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Purpose@#This study aimed to identify the factors influencing the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of older adults with unmet healthcare needs. @*Methods@#Data from the 2018 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were used. From a pool of 7992 participants, a final sample of 153 participants was analyzed using complex descriptive statistics, independent t-test, and multiple regression analysis. @*Results@#In general, young age, being married, employment, higher income, no hypertension, health insurance coverage as an employee, and living with someone were associated with higher the HRQoL. The following factors were significantly associated with lower HRQoL scores: activity restriction (B=-0.15, p<.001), poor perceived health status (B=-0.14, p<.001), and higher depressive symptom score (B=-0.01, p=.002). The explanatory power was approximately 58%, and the model was deemed suitable (Wald F=16.86, p<.001). @*Conclusion@#This study provides insights into the influence of various characteristics of older adults with unmet healthcare needs on their HRQoL. Healthcare providers should develop strategies to reduce these unmet healthcare needs.
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Purpose@#This study investigated lifestyle, depression, marital intimacy, and quality of life (QoL) in breast cancer survivors, with the goal of identifying the impacts of these factors on QoL. @*Methods@#A sample of 146 breast cancer survivors was surveyed in this cross-sectional study. Data were collected from March 20 to May 30, 2019, using self-report structured questionnaires at a hospital located in Jeonju, Korea. Data were analyzed using the independent t-test, analysis of variance, Pearson correlation coefficients, and hierarchical regression analysis. Participants agreed to complete a face-to-face interview, including administration of the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21-Depression Scale, Marital Intimacy Scale, and Functional Assessment Cancer Therapy-Breast Cancer tool. @*Results@#QoL was positively correlated with lifestyle (r=.49, p<.001) and marital intimacy (r=.45, p<.001) and negatively correlated with depression (r=–.72, p<.001). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that depression (β=–0.63, p<.001), marital intimacy (β=0.19, p=.001), and lifestyle (β=0.13, p=.031) had significant effects on the QoL of breast cancer survivors, accounting for 63.3% of variance in related QoL. @*Conclusion@#This study provides insights into how breast cancer survivors’ QoL was influenced by depression, marital intimacy, and lifestyle. To improve the QoL of breast cancer survivors, healthcare providers should consider developing strategies to decrease depression, to increase marital intimacy, and to improve lifestyle.
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BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to elucidate the context of medical experience and the perception of unmet healthcare of elderly people with chronic diseases based on in-depth interview data. METHODS: We carried out in-depth interviews with 10 elderly people with chronic diseases using semi-structured questionnaires based on literature review. The in-depth interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis; one qualitative research methodology, three core meaning categories, and four attributes associated with unmet healthcare were ultimately derived. RESULTS: The context of the medical experience were based on the following three categories: (1) discomfort due to diseases and high medical needs, (2) the poor community medical environment and difficulties in accessing to metropolitan medical institutions, and (3) inconvenience caused by long waiting time and side effects of medicine. In addition, the elderly with chronic disease realized the unmet healthcare as (1) the availability related to the desired medical institutions at the right time, (2) the affordability related to their economic capacity, (3) the effectiveness of the medical services they experienced, and (4) the appropriateness related to receiving medical services in a pleasant environment. CONCLUSION: The perception of unmet healthcare among the elderly with chronic disease is the result of interaction of multi-level and multi-dimensional factors related with their medical experience.
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Aged , Humans , Chronic Disease , Delivery of Health Care , Qualitative ResearchABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Although the metabolic syndrome (MS), which can lead to the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) or diabetes mellitus (DM), is increasing in children and adolescents, no unified criteria have been established, and little attention has been paid to its occurrence in Korean children and adolescents. In this study, we compared the prevalence of the MS in Korean children and adolescents using the criteria which were modified for children and adolescents by Cook et al., Cruz and Goran, and Ferranti et al. MATERIALS and METHODS: The study population was a nationwide representative sample of 3,431 children and adolescents (1,828 boys and 1,603 girls) from the 2001 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), who were aged 10-19 years (mean 14.1 +/- 2.8), underwent a physical examination, and fasted for 8 hours before collecting blood samples. RESULTS: The rates of the MS were 6.1, 5.3, and 14.0% according to the criteria of Cruz and Goran, Cook et al., and Ferranti et al., respectively, and the agreement rate of the three sets of criteria was 88.7%. CONCLUSION: Unified criteria for the MS and a strategy for reducing obesity in children and adolescents will be necessary to prevent the occurrence of this syndrome.