The focus of the study was on the selection-optimization-compensation (SOC) strategy to predict successful aging mediated by dyspnea symptoms in older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The model was constructed based on the hypotheses that coping strategy and social support of the elders predict successful aging through the SOC strategies.

Participants were 218 outpatients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease recruited for the study. Data collection was done from March 25 to September 11, 2015, and analyzed using SPSSWIN 22.0 and AMOS 21.0.

The hypothetical model appeared to be fit to the data. Seven of eight hypotheses selected for hypothetical model were statistically significant. The SOC strategy has only significant indirect effects through dyspnea symptoms on successful aging. Coping strategy, social support, SOC strategies and dyspnea symptoms explained 62% of variance in successful aging.

The SOC strategies with social support and dyspnea symptoms significantly explained successful aging among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Nursing strategies should be focused on social support and coping strategies to optimize SOC strategies so that older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are able to manage dyspnea symptoms and eventually achieve successful aging.

Tai Chi exercise, an ancient Chinese martial art, has drawn more and more attention for its health benefits. The purpose of the study was to identify the effects of a Sun-style Tai Chi exercise on arthritic symptoms (joint pain and stiffness), motivation for performing health behaviors, and the performance of health behaviors among older women with osteoarthritis.

Total of 72 women with the mean age of 63 years old were recruited from outpatients clinic or public health centers according to the inclusion criteria and assigned randomly to either the Tai Chi exercise group or the control. A Sun-style Tai Chi exercise has been provided three times a week for the first two weeks, and then once a week for another 10 weeks. In 12 weeks of study period, 22 subjects in the Tai Chi exercise group and 21 subjects in the control group completed the posttest measure with the dropout rate of 41%. Outcome variables included arthritic symptoms measured by K-WOMAC, motivation for health behavior, and health behaviors.

At the completion of the 12 week Tai Chi exercise, the Tai Chi group perceived significantly less joint pain (t=-2.19, p=0.03) and stiffness (t=-2.24, p=0.03), perceived more health benefits (t=2.67, p=0.01), and performed better health behaviors (t=2.35, p=0.02), specifically for diet behavior (t=2.06, p=0.04) and stress management (t=2.97, p=0.005).

A Sun-style Tai Chi exercise was found as beneficial for women with osteoarthritis to reduce their perceived arthritic symptoms, improve their perception of health benefits to perform better health behaviors.

The focus of this study was on symptom management to predict quality of life among individuals with heart failure. The theoretical model was constructed based on situation-specific theory of heart failure self-care and literature review.

For participants, 241 outpatients at a university hospital were invited to the study from May 19 to July 30, 2014. Data were collected with structured questionnaires and analyzed using SPSSWIN and AMOS 20.0.

The goodness of fit index for the hypothetical model was .93, incremental fit index, .90, and comparative fit index, .90. As the outcomes satisfied the recommended level, the hypothetical model appeared to fit the data. Seven of the eight hypotheses selected for the hypothetical model were statistically significant. The predictors of symptom management, symptom management confidence and social support together explained 32% of the variance in quality of life. The 28% of variance in symptom management was explained by symptom recognition, heart failure knowledge and symptom management confidence. The 4% of variance in symptom management confidence was explained by social support.

The hypothetical model of this study was confirmed to be adequate in explaining and predicting quality of life among patients with heart failure through symptom management. Effective strategies to improve quality of life among patients with heart failure should focus on symptom management. Symptom management can be enhanced by providing educational programs, encouraging social support and confidence, consequently improving quality of life among this population.

This study was done to analyze the effects of Tai Chi on fall-related risk factors through meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials published in English and Korean between 2000 and 2010.

Using health related database and hand search of references and Google, 28 randomized studies were collected from doctoral dissertation and published peer reviewed articles. The Comprehensive Meta-analysis version 2.0 was used for the analysis.

The effect sizes for Tai Chi for 3 months were significant with ES=0.54 for static balance, ES=0.24 for dynamic balance, ES=0.69 for balance measured by scale, and ES=0.40 for flexibility, ES=0.48 for muscle strength, ES=0.71 for ADL, and ES=0.37 for fear of falling. Also, the effect sizes of Tai Chi for 6 months were significant for most fall-related variables. The 6 month data for flexibility was not analyzed since only one study was published.

The analysis of studies of randomized clinical trials indicate that Tai Chi is effective in improving balance, flexibility, muscle strength, activities of daily living, and fear of falling when applied for 3 or 6 months. The findings provide the objective evidence to apply Tai Chi as a fall preventive intervention.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of passive upper arm exercise on range of motion, muscle strength, and muscle spasticity in hemiplegic patients with cerebral vascular disease.

A quasi-experimental design with nonequivalent control group was utilized. According to inclusion criteria, 25 patients were assigned to the control group with routine care, followed by 25 to the intervention group with passive exercise for 30 minutes per session, twice a day for 2 weeks. Eighteen patients in the intervention group and 17 in the control group completed the posttest measurement, including range of motion for upper arm joints, manual muscle test, and Modified Ashworth Scale for muscle spasticity.

The intervention group had a significantly improved range of motion in the shoulder and wrist joints. No interaction effect was found for the elbow joint. No significant differences were found in muscle strength or muscle spasticity between the groups.

Results of the study indicate that passive exercise safely applied for two weeks improves range of motion in joints of the upper arm in these patients. Further study with long-term follow-up is needed to verify the role of passive exercise in preventing muscle spasticity in this population.

Natural menopause resulting in the decline in endogenous estrogen concentrations is responsible for an increased risk of coronary heart disease in postmenopausal women. The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of a 6-month Tai Chi exercise program on cardiovascular risk factors and quality of life in post-menopausal women.

A quasi-experimental design with pretest and posttest measures was used. The participants in the study, 29 women in the Tai Chi group and 31 in the control group, were enrolled for 6 months.

After 6 months of Tai Chi exercise, total cholesterol (M=213 to 185), LDL-cholesterol (M=135 to 128), and their 10 yr cardiovascular disease risk (M=2.62 to 2.27) had improved significantly for the Tai Chi participants compared to the control group. Total scores for quality of life along with the sub-dimensions of health perception and mental functioning were also significantly higher in the Tai Chi participants.

Tai Chi exercise favorably affected cardiovascular health and quality of life in post-menopausal women after 6 months. Additional rigorous studies are needed to examine long term effects on the prevention of cardiovascular disease in this population.

The study was done to compare quality of life by gender, and to identify factors which explain quality of life in individuals with coronary artery disease.

For the survey, 91 individuals (53 men and 38 women) agreed to participate in the study. Cardiovascular risk factors, systolic blood pressure, body mass index, total cholesterol, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, health behavior as well as quality of life, were measured. Descriptive statistics, t-test, correlation and hierarchical multiple regression with SPSS WIN 12.0 were used to analyze the data.

Significant gender differences were found for education, smoking status, chronic disease, perceived health status, and quality of life within sub-dimensions. Hierarchical regression analysis showed gender (men), age, perceived health status, cardiovascular risk scores, and health behaviors together explained 40.2% (adjusted R²) of variance in quality of life.

As the factors explaining quality of life in individuals with coronary artery disease have been identified as gender (men), age, perceived health status, and health behaviors, health promotion programs designed for this population should focus on these factors for effective behavioral modification, and consequent improvement in quality of life.

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors influencing quality of life after analyzing the relationship between depression, health promotion and quality of life in patients with gastrointestinal neoplasms.

The subjects of this study were 63 people who underwent treatments from 2 general hospitals in Seoul and Daejeon and had no recurrence in stages I & II of gastrointestinal neoplasms. Data was collected from March 1 to April 30, 2006. A questionnaire consisting of Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D), Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP II) and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Colorectal (FACT-C) was given. The collected data was analyzed with the SPSS program which was used for descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficients and hierarchical multiple regression.

The major findings of this study were as follows: 1) There was a significant relationship between depression (r=-.639, p=.000), health promotion (r=.407, p=.001) and quality of life. 2) Significant factors were depression (F=-4.091, p=.000) and health promotion (F=2.375, p=.021) that explained 46% of quality of life (F=10.022, p=.000).

Cancer patients experienced extreme depression which led to a negative effect on quality of life. Health promotion was an important variable to the quality of life and it gave the patients motivation for having a will and belief for better health.

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with cardiovascular disease in Korea has rarely been studied, mostly due to the lack of a psychometrically validated disease-specific instrument. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a cardiovascular specific-HRQOL questionnaire (CD-QOL).

The CD-QOL was developed and validated as follows; item generation, pilot study, and psychometric tests. Patients were recruited from three-university hospitals. The patients were asked to complete the preliminary questionnaire comprising the content-validated items, SF-36, and CES-D. The NYHA and KASI classifications were used to classify the functional performance of the patients. The data was analyzed using correlation, factor analysis, multidimensional scaling, multitrait/multi-item matrix, ANOVA, and Cronbach's alpha.

Preliminarily, thirty-nine items were generated. Factor analysisextracted a five-factor solution with a total of twenty-two items. One item was deleted based upon the MDS. The remaining items were moderately correlated with the subscales of the SF-36 and associated with depression measured with the CES-D. The mean scores of patients in NYHA and KASI class I were significantly higher than those in NYHA and KASI class II or/and III, which suggested patients with better functional performance were likely to have a better HRQOL. Cronbach's alphas of the total and subscales were all greater than 0.70.

The CD-QOL is a easily applicable instrument with excellent psychometric properties of content, criterion, factorial, convergent, and known-groups validity, and internal consistency reliability in Korean patients with cardiovascular disease.