No abstract

The incidence of type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes shows an increasing trend worldwide, and women diagnosed with gestational diabetes are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes within 5 years of delivery. This is closely related to lifestyle habits such as dietary intake and physical activity; hence, self-management should be continuously practiced. However, after childbirth, women find it challenging to practice self-management due to physical discomfort and child rearing. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an intervention program that is tailored to the characteristics of each participant and allows them to practice self-health management efficiently without time and space restrictions. This study aimed to develop a self-management mobile virtual reality program and investigate its efficacy in preventing type 2 diabetes after childbirth among women diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Intervention with the self-management mobile virtual reality program was performed for 12 weeks. The data of 57 participants in the experimental group and 62 participants in the control group were analyzed. After 12 weeks, the body weight, body fat, hemoglobin A1c, and fasting glucose were decreased in the experimental group compared with the control group. In addition, the dietary habits and health-promoting lifestyle profile were improved in the experimental group compared with the control group. These findings demonstrated that a self-managed mobile virtual reality program could be used as an intervention method for health promotion. To verify the effectiveness of intervention with the self-management mobile virtual reality program, a follow-up study with a larger number of research subjects should be conducted in the future.

This study suggested integrating research ethics education in the nursing curriculum as a required course of study for nursing students and as part of the in-service training program for nurses in order to improve research ethics in nursing research in Korea.

This study was conducted to identify mental health status, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and psychophysiological change in female North Korean refugees. Data were collected using questionnaires and symptom checklists that measured PTSD and the psychosomatic state of the subjects. As many as 97 subjects, who had settled in and around Seoul, South Korea, were selected by snowball sampling. Mental health and PTSD levels of the participants were above a moderate level. We conclude that health care professionals need to provide female North Korean defectors with services to improve mental health and make the sociocultural transition successfully.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify health knowledge, health promoting behavior and factors influencing health promoting behavior of North Korean defectors in South Korea. Methods: Participants in this study were 410 North Korean defectors, over 20 years of age residing in Seoul. They were recruited by snowball sampling. Data were collected from April to June, 2010. Health knowledge, health promoting behavior, self-efficacy, perceived barriers to health promoting behavior and social support were measured by structured questionnaires, and perceived physical and mental health status were measured by one item with 10-point numeric rating scale. The data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, and multiple regression. Results: Health knowledge, health promoting behavior, and perceived barriers to health promoting behavior were moderate while self-efficacy and social support were high. Factors influencing health promoting behavior of the participants were found to be self-efficacy, social support and perceived barrier to health promoting behavior. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that nursing intervention programs enhancing self-efficacy, social support and reducing perceived barriers to health promoting behavior need to be developed for North Korean defectors in South Korea.