in addition to muscle relaxation and decreased tracheal elasticity were considered as contributing factors of vocal cord palsy. We believe that tube traction and cuff overexpansion were the mechanism of vocal cord palsy in our patient. So we recommend the routine use of tube stand so that weigh of the breathing circuit does not transmit traction to the endotracheal tube. Concurrently, filling the cuff with a sample of the inspired mixture of gases, saline and 4% lidocaine in special cases or regular deflation of the cuff must be considered.
Cricoid Cartilage ; Elasticity ; Gases ; Humans ; Intubation, Intratracheal* ; Lidocaine ; Male ; Muscle Relaxation ; Respiration ; Traction ; Vocal Cord Paralysis* ; Vocal Cords* ; Voice

Studies of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of neonatal white matter damage are few, and descriptions of this type of brain damage are limited. During the past three years, we have encountered three full-term infants with selective white matter damage over the course of their viral illness. All three neonates presented with seizures a few days after showing symptoms of a viral illness. The results of bacterial cultures of the blood, CSF, and stool were negative. Newborn screening tests for organic aciduria, amino acid metabolism disorders, and fatty acid oxidation defects were also negative. In two infants, an electroencephalogram (EEG) showed slow basic activity, which is a typical finding in patients with encephalitis/encephalopathy. The Diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) showed abnormally high signal intensity localized to the white matter of the corpus callosum, thalamus, internal capsule, or hippocampus. The findings of DWI suggested that the neonates' lesions had occurred recently. All patients recovered completely.
Brain ; Corpus Callosum ; Electroencephalography ; Hippocampus ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn* ; Internal Capsule ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Mass Screening ; Metabolism ; Seizures ; Thalamus

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a six week self-help empowerment strategy program on the empowerment status, pain intensity, physical function, joint flexibility and depression status in rheumatoid arthritis patients. METHOD: The subjects of the study consisted of a convenience sample thirteen rheumatoid arthritis patients. Data was collected from July to November, 2001. All patient received a self-help empowerment strategy program, once a week for six weeks. RESULT: After receiving the self-help empowerment strategy program, the empowerment status increased significantly, the pain intensity and the depression score decreased significantly and the level of physical function significantly improved but the flexibilities of shoulders, knees and ankles were not significantly changed. CONCLUSION: Further studies need to be done to determine the feasibility of implementing empowerment strategy and its possibility as an effective intervention program for decreasing pain intensity and depression score and improving the physical function.
Ankle ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Depression ; Humans ; Knee ; Power (Psychology)* ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Self-Help Groups ; Shoulder

No abstract available.
Dwarfism*

No abstract available.
Gastroenteritis* ; Humans* ; Rotavirus*