A study of teenager's perceptions of health behavior and health status

청소년들의 건강상태와 건강행위 인지에 관한 연구

This research attempted to identify basic data related to the nursing of teenagers that would aid in the establishment of nursing care that would meet their health needs, and further to identify which health related activities, are carried out by teenagers, so that appropriate nursing service and health care can be planned for them. The subjects of the study were students at one seoul boys high school and one seoul girls high school. Data was collected between December 16 and. December 19, 1986. The tool used in the study was a questionnaire about the health needs and concerns of teenagers developed at John's Hopkins University and translated and standardized for Korean students. The date was coded fer analysis using' the SPSS program and percentages, mean scores' with standard deviations, Chi square test, and ANOVA, were used for analysis. The following results were obtained : 1. The health status of teenagers : Looking at the health status of teenagers, it can be seen from this study that over half of the teenagers questioned replied that they do not get enough sleep, further that even though they are feeling sick they go to school. However, when asked what they thought of their health, the majority replied that they were healthy, and although they thought about their bea1th was not a concern when they were planning other activities. With regard to health status, there was a significant difference between male and female students concerning whether they were handicapped with regard to sleep, their opinion about their own health, and the amount of time lost from school for illness over the past month, whether in comparison with those of the same age they had more sickeness of not, and whether they had to think about their health when planning other activities. There was also a significant difference according to the age of the students as to whether they worried more about being sick than other members of their age group. 2. Health Realted Activeties of Teenagers : Most of the students in the study reported that they did not get regular physical examinations of health check ups, nor did they get legular examinations when they were sick. Few students reported that they smoked. Most of the students reported taking part in activities that promoted health but about half also reported that they were involved in activities that they knew were detrimental to their health. Further on statistical analysis, there was a significant difference between male and female students regarding health related activities and problems of teenagers and whether they were examined by a medical person when they were sick. 3. The degree of interest and responsibility of teenagers for their own Health: In the section on responsibility for health, the teenagers replies were highest, 4. 5, for the statements, "My health is dependent how much I pay attention to it" and "My health is responsibility" and lowest, 3. 9, for the statement "I am healthy because I have cared for my health so far." With regard to interest in their own health, the majority of the teenagers in the study were more concerned about their studies, high score of 4. 4, than in matters directly related to health. The use of drugs, birth control and masturbation were low on the interest scale. The more involvement in health related activities, the higher the score was for responsibility and this difference was significant, but this did not apply to interest in health. Similarly there was also a significant difference regarding participation in activities known to be detrimental to health and responsiblity for health, but not for interest in health.