Aromatherapy Massage for Relief of Pruritus and Stress in Older Women.

Context: Pruritus is a common skin disease among older adults. With aging, there is a decrease in skin elasticity and thickness, and vascular changes occur that decrease the skin's ability to retain moisture. Objective: To investigate the effects of aromatherapy massage on pruritis and stress levels in older women. Design: This was a nonequivalence, pre-post, quasi-experimental study. To enhance the appropriateness and accuracy of the intervention, a pilot study was conducted before the main study. Setting: The participants were recruited from six senior citizens' centers in Changwon City, Gyeongnam, South Korea. Participants: The participants were 64 women ≥65 years of age with an average age of 80.7 years and 79.7 years in the intervention and the control groups, respectively. Intervention: The intervention comprised aromatherapy massage with a blend of three essential oils: 1 mL of lavender, 0.25 mL of Roman chamomile, and 0.25 mL of sandalwood diluted to 1.5% with a sweet-almond carrier oil. The control group received massages with 0.25% sandalwood oil. Outcome Measures: The symptom score table of the Pruritus Score Scale was used to measure the degree, area, and frequency of pruritus and its impact on everyday life. The study also measured skin hydration levels using moisture-measuring module sensor, skin pH using the Howskin device, and stress using the Perceived Stress Scale. Results: Of the 64 initial participants, 5 dropped out of the study, resulting in 59 being included in the analysis. A significant difference was found between the intervention and control groups regarding relief of pruritus (U = 302.5, P = .039) and stress levels (U = -6.36, P < .001). No adverse effects were observed. Conclusions: Aromatherapy massage can be an effective intervention to decrease pruritus and stress in older women. Further studies with larger samples that also include men are required to confirm the generalizability of these results.

Influence of Good Death Perception, Moral Anguish, and End-of-life Care Attitude on End-of-life Care Performance of General Hospital Health Managers.

This study attempted to identify the influence of good death perception, moral anguish, and End-of-life (EOL) care attitudes on the End-of-life (EOL) care performance of General Hospital Health Managers (GHHMs). This study was a quantitative and descriptive survey. The respondents of this study were 156 GHHMs working in three general hospitals with 300 beds or more and one general hospital with 100 beds or more in one of the cities in South Korea. The survey data were obtained from September 20 to October 20, 2021, and a total of 156 responses were analyzed by multiple linear regression using IBM SPSS/WIN 24.0 program. Results of the study revealed that it can be said that the higher the good death perception and the higher the moral anguish, the better the EOL care performance. The total explanatory power was 23.4%, and good death perception and moral distress explained EOL care performance by 23.4%. Furthermore, the general hospital managers' good health perception, moral anguish improved the performance and work satisfaction among nurses. It was necessary to implement a systematic EOL care education program to facilitate quality EOL care. Communication problems and lack of time are obstacles to EOL care performance, so hospital managers and the head of the nursing department provide communication-related education to EOL care GHHMs and allocate appropriate manpower so that GHHMs can actively and efficiently perform EOL care. It can be said that the higher the good death perception, the higher the moral anguish, and the higher the degree of EOL care performance. This study was meaningful in revealing good death perception, and moral agony in clinical practice have a significant effect on EOL care performance.

[Effects of Web-based Preconception Health Promotion Program for Couples about to be Married].

PURPOSE: This study was done to develop a Web-based preconception health promotion program to improve preconception health promotion awareness, perceived benefits, perceived self-efficacy and health behavior, and to reduce perceived barriers in couples about to be married. METHODS: Participants were assigned to the experimental group (n=26 couples) or control group (n=25 couples). This program was comprised of a six hour Web-based lecture series which was given to the experimental group over a four week period. RESULTS: Results for the two groups showed: 1) a significant difference in preconception health promotion awareness in men (self-perception: z=-3.62, p<.001 content: F=18.49, p<.001) and in women (self-perception: z=-2.89, p=.004 content F=36.93, p<.001), 2) a significant difference in perceived benefits in men (z=-3.09, p=.002), and in women (F=6.38, p=.004), 3) a significant difference in perceived barriers in men (F=3.64, p=.030), and in women (F=11.36, p<.001), 4) a significant difference in perceived self-efficacy in men (F=12.16, p<.001), but no significant difference in women (F=1.93, p=.166), 5) a significant difference in health promoting behavior in men (F=16.31, p<.001), and in women (F=10.99, p=.001). CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that the program is an effective nursing intervention in couples about to be married. Therefore, this program can be useful in encouraging health-promoting behavior for couples about to be married.

A Structural Equation Modeling on Reproductive Health Promoting Behavior of Unmarried Women: Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to construct and test a structural equation modeling on the reproductive health behavior of single women with sexual experiences. This study employed Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). METHODS: The data were collected after receipt of consent from 250 single women with sexual experiences, and analyzed using SPSS 18.0 and AMOS 18.0. RESULTS: Model fit indices for the hypothetical model were suitable for the recommended level: x²=362.407, RMR=0.065, RMSEA=0.070, GFI=0.867. TLI=0.927, CFI=0.938, IFI=0.939, and x²/dF=2.237. Intention showed direct effect with the biggest effect being on reproductive health behavior. Attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control were found to have a direct effect on intention. Among them, perceived behavioral control revealed the largest influence. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the TPB is a suitable model in explaining the reproductive health behavior of single women with sexual experience. Strategic plans for educational and intervention programs should be aimed to encourage single women to engage in reproductive health behavior.

Study on Awareness of Preconception Care and Reproductive Health Behaviors in Pre-honeymooners.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was 1) to examine levels of awareness on preconception care and pregnancy, and reproductive health promoting behavior among pre-honeymooners; and 2) to explore the relationship between awareness levels of preconception care and pregnancy, and reproductive health promoting behavior. METHODS: This study was a correlation design with a total of 134 participants (67 couples of pre-honeymooners). Data were collected with questionnaire. RESULTS: Mean score of self-perception of awareness of preconception care and pregnancy was 2.82 out of 4. Content awareness level was 6.83 out of 13, and reproductive health promoting behavior score was 3.02 out of 4, indicating low to mid-level. Women reported higher scores in all variables than those in men. Self-perception awareness and content awareness of care and pregnancy had a weak positive correlation (r=.18, p=.038). Reproductive health promoting behavior was positively related to self-perception awareness of care and pregnancy (r=.33, p<.001) and content awareness of care and pregnancy (r=.23, p=.008). CONCLUSION: Based on this results, a variety of nursing intervention strategies may need to promote reproductive health behavior such as raising awareness of the preconception care and pregnancy.