• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.225-237
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• 2020

Purpose: This descriptive correlational study examined the acculturation, health literacy, and factors affecting the health literacy of Vietnamese and Chinese female marriage immigrants. Methods: The sample consisted of 90 Vietnamese and 89 Chinese female marriage immigrants who participated in Multicultural Family Support Centers' programs in metropolitan city A. The health literacy was measured by HLI-FMI (Health Literacy Index for Female Marriage Immigrants), acculturation was measured using the Acculturation Index for female marriage immigrants. Descriptive statistics, t-test, Chi-square, one-way ANOVA, Scheffé test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression were performed for data analysis. Results: The Chinese group (M=9.80±2.72) showed a significantly higher health literacy than the Vietnamese group (M=8.07±3.57). The factors affecting health literacy among Chinese were the length of residence (β=.442 p<.001), and adaptation to Korean culture (β=.381, p=.007). Conclusion: To develope graded education programs for promoting the health literacy of Chinese and Vietnamese female marriage immigrants, the length of residence can be considered. Continuously providing a support system to help them adapt to Korean culture can also have a positive effect on health literacy.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.93-101
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• 2024

Objective: This study compared the status of chronic diseases among immigrants and the Korean population. Methods: This study was conducted on 153 immigrants living in Gwangju Metropolitan City in 2022. For comparison, 459 Koreans were selected using the 2021 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). A survey was conducted on the management status of hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia using a questionnaire. Results: Immigrants were significantly more likely to have hypertension (50.3% vs. 24.2%, p<0.001) and diabetes (19.0% vs. 11.5%, p=0.002) than Koreans. In awareness, immigrants had significantly lower rates of hypertension (57.1% vs. 73.0%, p=0.031) and hyperlipidemia (immigrants 25.4% vs. 44.5%, p=0.006). In treatment rates, immigrants had significantly lower rates of hypertension (40.3% vs. 69.4%, <0.001) and hyperlipidemia (17.9% vs. 39.6%, p=0.003). In control rates, immigrants had significantly lower rates of hypertension (18.2% vs. 62.2%, <0.001) than Koreans. Conclusions: Chronic diseases are common among immigrants, but awareness, treatment, and control rates are low, so education and prevention policies are critical to improving immigrants' access to medical care and raising awareness.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.248-258
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• 2014

Purpose: This study was done to develop a reproductive health program to improve reproductive health of women immigrants. Methods: The participants in the study were 58 immigrant women who lived in Vietnam, China, Philippines, or Cambodia before marriage. They were assigned to the experiment group (n=29) or the control group (n=29). The reproductive health program for this study consisted of reproductive health education, health counseling, phone monitoring, and emotional support based on Cox (1982)'s Interaction Model of Client Health Behavior and was implemented for four weeks. Results: There were significant differences in reproductive health knowledge (t=9.78, p<.001), reproductive health attitude (t=6.59, p<.001), and reproductive health behavior (t=5.11, p<.001) within and between groups after the reproductive health program. But there were no significant differences in clinical indicators between the two groups. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate the that reproductive health program for the women immigrants is effective in terms of reproductive health knowledge, reproductive health attitude and reproductive health behaviors. Therefore, nurses in public and private facilities, such as multicultural centers and public health centers in each community, should develop strategies to expand and provide reproductive health programs for women immigrants.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.298-311
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe levels of multiple stress factors and depression, and to examine the effects of the stress factors on depression among female marriage immigrants in Korea. Methods: Participants were 322 female marriage immigrants currently residing in Korea, who migrated from China, Vietnam, the Philippines, and other Asian countries. Stress of female marriage immigrants was measured on the SMFMI (Stress Measure of Female Marriage Immigrants in Korea), consisting of 21 items in four factors (cultural, household economic, emotional, and parenting and discrimination stress). CES-D was used to assess depression among marriage immigrants. Descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA with Scheffe's post hoc tests, and multiple regressions were performed for data analyses. Results: The average score for stress was 1.34 (SD=.98, theoretical range: 0-4) and the average score for depression was 17.07 (SD=10.09) in these female marriage immigrants. Adjusting for household income, employment status, duration since immigration, and Korean language proficiency, household economic stress (p<.001) was identified as the strongest predictor in explaining depression of female marriage immigrants (Adjusted $R^2=.331$). Conclusion: Health care professionals should prioritize intervention strategies to alleviate household economic stress for mental health promotion in female marriage immigrants in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.183-195
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• 1999

The purpose of this study is to describe the health care status of Korean Immigrants in New Zealand. The sample consisted of 155 Koreans who were randomly selected from the Korean Immigrants telephone book in Auckland, N.Z. They had health problems that required health management both physically (50.3%) and psychologically(70.3%). During the previous year, the average rate of medical contact with a general practitioner was 1$\pm$1.29 times. Korean immigrants who had health problems first attempted to resolve the problem through self medication rather than utilize health care services. They would only visit a general practitioner if they had severe subjective symptoms or no relief from self medication. Even if they think they need to visit the health care service, 41.9% of the subjects did not go back for follow-up care. Generally, the person who demonstrated positive health care behaviors was male, a college level graduate or higher, lived in N.Z. longer than 2 years, had a high score on health status by self assessment, and he placed few demands on health care services. Barriers to a healthy lifestyle are communication difficulties in expressing subjective symptoms, understanding the physician's treatment and medication plans, difficulty in accessing the appointment system and the high cost of service.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.93-104
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• 2009

Objectives: Although Asian immigrants have lower rates of smoking and binge drinking than other ethnics in the US, Korean Americans have the highest rate of Asian immigrants. This study, therefore, compared with the rates and examined the predictors of smoking and binge drinking by gender and ethnicity among Asian immigrants in California. Methods: In 2001 and 2003, California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) were conducted in English and their original languages with Asian immigrants residing in 58 Counties and 3 Cities, California. We performed analysis to find out the differences of smoking and binge drinking rates using the secondary data, CHIS 2001 and 2003. Multiple logistic regression analysis for survey data identified predictors of smoking and binge drinking behaviors by gender and ethnicity. Results: Korean American males (35.4%) and Japanese American females (15.4%) had higher rates of smoking prevalence compared with other Asian immigrants in California. In binge drinking, 26.5% of male and 8.1% of female among Korean Americans were binge drinker, and the rates were the top with Asian Americans who had lived in California. It showed the remarkable gap between gender of smoking and binge drinking among Vietnamese immigrants, whereas not the striking difference among Japanese Americans. In multiple regression models, age, educational level, occupation, marital status, English proficiency, and health insurance coverage remained significant for smoking and binge drinking behaviors(P<0.05). Even though the time in the US was not significant, it seemed to be related to educational level and English proficiency. In particular among female, smoking and binge drinking behaviors were associated with acculturation. Conclusion: Although Asian Americans had shared with American culture since they had immigrated in the US, they had significantly different prevalence rates of smoking and binge drinking based on gender and ethnicity. Therefore, future efforts should be focused on understanding differences by ethnicity and target at high-risk subgroups. To achieve this, it needs to develop the educational materials in Korean and their original languages.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.322-336
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• 2020

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the current state and trends of health literacy research considering migrants living in South Korea. Methods: A review of the literature was conducted using electronic data base and citation tracking. A total of 82 articles were identified, of which 16 articles that met the inclusion criteria were selected for review. Two authors reviewed the articles independently using a matrix table and then examined four aspects of the studies jointly: research method, immigrant characteristics, health literacy assessment, and main findings. Results: Most of the articles (n=13) were descriptive studies and three were methodology studies for instrument development. Of the 13 studies, eight involved female immigrants, four of health literacy involved migrant workers, and four concerned North Korean Refugees. A total of eight types of health literacy assessment tools were used. Sufficient samples and sampling methods were lacking at the population level. Conclusion: The results of the review generally showed that the health literacy of immigrants was lower than that of native South Koreans, and that there was a difference between nationality and gender among immigrants; however, further research is needed to review a larger sample with a validated instrument.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.389-399
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• 2010

Purpose: The aim of this study was to construct a structural equation model that would further explain the mental health status of Korean immigrants living in Canada. Methods: Survey using a structured questionnaire was conducted with 386 people in Canada (Vancouver and Toronto). Six instruments were used in this model. The analysis of data was done with both SPSS 14.0 for descriptive statistics and AMOS 5.0 for covariance structure analysis. Results: Based on the constructed model, physical health status, immigrant life stress, self esteem, and quality of life were found to have significant direct effect on mental health. In addition, factors such as physical health status, immigrant life stress, quality of life, English proficiency, family cohesion and social support were found to indirectly affect mental health. The final modified model yielded Chi-square=34.79 (p<.001), df=13, $x^2$/df=2.68, GFI=0.98, AGFI=0.94, NFI=0.95, PNFI=0.44, PGFI=0.35, RMSE=0.07 and exhibited good fit indices. Conclusion: This structural equation model is a comprehensive theoretical model that explains the related factors and their relationship with mental health in Korean immigrants. Findings of this study can contribute to the designing of an appropriate prevention strategy to further improve the mental health of immigrants in Canada.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.231-243
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationships between health status including objective health status and subjective health perception and Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II in North Korean immigrants. Methods: During August 2011 to November 2011, a convenience sample of 96 subjects aged 19 to 65 years were recruited from two centers and one public health center in Gyeongnam. The subjects were interviewed face to face by trained people with a survey questionnaire. Results: Approximately 40% of North Korean immigrants rated their health status as 'poor', and the prevalence of health problems in them was 81.3%. The average level of health-promoting lifestyle profile II was $1.78{\pm}0.35$. Females with normal weight or overweight, and have stayed for over 1 year in South Korea were related to the lower score of health-promoting lifestyle profile II. Conclusion: Considering North Korean immigrants' health background and health behaviors, customized health care program focusing on musculoskeletal disorder and psychological problems are required, and at the same time health behavior change program to achieve lifetime wellness should be developed.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.211-227
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare health literacy levels of Asian immigrant women and factors associated with health literacy focusing on Korean-Chinese and other Asian immigrants in Korea. Methods: Data were drawn from 258 immigrant women, comprising 56 Korean-Chinese and 202 other immigrants from the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, Cambodia, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Taiwan, and Han-Chinese. The Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine - Short Form (REALM-SF) was used to assess health literacy, which consisted of seven medical words in Korean (behavior, exercise, menopause, rectal, antibiotics, anemia, and jaundice). Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA with $Sch{\acute{e}}ffe$ post hoc test, and hierarchical regression. Results: Korean-Chinese women showed significantly higher levels of health literacy ($M=6.41{\pm}1.07$), compared to their other immigrant counterparts ($M=4.55{\pm}2.15$). While Korean-Chinese women with longer time since immigration (p=.048) reported higher health literacy, for other immigrants, those living with children (p<.001), longer time since immigration (p=.011), and greater Korean language proficiency (p=.004) showed an association with higher health literacy. Conclusion: When providing health care services and health education, health care professionals should consider differences in levels of health literacy and factors associated with health literacy among Korean Chinese and other immigrants.