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Humans ; *Peer Review, Research

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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: 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

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

BACKGROUND: Potentially avoidable hospitalizations (PAH) contribute to an increased post-discharge mortality. METHODS: To investigate the between-hospital variation and the relationship between all predictors and mortality after discharge among older adults with PAH, we studied 15,186 older patients with PAH in 2,200 hospitals included in the National Health Insurance Service-Senior claims database from 2002 to 2013. Multivariable multilevel logistic regression analyses were performed to analyze the variance at between-hospital for mortality after accounting for differences in patient characteristics. RESULTS: The between-hospital variation in mortality that could be attributed to hospital practice variations were 37.6% at 1-week to 13.9% at 12-month post-discharge, after adjustment for individual patient characteristics and hospital-level factors. Hospital-level factors significantly explained mortality at 3 weeks after discharge. Clinics, compared with general hospitals, demonstrated a 2.75 times higher likelihood of deaths at 3-week post-discharge (p<0.001). Compared with private hospitals, public hospitals exhibited 1.61 times higher odds of 3-week mortality (p=0.01). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates considerable between-hospital variations in PAH-related mortality that could be attributed to hospital practices. Monitoring of hospitals to identify practice variations would be warranted to improve the survival of older patients with PAH.
Adult ; Hospitalization ; Hospitals, General ; Hospitals, Private ; Hospitals, Public ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Mortality ; National Health Programs