| Effect of Daily Communication Behaviors on Cognitive and Language Abilities of the Elderly |
| Soo Ryon Kim1, HyangHee Kim2,3 |
1Department of Speech and Language Therapy, College of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Pusan, Busan, Korea
2Graduate Program in Speech and Language Pathology, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
3Department and Research Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea |
| Correspondence |
HyangHee Kim ,Tel: +82-2-2228-3900, Fax: +82-2-2227-7984, Email: h.kim@yonsei.ac.kr
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Received: April 25, 2017; Revised: June 26, 2017 Accepted: July 10, 2017. Published online: July 31, 2017. |
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| ABSTRACT |
Purpose:
The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health can be utilized to measure individual health. Although ‘activity’ is one of the components of health, no studies have investigated the frequency of participation of the elderly in daily communication activities, such as talking, reading, and writing. We examined the daily communication behaviors of normal elderly subjects and their effects on cognitive and language test performance.
Method:
Normal elderly subjects (n = 456) over 60 years old completed a questionnaire on how often they thought that they talked/read/wrote in their daily lives. Also, they were administered the Korean Mini-Mental State Examination, Controlled Oral Word Association Test, Short Form of the Korean version-the Boston Naming Test, and
Sentence Comprehension Test.
Results:
About 50% of the participants reported that they seldom talked, read, and/or wrote daily. The more frequently that the participants reported daily talking, reading and writing, the better they performed on cognitive and/or language tests. Daily writing influenced the test results the most, which suggested that writing behavior was closely related to all four cognitive/ language tests.
Conclusion:
These results suggested that daily active communication behaviors play major roles in the cognitive and language abilities of the elderly. |
| Key Words:
Elderly, Communication behaviors, Writing, Cognition, Language |
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