• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.66-74
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• 2011

Purpose: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity and diet and to identify sociodemographic factors related with health behaviors among Asian immigrant women in Korea by ethnicity. Methods: A cross-sectional study using structured questionnaires was conducted in 396 immigrant women from China, Vietnam, and the Philippines to Korea through international marriage. The associations between health behaviors and sociodemographic characteristics were assessed using multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results: The prevalence of current smoking, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, and abnormal diet were 4.2%, 7.6%, 49.3%, and 31.9%, respectively. The prevalence of current smoking (7.6%) and physical inactivity (56.7%) was highest in Chinese immigrant women. However, the prevalence of current smoking (2.7%) and alcohol consumption (3.8%) were lowest in Vietnamese immigrant women. Immigrant women who had been living in Korea for a long time since immigration (${\geq}$ 5 years) had a higher prevalence of alcohol consumption compared to those of who had been living in Korea for a short time since immigration (< 5 years) (OR=2.95, 95% CI=1.74-5.01). Conclusion: Health promotion programs for immigrant women should be differentiated based on health behaviors and their related factors by ethnicity.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.70-75
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• 2017

BACKGROUND: Immigration to South Korea from neighboring Asian countries has risen dramatically, primarily due to marriage between Korean men and foreign women. Although Filipino women rank fourth among married immigrant women, little is known about the health condition of this population. This manuscript focuses on the design and methods of Filipino women's diet and health study (FiLWHEL). SUBJECTS/METHODS: FiLWHEL is a cohort of Filipino women married to Korean men, aged 19 years old or over. The data collection comprised three parts: questionnaire, physical examination, and biospecimen collection. Questionnaires focused on demographic factors, diet, other health-related behaviors, acculturation and immigration-related factors, medical history, quality of life, and children's health information. Participants visited the recruitment site and answered the structured questionnaires through a face-to-face interview. We also measured their anthropometric features and collected fasting blood samples, toenails, and DNA samples. Recruitment started in 2014. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: Collection of data is ongoing, and we plan to prospectively follow our cohort participants. We expect that our study, which is focused on married Filipino women immigrants, can elucidate nutritional/health status and the effects of transitional experiences from several lifestyle factors.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.41-53
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• 2018

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify the factors affecting on unmet healthcare needs of married immigrant women, especially who are working in South Korea. Methods: It is designed as a cross-sectional descriptive study. We analyzed data from 8,142 working married immigrant women to the 'National Survey of Multicultural Families 2015.' Based on Andersen's health behavior model, logistic regression was conducted to determine the predictors of unmet healthcare need. Results: The prevalence of unmet healthcare needs among the subjects was 11.6%. In multivariate analysis, significant predictors of unmet needs included existence of preschooler, country of origin, period of residence in predisposing factors, monthly household income, helpful social relationship, social discrimination, Korean proficiency, working hour per week in enabling factors, and self-rated health, experience of grief or desperation in need factors. Conclusion: The association between labor-related factors and unmet healthcare needs of marriage immigrant women currently working was found from nationally representative sample. Support policies for immigrant women working more than legally defined hours and having preschooler should be supplemented to reduce unmet healthcare needs. In addition, eradicating discrimination in workplace, enlarging social relationship, and developing culturally competent nursing services tailored to health problems caused by labor are needed.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.18-26
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• 2008

Purpose: To assess the health status and health behavior characteristics of immigrant women married to Koreans. Method: A descriptive research design was employed. Fifty female marriage immigrants who were clients of the visiting health program at W public health center were recruited. After full consent, direct interview with a structured questionnaire and physical measurements were conducted by visiting health nurses. Descriptive statistics were utilized. Results: All of the subjects showed normal blood sugar. 25.7% of them exhibited extreme body weight condition of either obesity or low body weight by BMI. 36.4% had pre-hypertension stage and 15.9% had first stage of hypertension. Only two of the women had been diagnosed with hypertension and treated by a doctor. Almost all (95%) of them perceived their general health status as good or moderate. Most of them did not exercise, smoke or drink. Regarding dental care, no subject brushed before lunch. and only one did between meals. About 30$\sim$60% of subjects had undergone health screening. Conclusion: Health education is needed for immigrant women married to Koreans to enhance their health behavior, prevent life style disease and improve their health.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.254-264
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the factors influencing depression of married immigrant women in Korea. Methods: Participants included 127 married immigrant women who met eligibility criteria and agreed to participate in the study. Participants were evaluated for subjective assessment of married immigrant-related constructs using a self-report questionnaire, for depression, acculturation stress, and social support. The analysis was done using SPSS for Windows, version 18.0, and included stepwise regression. Results: The major findings were as follows; 1) Depression significantly differed according to native country, length of residence in Korea, education, family monthly income, household and primary support. 2) There were significant relationships between marital life satisfaction (r=-.80, p<.001), acculturative stress (r=.78, p<.001), and social support (r=-.20, p=.025). 3) Marital life satisfaction, family monthly income, acculturative stress, primary support and social support were significant factors, which explained 84.6% of the variance in depression (F=138.04, p<.001). Multiple regression analysis revealed that a powerful predictor of depression for married immigrant women was marital life satisfaction. Conclusion: Based upon the findings, this study provides useful information that could assist in reducing depression among married immigrant women, and indicates that nursing interventions are needed.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.224-238
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• 2021

Purpose: This study aimed to identify factors associated with the self-rated health of married immigrant women in South Korea. Methods: Data, collected in August 2018, were derived from the 2018 National Multicultural Family Survey. Study subjects were 9,230 married immigrant women. Data were analyzed using logistic regression. Results: Of the study subjects, 23.2% rated their health as poor. Results showed that individual factors (age, ethnic affiliation, duration in South Korea, and depressive symptoms); social and community networks (relationship with spouse, parenting efficacy, Korean proficiency, perceived discrimination, social support, and social activities); and living and working conditions (life satisfaction and unmet heath needs) were associated with health. Married immigrant women in their 50s or older, living in Korea for more than 15 years, experiencing depressive symptoms, low life satisfaction, and having unmet health needs were especially at high risk of poor health. Conclusion: More detailed health policy that considers age, length of stay, and country of origin. To prevent the rapidly deteriorating health of married immigrant women after middle age, mental health support should be given priority, and systematic improvement is needed to increase accessibility healthcare services.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.15-26
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• 2022

Purpose: The purposes of this study was to describe the lived experience structures of married immigrant women with chronic diseases in reorganizing their lives in a variety of situations and contexts. Methods: This study applied grounded theory approach, and the participants were 15 married immigrant women with chronic disease. Data were collected through individual in-depth interviews and then analyzed by the method in Strauss and Corbin (1998). Results: The extracted data were organized 41 concepts, 21 subcategories, and 8 categories. The central phenomenon was determined to be "Life turned into a chronic disease." The causal conditions were "Undergoing physical and mental stress from marriage", "Lack of information on chronic diseases." The extracted contexts was "The demand for health resources." action and interaction strategies, "Finding problems and solutions." The intervention conditions influencing the strategies was "Establishing a support system." The result of such action was "To settle down in a way of life that suits your conditions." Conclusion: By providing a comprehensive and integrative understanding of how married immigrant women with chronic disease reorganize their lives, the study is expected to contribute to the development of social systems and national policies.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.678-684
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to figure out and establish the basic data that can help improve management of oral healthcare for the international marriage migrantwomen. In this sense, we surveyed questions on 237 women out of 1,300 immigrant women, who have participated the program in operation by multi-cultural household supporting center, in a fashion of face-to-face investigation and on-the-spot direct cavity inspection simultaneously from May 1th to October 31th, 2010. Collected data were electro-statistically computerized under SPSS 17.0 program and analyzed with frequency analysis, recurrence analysis and logistic regression analysis respectively. Foundings were revealed as follows; On the nationality base, show the data in the ratio of 38.8% for Vietnamese, 29.1% for Philippine, 12.2% for Chinese and 6.8% for Japanese respectively. Current oral cavity status shows in the ratio of 60% with carious tooth symptoms, 40% without carious tooth symptom. Philippine women have irregular sets of tooth in many a case. (i.e., in short of numbers of teeth, due to removing individual tooth.) Japanese ladies are indicated to have less irregular sets of tooth, in comparison with that of the other immigrants from overseas. And lastly, high-income immigrant women in general were found having less numbers of unhealthy sets of tooth. Getting older, it appears that decayed tooth symptom is on the tendency of getting less in the field of dentistry circles. Immigrant ladies living with husbands under higher education background usually are found living a life in the less ratio of having toothache. A full-time immigrant housewives, however, are living everyday life in more times of suffering with tooth disease.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.222-233
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• 2015

In this study, the fact that the influx of multi-cultural society impact on local communities are examined to analysis the negative impact and positive impact with four types of political (government), economic, social and cultural saw classified. Although some have a negative evaluation, most of the respondents said the influx of multi-cultural society had a positive impact on South Korea's development and believes a positive impact in the future. In the results of the analysis, areas where multicultural society gives the most positive impact of local communities in political (administrative), economic, social, of the four segments of culture has been rated as the field of culture, on the other hand, areas that have the most negative impact has been evaluated as social sector. Though we live in nationalism culture for a long time and heterogeneous foreign residents has so rapidly increased that conflicts due to collision of values of differences and culture of each other have occurred, foreign residents are generally, have a positive impact on our society. Substantially marriage immigrants who successfully solve the rural bachelor of marriage problem are willing to prevent population decline phenomenon and reduce the crime rate in the society, of course. In addition, foreign workers who employed at low wages in the 3D industry which is avoided by the South Korean people have contributed to our country's economic development.

• Journal of International Area Studies (JIAS)
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.277-308
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• 2010

Since the globalization, many changes are occurring in our society. Multicultural phenonmenon in the society is becoming one of our major concern in the Korean society. Thus, this study is focusing on the multicultural phenomenon that we are facing since the globalization in Korea. No doubt that immigration is a growing force influencing the demographics of Korea. Since the mid-1990s, immigrant children and children from mixed marriage have become the fastest growing and the most extraordinarily diverse segment of Korea's child population. Until the recent past, Korea's major social attention has focused on adult immigrants to the neglect of their offspring, creating a profound gap between the strategic importance of the new second generation and the knowledge about its socioeconomic circumstances. In other words, there is a significant lack of studies on children of migrant, particularly from the Muslim background living in Korea. International marriage has grown rapidly in Korea since the late 1990s, and this phenomenon is especially common in rural farming communities. Most brides come from China, followed by Vietnam and other southeast Asian countries. However, there are certain number of Muslim bride coming to Korea. There are about 100 thousand muslim peoples living in Korean society. Among them 2.92% are Muslim immigrants' intermarriage with the Koreans. As a result, there are growing number of muslim brides and bridegroom settling in Korea, which would eventually create muslim families in growing korean multicultural societies. This study specify its research on the muslim mixed family by focusing on the offsprings of the muslim background. Our research team has created the new term on such research subject by using Koslim. Koslim is a 1.5 and 2^nd generation from the Muslim back ground family living in Korea. Thus, the objective of this study is to examine the awareness and the perception of Koslim by the Korean mainstream people. By doing so, it can analyze the general attitude of Koreans towards the Koslim people. In this sense this study intends to play a groundwork to promote successful coexistence between Korean and Koslim. It is anticipated that this research can lay the basis for Koreans to have more open and tolerant attitude towards our new members of society that is increasing everyday.