A Study on the Level of Comfort in Korean Adults: Comparison between Healthy people and in-Patients / 기본간호학회지

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to compare the comfort level between healthy people and adult in-patients in Korea. The sample consisted of 248 adults (healthy adults 124, patients admitted in university hospitals in Seoul and Jinju 124). The research tool used for the study was General Comfort Questionnaire(GCQ) which was developed by Kolcaba(1992) and was translated by Korean. The research tool consisted of 28 items (6 items on physical dimension, 9 items on psychospritual dimension, 7 items on environmental dimension, 6 items on social dimension). Data were analyzing using the SPSS, yielding t-test, ANOVA. The results are as follows 1) Mean scores for comfort level in healthy adults were 2.92 on a 4 point scale. 2) Mean scores for comfort level in-patient adult were 2.72 on a 4 point scale. 3) There was a significant difference between the two groups on the comfort level. The healthy adults had higher comfort level than in-patients (t=4.44, p=0.000). 4) There was a significant difference between the two groups on the comfort level of physical and environmental dimension. The healthy adults had higher comfort level than in-patients (t=2.99, p=0.003) and environmental dimension (t=8.81, p=0.000).