A Study on Anxiety about Aging of Middle Aged and Elderly Women

Kim, Eun-Ha

The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education 2007;13(2):192-202.
Published online December 31, 2007.

Kim, Eun-Ha;

Catholic University of Pusan

중년 이후 여성의 노화에 대한 불안감

김은하

부산가톨릭 대학교 간호대학 노인요양관리학과

Abstract

Purpose
This study was to examine the degree of anxiety about aging for middle aged and elderly women and to identify the overall degree of anxiety about aging and general characteristics of middle aged and elderly women. Method: The subjects of the study were 674 women who lived in Busan city, Korea. The sampling was at the researcher's convenience and data was collected from April to August, 2007. The instrument for the study was questionnaires consisting of the general characteristics, and Anxiety about Aging for Elderly by Watkins, Coates, and Ferroni(1998). Descriptive statistics, t-test or ANOVA with Scheffe's test were used for data analysis. Result: The results of this research were as follows: The mean score of anxiety about aging was 50.32$pm$5.75. The results reveal that middle aged women are more anxious about aging than old women. Anxiety about aging was the most common psychological dimension of the six factors. According to the general characteristics, there was a significant difference in education, subjective economic status, composition of family and job status in anxiety about aging. Conclusion: The results of this study help in explaining psychological health. In addition, development of adequate interventions to decrease anxiety about aging in women is needed.

Key Words: Middle aged, Women, Aged, Aging, Anxiety