The purpose of the study was to identify the effects of 12-week low-intensity exercise program on muscle strength, flexibility, balance, and cognitive characteristics related to the performance of activity of daily living(ADL). A total of 16 patients who were admitted to the medical unit of a general hospital in ChoongChung province were recruited eight for the exercise group and eight for the comparison group. Four levels of low-intensity exercise from 'ROM on bed' to 'exercise while walking' were then applied to the exercise group according to their physical condition. During hospitalization, patients in the exercise group performed each level of the prescribed exercise with the researchers until they felt. comfortable doing it independently. The researchers also visited the patients' homes after discharge to make sure they could perform the exercise with Theraband in their living environment. The exercise group was contacted by phone once a week to assess the frequency and intensity in which they performed the exercise as well as their physical condition. The subjects in the comparison group participated in measurements for the study without performing the exercise and were contacted by phone after discharge, in a matched time frame with the exercise group, to assess physical condition. Muscle strength, flexibility, balance, cognitive characteristics, and performance of ADL for the two groups were compared at the pretest and the posttest after the low-intensity exercise program by utilizing SPSSWIN and the results are as follows : 1) At the posttest, measurments of muscle strengths showed that the strength of the dorsal flexor in the exercise group was significantly higher than in the comparison group. 2) Objective balance for the exercise group was significantly better than for the comparison group as measured by 'standing on one foot' and Tinetti gait and balance control. 3) The exercise group showed significantly higher task self-efficacy than the comparison group. 4) Perceived exertion for ADL for the exercise group was significantly lower than for the comparison group. 5) Improvement of performance of ADL without assistance was significantly for the exercise group than the comparison group. The findings suggest that a low-intensity exercise program would be useful for the elderly who show decline in their physical functioning due to hospitalization by partly improving physical strength, task self-efficacy, and performance of ADL. Directions for further research on issues of motivating people to exercise as well as of standardizing various types of exercise were discussed.

Recently, the ratio of elderly in the population are fastly growing due to socio-economical development and the better medical service. Proportionally, the health problems in elderly are increasing, too. Medical professionals must try so that the elderly have the better life through health promotion and disease prevention as well as disease treatment. This study evaluated the effect of walking exercise program on the cardiorespiratory function and the flexibility in the elderly women. The design of research was one group pretest -posttest design. The subjects were eleven elderly women over sixty years old to live in K-city, Kyonggi-do. The type of exercise was walking, which was the most popular exercise in questionnaire. The exercise intensity was 40%~60% of the target heart-rate by Karvonen's method and maintained by the heart-rate monitor. The exercise period was five weeks and the exercise frequency was three times per week. The exercise duration was forty minites at first and gradually increased up to a hour. In order to evaluate the effect of walking exercise, we measured VO2 max, resting heart-rate, systolic/diastolic blood pressure, FVC, FEV1, the flexibility before and after the five week's exercise program. The data are analyzed by the paired t-test and Wilcoxon signed rank test using SAS package. The results are as follows: 1) The hypothesis that cardiorespiratory function will be improved was partly supported. In VO2 max(p=0.0001), resting heart-rate(p=0. 0030), systolic/diastolic blood-pressure (p=0.0387/p=0.0024), there was significant difference. FVC and FEV1 were increased after the exercise, but there were no significant difference. 2) The hypothesis that the flexibility will be improved was supported. There was significant difference in the flexibility (p=0.0140). As the further study, it is necessary to reevaluate the effect with more refined design. We also need to try meta-analysis about the results of previous studies obtained in the experimental setting and compare our result obtained in the field setting with them.

The effect of circumvaginal muscle (CVM) exercises to improve sexual function in married women has not been investigated by currently acceptable research methods, nor have appropriate instruments and techniques to carry out such investigation been available. The purpose of this research was to study the effect of CVM exercise on sexual function, and of measuring CVM function after CVM exercises. The research tools used were a modified Derogatis Sexual Function Inventory questionnare and a pressure sensitive intravaginal balloon device. This research was conducted in Kwangju-city and Chonnam province, Korea from July, 1994 to July, 1995. The research used a non-equivalent control pre-post test quasi-experimental design. Forty-five healthy married female volunteers, aged 30?8, and were randomly assigned by age using the matching fixed-length blocks to two groups. The experimental group consisted of 21 women who were assigned a 25 -minute per day CVM home exercise program for six weeks. The control group of 24 women did not do the CVM home exercises. The CVM home exercise was developed by Dougherty (1989a) and adopted to Korea by Lee (1993). Data were analyzed by x2-test, Paired t-test, Spearman product-moment correlation using SAS/PC+. The results are summarized as follows: 1. There were no significant differences in the characteristics of the subjects between the exper imental and control groups before the CVM home exercises. 2. Hypothesis 1 that married women who participated in CVM home exercises would have higher mean scores on the sexual function (SF) than in those who did not participate in home exercise was supported. 3. Hypothesis 2 that married women who participated in CVM home exercises would have higher vaginal pressure on SF than in those who did not participate in home exercises was supported (mean maximum pressure, t= -7.338, P<.0001, peak maximum pressure, t=-11.164, P<.0001). 4. Hypothesis 3 that the more often (number of days) and the more frequent (numbers of times per day) that married women do CVM home exercise, the higher their mean scores on SF and vaginal pressures was supported (r =0.233, P<.01; r=0.352, P<.05). A six week CVM home exercise program using a tape recording showed that SF can be improved. Results of this study showed that married women who exercise on a regular basis for six weeks improve their sexual function and increase the mean vaginal pressure and peak maximum pressure (tested by electronic monitor). In conclusion, CVM exercise is effective in increasing SF.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify factors that influence the functional status of chronic lung disease patients. METHOD: A descriptive, correlational study design was used. The study was conducted at the outpatient respiratory clinic of the large university hospital in Korea. A convenience sample of 128 chronic lung patients (age = 64.2 yrs; 106 COPD, 17 bronchiectasis, 5 DILD) with mean FEV1 64.4 % predicted. Functional status was measured with SIP. Physical variables (FEV1% predicted, dyspnea, fatigue, pulmonary symptom distress), psychological variables (mood, stress), and situational variable (sleep quality) were examined. Dyspnea was measured by the BDI, fatigue was measured with the MFI. Mood was measured with the modified Korean version of POMS. Sleep quality was measured with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Potential independent variables for the regression were age, gender, years since diagnosis, FEV1% predicted, dyspnea, fatigue, pulmonary symptom distress, stress, and sleep quality. RESULT: In general, functional status was relatively good. In regression analysis, functional status were significantly influenced by dyspnea, mood, age and fatigue. These variables explained 70 % of the variances in functional status. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that psychophysiologic symptom management should be a focus to enhance the functional status in this group.

PURPOSE: This study was to examine the effects of the Dan-Jun Breathing Exercise Program on pulmonary function and psychological health promotion of women in midlife. METHOD: Experimental group(20) was matched to control group(20) according to age, education, religion and marital status. The Dan-Jun Breathing Exercise Program was carried out for 80 minutes a day, 3 times a week for 12 weeks. FVC and FEV1.0/FVC(%) were measured by using the Health Management System developed by the Korean Physical Science Institution. The scores of depression, anxiety and hostility were measured by the Korean Manual of Symptoms-Checklist -90 revision. RESULT: 1) FVC of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group, FEV1.0/FVC(%) was not higher than that of the control group. 2) The scores for depression, anxiety and hostility in the experimental group were lower than those of the control group. 3) FVC of 6 weeks and 12 weeks experiment in the experimental group was higher than that of pre-experimental group. CONCLUSION: The Dan-Jun Breathing Exercise Program promotes the Pulmonary function and psychological health of women in midlife.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop the instrument to measure family functioning for Korean family with a chronic ill child, and to test the validity and reliability of the instrument. METHOD: The items of instrument were consisted based on researchers' previous study of concept analysis of the Korean family functioning. Twenty six item scale was developed with six domains. In order to test reliability and validity of the scale, data were collected from the 231 families, who have a child with a chronic illness. Data was collected between August and September in 2001 in a General Hospital in Seoul, Korea. RESULT: The results were as follows:As a result of the item analysis, 24 items were selected from the total of 26 items, excluding items with low correlation with total scale. Six factors were evolved by factor analysis. Six factors explained 61.4% of the total variance. The first factor 'Affective bonding' explained 15.4%, 2nd factor 'External relationship' 11.8%, 3rd factor 'Family norm' 10.5%, 4th factor 'Role and responsibilities' 8.3%, 5th factor ' Communication' 7.9%, and the 6th factor 'Financial resource' explained 7.3%. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of this scale was .87 and Guttman spilt- half coefficient was .84. CONCLUSION: The study support the reliability and validity of the scale. There were distinct differences in dimensions of family functioning scales developed in the U. S.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to analyze the functional status of low income elderly living at home according to their socio-economic factors, sensory function, health status, medical service utilization, commodity and types of chronic disease.
METHOD
Functional status was defined by the level of mobility, ADL and IADL categorized as independently functional, mildly impaired, moderately disabled, and severely disabled. The data was collected by home-visit interviews with 567 community dwelling adults who were 65 years of age or more with low a income status subsidized by government in ChonAn.
RESULTS
9.9% of community dwelling older adults were severely disabled, and 44.4% were moderately disabled in their functional status. There were significant differences in the functional status by age, education, religion, and types of family structure. The older adults with hearing impairment or dental problems had a significantly higher rate of severe disability. Self-rated health status and medical service utilization were also significant factors to the differences in functional status. The functional status of older adults was also significantly related to the presence of chronic health problems such as chronic back pain, stroke, and Alzheimer-dementia.
CONCLUSION
The results confirmed that community dwelling older adults with low income status were more functionally disabled in comparison to general older adults at national level, while the relating factors to their functional status seemed similar to other studies on older adults. Further studies were suggested to look into functional status longitudinally and focus on the changes of functional status by managing modifiable influencing factors.

PURPOSE: This study aims to identify the ADL and IADL of bed-ridden elderly. Also it is used to show fuctional status, and to investigate the content and the level of nursing services provided. METHOD: The subjects were 191 elderly who received visiting nurse service through public health centers in the Seoul Metopolitan and Chungnam Province. Data collection was conducted by public health center nurses during four months in 2000. Result: As for daily living activities, 100% of subjects had at least one difficulty in ADL and IADL. Among them, only 0.5% had moderate disabilities and 99.5% had severe disabilities by HFS, 27.9% were in a semi bed-ridden state and 72.1% were completely bed-ridden by JABC. The major service provided was a visiting nurse service which was preferable to the social welfare service. In the visiting nurse service, there was no significant difference according to the elderlys' functional status. In addition there was no standadization about the qualification of the visiting nurse, and single entry point for the nursing service. CONCLUSION: The researchers urgently suggest that a community based comprehensive service model has to be developed to respond to the needs of the elderly in Korea.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of exercise program on cardiopulmonary functions and shoulder joint functioning in breast cancer patients who under- went radiation therapy after surgery. METHOD: Subjects in the experimental group(N=12) participated in an exercise program for eight weeks. The Exercise program consisted of shoulder stretching, arm weight training, and walking on treadmill. Maximal oxygen uptake(o2max), maximal running time, shoulder joint range of motion, and shoulder functional assessment were determined before and after the exercise program. Baseline sociodemographic and medical data were compared between experimental group and control group using the Fisher's exact test and Mann- Whitney U test. For effects of the exercise program, repeated measures ANOVA were used. RESULT: 1) Following the exercise program for eight weeks, both o2 max and maximal running time tended to increase in experimental group comparing with the control group. 2) Shoulder abduction, extension and flexion of the operated upper extremity in the experimental group comparing with control significantly increased after the exercise program(p<0.05). 3) Shoulder flexion of the normal upper extremity in the experimental group comparing with control significantly increased after the exercise program(p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The
results
suggest that the exercise program for breast cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy after breast surgery can improve shoulder functions and increase cardiopulmonary functions, which are maximal oxygen uptake and maximal running time.

This study was conducted to identify the effects of a planned exercise program based on Bandura's self efficacy model on metabolism, and the exercise compliance in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. The study design was a nonequivalent pre-test post-test control design. Thirty four type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, who received follow-up care regularly through the diabetic out-patient clinic, were randomly sampled for this study. Twenty patients were assigned to the experimental group and fourteen patients were assigned to the control group. In the experimental group, a planned exercise program is composed of an individualized exercise prescription for 12 weeks, an individual education, and even a telephone coach program. In the case of the control group, they were instructed to continue with their usual schedules. The data collection period was from March 1999 to February 2000 Data were analyzed using SPSS/WINDOW 10.0program. The results were as follows. 1. In the experimental group, the level of fasting blood sugar has significantly decreased from 188.20 mg/dl to 155.55 mg/dl after planned exercise program (F= 16.86, p=.000). For lipid metabolism, body fat per cutaneous decreased from 27.16% to 26.57% after planned exercise program. The score of self efficacy has increased from 64.20 to 66.65 after planned exercise program and it was statistically significant (F=4.850, p=.040) The functional vital capacity has increased from 3.28 liter to 3.37 liter and it was statistically significant(F=7.300, p=.020). 2. In an after effect of a planned exercise program, 35 percent of the subjects who participated in a planned exercise program continued to exercise for another six months. In conclusion, the planned exercise program can improve cardiopulmonary function, glucose, and lipid metabolism. This program was show a positive effect on the self efficacy and exercise compliance.

This study is aimed at developing a cardiac rehabilitation program and enlightening the effects of the program on patient's health behavior compliance, cardiovascular functional capacity, and quality of life. Using a quasi-experimental approach the nonequivalent control group pretest - posttest design was accepted for this study. The subjects of this study consisted of 55 patients with ischemic heart disease at the Cardiac Center of 'G' Hospital located in Inchon from May 1, 1998 to April 30, 1999. The patients were divided into two groups: the experimental group, which participated in the cardiac program with 30 patients and 25 patients of a control group were not involved in the program. There were two phases in the cardiac rehabilitation program: the first phase was a team approach education. It focused on reducing the risk of ischemic heart problems. The second phase was individual training by using a home based exercise program, which was comprised of 8 weeks, three sessions per week, 40-60 minutes per session, and followed by consultation. Every session involved 20-40 minutes of aerobic exercise at 40-60% of heart rate reserve, 11~13 RPE and 10 minutes of warm-up and 10 minutes of cool-down exercises. The experimental tools for the study were the health behavior compliance scale developed by Lee, Yoon-hee (1992), and quality of life scale developed by McGirr et al.(1990). RPPsubmax were measured by the treadmill. The collected data was processed by SPSS and analyzed by X2test and t-test. The results of this study were as follows: 1. The health behavior compliance in experimental group was significantly increased (t=5.091, p=.000) when compared to the control group. 2. RPPsubmax also decreased significantly in the experimental group when compared to the control group(t=-2.109, p=.040). 3. The quality of life significantly improved in the experimental group (t=3.853, p=.000) as compared to the control group. As the above results of this study revealed, the effectiveness of the cardiac rehabilitation program of the study was confirmed. It increased the health behavior compliance for reducing the risk of further coronary events, enhanced the cardiovascular functional capacity, and eventually improved the patient's quality of life.

This study was done to explore the effects of dance therapy on pulmonary and cognitive functions in the elderly. The design of this study was a non-equivalent pre-post test experiment. The subjects consisted of elderly persons living in a facility located in Kyoungi-Do. Fifty eight subjects had normal cognition, sensory function and resting blood pressure. They underwent tests of pulmonary and cognitive function as baseline data before dance therapy, and at 6th week and at the end of 12nd week after following dance therapy. Twenty seven elderly persons were assigned to the experimental group and participated with the dance therapy. This therapy was based on the Marian Chace's dance therapy and Korean traditional dance with music. The dance therapy consisted of 50 minutes session, 3 times a week for 12 weeks. One session consisted of warming-up, expression, catharsis, sharing and closing stage. the intensity of the dance therapy was at the 40% of age-adjusted maximum heart rates. Data were analyzed with mean, standard deviation, Chi-square test, unpaired t-test, repeated measures ANOVA, and Bonferroni multiple regression using SAS program. The results were as follows: 1. Pulmonary function(forced expiratory volumn at one second and forced vital capacity) of the experimental subjects significantly increased over time more than that of the control subjects. 2. The experimental group had significantly higher score for pulmonary function than the control group at the 12nd week after dance therapy. 3. Cognitive function of the experimental subjects significantly increased over time more than that of the control subjects. 4. The experimental group had significantly higher score for cognitive function than the control group at the 6th week and 12nd week after dance therapy. The findings showed the dance therapy could be effective in improving the pulmonary and cognitive function of the elderly.

The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of self-management relaxation training through biofeedback and progressive muscle relaxation methods. The effectiveness of the experimental methods was tested by measuring the degree of symptoms of stress(SOS), the McNair's profile of Mood STates(POMS), the levels of ephinephrine, norepinephrine, pulse rate, blood pressure and natural killer cells. The subjects of this study were sixty six nursing students divided into four groups two groups were the biofeedback and progressive muscle relaxation groups, the other two groups served as control groups. One was a group of sophomores with no experience at all, the other a junior group without self-management or relaxation training. This study was condicted for eight weeks of clinical practice from April, 26th 1998 to June, 20th 1998. Biofeedback training was done with software developed by J&J company(1-410 form for abdominal respiration training). Progressive muscle relaxation training was done with an audiotape recorded according to Jacobson's Theory. The data were analyzed with frequencies, means, and analysis of cobariance using the SPSS program and the significance level of statistics was 5%. The results of the study are : 1) The importance of clinical practice stress reduction is shown in that the level of symptoms of stress in the experimental groups in clinical practice was higher than in the group receiving only a lecture. 2) The relaxation training methods of biofeeback and progressive muscle relaxation were effective in reducing the symptoms of stress under the clinical practice stress conditions. 3) The effectiveness of the biofeedback training relaxation method to reduce symptoms of stress was higher than that of progressive muscle relaxation. 4) The relaxation training methods of biofeedback and progressive muscle relaxation were effective in reducing stressful mood states. 5) The relaxation training methods of bioffedback and progressive muscle relaxation were not effective in reducing epinephrine and norepinephrine levels. 6) The relaxation training methods of biofeedback and progressive muscle relaxation were effective in increasing the number of natural killer cells. 7) The relaxation training methods of biofeedback and progressive muscle relaxation were effective in decreasing high systolic and diastolic values of blood pressure and high pulse rates. In summary, the relaxation methods of biofeedback and progressive muscle relaxation in reducing clinical practice stress were effective in lowering the level of symptoms of stress and the profile of stressful mood states. They were also effective in lowering high blood pressure and pulse rates. The relaxation methods were effective in increasing the number of natural killer cells as part of the immune function. However, relaxation methods were not effective symptoms of stress was more effective than the progressive muscle relaxation method.

This study was condicted to construct a hypothetical model of depression in Korean adolescent women and validate the fit of the model to the empiricla data. The data were collected from 345 high school girls in Seoul, from May 1 to June 30, 1998. The instruments were the Body Mass Index, Physical Satisfaction Scale, Family Adaptatibility and Cohesion Evaluation Scale III, Family Satisfaction Scale, CES-D and School Adaptation Scale. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics with the pc-SAS program. The Linear Structural Relationship(LISREL) modeling process was used to find the best fit model which would predict the causal relationships among the variables. The overall fit of the hypothetical model to the data was moderate [X2=69.6(df=17, p=.000), GFI=0.95, AGFI=0.90, RMR=0.087, NNFI=0.86, NFI=0.90]. The predictable variables, especially menstrual symptoms, physical symptoms and family function, had a significant direct effect on depression, but school life adaptation did not have a significant direct effect. These variables explained 18.1% of the total variance.

Stroke is a major cause of death and long-term disability. Because muscle weakness is one of the most prominent consequences of stroke, it was considered important to determine whether exercise if order to improve muscle strength and range of motion could have an effect in limiting the learned disuse of the affected side. The purpose of the study was to identify the effects of an 8 week rehabilitation program on physical and cognitive ability in stroke patients. A total of 18 patients who were admitted to the oriental medicine unit of a K medical center in Seoul were recruited : Ten for the experimental group and eight for the control group. The rehabilitation program consisted of three level's of active and passive exercises for prevention of muscle contracture and at range of motion. Muscle strength, flexibility of the upper and lower extremity, perceived balance, functional independence, depression, and quality of life for the two groups were compared at the pretest and 4 and 8 weeks after the rehabilitation program. The results are as follows: 1) When measuring muscle strengths of shoulder abduction and elbow flexion, hip flexion and knee extensor, ankle dorsi-flexor and muscle strength of knee flexor. Muscle strength of knee flexor for the experimental group was significantly higher than the comparison group at the 4 weeks. 2) Muscle strength and flexibility of the ankle dorsi-flexor for the experimental group was significantly better than for the control group at 8 weeks. 3) Functional independence, perceived balance, and Tinetti balance for the experimental group as measured at 4 and 8 weeks were better than for the control group. Also, there were changes over time in physical balance and functional ability, but there was no significant differences between the groups. 4) The experimental group showed a higher quality of life and lower depression than the control group at 8 weeks. 5) Muscle strength and flexibility of ankle dorsi-flexor were significantly changer over time and an interaction between group and time. The findings suggested that the rehabilitation program would improve the physical and psychological status of the stroke patients. Thus, the gains in actual or perceived ability to perform physical activities was marked.

The main objectives of this study were to investigate the concept of family function from the perspective of the contemporary Korean family, and to construct model of change of family function whit chronic illness. The hybrid model approach was applied in which three phases(theoretical phase, empirical phase, and analytic phase) of concept development were explored for family functioning. The study was conducted from 1997 to 1998. In empirical phase, two groups of purposive samples were drawn : normal family group composed of six families without ill family member, and ill family group composed of seven families of which wives have rheumatoid arthritis. Only families with child(or children)in primary or secondary schools were included in the study. The results were as follows: In theoretical phase, six dimensions of family concept were emerged : affective, structural, control, cognitive, financial, and reproductive dimension. In order to analyze the Korean normal family function in middle class with middle-age women, financial and reproductive dimension were not included. In empirical phase, five dimensions(affective, structural, control, cognitive, and external relationship) were fond from the normal family data. External relationship dimension is very important factor as a resource of the support, especially when their parents or siblings had no help or support to them. In the affective dimension, Korean family emphasized harmony and balance rather than affective expression harmony and balance rather than affective expression between couples and between parents and children. They also showed common goals of the families to solve their problems to control the family members. The priority of the goals was getting into the higher education of their children or helping their unhealthy parents or family members. Six dimension(affective, structural, control, cognitive, external relationship, and financial) of family functions were emerged from the ill family data. From the analysis of ill family data, types of restructuring house chore after wives illness were developed : (a) negociated, (b) accomodated, and (c) isolated, enduring types. Although the dimensions of family functioning identified in this study are similar to the conceptualizations that exist in the western literature, there where distinct differences in the nature of major themes and subconcepts under these family function dimensions.

The main purpose of this study was to identify the effects of group social support and individual social support on the reduction of burden and improvement in family functioning of families with asthmatic children. The design of this study was a randomized pre-posttest quasi-experimental design to compare the two experimental groups. The theoretical framework for this study was derived from the study of burden in family caregivers by Suh and Oh(1993) based on the main effect model of social support theories. The data were collected from February 12, 1998 to May 29, 1998 at the pediatric out patient department of a university hospital located in Suwon city. The sample consisted of 39 family members who were identified as families with asthmatic children, Eighteen subjects were randomly assigned to the group social support group and 21 were assigned to the individual social support group. Group and individual social support members were seen for 60 to 90 minutes, four times over one to three weeks. The instruments used in this study were the Burden Scale developed by Suh and Oh(1993), the Visual Analogue Scale, and the Family Adaptability Cohesion Evaluation Scale(FACES-III) developed by Olson, Portner, and Lavee(1985). The collected data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney test, x2-test, Wilcoxon sign rank test, t-test, ANOVA(Scheff), pearson correlation coefficient, multiple regression, and social support process and content analysis. The results are as follow ; 1. There was no significant difference before the experimental treatment among the subjects in the group social support group and individual social support group for general characteristics, burden, or family functioning. 2. Hypothesis 1 ; "There will be a greater reduction on the burden score of the group social support group compared to the individual social support group" was not statistically significant(U=174.5, p=.683). The burden scores showed a significant decrease after participation in social support as compared to before participation for both groups. However there was a tendency for more reduction in the burden scores for the group social support than for individual social support. 3. Hypothesis 2 ; "There will be a greater improvement in the family functioning scores for the group social support group compared to the individual social support group" was not statistically significant(U=153.0, p=.309). There was a tendency toward improvement in the family functioning scores of the group social support as compared to that of the individual social support. 4. According to the length of the treatment period, families with asthmatic children displayed affirmative responses, and the families set up a self-help group of mothers with asthmatic children n order to share their experiences, to get information and to solve their problems. In conclusion, it was found that group social support was the more effective nursing intervention for reducing burden and for improving family functioning of families with asthmatic children.

This study was designed to investigate the effect of a hand massage program on anxiety and immune function in patients during cataract surgery. The hand massage program, in this study, consisted of hand massage and hand-holding. The subjects were sixty-three patients, thirty for the experimental and thirty-three for the control group, who were admitted at Kang Nam St. Mary's Hospital for cataract surgery. This study was carried out from December 10, 1997 to February 26, 1998. The level of anxiety as measured by the Visual Analogue Scale, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and pulse rate were measured before, after hand massage, and after hand-holding. Epinephrine, norepinephrine, cortisol, blood sugar levels, neutrophil, lymphocyte, and natural killer cell percentages also were measured before hand massage and five minutes before the end of the operation. Data were analyzed by t-test, ANCOVA, repeated measure ANOVA, and Bonferroni multiple comparisons. The results were as follows : 1) After hand massage, psychological anxiety levels decreased significantly compare with before hand massage in the experimental group, not in the control group. After hand holding, there were significant decrease in both groups. 2) There were no significant differences on systolic blood pressure, diastorlc blood pressure, and pulse rates in both groups. 3) The hand massage program decreased epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol significantly in the experimental group and increased epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol in the control group. 4) There were no differences in blood sugar levels, neutrophil and lymphocyte percentages in white blood cells after the hand massage program. However, natural killer cells in lymphocytes were significantly increased in the experimental group. These findings indicate that a hand massage program could be a effective nursing intervention in decreasing the psychological and physiological anxiety levels and improving immune function in clients having cataract surgery under local anesthesia.