The purpose of this study was to investigate the cognitive differences among the aged who have different living conditions. 91 free-meal receivers and 86 people with stable lives were asked about their living conditions and cognitive function by using K-MMSE. All data were analyzed by SPSS 10.0 package. Free meal receivers had poorer socioeconomic status than the subjects who had stable lives. Cognitive function of free meal receivers was lower than the people with stable lives in the most cognitive factors. Especially age of 50 to 64, pre-aged group, who had been receiving free meals, showed lowest cognitive level than the other age groups. Among 7 cognitive factors, there was the greatest difference in attention and calculation between 2 groups. Percentage of 'conclusive dementia' among the free meal receivers was statistically higher than the people with stable lives and that of 'conclusively normal' was statistically lower in free meal receivers comparing with the people with stable lives. Moreover, socioeconomic factors like income, former job, marital status, housing and education, blood pressure and physical activity were significantly related to the subject's cognitive function.

• 강혜경 | Kang, Hae-Kyung