This study was done to describe health behavior and determine affecting factors in Korean adults, based on the Health Behavior Assessment tool. The subjects were sample of 298 adults from five cities. The instrument for this study were Health Behavior Assessment tool(30 items, 4scale). Frequency, percentage, t-test, ANOVA, cluster analysis with SPSS program were used to analyze the data. The results of the study are as follows; 1) The average item score for health behavior was 2.56, the highest score on the subscale was limitation of liking(M=3.16), followed by stress management(M=2.98), nutrition(M=2.82), energy conservation(M=2.67). 2) A significant difference between age, sex, perception of health, and health behavior were found. 3) Pattern of health behavior among Korean adults focused on stress management in order to obtain emotional stability, and balance and harmony in dietary life, and energy conservation. Patterns of health behavior in Korean adults is unique in each individual. Therefore nursing intervention skill for health promotion have to be developed based on the health behavior in each individual.

This study has been designed to develop a health behavior scale. Data were collected through a survey over a period of two period. Subjects who participated in the study were 298 Korean adults. The author used a convenience sampling method. The analysis of the data was done with SPSS PC for descriptive statistics and factor analysis. Initially 34 items were generated from the interview data of twenty one adults and from literature review and survey. This preliminary scale was analyzed for a reliability and validity. The results are as follow: 1. Crombach Coefficient alpha for the 30 items was .7909. 2. Factor analysis was done in order to confirm construct validity and nine factor were extracted from the results. These contributed 54.4% of the variance in the total score. 3. Nine factor label were 'exercise' stress management' 'energy conservation' 'limit in liking' 'selection of food' 'ingestion of natural food' ' health examination' 'relaxation' and 'nutrition'. The author suggest that this scale could be adequately applied in assessing the health behavior of Korean adults. The results of using this scale in a study can contribute to designing an appropriate health promotion strategy.