• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.29-41
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• 2004

Objectives: This study was to identify socioeconomic factors and health-related behaviors influencing on HRQOL(health-related quality of life) for the older adults in rural area. Methods: 483 subjects aged over 65 years responded a direct interview, which covered HRQOL, BMI, socioeconomic characteristics, and health-related behaviors including smoking, drinking, and exercise. Results: Overall, the mean number of healthy days were 15.1 days and not significantly different by sex. Men didn't show a significant difference in HRQOL by age group. But women reported lower levels of healthy days and higher levels of activity limitation and physical unhealthy days with increasing age. Results from ANCOVA showed HRQOL to be significantly associated with education, job, and family type. Men presented no significant difference in HRQOL by health-related behaviors, but women who have been drinking, or have less number of chronic diseases reported higher mean healthy days and lower activity limitation days, physical unhealthy days, and mental unhealthy days. Older adults who reported good to excellent self-rated health were higher healthy days and lower activity limitation, physical unhealthy days, and mental unhealthy days than those who reported fair to poor health status. Conclusions: The HRQOL for the older adults in rural area was related to socioeconomic characteristics, health-related behaviors and self-rated health status. A better understanding of factors related to HRQOL would help to improve the older adults' quality of life.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.54-62
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• 1987

This study was performed as a part of survey for the operation and interim evaluation of the on-going pilot project of community health in Jeomdong-Myon, Yeoju-Gun, Kyunggi-Province since 1982. Seven Villages (Ri) were selected purposively for the survey from a total of 26 villages in Jeomdong-Myon, target area, under the consideration of the socio-economic background and the distribution of health resources. The target population was the women in age group of 15-44 years in that area and a total of 156 women were interviewed. This study was done by the interview survey using questionnaire which was composed with questions about MCH and FP. The results were as follows; 1) ln the status of maternal health, (1) the proportion of receiving antenatal care was relatively high (67.1%) in this area, but the starting time of antenatal care was delayed to 7 months or more of gestational period in 22 percent. Therefore some intervention would be necessary for advancing the time of antenatal care. (2) The proportion of home delivery was decreased according to the rank of birth-order. And more than 50 percent of delivery attendants were mothers-in-law or neighbors. The fact indicates that the health education for non-professional delivery attendents would be necessary for improving home delivery and the content of education would be preferable to focussing to the method of hygienic delivery attending. (3) The comprehensive health service and education would be recommended for the postnatal care, because of the extremely low rate of postnatal care in this area. 2) In the status of child health, (1) the pro-portion of breast feeding was 90.2 percent, and the weaning started after 12 months of birth in 12.7 percent. This indicates the necessity of education about the weaning program. (2) The proportion of completed basic vaccination was 39.6% and the main reason of missing vaccination was poor accessibility in terms of time. For that, the supply of vaccine to primary health care units (health subcenters) should be continuous, not infrequent nor occassional. 3) The proportion of respondants who were using contraceptive methods currently was 79.8 percent and in 44.7 percent they accepted the permanent contraceptive methods. Those results are distinct in this area. But it seems a serious health problem that 53.2 percent of respondants were experienced the induced abortion for birth control.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.44-52
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• 1986

Maternal and child health(MCH) status is considered as an important indicator of the level of health and civilization of a community and a country. MCH services for the rural population in the remote ar deserves priority by the government, since more than half(52.9%) of the delivery was occured at home and almost half (45.5%) of the delivery was assited by family members or neighbors. The purpose of the study was to analyse the health fare behavior related to pregnancy and delivery, which can be contributed maternal health care policy mating for the rural people. Specifically, it was intended to analyze the variables which affect the health care behavior in selecting birth places and birth attendants. This study utilized the data which had been already collected for an experimental study on primary health program model in Korean rural communities, funded by the USAID. 184 sample households with women who had delivered a baby during March 1982 to February 1983 were selected. Discriminant Analysis was employed for statistical analysis by utilizing SPSS computer package program. Birth places and birth attendants were considered as dependent variables. Among 12 independent variables in 5 groups considered, 7 independent variables were found statistically significant to affect the selection of birth place. Significant variables by the order of importance are mother's age, order of baby, number of prenatal care, accessibility of emergency medical care, coverage of medical insurance, mother's membership in community organization and husband's educational level. The degree of correct classification of the grouped cases by employing a discriminant . analysis was significantly improved to 78.2％ in comparison to Cmax（56%) and Cpro(51%). Policy implications for each significant variable were discussed to improve the maternal and child health. in Korean ruralarea.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.333-342
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• 1974

In September 1974, a survey was conducted towards 900 women respondents, each representing a household, residing in 18 selected Myuns(townships) of 18 Guns(counties) in Kyunggi-Do. Fifty households were selected randomly in each Myun and the sample Myuns were also randomly selected from the 18 Guns home-visiting interviews were carried out by Myun level maternal and child health workers with questionnair forms designed to measure the maternal and child health status at each household. Major findings obtained from this survey can be summarized as follows: 1. Of the women responents who were investigated in this survey, 13.1% of them were comprised in the illiterates, indicating no difference in literacy rate from that in most urban areas. 2. Most(93.8%) of the respondents were found to have married at ages of 20-24 years old. 3. Most(85.8%) of the respondents were found to have delivered their first babies at ages of 20-24, while only 13.4% had their first babies at 25-29. 4. About 22% of the respondents had 2 children, while 19% and another 19% had 2 and 4 children, respectively. 5. A great majority of the respondents (78%) experienced not a single death of a child within the family, while about 17% experienced death of one child. 0.7% of the women experienced deaths of 4 or more children. 6. 18% and 17% of the women experienced 4 and 3 pregnancies, respectively, and 12% of them experienced 7 or more pregnancies. 7. About 29% of the women experienced an induced abortion at least once. Nearly 2% of them were found to have experience of 4 or more induced abortions. 8. One half (51%) of the women were found to have received prenatal guidances in the latest pregnancies by (Ub(town) and Myun (township) level maternal and child health workers at least once or more times. 9. 52% women received professional prenatal care in the latest pregnancies: 24% at hospitals or clinics and 20% at health centers. 10. Most (89%) of the last-born children were delivered at home, while only 8.7% were delivered at hospital or clinics. 11. Materials used at delivery comprise vinyl (40%), cement bags (32%) ana gauzed or absorbent cottons (19%). 12. The largest preportion of the attendants at delivery comprises mothers in-law (48). Only 24% were found to be attended by either doctors, midwives or maternal and child health workers. 13. In most (90%) of the deliveries scissors were used to cut the umbilicus. But most (7%) of them used unsterilized scissors, 6 while only 20% of them used sterilized ones. 14. About 68% of the last-born babies were breast-fed for 12 months or more. Those who weaned during 6-12 months were 21%. 15. During 12 months after birth, 65% of the last-born babies were breast-fed, while 24% were given a combination of breast milk and cooked rice. 16. About nine out of the 10 births were found to be registered. 17. 71% of babies received BCG vaccination, while 79% and 56% received samllpox and DPT vaccinations, respectively within a year after birth. Those who were vaccinated against poliomyelitis were about 50%. 18. About 87% of the respondents recogninized the existence of government-sponsored maternal and child health guidance program.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.265-268
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• 2006

The present authors investigated intestinal parasitic infections among North Korean residents and refugees in China in 2003. The Kato-Katz method was applied to 236 residents and soldiers in a town on the North Korea-China border and to 46 people at a refugee camp in China. Only eggs of Ascaris and Trichuris were detected, with egg positive rates of 41.1 % and 37.6%, respectively. The total egg positive rate was 55.0% and most of those who were egg positive were only lightly infected. Women of 61.2% and men of 53.1 % were egg positive. The refugees from rural areas showed higher egg positive rates than those from urban areas. The present investigation confirmed high prevalence of soil-transmitted intestinal helminths in rural borderline areas of North Korea.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.41-50
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• 2003

Objectives： The purpose of this paper is to analyze longevity factors of 507 centenarians in the Republic of Korea. Methods： This paper is designed to survey physical, mental, socio-demographic and dietary factors of 507 centenarians. The data was collected by means of telephone interview from 1999 to 2001. The survey directly contacted centenarians who were able to communicate, or contacted the centenarians caregivers. The association between longevity factors of centenarians was verified by odds ratio of logistic regression. Results： Female centenarians appeared to be non-smokers more often than males (OR＝4.06, CI＝2.06, 7.98). The longevity of persons with a small waist circumference was attributed to health promotion through eating lightly as well as keeping active including walking(OR＝2.37, CI＝1.36, 4.14). A higher probability for longevity is found among optimists who live a happy life and 1aught every day (OR＝26.15, CI＝11.61, 58.89). Among centenarians, vegetarians were shown to be light eaters. More ratios of vegetarians among centenarians included those who reside in a rural district, eat bean paste soup everyday, and consume small quantities of meat (OR＝5.12, CI＝3.24, 8.08). Conclusion： Women, manual workers, under poor to middle economic status, rural residents, optimists, light eaters, vegetarians and non-smokers seemed to have a higher probability of becoming centenarians in The Republic of Korea.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Rural Health Nursing
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.24-32
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• 2007

Purpose: This study was done to provide statistical data for developing client-needs based welfare services in community welfare facilities. Method: The participants were 270 senior citizens, who visited a community welfare center in Gyunggi province, during the month of October 2005. They were asked to answer a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, $X^2$ test and Fisher's exact test were used to analyze the data from 221 of the elders. Results: 1. More than 50% of the respondents were women aged between 60 and 75, who had education levels above high school and who lived in apartments. Among the respondents, 54.3% lived separately from their children. 2. 70.0% of the respondents considered their health status as "good", even though they had more than one disease. Also 41% of the respondents were supported by their children, and 76.8% wanted jobs. 3. The respondents pointed out several programs such as languages, computer, singing class, physical activities (dances, billiards, Tai-chi and table tennis), needed to be included in the welfare center programs. Conclusions: Elders aged 60-75, educated above high school, living in an apartments, live alone or with spouse, and having frequent contact with children, were the most frequent utilizers of the welfare center. They want the welfare center programs in variety, including languages, computer, singing class, and physical activities.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.81-103
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• 2001

This study was conducted to identify the health behavior of middle-aged rural women and the factors that have an effect on them. For the purpose of the study, examinations were made from March 01, 2000 to March 31, 2000 with 468 women aged 40 to 64 out of 2,263 people whom four Primary Health Posts located in Yechon County, Kyongsangbuk-do Province, are in charge of. The results are summarized as follows. 17.5% of the subjects responded that the extent of their own interest in health were high. For the subjects having a chronic disease, a nuclear family, or an open family atmosphere, the extent appeared to be relatively higher, 15.4% responded that the extent of family's interest in their health was high. It was significantly high if the extent of education was high or if the family atmosphere was open. The subjects' average score of self-efficacy was 49.9 out of 68. The score significantly varied depending on religion, education, living together with a spouse or not, and the extent of the subjects' interest in health. The family pattern, family atmosphere, family's interest in the subjects' health were the variables that significantly influenced the self-efficacy. The average score of family function was 5.51 out of 10. The score significantly varies depending on age, education, occupation, financial status, the extent of the subjects' own interest in health, family atmosphere and family's interest in the subjects' health. In the practice of health behavior, the nonsmoking rate was 89.5%, the nondrinking rate 63.0%, the rate of exercising practice 6.6%, the rate of normal sleeping 75.6%, the rate of eating breakfast 91.7%, the rate of not eating between meals 18.2%, and the standard BMI 69.2%. In the frequency of health behavior, the subjects with the Breslow Index of 0-3, 4-5 and 6-7 accounted for 4.5%, 53.2%, and 42.3%, respectively. The average score of health behavior was 5.20 out of 7, in which significant variables were living together with a spouse or not, financial status, absence or presence of a chronic disease, and family atmosphere. In the multiple regression analysis with health behavior as a dependent variable, it was shown that living together with a spouse or not, financial status, and family atmosphere were the significantly substantial variables. The subjects were found to do health behavior well if they had not a spouse, a good financial status, or an open family atmosphere. They were also found to do health behavior well if the extent of self-efficacy was high or if the extent of family function was low, but these were not the significant variables. It is needed to develop a standard measuring tool fit for our environment and perform more studies in the future because the measuring tool used in this study was a tool developed in a foreign county. In promoting community health projects, it is required not to provide all community people with a uniform health program but to identify the health behavior of individuals and other variables such as living together with a spouse or not, financial status and family atmosphere before arranging for a proper health program.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Rural Health Nursing
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.45-54
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide a survey of patients with dementia registered and managed by primary health care posts. Method: Computation of 2016 dementia data registered in Health Care Center programs of 14 municipalities in ChoongNam province was analyzed. Data collection was done based on a pretest for dementia prevention and general management of registered dementia patients. Results: Results showed; Screening tests for dementia, 40% of population 60 or over, average number of cases, 174, average number of dementia registrants, 3.1, programs for prevention, approximately 70% special policy measures and 28% cognitive rehabilitation programs, counseling and education operating well overall, average number of dementia registrants/clinic 11.8, with women accounting for 70%, elders with less than 3 years of education, 75%, residence type cohabitation by married couples, 41%, and elders with Alzheimer type dementia, 64%. Conclusion: During early detection of dementia and follow-up examinations, high-risk groups (women, elders) should receive a dementia examination. In management of dementia there is a need to develop various programs including physical, economic, and emotional support not only for patients, but also for families. Health care managers also need systematic education to give them expert knowledge of dementia and management of dementia.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.101-112
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• 2005

Purpose: To investigate the status of health education courses in elementary schools. Method: From September to December in 2003, 607 school nurses were surveyed by questionnaires. Results: 1) Of the schools, 32.1% had health education programs as part of the school health service. A higher proportion was found in schools in suburban and rural areas. Mass media in health education was used by 75% of school nurses. Regular classes were more frequently utilized in schools in rural areas, while the classes in health-related subjects were utilized in urban areas. For 20.6% of school nurses, there was a substitute person to provide health care while the nurse was in health education classed, but 94.2% of school nurses found they had to give up health education due to pressure from other health services. 2) Of the nurses, 97.0% felt the need to provide health education courses, but 60.6% insisted that their work load needed to be modified and supplemental personnel were necessary if health education courses were to be provided. 3) More than 30% school nurses responded that educational materials and media, and concern by teachers and administrators were insufficient. 4) School nurses suggested that the content for health education courses should include healthy life and dental health care for students in lower grades, dental health care, sex education and safety for students in middle grades, and sex education and drug abuse prevention for students in higher grades. Conclusion: There is an urgent need to provide health education courses in elementary schools but conditions in the schools are not satisfactory. For successful school health services, personnel supplement, modified work loads and sufficient educational materials and media should be in place before health education courses are provided.