PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a devised posture management program based on the Theory of Planned Behavior in adolescents with mild idiopathic scoliosis. METHODS: A quasi-experimental study was conducted. It involved a nonequivalent comparison group design with pretest and posttest. Forty-four female adolescents with mild idiopathic scoliosis participated; data from 35 participants (20 for the test group, 15 for the control group) were used for the final analyses. The devised posture management program ran for 6 weeks. Posture management behavioral determinants (attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral intention) as cognitive outcomes and muscular strength and flexibility as physical outcomes were measured three times: at baseline, week 6 and week 8. Cobb's angle as another physical outcome was measured twice: at baseline and week 8. Descriptive analysis, repeated measures analysis of variance and t test were used for data analyses. RESULTS: Attitude, perceived control, and behavioral intention were consistently enhanced by the posture management program. The intervention increased flexibility and muscular strength and decreased Cobb's angle, which reduced spinal curvature. Frequency of posture management exercise showed a gradual increase in the test group. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the posture management program is effective in maintaining posture management behavior in adolescents with mild idiopathic scoliosis for both cognitive and physical outcomes. The posture management program should be helpful in expanding the role of school nurses in improving the health status of adolescents with mild idiopathic scoliosis.
Adolescent* ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Intention ; Pliability ; Posture* ; Scoliosis* ; Spinal Curvatures

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to construct and test a structural equation modeling on life-world integration in people with severe burns. METHODS: A survey design was used. Data were collected in 2008 from 376 people who had experienced severe burns using questionnaires. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. RESULTS: The fitness parameters of the modified model (chi2/df = 3.15, goodness of fit: .91, normal fit index: .93, Tucker Lewis Index: .93, root mean square error of approximation: .07, root mean square residual: .04, and comparative fit index: .95) indicated its suitability as the research model. Physical function directly influenced burn factor, and family support indirectly influenced life-world integration. CONCLUSION: Physical function should be directly improved to adjust to life-world integration. A comprehensive integration approach is also necessary to help people with severe burns successfully return to society.
Burns* ; Humans ; Nursing ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: Assessment of aging-stereotyped and erroneous beliefs in managing symptoms is an essential task to enhance self-care and health outcomes of the older population. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the Symptom Management Beliefs Questionnaire (K-SMBQ) to measure ageist beliefs in managing symptoms of older people. METHODS: A convenience sample of 211 community-dwelling older women was used. The 12-item K-SMBQ was finalized after translation, synthesis, back-translation, content validity, and pilot testing. The psychometric properties of the K-SMBQ scale were examined by exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, convergent validity, hypothesized relationship testing, and known-groups method, as well as internal consistency and test-retest reliability. RESULTS: Three factors (i.e., Aging-Stereotypes, Pessimistic Expectations, and Good Patient's Attitudes) were extracted by exploratory factor analysis and the good fit of the three-factor structure was demonstrated by confirmatory factor analysis. Construct validity was supported by significant correlations with conceptually and theoretically relevant concepts as well as by distinguishable features between three older age groups. The internal consistency was supported by Cronbach's alpha coefficient, item-total scale correlations, and inter-item correlations; thus, adequate test-retest reliability was demonstrated. CONCLUSION: This study verified the psychometric properties of the K-SMBQ and provided evidence on the cultural relevance for the concept of ageist beliefs regarding symptom management in older Korean people. The development of nursing interventions to promote self-care of older people should be based on the consideration of negatively stereotyped and erroneous beliefs about health in old age.
Aging ; Female ; Humans ; Nursing ; Prejudice ; Psychometrics* ; Self Care ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: Impairments in word finding, language skills and memory in dementia patients increase the obstacles for health professionals to provide effective care. Although some research on communication with dementia patients has been done, no research that pre-assessed nurses' difficulties in communicating with dementia patients has been identified. This study aims to explore nurses' difficulties in communicating with patients who have dementia. METHODS: This was a qualitative research using the phenomenological approach. Data were collected through in-depth interviews. Fifteen nurses with at least 6 months of dementia care experience participated in this study. Each interview was audio-taped and transcribed within 48 hours after each interview. Participants were asked to respond to the question, "Please describe the difficulties in communicating with patients who have dementia." RESULTS: Through content analysis, two themes, each with two subthemes emerged: Different language, including repetitive responses and lack of language consensus; blocked messages, including difficulty in accessing emotions and in understanding needs. Ineffective language refers to a lack of agreement dialect between the nurse and the patient while blocked messages refer to the inability of nurses to understand the true underlying meaning of messages the patients send out through verbal or nonverbal behaviors or expression. CONCLUSION: The results can serve as reference for planning dementia communication education for school curriculum to enhance student nurses' communication abilities and for junior nurses working in long-term or acute care settings to increase nurses' patient-centered communication abilities with the ultimate goal of improving quality of care for patients with dementia.
Communication ; Consensus ; Curriculum ; Dementia* ; Education ; Health Occupations ; Humans ; Long-Term Care* ; Memory ; Qualitative Research ; Taiwan*

No abstract available.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare smoking prevalence and risk factors of smoking between Korean and Korean-Chinese middle school students. METHODS: Data was collected from seventh and eighth grade students from 12 schools in Korea and 6 schools in China. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, and t test were performed. RESULTS: For data analysis 10,002 usable surveys were utilized. The smoking prevalence was higher in Korean-Chinese students than in Korean students. Risk factors, such as father smoking, friends smoking, gender, grade, academic achievement, alcohol use, and family income were associated with current smoking, and the differences in the two samples were significant. Korean-Chinese students were more likely than Korean students to have friends who smoked and a father who smoked. Smokers had a significantly higher rate of friends smoking, father smoking, and alcohol use. Korean-Chinese male students smoking prevalence was more than three times higher than Korean students. Korean students could sense a more anti-tobacco atmosphere in their environment. Korean-Chinese students were more likely than Korean students to perceive that it was easy to buy cigarettes and to smoke cigarettes in a public computer room. CONCLUSION: These results highlight the differences of smoking prevalence and risk factors between Korean-Chinese students and Korean students. The findings may help health educators and researchers to better understand adolescent smoking and risk factors cross culturally and aid in the development of more effective education programs, which could lead to preventing tobacco use among these populations.
Achievement ; Adolescent ; Atmosphere ; China ; Cross-Cultural Comparison ; Fathers ; Friends ; Health Educators ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Statistics as Topic ; Tobacco ; Tobacco Products

PURPOSE: Medication adherence is an essential part of the management and control of high blood pressure (HBP). Although the Hill-Bone Medication Adherence (HBMA) scale is one of the most frequently used instruments for measuring HBP medication adherence, the psychometric properties of the scale have never been tested among Korean Americans, a population that experiences a disproportionately high prevalence of HBP. Therefore, the objective of this study is to validate a Korean version of the HBMA subscale (HBMA-K). METHOD: We used two, independent samples of Korean Americans (KAs) (combined n = 525) who participated in community-based intervention trials for HBP control. To develop the HBMA-K, the original scale was translated into Korean and then back translated into English. Reliability was assessed by calculating the Cronbach's alpha. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was done to assess construct validity. We also calculated the Pearson's correlation coefficients between the scale and theoretically driven variables such as blood pressure, knowledge, and HBP belief to test concurrent validity. RESULTS: The EFA revealed a one-factor solution with eight items, explaining 35.4% of the variance. Cronbach's alpha was .80. The 8-item HBMA-K scale was significantly associated with systolic blood pressure (BP) (r = .18, p < .01), diastolic BP (r = .24, p < .01), HBP knowledge (r = -.13, p < .01), and HBP belief score (r = -.18, p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The 8-item HBMA-K scale is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring medication adherence among KAs with HBP. It can be easily administered at community and clinical settings to screen hypertensive patients with low medication adherence.
Asian Americans ; Blood Pressure ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Medication Adherence ; Prevalence ; Psychometrics

PURPOSE: To adapt a questionnaire in the Persian language measuring working conditions and health problems among nursing personnel. A further aim was to test the validity and reliability of the questionnaire. METHODS: The adapted questionnaire was based on three well-established questionnaires. Physical working conditions items were from Nurse Early Exit Study. Psychosocial working conditions scales were included from Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire which contains two scales on general and mental health as well. The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire was the origin of the musculoskeletal disorders questions. During the culture adaptation process, an expert panel method was used. To achieve equivalence between the sources and target version, some changes were made by the expert panel. Then the questionnaire was examined in the field for face validity and construct validity (n = 92) among Iranian nursing personnel from two hospitals. Construct validity was assessed using a priori hypothesized correlations of the outcomes with exposures. Finally the adaptation process was completed by reliability assessment using Cronbach's alpha and Intra-class Correlation Coefficient (ICC). RESULTS: The construct validity result was the correlation of the health outcome with the work-related exposure (physical rs = .71 and psychosocial rs = .66). In the reliability assessment, Cronbach's alpha and ICC were .60 and .70 respectively. CONCLUSION: The findings show that the adapted questionnaire has an acceptable conceptual structure and provides reliable information from the nursing profession. Consequently, the questionnaire is applicable to work situation studies among nurses and other health care workers.
Delivery of Health Care ; Mental Health ; Occupational Health ; Reproducibility of Results ; Weights and Measures ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the experience and perception of sexual harassment during the clinical practice of Korean nursing students. METHODS: The descriptive study was conducted using a self-report questionnaire from December 2009 to January 2010. Participants were 542 nursing students recruited from 12 nursing colleges in Korea, who had finished 1,000 hours of clinical practice which is the minimum requirement for graduation. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Ninety-seven participants (17.9%) reported that they experienced sexual harassment during clinical practice and 36 participants (6.7%) answered whether it was a sexual harassment or not. When sexual harassment was asked by the specific 18 items in the sexual harassment checklist, 52.0% (n = 282) of participants reported that they experienced at least 1 item among 18 items of sexual harassment. Sexual harassments were frequently made by the persons in their 40s (41.2%), men (97.9%) and patients (96.9%) and in the psychiatric wards (67.0%). Many respondents recognized that sexual harassment during clinical practice was caused by abnormal sexual desire of a pervert (34.5%) or men's sexual impulse (26.2%). Also, sexual harassment was perceived as a serious problem (19.4%) and education was necessary for prevention (88.3%). CONCLUSION: Education program is needed to prevent sexual harassment and enhance the gender sensitivity of nursing students, who are in the high-risk group of sexual harassment during clinical practice. This will in turn contribute to a safe educational environment for clinical practice.
Checklist ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Sexual Harassment ; Students, Nursing ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among older Korean Chinese with hypertensiondone of the most underserved and understudied ethnic minority groups in China. In addition, factors underlying the risk of CVD were examined. METHODS: A total of 334 participants were recruited at the Community Health Service Center in Yanji, China. Data regarding socioeconomic, health-related, psychosocial, and other CVD risk factors were collected between June and October 2009. In this cross-sectional study, factors related to the risk of CVD were assessed by multivariate logistic regression; the Framingham Risk Score was used to measure the risk of CVD. RESULTS: The prevalence of dyslipidemia, diabetes, and current smoking were 75.4%, 6.6%, and 23.1% respectively. Participants who lived alone were twice as likely to have a high risk of CVD (10-year risk of CVD > or =15%; odds ratio [OR], 2.00; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.13e3.54). Those with a higher education level and greater knowledge about hypertension were at 57% and 62% reduced risk for CVD (OR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.21e0.92 and OR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.15-0.95, respectively). CONCLUSION: Future intervention should include strategies to addressing social isolation and also focus on older Korean Chinese with low education. Knowledge enhancement program is warranted for the prevention of CVD in this population.
Aged ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; China ; Community Health Services ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Dyslipidemias ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Minority Groups ; Minority Health ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Social Isolation