The purpose of the study was to test the reliability and validity of the Korean version of Children's Health Locus of Control Scale(CHLC), an instrument designed to measure health locus of control in children aged 7 to 12. The scale was administered to 467 children in grades 4 to 6, enrolled in 2 elementary schools located in city. The mean age of the subject was 10.03(SD=1.33). The findings were as follows: 1. Cronbach alpha coefficient for internal consistency was .69 for the total, and .67, .65, and .56 on the respective subscales. 2. Construct validity was supported through factorial isolation of three theory consistent subscales: internal, chance, and powerful others. Two items did not fit well with the originally developed subscale. The total percent of variance explained by 3 factors was 34.5%. The result of the factor analysis according to Kaiser's criterion revealed that the scale was consisted of 5 factors. But, The items of the subscales were rather inconsistent with the dimensions of the locus of control concept. 3. There were significant differences according to parent's educational level and occupation, and birth order on the scores of the CHLC. There were no significant differences according to grade level and sex. 4. The score of the CHLC was significantly correlated with the self concept of the children(r=.14, p<.001). The result indicated that the Korean version of Children's Health Locus of Control Scale was valid and reliable in measuring health locus of control concept in children, even though further research is required to reconfirm and increase the reliability of the instrument. CHLC could be used for study explaining the health related behavior of the children and research project to health education program.
Birth Order ; Child* ; Health Education ; Humans ; Internal-External Control* ; Occupations ; Psychometrics* ; Reproducibility of Results ; Self Concept ; Child Health

No abstract available.
Ambulances* ; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation*

OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to compare rural residents' perceived health status and life satisfaction according to their general and health related characteristics and to identify factors related to perceived health status and life satisfaction in this population. METHODS: Subjects were 1,091 adults aged 20 years or older living in Geochang Gun, South Korea. A survey was conducted from June 28 to August 25, 2009. We used the health self rating scale by Lawton et al. (1982) and the overall life satisfaction scale by Wrosch et al. (2000). The collected data were analyzed using SPSS WIN 18.0. RESULT: Sex, age, education, spouse, medical diagnosis, currently taking medication, main health maintenance behavior, alcohol consumption, frequency of alcohol consumption, exercise, family harmony, and friend relationships were significantly related to perceived health status. Age, education, spouse, main health maintenance behavior, smoking, exercise, family harmony, and friend relationships were significantly related to life satisfaction. Further, 29.3% of the variance in perceived health status could be explained by medical diagnosis, exercise, family harmony, education, currently taking medication, and friend relationships, while 11.1% of the variance in life satisfaction could be explained by family harmony, perceived health status, main health maintenance behavior, and friend relationships. CONCLUSION: Health management programs must be designed so as to incorporate the general and health related characteristics of rural residents if they aim to improve the perceived health status and life satisfaction in that population.
Adult ; Aged ; Alcohol Drinking ; Friends ; Humans ; Republic of Korea ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Spouses

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess social support, mood, and commitment to a plan for exercise of Korean adults with chronic diseases. Further, the relationships between social support, mood, and commitment to a plan for exercise were assessed. METHOD: The participants in this study were 230 Korean adults over 18 years of age with chronic diseases who were recruited in hospitals or health centers. The instruments used in this study were Exercise Social Support Scale, POMS (Profile of Mood States), and Commitment to a Plan for Exercise Scale. RESULT: The results of descriptive analysis showed that Korean adults with chronic diseases were perceived with relatively low commitment to a plan for exercise while they were perceived with moderate social support and mood states. Pearson's correlation coefficient showed significant relationship between these three variables. Stepwise regression indicated that 37% of the variance in commitment to a plan for exercise was explained by social support and vigor factor of the POMS. CONCLUSION: Health professionals can use this information for planning a targeted strategy to increase regular exercise among Korean adults with chronic diseases in order to improve their quality of life and control disease-related symptoms.
Adult* ; Chronic Disease* ; Health Occupations ; Humans ; Quality of Life

PURPOSE: This study was to identify and clarify the relationship between perceived health, self-esteem, and self-care agencies for promoting self care among Korean adolescents. METHOD: Data were collected from 817 adolescents in schools located in Seoul, Kyungki-do, and Chuncheon from Sept, 16th to Sept, 28th, 1999, and from Mar 10th to Mar 25th, 2000. The instruments used for this study were the Health Self-Rating Scale, Self-Care Agency Assessment Questionnaire (Denyes, 1981), the Self-Esteem Questionnaire (Rosenberg, 1971). RESULT: 1) The mean perceived health status among Korean adolescents was 8.75 (SD=1.72) 2) The mean self-esteem was 27.27 (SD=4.64). 3) The mean self-care agency was 99.64 (SD=21.02) and the average self-care agency score was 3.99 (SD=0.84). In the subcategories, the highest degree was feelings towards health (4.15), followed by ego strength (4.06), attending to health (3.87), general health knowledge (3.56), and the lowest degree was specific health knowledge (3.20) 4) There was statistical significant differences between demographic factors and self-care agencies, expecially, gender (t=28.65), grade (F=3.79), pocket money (t=5.72), and height (F=9.82) 5) The statistical relationship between perceived health status, self-esteem, and self-care agencies were found to have a positive correlation. 6) Self-care agencies among adolescents was the highest factor predicting self-esteem (15%). CONCLUSION: The relationship between perceived health status, self-esteem, and self-care agencies revealed a significant positive correlation among adolescents. Therefore, nursing intervention for adolescents needs to develop self-esteem programs to increase self-care agencies.
Adolescent* ; Demography ; Ego ; Gangwon-do ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Nursing ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Self Care* ; Seoul

The purpose of this study was to assess the perceived exercise self-efficacy and exercise benefits/barriers of Korean adults with chronic diseases, and the relationship between the two variables. For the study, 249 Korean adults with chronic diseases with ages ranging from 18 to 79 years were recruited from hospitals or health centers in five Korean cities and surrounding rural areas. The research instruments were the scales that researchers psychometrically verified the Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale, developed by Bandura (1997), and the Exercise Benefits/ Barriers Scale, developed by Sechrist, Walker, and Pender(1987). Results of descriptive analysis showed that Korean adults with chronic diseases perceived relatively low exercise self-efficacy and relatively high exercise benefits/ barriers. Exercise self-efficacy was significantly correlated with gender, education, regular exercise, and exercise benefits/barriers was significantly correlated with gender, regular exercise. Pearson correlation coefficient showed the significant relationship between the two variables. Further researches, which are a study to evaluate a causal structure for Pender's Health Promotion Model and an intervention study to increase physical activity of chronic patients, are recommended.
Adult* ; Chronic Disease* ; Education ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Motor Activity ; Weights and Measures

OBJECTIVES: Alcohol-induced oxidative stress has been known to injure various tissues or organs. This stress is related with free radicals which are produced as the result of long-term alcohol consumption. Malonyldialdehyde(MDA) is produced by the interaction of free radicals and cell membrane lipids, and indicates the degree of lipid peroxidation indirectly. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between red blood cell(RBC) membrane lipid peroxidation by free radicals, and associated hepatic injuries and hematologic changes. METHODS: Thirty-three subjects diagnosed as alcohol dependence according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria were evaluated within 72 hours after discontinuing alcohol drinking. Clinical characteristics were evaluated by CAGE questionnaire and Korean Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test(MAST). RBC membrane MDA level was measured as the marker of RBC membrane lipid peroxidation. Aspartate aminotransferase(AST), alanine aminotransferase(ALT) and gamma-glutamyltransferase(GGT) were used as the biochemical markers of liver damage due to alcohol ingestion. The alcohol-induced hematologic change was assessed by mean corpuscular volume(MCV). RESULTS: The results were as follows. Clinical characteristics were not different between two groups having normal and abnormal levels of AST, ALT, GGT or MCV. The levels of MDA were not correlated with the clinical characteristics and serum levels of AST, ALT and GGT. However, there was a significant correlation between the levels of MDA and the value of MCV(p=0.017). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that oxidative stress in alcohol dependence may not be reflected in liver enzyme markers such as AST, ALT and GGT, but may be reflected in MCV.
Alanine ; Alcohol Drinking ; Alcoholism* ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; Aspartic Acid ; Biological Markers ; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ; Eating ; Erythrocyte Indices* ; Erythrocytes* ; Free Radicals ; Humans ; Lipid Peroxidation* ; Liver* ; Mass Screening ; Membrane Lipids ; Membranes* ; Michigan ; Oxidative Stress ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess the objective and universal attitudes toward mentally-disabled defendants. The authors examined the criminal characteristics of the mentally-disabled defendants and clarified the differences between psychiatric opinions about the criminal responsibilities of mental patients and the final judicial decisions. METHODS: The subjects consisted of 75 mentally-disabled defendants. They had been referred to Seoul Eunpung Municipal hospital during the period of Jan. 1990 to Mar. 1997. We examined them through psychiatric interview, clinical psychological tests and other tests. The data obtained were analyzed in several aspects: demographic factors, characteristics of crime, psychiatric opinions and legal opinions. RESULTS: Regarding the demographic background, most commonly met subjects were males, single, in their twenties and thirties, with educational background of about 11 years, unemployed, and living in urban districts. Approximately one third(37.5%) of all subjects were diagnosed as schizophrenia, 10.8% an mood disorder and 9.3% as personality disorder. The most frequent criminal act was assault and battery(28.0) and the mental states at the time of the criminal act could be inferred as delusion/hallucination(52.0%) and paroxysmal emotional uncontrollable state(33.3%),etc. About forty perecnt(39.4%) of victims were strangers, 25.3% were public servants 21.3% were family members. According to the psychiatric report out of 75 defenddants, defendants were classified as followes:44 defendants were evaluated to be totally free of criminal responsibility, 22 defendants to be partially responsible, and 5 defendants to be fully responsible. However, the psychiatric evaluation was found to be in contrast with the final judicial decisions by the court:16 defendants were totally free of criminal responsibility, 44 of restricted criminal responsibility and 15 fully responsible. In case of no responsibility, the agreement rate between the judge's opinions and the psychiatric ones was 36.3%, for partial responsibility it was 73.0%, and for full responsibility it was 100%. DISCUSSION: The judges do not completely agree to psychiatric opinions. Therefore, the authors suggest that more facilitated communication between psychiatrists and judges should be necessary for the benefiit of mentally-disabled defendants.
Crime ; Criminals ; Demography ; Disability Evaluation* ; Hospitals, Municipal ; Humans ; Male ; Mentally Ill Persons ; Mood Disorders ; Personality Disorders ; Psychiatry ; Psychological Tests ; Schizophrenia ; Seoul

No abstract available.
Child* ; Heart Diseases* ; Heart* ; Humans ; Mass Screening*

BACKGROUND: Health illiteracy is a problem often unrecognized by health care providers. It influences medical costs and the health status of adults. The purposes of this study were to determine the level of health literacy in community-dwelling adults and to identify the factors influencing it. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Seoul, Gyeonggi and Chungcheong province. A total of 420 adults aged 18 or older were interviewed by trained nursing students between November 1 to December 30, 2011. Health literacy was measured using the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults. Data were analyzed using the PASW 18.0 program. RESULTS: The mean score of health literacy was 50.64+/-19.18. In the multiple linear regression analysis, health literacy was significantly associated with education (beta=0.17, P=0.001), alcohol use (beta=-0.12, P=0.010), and perceived health status (beta=0.11, P=0.029). These factors accounted for about 7% of health literacy. CONCLUSIONS: Health literacy is a very important public health issue. Our findings showed that educational level, alcohol use and perceived health status should be considered when assessing this issue in patients. Furthermore, the development of a standardized Korean assessment tool for health literacy and specified interventions for enhancing health literacy are needed to improve health outcomes.
Adult* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Education ; Gyeonggi-do ; Health Literacy* ; Health Personnel ; Health Status ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Literacy ; Primary Prevention ; Public Health ; Seoul ; Students, Nursing