This study was conducted to identify the differences of health patterns; health-related characteristics, health behaviors, health problems, and self-care levels of elderly, living alone in an urban area according to age group.

The study design was a descriptive survey and the subjects were 1,800 elderly consisting of 937 young old, 704 middle old, and 159 old old. Data was collected from May to July 2003 using the structured questionnaire and analyzed by descriptive statistics, χ²-test, Fisher's exact probability test, ANOVA and Scheffe test using SPSS/PC.

The health related characteristics which involved body mass index, mental status, use of assistant devices, perceived health, concern of health, and social support were different among the groups and more aggravated by aging. Health behaviors and health problems were also significantly aggravated in the old old group. The self-care levels measured by ADL, physical activity, and self-care ability scores were also significantly decreased in the old old group.

For the level of health status, health behaviors and self-care ability were significantly decreased by aging, health care services for the elderly should be planned considering the difference in the health pattern by age group.

The aim of this study was to compare the predictors of physical activity between urban and rural dwelling Korean older adults.

This study was a cross-sectional descriptive survey. A self-report questionnaire or face to face interviews were used to collect data from 336 older adults (urban: 129, rural: 207) who visited public health centers or welfare centers in 2008.

About half of the participants (urban: 50.4%, rural: 47.3%) were classified as the minimally active group. Cognitive function (odds ratio [OR]=1.106, p=.004) and loneliness (OR=0.965, p=.044) were predicting factors for physical activity in rural elderly. Age (OR=0.326, p=.037), gender (OR=2.841, p=.021) and depression (OR=0.799, p<.001) were significant factors predicting physical activity in urban elders.

These findings provide information that is relevant in designing interventions to enhance physical activity in older adults. There is a need to develop effective mutifaceted physical activity interventions that include reducing psychological barriers such as depression, loneliness.

This study was done to compare health risk behavior prevalence for youth living in metropolitan, medium sized and small cities or rural area, in order to enhance understanding regional differences.

For this study, data from the 2006 Youth Health Risk Behavior Online Survey collected by the Korean Center for Disease Control were analyzed using SPSS.

In the metropolitan areas, prevalence for disease and perceived obesity were higher than in other areas. Lack of intense or moderate physical activity, obesity, fast food intake, and insufficient sleep showed higher prevalence than in rural areas. Prevalence of lifetime smoking, lifetime alcohol consumption, present alcohol use, fruit intake less than once a day, and not wearing a seat belt were higher in rural areas than in urban areas. Gender, smoking, and alcohol use were correlated. Spearman correlation between living with parent and skipping breakfast were significant. Smoking, alcohol use, and sexual behavior were correlated.

As significant differences in prevalence of youth health risk behaviors exist between regional areas, health education and health promotion programs considering these differences have to be developed and implemented for adolescents. Programs for prevention of smoking and alcohol use, programs for improvement of fruit intake and safety are suggested for adolescents in rural areas, whereas programs to enhance physical activity and obesity management are suggested for adolescents in metropolitan areas.

This study was conducted to explore the relationship between isoflavones intake from soy foods and perimenstrual symptoms among women.

The research design was a cross sectional study. Subjects consisted of 245 women living in Korea, aged 19-49 years. The measurement tools were MDQ and FFQ.

Frequently consumed soy isoflavones foods were rice with soybeans, soybean paste stew, and soy paste with tofu. The amounts of soy isoflavones foods consumed in order from highest to lowest were rice with soybeans, soybean paste stew, seasoned soybean sprouts, and soy paste with tofu. Subjects were divided into three groups by isoflavones intake levels; the small intake group, moderate intake group, and large intake group. There were significant differences in some menstrual symptoms, and postmenstrual symptoms by isoflavones intake levels. In general, the moderate isoflavones intake group showed lower scores in some menstrual symptoms and postmenstrual periods compared to the small and large intake groups.

These results suggest some positive health effects of isoflavones from soy foods on perimenstrual symptoms. More accurate, objective measurement needs to be applied and more investigation of soy isoflavones effects on many aspects of women's health need to be done in a future study.

This study was to examine the effects of foot reflexion massage on sleep disturbance, depression disorder, and the physiological index of the elderly in nursing homes.

The research design was a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study. The subjects in this study were 50 elderly people who resided in two different nursing homes in the same region. An experimental group and a control group were organized with 25 subjects respectively, and foot reflexion massage was provided for 12 sessions, 30 minutes per session. The selected dependent variables were sleep disturbance, depression disorder, and physiological indices(blood plasma serotonin, serum cortisol), which were all measured before and after foot reflexion massage was offered. Data analysis included χ²-test, t-test, paired t-test, and ANCOVA, using the SPSS program package.

1. The experimental group improved sleep quality more than the control group. 2. The experimental group had less depression disorder than the control group. 3. The experimental group had higher serotonin levels than the control group.

It's necessary to give foot reflexion massage as a successful nursing intervention to elderly who undergo a change in sleep, and suffer from a depression disorder due to a deterioration in sleep.