Background
The relationship between weight change and quality of life remains controversial. This study aimed to investigate whether changes in body weight among participants in different baseline body mass index categories are associated with physical and mental health functioning.
Methods
We conducted an analysis involving 5,106 adults who participated in the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study, a cohort comprising Korean adults aged 40 to 69 years. We categorized participants into three groups based on body weight change, and physical and mental health were assessed using the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey in year 4. We employed logistic regression analysis to assess the association between body weight change and poor functioning at year 4. We also utilized a generalized estimating equation to determine the relationship between weight changes and mental component summary (MCS) scores over the study period for each weight group.
Results
Weight gain in both the normal weight (odds ratio [OR], 1.88; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.13–3.11; P=0.01) and overweight groups (OR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.05–2.91; P=0.03) was associated with poor MCS. Normal weight weight-losers were associated with a greater increase (2.69 points; 95% CI, 0.50–4.88) in MCS compared to weightmaintainers. Significant differences in mean MCS were observed for overweight weight-losers, obese weight-gainers, and underweight weight-gainers when compared to weight maintainers in each respective weight group.
Conclusion
Different patterns of relationships between weight change and mental health-related quality of life were observed. Hence, it is crucial to focus on the mental health of middle-aged and older adults when assessing body weight changes.

Background
Although numerous studies have indicated that lower levels of physical activity correlate with a higher risk of depression, an association between the type of physical activity and depression has not been identified in Korea. This study aimed to examine whether the type and intensity of physical activity are associated with depression in Korean adults.
Methods
This cross-sectional study used data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). A total of 11,679 individuals were analyzed using multiple logistic regression analyses to identify any association between the type of physical activity and depressive disorders in the sample subjects.
Results
Measured weekly in units of energy expenditure, known as metabolic equivalents (METs), the amount of work-related physical activity was higher in individuals with depression according to the Patient Health Questionnaire- 9 than the participants without depression (386.7 vs. 206.7 MET-min/wk, P=0.01). Those diagnosed with depression tended to engage in less recreational activity per week (143.7 vs. 316.3 MET-min/wk, P<0.001) than those without depression. After controlling for covariates, the risk of depression among all participants was 1.012 times higher with a 100-unit increase in total work-related activity measured in METs (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.006–1.017; P<0.001) and 0.962 times lower with a 100-unit increase in total leisure activity measured in METs (95% CI, 0.937–0.987; P=0.003).
Conclusion
Different types of physical activity were shown to be differently associated with depressive disorders in Korean adults. This study might guide in reducing work-related physical activity and increasing leisure activity to prevent the occurrence of depression.

Citations

• Socioeconomic disparities in depression risk: Limitations of the moderate effect of physical activity changes in Korea
  Su Kyoung Lee, Yong Jin Kwon, Zulkarnain Jaafar
  PLOS ONE.2025; 20(2): e0314930.     CrossRef
• Physical activity and its specific domains associated with depressive symptoms: a cross-sectional large population survey
  Abtin Ansari, Keyvan Karimi, Fatima Rashidi, Amirhossein Memari, Sarmad Salehi, Khashayar Danandeh
  International Journal of Surgery: Global Health.2025;[Epub]     CrossRef
• Guidelines for physical activity counseling in primary healthcare clinics
  Yun Jun Yang
  Journal of the Korean Medical Association.2024; 67(4): 265.     CrossRef
• Nutrient Inadequacy in Korean Young Adults with Depression: A Case Control Study
  Su-In Yoon, Hye-Ri Moon, So Rok Lee, Jingnan Zhang, Soojin Lee, Jin Ah Cho
  Nutrients.2023; 15(9): 2195.     CrossRef
• The association of work physical activity and recreational physical activity with periodontitis in the NHANES (2009–2014)
  Rui Pu, Mengdie Fu, Guoli Yang, Zhiwei Jiang
  Journal of Periodontology.2023; 94(10): 1220.     CrossRef
• Personalized training as a promoter for physical activity in people with depressive disorder—a randomized controlled trial in Germany
  Katriona Keller-Varady, Sven Haufe, Elisabeth Schieffer, Arno Kerling, Uwe Tegtbur, Kai G. Kahl
  Frontiers in Psychiatry.2023;[Epub]     CrossRef
• Does Excessive Smartphone Use Reduce Physical Activity in Adolescents?
  Soo Young Kim
  Korean Journal of Family Medicine.2023; 44(5): 247.     CrossRef
• Factors Associated with Undertaking Health-Promoting Activities by Older Women at High Risk of Metabolic Syndrome
  Jagoda Rusowicz, Anna Serweta, Karolina Juszko, Wojciech Idzikowski, Robert Gajda, Joanna Szczepańska-Gieracha
  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.2022; 19(23): 15957.     CrossRef

Background
Serum-ferritin levels may be associated with psychiatric symptoms among the elderly; however, this association has not been extensively studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between serumferritin levels and mental health issues in older Koreans.
Methods
This cross-sectional study included large-scale national data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2010–2012. In total, 1,802 older Koreans (≥65 years old) were included. The assessed psychiatric symptoms included short sleep duration, stress, depressed mood, and suicidal ideation. Any association between serum-ferritin levels and mental health issues according to sex was examined using logistic regression analysis.
Results
The prevalence of short sleep duration, stress, depressed mood, and suicidal ideation was 50.9%, 21.7%, 18.2%, and 22.5%, respectively. In men, suicidal ideation decreased with increased serum-ferritin levels after multivariate adjustment for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors and comorbidities. The odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of suicidal ideation by quartiles of serum-ferritin level were 1 (reference), 1.132 (95% CI, 0.569–2.252), 0.453 (95% CI, 0.217–0.945), and 0.608 (95% CI, 0.295–1.253), respectively, (P for trend=0.039). In women, no trend was observed. However, compared to the lowest quartile, short sleep duration (<7 h) and stress perception were significantly decreased in the third quartile, with odds ratios of 0.601 (95% CI, 0.461–0.888), and 0.606 (95% CI, 0.386–0.952), respectively.
Conclusion
Moderate serum-ferritin levels were associated with decreased risk for suicide ideation in men, and were associated with decreased short sleep duration and stress perception in women.

Citations

• Association between suicide attempts and anemia in late-life depression inpatients
  Jie Li, Lan Wang, Ziyi Wang, Fengxue Zhao, Yadi Sun, Ying Lu, Lei Yang
  BMC Geriatrics.2024;[Epub]     CrossRef
• Sleep quality and Laboratory Findings in Patients with Varicose Vein Leg Pain
  Acır Ibrahim, Atay Zeynep Vildan Okudan , Atay Mehmet , Yayla Vildan
  Journal of Neuroscience and Neurological Disorders.2023; 7(1): 022.     CrossRef
• Alteration of Inflammatory Parameters and Psychological Post-Traumatic Syndrome in Long-COVID Patients
  Irma Clemente, Gaia Sinatti, Antonio Cirella, Silvano Junior Santini, Clara Balsano
  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.2022; 19(12): 7103.     CrossRef
• Psychological and Cognitive Effects of Long COVID: A Narrative Review Focusing on the Assessment and Rehabilitative Approach
  Rosaria De Luca, Mirjam Bonanno, Rocco Salvatore Calabrò
  Journal of Clinical Medicine.2022; 11(21): 6554.     CrossRef
• Suicidal Ideation in Major Depressed Individuals: Role of Type D Personality
  Mokhtar Abdelhakim Laoufi, Benjamin Wacquier, Tristan Lartigolle, Gwenolé Loas, Matthieu Hein
  Journal of Clinical Medicine.2022; 11(22): 6611.     CrossRef

Background
Several studies have shown that negative mental health increases risky health behavior and mortality risk. We investigated the relationship between mental health and health behavior, and the causal association between mental health and mortality risk.
Methods
We used data from the 8-year (2006–2014) Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging with a cohort of 10,247 individuals (whom we divided into a younger group aged <65 years and an older group aged ≥65 years). Mental health was assessed with the following factors: depression, social engagement, and satisfaction of life. Health behavior was assessed with smoking, alcohol use, and regular exercise. Mortality risk was calculated using survival status and survival months as of 2014. Multiple logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard analysis were performed.
Results
Negative mental health was associated with current smoking and sedentary life style, but not with alcohol consumption. In addition, it was associated with an increase in all-cause mortality risk. The increase in mortality risk in the highest quartile (vs. lowest) was 1.71 times (hazard ratio [HR], 1.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12– 2.62) and 2.07 times (HR, 2.07; 95% CI, 1.60–2.67) for the younger and older group, respectively.
Conclusion
Our results show that mental health affects health behavior and mortality risk. A key inference from this study is that improving mental health can lead to positive changes in health behavior and reduce the risk of mortality.

Citations

• Effect of Lifestyle Counselling via a Mobile Application on Disease Activity Control in Inflammatory Arthritis: A Single-Blinded, Randomized Controlled Study
  Türker Kurt, Diana Vossen, Falk Schumacher, Johannes Strunk, Dmytro Fedkov, Christine Peine, Felix Lang, Abdullah Khalil, Ralph Brinks, Stefan Vordenbäumen
  Nutrients.2024; 16(10): 1488.     CrossRef
• The Moderating Effect of Mental Health on the Relationship Between Cardiovascular Disease Awareness and Health Behaviors of Middle-Aged Korean Chinese Workers With Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Korea
  Yu Zhu Zhang, Seon Young Hwang
  Journal of Transcultural Nursing.2023; 34(2): 131.     CrossRef
• Combined Effects of Depression and Chronic Disease on the Risk of Mortality: The Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (2006-2016)
  Hyunji Kim, Sung Hi Kim, Yoon Jeong Cho
  Journal of Korean Medical Science.2021;[Epub]     CrossRef
• KLoSA—Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging
  Jungun Lee
  Korean Journal of Family Medicine.2020; 41(1): 1.     CrossRef
• Mortality and cause of death in physical activity and insufficient physical activity participants: a longitudinal follow-up study using a national health screening cohort
  Chanyang Min, Dae Myoung Yoo, Jee Hye Wee, Hyo-Jeong Lee, Soo Hwan Byun, Hyo Geun Choi
  BMC Public Health.2020;[Epub]     CrossRef

Background
We evaluated the effects of socioeconomic factors and psychosocial factors, both individually and combined, on all-cause mortality risk (mortality risk).
Methods
We conducted an 8-year (2006–2014) longitudinal analysis of 10,247 individuals who took part in the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging, a nationwide survey of people aged 45–79 years. Socioeconomic vulnerability (SEV) was assessed with factors such as education, household income, commercial health insurance, and residential area. Mental health (MH) was assessed with factors such as depression, social engagement, and life satisfaction. The covariates were age, gender, marital status, cohabiting, number of chronic diseases, and health behaviors such as regular exercise, smoking, and alcohol intake. We used a Cox proportional hazard analysis to investigate the effects of SEV and MH on mortality risk and also to analyze the superimposed effects of SEV-MH on mortality risk.
Results
After the controlling for the covariates, high SEV and negative MH were found to be strong predictors of all-cause mortality. The highest quartile of SEV (vs. lowest) had a 1.70 times greater mortality risk (hazard ratio [HR], 1.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.24–2.33) and the highest quartile of MH (vs. lowest) had a 2.13 times greater mortality risk (HR, 2.13; 95% CI, 1.72–2.64). Being in the highest quartile for both SEV and MH (vs. lowest) increased mortality risk more than 3 times (HR, 3.11; 95% CI, 2.20–4.40).
Conclusion
High SEV and negative MH were independently associated with increased mortality risk, and their superimposed effects were associated with an increased risk of mortality.

Citations

• Sustained Low Income, Income Changes, and Risk of All-Cause Mortality in Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study
  Hong Seok Lee, Jimin Clara Park, Inkwan Chung, Junxiu Liu, Seong-Su Lee, Kyungdo Han
  Diabetes Care.2023; 46(1): 92.     CrossRef
• The role of social factors in the successful ageing – Systematic review
  J. Takács, C. Nyakas
  Developments in Health Sciences.2022; 4(1): 11.     CrossRef
• Combined Effects of Depression and Chronic Disease on the Risk of Mortality: The Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (2006-2016)
  Hyunji Kim, Sung Hi Kim, Yoon Jeong Cho
  Journal of Korean Medical Science.2021;[Epub]     CrossRef
• KLoSA—Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging
  Jungun Lee
  Korean Journal of Family Medicine.2020; 41(1): 1.     CrossRef

Citations

• Effect of Emotional Intelligence on the General Health and Life Orientation of Adolescents Who Have a Hearing Impairment
  Mohammad Ashori
  International Journal of Disability, Development and Education.2025; 72(2): 282.     CrossRef
• Association of hearing loss with cognitive function and mental health in Africa: A systematic review
  Abdulazeez Ahmed, Fatimah Tsiga-Ahmed, Nafisatu Bello-Muhammad, Abdulrazaq Ajiya, Mustapha Gudaji, Denes Stefler
  BMC Public Health.2025;[Epub]     CrossRef
• The Relationship Between Self-Reported Hearing Loss and Depression Among Older Adults: The Moderating Effect of Digital Device Use
  Jayeong Kim, Yeji Hwang
  Clinical Gerontologist.2025; : 1.     CrossRef
• Emotional intelligence: Behavioral emotion regulation and health-related quality of life in students with hearing loss
  Mohammad Ashori, Seyyedeh Somayyeh Jalil-Abkenar
  Current Psychology.2024; 43(3): 2124.     CrossRef
• Effect of cognitive remediation on cognitive and behavioral emotion regulation of female deaf and hard-of-hearing students
  Mohammad Ashori
  Current Psychology.2024; 43(10): 8740.     CrossRef
• Association between hearing loss and suicidal ideation: Discrepancy between pure tone audiometry and subjective hearing level
  Jeong Hyun Ahn, Ji Su Yang, Jinsei Jung, Sunghyuk Kang, Sun Jae Jung
  Journal of Affective Disorders.2024; 344: 495.     CrossRef
• Effects of emotion regulation training on social problem-solving in hard-of-hearing adolescents
  Mehrshid Danadel, Mohammad Ashori
  Current Psychology.2024; 43(17): 15366.     CrossRef
• Association of sensory impairment with cognitive function and mental health among the older adults in China
  Lele Chen, Renlai Zhou
  Current Psychology.2023; 42(18): 15061.     CrossRef
• Association Between Hearing Impairment and Incident Depression: A Nationwide Follow‐up Study
  Hye Jun Kim, Seogsong Jeong, Kyung Jin Roh, Yun Hwan Oh, Michelle J. Suh
  The Laryngoscope.2023; 133(11): 3144.     CrossRef
• Association between hearing loss and suicidal ideation among middle-aged and older adults
  Junghyun Park, Othelia Lee, Michael McKee
  Aging & Mental Health.2022; 26(6): 1287.     CrossRef
• Visual and hearing impairment and their association with depression among middle‐aged and older individuals in India: Evidence from a cross‐sectional study
  Trupti Meher, Shivani Gharge
  International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.2022;[Epub]     CrossRef
• The effectiveness of group play therapy with cognitive-behavioral approach on anxiety and social skills of deaf students
  Ahmad Mahmoodi, Maryam Mashayekh, Fatemeh Zam, Mehdi Shahnazari, Javid Peymani
  Alborz University Medical Journal.2022; 12(1): 23.     CrossRef
• İşitme Kayıplı Yetişkinlerde Sosyal Kaygı ve Saldırganlık Arasındaki İlişkinin Araştırılması
  Mert Kılıç, Filiz Yağcı, Zahra Polat
  Hacettepe University Faculty of Health Sciences Journal.2022; 9(2): 344.     CrossRef
• Emotional intelligence: Quality of life and cognitive emotion regulation of deaf and hard-of-hearing adolescents
  Mohammad Ashori, Seyyedeh Somayyeh Jalil-Abkenar
  Deafness & Education International.2021; 23(2): 84.     CrossRef
• Risk of new-onset depressive disorders after hearing impairment in adults: A nationwide retrospective cohort study
  Jae Woo Choi, Euna Han
  Psychiatry Research.2021; 295: 113351.     CrossRef
• Age and sex differences in hearing loss association with depressive symptoms: analyses of NHANES 2011–2012
  Franco Scinicariello, Jennifer Przybyla, Yulia Carroll, John Eichwald, John Decker, Patrick N. Breysse
  Psychological Medicine.2019; 49(6): 962.     CrossRef
• Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Older Adults With Auditory, Vision, and Dual Sensory Impairment
  Adam Simning, Meghan L. Fox, Steven L. Barnett, Silvia Sorensen, Yeates Conwell
  Journal of Aging and Health.2019; 31(8): 1353.     CrossRef
• A Review of Hearing Loss Associated with Zika, Ebola, and Lassa Fever
  Samuel C. Ficenec, John S. Schieffelin, Susan D. Emmett
  The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.2019; 101(3): 484.     CrossRef

Background
: Job holders are groups that have suffered from chronic stressful condition. Nowadays, occupational stress are increasing due to Korean economic crisis. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the stress scores of several kinds of jobs, the relationship between the amount of stress and mental health status, factors associated with stress.

Methods : Among workers who had visited a medical college hospital, Taejeon, Korea, for regular health evaluation from April 1 to June 30 1998, we selected 50 clerks, 50industrial workers, 50 profession-민, 50 service or salesmen and 50 public servants in the survey. A total of 159 workers were evaluated as subjects excluding those who had answered in adequately to the questionnaire. Stress scores were measured by Korean-translated BEPSI(Brief Encounter Psychosocial Instrument) and Bae Jong Myun's 30-items SRRQ(Social Readjustment Rating Questionnaire). Mental health status were checked by Korean-translated SCL-90-R(Symptom checklist-90-Revision).

Results : The average BEPSI score of workers was 2.07±0.72. The mean score of female workers was 2.27±0.70 and it was obviously higher than male worker's score of 1.85±0.66. 20-29 year age group and over 40 year age group's amount of stress were obviously higher than 30-39 year age group. The low education level group had higher stress score than those with high education level but the amount of stress showed no significant difference in the monthly income, job tenure, number of family members to support, hobby and religion. According to occupation, clerks, industrial workers, service or salesmen's stress scores were higher than those of professional or public servants.

Conclusion : This investigation has showed that there is a correlation between the amount of job holder's stress and mental health including somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation and psychotism. Therefore, we conclude that the best way to stay in good mental health is y stress control and prevention.