Trend Analysis of Experimental Research Papers on Community Health Nursing: Based on Researches Published in the Journal of Korean Academy of Community Health Nursing, 1989~2012

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The objective of this study is to analyze systematically the trends of experimental researches in the area of community health nursing. METHODS: This is a study based on literature review, which analyzed 137 experimental research papers in the Journal of Korean Academy of Community Health Nursing, from the first issue in 1989 to those in 2012. RESULTS: 1) The proportion of experimental researches in the total published papers was 14.9%. 2) The mainly used research method was quasi-experiment, which was 60.6% of them, and there was no RCT. 3) Convenient sampling was used in 95.6% of the researches. 4) Only 5.1% were reviewed for keeping the ethical standards for the study objects by the IRB. 5 When classified by the Omaha Classification System, psycho-social researches were most frequent, which were followed by physiological, health-related behavioral, and environmental ones in order of frequency. CONCLUSION: This study found that the proportion of experimental research papers was increasing in the 2000s and ethical standards were required more rigorously. However, it was suggested that the research design be more elaborated and sampling methods be manifested to reduce research bias and errors.