A Comparative Study on Barrier Factors in Health Behaviors of Urban vs Rural Elderly

농촌노인과 도시노인의 건강행위 방해요인에 대한 비교 연구

  • Eun, Young (Department of Nursing, Gyeong Sang National University: Gerontological Health Research Center, Gyeongsang Institute of Health Science) ;
  • Kim, Ju-Hyun (Department of Nursing, KangWon National University) ;
  • Kim, Jeung-Im (Department of Nursing, SoonChunHyang University) ;
  • Kim, Hee-Ja (Department of Nursing, ChongJu National College of Science and Technology) ;
  • Kim, Hyun-Sook (Department of Elderly Health &Welfare, ChongJu National College of Science and Technology) ;
  • Oh, Jin-Ju (Department of Nursing, Danguk, University) ;
  • Gu, Mee-Ock (Department of Nursing, Gyeong Sang National University: Gerontological Health Research Center, Gyeongsang Institute of Health Science) ;
  • Song, Mee-soon (College of Nursing, Seoul National University)
  • 은영 (경상대학교 간호학과, 경상대건강과학연구원노인건강연구센터) ;
  • 김주현 (강원대학교 간호학과) ;
  • 김증임 (순천향대학교 간호학과) ;
  • 김희자 (청주과학대학 간호과) ;
  • 김현숙 (청주과학대학 노인복지학과) ;
  • 오진주 (단국대학교 간호학과) ;
  • 구미옥 (경상대학교 간호학과, 경상대건강과학연구원노인건강연구센터) ;
  • 송미순 (서울대학교 간호대학)
  • Received : 2004.02.05
  • Accepted : 2004.10.22
  • Published : 2004.12.30

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the barrier factors of health behaviors of urban and rural elderly and to compare the health behaviors and level of barriers between two groups, and finally to get the basic informations about the adequate nursing strategies to promote the health state of urban and rural elderly. The subjects of this study were 177 over the age of 65, 81 elderly lived in Seoul and 96 elderly lived in rural areas. The instruments for this study were the health behavior scale(14 items) and the barrier scale (118 items) developed by Gu et al(2003). For the data analysis, SPSS PC program was utilized for descriptive statistics, ${\chi}^2$- test, t-test, Pearson correlation. The results of this study were ; 1. The mean score of health behaviors (range 1-4) was 2.69 in urban elderly and 2.33 in rural elderly ; there was significant difference(t=5.03, P=.00). 2. There were significant differences in levels of barriers(range 1-3) between the two groups, such as calcium intake(t=-3.16, P=.00), regular exercise(t=-3.80, P=.00), exercise time(t=-5.54, P=.00), use of stress reduction method(t=-3.45, P=.00), regular check up(t=-3.89, P=.00), vaccination(t=-3.83, P=.00). Higher levels of barriers were found in rural elderly than in urban elderly. 3. Lack of habituation, lack of will power and lack of knowledge in calcium intake; lack of time, lack of habituatuion, lack of family support, lack of will power and lack of environment in exercise; lack of perceived benefit, lack of time, lack of will power and lack of knowledge in use of stress reduction method; lack of time, lack of interest, lack of habituation and lack of will power in disease prevention were significantly higher in rural elderly than in urban elderly. In the conclusion, nursing interventions should be planned based on the social environment of elderly. To promote the health state of elderly, interventions to decrease the barrier levels and to reduce the barrier factors to health behaviors should be implemented.

Keywords