The purpose of this study was to investigate expectations regarding aging by middle-aged women in the community, and identify factors contributing to their expectations about aging.

Participants in the survey for this study were 303 middle-aged women from community health centers and religious facilities in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Chungcheongbuk Province. Data were collected from March 2 to April 17, 2012 using self-report structured questionnaires. The instruments were the Health Perceptions, Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES), Family APGAR, Expectations Regarding Aging (ERA-12). The data were analyzed using t-test, one-way ANOVA, Scheffe test, Pearson correlation coefficients and hierarchical multiple regression with IBM SPSS/WIN 20.0 program.

Perceived health status (β=0.16, p=.009) and self-esteem (β=0.20, p=.001) of middle-aged women were identified as significant predictors of expectations regarding aging, after adjusting for age, education, occupation, monthly income and menstrual status.

These results suggest that nurses should make an effort to improve expectations about aging among middle-aged women. Ultimately, community health programs for middle aged women need to be developed to achieve successful aging.