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Humans ; *Peer Review, Research

BACKGROUND: This study was done to identify the prevalence of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and BPHrelated symptoms among community-dwelling elderly men in Korea. In addition, quality of life and health care-seeking behavior were explored. METHODS: A total of 417 elderly men were surveyed using the IPSS (International Prostatic Symptom Score) and a structured questionnaire on health care-seeking behaviors. RESULTS: The prevalence of BPH was 19.7%. Of those with BPH, 80.3% reported mild symptoms, 13.2% moderate symptoms, and 6.5% severe symptoms. The severity of BPH-related symptoms was significantly correlated with quality of life. Among those with BPH, 42.7% had never consulted with anyone about their symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: BPH has emerged as a serious public health problem in elderly men. Elderly people who experience worse symptoms of BPH have a lower quality of life. Many elderly with BPH do not seek health care, mainly due to misconceptions about BPH. The provision of educational programs for BPH may significantly improve the quality of life of elderly men.
Statistics, Nonparametric ; Quality of Life ; Prostatic Hyperplasia/complications/*epidemiology/prevention & control ; Prevalence ; Patient Acceptance of Health Care ; Male ; Korea/epidemiology ; Humans ; Health Surveys ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aged

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to identify major factors associated with physical functioning among the Korean elderly. METHODS: Data come from a survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,058 older people aged 60 years or older living in the community. A hierarchical functioning scale was constructed, using upper and lower body mobility, IADLs, and ADLs. Socioeconomic characteristics, chronic conditions, measures of health status, health service use, and social support were analyzed to explore their influence on functioning. Polytomous logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify major contributing factors to different levels of functioning. RESULTS: Persons of older age, female, with chronic diseases (heart disease, stroke, fracture/dislocation) were consistently more likely to show a higher degree of functional limitation. There were variations, however, among other factors; e.g., those with arthritis were more likely to be only mildly impaired, but not moderately or severely impaired. CONCLUSIONS: Older Korean adults living in the community with impaired functioning constitute persons with diverse characteristics. Policy and program activities need to address specific needs of older people in different functioning states.
Activities of Daily Living ; Adult* ; Aged ; Arthritis ; Chronic Disease ; Female ; Health Services ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Stroke

OBJECTIVES: According to Rowe and Kahn (1998), successful aging is the combination of a low probability of disease, high functioning, and active engagement with life. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between active engagement with life and functioning among the community-dwelling elderly. METHODS: Data were collected from Wave 2 of the Suwon Longitudinal Aging Study (SLAS), consisting of a sample of 645 persons aged 65 and older living in the community. A social activity checklist and social support inventory were used as measures of engagement with life, along with the Physical Functioning (PF) scale as a measure of functioning. The effects of social support and social activity on physical functioning, taking into account the covariates, were analyzed by hierarchical linear regression analysis. RESULTS: Maintenance of social activity and social support were significantly associated with higher physical function, after adjusting for sociodemographic and healthrelated covariates. Social support appeared to be more prominent than social activity in predicting physical functioning. CONCLUSIONS: Social support and social activity are potentially modifiable factors associated with physical function in older persons. Studies examining the role social engagement may play in preventing disability are warranted.
*Social Support ; Male ; Longitudinal Studies ; Korea ; *Interpersonal Relations ; Humans ; Female ; Disability Evaluation ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aged ; *Activities of Daily Living

No abstract available.
Exercise ; Health Behavior ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; *Motor Activity

Background: This study investigated the differences in the risk of potentially avoidable hospitalization (PAH) among eligible long-term care insurance (LTCI) beneficiaries with dementia for LTCI services in Korea. Nested case-control study was conducted using the National Health Insurance Service–Senior claim database. Methods: Cases of individuals who had a PAH incident diagnosis and controls were selected by incidence density sampling and matched to cases based on age, sex, and difficulty of daily living among dementia patients. We conducted incidence density sampling three times by PAH type. Results: Our main results were presented by conditional logistic regression analysis for the matched case–control studies. Out of the 7,352 eligible LTCI beneficiary patients, there were 1,231 cases (16.7%) in overall PAH, 132 cases (19.0%) in acute PAH and 1,114 cases (16.7%) in chronic PAH categories. In terms of individual risk of overall and chronic PAH, the odds ratios of those who did not receive any services were 1.336 time higher (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.159–1.540) and 1.280 time higher (95% CI, 1.103–1.485) compared to those who received home care, respectively. For risk of acute PAH, the odds ratios of those who did receive institutional care were 2.046 time higher (95% CI, 1.170–3.578) compared to those who received home care. Conclusion This study identified the differences in risk of PAH incidents according to the type of LTCI service in the elderly population in Korea. Therefore, it will require substantial effort and strategy from health policy makers to improve care quality.