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Background: With the recent advances in medicine, patients with congenital heart disease are surviving to adulthood. Adults with congenital heart disease must practice self-management to recognize the symptoms of complications and the appropriate response. Aims: The purpose of this study was to develop a self-management efficacy promotion program for adults with congenital heart disease and to test the effects of the developed program on disease-related knowledge, self-management implementation and health-related quality of life. Methods: A non-equivalent, control group, pre–post test design was used. The intervention group received the self-management efficacy promotion program for six weeks. The control group received only the usual care. Results: The study results showed that disease-related knowledge (F=91.095, p<0.001) was significantly different between the two groups, as was the self-management performance (F=11.846, p<0.001). However, health-related quality of life (generic core scale: F=0.023, p=0.881, cardiac module scale: F=0.174, p=0.678) was not significantly different between groups. Conclusion: The self-management efficacy promotion program for adults with congenital heart disease had a significant effect on disease-related knowledge and self-management implementation, but did not affect health-related quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the delirium prevention interventions recommended by the Delirium Prevention Guidelines for Elderly Stroke Patients (DPGESP). The DPGESP comprises nine dimensions with 28 interventions, including risk factor assessment, orientation disorder prevention, sleeping pattern maintenance, sensory interventions, constipation, dehydration, hypoxia and infection prevention, pain management, and appropriate nutrition maintenance. This quasi-experimental study used a nonequivalent control group and a pretest–posttest design. The experimental and control groups each included 54 patients, and the participants were elderly patients who were admitted to the stroke unit. The study outcomes were the delirium incidence and severity, stroke impact, and length of hospitalization. Posttest values for delirium incidence, severity, stroke impact, and length of hospitalization were significantly improved in the experimental group. Implementation of the DPGESP had beneficial effects on the delirium incidence and severity, stroke impact, and length of hospitalization among elderly patients admitted to a stroke unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between social support, decisional conflict, and attitude towards advance directives, and determine whether decisional conflict mediates the relation between social support and advance directives attitude among older adults in South Korea. Methods: In total, 209 community‐based older adults (mean age, 74.82 years) participated in this cross‐sectional study. Demographic characteristics, self‐perceived health status, social support, decisional conflict, and advance directives attitude were investigated via a structured questionnaire. Data analysis was carried out using Pearson's correlation and path analyses. Results: The mean score of advance directives attitude was 48.01 (range, 35–61). Decisional conflict and social support were both significantly related to advance directives attitude (P < 0.001). Additionally, decisional conflict was a mediator between social support and advance directives attitudes. Conclusion: The results confirmed the importance of social support for reducing decisional conflict and encouraging positive attitudes toward advance directives. Future studies are needed to support the development of culturally sensitive educational approaches regarding advance directives for older adults in Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome is consistently increasing among Korean adults and is reported to be particularly high among older adults in Korea. This paper reports the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and identifies the association between metabolic syndrome and physical activity in Korean older adults. Subjects of this study were 3653 older adults who participated in the fourth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey during the years 2007-2009. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the study population was 46.84%. The prevalences of abdominal obesity, elevated fasting glucose, elevated triglycerides, reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and elevated blood pressure were 39.51, 45.53, 39.55, 48.24, and 69.14%, respectively, in the study population. Compared to subjects who reported low levels of physical activity, the odds ratios of metabolic syndrome for those who were moderately active and highly active were 0.93 and 0.63, respectively. Nurses should develop metabolic syndrome management programs that are tailored to the needs of the targeted group and that include individually adapted physical activity programs to promote health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This cross-sectional comparative study compares differences in depression in the elderly with mild cognitive impairment and those with normal cognitive function in a community. Study subjects were drawn from elderly people visiting one particular public health center in Seoul, South Korea and included 81 people with mild cognitive impairment and 81 with normal cognitive function who were matched based on age, sex, education, and daily living activities. Study variables, including cognitive function, activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, and depression, were measured with standardized instruments. Collected data were statistically analyzed with Student's paired t-test and χ2 test. The results showed no significant differences between these groups in terms of depression. Therefore, in community practice settings, nurses should understand that depression is not a manifestation of cognitive impairment and should develop effective nursing strategies to assess depression while considering other factors including age, sex, education, and daily living activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Negative attitudes toward dementia may pose an obstacle to the early diagnosis and treatment of this syndrome. However, because no scale has been designed to measure fear of dementia, a reliable and valid instrument that is able to measure accurately the multifaceted attributes of fear of dementia must be developed. Purpose: This study was designed to develop a scale to measure fear of dementia in community-dwelling older adults and to examine its validity and reliability. Methods: A preliminary version of the measurement scale was developed using a literature review and conceptual framework. Expert analysis of content validity, item analysis based on classic test theory and item response theory, factor analysis, reliability analysis, criterion validity test, and a Rasch model analysis were performed for the psychometric evaluation. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0, AMOS 22.0, and WINSTEPS 3.92.1. Results: The factor analysis revealed three dimensions, five factors, and 19 items that explain 78.44% of the total variance. The three dimensions are cognitive, social, and physical, and the five factors are (a) direct experience of precursor symptoms of dementia, (b) preliminary knowledge of dementia, (c) concerns about family burden, (d) shame, and (e) physical response. Conclusions: The Fear of Dementia Scale for older adults was shown to be valid and reliable. Therefore, this scale may be used to accurately measure the fear of dementia in elderly individuals. Using this scale to identify the level of fear of dementia will facilitate the early diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to develop and test the effect of the Korean Function‐Focused Care Programme (K‐FFCP) on cognition and physical and psychological status in long‐term care facilities' (LTCs) residents. Design: A quasi‐experimental repeated‐measures design was used. Methods: The K‐FFCP was developed to maintain and maximise functions of older people in LTCs. After implementing the K‐FFCP for six weeks, differences in the cognitive status, activities of daily living (ADL) performance, physical capability, grip strength, fear of falling, depression and anxiety status of the two groups were examined using repeated‐measures analysis of variance. Patient outcomes were evaluated at baseline and at 6 and 12 weeks after the intervention. Results: In the experimental group, a significant group–time interaction effect was reported for ADL performance and depression. Conclusion: The current findings provided evidence of its feasibility and indicated significant improvement in older people's functions using the K‐FFCP. Although this study is a pilot test, these results may confirm the importance of the K‐FFCP for the maintenance of ADL performance in older people in LTCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]