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KMID : 0897520170220020038
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Journal of Korean Association of Social Psychiatry
2017 Volume.22 No. 2 p.38 ~ p.46
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The Usefulness of the MMSE Pentagon Test to Predict of Social Engagement in the Elderly Living Alone
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Nam Gi-Hyeok
Kim Jung-Woo
Park Ki-Chang
Kim Tae-Hui
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Abstract
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Objectives : The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between the visuospatial abilities using Mini-mental Status Examination (MMSE) and the social engagement in healthy elderly living alone.
Methods : The study subjects were the elderly who had no depression, cognitive impairment and physical disability among participants in the survey of elderly people living alone in a rural area. The visuospatial ability was evaluated by MMSE pentagon test and the social engagement was measured by frequency of going out. We compared the characteristics of high and low social engagement groups according to gender and then evaluated the effect of visuospatial ability on social engagement by separating men and women using multivariate logistic regression.
Results : There were 675 participants (man : 168, women : 507) and their average age was 76.4±5.8 years (man : 75.6±5.6 years women : 76.7±5.8 years). The impairment of visuospatial ability was associated with low social engagement in men (OR 0.32, 95% CI : 1.2-7.94 ; p=0.019) but in women.
Conclusion : This study suggest that the low social engagement in elderly men may be relate to decline of visuospatial ability regardless of depression, impairment of other cognitive functions, and physical disabilities. As a result, we need to consider new application of MMSE in community, especially, in elderly people living alone who need social attention and early intervention.
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KEYWORD
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Visuospatial ability, Social engagement, Elderly, Gender difference
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