PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify differences in Health Locus of Control (HLOC), depression, wellbeing, and Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP) between middle aged Korean and Korean-American women. METHODS: Data from 80 Korean-American women living in Los Angeles, USA and 82 Korean women living in W-city, Korea, were collected using a self administered questionnaire including items on HLOC, HPLP, a Wellbeing Index and Major Depression Inventory. RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences between the middle aged Koreans and Korean-Americans on mean age, education, religion, and current health insurance. Significant differences were found on HLOC (F=2.504, p=.033) and Wellbeing (F=2.451, p=.036). The results also showed significant differences on HPLP (total HPLP, F=4.655, p=.001; physical activity, F=2.967, p=.014; nutrition, F=4.250, p=.001; spiritual growth, F=4.398, p=.001; interpersonal relations, F=2.648, p=.025; and stress management, F=5.201, p<.001) using ANCOVA. However, there were no significant differences on depression, or health responsibility in HPLP between the groups. CONCLUSION: Understanding middle aged women's health adjustments based on their culture will enhance the ability of health professionals to provide culturally congruent care and enable middle aged women to develop healthy lifestyles.
Depression ; Female ; Health Behavior ; Health Occupations ; Humans ; Insurance, Health ; Internal-External Control ; Interpersonal Relations ; Korea ; Life Style ; Los Angeles ; Middle Aged ; Motor Activity ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Women's Health

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a Tai-Chi exercise program on subjective health and physiological function index. METHODS: This study was designed as non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest research. Eighteen women in each group completed the posttest with an attendance rate of 78.3 % after 12 weeks. The Tai Chi exercise program was provided two times a week over three months for the experimental group, but no program for the control group. A questionnaire was used for subjective health index, which consisted of Korean-WOMAC Index for joint stiffness, K-HAQ for physical disability, EQ-5D for quality of life and perceived health status, and CES-D for depression. To measure the effect on the physiological function index, femoral muscle strength, shoulder joint and back flexibility were measured. RESULTS: All variables except left anterior femoral muscle strength had significant homogeneity between the two groups. There were statistically significant differences between the experimental group and the control group in joint stiffness (t=-2.165, p=.03), physical disability (t=-2.231, p=.038), EQ-5D index (t=3.783, p=.001), perceived health status (t=-2.349, p=.025) and femoral posterior muscle strength (t=2.487, p=.038). CONCLUSION: The Tai-Chi exercise program was beneficial for women with arthritis in rural communities.
Arthritis* ; Depression ; Female ; Humans ; Joints ; Muscle Strength ; Pliability ; Quality of Life ; Rural Population ; Shoulder Joint ; Tai Ji* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Background: This study aimed to compare the stress-coping measurement scales used in the nursing field in South Korea through a literature review based on the types of tools assessed, their characteristics, frequency of use, target stress, target population, and coping outcomes. Methods: The data base periodical information academic, Korea citation index, Korean studies information sharing service, Korean medical database, National discovery for science leaders, KoreaMed, National assemble library, and National library of Korea databases were searched for articles related to coping with stress and nursing published between 2009 and 2018 in South Korea. Of the total 1,666 articles searched, 59 articles that were aligned with the study purpose were finally selected after reviewing the original texts and excluding duplicates. Results: The study identified six stress-coping scales used by Korean nurses, among which the ways of coping (WCQ) was the most frequently used. Most of the studies involved nursing students, followed by patients and health workers (nurses and caregivers). Regarding the types of stress, the WCQ was used the most by studies on work-related and daily living stress, followed by those focusing on health-related stress and clinical practice stress. Secondary analysis of WCQ usage showed that 48.5% of the studies interpreted the scale results for individual coping methods, and the remaining 45.5% interpreted the results based on the overall score. Conclusions Researchers need to appropriately use and interpret the results of scales that have been translated into Korean and validated for each situation and participant.

This study aimed to assess whether night shift work is associated with the risk of depression by using a meta-analysis of observational studies. We searched PubMed and EMBASE in August, 2016 to locate eligible studies and investigated the association between night shift work and the risk of depression, reporting outcome measures with adjusted odds ratios (ORs) or relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). In the meta-analysis of a total of 11 observational studies with 9 cross-sectional study, 1 longitudinal study, and 1 cohort study, night shift work was significantly associated with an increased risk of depression (OR/RR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.24–1.64; I² = 78.0%). Also, subgroup meta-analyses by gender, night shift work duration, type of occupation, continent, and type of publication showed that night shift work was consistently associated with the increased risk of depression. The current meta-analysis suggests that night shift work is associated with the increased risk of depression. However, further large prospective cohort studies are needed to confirm this association.
Cohort Studies ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Depression* ; Longitudinal Studies ; Observational Study ; Occupations ; Odds Ratio ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) ; Prospective Studies ; Publications