BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Stroke is a leading cause of death in Korea. Early measurement to prevent stroke are extremely important since it has no cure. Korean might have different risk factors since their dietary habit and socio-economical status differ from most western countries. However, the risk factors for stroke in Korea have not yet been identified. Moreover, the lifestyle of health Korean adults has not been investigated. In this study we investigate the life of health adults living in Seoul and rural areas and compare the life style of the two. METHODS: One hundred seventy one subjects were studies. Among the subjects studied, 128 were from Seoul, the other 43 were from the country area. The age of the subjects was limited to over 40 years. Blood pressure, fast blood sugar, and cholesterol were measured. The subjects' height, weight, body mass index total body fat, skinfolds thickness of triceps, subscapular and abdomen were measured to determine obesity. Using a structured interview, we assessed : sodium intake, physical activity and exercise, consumption of vegetables, fat, fish and fruits. The results of the two groups were compared. RESULTS: There were no statistical differences in age and education between the two groups of subjects. The mean age of the subjects were 66 years old. The subjects residing in rural areas had a higher intake of sodium(p<0.05), lower physical active(P<0.05), and higher BMI and body fat(p<0.05) as compared to the subjects in Seoul. Subjects with hypertension were between 24% and 33% and the prevalence of hypertension was the highest was the highest when compared to the prevalence of DM, or hypercholesterolemia. However, the prevalence of hypertension, DM, hypercholesterolemia, were not significantly different in these areas. CONCLUSION: our results show that subjects living in rural areas eat more salty food, exercise less and tend to be obese. The finding of this study lead to speculation that Korean living in rural areas have less information about the effects diet of diet on health than city dwellers do. General health and nutrition education programs aimed at the prevention of stoke and other such conditions for rural area Korean may close the risk factor gap between rural and urban dwellers.

This study amis for examines the actual physical symptom and stress in caregivers of patients with cerebrovascular disease. The data were collected by a survey conducted from August to September, 1997 which included 65 caregivers of cerebrovascular disease patient in 4 hospitals located in Seoul. The caregiver's stress was measured by Choi(1992)'s instrument and the actual physical symptoms were investigated. The data were analyzed using ANOV, Scheffe test, pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise multiple regression. The results were as follows : 1. The mean number of caregiver's physical symptom was 3.5. There were significantly higher number of physical symptom in women, those of who have a religious affiliation, those of two perceive their own health status perceived s bad, and those of two perceived their patients disease condition as serious than in their counterparts. Also, the number of caregiver's physical symptom was significantly higher in caregivers whose patients have a paralysis symptom and the disease onset as spontaneous. 2. The average of caregiver's stress was 57.9. The caregiver's stress was the highest in between the ages of 50 and 59. There were also significantly higher level of stress in women, those of two perceived the disease condition of their patient as serious than in counterparts. 3. The most common caregiver's physical symptom was fatigue(87.7%). This was followed by insomnia(58.5%) and muscle (47.4%). 4. Caregiver's physical symptom was positively correlated with caregiver's stress and negatively correlated with patient's activity of daily life. 5. The most important variable affecting the caregiver's physical symptom was patient's activity of daily life which accounted for 12.7% of the total variance in stepwise multiple regression analysis. The most important variable affecting the caregiver's stress was the patient disease condition perceived by the caregiver that accounted for 12.1% of the total variance.