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Original Articles
- Prevalence of Dementia in the Elderly of an Urban Community in Korea .
- Dong Hyun Kim, Duk L Na, Byeon Gil Yeon, Yeonwook Kang, Kyung Bok Min, Soo Hyun Lee, Sang Suk Lee, Mi Ra Lee, Ok Jung Pyo, Chan Byung Park, Sunmean Kim, Sang Soo Bae
- Korean J Prev Med. 1999;32(3):306-316.
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Abstract
PDF - OBJECTIVES
In Korea, as in most countries, there will be a sharp increase in the number of dementia patients in the near future. However basic data on dementia prevalence, which is important in defining epidemiologic characteristics and in implementing preventive strategy, are limited. This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence rate of dementia in the urban elderly aged 65 or older in Kwangmyung, Korea. METHODS: A two phase design was used for case finding and case identification. In phase I, a representative sample aged 65 or older was selected and interviewed by door-to-door survey with a Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE). In phase II, Of the 946 subjects interviewed in phase I, 356 elderly were randomly selected disproportionately according to K-MMSE score. Of these elderly, 223 (61.5%) underwent standardized clinical evaluations, including psychiatric interview, neurological examination, and neuropsychological assessment. Dementia was diagnosed by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria. The diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) was made by National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke-Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association(NINCDS-ADRDA) criteria and vascular dementia (VD) by DSM-IV. RESULTS: The overall weighted prevalence rate of all dementia among Kwangmyung residents aged 65 or older was 12.8%(age-adjusted rate: 13.0%, 95% Confidence Interval[CI]: 10.6-15.3%). Women had much higher prevalence rate than men even when age was controlled(15.9%[95% CI 12.6-19.2%] vs 7.5%[95% CI 4.6-10.4%]). The rates of dementia were 5.2%, 12.2%, 17.0%, and 34.3% for the age groups of 65-69, 70-74, 75-79 and 80 and over, respectively. The rate of AD appeared to be slightly higher than that of VD(5.2% vs 4.8%), though not statistically significant. Most of the cases(69%) were mild dementia according to CDR(<1) in these subjects. CONCLUSIONS: These results showed that the prevalence rate of dementia among urban elderly in Korea appears to be higher than those of other Asian countries. -
Summary
- Cross-sectional Survey for Prevalence Rate of Scoliosis in Primary, Middle and High School Boys in Pusan City.
- Bok Yong Kim, Jung Han Park, Poong Taek Kim
- Korean J Prev Med. 1988;21(2):217-223.
- 2,097 View
- 32 Download
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Abstract
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- A cross-sectional survey was conducted to determine the prevalence rate of scoliosis in elementary, middle and high school boys in May 1988. The study population included 1,393 male students in Pusan ; 463 students of 4th grade in two elementary schools, 543 students of 1st grade in one middle school and 387 students of 1st grade in one high school. The students of elementary school were screened with inspection by two physicians at the same time and the students of middle and high schools were screened with both inspection by the same physicians and 70mm chest X-ray. Positive students in any one of the two screening tests were measured for height and body weight and asked for the shoulder side on which he carries the school bag. The angle of curvature on X-ray film was measured by Cobb's method. The number of positive students in any one of the two tests were 15(3.2%) in elementary schools, 174(32.0%) in middle school and 92(23.8%) in high school. However, positive rates in both tests were only 2.2% for the middle school students and 2.6% for the high school students and among these students 1.1% out of total middle school students and 2.3% of high school students had a curvature equal to or greater than 5 degrees of Cobb's angle on 70mm chest X-ray film. There was a statistically significant association between the direction of spinal curve and the shoulder side on which one carries school bag among positive students in both screening tests (p<0.05). Mean height and body weight of 281 positive students in any one of two screening tests were compared with the Korean standard for the same age. Mean weight of elementary school students was nearly the same as the standard weight but the height was slightly shorter than the standard. However, both mean height and weight of the middle school students were lower than the standard while those of the high school students were higher. The prevalence rate of scoliosis for the 2nd 3rd grades of high school is presumed to be higher than that of the 1st grade of high school and the rate for girls will be even higher than the rate for boys of the same age. Thus, scoliosis seems to be an important school health problem. To prevent scoliosis, it is recommended to reduce the weight of school bag, educate the students to keep a right posture and exercise periodically.
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