Globally, almost 9.3% of the population aged 20–80 years have been diagnosed with diabetes making diabetes management a global health problem beyond specific regions or races. This study aimed to determine the effect of diabetes knowledge, self-stigma, and self-care behavior on the quality of life of patients with diabetes. This descriptive research study evaluated 180 patients receiving diabetes treatment at the outpatient Department of Endocrinology at C University Hospital. Data were collected between 30 July 2019, and 30 August 2019. The study variables were general patient characteristics, disease-related characteristics, quality of life, diabetes knowledge, self-stigma, and self-care behavior. Factors affecting the quality of life were analyzed by hierarchical regression. Self-stigma (β = −0.298), monthly income (β = 0.270), and self-care behavior (β = 0.140) significantly affected the quality of life, in that order. The higher the self-stigma, the lower the quality of life, and the higher the monthly income and the level of self-care behavior, the higher the quality of life. A psychosocial support program to positively change the attitude toward diabetes is needed to improve the quality of life among patients with diabetes.

Kwon M, et al. Korean J Adult Nurs. 2019 Feb;31(1):1-13. https://doi.org/10.7475/kjan.2019.31.1.1

Background: Increasing interest in appearance and the growing preference for a beautiful body can lead to physical and psychological problems due to an inappropriate body image perception. As such, there is a need to identify what factors may contribute to an inappropriate body image. The purpose of this study was to examine the presence of distorted body weight perception among middle-aged Koreans and identify gender differences and other factors that contribute to a distorted body image regarding body weight. Methods: Data on 8363 middle-aged adults (aged 45–64 years) from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed using complex samples analysis considering weight, stratification variables, and cluster variables. The difference between perceived body image regarding body weight and actual body mass index was used to assess distorted body weight perception. Socioeconomic status, health behaviors, daily energy consumption, and psychological status (depression and stress) were assessed for their relationship to distorted body weight perception. Results: Results showed that a distorted body image regarding body weight was more prevalent among middle-aged men (45.3%) than women (25.7%). Age, income, perceived health status, and health behaviors were significantly associated with distorted body weight perception in middle-aged men, whereas psychological factors were associated with distorted body weight perception in middle-aged women. Conclusions: Further research on distorted body weight perception is needed to gain understanding of the gender differences between middle-aged men and women in Korea. Furthermore, to the results of the study can be used as a basis for developing various education, health mediation, and public health promotion interventions and programs to address body weight perception in middle-aged adults.

BACKGROUND: It is necessary to adjust and mediate environmental, personal, and structural aspects to reduce the turnover rate among healthcare nurses, and awareness of flexible work systems, organizational commitment and quality of life are factors contained in this category. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to identify the influence of awareness regarding flexible work systems, organizational commitment, and quality of life on turnover intentions among healthcare nurses. METHODS: Two hundred and twenty-six healthcare nurses participated in the study. Data were collected from September 1 to October 1, 2018, and analyzed using SPSS/WIN 23.0 version. RESULTS: The results in the first analysis revealed that being dissatisfied with work ( β = 0.287) and having poor subjective health ( β = 0.197) were significant influencing factors with a combined explanatory power of 14.9% ( 0.001). In the second analysis, dissatisfied with work satisfaction ( β = 0.143), organizational commitment ( β = - 0.389), and quality of life ( β = 0.256) were significant influencing factors with a combined explanatory power of 29.5% ( 0.001). CONCLUSION: It is necessary to reflect awareness of flexible work systems, organizational commitment and quality of life in interventions to reduce the turnover intention of healthcare nurses.

This descriptive cross-sectional study examined the factors that affect depression in adolescents focusing on how stressed they are regarding their appearance (hereafter, degree of appearance stress). Data from 6493 adolescents from the 2020 Korean Youth Risk Behavior Survey were used. Using SPSS 25.0, a complex sample plan file was created, weighted, and analyzed. The frequency, chi-square test, independent t-test, and linear regression were used for the complex sample analysis. The results showed that among adolescents with low appearance stress, depression was significantly affected by the number of breakfast meals, weight control efforts, smoking, loneliness, subjective physical appearance, and smartphone overdependence. Among those with high appearance stress, depression was significantly affected by academic grades, weight control efforts, drinking habits, loneliness, subjective physical appearance, and smartphone overdependence. Furthermore, these factors differed according to the degree of appearance stress. Thus, while developing interventions for mitigating depression in adolescents, the degree of appearance stress should be considered, and a differentiated strategy should be used accordingly.

Purpose: This study aimed to determine whether there are differences in the factors affecting the quality of life (QOL) of elderly women in South Korea according to their perceived economic status. Methods: Data were extracted from the Seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in 2016. The participants were 879 women over the age of 65 years, who were divided into three groups: high, medium, and low based on their perceived economic status. The study variables were classified into three categories: general characteristics, physical factors, and psychological factors. General characteristics included age, education level, employment, activity restriction, frequency of breakfast/week, frequency of lunch/week, and frequency of dinner/week. Physical factors included disease status, weight change, consumption of alcohol, number of days of walking per week, duration of walking at a time, body mass index (BMI), and discomfort due to changes in hearing. Psychological factors included stress, subjective body awareness, subjective health status, depressive symptoms, and QOL. Complex sample crosstabs and chi-square tests were conducted, and regression was performed to examine the association between the variables by economic status. Results: The factors that influenced the QOL of elderly women with low economic status were arthritis, alcohol consumption, subjective health status, and depressive symptoms, with an explanatory power of 54.3% (F = 14.94, p < 0.001). The factors that influenced the QOL of the medium economic status group were activity restriction, frequency of dinner/week, arthritis, number of days of walking per week, BMI, stress, subjective health status, and depressive symptoms, with an explanatory power of 48.6% (F = 9.82, p < 0.001). For the high economic status group, influential factors were age, restricted activity, arthritis, number of days of walking per week, stress, and depressive symptoms with an explanatory power of 49.0% (F = 69.76, p < 0.001). Conclusions: This study identified different factors that contributed to the QOL of elderly women by economic status.