PurposeThis study investigated the relationship between 2-year-old children’s exposure to TV and language delay.MethodsThe subjects of this study were 1,778 toddlers (906 males and 872 females) who participated in the Panel Study on Korean Children conducted in 2010. The linguistic ability of the toddlers was measured with the K-ASQ (Korean-Ages and Stages Questionnaire). The relationship between the amount of young children’s exposure to TV and language delay was analyzed with Poisson regression.ResultsThe average daily TV watching time of 2-year-old Korean toddlers in this study was 1.21 hours. After all confounding variables were adjusted, toddlers with over 2 hours and less than 3 hours of TV watching time had 2.7 times more risk (RR = 2.74, 95% CI: 1.13–6.65) of language delay than those with less than 1 hour of TV watching time. Those with more than 3 hours of TV watching time had approximately 3 times (RR = 3.03, 95% CI: 1.12–8.21) more risk (p<0.05). In addition, the risk of language delay increased proportionately with the increase in toddlers’ TV watching time (p = 0.004).ConclusionTwo-year-old Korean toddlers’ average daily TV watching time of more than 2 hours was related with language delay.

Clustering of healthy lifestyles, especially among older men, supports the potential benefit of a multiple behavior change approach. Health promotion efforts should target the socially disadvantaged and functionally compromised segment of the older population presenting low adherence to recommended behaviors.

[Purpose] This study aimed to investigate the effect of simultaneous application of postural techniques and expiratory muscle strength training on the enhancement of the swallowing function of patients with dysphagia caused by Parkinson’s disease. [Subjects and Methods] The subjects of this study were 18 patients who received simultaneous application of postural techniques and expiratory muscle strength training and 15 patients who received expiratory muscle strength training only. Postural techniques were conducted in the order of chin tucking, head rotation, head tilting, bending head back, and lying down, while expiratory muscle strength training was conducted at a resistance level of about 70% of the maximal expiratory pressure. Swallowing recovery was assessed by using the Functional Dysphagia Scale based on videofluoroscopic studies. [Results] The mean value obtained in the videofluoroscopic studies for both groups decreased after the treatment. In the postural techniques plus expiratory muscle strength training group, the decrease was significantly greater than that in the expiratory muscle strength training-only group. [Conclusion] The results imply that simultaneous performance of postural techniques and expiratory muscle strength training is more effective than expiratory muscle strength training alone when applied in the swallowing rehabilitation for patients with dysphagia caused by Parkinson’s disease.

Background and Objectives: Identifying the risk factors of teachers’ voice disorders is very important for preventing voice disorders and the recurrence of them. This meta-study identified risk factors associated with teachers’ voice disorders through systematic review and meta-analysis and provided basic data for preventing them. Materials and Methods: This study collected literature on the risk factors of teachers’ voice disorders using six databases (i.e., CINAHL, EBSCO, PUBMED, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and Springer Link). Search was limited to studies published between 1 January 2000 and 15 October 2018, and a total of 16 publications were selected for the analysis of this study. The quality of selected literature was assessed using the “Standard Quality Assessment Criteria for Evaluating Primary Research Papers from a Variety of Fields”. The effect size was analyzed by odds ratio and 95% confidence interval. Results: The results of the quality assessment ranged from 20 to 24 points with six strong studies and ten good studies. The meta-analysis showed that gender, upper airway problems, caffeine consumption, speaking loudly, number of classes per week, and resignation experience due to voice problems were the major risk factors of teachers’ voice disorders. On the other hand, age, number of children, drinking, physical activity, smoking, water intake, singing habits, duration of teaching, perception of noise inside the school, number of classes per day, noise assessment inside the classroom, and perception of technology and instruments inside the workplace were not significantly related to voice disorders. Conclusions: Longitudinal studies should be conducted in the future to confirm causality between voice disorders and risk factors based on the results of this study.

[Purpose] The effectiveness of neuromuscular electrical stimulation in the rehabilitation of swallowing remains controversial. This study compared the effectiveness of neuromuscular electrical stimulation and thermal tactile oral stimulation, a traditional swallowing recovery treatment, in patients with sub-acute dysphagia caused by stroke. [Subjects and Methods] Subjects of the present study were 55 patients diagnosed with dysphagia caused by stroke. This study had a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. [Results] Analysis of pre-post values of videofluoroscopic studies of the neuromuscular electrical stimulation and thermal tactile oral stimulation groups using a paired t-test showed no significant difference between the two groups despite both having decreased mean values of the videofluoroscopic studies after treatment. [Conclusion] This study’s findings show that both neuromuscular electrical stimulation and thermal tactile oral stimulation significantly enhanced the swallowing function of patients with sub-acute dysphagia.

Background/Aim: To investigate the multiple effects of socioeconomic factors on cognitive impairment in older persons. Methods: Subjects were a nationally representative sample (n = 4,155) aged ≧65 years of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging. Cognitive status was assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination. Education, income, wealth and occupation were measured, with low levels on each factor combined to produce an aggregate risk score. Multiple logistic regression was used to analyze the combined effects of socioeconomic risks on cognitive impairment. Results: A socioeconomic risk gradient was evident, with the combined effect being stronger than any one of the risk factors acting alone. Compared with those with no risks, the odds ratios were 2.4 (for 2 socioeconomic risks), 3.4 (3 risks) and 7.7 (4 risks) for men, and 2.8 (2 risks), 3.5 (3 risks) and 5.4 (4 risks) for women. For individual socioeconomic risks, income and occupation were significant predictors of cognitive impairment in men, whereas in women, all 4 factors were independently associated. Conclusion: Multiple socioeconomic risks have a combined effect on cognitive impairment in older adults.

Abstract-Dementia is a geriatric disease which has emerged as a serious social and economic problem in an aging society and early diagnosis is very important for it. Especially, early diagnosis and early intervention of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) which is the preliminary stage of dementia can reduce the onset rate of dementia. This study developed MCI prediction model for the Korean elderly in local communities and provides a basic material for the prevention of cognitive impairment. The subjects of this study were 3,240 elderly (1,502 males, 1,738 females) in local communities over the age of 65 who participated in the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Aging (close) conducted in 2012. The outcome was defined as having MCI and set as explanatory variables were gender, age, level of education, level of income, marital status, smoking, drinking habits, regular exercise more than once a week, monthly average hours of participation in social activities, subjective health, diabetes and high blood pressure. The random Forests algorithm was used to develop a prediction model and the result was compared with logistic regression model and decision tree model. As the result of this study, significant predictors of MCI were age, gender, level of education, level of income, subjective health, marital status, smoking, drinking, regular exercise and high blood pressure. In addition, Random Forests Model was more accurate than the logistic regression model and decision tree model. Based on these results, it is necessary to build monitoring system which can diagnose MCI at an early stage.

Background and objectives: Only a few studies analyzed the physical activity level of elderly people living alone in local communities and evaluated the relationship between it and mental health. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between regular physical activity and depression in the elderly living alone and to provide basic data for the prevention of depression in the elderly. Materials and Methods: We analyzed 256 elderly people living alone aged 65 years or older who completed the 2014 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Depression was defined as a score of 10 or higher using Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). This study investigated walking per week, days of muscular strength exercise performance in the past 1 week, days of flexibility exercise in the past 1 week, mean hours in a sitting position per day, the numbers of days and hours conducting a high intensity physical activity in the past 1 week, and numbers of days and hours conducting a medium intensity physical activity in the past 1 week to define physical activity. Our study presented prevalence odds ratios (pOR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) by using complex sample logistic regression analysis in order to identify the relationship between physical activity and depression. Results: The results of complex sample logistic regression analysis showed that flexibility exercise was significantly related to depression (p < 0.05). On the other hand, the mean hours in a sitting position per day, aerobic physical activity, walking, and muscular strength exercise were not significantly related to geriatric depression. Conclusions: The results of our study implied that persistent flexibility exercise might be more effective to maintain a healthy mental status than muscular strength exercise. A longitudinal study is required to prove the causal relationship between physical activity and depression in the old age.