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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Sun Seog Kweon¹, Minho Shin¹, Kyeong Soo Park², Hae Sung Nam³, Seul Ki Jeong⁴, Jin-Su Choi⁵, and jung-Ae Rhee⁶. (1) School of Medicine Department of Preventive Medicine, Seonam University, 720 Gwangchidong, Namwon, Jeollabukdo, 590-711, South Korea, (82) 018 604 4280, ujingogo@paran.com, (2) School of Medicine Department of Preventive Medicine, Seonam University, 720 Gwangchidong, Namwon , Jeollabukdo, 590-711, South Korea, (3) School of Medicine Department of Preventive Medicine, Chungnam University, 6 Munwhadong, Junggu, Daejeon, South Korea, (4) School of medicine Department of Neurology, Chonbuk University, San 2-20 Geumam-dong, deokjin-gu, Jeonju, Jeollabukdo, 561-762, South Korea, (5) School of Medicine Department of Preventive Medicine, Chonnam National University, 5 Hakdong, Gwangju, 501-190, South Korea, (6) Department of Preventive Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, 5 Hak-1-dong, Dong-gu, Gwangju, 501-190, South Korea

The health problems of solitary-living elderly individuals in rural communities has become a major public health issue in South Korea, as in other countries, owing to a growing elderly population and urbanization. This study compared solitary- and non-solitary-living elderly individuals in a rural community in terms of cognitive impairment, depressive symptoms, and quality of life. We evaluated 2,272 subjects (1,005 males and 1,267 females), aged 65-87, living in a rural area, in terms of their cognitive level using the Korean version of modified Mini-Mental State Examination (K-mMMSE), their depressive symptoms using the Center for Epidemiological Depression (CES-D) protocol, and their quality of life using the European instrument EUROQOL 5D (EQ-5D). Of the total, 5.7% were solitary-living men and 32.3% were solitary-living women. In women, the age adjusted prevalence of cognitive impairment (K-mMMSE<60) and depression symptoms (CES-D>24) in solitary-living elderly individuals were significantly higher than they were in non-solitary individuals (45.2% vs. 41.1% for K-mMMSE and 20.4 vs. 13.2% for CES-D, respectively). The lower levels of cognitive function and higher depression scores of solitary-living elderly individuals persisted in females after adjusting for age, education level, and socioeconomic status. These differences were not observed in male subjects. The quality of life, measured using the EQ-5D score, did not differ significantly in either sex. These findings suggest that appropriate public health programs are needed to prevent depression and dementia among solitary-living elderly women in rural areas.

Learning Objectives:

• List 4 indicators that describe mental status
• Evaluate the cognitive level,depressive symptoms and quality of life among older
• idnetifiy the differences of the mental status between solitary and non-solitary older in rural area.

Keywords: Elderly, Mental Illness

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered

Handout (.pdf format, 177.8 kb)