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HOME > J Korean Acad Community Health Nurs > Volume 27(3); 2016 > Article
Original Article
Health Promotion Behaviors of Rural Elderly Women Living Alone and Their Life Satisfaction
Ha Jeong Kim
Journal of Korean Academy of Community Health Nursing 2016;27(3):254-261.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12799/jkachn.2016.27.3.254
Published online: September 30, 2016

Korean Nurse Association, Community Health Practitioner Association, Seoul, Korea.

• Received: April 29, 2016   • Revised: August 18, 2016   • Accepted: September 7, 2016

© 2016 Korean Academy of Community Health Nursing

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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  • Purpose
    This study was conducted to investigate the correlation between degrees of health promotion behaviors and life satisfaction and effects of health promotion behaviors on life satisfaction in rural elderly women living alone.
  • Methods
    A descriptive correlation study was conducted with 189 rural elderly women living alone aged 65 or older in four senior counties in Jeollanam-do. Descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Scheffé test, Pearson's correlation, and multiple regression.
  • Results
    The subjects' health promotion behaviors and life satisfaction were significantly positive. Among the factors influencing the subjects' life satisfaction, nutrition and diet showed the greatest positive effects, followed by exercise and activity, and drinking and smoking. Among them, drinking and smoking had significantly negative influence.
  • Conclusion
    Among the health promotion behaviors that influenced life satisfaction, nutrition and diet, exercise and activity, and drinking and smoking were most significant factors. Therefore, this study provided basic data for improving the life satisfaction among rural elderly women living alone.
Table 1

General Characteristics of Participants (N=189)

Characteristics Categories n (%)
Age (year) 65~74 88 (46.6)
≥75 101 (53.4)
Education No education 90 (47.6)
Elementary school 70 (37)
≥Middle school 29 (15.3)
Religion (n=187) No religion 50 (26.7)
Buddhist 69 (36.9)
Christian 56 (29.9)
Catholic 12 (6.4)
Marriage Other (not bereaved) 177 (93.7)
Bereaved 12 (6.3)
Number of children Son 1 or none 31 (16.4)
2 79 (41.8)
3 52 (27.5)
4 or more 27 (14.3)
Daughter 1 or none 58 (30.7)
2 55 (29.1)
3 43 (22.8)
4 or more 33 (17.5)
Monthly allowance (10,000 won) <20 30 (15.9)
21~40 84 (44.4)
41~60 53 (28.0)
≥61 22 (11.6)
Economic situation Rich 27 (14.3)
Average 89 (47.1)
Poor 73 (38.6)
Regular Exercise Yes 134 (70.9)
No 55 (29.1)
Health Healthy 38 (20.1)
Average 78 (41.3)
Unhealthy 73 (38.6)
Drinking None 106 (56.1)
Experience 83 (43.9)
Smoking No 183 (96.8)
Experience 6 (3.2)
Table 2

Health Promotion Behavior and Life Satisfaction (N=189)

Variables M±SD
Health promotion behavior 76.58±11.22
 Medical examination and consultation 2.57±0.47
 Nutrition and diet 2.41±0.44
 Daily life management 2.51±0.40
 Exercise and activity 2.36±0.69
 Drinking and smoking 2.83±0.38
 Stress management 2.25±0.50
 Average 2.47±0.36
Life satisfaction 48.66±7.88
 Average 2.43±0.39
Table 3

Health Promotion Behavior and Life Satisfaction according to the General Characteristics of Participants (N=189)

Characteristics Category Health promotion behavior Life satisfaction
M±SD t or F (p) M±SD t or F (p)
Age (year) 65~74 2.52±0.34 1.79
(.074)
2.47±0.35 1.31
(.191)
≥75 2.43±0.38 2.40±0.43
Education No educationa 2.34±0.39 12.13
(<.001)
a<b, c
2.38±0.41 1.89
(.153)
Elementary schoolb 2.57±0.29 2.50±0.40
≥Middle schoolc 2.63±0.29 2.45±0.31
Religion (N=187) No religiona 2.39±0.36 6.18
(.001)
a, b<c
2.36±0.39 2.97
(.033)
Buddhistb 2.39±0.35 2.37±0.38
Christianc 2.62±0.34 2.56±0.40
Catholicd 2.57±0.27 2.41±0.34
Marriage Other (not bereaved) 2.41±0.29 -0.55
(.580)
2.23±0.32 -1.86
(.064)
Bereaved 2.47±0.37 2.45±0.40
Number of children Son 1 or none 2.57±0.34 1.52
(.209)
2.43±0.40 .02
(.994)
2 2.48±0.37 2.44±0.41
3 2.41±0.35 2.42±0.43
4 or more 2.42±0.36 2.44±0.29
Daughter 1 or none 2.53±0.31 0.84
(.471)
2.50±0.38 1.21
(.307)
2 2.46±0.37 2.44±0.39
3 2.45±0.36 2.42±0.39
4 or more 2.41±0.43 2.33±0.42
Monthly allowance (10,000 won) <20a 2.40±0.37 5.09
(.002)
a, b<d
2.34±0.48 2.10
(.101)
21~40b 2.39±0.36 2.39±0.37
41~60c 2.55±0.36 2.49±0.40
≥61d 2.67±0.27 2.56±0.32
Economic situation Richa 2.60±0.36 1.93
(.147)
2.54±0.30 3.88
(.022)
a>b
Averageb 2.45±0.32 2.35±0.36
Poorc 2.44±0.41 2.49±0.44
Regular exercise Yes 2.59±0.31 8.55
(<.001)
2.54±0.37 7.42
(<.001)
No 2.17±0.29 2.16±0.30
Health Healthya 2.64±0.28 11.31
(<.001)
a, b>c
2.53±0.34 7.41
(.001)
a, b>c
Averageb 2.51±0.37 2.51±0.41
Unhealthyc 2.33±0.35 2.30±0.37
Drinking None 2.60±0.33 5.84
(<.001)
2.56±0.38 5.20
(<.001)
Experience 2.31±0.34 2.28±0.36
Smoking No 2.48±0.36 1.35
(.178)
2.44±0.40 1.74
(.082)
Experience 2.27±0.33 2.16±0.21

Scheffé test.

Table 4

Correlation between Health Promotion Behaviors and Life Satisfaction (N=189)

Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1. Health promotion behaviors 1 .73 .88 .80 .81 .50 .72
 2. Medical examination & counseling 1
 3. Nutrition & diet .61 1
 4. Daily life management .46 .71 1
 5. Exercise & activities .60 .65 .51 1
 6. Drinking & smoking .25 .36 .33 .29 1
 7. Stress management .53 .46 .47 .53 .29 1
8. Life satisfaction .59 .43 .59 .44 .61 .03 .40 1
Table 5

Effects of Health Promotion Behaviors on Life Satisfaction (N=189)

Variables B S β t p
(Constant) 1.67 .18 8.88 <.001
Medical examination & counseling -0.03 .06 -.04 -0.57 .564
Nutrition & diet 0.37 .08 .42 4.66 <.001
Daily life management 0.00 .07 .00 0.05 .954
Exercise & activities 0.21 .04 .37 4.97 <.001
Drinking & smoking -0.26 .06 -.25 -4.37 <.001
Stress management 0.07 .05 .09 1.46 .144
R2=.49, Adj. R2=.48, F=30.10, p<.001

This article is based on a part of the first author's master's thesis from Ewha womans University.

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Figure & Data

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    Citations

    Citations to this article as recorded by  
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      Land.2022; 11(3): 323.     CrossRef
    • Perceived Barriers to Rural Elderly Women’s Health-Promoting Behaviors: An Ecological Perspective
      Hyunjung Moon, Sunkyung Cha, Eunyoung Park
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    • Effects of Social Support on Health Promotion Behavior through the Mediating Effect of Self-efficacy in Older Women Living Alone
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      Journal of Korean Gerontological Nursing.2018; 20(3): 177.     CrossRef

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