PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to examine self care behaviors according to the risk levels of vascular complications in elderly women with hypertension.
METHODS
The subjects of this study were 162 women living in the community who had been diagnosed with hypertension in clinics. The data were analysed by the SPSS 10.0 program using descriptive statistics, t-test, and ANOVA with Scheff. post-hoc test.
RESULTS
The average self care behavior score of the elderly women was 2.79. Total self care behavior was significantly different depending on the risk levels of vascular complications such as systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, ankle-brachial index, and the framingham point score. Among sub-scores of self care behaviors, exercise management was the poorest performance compared with other self care behaviors.
CONCLUSION
This study proved the differences in self care behaviors according to the risk levels of vascular complications. To decrease the prevalence of vascular complication, it is necessary to develop programs specifically to enhance self care behaviors of elderly women with hypertension.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to test a hypothetical model of health-related quality of life in patients with heart failure. The hypothetical model was derived from the Wilson and Cleary's model, the Rector's model, and published research findings.
METHODS
Data from 103 patients with heart failure were analyzed to determine the best multivariate health-related quality of life model given variables derived from the prior studies. The statistics programs SPSS 12.0 and LISREL 8.7 program were used for descriptive statistics and covariance structure analysis respectively.
RESULTS
The overall fitness of the path final model was good(GFI=.97, AGFI=.95, NNFI=1.06, NFI=.96, p=.96). Symptoms were directly affected by gender. HYHA Class was directly affected by only gender. Physical functioning limitation was directly affected by exercise. Health perception was directly affected by economics, symptom, and physical functioning limitation. Depression was directly affected by exercise and health perception. Heath-related quality of life was directly affected by physical functioning limitation and depression, indirectly affected by gender, economics, exercise, symptoms, NYHA Class, and health perception. This path analysis model explained 51% of health-related quality of life in patients with heart failure.
CONCLUSION
To improve of health-related quality of life with heart failure patients, it is necessary to make nursing interventions for physical functioning and depression.