Digital therapeutics are emerging as treatments for diseases and disabilities. In chronic kidney disease (CKD), gait is a potential biomarker for health status and intervention effectiveness. This study aims to analyze gait characteristics in CKD patients, providing baseline data for digital therapeutics development. Methods: At baseline and after an 8-week intervention, we performed bioimpedance analysis measurements, the Timed Up and Go, Tinetti, and grip strength tests, and gait analysis in 217 healthy individuals and 276 patients with CKD. Demographic and clinical information was collected, including underlying diseases and medications, laboratory tests, and quality of life satisfaction surveys. Gait analysis was performed using skeleton data, which involved acquiring three-dimensional skeleton data of a walker using a single Kinect sensor. The performance of an artificial intelligence-based classification model in distinguishing between healthy individuals and those with CKD was then investigated. Simultaneously, inertia measurement unit analysis was conducted using measurements taken from the wrist and waist. Results: Most subjects received a health intervention via an app, and their gait was assessed for improvements after an 8-week period. Incidents such as falls, fractures, hospitalizations, and deaths will be investigated in years 1 and 3. Conclusion: This study confirmed that the gaits of healthy individuals and CKD patients were different, and the effect of the 8-week app-based health intervention will be analyzed. The study will yield important baseline data for creating digital therapeutics for CKD patients’ diet/exercise in the future.

Purpose: We developed a comprehensive return to work (RTW) intervention covering physical, psycho-social and practical issues for patients newly diagnosed and evaluated its efficacy in terms of RTW. Materials and Methods: A multi-center randomized controlled trial was done to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention conducted at two university-based cancer centers in Korea. The intervention program comprised educational material at diagnosis, a face-to-face educational session at completion of active treatment, and three individualized telephone counseling sessions. The control group received other education at enrollment. Results: At 1-month post-intervention (T2), the intervention group was more likely to be working compared to the control group after controlling working status at diagnosis (65.4% vs. 55.9%, p=0.037). Among patients who did not work at baseline, the intervention group was 1.99-times more likely to be working at T2. The mean of knowledge score was higher in the intervention group compared to the control group (7.4 vs. 6.8, p=0.029). At the 1-year follow-up, the intervention group was 65% (95% confidence interval, 0.78 to 3.48) more likely to have higher odds for having work. Conclusion The intervention improved work-related knowledge and was effective in facilitating cancer patients’ RTW.

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the illness experiences of people with young-onset dementia who live in a community. Methods: Six community-dwelling patients with young-onset dementia, aged 65 or under, were recruited. Data were collected from August 2019 to July 2020 and analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis. Results: The data were classified into five themes and eleven sub-themes. The following themes emerged: 1) Anguish enough to want to die from dementia symptoms that hit the prime of one's life; 2) Being thrown from middle age to old age; 3) Becoming a burden due to changing roles within the family; 4) Experiencing difficulties in the diagnosis and treatment process due to onset before old age; and 5) Living with young-onset dementia in one's own life. Conclusion The findings suggest that people with young-onset dementia have unique experiences associated with middle age Korean traits. Therefore, based on their illness experiences, effective psychosocial nursing interventions tailored to their age should be developed.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore healthcare professionals’ experience of talking about the fear of cancer recurrence with cancer survivors. Methods: Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 healthcare professionals at two university hospitals in South Korea from August to September 2019. Interviewed healthcare professionals were oncologists and oncology nurses who had at least five years of experience in caring for cancer survivors. Interviews were recorded and transcribed for qualitative content analysis. Results: Participants agreed that most cancer survivors experience fear of cancer recurrence on some level.However, health care professionals rarely heard the word ‘recurrence’ directly from cancer survivors, and they responded to cancer survivors’ concern about recurrence differently. Some of them intervened in the cancer survivors’ problems actively but some had minimum communication with cancer survivors. Health professionals believed that interventions were necessary not only for the survivors but also for themselves. Conclusion Healthcare professionals need education or training on how to respond to and manage cancer survivors’ fear of recurrence in clinical settings, considering its impact on survivors’ quality of life.