Hong Dahye, Lee Seon Heui
Department of Health Policy and Management, Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Department of Nursing Science, College of Nursing, Gachon University, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
Digit Health. 2023 Aug 24;9:20552076231197340. doi: 10.1177/20552076231197340. eCollection 2023 Jan-Dec.
Quality of life for the elderly has become an important issue, and services aimed at improving it have typically been provided face-to-face. However, coronavirus disease 2019 has limited the use of face-to-face services, and the need to convert such systems to online interfaces has emerged.
This study evaluates the effectiveness of a non-face-to-face comprehensive elderly care application called "Smart Silver Care."
This study was designed as a randomized controlled trial. Sixty community-dwelling elderly individuals were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups in a 1:1 ratio. The participants participated in the "Smart Silver Care" intervention using a tablet and smartwatch based on the programs we provided. The participants performed five tasks, five days a week, consisting of physical, emotional, and cognitive programs. Participants could communicate with the researchers in real-time from their homes, and the researchers could remotely supervise their performance.
We found positive effects on the relevant scales testing fall risk (Activities-Specific Balance Confidence [ABC] Scale, = 0.028; Timed Up and Go [TUG] test, = 0.001). However, there was no time × group interaction between the experimental and control groups on the relevant scales for depression and quality of life (Short Form-Geriatric Depression Scale [SGDS]-K: = 0.225; EuroQol five-dimension five-level [EQ-5D-5L], = 0.172). While the SGDS-K and EQ-5D-5L did not show statistical significance, we found improvement trends in the experimental group.
The findings of this study show that Smart Silver Care significantly improved the participants' TUG and ABC scores in community-dwelling elderly, and a qualitative evaluation confirmed that it could be conveniently used by the elderly. Thus, Smart Silver Care offers a feasible intervention to improve the quality of life of the elderly, including physical aspects.
老年人的生活质量已成为一个重要问题，旨在改善生活质量的服务通常是面对面提供的。然而，2019年冠状病毒病限制了面对面服务的使用，因此出现了将此类系统转换为在线界面的需求。
本研究评估一款名为“智能银色关怀”的非面对面综合老年护理应用程序的有效性。
本研究设计为随机对照试验。60名社区居住的老年人按1:1的比例随机分为实验组和对照组。参与者根据我们提供的程序，使用平板电脑和智能手表参与“智能银色关怀”干预。参与者每周五天执行五项任务，包括身体、情感和认知程序。参与者可以在家中与研究人员实时沟通，研究人员可以远程监督他们的表现。
我们发现，在测试跌倒风险的相关量表上有积极影响（特定活动平衡信心[ABC]量表，P = 0.028；计时起立行走[TUG]测试，P = 0.001）。然而，在抑郁和生活质量的相关量表上，实验组和对照组之间在时间×组间交互作用方面没有差异（老年抑郁量表简表[SGDS]-K，P = 0.225；欧洲五维度五水平健康量表[EQ-5D-5L]，P = 0.172）。虽然SGDS-K和EQ-5D-5L没有显示出统计学意义，但我们在实验组中发现了改善趋势。
本研究结果表明，智能银色关怀显著提高了社区居住老年人的TUG和ABC分数，定性评估证实老年人可以方便地使用该应用程序。因此，智能银色关怀为改善老年人的生活质量，包括身体方面，提供了一种可行的干预措施。
